The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy

Hart Ralston is a demigod and a marshal, tasked with patrolling the wasteland of Tanria. The realm the exiled old gods once called home is now a forsaken place where humans with no better options or no better sense come seeking adventure or spoils, but more often end up as drudges: reanimated corpses inhabited by the souls of those who’ve died in Tanria before. Hart tells himself that his job is simple: neutralize the drudges with a quick zap to the appendix and deliver them back to polite society at the nearest undertaker’s, leaving the whys and hows of the drudge problem for men without the complexities of a god in their family tree. But working alone, Hart’s got nothing but time to ponder exactly those questions he’d most like to avoid.

Too much time alone is the opposite of Mercy Birdsall’s problem. Since her father’s decline, she’s been single-handedly keeping Birdsall & Son undertakers afloat in small-town Eternity—despite definitely not being a son, and in defiance of sullen jerks like Hart Ralston, who seems to have a gift for showing up right when her patience is thinnest. The work’s not the problem—Mercy’s good at it, better than any other Birdsall—but keeping all her family’s plates spinning singlehandedly, forever, isn’t how Mercy envisioned her future.

After yet another run-in with the sharp-tongued Mercy, Hart considers she might have a point about his utter loneliness being a bit of a liability. In a moment of sentimentality, he pens a letter addressed simply to “A Friend,” and entrusts it to a nimkilim, an anthropomorphic animal messenger with an uncanny connection to the gods, (and in Hart’s case, a bit of a drinking problem). Much to his surprise, an anonymous letter comes back in return, and a tentative friendship is born.

If only Hart knew he’s been baring his soul to the person who infuriates him most–Mercy. As the two unlikely pen pals grow closer, the truth about Hart’s parentage and the nature of the drudges creeps in. And suddenly their old animosity seems so small in comparison to what they might be able to do: end the drudges forever. But at what cost?

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You’re the Earl That I Want

You’re the Earl That I Want by Kelly Bowen is $1.99! This is the third book in the Lords of Worth series, but it can be read as a standalone. Readers seemed to be divided on the heroine. Some loved how confident and intelligent she was, while others felt her personality overshadowed the hero.

THE EARL DOTH PROTEST . . .

For businessman Heath Hextall, inheriting an earldom has been a damnable nuisance. The answer: find a well-bred, biddable woman to keep his life in order and observe the required social niceties. But it’s always been clear that Lady Josephine Somerhall is not that woman. Once a shy slip of a girl, Joss is now brilliant, beautiful chaos in a ball gown.

. . . BUT THE LADY KNOWS BEST

In her heart, Joss has always loved Heath, the one person she’s always been able to count on. That doesn’t mean she wants to marry him though. Without a husband, Joss can do as she pleases—and now, it pleases her to solve the mystery of an encoded file given to Heath by a dying man. It’s put Heath in peril once, and Joss won’t let that happen again. She’ll do what she must to ensure the earl’s safety. And to remind him that what she lacks in convention, she makes up for in passion.

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How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying

How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler is $1.99! I mentioned this in Get Rec’d and Darlynne commented, warning of a cliffhanger but noting it was definitely worth it.

Groundhog Day meets Deadpool in Django Wexler’s raunchy, hilarious, blood-splattered fantasy tale about a young woman who, tired of defending humanity from the Dark Lord, decides to become the Dark Lord herself.

“Takes the old saying ‘If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em,’ to the next level. A sarcastic, action-packed, intrigue-filled (mis)adventure. One of the funniest books I’ve read in a long time.”–Matt Dinniman, author of Dungeon Crawler Carl

Davi has done this all before. She’s tried to be the hero and take down the all-powerful Dark Lord. A hundred times she’s rallied humanity and made the final charge. But the time loop always gets her in the end. Sometimes she’s killed quickly. Sometimes it takes a while. But she’s been defeated every time.

This time? She’s done being the hero and done being stuck in this endless time loop. If the Dark Lord always wins, then maybe that’s who she needs to be. It’s Davi’s turn to play on the winning side.

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The Magic of Untamed Hearts

The Magic of Untamed Hearts by by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland is $1.99! This is book three in the Wild Magic series, which focuses on a group of sisters with magical abilities. Carrie reviewed book one and gave it a B.

After several years stuck as a ghost, Sky Flores learns to reconnect with the living again with the help of her handsome neighbor in this lush romance from the USA Today bestselling author of Witch of Wild Things.

Like her sisters, Sage and Teal, Sky Flores has a touch of magic, and it’s caused nothing but heartache. Not only did she disappear into the woods years ago and reappear with no rational explanation, she’s also more comfortable talking to animals than to people. Different and misunderstood, Sky is shunned in the small town of Cranberry.

Sky’s neighbor, Adam Noemi, has his own problems. After being laid off from a prestigious newspaper, Adam, ever the ambitious reporter, needs a big headline to redeem his career. Enter Sky, a girl with a story that news outlets have been chasing for years. Sky agrees to grant Adam an exclusive interview on one that he befriend Sky, in a very public way, to prove to everyone in Cranberry that she’s not an outcast.

As Sky shares her experiences with Adam, something much bigger than a simple agreement begins to grow between them. But for love to take root, Adam will have to take a leap towards a life that defies expectations, and Sky must open her heart – full of flora and fauna and mystical energies – to his curious mind.

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The protagonist of Fabulous Bodies, Poppy, appears on the scene as a horrible person who has survived a horrible childhood. Early on, she meets someone who says, “I’m not a bad guy. I’m just a survivor.” Over the course of the novel, Poppy learns what the difference is. This story by Chuck Tingle is a gory horror-thriller that I absolutely ate up, but be prepared for a high body count and a lot of implausibility.

Poppy is a single mom who works as an influencer by day, and she works hard at presenting a consistent and aspirational image. She has 216,000 followers, a number that is repeated several times throughout the book. She has a side job as a modern day grave robber, conning her way into picking up bodies from funeral homes (“Listen, there’s a four-year-old over in Barstow who will be blind by morning if I don’t get those corneas”) and selling them to people who want to do various gross things with them.

Poppy is deeply saddened by the sudden death of her idol, singer Eddie Michaels. She is then offered an exorbitant sum of money to pick up a body. Imagine her surprise when the body is that of Eddie’s, and he is alive, at least sort of, and he can compel people, including her, to obey his every command. He commands her to be his driver for the night, and they proceed to careen through Palm Springs while Eddie tries to complete a mysterious errand, slaughtering people along the way. It turns out that nothing makes you re-evaluate your values and life choices like being under the thrall of an iconic pop-rock supernatural mass murderer.

Poppy is (initially) selfish, shallow, and ruthless, but she is also funny. Here she is convincing a guy at a funeral home to let her take a body from the premises and drive off with it in her refrigerated box truck:

Regardless of the care I’ve taken to blend in, I still wield an incredible power. This kid behind the counter will inevitably bend over backward for me, not just because I’m particularly skilled at what I do (and I am skilled at what I do), but because I also employ a mighty force of nature that has tempted heroes and toppled empires, a power that will reign over brains or brawn for centuries to come.

Even in this humbled state, tucked away under all this cover, I still look fucking amazing.

What am I supposed to do, lie about it?

In my own internal monologue?

One thing I’ve learned from real-life survivor stories is that sometimes the same traits that allow a person to survive extreme situations are the same traits that make everyday life and relationships difficult for them. Poppy survived a traumatic childhood by being persistent, ambitious, and completely focused on her own material success. She thinks of herself as a shark, and tries to convince her young daughter to also think of herself as a shark. As the night progresses, Poppy reconsiders how she wants to mother her daughter. It was satisfying to see Poppy turn from ‘shark’ to ‘mama bear’.

This is a book that requires a lot of suspension of disbelief. I have no problem accepting the various supernatural elements, but I don’t believe that Eddie could murder so many people and not draw more attention. Despite his frequent claims to leave no traces of his or Poppy’s presence, his plan really doesn’t make a lot of sense if you think too hard about it.

Also, I had a problem with so much carnage befalling people who have no character, often no names or lines, and who are basically just cannon fodder for the story. I realize this is inconsistent of me, as I loved Lucky Day, in which millions of people die off page and a lot of other people die on the page. There was just something tonally that didn’t work for me – the combination of camp and grotesque violence was not my cup of tea. It was especially jarring because a big theme of the book is the value of human life and how we honor it by honoring the dead.

I got caught up in practicalities, but this is very much not a practical kind of story. I spent ages expecting a certain character to get woozy from blood loss but they didn’t even slap on a bandaid (granted, they were in a hurry). The plot and the horror-thriller-comedy tone of the book requires the reader to just go along for the ride (pun intended) and not worry about this kind of thing.

This book was way, way too violent and bloody for me but this did not stop me from wolfing it down. Sometimes I enjoyed it and sometimes I didn’t, but I never considered taking a reading break for even a second. The pace is fast, you never know what will happen next, and Poppy’s attempts to thwart Eddie are clever. I enjoyed Poppy’s character development and the way the narration convinced me to be deeply invested in her fate despite my initial dislike of her. Her arc is very well written and constructed and she was a compelling character.

I recommend this book for anyone with a strong stomach who likes bloody, gory horror and is looking for an attention-grabbing, up all night read. It broke a reading slump of mine through sheer plot momentum. If you like this sort of horror, you will love this book and you are a stronger soul than I!

Guess what? I’m tired. Can you believe that? I also say this as I look enviously at the very cozy cat curled up in the window of my office. Just snoozing away. You can hear some soft little nose whistles. She’s oblivious to the world as I tippy type away in an effort to make a paycheck to afford her treats.

Is my jealousy coming through?

It’s also funny because our two cats have very different morning routines. Fig will wake my partner up at the crack of dawn to be fed and then will go back to sleep with them. When our official, non-kitty alarms go off, she’s ready to greet the day. Our big orange boy Toast loves to sleep in. Don’t expect to see him up for breakfast or pets until at least 10am. You can typically find him asleep and squeezed into the cat scratcher box in my office until then.

What are your pets like in the morning?

…

Congratulations to author Farrah Rochon, who received the 27th Louisiana Writer Award!

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The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow has  been picked up for a Netflix series. Will you be watching? (Assuming this reaches the finish line.)

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And related to adaptation news, there seems to be a pattern on what is or isn’t being picked up. Care to guess what that is?

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This link was sent in by James S. and it’s about the boom of romance communities in Columbia, South Carolina. Are you a local? I’d love some “boots on the ground” thoughts.

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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

Not in Love

A forbidden, secret affair proves that all’s fair in love and science.

Rue Siebert might not have it all, but she has enough: a few friends she can always count on, the financial stability she yearned for as a kid, and a successful career as a biotech engineer at Kline, one of the most promising start-ups in the field of food science. Her world is stable, pleasant, and hard-fought. Until a hostile takeover and its offensively attractive front man threatens to bring it all crumbling down.

Eli Killgore and his business partners want Kline, period. Eli has his own reasons for pushing this deal through—and he’s a man who gets what he wants. With one burning exception: Rue. The woman he can’t stop thinking about. The woman who’s off-limits to him.

Torn between loyalty and an undeniable attraction, Rue and Eli throw caution out the lab and the boardroom windows. Their affair is secret, no-strings-attached, and has a built-in deadline: the day one of their companies will prevail. But the heart is risky business—one that plays for keeps.

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Thank You for Listening

Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan is $2.99! Sarah mentioned this on Hide Your Wallet and was interested in the meta-ness of it. She also had Whelan on the podcast!

From the author of My Oxford Year, Julia Whelan’s uplifting novel tells the story of a former actress turned successful audiobook narrator—who has lost sight of her dreams after a tragic accident—and her journey of self-discovery, love, and acceptance when she agrees to narrate one last romance novel.

For Sewanee Chester, being an audiobook narrator is a long way from her old dreams, but the days of being a star on film sets are long behind her. She’s found success and satisfaction from the inside of a sound booth and it allows her to care for her beloved, ailing grandmother. When she arrives in Las Vegas last-minute for a book convention, Sewanee unexpectedly spends a whirlwind night with a charming stranger.

On her return home, Sewanee discovers one of the world’s most beloved romance novelists wanted her to perform her last book—with Brock McNight, the industry’s hottest, most secretive voice. Sewanee doesn’t buy what romance novels are selling—not after her own dreams were tragically cut short—and she stopped narrating them years ago. But her admiration of the late author, and the opportunity to get her grandmother more help, makes her decision for her.

As Sewanee begins work on the book, resurrecting her old romance pseudonym, she and Brock forge a real connection, hidden behind the comfort of anonymity. Soon, she is dreaming again, but secrets are revealed, and the realities of life come crashing down around her once more.

If she can learn to risk everything for desires she has long buried, she will discover a world of intimacy and acceptance she never believed would be hers.

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The Jasmine Throne

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri is $1.99! Many of us were big fans of her debut fantasy romance Empire of Sand. This is the first book in her second trilogy, which has been concluded. Are you a fan?

Author of Empire of Sand and Realm of Ash Tasha Suri’s The Jasmine Throne, beginning a new trilogy set in a world inspired by the history and epics of India, in which a captive princess and a maidservant in possession of forbidden magic become unlikely allies on a dark journey to save their empire from the princess’s traitor brother.

Imprisoned by her dictator brother, Malini spends her days in isolation in the Hirana: an ancient temple that was once the source of the powerful, magical deathless waters — but is now little more than a decaying ruin.

Priya is a maidservant, one among several who make the treacherous journey to the top of the Hirana every night to clean Malini’s chambers. She is happy to be an anonymous drudge, so long as it keeps anyone from guessing the dangerous secret she hides.

But when Malini accidentally bears witness to Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a vengeful princess seeking to depose her brother from his throne. The other is a priestess seeking to find her family. Together, they will change the fate of an empire.

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The Re-Do List

The Re-Do List by Denise Williams is $1.99! This is a standalone contemporary romance and it released in January of this year. Have you read this one?

What would you do with a second chance at your first time? Following a bad breakup, Willow Lewis tackles a re-do list with the help of her brother’s best friend in this sweet and sexy new romance from USA Today bestselling author Denise Williams.

Willow experienced all her big firsts with her high school sweetheart. Now, reeling from their very public breakup, she wants to get a re-do on those important moments. While dog-sitting for her brother during his deployment, she has a chance to start over and spending time with his best friend gives her the confidence to start checking items off her “Re-Do list.”

Deacon promised his best friend two things when Cruz left for a that he’d look out for Willow, and that he’d keep his hands off Cruz’s baby sister. “Operation Re-Do” is innocent enough at Deacon likes Willow and he’s willing to help her out any way he can. But when the list of firsts turns from a first dance to first kisses and more, Deacon can’t deny the connection he feels to Willow.

As Deacon’s and Willow’s firsts turn to seconds, thirds, and fourths, this pair can’t get enough of each other—and they support each other through new challenges. But they are both aware there’s an end date to Willow’s time in town… and even if she were to stay, Deacon doesn’t know how to choose between his loyalty to his closest friend and the woman he’s fallen in love with. With no more romantic moments on her list for them to re-do, can these two still find a way to stay together?

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I’m looking for a book I read as a teenager. Traditional Regency romance read around 2008–2011, but likely older.

Heroine attends a party/house party and gets trapped overnight in a wine cellar with the hero (who has a long possibly European name). During the night, a murder occurs. Because they were trapped together overnight, they’re forced to marry.

Heroine had been engaged or nearly engaged to another man who is eventually revealed to be a serial killer. There’s also a creepy, sweaty man.

Final climax involves heroine in a brothel with the killer before her husband rescues her.

I vaguely remember the title being something like “Engaged to a Rogue.”

Can we HaBO?

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!

It’s officially July. Did you know? I feel like this month as a lot of interesting releases.

What are you excited for this week? Let us know in the comments!

An Infinite Love Story

Author: Chanel Cleeton
Released: July 7, 2026 by Berkley
Genre: Historical: American, Literary Fiction

When an astronaut is lost in space, his wife relives their epic love as she attempts to unravel what truly happened to him, in this sweeping love story set against the backdrop of the 1960s Space Race, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes.

When Joe Mitchell launches into space, the world is watching. It’s 1968, and the country waits with anticipation and excitement for another successful mission, another celebration as America sets its sights on the Moon. And then comes the knock at the door.

Joe Mitchell’s spacecraft has lost contact. He and his fellow astronauts onboard are feared to be dead. It’s his wife Vivian’s worst nightmare come to life, her grief suddenly taking center stage as the nation waits and mourns. In her quiet moments, Vivian relives their memorable story, unable to accept that this is the end to a love that felt as though it was written in the stars.

As the investigation surrounding Joe’s lost spacecraft intensifies and the mishap is written off as an operator error, Vivian is determined to clear her husband’s name and uncover the mystery of what happened in space. When someone starts sending Vivian messages—messages she believes only Joe could send—she begins to wonder if their love is stronger than space and time, and she’ll do whatever it takes to bring her husband back to her.

Elyse: I’m really interested in reading historical fiction that isn’t about the Tudors or WWII.

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Fabulous Bodies

Author: Chuck Tingle
Released: July 7, 2026 by Tor Nightfire
Genre: Horror, LGBTQIA

From Chuck Tingle, USA Today bestselling author of Bury Your Gays, comes Fabulous Bodies, a supernatural joyride where Drive meets Beetlejuice.

Fashion influencer by day and grave-robber by night, Poppy Stringer is on call when Eddie Michaels—a flamboyant, piano-slamming rockstar and queer icon—unexpectedly dies. All Poppy has to do is retrieve Eddie’s body from the medical examiner’s office, but what starts as a routine delivery quickly goes off course when Eddie wakes up.

Poppy must fight for her life in a blood-soaked night of carnage and fabulous entertainment all across Palm Springs.

New Tingle alert!

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Just for the Season

Author: Rachel Griffiths
Released: July 7, 2026 by Gallery Books
Genre: Historical: European, Romance

For fans of Lisa Kleypas and Sarah MacLean, Rachel Griffiths’s latest historical romance is a sexy, laugh-out-loud romp that’s The Bachelorette set in Regency England with shades of Bridgerton.

Lady Charlotte Louisa Aveton knows all of London’s rules, and better yet, knows how to break them. But when she takes it too far and stumbles into a serious scandal, she knows only one thing will save her—marriage, as soon as possible.

With only one summer to pick a husband, Charlotte invites all of England’s most eligible bachelors to an extravagant summer retreat at a country manor house. There’s a brooding artist, a wickedly handsome Russian prince, and one of the richest men in all of Europe…so why do her eyes keep sliding over to the Duke of Warrick, the only man who’s ever come close to breaking her heart?

Does Charlotte’s summer of suitors have any room for second chances?

Lara: I had such a good time with this one.

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The MASH Up

Author: Laura Marie Meyers
Released: July 7, 2026 by G.P. Putnam's Sons
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance

It’s all fun and games until someone falls in love.

MANSION • APARTMENT • SHACK • HOUSE

Ruby Wynne is a staunch rule-follower who lives by the numbers. So when a surprising breakup – on her thirty-fifth birthday – ruins all her well-laid plans, Ruby makes an unexpected wish . . . Only to wake up inside a M.A.S.H. game from seventh grade.

Settled in a Technicolor mansion, driving a tie-dye Jeep, and running a roller-disco restaurant, Ruby is living out her childhood dreams come true—with one exception. According to the game, Ruby’s “other half” is supposed to be Penn Hayes, her brother’s annoying, and annoyingly handsome, best friend. But there’s zero romance between them. Just like in real life, all they share is sarcasm. With no rules to follow and desperate to return to reality, Ruby makes her best guess at an escape plan: win Penn’s heart so the game comes completely true and she can go home.

It’s unthinkable. On Ruby’s list of dos and don’ts, Penn Hayes is a lifelong don’t. But as Ruby navigates the magical world she dreamed up at thirteen, she wonders if, by finally throwing out her rules, she might just find her way home to the life and love she deserves.

Amanda: As someone who played a lot of MASH, I’m very curious about this setup.

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Most Ardently Yours

Author: Freya Sampson
Released: July 7, 2026 by Sourcebooks Landmark
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy

From USA Today Bestselling author Freya Sampson comes a swoon-worthy, laugh-out-loud romance inspired by Jane Austen’s beloved Pride and Prejudice that begs the what if your book boyfriend jumped from the pages of their story and into your life?

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single woman in possession of many romance novels, must be in want of a book boyfriend.” 

Zoe Knight, a struggling romance writer, has sworn off men for good. At least…the ones in real life. Once a believer in a happily ever after, she now curbs her loneliness with the help of the best book boyfriends in literature – and there is no better man than Jane Austen’s Mr. Darcy. So when she stumbles into a classic London bookshop and argues with the annoyingly attractive store owner, Nick, who refuses to sell romance novels, she decides to liberate him of a dusty copy of Pride & Prejudice abandoned on a top shelf.

But this is no ordinary book.

After reading from the pages, Zoe finds herself in a remarkable situation: she has accidentally summoned the Mr. Darcy to the real world. Now, she’s face-to-face with the man she’s loved forever, and he’s everything she dreamed he would be. Handsome? Check. Brooding? Check. Talks like he swallowed a thesaurus? Check and check. But even in all his regency perfection, can he ever be as good as in the novel? And if he’s here, in her London apartment trying to figure out how to work a shower , what will happen to the literary world he came from? With Nick—the last man she could ever be prevailed upon to work with—urging her to send the fictional Darcy back to his own story, Zoe will have to decide what she really wants from a happy ending, before it’s too late.

I feel like we’ve been seeing a lot of “book characters come to life” romances!

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Rich Girl Summer

Author: Lily Chu
Released: July 7, 2026 by Cosmo Reads
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance

Fake heiress. Real secrets. One sizzling summer she’ll never forget.

Event planner Valerie Peng never planned on spending her summer sipping champagne at a lakefront estate, dodging suspicious socialites, or pretending to be anyone’s long-lost daughter. But when a very public, deeply mortifying mishap lands her in hot water—and her career in a hot mess—her uber-wealthy older client makes her an offer she can’t refuse: come to his glamorous summer home and pose as the long-lost daughter he believes his conniving family has hidden from him. In exchange? Time away from her actual life…and the chance to help uncover a long-buried secret.

But Cinderella needs some magic for this big of a makeover. Enter Nico Hever: her client’s maddeningly perfect right-hand man. He’s organized, meticulous, impossible to read, and infuriatingly handsome. But even though he claims this scheme is a capital-M Mistake, Nico’s the only person she can trust to have her back. As they navigate a world of eccentric matriarchs, class divides, and private family feuds, their chemistry is as undeniable as it is ill-timed.

Caught between pretending to belong and unexpectedly finding where she truly fits in, Valerie’s summer is about to get far more complicated than she ever planned.

Sarah: A fake identity and celebrity-adjacent contemporary? Ok, yes!

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The transcript for Podcast 725. Romantic Hero with Kirsty Greenwood has been posted!

This podcast transcript was handcrafted with meticulous skill by Garlic Knitter. Many thanks.

❤ Click here to subscribe to The Podcast →

A | BN | K | AB

You can also watch the episode on YouTube!

The Mistress Experience

The scandalous women of the USA Today bestselling author Scarlett Peckham’s Society of Sirens are back with the final stage in their fight for female rights—and this time the battle is to be waged in bed…

She’s the most infamous harlot in London…and she’s up for auction.

Thaïs Magadalene is a legend. The nation’s most notorious courtesan, she sells herself once a week, for one night only, and never to the same patron twice. Until now. To raise money for the cause of women’s rights, she has auctioned herself off for one month as mistress to the highest bidder.

But the winner is not who he seems.

Lord Alastair Eden is an earl, a radical politician, and a perfectionist in all things—except one. His confidence belies an unexpected he doesn’t know how to please a woman in bed. He’s determined to change that before he marries. And who could be better than the most skilled lover in the country to teach him?

And love is never for sale.

Thaïs dreams of finding a man who will love her unconditionally, never mind her past and reputation. Eden dreams of finding a perfectly bred young lady to be his wife and helpmeet. But when a steamy month in the countryside breeds a connection both in and out of the bedchamber, the two of them must decide how much can be sacrificed for love—one’s dreams, or one’s reputation.

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Immortal Longings

Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong is $1.99! I mentioned this one in a previous Hide Your Wallet because I’ve enjoyed Gong’s new adult fantasy retellings. This was her adult debut and is a retelling of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra.

#1 New York Times bestselling YA author Chloe Gong’s adult epic fantasy debut, inspired by Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, is a fiery collision of power plays, spilled blood, and romance amidst a set of deadly games.

Every year, thousands in the kingdom of Talin will flock to its capital twin cities, San-Er, where the palace hosts a set of games. For those confident enough in their ability to jump between bodies, competitors across San-Er fight to the death to win unimaginable riches.

Princess Calla Tuoleimi lurks in hiding. Five years ago, a massacre killed her parents and left the palace of Er empty…and she was the one who did it. Before King Kasa’s forces in San can catch her, she plans to finish the job and bring down the monarchy. Her reclusive uncle always greets the victor of the games, so if she wins, she gets her opportunity at last to kill him.

Enter Anton Makusa, an exiled aristocrat. His childhood love has lain in a coma since they were both ousted from the palace, and he’s deep in debt trying to keep her alive. Thankfully, he’s one of the best jumpers in the kingdom, flitting from body to body at will. His last chance at saving her is entering the games and winning.

Calla finds both an unexpected alliance with Anton and help from King Kasa’s adopted son, August, who wants to mend Talin’s ills. But the three of them have very different goals, even as Calla and Anton’s partnership spirals into something all-consuming. Before the games close, Calla must decide what she’s playing for—her lover or her kingdom.

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On Rotation

On Rotation by Shirlene Obuobi is $2.99! I mentioned this one in a previous Get Rec’d. I’d say this is more women’s fiction or novel with romantic elements, as it has much more of a focus on the main character figuring out a potential new path in life. Many of you also chimed in with your recommendations for this one last time it was on sale.

Ghanaian-American Angela Appiah has checked off all the boxes for the “Perfect Immigrant Daughter.”

Enroll in an elite medical school. Snag a suitable lawyer/doctor/engineer boyfriendSurround self with a gaggle of successful and/or loyal friends. But then it quickly all falls apart: her boyfriend dumps her, she bombs the most important exam of her medical career, and her best friend pulls away. And her parents, whose approval seems to hinge on how closely she follows the path they chose, are a lot less proud of their daughter. It’s a quarter life crisis of epic proportions.

Angie, who has always faced her problems by working “twice as hard to get half as far,” is at a loss. Suddenly, she begins to question everything: her career choice, her friendships, even why she’s attracted to men who don’t love her as much as she loves them.

And just when things couldn’t get more complicated, enter Ricky Gutierrez– brilliant, thoughtful, sexy, and most importantly, seems to see Angie for who she is instead of what she can represent.

Unfortunately, he’s also got “wasteman” practically tattooed across his forehead, and Angie’s done chasing mirages of men. Or so she thinks. For someone who’s always been in control, Angie realizes that there’s one thing she can’t plan on: matters of her heart.

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The Next Best Fling

The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez is $1.99! This is book one in the Librarians in Love series. The main characters enter into a no-strings-attached relationship to get over their crushes on other people.

Two broken hearts decide that the best way to get over their first loves is with a no-strings-attached relationship in this spicy and charming debut romance.

Librarian Marcela Ortiz has been secretly in love with her best friend for years—and when he gets engaged, she knows it’s long past time to move on. But before she gets the chance, she has a bigger problem to contend with in the form of Theo Young, ex-NFL player and older brother of the man she’s in love with. When she discovers Theo’s plans to confess his feelings for his brother’s fiancée at their engagement party, Marcela is quick to stop him—despite how tempting it is to let him run away with the bride-to-be. She manages to convince Theo to sleep off his drunken almost-mistake at her place and when they arrive at a family brunch the next day together, everyone wrongly assumes they hooked up.

Since Theo needs a cover for his feelings for the bride and Marcela needs a distraction from her unrequited feelings for the groom, they decide to roll with the lie. Until one late night at a bar, they take it a step further and discover a layer of attraction neither realized existed. Soon, they find themselves exploring the simmering chemistry between them, whether in library aisles or Marcela’s bed. There are no boundaries for the rebound relationship they form—just a host of complicated feelings, messy familial dynamics, and uncovered secrets that threaten to tear them apart before they can even admit to themselves that their rebound is working. Maybe a little too well.

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The blurb promised me a Regency Bachelorette (like the TV show). What I found was a bit different, but nonetheless a great time.

It has been decreed by the powers that be (yes, I’m being vague on purpose) that Charlotte should marry by the end of the summer. She has her own reasons for marrying and can’t see her way out of this ‘decree’ anyway, so her gran invites a series of eligible suitors to their family estate in Kent for a house party.

The suitors’ stays are consecutive rather than concurrent so we only deal with one suitor at a time. There are, however, some guests that are there for the full duration: the neighbouring family who Charlotte and her gran are very close to and Wolfgang, a duke who has been tasked with ‘keeping an eye’ while Charlotte’s brother is out of the country.

So far this isn’t sounding that interesting, I know. But I promise it is! What makes Just for the Season feel so fresh and original are the women’s personalities.

Charlotte loves courting scandal. She’s unapologetically herself and doesn’t have much time for the dictates of proper society. So far that’s also sounding pretty standard for a recently written Regency, but this book takes it a step further. Charlotte isn’t fighting her corner alone. She has her grandmother’s backing. Feminist principles are discussed openly and not merely as thoughts but as facts that describe the lives around them. It’s truly a case of burning down the patriarchy.

One of my favourite feminist (and also pragmatic) moments was when Charlotte’s gran advocated for always accepting jewels when they are given to you and also never to return them to the giver. The reason? Jewels can be the personal property of women and can serve as her financial reserve in case she needs to escape a bad situation.

Even Wolfgang gets involved. When reflecting on what he wants for his life, he thinks the following: “Especially because, God help him, he wanted her free even more than he wanted her his.”

If you need your historical romances to hew closely to recorded history, then this might not be the book for you. This is ‘historical as fantasy’ at its finest. The characters say the kind of things that I wish I’d said in moments of confrontation or conflict – especially Charlotte.

In fact, I cheered for her throughout as she faced down all who would doubt or challenge her. By the time I reached the epilogue I felt the same as I did after I finished watching Legally Blonde for the first time – utterly incandescent with joy.

Wolfgang is, of course, the love interest. He lost his brother to a long illness and that devastated him. He also had a misunderstanding with Charlotte around the same time that hurt deeply, and he’d just left the army after surviving the war. A trifecta of terrible things in a short period of time. This has left a mark on him and he’s become stiff and grumpy. During the house party, we see a different side to him – more and more he becomes more like the person he was prior to these bad things happening and that’s largely down to his love for Charlotte.

Charlotte might be a delight already but she does have some emotional growth to tackle for that HEA to happen and it centres around being the product of an unhappy marriage.

Part of the dedication of the book really caught my attention: “For anyone who ever experienced the horror/hilarity of dating in New York City. Charlotte is our revenge”. My mind would return to it intermittently while reading. Some of these stories had to be based on real life experiences.

Is there anything I didn’t like about Just for the Season? Yes, one thing. Sometimes scenes would end rather abruptly and there’d be a gap in the action between its end and the start of the next scene. This can sometimes be quite jarring and pushed me out of the story as I tried to imagine how that scene ended after a shocking event at the end of the scene.

For example, Wolfgang and Charlotte are making out in (redacted location) when the scene ends. The next scene starts with Charlotte putting her clothes back on. Was it a closed door romance? Judging by the other intimate scenes, no. So why did they stop kissing? What was it that prompted them to separate their mouths? Why was she wearing no clothing and what happened?

Ed. note: Justice for Lara!

Despite that, I had a wonderful time with this book and I happily recommend it to anyone in need of a cheering read. Especially if in moments of conflict or tension in your own life, like me, you clam up and only think of what to say once the moment has passed!

We have a very rare, all fiction edition of Get Rec’d. I feel like that rarely happens. However, it is very sci-fi and fantasy heavy.

Are there any great recommendations you’d like to pass along? Leave them in the comments!

A Vow to Heal

I’ve been dabbling into omegaverse romances lately and most have some mix of shifters and humans. However, this has an elf and an orc (a very sensitive, lanky orc at that!). 

Korik the Steadfast has never fit in anywhere. Tall and gangly even for an orc, he’s always stuck out like a sore thumb in Drol Kuggradh, where he is the only healer to make the city their permanent residence. But he’s content with his solitary existence—until the unification between elves and orcs suddenly draws him into the inner circle of Drol Kuggradh’s new royalty.

Just as he’s getting his bearings with his new lot in life, he’s pushed even further out of his comfort zone; he’s the only healer available to accompany a pregnant elf, Enriel, and her arrogant older brother, Varen, back to the elven capital. Enriel is nice enough, yet he and Varen butt heads immediately, and he resigns himself to an unenjoyable journey with the most aggravating man he’s ever met.

But the roads prove more treacherous than they a simmering orc rebellion against the new King Zorvut boils over, and when Enriel is kidnapped, he and Varen discover a plot that has taken several other elves captive. Before he’s even realized it, Korik is catapulted into the center of a mounting conflict threatening to break out between elves and orcs once again—alongside Varen, who is as distractingly handsome as he is annoying.

In pursuit of the orc rebels, Korik and Varen must learn to rely on each other if they hope to return home unscathed. It’s an inconvenient time to fall in love, especially as winter’s cold grip tightens around them and their very survival is on the line. But Varen’s confidence proves to be more than just empty words, and when it’s just the two of them alone against the elements, giving in to their attraction feels inevitable.

As they fight to survive, Korik and Varen must decide if their feelings for each other will remain unspoken in the wilderness, or if they’re willing to give up the lives they once knew to discover where they truly belong.

A Vow to Heal is an MM, slow burn, forced proximity fantasy romance featuring an anxious orc healer and a cocky elf commander. This 18+ novel contains omegaverse elements and other adult situations.

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The Archive Undying

I have two friends who read this one and have slightly different opinions. Both spoke highly of the ambitious world building. One felt the setting carried the story well, while others felt the characterizations didn’t match the level of world building. Just putting it out there! (I’m tempted by the mechs.)

War machines and AI gods run amok in The Archive Undying, national bestseller Emma Mieko Candon’s bold entry into the world of mecha fiction.

WHEN AN AI DIES, ITS CITY DIES WITH IT
WHEN A CITY FALLS, IT LEAVES A CORPSE BEHIND
WHEN THAT CORPSE RUNS OFF, ONLY DEVOTION CAN BRING IT BACK

When the robotic god of Khuon Mo went mad, it destroyed everything it touched. It killed its priests, its city, and all its wondrous works. But in its final death throes, the god brought one thing back to life: its favorite child, Sunai. For the seventeen years since, Sunai has walked the land like a ghost, unable to die, unable to age, and unable to forget the horrors he’s seen. He’s run as far as he can from the wreckage of his faith, drowning himself in drink, drugs, and men. But when Sunai wakes up in the bed of the one man he never should have slept with, he finds himself on a path straight back into the world of gods and machines.

The Archive Undying is the first volume of Emma Mieko Candon’s Downworld Sequence, a sci-fi series where AI deities and brutal police states clash, wielding giant robots steered by pilot-priests with corrupted bodies.

Come get in the robot.

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Tales of a Monstrous Heart

This is a vibes-heavy book, but might be worth a library borrow if you’re in the mood for more Gothic fantasy with an undercurrent of magic and romance. 

An instant Sunday Times bestseller and love letter to the Brontë sisters, Tales of a Monstrous Heart is a delicious gothic fantasy, filled with forbidden romance, magic, and monsters.

Be careful of the dark and those that call it friend.

Katherine Woodrow is fey, and all she wants is to graduate from the Institute of Magic. But when the prejudiced mortal council threaten her position at the institute, she is left with only one option: accept a Mage Partnership with the elusive Lord Blackthorn.

Emrys Blackthorn is a riddle Kat is fearful of solving. The mysterious, cursed war hero with his stormy eyes and unpredictable ways leaves Kat with more questions than answers. What she does know is that she is irresistibly drawn to him . . . no matter how forbidden it might be.

In this intoxicating gothic fantasy where passion collides with peril, and sorcery awakens monsters, a string of murders and fey disappearances herald the return of dark magic. Kat and Emrys are thrown into a world of ancient books that hide hideous monsters, dark fiends who play with nightmares, and mortal men who wish nothing more than to see them both burn.

But what haunts them both are secrets even ghosts dare not whisper, while insidious shadows lick their teeth and sharpen their claws, waiting for the moment that all tales will come to light—even the monstrous ones.

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Valet

A tech CEO’s rudderless adult son, a valet robot, and a plucky golden retriever go on a road trip. I’m a huge Kevin Wilson fan and love how he’s able to blend fantastical scenarios with really tender, introspective plots, so the comparison here really made me perk up.

For fans of Kevin Wilson and Andrew Sean Greer, a helper robot and his 35-year-old ward embark on a mad-cap adventure to save the fate of the family company in this whimsically speculative ode to Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster.

Cy wants nothing more than to be useful, raise his utility score, and receive the next update for his operating system. But that’s easier said than done when he’s tasked with helping his owner’s 35-year-old son “get out of his funk.” Grayson is nothing like his go-getter, CEO sister Charlotte. He didn’t inherit the family robotics company when their dad passed last year, he doesn’t have a master’s degree, and he just can’t seem to figure out the San Francisco dating scene. He’d rather eat synthesized mozzarella sticks and make pottery at his studio, Kilning Time.

When Grayson learns of Charlotte’s plan to sell the company to a tech conglomerate, he panics. It’s not just the family business at stake, it’s all the technology—like Cy—their dad invented over the years. So he does what anyone would he steals the flash drive with his father’s most important work stored on it and plans a corporate takeover. If only he knew what that meant.

To make matters worse, a fellow VALET deserts his owner and asks Cy to help him hightail it out of town, Grayson’s first real date—and her dog—keeping showing up at inopportune times, and the behemoth tech company wants this deal closed yesterday. Grayson, Cy, and their trusty golden retriever, Sasha III, must go on the lam until they figure out exactly what to do, and whom to trust.

A hilarious, mad-cap adventure that is as tender as it is insightful, Valet asks not just what it means to be human, but what it means to be family.

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This month I give you a buccaneer who probably didn’t really exist and one who probably did. Both of them have come down through history as legendary figures though there’s little actual physical evidence of their lives. Still, never let it be said that I passed up the chance to share a good legend, especially if there’s a chance that at least part of it may be true.

A word about words: ‘pirate’ is a broad term referring to a person who does crime in a boat on the water – theft, murder, kidnapping, raiding.

A ‘privateer’ was a freelance agent, someone with papers from a government that hired them to rob ships and raid settlements owned by a rival country.

‘Corsairs’ sailed the Mediterranean and were active during the long conflict between the Ottoman Empire and Europe.

‘Buccaneers’ sailed the Caribbean and the Pacific Coast of Central America. They tended to be allied with England and France and in violent opposition to Spain.

‘Filibusters’ were pirates who raided islands in the Caribbean.

Annie “Dieu-le-Veut” le Graaf appears to have been a real person, although details about her life are spotty and contradictory. She was born in Brittany, France, on August 28, 1661. Somehow she ended up in French Tortuga. It’s possible she was a criminal who was transported there as her sentence.

Tortuga Island is a West Indian Island that today is part of Haiti. It was a haven for pirates and buccaneers in the 1600s, most of whom were French, English, or Dutch. Annie showed up when Bertrand d’Ogeron de La Bouëre, a buccaneer himself, was governor.

She married another buccaneer, Pierre Lelong, and they had a daughter before he was killed in a fight just six years into the marriage. She married another man and had a son with him before he died two years into the marriage.

Guys, I know Wikipedia is not super reliable, but I just have to share this quote about how Annie met her next husband:

In March 1693, she met the famous buccaneer, Laurens de Graaf. He agreed to marry her after she threatened to shoot him for insulting her. According to the traditional description of the event, Anne challenged de Graaf to a duel to avenge the death of her late spouse. While Laurens drew his sword, Anne drew her gun, after which Laurens succumbed by saying he would not fight a female. He then proposed to her in admiration of her courage.

They had two children together, a daughter and a son. According to lore, Annie proceeded to accompany Laurens on his voyages and took command of the ship after he died. She lived until 1710.

We think that Annie was a real person because certain dates are recorded (birth, death, marriages, birth dates of children). None of this exists for Jacquotte Delahaye, but she was said to sail and fight alongside Annie. Stories say that Jacquotte’s mother was a French-speaking Black Haitian woman and her father was a French man. Her mother died in childbirth and her father was killed by the British. She was the sole caretaker of her younger brother, who was disabled in some way. She became a pirate as early as twelve years old, using the money she earned to care for her brother. Eventually she commanded her own fleet of crews made up of both men and women.

Jacquotte is said to have faked her own death at one point and lived in disguise as a man for many years, before resuming her female identity. This gave her the nickname, “Back-from-the-Dead Red.” She died in 1663, defending her fortress in Tortuga against the Spanish.

The Salty Historian has a wonderful video about Jacquotte:

One of the reasons that Jacquotte is thought to be fictional is that stories about her don’t show up in written form until long after her death (1940, in fact). But many women fought on pirate ships. In addition to Annie, verified pirates include Anne Bonny, Rachel Wall, Mary Critchett, Rusla, and Grace O’Malley. Here at Smart Bitches, Trash Books you can read about Ching Shih and Sayyida al-Hurra.

I first heard about these women from the historical novel Fire Sword and Sea by Vanessa Riley. This novel is not a romance. I found it to be a frustrating book because it kept suggesting that the heroine was going to do various heroic things, but these hints never paid off. However, the book was vividly written and included an array of interesting characters. It helped me better understand a chaotic time in history.

Above all, it gave me new female pirates to google and y’all know I live for that! If you like historical fiction with an episodic feel and broad representation then you might enjoy this book.

Sources:

• Wikipedia: Annie Dieu-le-Veut
• Wikipedia: Jacquotte Delahaye
• Britannica
• Grokipedia
• Nps.org
• Royal Museums Greenwich
• Fire Sword and Sea, by Vanessa Riley

Enchanting the Fae Queen

Stephanie Burgis delivers another irreverent, sparkling, and sexy installment in the Queens of Villainy series, where a seductive fae queen meets her unexpected match in the enemy empire’s valiant general.

Queen Lorelei is a notorious fae seductress, with a trail of broken hearts in her wake. But behind her glamorous lifestyle and sparkling mask lurks a dangerously intelligent woman who’d do anything to keep her people safe, including kidnap the empire’s most famous hero.

The virtuous high general Gerard de Moireul represents all that is moral and true. He has to, after his parents were executed for treason. The last thing he needs is the Queen of Balravia, who showers glitter and rainbow-colored sparkles everywhere she goes without the slightest regard for good taste, decorum, or royal dignity.

They’re opposites in every way, but when they’re swept up together in a grand–and deadly–fae tournament, they discover all of each other’s most hidden truths–and how perfectly they might be suited for each other after all.

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The Foxglove King

The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten is $1.99! I mentioned this one in a previous Hide Your Wallet. I did start reading it, but wound up putting it down pretty early. However, I think my short attention span lately is more of a me problem than a book problem

When Lore was thirteen, she escaped a cult in the catacombs beneath the city of Dellaire. And in the ten years since, she’s lived by one rule: don’t let them find you. Easier said than done, when her death magic ties her to the city.

Mortem, the magic born from death, is a high-priced and illicit commodity in Dellaire, and Lore’s job running poisons keeps her in food, shelter, and relative security. But when a run goes wrong and Lore’s power is revealed, she’s taken by the Presque Mort, a group of warrior-monks sanctioned to use Mortem working for the Sainted King. Lore fully expects a pyre, but King August has a different plan. Entire villages on the outskirts of the country have been dying overnight, seemingly at random. Lore can either use her magic to find out what’s happening and who in the King’s court is responsible, or die.

Lore is thrust into the Sainted King’s glittering court, where no one can be believed and even fewer can be trusted. Guarded by Gabriel, a duke-turned-monk, and continually running up against Bastian, August’s ne’er-do-well heir, Lore tangles in politics, religion, and forbidden romance as she attempts to navigate a debauched and opulent society.

But the life she left behind in the catacombs is catching up with her. And even as Lore makes her way through the Sainted court above, they might be drawing closer than she thinks.

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The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal

The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal by Jodi Taylor is 99c! This book has a pair of time traveling bounty hunters. This is related to Taylor’s other time travel series. Last time this was on sale, commenters mentioned that if you’re unfamiliar with Taylor’s other works, you should still be fine starting here.

From the globally bestselling author of the Chronicles of St Mary’s and Time Police series – the origin story of bounty hunters Smallhope and Pennyroyal.

Meet Lady Amelia Smallhope, for whom there is no problem that can’t be solved by a drink and a think.

And Pennyroyal, for whom there is no problem. Ever.

Everyone’s favourite bounty hunters. Sorry – recovery agents. No bad guy they can’t handle. No expense account too flexible. No adventure too outrageous.

Join them as they settle scores, break every rule in the book and take the world by storm.

Fasten your seatbelts. The timeline doesn’t know what’s hit it.

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Who is Maud Dixon?

Who is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews is $1.99! I mentioned this on Get Rec’d if you’re in the mood for a twisty, psychological thriller. It was a decently big release when it initially came out in 2021.

Florence Darrow is a small-town striver who believes that she’s destined to become a celebrated writer. When she stumbles into the opportunity to become the assistant to “Maud Dixon,” a celebrated-but anonymous-novelist (think: Elena Ferrante), she believes that the universe is finally providing her big chance. The arrangement feels idyllic; Helen can be prickly, but she is full of pointed wisdom on both writing and living. She even invites Florence along on a research trip to Morocco, where her new novel is set. Florence has never been out of the country before; maybe, she imagines, she’ll finally have something exciting to write about herself.

But when Florence wakes up in the hospital after a terrible car crash, and Helen is dead, she begins to imagine what it might be like to ‘upgrade’ into not only Helen’s life, but also that of Helen’s bestselling pseudonym, Maud Dixon.

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Sports have been heating up the courts, fields, and pitches all summer (is this an appropriate place to scream KNICKS IN FIVE!!? No?), so it only stands to reason they’d be heating up queer romance shelves, too, making up three-fifths of this month’s selections.

The Case of Elmwood Ranch

Author: Deanna Grey
Released: July 15, 2026
Genre: LGBTQIA, Paranormal, Romance

Elmwood Ranch is Octavia Daniel’s dream. A safe place to land after years on the road. But once she signs the paperwork and receives the keys, the nightmare begins.

Shadows move on their own, strange accidents become the norm, and injured ranch hands refuse to work a second longer. Octavia doesn’t believe in ghosts, but she can’t deny something’s wrong with the land she’s sunk her entire savings into.

Rae Jones is in the business of ending nightmares. She comes from a family of successful paranormal investigators. But she’s set herself apart from the Jones sisters by making their legacy into a commercial success.

After years of enjoying said success, she’s hit a wall. Whether it’s burnout or a full-blown existential crisis, she doesn’t know. One way to try to avoid a downward spiral? Take every interesting job she can get. And that includes one from a very stand-offish, nonbelieving horse rancher who thinks she’s a scam artist and the things she hunts don’t exist.

Octavia and Rae must figure out how to work together if they have any hope of solving what’s truly going on at Elmwood. As they build trust, they begin to build something more. Something that could either help or harm in making it out of this haunting alive.

The Case of Elmwood Ranch is a sapphic paranormal romance featuring bisexual leads.

When the author of beloved Sapphic Romance Outdrawn shows up with her next one, it goes to the top of the TBR immediately, especially when it involves paranormal investigators, ghosts, and bisexuals.

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In Your Court

Author: Kit Haley
Released: July 16, 2026 by Redamance Books
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance
Series: Love Game #1

A sweet, steamy AF contemporary MM romance! Find truckloads of hot, witty banter, exploration of queer solidarity, lots of tennis details but very little actual tennis, and amusing Australian/American cultural confusion.

Australian Matteo Russo is the first and only openly gay tennis pro. Once a brilliant junior, he was slated for a bright future – until a freak accident derailed his career. Now, he’s fed up, he’s struggling to qualify for tournaments, and he’s not sure he can afford dinner tonight.

After losing to his old rival—the rich, arrogant, American superstar Miles Callahan—Mat throws the man’s privilege in his face and sets him a challenge – one he’s sure Miles would never accept. But he does. Determined to prove he’s earned his success, Miles travels to Wimbledon on a tight budget – no support team, no coach, no fancy hotel. And now the American needs a hitting partner, and someone to explain laundromats, and what started as a dare soon becomes a searing off-court fling.

Mat should be focussing on his career, not falling for a glamorous star, but Miles believes in his game in a way Mat hasn’t for a long time, and is fast becoming everything he’s ever wanted. Only… love and tennis just don’t mix, because one day soon they’ll have to face each other on the court.

And in tennis, someone always has to lose.

Tennis has been a major player in queer sports romance this year, and if you haven’t already gotten hyped by this year’s offerings on both the shelves and the court, allow this cover to draw you in. If that’s not enough (isn’t it, though?), can I interest you in an Australian accent? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

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FIRE on Fire

Author: Lukas Gaines
Released: July 21, 2026
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance

One man is trying to retire early.
The other’s just trying to pay rent.

Asher Pierce has a plan for everything. As a tech manager at Query, he lives by spreadsheets and the gospel of Financial Independence, Retire Early. But a brutal demotion shoves his freedom date twenty years into the future, and a guest-speaker slot at a mountain retreat is his best shot at getting back on track.

Kael Wright is an artist barely holding his life together, with no patience for tech bros in Patagonia vests and a billionaire patron whose money comes with strings. When he accidentally books a FIRE retreat instead of the creative one he expected, the last person he wants to be stuck with is rigid, infuriating, and far too easy on the eyes.

Then a wildfire evacuation leaves them stranded in the Northern California backcountry with nothing but what they can carry and the increasingly inconvenient fact that they work better together than apart.

Getting out will take teamwork. Holding on to what sparks between them will mean surviving everything waiting off the mountain too, including Alistair Blackwood, the billionaire with money, power, and far too much control over both their futures.

FIRE on Fire is a forced-proximity, opposites-attract M/M romance with sharp banter, slow-burn heat, and a happily ever after that proves the best things in life don’t fit on a spreadsheet.

If ever there were a season to bring the heat… (I’m sorry, there are just some really fun covers and titles this season, I can’t help it.) Really, though, this m/m romance stretches Opposites Attract across socioeconomic differences and outlook, which feels deeply relevant to me in the modern age. (And it never hurts to keep the California wildfires in mind this season, either.)

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Home Court Advantage

Author: Kimani Mae
Released: July 21, 2026
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance

Nola Young has worked hard to step outside of her superstar parents spotlight. Yes she may be genetically inclined to be a basketball star, but she’s made sure to prove her talent. She’d enjoy her time at the top more if it weren’t for her rival from college- Brittney Lee. Hot headed and constantly on Nola’s heels, the two can’t help but perpetuate the on court rivalry the media loves to play up.

Brittney Lee is having her best year yet. With her first championship ring on her finger and finally out the closet, and guilt free, she’s ready to change up her life. When she’s a free agent traded to the newly expanded Miami Waves, listening to her gut hasn’t backfired yet. But… why is Nola Young here too?

After unexpected career changes, Nola and Brittney find themselves, once rivals, now teammates. Back in close proximity, their college days and interconnected lives bubble to the surface with a chemistry they’re both in denial over. But are they honest enough to put their animosity to the side for their new team, especially when their feelings threaten to complicate things more?

The men’s NBA season may be over, but as usual, the women are holding it down. Been begging for WNBA Romance in novel form? Kimani Mae’s got you covered, following up last year’s Half Court Shot with Home Court Advantage, a rivals-to-teammates-to-lovers Romance with sculpted biceps to spare.

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Find buy links for this book here..

 

 

 

Awkwardly Ever After

Author: Lindsay Maple
Released: July 28, 2026 by MIRA
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Paranormal, Romance

“Lindsay Maple delivers… tenderly sketched characters and scorching heat.” —Julie Murphy & Sierra Simone, USA TODAY bestselling authors of A Merry Little Meet Cute

You know what they say about hex appeal…

Aubrey is cursed. Literally. One spell gone awry in high school landed her with the most embarrassing love life ever, and now any time Aubrey is in a romantic situation everything ends up being terribly awkward. Sometimes the dates go so badly her would-be partners end up in the emergency room with… intimate injuries.

Aubrey had accepted her lonely lot in life until she meets skeptical data analyst Lex. The unlikely friends team up on a series of data-collecting dates to figure out what makes the curse tick, and what they can do to stop it… but what if that means facing the most awkward situation possible?

To break the curse, Aubrey is forced into her toughest decision date the safe, data-proven perfect candidate, or follow her heart into the unknown with the growing feelings she has for the one person she never imagined being with.

Will she ever get a shot at true love, or is she cursed beyond curing?

I have such an affinity for the pairing of the dreamy and the practical, and I’m always down for late-in-life queer rep (plus what feels like increasingly rare pan rep), so I’m excited to see Maple (Holly Jolly July) returning with a new one that feels like the perfect quirky, tropetastic poolside reading. Happy summer indeed!

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Want to order this one? We’ve got the links you need!.

 

 

 

I haven’t been a big rah-rah fan of July 4 for several years (since…2016 maybe? Wonder why?) and for several years it was a very stressful holiday for my dogs, and therefore for us. Our solution for our dogs, if you need help: a Bluetooth speaker turned up very loud playing brown noise (the worst name for a pretty good sleeping aid). That would cover a lot of the noise, though the vibrations were tough for them to deal with.

But even though my dogs have moved on to the dog park in the great beyond,  this year I’m really not into celebrating the US.

I’ve said a few times that I think every hundred years for a country is comparable to 1 year of human development. So we’re 2 and a half this year, and…I think my theory holds a lot of water, honestly.

So for this week’s Friday Video, a Melody Sheep production that was taken down and reposted of Charlie Chaplin’s speech as Adenoid Hynkel from The Great Dictator:

“Do not despair. The hate of men will pass and dictators die.”

Friday Videos wish you a peaceful weekend, with happiness and tranquility and much, much love.

Kirsty writes what she calls “speculative romantic comedy,” and I really loved her first book, Love of my Afterlife.

We discuss SHOCKING topics like deleting the first book she tried to write, the character journeys in Romantic Hero, dealing with writer’s block, and punching people in the face.

Want to watch this episode? Find us on YouTube!

New! I’m posting clips from Romantic Times Rewind on TikTok! 

Read the transcript →

Here are the books we discuss in this podcast:

You can find Kirsty Greenwood at her website, KirstyGreenwood.com, and sign up for her newsletter. You can also find her on Instagram and on Facebook at KirstyGreenwoodBooks.

You can also listen to us discussing Love of my Afterlife in Episode 622. The Love of My Afterlife with Kirsty Greenwood.

We also mentioned:

• The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
• The Heated Rivalry Unauthorized Parody Musical
• My review of The Heated Rivalry Unauthorized Parody Musical
• Merrily We Go Along on Broadway
• The first performance after Jonathan Groff won the Tony for this performance (TikTok)

And I forgot to mention that today’s joke is a combination of jokes from Victor882 and Murseman1964.

If you like the podcast, you can subscribe to our feed, or find us at iTunes. You can also find us on Stitcher, and Spotify, too. We also have a cool page for the podcast on iTunes.

More ways to sponsor:

Sponsor us through Patreon! (What is Patreon?)

What did you think of today's episode? Got ideas? Suggestions? You can talk to us on the blog entries for the podcast or talk to us on Facebook if that's where you hang out online. You can email us at sbjpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave us a message at our Google voice number: 201-371-3272. Please don't forget to give us a name and where you're calling from so we can work your message into an upcoming podcast.

Thanks for listening!

Remember to subscribe to our podcast feed, find us on iTunes or on Stitcher.

Voidwalker

From the author of The Phoenix Keeper comes an era-defining new fantasy universe where spicy romantasy meets the Cosmere, unmissable for fans of the world-building scale of Sarah J. Maas and the world-shifting stakes of Rebecca Yarros. Voidwalker will be your next romantasy obsession, a deliciously feral story that starts with just two “bite me.”

Fionamara is a smuggler. Antal is the reason her people fear the dark. Fi ferries contraband between worlds, stockpiling funds and stolen magic to keep her village self-sufficient – free from the blood sacrifices humans have paid to Antal’s immortal species for centuries.

Only legends whispered through the pine forests recall a time when things were different, before one world shattered into many, and the flesh-devouring beasts crept from the cracks between realities, with their sable antlers and slender tails, lethal claws and gleaming fangs. Now, mortal lives are food to pacify their carnivorous overlords, exchanged for feudal protection, and the precious silver energy that fuels everything from transport to weaponry.

When Fi gets planted with a stash of smuggled energy, a long-lost flame recruits her for a reckless heist that escalates into a terrorist bombing – and a coup against the reigning immortals, with Fi’s home caught in the crossfire.

She’s always known the dangers of her trade – and of the power she’s wielded since childhood, allowing her to see the secret doors between dimensions, to walk the Void itself. But nothing could have prepared her for crossing paths with Antal. For the deal she’ll have to make with him, a forced partnership to reclaim his city that begins as a desperate bid for survival, only to grow into something far more dangerous.

A revolution. And a temptation – for how sweet the monster’s fangs might feel.

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Princeweaver

Princeweaver by Elian J. Morgan is $1.99! I mentioned this on Get Rec’d for fans of Winter’s Orbit or A Taste of Gold and Iron.

Their marriage is to save a warring kingdom. But in the process, it might destroy them both…

Born with forbidden, nature-infused magic in an occupied land, anxious apothecary Meilyr survives by keeping his head down. Until he ends up engaged to invading prince Osian in order to save his brother’s life. Now, he is in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse to hide his true self.

When nobles in Osian’s court are gruesomely murdered by the same magic that flows through his veins, Meilyr realises someone is seeking revenge for his homeland. As suspicion towards him grows, he and the prince work together to uncover the killer, or risk losing the crown – or their lives.

Between court politics, unwieldy magic and a murderer on the loose, Meilyr must keep his wits about him. Especially as his feelings for Osian grow deeper with every passing day…

Combines the court intrigue and slow-burn yearning of A Taste of Gold and Iron with the folkloric grounding and lore that readers of Naomi Novik and Stephanie Garber will enjoy.

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

The Ten Thousand Doors of January

RECOMMENDED: The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow is $1.99! I read this one and gave it a B+:

If you’re in the mood for a lovely, tender fantasy novel about belonging and one that feels more like a long, relaxing bath than a hot, intense shower will all of the fancy pressure and pulsating settings you can imagine, you’ll love this one. It’s a soothing pick for when you hope to take comfort in a book

In the early 1900s, a young woman searches for her place in the world after finding a mysterious book in this captivating and lyrical debut. 

In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place.

Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Murder on Black Swan Lane

Murder on Black Swan Lane by Andrea Penrose is $2.99! This is the first book in the historical mystery Wrexford & Sloane series. Are you a fan?

In Regency London, an unconventional scientist and a fearless female artist form an unlikely alliance to expose unspeakable evil . . .

The Earl of Wrexford possesses a brilliant scientific mind, but boredom and pride lead him to reckless behavior. So when pompous, pious Reverend Josiah Holworthy publicly condemns him for debauchery, Wrexford unsheathes his rapier-sharp wit and strikes back. As their war of words escalates, London’s most popular satirical cartoonist, A.J. Quill, skewers them both. But then the clergyman is found slain in a church—his face burned by chemicals, his throat slashed ear to ear—and Wrexford finds himself the chief suspect.

An artist in her own right, Charlotte Sloane has secretly slipped into the persona of her late husband, using his nom de plume A.J. Quill. When Wrexford discovers her true identity, she fears it will be her undoing. But he has a proposal—use her sources to unveil the clergyman’s clandestine involvement in questionable scientific practices, and unmask the real murderer. Soon Lord Wrexford and the mysterious Mrs. Sloane plunge into a dangerous shadow world hidden among London’s intellectual enclaves to trap a cunning adversary—before they fall victim to the next experiment in villainy . . .

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

When I read the following scene near the start of Big Stick Energy, I knew I was going to have a good time with this hockey romance.

The captain, Eric (our hero) describes his teammates getting off the bus by saying “I watch as they file toward the front, a procession of exhausted millionaires griping like toddlers before nap time.”

It made me hoot with laughter. I thought, here was a sports romance that a non-sports fan could enjoy and that proved an accurate prediction.

Eric doesn’t date, he only does casual. Darcy, the team GM’s assistant, also only does short term (mostly because she picks duds). When both are invited to the same family/family-adjacent wedding, they decide to be each other’s date and act as buffers when their respective families become too much. It is the wedding of Darcy’s half brother and a close family friend of Eric’s. On both sides of the family, there are heaps of hurt feelings and shitty behaviour. Their arrangement escalates quickly into a fake relationship. Cue sexual fireworks and big feelings.

The truth is Darcy has had a crush on Eric for years, but never acted on it because he ‘dates’ models and other celebrities. She is (in her words) just an admin. Eric has been paying attention to Darcy for years though (he knows how she takes her coffee and what her favourite pie is) but never considered dating her.

The conflict between them is frustrating, mostly because of Darcy. Early on in the story, Eric and Darcy admit to each other that they’re crushing on each other. At that stage, Darcy claimed that Eric couldn’t possibly be interested in her.

When he is clearly interested in her, she changes her tune and is then adamant that nothing lasting can come from their fake relationship. She talks about the real perils of workplace romances and how she’ll come off second best if things between them go badly and the choice is between keeping on ‘an admin’ or the captain of the team. I would have liked more consistency on the barrier to them being together, rather than Darcy shifting the goalposts as they grew closer. But that might be a personal preference.

This is the second book in the series and the couple from the first feature quite heavily. I’m sure I would have got a real kick out of that if I’d read book one! I had no problems reading this as a standalone though.

There is a fair amount of spice in Big Stick Energy, including the lightest touch of role play and bondage. Sometimes Eric wiggles his eyebrows too much when he uses innuendo. I realise that is a very specific turnoff, but I’m a firm believer that eyebrow wiggling should be kept to a minimum. Naturally, your mileage may vary on this point.

While I enjoyed this one and read it (almost) voraciously, it didn’t stick with me long after I finished it. To use a common aphorism, this story was ‘here for a good time, not a long time’ with me. I don’t think this book will set anyone’s world on fire, but it is a very pleasant diversion.

The transcript for Podcast 724. RT Rewind: May 1996 Ads & Features has been posted!

This podcast transcript was handcrafted with meticulous skill by Garlic Knitter. Many thanks.

❤ Click here to subscribe to The Podcast →

The Halifax Hellions

From USA Today bestselling author Alexandra Vasti comes The Halifax a pair of sexy, hilarious romps in which the most scandalous ladies in London finally meet their match.

From the day of their debut, when Matilda smoked a cheroot and Margo tied a cherry stem in a knot with her tongue, the Halifax twins have flouted convention at every turn. But when Matilda runs off with the dangerous Marquess of Ashford—who has every reason to hate her—she may have gone a bit too far.

Determined to stop Matilda’s inexplicable elopement, her sister Margo turns to her oldest friend for because if anyone can get her to Scotland in time, it’s starchy solicitor Henry Mortimer. But the road to Scotland is paved with secrets. Beneath his buttoned-up exterior, Henry is ardently, wildly, miserably in love with Margo. And Matilda and Ashford’s relationship too may not be quite what it seems.

Between salacious engravings, secret identities, and demanding feral cats, nothing about the journey goes as planned. With the Halifax Hellions at the reins, a week in a carriage is exactly enough time to turn the world upside down . . . and, perhaps, find the love stories they never expected.

For the first time ever in print, The Halifax Hellions brings together Margo and Matilda’s novellas, along with a swoony new epilogue.

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Forget Me Not

Forget Met Not by Julie Soto is $1.99! This was Soto’s contemporary romance debut and I mentioned it on a previous Hide Your Wallet. I liked this one! The book does switch between past and current events to show more of the main couple’s previous history, but I understand it could be a jarring format for the reader.

An ambitious wedding planner must work with her grumpy florist ex, whose heart she broke, on the most high-profile wedding of her career, in this spicy and emotional romance from popular fanfic author Julie Soto.

He loves me; he loves me not…

Ama Torres loves being a wedding planner. But with a mother who has been married more times than you can count on your fingers, Ama has decided that marriage is not the route for her. But weddings? Weddings are amazing. As a small business owner, she knows how to match her clients with the perfect vendor to give them the wedding of their dreams. Well, almost perfect…

Elliot hates being a florist, most of the time. When his father left him the flower shop, he considered it a burden, but he’s stuck with it. Just like how he’s stuck with the way he proposed to Ama, his main collaborator and girlfriend (or was she?) two years ago. But flowers have grown on him, just like Ama did. And flowers can’t run off and never speak to him again, like Ama did.

When Ama is hired to plan a celebrity wedding that will bring her business national exposure, there’s a catch: Elliot is already contracted to design the flowers. Things are not helped by the two brides, who see the obvious chemistry between Ama and Elliot and are determined to set them up, not knowing their complicated history. Add in a meddling ex-boss, and a reality TV film crew documenting every step of the wedding prep, and Ama and Elliot’s hearts are not only in jeopardy again, but this time, their livelihoods are too.

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Last First Kiss

Last First Kiss by Julian Winters is $2.99! This is a second chance romance and Dahlia mentioned it in her January 2026 Queer Romance Roundup.

Sparks fly in this second chance m/m rom com when an unlucky-in-love event manager realizes the man-of-honor at the high profile wedding he’s planning is the same man who broke his heart.

They say you never forget your first kiss. But Jordan Carter wishes he could forget the one he shared with Jamie Peters as teens. And the one they almost shared again last year before Jamie made it clear he wasn’t the “right” man for Jordan to be with while he’s figuring himself out.

Now, Jordan’s fully focused on his career at 24 Carter Gold, his family’s event planning company, and ready to move on – until his boss assigns him to plan a new client’s high-profile wedding. The bride’s man-of-honor? None other than Jamie.

As things ramp up the closer they get to the wedding, so does Jordan’s relationship with Jamie, with sarcastic asides turning into steamy hook-ups. But can Jordan afford to pursue Jamie if he’s still unsure who he is? Or is knowing who he loves enough? Venue shopping, cake-tastings, and dress fittings with the man he can’t forget just might change the man Jordan Carter is meant to become.

Last First Kiss by Julian Winters is a second chance romance about finding yourself–and the love of your life.

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

The Witch’s Cottage

The Witch’s Cottage by Emberly Wyndham is $1.49! This is book one in the Season of the Witch series. It mentions a cozy, grumpy/sunshine pairing.

He mends her cottage, she mends his heart.

When Aurora Silvermoon inherits her auntie’s cottage in the cozy village of Faunwood, she’s thrilled. But when she and her talking cat familiar, Harrison, arrive in early spring, it’s a different story. The paint is peeling, the veranda is about to fall clean off, and there are literal holes in the roof. The cottage needs a lot of work before she can call it a home.

Enter Alden Stonewood, the grumpy village carpenter. Though he agrees to help Aurora fix up her cottage, he has no intention of catching feelings for the little green-haired witch. But every time she flashes him a freckled smile or hands him a cup of steaming lavender tea, his frozen heart melts a little more, and he’s not so sure he’ll be able to resist her.

Add Studio Ghibli, Stardew Valley, and a delicious dash of spice into a cauldron, and you’ve got Season of the Witch, a cozy witch romance series for readers who want all the cottagecore witchy vibes with low stakes and low stress. Each book guarantees a short, spicy romance with an HEA and a new love interest added with every novella. Content suitable for readers 18+.

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

This is recurring fundraiser supported by authors, crafters, artists, and more.

This year, proceeds will go to Vote Riders and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. 

They’ve also partnered with Rainbow Broomfield so this year’s auction is going to be extremely powerful.

There are consults, crafts, books, limited editions – it’s going to be intense.

This year, Sarah has donated a cross stitch and RTRW Guest host spot. We previously offered up a guest host spot, which was won by frequent commenter FashionablyEvil. We had a blast!

Sarah was also part of a group annotation of Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. This edition has a trove of marginalia mayhem from Rose Lerner, Lish McBride, Sarah Wendell, Alexandra Vasti, Emma Barry, Candy Tan, and Olivia Waite, who organized the annotation.

Note from Sarah: This special edition of this book has one of the most romantic illustrations in the end papers and I could not stop looking at it.

The goal for the auction is $50,000.00, but by 10am they’ve already raised $14,042!

The auction will end July 5th, so keep that in mind when watching items.

Another note from Sarah: Y’all, there is a My Lady Jane behind the scenes photo book from the personal collection of showrunner Gemma Burgess. I loved that show!

And you can join a zoom with Courtney Milan telling you why Samuel Alito is a whiny pissbaby. Or buy a bottled fuck to give.

Do you see anything you want to bid on?

Chaos

Lore Olympus meets Winter’s Orbit in this pulse-pounding romance between a space mercenary and a super soldier whose mind-control breaks when she touches him.

He’s a mind controlled killing machine, until her touch frees him

Engineer Caro Ogunyemi thinks she has everything in control. Sure, she has a dark secret in her past and aim so bad that she can’t shoot the side of a spaceship when she’s right in front of it, but those are minor details in the life of a space mercenary. When Caro embarks on a solo mission infiltrating a prison planet that is run by the deadly Pierce family, she embraces the opportunity to prove she’s a hero.

It’s there that Caro meets Leviathan, a super soldier with a chip in his head that turns him into a mindless killer. He’s drop dead gorgeous with an emphasis on drop dead, until she touches him and renders his chip inert. The danger begins when she lets him go.

In the heart of enemy territory, where love is at stake, life is treacherous and time is short, Caro and Leviathan must figure out how to recover his agency, protect her crew from Pierce’s sinister machinations, and stage a prison-break before Leviathan is lost to her―and himself―forever.

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How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days

How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days by Jessie Sylva is 99c! We mentioned this one on Hide Your Wallet when it released in January. It’s a cozy fantasy with an opposites attract romance.

How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days is a comfort read fantasy romance between a halfling and a goblin: imagine a classic opposites-attract romcom taking place in those cosy scenes in the hobbits’ Shire from The Lord of the Rings. Expect magical forests, interfering wizards, lots of home cooking, and maybe even a kiss at the Harvest dance…

When a halfling, Pansy, and a goblin, Ren, each think they’ve inherited the same cottage, they make a bargain: they’ll live in the house together and whoever is driven out first forfeits their ownership. Amidst forced proximity and cultural misunderstandings, the two begin to fall in love.

But when the cottage – and their communities – are threatened by a common enemy, the duo must learn to trust each other, and convince goblins and halflings to band together to oust the tall intruder.

Perfect for fans of cosy fantasy novels including Legends and Lattes, The House in the Cerulean Sea and The Lord of the Rings.

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Provenance

Provenance by Ann Leckie is $2.99 and a KDD! Leckie is an autobuy author for a lot of sci-fi fans and while this book is set in the same world as her previous trilogy, I wonder if you need to read those to understand this one. If you know, please leave your thoughts in the comments!

Following her record-breaking debut trilogy, Ann Leckie, winner of the Hugo, Nebula, Arthur C. Clarke and Locus Awards, returns with a thrilling new story of power, theft, privilege and birthright.

A power-driven young woman has just one chance to secure the status she craves and regain priceless lost artefacts prized by her people. She must free their thief from a prison planet from which no one has ever returned.

Ingray and her charge will return to their home world to find their planet in political turmoil at the heart of an escalating interstellar conflict. Together, they must make a new plan to salvage Ingray’s future, her family and her world, before they are lost to her for good.

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Untie My Heart

Untie My Heart by Judith Ivory is 99c and a Kindle Daily Deal! This is an older Victorian historical romance. I remember it being recommended on  a podcast episode we did with Emily Nagoski and I added it to my TBR pile.

Stuart Aysgarth, the new Viscount Mount Villiars, doesn’t know he’s playing with fire when he inadvertently runs afoul of Emma Hotchkiss. True, the exquisite Yorkshire lady is a mere sheep farmer, but she also guards a most colorful past that makes her only more appealing to the handsome, haunted lord. Emma has come to him seeking justice — and Stuart is determined that she will not leave until she has shared her secrets … and his bed. Her clever revenge scheme must fail in the face of his soft words and tender caress — and then he turns the tables on his bewitching adversary, seducing her into a daring deception of his own…

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

The story takes place in the UK. He kidnaps her, assaults her, then sends the bloody evidence to her father. Over the course of her captivity with him they fall in love-ish (she’s in love, he’s still unable to connect to his big-boy feelings like so many brooding heroes of the 80s) but something happens and he thinks she’s betrayed him. He locks her in the attic after some kind of physical confrontation and she proceeds to pretty much starve and go mad and lose the pregnancy neither of them knew she had. He finds out that she didn’t betray him, and in remorse has her nursed back to health, said healing assisted by a kitten at one point. He sends her away/returns her, or her father rescues her or something. Later, her father captures him and is in the process of having him castrated as payback, but it’s only a partial gelding — just the one ball, not both.

So, the latter parts of the book are a bit fuzzy for me. I think she actually got pregnant by him again before she escaped or was sent away, because I vaguely remember a reconciliation scene where he finds her in a garden with a little boy who has his eyes. So, he’s a truly shitty hero, but it turns out that her father is even worse, and I think she is the one who rescues him from gelding and death by stopping her father.

This book was a bit odd not just for its darker tone but because the hero isn’t much older than she is. I think she’s 18, but he’s only like 22 or something when he kidnaps her. Oh, and the hero’s name might have been Christian.

I’d describe the cover, but they all kind of looked the same in that era and there might have been different versions. The one I read had the couple on some rocks next to a stormy sea and the hero had a face kind of like Bill Bixby — no flowing Fabio locks or anything.

Fingers crossed that somebody will know this title!

Can we find this one?

Happy Tuesday!

It’s the end of June and only three books made it onto our radars this week. The summer can be a little slow for books as most of the blockbuster beach reads have come out already.

What books are you looking forward to this week? Let us know in the comments!

Moss’d in Space

Author: Rebecca Thorne
Released: June 30, 2026 by Bramble
Genre: LGBTQIA, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: Moss'd in Space #1

USA Today Bestselling author Rebecca Thorne delights in a brand new cozy science-fiction romance series…for fans of Martha Wells! Features original inside art!

Torian Razner finally bought a starship, and contrary to Amelia’s assessment, it was not “a meteoric sign of stupidity.” Sure, the alien starship may have been abandoned for a century, and it may be covered in moss now… but it’s Torian’s ticket to freedom, regardless of what her ex… ah, captain… said.

Except Torian’s first flight reveals a surprise the moss is actually an organic computer with a snarky attitude and serious abandonment issues. The target of its loathing? The immortal alien who built it (and then parked the starship, with Moss inside, and forgot about it). The same alien who just found Torian and accused her of “stealing” the ship.

It’s entirely possible that Amelia was right about this meteoric stupidity.

Elyse’s pick!

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Want this book? Here are helpful buy links..

 

 

 

The Winged Game

Author: Sophie Kim
Released: June 30, 2026 by Del Rey
Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale Romance, Mystery/Thriller, Romance

Fantasy meets sports romance in this sizzling slow-burn novel in which the disgraced star of a brutal magical sport must team up with the rival who destroyed her career, from the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The God and the Gumiho.

“Fourth Wing-meets-rugby is something I didn’t know I needed in my life, but now I’m obsessed. The Winged Game is going to be the next big thing for sure!”—Ruby Dixon, New York Times bestselling author

Carriwitchet, the violent, rugby-esque game played atop winged beasts, was once Taissa Cho’s whole life, and she was once the United Kingdom’s most promising player. Until her nemesis, rival player Kion Locke, destroyed her career in a single moment. Expelled from the sport in disgrace, Taissa has spent the last two years dreaming of nothing but revenge and relishing watching Kion’s team plummet to the bottom of the league.

So when Taissa is offered the chance to redeem herself and her career, she can’t refuse—even if the offer is coming from the very man who ruined everything in the first place. It’s close to a dream come true . . . except for that pesky clause in her contract that demands she and Kion enter a fake relationship in order to garner some much-needed positive PR for the team. This could not be a worse match. Taissa and Kion only have two things in their love of the game, and their undying hatred for each other.

Yet as a mysterious illness befalls the winged creatures of the entire league—putting both the beasts’ lives and the very sport itself at stake—the athletes find themselves partnering up in other ways, determined to crack the case of the eerie sickness. As their investigation takes them on a whirlwind adventure, Kion and Taissa are prepared for anything . . .

Anything, that is, but their fake-for-the-cameras relationship to maybe, just maybe, become something real after all.

Amanda: This is one of my most anticipated 2026 releases and it’s a fantasy sports romance. I talked about it on a recent-ish podcast with Sarah.

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Want to order this one? We’ve got the links you need!.

 

 

 

Witch Season

Author: Julia Bianco
Released: June 30, 2026 by St. Martin's Press
Genre: Paranormal, Romance, Urban Fantasy
Series: Broken Coven #1

Exhilarating, dangerous, and seductive, Witch Season is an action-packed and fiercely romantic contemporary fantasy from debut author and screenwriter Julia Bianco.

That is the price of magic–not just the blood, but the pain to bring it out.

Katherine Barnes is an enforcer, charged with upholding the rules of the notorious Los Angeles-based Aestas coven. It’s her job to maintain order and bring unsettled witches–people who aren’t aware they have magic until it explodes out of them in a catastrophic burst–into the coven’s fold. As a former unsettled witch, Katherine owes her life to Sylvia Page, coven leader and silver-haired rebel who founded Aestas years ago.

When Silas Khatri, heir to Noctis, the most powerful coven in the world, arrives to take Aestas to task for some of their more unconventional practices, Katherine’s dislike for him reaches blistering levels. She hates his money, his good looks, his coven’s dangerous attitude towards unsettled witches. She can absolutely overlook that he sets her off in more ways than one.

But a powerful threat is about to rise. Stronger than any one coven. More insidious than the decades-long power struggle that exists in the hidden witch world. One that will pull Katherine and Silas together despite their differences. And one that will lead to an all-out war.

Amanda: In April, I ran a personal Rec League for more fantasy and sci-fi mafia romances and while this one is still contemporary, I think it’ll do!

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Six Wild Crowns

NO KING CAN RULE THEM ALL.

In a Tudor England infused with deadly magic, a very different history will unfold for the wives of Henry VIII. Perfect for fans of The Priory of the Orange Tree, Six Wild Crowns is an epic fantasy filled with legendary dragons, vicious courtly intrigue, and sapphic yearning. 

As tradition has it, the king of Elben must marry six queens and magically bind each of them to one of the island’s palaces or the kingdom will fall.

Clever, ambitious Boleyn is determined to be her beloved Henry’s favorite queen. She relishes the games at court and the political rivalries with his other wives. Seymour is the opposite – originally sent to Boleyn’s court as a reluctant spy and assassin, she ends up catching Henry’s eye and is forced into a loveless marriage with the king.

But when the two queens become the unlikeliest of things – friends and allies – the balance of power begins to shift. Together, they uncover a dark and deadly truth at the heart of the island’s magic. Boleyn and Seymour’s only hope of survival rests on uniting all six of the rival queens – but Henry will never let that happen.

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Daughter of Tides

Daughter of Tides by Kit Rocha is $1.99! This is book one of the Born to Sea and Storm series. However, Cleo mentioned that this is closely tied to their previous duology and may affect your reading experience if you’re unfamiliar.

From the author of Consort of Fire and Queen of Dreams comes a scorching romantasy novel full of courtly intrigue and erotic crackle riding the swells of immortal love.

Aleksi, the charming and charismatic god of love, is dying. But nothing can stop the Lover from completing his final quest: a dangerous diplomatic visit to a former adversary.

Setting sail for a mystical kingdom of ice, Aleksi is joined by Einar the Kraken, infamous pirate lord, and Naia, a sweet young water nymph. Intoxicated by the pair’s electric connection, Aleksi vows to enjoy his last days by playing matchmaker, pushing away his own desires for the sake of theirs. But he’s unexpectedly caught up in a raging game of seduction.

As the trio navigates turbulent seas and the political perils of the Ice Queen’s court, dark secrets reveal clues to one’s tragic past and another’s epic destiny. Aleksi’s powers spin out of control while love and lust run wild. And when enemies emerge from the shadows, the Lover is forced to make a choice. Will he give away his heart to save all that he holds dear?

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A Legend in the Baking

A Legend in the Baking by Jamie Wesley is $2.99! This is book two in the Sugar Blitz series. Maybe grab a sweet treat if you’re reading this one.

After accidentally going viral on social media, a cupcake-baking football player gets assistance from a social media maven—and his best friend’s little sister—to help promote his new bakery.

August Hodges was supposed to be the silent partner in Sugar Blitz Cupcakes. Emphasis on silent. That is until his impromptu feminist rant about how women bakers are the backbone of the industry and baking cupcakes isn’t a threat to masculinity goes viral, making him the hottest bachelor in town. With a new location in the works, August and his partners decide to capitalize on this perfect opportunity to help cement their place in the community. But the hiring of his best friend’s younger sister, the woman who has haunted some of his best dreams for years, was as much of a shock as his new-found fame.

Social media manager Sloane Dell fell hard for her brother’s best friend the moment she met him more than a decade ago, but that teenage infatuation cost her dearly. Still, she accepts her brother’s request to revamp the bakery’s social media presence to take advantage of August’s newfound popularity, knowing it’s the big break her fledgling career needs. She’ll just ignore the fact that August is still August, i.e. sexier and sweeter than any man has a right to be. And that he drives her crazy with his resistance to all her ideas.

They vow to leave the past in the past. But when an explosive make-out session makes it clear their attraction burns hotter than ever, Sloane and August are forced to reconsider what it means to take a risk and chase your dreams.

As they’re both about to find out, all’s fair in love and cupcakes.

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Here for the Wrong Reasons

Here for the Wrong Reasons by Annabel Paulsen and Lydia Wang is $1.99! We mentioned on a Hide Your Wallet last year and it’s a F/F reality TV romance. Have you read this one?

In this swoon-filled lesbian romcom, two dating show contestants vying for the affection of the leading man fall head over heels—for each other.

Fans of Ashley Herring Blake and Alexandria Bellefleur, and readers who love The Bachelor, will adore this steamy, laugh-out-loud debut romance.

Krystin knows exactly what she a husband, a horse, and a place to hang all her competitive rodeo blue ribbons. But when none of the eligible bachelors in Montana end up being right for her, she turns to reality TV. On Hopelessly Devoted, Krystin will compete against dozens of other women for the heart of this season’s Hopeless Romantic, Josh Rosen. She’s determined to win the perfect life she came here for—if she can just ignore the glossy brunette whose crimson smile gives her goosebumps.

Lauren has never done anything for the right reasons—and she’s definitely not on Hopelessly Devoted to win Josh’s heart. Lauren’s plan is simple: stay on the show long enough to build her social media following, and then gracefully leave when it’s her turn to be eliminated. With enough followers, she’ll finally have enough influencer clout to do whatever she wants—including come out of the proverbial walk-in closet. But the longer she stays on the show, the more she finds herself tangled up in a certain blonde’s lasso.

But neither contestant expects a heteronormative dating show to challenge their own deeply-ingrained ideas of who they are—and what they want. Fans of The Charm Offensive and Love Island will swoon for this sparkling debut romcom.

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I am RIDDLED with flu and seem to have spent most of the weekend waiting for my flu meds to kick in. To pass the time, I picked up Dearest Beast and it did a very good job of distracting me from my revolting sinuses and aching body.

Rebecca works as a midwife in London in the early 1800s. Our hero Roger’s truly horrific 9-year-old daughter Fannie sets fire to Rebecca’s workroom (and house) through her carelessness. As is written in Jewish law, Roger now needs to make whole what was ruined. So he undertakes repairs to Rebecca’s house and, because the house is not habitable, Rebecca stays with him and his two children in his massive home.

Roger works for his family’s surety company. While he and Rebecca detest each other, several months before the fire, Roger and Rebecca had spectacularly hot sex in a library at a friend’s ball. So the scene is set for FIREWORKS.

The plot follows Rebecca and Roger getting to know each other during the six weeks that she stays at his house. Rebecca is an Ashkenazi Jew who is not particularly popular but respected for her skills as a midwife. Roger is a Sephardi Jew who wants to be a leader in the Jewish community. He socialises with Gentiles and feels it is his mission to make the Jewish community as secure and safe in London as possible. That often means ‘putting aside’ his Jewishness and bending to the mores of the ton. If you take into account the views of the two groups that make up the Jewish population in London at the time, the two do not suit. His community looks down on hers, but more than that, Rebecca describes herself as an outsider and unpopular even within her own part of the community.

In the early chapters of the story I was tingly with excitement (and flu meds) at how these two would find their way to each other when there is such a barrier between them. Added to the barrier is the fact that they don’t like each other. Rebecca thinks that Roger is totally up himself and Roger thinks that Rebecca is pretty much a disgrace to the Jewish cause. Spoiler! Both are wrong!

For the HEA to happen, both Rebecca and Roger have to undergo a pretty significant transformation of their ideas of themselves and who they should be.

Rebecca, according to her childhood bullies, is cold, plain and unappealing. This is a description that she treats as objective fact for much of the book. While she has formed close friendships with the heroines from the first two books in this series, she still allows these bullies to dictate who she is. This cruel and inaccurate assessment is something she has to learn to put aside.

Roger’s transformation focuses on him working out what exactly it is he wants in his life and not what he thinks his life should include. For much of his life he has dedicated himself to ensuring the safety and security of his community and to being a paragon within that same group. But WHY does he feel like this is his burden? He has to learn to put down things which he does not want to carry.

But what about Fannie and her brother? My issue with children in romance novels is longstanding. So often they’re caricatures rather than believable characters. Fannie is thoroughly unlikeable at the start but as we spend time in Roger’s home, we get to know both children and their depiction is believable and interesting.

This is a thoroughly Jewish story. I am not Jewish or all that familiar with Judaism, so some of it went right over my head. That didn’t stand in the way of me enjoying the book though! There would be words or actions here and there that I didn’t understand, but they were not central to following the plot or the transformation of Roger and Rebecca.

However, the book does not shy away from the very real peril that Jewish people faced historically and at the time. It also doesn’t shy away from divisions within the Jewish community of London. There is a comprehensive author’s note at the end which gives more detail and it made for compelling reading itself. In this setting, it feels like a rebellion, hell, a revolution, to put love first. To look around you and consider your history and say, ‘damn the circumstances, I will have true love in my life’. I cheered, CHEERED, when we reached the HEA.

If you need your hero and heroine to overcome big obstacles to being together, if you like enemies-to-lovers who rage-bang at the start of a story, and if you enjoy rich historical detail, then Dearest Beast is well worth considering. I happily recommend it to the Bitchery.

From Pam G: They only get one wing each? How does that work? Like a three-legged race, only a mile up in the air? What if her hair gets tangled in her feathers? Pleather Warehouse would go broke without them.

Sarah: Maybe she has all those straps because they have to fly tethered together, as Pam G said, like a three legged race in the sky.

Amanda: They all look very plastic.

Elyse: It’s giving Taylor.

Amanda: Taylor would never show her forehead like that.

Sneezy: The lack of texture gives me uncanny valley.

From Kareni:  This looks rather gravity defying.

Sarah: Everything about this gives me the ick: the teeth. WHY SUCH TEETH. The perspective of the flip flops. And the absolute bullshit of this pose.

WHY SO MANY TEETH.

Elyse: Let’s just put the boat in a completely random area of the image. No centering required.

Sarah: And I think the boat is a stock image so it doesn’t match the rest of the image?

Elyse: It’s like a kids drawing of a boat.

Sneezy: The leaves look like stock too, but from another parallel reality. It’s just really jarring that it’s the only thing on the cover that uses obvious and blended shading.

Another from Pam G: Titular Snark for your crunchy delectation. And why–when cursive is nearly extinct–does it keep showing up on book covers?

Sarah: I feel the same way about Wine Mom Font as I do about Scriptina: ENOUGH. BANNED. STOP IT.

Amanda: The title feels like a UTI waiting to happen.

Sneezy: Oh, come on. Do FUN cursive. Enough of this bland shit. And has anyone actually had jam and dill pickles together? Is it an actual thing? (Please don’t be a thing.)

From Elle: I’ve enjoyed several of Katie Ruggle’s books but I think your Cover Snark readers might appreciate the surfeit of brow-furrowing material on this cover… the idea of pausing mid-climb for an upside-down kiss, the pun and the odd details of the figures. Does he have an extra joint in his left arm? Is she wearing a facial mask? And then there are the safety issues. I don’t know much about rock climbing, but her shoes don’t look up to the task and the places of harness straps looks questionable.

Sarah: Initially I was like, oh, that’s kinda cool but then I looked closer. Is he pulling her hair? Ow! Why is her face an entirely different shade? 100000000 points for the excellent pun, though. Well played.

Elyse: Is that bird taking a shit?

Sneezy: I don’t know if I’d trust any rope thing more than gravity, but good on them for having fun, I guess.

No, I change my mind, one’s upside down and the other’s pulling hair, GET DOWN THIS INSTANT!

1. The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett Amazon | B&N | Kobo
2. The Regency Romances by Laura Kinsale Amazon | B&N | Kobo
3. Dinner in One by Melissa Clark Amazon | B&N | Kobo
4. Baking for Two by America's Test Kitchen Amazon | B&N | Kobo
5. Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson Amazon | B&N | Kobo | GooglePlay
6. My Funny Demon Valentine by Aurora Ascher Amazon | B&N | Kobo
7. The Love Haters by Katherine Center Amazon | B&N | Kobo
8. Deep End by Ali Hazelwood Amazon | B&N | Kobo
9. The Nanny’s Handbook to Magic and Managing Difficult Dukes by Amy Rose Bennett Amazon | B&N | Kobo
10. The Trident and the Pearl by Sarah K.L. Wilson Amazon | B&N | Kobo

I hope your weekend reading was wonderful!

Lara: I’m reading a new-to-me Regency romance author: Rachel Griffiths. The book is called Just for the Season ( A | BN | K | AB ) and so far it’s a delight. Not a lot of historical detail which is usually not for me, but the heroine has such verve and bite, that I’m a fan anyway. Full review coming!

Claudia: Trying to continue with Amy Rose Bennett’s The Governess’s Guide to Spells and Managing Misfit Marquesses ( A | BN | K | AB ) but I don’t know. Not feeling it.

Sarah: I’m reading Scandal of the Summer by Alexandra Vasti ( A | BN | K | AB ) and it is CHARMING AF.

Amanda: Pregnancy has me all over the place. Two weekends ago, I read three books and then haven’t touched anything since. I also keep vacillating between dark romances and Why Choose romances.

At the top of my pile right now is Beautiful Venom by Rina Kent. ( A | BN )

Whatcha reading? Tell us in the comments!

The Paradise Problem

Christina Lauren, returns with a delicious new romance between the buttoned-up heir of a grocery chain and his free-spirited artist ex as they fake their relationship in order to receive a massive inheritance.

Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam “West” Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she’d signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways.

Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There’s just one catch.

Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather’s will, Liam won’t see a penny until he’s been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he’s in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he’s afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents—his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife.

But in the presence of his family, Liam’s fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.

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Part of Your World

RECOMMENDED: Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez is $2.99! I liked this one. It was tender and sweet and funny. It also has an older heroine. A couple other Jimenez books are also part of Prime Day deals.

The New York Times bestselling author of Life’s Too Short delivers a refreshingly modern fairy tale perfect for fans of Casey McQuiston and Emily Henry.

After a wild bet, gourmet grilled-cheese sandwich, and cuddle with a baby goat, Alexis Montgomery has had her world turned upside down. The cause: Daniel Grant, a ridiculously hot carpenter who’s ten years younger than her and as casual as they come—the complete opposite of sophisticated city-girl Alexis. And yet their chemistry is undeniable.

While her ultra-wealthy parents want her to carry on the family legacy of world-renowned surgeons, Alexis doesn’t need glory or fame. She’s fine with being a “mere” ER doctor. And every minute she spends with Daniel and the tight-knit town where he lives, she’s discovering just what’s really important. Yet letting their relationship become anything more than a short-term fling would mean turning her back on her family and giving up the opportunity to help thousands of people.

Bringing Daniel into her world is impossible, and yet she can’t just give up the joy she’s found with him either. With so many differences between them, how can Alexis possibly choose between her world and his?

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Swift and Saddled

Swift and Saddled by Lyla Sage is $1.99! This is book two in the Rebel Blue Ranch series. I’ve read and enjoyed book one. I do plan to continue with the series, but small town contemporaries aren’t where my brain is at right now.

She’s the city girl who refuses to be saddled with a man. He’s the cowboy who wants her anyway.

The last thing Ada Hart needs is a man to take care of her. Not anymore. After failing out of her interior design program and the disaster that was her short-lived marriage, Ada clawed her way up from her rock bottom. Now, the only person she trusts is herself, and that has gotten her further than ever before. She has her own business, and one of the largest ranches in Wyoming just hired her for the most important project of her career.

When Ada arrives in Meadowlark, she finds herself in a dive bar where she can’t seem to shake the eyes of a handsome cowboy. When she leads him to the back of the bar, he leaves her with a kiss that most people can only fantasize about. She almost regrets that she’ll never see him again…except it turns out he’s her new boss.

Weston Ryder is a happy guy. Even happier now that the mystery woman from the bar is the interior designer for his dream project on his family’s ranch. He feels like he hit the jackpot. Too bad she wants absolutely nothing to do with him outside of work. Ada is convinced the pull she feels toward Wes will go away, but Wes can’t stop thinking about her. Even though walls are coming down around Rebel Blue, Ada’s walls are firmly in place.

Can they make it through this project without giving in? Or will they both put their dreams on the line for a chance at love?

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Reel

Reel by Kennedy Ryan is $1.99! This is a romance set in Hollywood, if that happens to be your catnip. It has also gone a cover redesign (which I don’t love) and a bonus epilogue as been added. The ISBN has been updated and I wonder what happens to copies of the former edition. Do they poof off your ereader?

This beautiful edition of a heart-searing epic romance has metallic cover effects and an all-new 7000-word bonus epilogue!

Neevah Saint is ready for the spotlight. After months as an understudy, this is her night to shine. She never imagined he would be in the audience. Canon Holt. Famous film director. Fascinating. Talented. Fine.

Before she can catch her breath, everything is changing. Neevah goes from backstage Broadway to center stage Hollywood. From being unknown, to having her name on everyone’s lips when Canon casts her as the lead in a star-studded Harlem Renaissance biopic.

But forbidden attraction, scandal, and circumstances beyond Neevah’s control soon put her dream in jeopardy. Could this one shot—the role of a lifetime, the love of a lifetime—cost her everything?

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The Jasad Heir

The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem is $1.99! This is book one in The Scorched Throne series. I heard about this one through a reading newsletter one of my friends sends out. She isn’t a big romance reader, but had great things to say about this fantasy romance.

Ten years ago, the kingdom of Jasad burned. Its magic outlawed; its royal family murdered down to the last child. At least, that’s what Sylvia wants people to believe.

The lost Heir of Jasad, Sylvia never wants to be found. She can’t think about how Nizahl’s armies laid waste to her kingdom and continue to hunt its people—not if she wants to stay alive. But when Arin, the Nizahl Heir, tracks a group of Jasadi rebels to her village, staying one step ahead of death gets trickier.

In a moment of anger Sylvia’s magic is exposed, capturing Arin’s attention. Now, to save her life, Sylvia will have to make a deal with her greatest enemy. If she helps him lure the rebels, she’ll escape persecution.

A deadly game begins. Sylvia can’t let Arin discover her identity even as hatred shifts into something more. Soon, Sylvia will have to choose between the life she wants and the one she left behind. The scorched kingdom is rising, and it needs a queen.

In this Egyptian-inspired debut fantasy, a fugitive queen strikes a deadly bargain with her greatest enemy and finds herself embroiled in a complex game that could resurrect her scorched kingdom or leave it in ashes forever.

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You, with a View

You, with a View by Jessice Joyce is $1.99! This was previously mentioned on Hide Your Wallet. Social media and road trip elements play a large part of this romance.

Two high school enemies must reunite for a road trip inspired by their grandparents’ broken engagement in this electric debut romance.

Noelle Shepard is unemployed, living with her parents, and grieving the loss of her beloved grandmother when she discovers decades-old photos of Gram and a smitten man, tucked alongside a love letter. She creates a TikTok to search for the mystery man, which goes viral, and she’s shocked when his grandson responds—a man who happens to be her high school nemesis, Theo Spencer.

Noelle refuses to let Theo’s annoying accomplishments in adulthood—or his sexy smirk—stand in the way of meeting his grandfather and unlocking the secrets he knew about her gram as a young woman. When she learns that their plans to elope were thwarted, Noelle decides to take the honeymoon road trip they planned but never got to carry out. There’s a catch, though: Paul, Theo’s grandfather, asks to come with her, and he insists that Theo join them.

It’ll be a miracle if they make it through the trip without Noelle throwing Theo out of the moving car—or the bed they end up sharing. As the miles tick by, the tension simmers hotter between them…until she discovers that Theo’s hiding a secret that could cause their tenuous relationship to end before it can restart.

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Seven Days in June

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams is $2.99! One of Williams’ other romances also has a Netflix adaptation. I remember this working well as a gateway book for people to give contemporary romances a try.

Seven days to fall in love, fifteen years to forget and seven days to get it all back again… From the author of The Perfect Find, this is a witty, romantic, and sexy-as-hell new novel of two writers and their second chance at love.

Brooklynite Eva Mercy is a single mom and bestselling erotica writer, who is feeling pressed from all sides. Shane Hall is a reclusive, enigmatic, award-winning literary author who, to everyone’s surprise, shows up in New York.

When Shane and Eva meet unexpectedly at a literary event, sparks fly, raising not only their past buried traumas, but the eyebrows of New York’s Black literati. What no one knows is that twenty years earlier, teenage Eva and Shane spent one crazy, torrid week madly in love. They may be pretending that everything is fine now, but they can’t deny their chemistry-or the fact that they’ve been secretly writing to each other in their books ever since.

Over the next seven days in the middle of a steamy Brooklyn summer, Eva and Shane reconnect, but Eva’s not sure how she can trust the man who broke her heart, and she needs to get him out of New York so that her life can return to normal. But before Shane disappears again, there are a few questions she needs answered. . .

With its keen observations of Black life and the condition of modern motherhood, as well as the consequences of motherless-ness, Seven Days in June is by turns humorous, warm and deeply sensual.

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The Night Circus

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is $2.99! This fantasy novel was everywhere when it came out and does seem to have romantic elements. While the setting captured readers’ attentions, some wished it had more emotional depth.

Two starcrossed magicians engage in a deadly game of cunning in The Night Circus, the spellbinding bestseller that has captured the world’s imagination.

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance.

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The Road of Bones

The Road of Bones by Demi Winters is $1.99! This is book one in The Ashen series and mentions a road trip element. This is another fantasy romance that I believe was indie pubbed and then got picked up.

In this epic and immersive Viking-inspired romantic fantasy, a woman fleeing a ruthless assassin accidentally joins forces with agroup of thieves and must use all her cunning to escape with her life—and heart—intact.

Silla Nordvig is running for her life.

The Queen of Íseldur has sent warriors to bring Silla to Sunnavík, where death awaits her. When her father is killed, his last words set Silla on a perilous travel the treacherous Road of Bones—a thousand-mile stretch haunted by warbands, creatures of darkness, and a mysterious murderer—and go to Kopa, where a shield-house awaits her.

After barely surviving the first stretch of road, a desperate Silla sneaks into a supply wagon belonging to the notorious Bloodaxe Crew. To make it to Kopa, she must win over Axe Eyes, the brooding leader of the Crew, while avoiding the Wolf, his distractingly handsome right-hand man. All the while, the queen’s ruthless assassin hunts Silla obsessively.

Will Silla make it safely to Kopa? Or will she fall prey to the perils of the Road of Bones?

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The Amalfi Curse

The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner is $2.99! Penner’s books usually have a mix of mystery and magical realism. Have you read any?

“Sarah Penner transported me to the sea-swept cliffs of Positano and introduced me to characters I’ll never forget. A magical read!”
—Emilia Hart, New York Times bestselling author of The Sirens

Powerful witchcraft. A hunt for sunken treasure. Forbidden love on the high seas. Beware the Amalfi Curse…

Haven Ambrose, a trailblazing nautical archaeologist, has come to the sun-soaked village of Positano to investigate the mysterious shipwrecks along the Amalfi Coast. But Haven is hoping to find more than old artifacts beneath the azure waters; she is secretly on a quest to locate a trove of priceless gemstones her late father spotted on his final dive. Upon Haven’s arrival, strange maelstroms and misfortunes start plaguing the town. Is it nature or something more sinister at work?

As Haven searches for her father’s sunken treasure, she begins to unearth a centuries-old tale of ancient sorcery and one woman’s quest to save her lover and her village by using the legendary art of stregheria, a magical ability to harness the ocean. Could this magic be behind Positano’s latest calamities? Haven must unravel the Amalfi Curse before the region is destroyed forever…

Against the dazzling backdrop of the Amalfi Coast, this bewitching novel shimmers with mystery, romance and the untamed magic of the sea.

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Got some snacks? A nice drink?

And if you’re in Europe, an ice water bathtub? (I’m thinking of y’all. I hope the heat breaks soon.)

Let’s go back to May 1996!

The cover of the magazine is truly one of the greatest we’ve looked at. She’s got ALL her clothes on, John De Salvo’s nipple is in Grave Danger, and her gun is extremely large.

The cover of Lady Deception, and she is gonna shoot John De Salvo. She is determined.

Here are some other Bobbi Smith covers that are equally glorious.

The Lady’s Hand by Bobbi Smith: she also has all her clothing on and all the cards in her hand (yeah, girl) while he’s got…a brocade vest, a fluffy shirt open BUT STILL TUCKED IN.

The heroine is a riverboat card shark:

UNLUCKY AT CARDS…Cool-headed and ravishingly beautiful, Brandy O’Neill knew how to hold her own with the river boat gamblers on the Pride of New Orleans. But she met her match in Rafe Morgan when she bet everything she had on three queens and discovered that the wealthy plantation owner had a far-from-gentlemanly notion of how she should make good on her wagers.

LUCKY IN LOVE…Disillusioned with romance, Rafe wanted a child of his own to care for, without the complications of a woman to break his heart. Now a full house had given him just the opportunity he was looking for—he would force the lovely cardsharp to marry him and give him a child before he’d set her free. But a firecracker-hot wedding night and a glimpse into Brandy’s tender heart soon made Rafe realize he’d been luckier than he ever imagined when he won…THE LADY’S HAND.

And, of course, Heaven by Bobbi Smith, with Hot Oates.

This is the inside cover of the magazine: Cindy Guyer Romance Dolls!

The dolls look pretty tall – Amanda says this one is giving American Girl doll:

And you can buy some on eBay! This one below is $30.

Creepy dolls! That is a new RT development and we are very pleased.

There are a few covers that were advertised in the magazine in black and white, but even in that format it was something.

So I went to find them in COLOR.

Amanda thinks that dude looks dead. I don’t think she’s wrong.

And check out that Crystal Gayle hair!

Recently we met The Mackenzies: Cleve by Ana Leigh, and my apologies for the blurry image. There are not many images of this cover.

Look at that shiny, smarmy man. Just smarming all over her. Though again, I dig it when the women have all their clothing on, but on a romance cover, the guy is ALWAYS allergic to shirts.

Well, this month, we’re meeting Luke.

Look at this Lisa Frank-attacked-the-bi-pride-flag color scheme right here!

He’s so orange. And also smarmy.

But this is the new cover. I’m sorry to report it’s kind of a downgrade.

I say this in the episode, the problem with photographs for pictures like these is that the rendering of what we like to call O Face in art, in digital illustration and oil paintings, looks okay. Or maybe I’m used to it but O Face on an old skool cover might look weird but it doesn’t look…like this.

In a photograph, O Face looks…drunk? Sleepy? Slack jawed and tired? Hopped on quaaludes?

That facial expression doesn’t look good in photographs. It’s one way in which you can’t replicate the original style. In a photo, it just looks like an awkward moment.

Neither of these covers are great and all of these men have a smarm index of 79%, but I’d choose the old one every time.

This is yet another cover that was meh in black and white but in color is kind of startling. Flag background aside, there’s a whole ass war going on behind them, but she’s got that 80s hair I wished I’d had when I was younger.

Also look at that stubby ponytail and that big puffy shirt. Do you think there’s just one puffy shirt and the cover models loan it to each other? Giant sleeves, voluminous body, and the buttons are pristine because they HAVE to wear it unbuttoned but NEVER TUCKED IN.

‘Tis the law.

This book is set in…

wait, you should guess.

Go on, guess.

80s? Maybe the 70s?

Nope. This is set in Arizona territory in 1863.

Look at those tearaway athletic pants! And the very slender waist! And the pec shelf!

BUT WHERE ARE HER LEGS. WHERE ARE THEY. Where. WHERE.

Speaking of legs, I genuinely wasn’t sure if this dude is bare assed in the grass.

This is also a time travel with a doctor who goes back in time to a Confederate hospital. Yikes on a moped.

To quote Amanda, if he’s coming up behind you like that, what you’re feeling is NOT a pea.

I think he’s trying to convince her to go to the nether regions, if you know what I mean, and I am sure that you do.

But this is the pièce de résistance: this is the centerfold of the magazine.

A full color image of THE STEPBACK of Bride of Fortune by Shirl Henke.

We’ll start with the horse, who looks annoyed.

AND LOOK AT THIS.

LOOK AT THIS. LOOK AT IT.

• He has a curly fluffy mullet that is glowing in the sun. His mullet is fulsome and his curls are in charge of this moment.
• GLOWING MULLET.
• He’s got a white shirt with giant ass sleeves and is it unbuttoned BUT STILL TUCKED IN? Yes. Yes, it is.
• And his big pirate sleeves are rolled up because this artist suspected that forearms are hot and they were right.
• He’s got chest hair! And a peekaboo nipple!
• But look at that bandolier. What sad tidings for this nipple. That bullet-studded bandolier across his chest is going to take that nipple right off. Or wear a bare patch across all that hair.
• That’s got to chafe, right? Maybe the back is lined with silk.
• But also, don’t miss the trousers: he is a gun THE LENGTH OF HIS THIGH, and a knife.
• And that waist! I believe the word is “snatched.”

This is one of the greatest romance illustrations I’ve ever seen, and I will not entertain arguments otherwise.

So those are the visual aids for Episode 724. If you’d like to watch us discussing all of the above and a few (many) other moments from the episode, here’s a YouTube video.

You can find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or you can listen right here:

Which one is your favorite from this collection?

May your mullet glow today!

It’s either blankets or bug spray, your choice.

I hope you have lovely plans ahead of you, and lots of pleasant weather to enjoy, regardless of season.

I have no sense of time whatsoever. The passage of time is meaningless (5 minutes? 5 hours? Couldn’t tell you) and the existence of time as a concept is an eternal mystery. So to make sure I’m somewhat on time for whatever is on my calendar, I play music while I’m in the shower to roughly gauge how much time has passed.

Lately I’ve been diving back into music I liked and have forgotten about, and I remembered this cover of “32 Flavors” by Ani DiFranco by Alana Davis:

And if you’d like to hear the original, which isn’t too different but a little longer:

What are your favorite covers? What’s on your summer playlist?

We also discover just how much creepy stuff Amanda owns currently, debates about babies in romance, cheap conference hotel rooms, woman flamingos, and incredible women heroines.

I don’t know if you’re a video watcher, but the video for this episode has ALL the visuals on screen. 

But if you’re NOT a video watcher, the visual aids were so bountiful I needed to give them their own post. 

Read the transcript →

Here are the books we discuss in this podcast:

We also mentioned:

• eBay: Cindy Guyer Romance Dolls
• This doll is $30! 
• Cindy Guyer (wiki)
• eBay: The Raider Barbie Set
• eBay: Baby Teeth Jewelry
• eBay: Apache Flame tshirt
• Nora: Go Fish (TikTok)
• Rosebound Books, New Jersey
• Number One London Tours 

If you like the podcast, you can subscribe to our feed, or find us at iTunes. You can also find us on Stitcher, and Spotify, too. We also have a cool page for the podcast on iTunes.

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Sponsor us through Patreon! (What is Patreon?)

What did you think of today's episode? Got ideas? Suggestions? You can talk to us on the blog entries for the podcast or talk to us on Facebook if that's where you hang out online. You can email us at sbjpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave us a message at our Google voice number: 201-371-3272. Please don't forget to give us a name and where you're calling from so we can work your message into an upcoming podcast.

Thanks for listening!

Remember to subscribe to our podcast feed, find us on iTunes or on Stitcher.

Deep End

A competitive diver and an ace swimmer jump into forbidden waters in this steamy college romance from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis.

Scarlett Vandermeer is swimming upstream. A Junior at Stanford and a student-athlete who specializes in platform diving, Scarlett prefers to keep her head down, concentrating on getting into med school and on recovering from the injury that almost ended her career. She has no time for relationships—at least, that’s what she tells herself.

Swim captain, world champion, all-around aquatics golden boy, Lukas Blomqvist thrives on discipline. It’s how he wins gold medals and breaks records: complete focus, with every stroke. On the surface, Lukas and Scarlett have nothing in common. Until a well-guarded secret slips out, and everything changes.

So they start an arrangement. And as the pressure leading to the Olympics heats up, so does their relationship. It was supposed to be just a temporary, mutually satisfying fling. But when staying away from Lukas becomes impossible, Scarlett realizes that her heart might be treading into dangerous water…

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Can’t Get Enough

Can’t Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan is $2.99! This is book three in the Skyland contemporary romance series. Have you read any of these? Do you have a favorite?

“Kennedy Ryan pours her whole soul into everything she writes, and it makes for books that are heart-searing, sensual, and life affirming.” ―EMILY HENRY

Hendrix Barry lives a fabulous life. She has phenomenal friends, a loving family, and a thriving business that places her in the entertainment industry’s rarefied air. Your vision board? She’s probably living it.

She’s a woman with goals, dreams, ambitions—always striving upward. And in the midst of everything, she’s facing her toughest challenge caring for an aging parent.

Who has time for romance? From her experience, there’s a low ROI on relationships. She hasn’t met the man who can keep up with her anyway. Until…him.

Tech mogul Maverick Bell is a dilemma wrapped in an exquisitely tailored suit and knee-melting charm. From their first charged glance at the summer’s hottest party, Hendrix feels like she’s met her match. Only he can’t be. Mav may be the first to make her feel this seen and desired and appreciated, but he’s the last one she can have. Forbidden fruit is the juiciest, and this man is off limits if she plans to stay the course she’s set for herself.

But when Maverick gives chase—pursuing her, spoiling her, understanding her—is it time to let herself have something more?

“One of the finest romance writers of our age.” –Entertainment Weekly

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Blood of Hercules

Blood of Hercules by Jasmine Mas is $2.99! This is the first book in a duology and is a Why Choose romance. I may pick this one up because I’ve been on a Why Choose kick lately, though I am dubious of anything that is marketed as a “viral sensation.”

Step into the Coliseum at the Spartan War Academy where monsters are made, immortality is won, and even a god can die…

Alexis Hert isn’t a hero, and she certainly isn’t a god. All she’s ever been is a survivor.

But the Fates disagree.

When a blood test leads to her admittance at the Spartan War Academy, she’ll have to do more than merely survive.

Alexis will have to claim her birthright: immortality.

But immortality is a privilege, one earned in the crucible of the academy, where the heroes are villains and classrooms battlegrounds. While gladiators Achilles and Patro, her demanding mentors, hone her into a warrior, Augustus and Kharon, her professors and the brooding heirs to the underworld, haunt her steps and her thoughts.

Because where there are gods, there are bound to be monsters, and there is more than one hunting Alexis…

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

The Second Death of Locke

The Second Death of Locke by V.L. Bovalino is $3.99! This came out last September and was mentioned on Hide Your Wallet. I remember being pretty excited for this one and I’ve heard good things from those who’ve read it.

Love. Loyalty. Sacrifice.

Grey Flynn has dedicated her life to her mage, Kier. She will be his blade on the battlefield, his healer and protector. The deep well of raw power inside her is Kier’s to wield. They are bound together by blood and magic, but there is one truth Grey dare not reveal . . . not even to Kier.

When a quest to protect the child of an enemy kingdom pulls them into a dangerous mission, Grey will need to decide what she’s willing to sacrifice to protect her secret.

For Grey is no ordinary magical well, and if she dies, all magic dies with her.

The Second Death of Locke is a devastatingly romantic epic fantasy about the undying bond between a knight and their mage, perfect for fans of Rachel Gillig and Alix E. Harrow.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

We are here, the end of the series. It’s been a fun time. But did the final climax (i.e. this book) live up to the promised drama suggested in the preceding books?

I made a critical error with this installment. I’ve been more active on social media lately and I let myself get swept up by the hype around Shattered Gods so my hopes were impossibly high. It is a very rare story that can live up to the hype I saw, which focused on the high drama present in the book, suggesting that this was a fitting climax for a series that had been building up to the final showdown between Circe and the Thirteen for nine books with a significant portion of the tension of those nine books relying on the threat of Circe. Shattered Gods is an average, okay story. Nothing that set my world on fire, but eminently readable.

It is with a heavy heart that I share that the first part of Shattered Gods suffers from something other books later in the series have also suffered from: a slow pace with not much happening plot-wise but lots of heightened emotion. This gets a bit boring after a while. Fortunately, it didn’t take too long for things to take a turn and then I tore through it at a rapid rate.

I won’t discuss plot specifics at all in this review. All you need to know is that there is a reckoning for the Thirteen and it heavily features Circe, Hermes and Atalanta.

Aside from the pacing issue I spoke about, sometimes I felt like the ‘Olympus must fall’ plot was curtailed by it being a romance. There were so many more boundaries that could have been pushed and actions that could have been taken with this particular part of the plot to make the emotional intensity match the intensity of the plot. By that I mean that the Thirteen’s take on Circe’s plans involve them feeling a lot of very intense emotions around the promised threat to their safety and the safety of their loved ones. We spend a lot of time (as in preceding books) with the Thirteen on high alert, but they don’t do much about it. So the rather uneventful plot in the first half doesn’t live up to the heightened emotions of the characters anticipating Circe’s actions. I say that knowing that I, myself, might not have survived a more suspenseful second half, but it is well-established that I’m not the bravest soul when it comes to suspense.

As with all the newly formed polycules in this series, I struggled with what felt like insta-love between some of the polycule – who, prior to meeting, had been enemies. But that’s a problem that I have with the trope and not necessarily a failing of the book.

Something that I’m not sure I have put forward in my reviews of the series so far is that these books are ridiculous, in mostly a good way. Mostly this is around the perpetually heightened emotions and the – at times – significantly less dramatic plot. When you’re in it and reading it, it’s easy to forget that because the story often pulls you along. If you enjoy high emotional drama in your reading, then this ridiculousness will hold tremendous appeal!

Overall, I’m glad I completed the series, especially the earlier books. Do I recommend this book? Absolutely read it if you’ve been invested in the series. Do not attempt it without reading the rest of the series first. But is it enough of a high point to end a series on? Hmmm, I’m not sure. As I said, my expectations were very high due to the publicity and promotion of the book, and ultimately, it was just okay. My expectations were also sky high because of how the Thirteen had been fearing the moment that Circe was in Olympus. Yes, the second half is faster paced than the first, and yes there are some very dramatic moments in the plot, but days later, it feels kind of flat to me. YMMV here I think.

They are specifically looking for alien romance recommendations where the alien character feels truly alien, and not necessarily humans with a different paintjob.

Amanda: Obviously Strange Love by Ann Aguirre.

Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell kinda of works. The monster is a shapeshifter and has a humanoid form made out of the remains of her meals, but it’s true form is an amorphous lump. It’s one of the weirdest romances I’ve read and big warnings for body horror.

Sarah: They aren’t aliens so much as different species in a fantasy world, but Radiance by Grace Draven ( A | BN | K | AB | Scribd ) might have the vibe the asker is looking for.

A | BN | K

Amanda: I don’t think the hero in Radiance is that much different than a human. If I recall, he’s gray and has sharp teeth and claws. Still very humanoid in terms of body time, IMO!

But part of the romance does deal with the physical differences between the hero and heroine. I still cackle at the scene where he refers to the heroine’s teeth as “horse teeth.”

Sarah: Yeah that’s what I was thinking – he’s humanoid but I remember the scene

He’s not an alien, per se, but they’re very alien to one another.

Amanda: Not necessarily sci-fi or alien, but do want to shout out my boy Sholto from the Merry Gentry series ( A | BN | K | AB ) who is a fae with tentacles coming out of his stomach. Truly ahead of his time.

What books would you recommend? Let us know in the comments!

The Love Haters

It’s a thin line between love and love-hating.

Katie Vaughn has been burned by love in the past—now she may be lighting her career on fire. She has two choices: wait to get laid off from her job as a video producer or, at her coworker Cole’s request, take a career-making gig profiling Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Key West.

The catch? Katie’s not exactly qualified. She can’t swim—but fakes it that she can.

Plus: Cole is Hutch’s brother. And they don’t get along. Next stop paradise!

But paradise is messier than it seems. As Katie gets entangled with Hutch (the most scientifically good looking man she has ever seen . . . but also a bit of a love hater), along with his colorful Aunt Rue and his rescue Great Dane, she gets trapped in a lie. Or two.

Swim lessons, helicopter flights, conga lines, drinking contests, hurricanes, and stolen kisses ensue—along with chances to tell the truth, to face old fears, and to be truly brave at last.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Servant of Earth

Servant of Earth by Sarah Hawley is $1.99! This is book one in the Shards of Magic series and was mentioned on Hide Your Wallet. This is a departure from Hawley’s small town paranormal romances. Did any of you pick this one up?

In the underground Fae realm, only the strongest and most ruthless have power—but a young human woman forced into a life of servitude is about to change everything.

Kenna Heron is best known in her village for being a little wild—some say “half feral”—but she’ll need every ounce of that ferocity to survive captivity in the cruel Fae court.

Trapped as a servant in the faeries’ underground kingdom of Mistei, Kenna must help her new mistress undertake six deadly trials, one for each branch of magic: Fire, Earth, Light, Void, Illusion, and Blood. If she succeeds, her mistress will gain immortality and become the heir to Earth House. If she doesn’t, the punishment is death—for both mistress and servant.

With no ally but a sentient dagger of mysterious origins, Kenna must face monsters, magic, and grueling physical tests. But worse dangers wait underground, and soon Kenna gets caught up in a secret rebellion against the inventively sadistic faerie king. When her feelings for the rebellion’s leader turn passionate, Kenna must decide if she’s willing to risk her life for a better world and a chance at happiness.

Surviving the trials and overthrowing a tyrant king will take cunning, courage, and an iron will… but even that may not be enough.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Remember That Day

Remember That Day by Mary Balogh is $2.99! This is book five in the Ravenswood series and is a historical romance with an age gap. I don’t love the male cover model here.

A soldier and a pacifist make the unlikeliest of pairs, but when attraction sparks, there’s nothing that can prevent their love from igniting.

Winifred Cunningham, the adopted daughter of a portrait painter, hopes that her new close friend, Owen Ware, will soon ask for her hand in marriage. But when Owen introduces Winifred to his elder brother Nicholas, the late Earl of Stratton’s second son, the slow burn of attraction between them begins.

Nicholas is a cavalry colonel—a hardened soldier whom Winifred at first despises. She finds him intimidating and cruel-looking, while he finds her strange and startlingly forthright. During a summer at Ravenswood, however, Nicholas and Winifred are unwillingly thrown together on several occasions, until they realize the passion that drives their disagreements is not due to dislike—it is because of attraction.

Winifred still awaits Owen’s proposal, and Nicholas has made his intention to marry his commanding officer’s daughter quite clear. With allegiances to other marriage prospects and brotherly bonds at risk, not to mention the age difference between them, Nicholas and Winifred know it would be wholly improper to pursue a romance…

And yet, romance is irresistible. Perhaps even inevitable.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

The Tainted Cup

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett is $1.99! This is a fantasy mystery with a Holmes and Watson vibe. I mentioned this on a previous Hide Your Wallet.

A Holmes and Watson-style detective duo take the stage in this fantasy with a mystery twist, from the Edgar-winning, multiple Hugo-nominated Robert Jackson Bennett

In Daretana’s greatest mansion, a high imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree erupted from his body. Even here at the Empire’s borders, where contagions abound and the blood of the leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death both terrifying and impossible.

Assigned to investigate is Ana Dolabra, a detective whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities. Rumor has it that she wears a blindfold at all times, and that she can solve impossible cases without even stepping outside the walls of her home.

At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol, magically altered in ways that make him the perfect aide to Ana’s brilliance. Din is at turns scandalized, perplexed, and utterly infuriated by his new superior—but as the case unfolds and he watches Ana’s mind leap from one startling deduction to the next, he must admit that she is, indeed, the Empire’s greatest detective.

As the two close in on a mastermind and uncover a scheme that threatens the Empire itself, Din realizes he’s barely begun to assemble the puzzle that is Ana Dolabra—and wonders how long he’ll be able to keep his own secrets safe from her piercing intellect.

By an “endlessly inventive” (Vulture) author with a “wicked sense of humor” (NPR), The Tainted Cup mixes the charms of detective fiction with brilliant world-building to deliver a fiendishly clever mystery that’s at once instantly recognizable and thrillingly new.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Now that the baby news is out of the way, I can openly complain about all the weird stuff my body does now. The worst of it is having a perpetually awful taste in my mouth. That’s been my least favorite.

My highlight in the last week is buying a giant pack of Hawaiian Sweet Rolls as Costco and picking up a tub of Texas Roadhouse cinnamon honey butter. Has there ever been a more perfect combo?

…

Elizabeth Banks has been cast as Ms. Frizzle in the live action adaptation of The Magic School Bus. Not quite sold on this one. How do you feel?

…

JoVE from the SBTB Podcast Patreon Discord saw this on Bluesky. The American Libraries Association is auctioning off some amazing READ posters. There’s a Kermit & Miss Piggy one that I love, but it’s already over $300!

…

This link is from Italapas also in the SBTB Podcast Patreon Discord. Natalie Zina Walscots, author of Hench, did an interview over at Ask a Manager.

…

Curious about your cozy gamer archetype? Well there’s a quiz for that. My result: Same Thing Again; You have a type and you’re not sorry about it. Six slots, six variations on the same genre. People call it predictable. You call it refined taste.

Not sure I fully agree with the assessment considering some of the games I picked are Stardew Valley, Power Wash Sim, and Dredge, which all feel very different. Unfortunately, I just had to pick Stardew Valley for two of the questions. The “What’s always installed?” and “What got you into cozy games?” questions.

…

Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

Bury Your Gays

Bury Your Gays is a heart-pounding new novel from USA Today bestselling author Chuck Tingle about what it takes to succeed in a world that wants you dead.

An Indie Next and LibraryReads Pick! • One of Esquire‘s Best Books of Summer 2024

“Brilliantly bloody, wildly fun, and extremely scary, Bury Your Gays brings a sledgehammer down on tired tropes and makes a masterpiece of their guts.”—RACHEL HARRISON, national bestselling author of Black Sheep

Misha knows that chasing success in Hollywood can be hell.

But finally, after years of trying to make it, his big moment is here: an Oscar nomination. And the executives at the studio for his long-running streaming series know just the thing to kick his career to the next level: kill off the gay characters, “for the algorithm,” in the upcoming season finale.

Misha refuses, but he soon realizes that he’s just put a target on his back. And what’s worse, monsters from his horror movie days are stalking him and his friends through the hills above Los Angeles.

Haunted by his past, Misha must risk his entire future—before the horrors from the silver screen find a way to bury him for good.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Curvy Girl Summer

Curvy Girl Summer by Danielle Allen is $1.99! This is book one in the contemporary romance Curve series. The heroine is trying to navigate the perils of modern dating and the hero is a playful bartender.

Bridget Jones’s Diary meets Survival of the Thickest in Danielle Allen’s CURVY GIRL SUMMER, a smoking-hot, hilarious novel about the perils of online dating.

“There’s got to be an easier way than dating. I want the shortcut. I just want to find my person and start our lives together.”

After a one-night stand with her clingy ex, Aaliyah James has an this ain’t it. She knows what she wants, and she’s ready to move past casual hookups, flings, and situationships.

But for her family, the clock is ticking—after all, she’s almost thirty. And when they imply that her personality (and her body) might be too big to land a man, she lets them know they’ve gone too far—and her (nonexistent) man loves her curves, thank you very much. Now, she has seven weeks to find the perfect boyfriend to rub in their faces at the big, fancy birthday celebration she’s been planning.

After her first blind date goes wrong, charming local bartender Ahmad Williamson consoles her with a drink and some playful banter. Aaliyah takes him up on his suggestion to use a dating app—but the more she sees of his warm, funny, and easygoing nature, the less she wants to check her DMs. Will her next swipe bring her closer to true love—or is her real match closer than she thinks?

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

The Villa

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins is $1.99! This is a Gothic thriller, which is all sorts of Elyse catnip. It was also mentioned in a previous Hide Your Wallet. Have you read any of Hawkins’ thrillers?

From New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins comes a deliciously wicked gothic suspense, set at an Italian villa with a dark history, for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware.

As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 30s, their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend.

Villa Aestas in Orvieto is a high-end holiday home now, but in 1974, it was known as Villa Rosato, and rented for the summer by a notorious rock star, Noel Gordon. In an attempt to reignite his creative spark, Noel invites up-and-coming musician, Pierce Sheldon to join him, as well as Pierce’s girlfriend, Mari, and her stepsister, Lara. But he also sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Lara composing a platinum album––and ends in Pierce’s brutal murder.

As Emily digs into the villa’s complicated history, she begins to think there might be more to the story of that fateful summer in 1974. That perhaps Pierce’s murder wasn’t just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but that something more sinister might have occurred––and that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind.

Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge––and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends.

Inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the Manson murders, and the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle––the birthplace of Frankenstein––The Villa welcomes you into its deadly legacy.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

The Regency Romances

The Regency Romances by Laura Kinsale is $3.99! This set collects three historical romances by Kinsale, though there are more individual titles on sale. Books in this collection include Midsummer Moon, My Sweet Folly, and Uncertain Magic. I think one of these has a hedgehog in it?

A trio of captivating historical romances by a New York Times–bestselling author whose “work is unfailingly brilliant and beautiful” (Julia Quinn).

“No one—repeat no one—writes historical romance better than Laura Kinsale” (Mary Jo Putney), and one of the New York Times–bestselling and Rita Award–winning author’s specialties is the Regency period. This trio of enchanting love stories introduces unforgettable couples who leap off the pages and into our hearts.

Midsummer Moon: Merlin Lambourne has invented the “speaking box”—a sort of telephone—which is so valuable that Napoleon has killed for it. Sent by the crown to bring both inventor and invention to safety, Ransom Falconer, Duke of Damerell, is shocked to learn the eccentric genius is female. More shocking is how beguiled he is by her. Now if he could just get her mind out of the clouds and convince her to marry him . . .

“One of the greatest, unacknowledged romantic comedy novels.” —All About Romance

My Sweet Folly: In a loveless marriage, Folie Hamilton finds her lonely days brightened by letters from her husband’s cousin, Lt. Robert Cambourne, stationed in Calcutta. Unbidden love blossoms, yet upon the death of her husband, Robert’s last letter shatters her heart with three words: I am married. Four years later, Robert summons Folie and her stepdaughter to England. But the haunted widower is not the man she once knew; he has become paranoid and delusional. In this RITA Award nominee, will Folie find the man who once captured her heart?

“Laura Kinsale is one of the romance genre’s brightest stars.” —Loretta Chase

Uncertain Magic: In nineteenth-century Ireland, Roddy Delamore has little chance of finding a husband, cursed as she is with the gift of mind reading. Privy to the dishonorable thoughts of her suitors, she seizes on the chance to marry Faelan Savigar, the Earl of Iveragh, despite his poor reputation and murky past. Condemned by dark rumors, Lord Iveragh is taken aback by the woman’s proposal. How is it that she believes in him? And does he dare give her his heart?

“First-rate . . . Laura Kinsale delivers powerful unique romance.” —Amanda Quick

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Vintage Harlequin/Mills & Boon Style Romance set in England – Heroine is a blonde baker/caterer, wrong-bed-leading-to-pregnancy trope.

I’ve been looking for this romance novel for years and really need help finding it! I might have muddled up a few details. Bear with me!

– Setting: England.

– Timeline: Likely late 90s, 2000s, or early 2010s (classic Harlequin Presents / Mills & Boon style).

– Heroine: She is blonde and runs a baking/catering business with her friend (her mother might have also been a baker).

– The Inciting Incident: The heroine has to step in for her business partner to deliver pastries to a wealthy female client’s house party. A bad storm hits, and the client insists she stay over in a guest room.

– The Mistaken Identity / Wrong Bed: In the middle of the night, a man (who turns out to be the client’s wealthy brother) comes into the room/bed. He sleeps with her despite her confusion/attempts to get up. She was a virgin. She flees early the next morning.

– The Hero: He is an ultra-rich English alpha male, but into the tech/electronics industry specifically (not a standard oil tycoon). He tracks her down at her bakery with flowers to apologize because he feels guilty, but she hates him.

– The Pregnancy & Hospitalization: She discovers she is pregnant. She has a high-risk or difficult end of pregnancy and spends her final weeks on bed rest in the hospital, where he spares no expense and stays attentive.

– The Ending: The baby survives. They enter a loveless marriage of convenience/co-parenting situation initially. He is completely doting as a father and quietly yearns for her/tries to get her to warm up to him while she resists. It’s a slow-burn happy ending.

Does this ring a bell for you? Thank you so much!

Let’s HaBO!

Happy Tuesday!

Only one more new release Tuesday this month after today. Things are looking short and sweet.

What new releases are you excited for this week? Drop them in the comments!

Chase Me If You Can

Author: Heather Frances
Released: June 23, 2026 by Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance

Two storm chasers find a love that could blow them away in this electric debut romance.

Wedding photographer Sloane Michaels spends most of her year running after brides, but she lives for the six weeks each spring she chases tornadoes instead. When the prestigious magazine Nature Shots announces a storm cover contest, Sloane knows that winning could be her best opportunity to establish herself in landscape photography.

The last thing she needs is a distraction in the form of reckless “Wild Wes” Talbot. A legend among storm chasers, he’s been Sloane’s close, personal frenemy for the last decade and is the man to beat for the cover contest.

Sloane isn’t surprised when Wes gets in an accident that jeopardizes his chances. But with an active weather pattern emerging, she doubles down on her need to beat Wes fair and square, and begrudgingly invites him to join her for the remainder of the season.

As they race through hail, high winds, and stormy skies, Sloane realizes that Wes might be more than the rich, flirty, Texas wildcard she thought she knew — and that the feelings blooming between them are more charged and dangerous than the storms they’re chasing.

Amanda: Twister holds such a special place in my heart. Very interested in storm chaser main characters!

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Scandal of the Summer

Author: Alexandra Vasti
Released: June 23, 2026 by St. Martin's Griffin
Genre: Historical: European, Romance

A desperate debutante meets a ragtag smuggler in this sexy Regency romp by USA Today bestselling author Alexandra Vasti.

Eccentric heiress Lady Ruby Ballimore has had enough of the Marriage Mart. After offending yet another Very Important Marquess―and imperiling her father’s diplomatic career―Ruby flees London for the holiday house of a glamorous (and better yet, absent) princess. Armed with a forged invitation and accompanied by her like-minded friends, Ruby arrives at the Cornwall estate expecting a summer of blissful freedom.

Instead, she discovers a derelict mansion and the most suspiciously charming man she’s ever met.

Former privateer and current con artist Captain Malcolm Archer has dragged his ramshackle crew into a new life. Posing as staff at a princess’s abandoned estate provides the perfect cover for Archer’s smuggling scheme (not to mention free rent). Everything’s going according to plan―until an unorthodox London heiress crashes the party.

But when Archer and his crew attempt to frighten off their uninvited guests, Ruby’s unfazed by insect invasions and sham sea monsters. Harder to ignore? The scorching heat between the rakish pirate and the debutante who can see right through him. As sparks fly, deceptions run wild―because in this Great Cornish Fake Off, the only thing riskier than telling the truth is falling in love.

The first book in a new series by Vasti!

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The Very Definition of Love

Author: Sophia Benoit
Released: June 23, 2026 by Slowburn
Genre: Historical: European, Romance
Series: The Bancroft Sisters #1

A plucky yet innocent wallflower writing a dictionary of bawdy slang arranges her own marriage to the ultimate the town rake. As sexy as it is witty and as charming as it is irreverent, The Very Definition of Love is Emily Henry for the regency era.

1816– Harriet Barrington may be on her fifth season with no marriage prospects, but she’s fine with that. It gives her more time to write her dictionary of modern slang. Words are her passion, especially the exciting, filthy ones men have kept hidden from women for far too long.

While researching late in the library during a party, Harriet accidentally finds herself in a compromising situation with notorious rake, Lord Alexander. To save her reputation and her younger sisters from ruin, Harriet has no choice but to slightly kidnap Alexander and strong arm him into an elopement. This arranged marriage has a very particular condition—it will be in name-only, leaving each of them to follow their own interests. For Harriet that’s her work, for Alexander, that’s women.

But soon Alexander’s rakish existence is not nearly as fun as spending time with Harriet, and Harriet’s beginning to worry about how much she actually likes her husband. Behind the closed doors of their respectable home, things become a little… complicated. After all, who better to teach her the very thorough meaning of these indecent words than the renowned lover, Lord Alexander Stirling?

Perhaps this marriage will teach them both a little more about that word they’ve been avoiding—love.

Amanda: How great is this cover?

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When You Loved Me

Author: Beatriz Williams
Released: June 23, 2026 by Ballantine Books
Genre: Mystery/Thriller, Romance, Women's Fiction

A young widow returns to her late father’s New England estate, only to be drawn into the hunt for the rumored pirate treasure that consumed his life, in this thrilling and moving novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Husbands & Lovers.

Local history insists that a legendary pirate buried his treasure somewhere beneath Windward, the decayed Cooper estate on Winthrop Island, but Lucy Cooper never trusted the fable that broke her family apart. When a widowed Lucy returns with her young daughter to grieve her estranged father, she discovers the property’s buried under a mountain of debt, and Ben Ressler has just turned up on her doorstep.

Thirteen summers ago, a teenaged Lucy never meant to fall in love with Ben, a Dartmouth football star vacationing next door at the Peabody estate, and the object of an all-consuming crush by Laura Peabody, Lucy’s best friend. Those two weeks with Ben were the best and worst of Lucy’s life, dooming her friendship with Laura. Now Ben’s returned to live quietly in the Peabodys’ caretaker lodge, after a fatal accident ended his dazzling NFL career. He’s also the last person who saw Lucy’s father alive.

As Lucy reconstructs her father’s troubling final days, she uncovers his research on the frozen winter of 1717, when a desperately wounded pirate sought refuge on Winthrop Island with an enigmatic healer. To Lucy, this history points the way to a different kind of how to forgive yourself for the mistakes of the past and earn a second chance at love. But just as Lucy’s long-buried emotions sear to the surface, a shocking turn of events reveals that someone else on the island will do whatever it takes to claim the fabled plunder.

A timeless story of love and atonement, When You Loved Me maps both a centuries-old treasure hunt and the intimate territory of the human heart, weaving together past and present as only Beatriz Williams can.

Sarah: There’s a pirate treasure hunt and some family drama. I’m in!

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The transcript for Podcast 723. Magic and Gardens with Ashley Poston has been posted!

This podcast transcript was handcrafted with meticulous skill by Garlic Knitter. Many thanks.

❤ Click here to subscribe to The Podcast →

My Funny Demon Valentine

From instant New York Times bestselling author Aurora Ascher, comes the first novel in a funny steamy, paranormal romance series about learning how to love—and what love is in the first place—complete with HEA, clothes-ripping-hot love scenes, a crew of devilish demon brothers who are supposed to be the bad guys—Love can be Hell.

Asmodeus, Prince of Hell, just wants to make music. Jazz, specifically. Unfortunately, he’s a demon. And he’s supposed to be evil.

Clearly, for Ash, a career as a musician isn’t exactly an option. Plus, he’s cursed. Sick of playing by the rules, Ash and his three brothers escape Hell in search of freedom on Earth. But it’s harder than they thought to keep their enemies off their tail . . .

The four rogues quickly become the Underworld’s Most Wanted, and if they’re caught, the consequences will be dire. Yet everything changes for Ash when he meets a beautiful violinist who can see through his curse. It must be too good to be true, but, no matter the risk, he has to have her.

Evangeline Gregory is just your average human. She works at a jazz bar, plays gigs on weekends . . . and, apparently, hallucinates demons.

At least that’s what Eva tells herself when, moments after she meets the man of her dreams, she sees him shift into a 7-foot-tall monster. Not believing her own eyes, Eva decides to investigate and soon finds herself caught in the middle of a supernatural clusterf**k of epic proportions. But Ash isn’t the only one keeping secrets, and the search for answers reveals a shocking truth that will change the course of her life forever. Or maybe just doom it. Eva and Ash will learn the path to love can be complete Hell.

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The Anthropocene Reviewed

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green is $1.99! Green examines an eclectic mix of things like natural wonders, boards games, and Diet Dr. Pepper. I read the intro and this last bit definitely made me cry:

We all know how loving ends. But I want to fall in love with the world anyway, to let it crack me open. I want to feel what there is to feel while I am here.

I think I’m going to buy this one for myself.

A deeply moving and mind-expanding collection of personal essays in the first ever work of non-fiction from #1 internationally bestselling author John Green

The Anthropocene is the current geological age, in which human activity has profoundly shaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his ground-breaking, critically acclaimed podcast, John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet – from the QWERTY keyboard and Halley’s Comet to Penguins of Madagascar – on a five-star scale.

Complex and rich with detail, the Anthropocene’s reviews have been praised as ‘observations that double as exercises in memoiristic empathy’, with over 10 million lifetime downloads.

John Green’s gift for storytelling shines throughout this masterful collection. The Anthropocene Reviewed is an open-hearted exploration of the paths we forge and an unironic celebration of falling in love with the world.

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Order of Swans

Order of Swans by Jude Deveraux is $1.99! This came out in January and is book one in a contemporary fantasy duology. I’ve heard mixed things about this one, so I’d love to know what you thought if you picked this one up.

In this spellbinding, fantasy-rich novel, a woman is swept into a world where she has the power to alter fairy tales, and change a kingdom’s destiny…

To Kaley Arens, a PhD student and expert in folklore, fairy stories have always had a power and an allure beyond mere entertainment.

It’s only when Kaley accompanies her lifelong friend Jobi on a visit to his home that she realizes how much she still has to learn. Bellis isn’t the remote island that she believed it to be. It’s another world—a stunningly beautiful and seductive one, with its own royalty, its own rules, and inhabitants who breathe life into the tales she was taught were fiction.

Kaley’s presence is no simple holiday. She has a mysterious connection with Jobi and with Bellis, and abilities that may help determine this world’s fate. Tasked with locating a lost prince, Kaley and her companions—the enigmatic Tanek, a member of the Order of Swans, and Sojee, Kaley’s colossal bodyguard—journey through a land both thrilling and terrifying, where the uncanny and the familiar go hand in hand.

But in fairy tales, heroes and villains are easy to discern. Here, nothing is quite as it seems. And though Kaley is discovering that she can change the outcome of the fairy tales she knows so well, her own story is unfolding in ways impossible to predict, with a destiny she could never have foretold…

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Baking for Two

Baking for Two by America’s Test Kitchen is $5.99! Cookbooks are always pretty pricey and ATK is tried and true (my favorite is their Complete Vegetarian Cookbook). I’m super interested in this concept, given that I like to bake but I sure as hell don’t want to commit to a whole cake. And now that it’s summer, using the air fryer rather than the oven is pretty appealing.

ATK revolutionizes small-batch baking with innovative techniques, flexible equipment options, and 200+ big-flavor recipes.

ATK cuts sweet and savory treats down to size while cutting out the small-batch baking quirks in this exciting cookbook for two: no calculators to scale recipes, no measuring out half an egg, no buying a container of an ingredient to use just a tablespoon, no stale leftovers, no kitchen full of required equipment. ATK’s small-batch baking way:

• Eliminates waste with recipe yields that work for you: Serve Blueberry-Lavender Cornmeal Crumbles in two ramekins, warm from the oven, or make storage-friendly loaf pan Coconut Snack Cake when you want to share or keep some for the week.
• Is adaptable for the air fryer or toaster oven: Turn to the toaster oven instead of turning on the oven for two scones. Make desserts you never knew you could in the air fryer, even Basque Cheesecake!
• Turns your freezer into a treat factory: Recipes that yield more than a handful are formulated to bake from frozen—and taste just as good as fresh. Solve the perennial breakfast problem with a half dozen Cranberry-Cardamom Muffins you can bake off individually. (You freeze the batter in paper liners.) Simplify longer recipes like Croissants by preparing them ahead, freezing, and then baking later.
• Delivers baking joy with everyday indulgences: Keep dough balls of Coffee-Toffee Cookies in your freezer. Use store-bought puff pastry to make impressive Everything Bagel Danishes or Fruit Tart in a snap.
• Offers pan options: Cheese Bread with Feta and Nigella Seeds is a delightful mini loaf, but it will satisfy the same if baked in a muffin tin or ramekins. If you have a cute pan collection, there are baby Bundts and petite cakes to please, but there’s always an option to use a conventional pan.

Make four Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits for a dinner bread basket, or freeze the dough portions and bake off one or two whenever you like—in just 25 minutes. Better yet, you can do it in an oven, toaster oven, or air fryer. Celebrate an intimate birthday with a 6-inch Vanilla and Passionfruit Layer Cake for two. Satisfy an impromptu chocolate craving with speedy, perfectly portioned Molten Chocolate Microwave Mug Cakes.

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I read Hell’s Heart months ago, and my opinion of the book has only risen since then because I give extra points to any book that sticks in my head over time. Every time I think about Hell’s Heart I smile, even though all I really remember of it is that everyone is queer, everyone is in thrall to capitalism, and the characters spend their time hunting giant creatures through space. In other words, it’s absolute Carrie-bait, but it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.

Hell’s Heart is a pretty faithful retelling of Moby-Dick, so much so that it took me a while to see the point of the retelling. Also I was this many days old when I realized that the title of Moby-Dick has a hyphen but the name of the whale, Moby Dick, does not. The more you know.

Earth is mostly toast, and everyone survives on other planets thanks to habitation domes powered by spermaceti, the cerebrospinal fluid of giant space creatures known as Leviathans. The Narrator, a transgender woman raised on Pluto who never provides us with a name, quickly falls in with Q, a Terran from Old Earth who only speaks Latin, and the two of them get jobs on Pequod and sail off to hunt Leviathans around Jupiter.

The captain is referred to as A and the Narrator immediately develops an open sexual relationship with Q and a mad crush on A, who is obsessed with killing the greatest Leviathan of all, the Mobius Beast. The Narrator also develops a thing for the First Mate, Locke, who also has a thing for A. A has an artificial arm, having lost her original while hunting the Mobius Beast. A is consumed with a desire to kill the Mobius Beast, and spends all of her time in her cabin studying computer information even when it’s clear that there is a glitch in the system and that any information coming in is suspect.

Hell’s Heart is about half as long as Moby-Dick, but that’s still a lot of book, and not a lot of actual things happening. If your idea of bliss is to hang out in space with a lot of disaster queers who occupy their hours with porn, existentialism, arts and crafts, and storytelling/bullshitting, then you’ll have a great time with this book. If you want non-stop action and a protagonist who doesn’t stab themselves in the foot at every opportunity, this won’t be your jam no matter how well written it is – and it is VERY well written.

There are several aspects of the book that stand out. The first is the narrator’s voice, who speaks to the reader directly and with dry humor and a strong sense of the meta. The Narrator is openly unreliable and everyone else on the ship is too, so the truth must be filtered through tall tales and wonky electronic sources. Here’s the Narrator opening the book:

Call me…call me whatever the fuck you like. Isa. or Isobel. Io. Imogen. Iris. Ivy. If there’s a point to all this – to any of this cacophony bullshit in my head – it’s that I don’t think I’ve ever been sure what the I in I Am stands for. But it’s the only word of name or pronoun that’s always been mine. That nobody’s tried to take from me, That’s always felt right.

Another standout is the worldbuilding, which involves the language and cultures of everyone on the ship and the culture of the life on the ship itself, the experience of living under domes and behind bulkheads, the Leviathans and the feeling of chasing them through space:

Behind us, the Leviathan shook off the last of its tormentors and rose triumphant through the atmosphere to freedom. The prop-wash of its great tail and the electromagnetic fallout of its titanic thoughts swept over us and sent our little group spinning. Through the crystal visor of my voidsuit I saw debris falling like meteorites and ichor falling like rain and boats swooping around to either rescue or abandon us.

I mean, this is just gorgeous language that also tells us a lot about hunting without overt exposition. There are also chapters of exposition as in Moby-Dick, but I personally found them captivating because they are related with a mix of humor, horror, and beauty and they are so well thought out.

I can’t not mention the existence of the Prosperity Church, one of a great many churches, cults, and other spiritual paths that characters follow. The Prosperity Church justifies the dystopian misery of life when money is everything and everything is money, and any action that increases profit is considered to be morally as well as fiscally correct:

“Rich man,” she tried. “Camel?”

With a slightly embarrassing sigh of relief, I realized what she meant. “Oh yes. It is as easy for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven as it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.”

She looked confused. Which was fair enough. It was a confusing verse. Not least because nobody had seen a camel since before the founding of the Commonwealth.

“Historically,” I explained, “the eye of the needle was the main road into one of the Holy Cities of Old Earth and a camel was some kind of riding animal that went up that road all the time. So although it sounds like it’s saying it’s hard for rich people to get into heaven, it’s actually the opposite.”

This book has a lot of tragedy and a lot of humor, usually at the same time. Even the Narrator struggles to define the book’s genre:

Right about now, you might be wondering what the hell kind of book you’ve picked up. And I’ll be honest with you, I’m not always sure myself. Is it an adventure? A memoir? Why the fuck should you care about which bits of the Leviathan have what uses…

It’s not a romance by any means but it has a lot to say about love, not to mention friendship, hatred, and the odd relationship people have who are close coworkers but have nothing else in common. It’s a picture of a terrible future in which planets and people are stripped to the bone for money, and a beautiful future in which ships sail through the atmosphere of Jupiter.

I adored it despite its slow pace and the knowledge that we have heard all this before. While I found the opening to be a bit too glib, I soon settled into the rhythm of the book. I expect that this will be a love it or hate it experience for most readers.

There are a couple fantasy romances and two non-fiction titles this time. Also coincidentally (or perhaps not), a lot of recs that came across my feed in the past two weeks are from queer authors or feature queer characters.

Any recommendations you’d like to share? Drop them in the comments!

It Came from the Closet

One of my friends recently read and loved this. Apparently, Carrie reviewed this almost three years ago and gave it a B+. If you’re prioritizing queer books this month, consider this one!

Through the lens of horror—from Halloween to Hereditary—queer and trans writers consider the films that deepened, amplified, and illuminated their own experiences.

Horror movies hold a complicated space in the hearts of the queer community: historically misogynist, and often homo- and transphobic, the genre has also been inadvertently feminist and open to subversive readings. Common tropes—such as the circumspect and resilient “final girl,” body possession, costumed villains, secret identities, and things that lurk in the closet—spark moments of eerie familiarity and affective connection. Still, viewers often remain tasked with reading themselves into beloved films, seeking out characters and set pieces that speak to, mirror, and parallel the unique ways queerness encounters the world.

It Came from the Closet features twenty-five essays by writers speaking to this relationship, through connections both empowering and oppressive. From Carmen Maria Machado on Jennifer’s Body, Jude Ellison S. Doyle on In My Skin, Addie Tsai on Dead Ringers, and many more, these conversations convey the rich reciprocity between queerness and horror.

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Letters from the Last Apothecary

Shoutout to LittyN in the comments for this recommendation because it sounds like something of interest to the Bitchery.

EMILY WILDE meets DIVINE RIVALS in this debut cozy historical romantic fantasy about a grumpy apothecarist, the whirlwind woman who comes to save his shop, and the letters that secretly unite them. You’ve Got Mail with a magical twist!

Nestled between steel skyscrapers lies a small shop stocked with old magic and experimental elixirs. This cozy historical romantic fantasy debut is a tale of mistaken identity, reluctant partnership, and the quiet, transformative magic of being truly seen—on and off the page.

Josephine Pinova doesn’t believe in fate. Yet, it must be fate when she walks into one of the last magical apothecaries in the city and they offer her a job after she’s just been fired.

Struggling against a tide of anti-magic sentiment amidst the city’s rapid industrialization, the shop is slated to close in six short months unless Josie can save it. Luckily, she’s no stranger to impossible odd—she’s applying to study magic at the local university, something women are typically excluded from—even as the shop’s prickly apothecarist, Aufidius Reid, seems determined to dislike her.

Reid finds her unbearably insistent. She finds him infuriatingly uptight—nothing like the sensitive scholar Josie has been exchanging anonymous letters with as they study together for entrance to a graduate magic program. A scholar who just so happens to be Reid himself, unbeknownst to either of them.

Letter by letter, they fall in love. But at work, Josie and Reid clash constantly about the direction of the business. As pressure rises, they discover the threat to the shop is more dangerous than they could have ever imagined, and working together to save it might be their only chance at true purpose, and at each other.

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Nemesis Mine

An opposites attract, M/M fantasy romance with a fake rivalry. I can think of a lot of you who may want to add this to your TBR pile.

A not-so-evil villain strikes a deal with a not-quite-perfect hero to fake a feud, boost their reputations . . . and try not to fall in love in the process—in this hilarious, tender, sexy, and outrageously fun romp that blends the humor of Assistant to the Villain with the unforgettable romance of Red, White, & Royal Blue and the cozy fantasy vibes of Legends & Lattes.

Fake nemeses. It’s a dastardly plan that can’t go wrong… until love crashes the act.

Nobody is more surprised than Cyrus to learn that he’s no longer considered the greatest villain in the land of Athaca. Sure, he’s lying about the fact that his magical power is making flowers grow. And maybe lately he’s spent more time embroidering pillowcases than tormenting the locals. But that doesn’t mean he’s ready to be yesterday’s evil news.

Enter the hero Maximillian: the realm’s golden boy, complete with a blinding smile, chiseled abs, and an infuriating habit of spreading hope and joy. (Gross.) If Cyrus wants to be taken seriously, he’ll have to take this guy down.

But Maximillian isn’t quite as perfect as he seems. When he proposes a scheme to fake an epic rivalry and increase their fame, Cyrus can’t resist. Stage the battles, soak up the spotlight, share the spoils—it’s a villainously good marketing plan.

There’s just one hitch. Pretending to hate your nemesis becomes a lot harder when you start falling for them instead.

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Spawning Season

Given my life changes right now, I’ve been getting a lot of parenthood memoirs in my algorithm and this one keeps popping up. It was also blurbed by the amazing Chanda Prescod-Weinstein.

From the author of National Book Critics Circle Award and Lambda Literary Award finalist VIROLOGY comes an intimate chronicle of queer family-making.

“A singular and deeply moving book. Osmundson has birthed a profound meditation on family and food, longing and loss, hope and grief, humans and salmon. In his story, we find a multitude of beautiful, complicated ways of imagining the future-and then working to build one.” –Ed Yong, Pulitzer Prize-winner and New York Times bestselling author of An Immense World

Since grade school, Joseph Osmundson dreamed of being pregnant. As he grew into the queer scientist he is today, the economic precarity of academia and the warming planet led to his decision not to reproduce. That is, until a lesbian couple he had known since college came to him with a would Joe be a bio-dad and would he co-parent alongside them?

Soon everything was falling into place. But when the two partners communicated their need for a child to reflect their own racial backgrounds, Joe’s whiteness exposed fault lines in their parenting journey. Spawning Season is a genre-bending memoir that treats the scientific as integral to the personal and that builds an entire species of the grief we carry in our bodies. In exploratory prose that builds on the work of Donna Haraway and José Esteban Muñoz, Osmundson considers the ethics of child-rearing in the 21st century, the brutal wonder of caregiving, and the joys and intricacies of building family beyond biology.

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Book Beat aims to highlight other books that we may hear about through friends, social media, or other sources. We could see a gorgeous ad! Or find a new-to-us author on a list of underrated romances! Think of Book Beat as Teen Beat or Tiger Beat, but for books. And no staples to open to get the fold-out poster.

Green City Wars

Author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Released: June 23, 2026 by Tor Books
Genre: Mystery/Thriller, Science Fiction/Fantasy

Philip Marlowe meets Redwall in this superior adult noir tale, where all the characters are animals, fighting for survival in the city underneath the humans.

In the solar cities of the future, the humans relax in the sun and the animals work in the shadows. Genetically engineered Little Helpers, serving humanity—unseen, unheard.

Meet Skotch. Raccoon, PI—yours for a few buttons as long as the job isn’t too illegal, whatever that means.

A mouse has gone missing. Normally this wouldn’t raise any hackles, nor any alarms, but this mouse has something that everyone seems to want, though nobody appears particularly eager to say what that something is.

The fee is good—perhaps too good. Certainly not something Skotch can easily turn down.

If only Skotch can work out where the mouse is hiding, what he’s hiding, and why his secrets are upsetting a lot of animals caught up in the Green City wars.

A mystery where all the characters are animals and the main character is a raccoon PI!

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King of Ravens

Author: Clare Sager
Released: January 27, 2026 by Forever
Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale Romance, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: Upon a Broken Throne #1

A dark, lush romantasy inspired by the Greek myth of Hades & Persephone, perfect for readers of Carissa Broadbent, LJ Andrews, and Sarah J. Maas.

“A must-read!” —Carissa Broadbent, New York Times bestselling author of The Crowns of Nyaxia series 

He’ll do anything to keep her. She’d do anything to escape.

Rhiannon is dying—of what, she doesn’t know. Protected by her family in their remote seaside cottage, she spends her days searching for a cure. Her world is torn apart, however, when a fae King of the Dead invades her home.

Cold and cruel, Drystan offers her a descend to the underworld as his bride or watch her family die. Trapped in a twisted bargain, Rhiannon is thrust into a world of withered gods, scheming courtiers, and ancient magic, but she refuses to be a pawn in a game she never agreed to play. She attempts over and over to run away, until Drystan offers her a new escape his deadly labyrinth, and he will set her free. Fail, and become his bride.

But in a court where every promise has teeth, Annon must make an impossible return to the home she’s always loved or claim her place in a world where she might finally belong.

This one gives me Wintersong vibes. 

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The Redemption Center is Closed on Sundays

Author: Andrea Hairston
Released: May 26, 2026 by Tor Books
Genre: Mystery/Thriller, Science Fiction/Fantasy

In the Heart of Mystery Lies Redemption…

Every Sunday, Oona the St. Berdoodle and her current owner, Zsuzsu, make their way through the winding paths of the State Park to the enigmatic Redemption Center—a place often mistaken for a haunted mansion.

When a local celebrity is found murdered, the unexpected brings Oona together with a rag-tag group of local misfits. Together they venture into the depths of the Center’s mystery to untangle the threads of murder and deception.

But Oona holds two secrets: she’s a citizen of the multiverse, able to travel between dimensions at will, and more importantly, she knows the killer’s identity. Unfortunately, the killer knows she knows, and he’s determined to find her and silence her for good.

An extra-dimensional murder mystery with conundrums, alien tricksters, and a dog detective who just doesn’t know the meaning of “stay”.

A sci-fi mystery with a multidimension-traveling St. Berdoodle.

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The Wandering Inn

Author: Pirateaba
Released: April 7, 2026 by Harper Voyager
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: The Wandering Inn #1

Enter the Innverse: the massive epic fantasy world created by pirateaba that has become a LitRPG sensation, now for the first time in a physical edition!

“No killing Goblins.”

So reads the sign outside of The Wandering Inn, a small building run by a young woman named Erin Solstice. She serves pasta with sausage, blue fruit juice, and dead acid flies on request. And she comes from another world. Ours.

It’s a bad day when Erin finds herself transported to a fantastical world and nearly gets eaten by a Dragon. She doesn’t belong in a place where monster attacks are a fact of life, and where Humans are one species among many. But she must adapt to her new life. Or die.

In a dangerous world where magic is real and people can level up and gain classes, Erin Solstice must battle somewhat evil Goblins, deadly Rock Crabs, and hungry [Necromancers]. She is no warrior, no mage. Erin Solstice runs an inn. She’s an [Innkeeper].

Thus starts the first volume of The Wandering Inn, an epic fantasy series filled with heart and fear, magic, dragons, and monsters, adventurers and chess players…and humans pulled from the real world into a wondrous and deadly land where the game is to survive and these new pieces could decide who’s the winner.

This one reminds me of the Clean Sweep series by Ilona Andrews. 

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Remember Pop Up Video from VH1?

I sure do. I could watch for hours. I love behind the scenes stuff. Like, SO much.

So here are a few faves:

“You Gotta Be” by Des-ree:

The sign language interpretation of the dance moves. Who wrote these?

There are a few compilations on YouTube, and one person uploaded a DVD that’s over an hour of videos hosted by the creators of the show. I was looking for this video and am so thankful that JB Strawberry uploaded this DVD.

“She Works Hard for the Money” by Donna Summer – one of my earliest favorite songs.

And I also now know the answer to who wrote these – they’re in the DVD!

I’ve definitely seen this one several times – it’s how I learned that Paula Abdul was the choreographer and in the video:

“Nasty” by Janet Jackson

My favorite Janet album is always Rhythm Nation 1814, which is still relevant today, in a very chilling way. Especially the interstitials.

Tina Turner? Hell, yes, Tina Turner – she was in episode one with “I Ain’t Missing You at All“!

And of course, Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy,” which I definitely remember seeing hundreds of times:

(That’s Jewel; Mariah is later in the episode but the video should start playing at the right moment. I skipped all of Meat Loaf. You’re welcome!)

I know I saw a Pop Up Video of Brandy & Monica’s “The Boy is Mine,” but I can’t seem to find it online. I’m pretty sure it was from the show that I learned that the gemstone on Monica’s forehead was real, and allegedly the two singers’ stylists were trying to one-up each other on set with their respective clients.

Here’s an entire playlist if you’d like to pop your way into the weekend!

And I found several more on the Lost Media Wiki, which is going to consume so much of my time now. I appreciate the confirmation from the wiki that “The Boy is Mine” pop up video is indeed lost.

Friday Videos hope your weekend really pops!

Audrey Lane Stirs the Pot

A charming new LGBTQIA+ romcom from the bestselling author of BOYFRIEND MATERIAL.

Audrey Lane is perfectly fine. Really. So what if she left her high-powered job as a Very Important Journalist—and her even higher-powered long-term girlfriend—to live a quiet life as a reporter for the second-biggest newspaper in Shropshire? And so what if she keeps hearing that same higher-powered long-term now-ex-girlfriend in her head night and day, constantly judging just how small Audrey’s allowed her life to become?

She’s fine. She’s happy. She’s perfectly within her groove. Do not-in-their-groove people get weekday drunk and impulsively apply for the UK’s most beloved baking show?

All right, so maybe she’s not completely fine, but being on Bake Expectations is opening her world again in ways she never anticipated. First through fellow contestant Doris, whose personal story of queer love during WW2 captures Audrey’s heart, imagination and journalistic interest like nothing has in ages. Then through Jennifer Hallet, the most foul-tempered (and fouler-mouthed) producer, woman, and menace Audrey has ever met. Jennifer should be off-limits, but her fire lights something unexpected inside of Audrey, making her want to burn back a million times brighter. A million times hotter. A million times more herself than she’s been in a long, long time.

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Dinner in One

Dinner in One by Melissa Clark is $1.99! I’ve seen this one recommend in the comments a few times. I love a good, quality cookbook that doesn’t make me buy one-time ingredients that will probably sit in my pantry for a while. Is that the case here? For those who have used it, are there any favorite recipes?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • 100 all-new super-simple and incredibly delicious one-pot, one-pan, one-sheet—one-everything!—recipes from the star food writer and bestselling author of Dinner in French .

ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE Food & Wine

Melissa Clark brings her home cook’s expertise and no-fuss approach to the world of one-pot/pan cooking. With nearly all of the recipes being made in under one hour, the streamlined steps ensure you are in and out of the kitchen without dirtying a multitude of pans or spending more time than you need to on dinner.

Expect to find a bevy of sheet-pan suppers (Miso-Glazed Salmon with Roasted Sugar Snap Peas), skillet dinners (Cheesy Meatball Parm with Spinach), Instant Pot® pinch hitters (Cheaters Chicken and Dumplings), comforting casseroles (Herby Artichoke and Gruyere Bread Pudding) that you can assemble right in the baking dish, crowd-pleasing one-pot pasta meals (Gingery Coconut Noodles with Shrimp and Greens), vegetable-forward mains, and dozens of tips for turning a vegetarian or meat-based recipe vegan. And since no dinner is complete without dessert, you’ll find a chapter of one-bowl cakes, too—from an Easy Chocolate Fudge Torte to a Ricotta-Olive Oil Pound Cake.

These are simple, delicious recipes for weekdays, busy evenings, and any time you need to get a delicious, inspiring meal on the table quickly—with as little clean-up as possible.

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I’ll Have What He’s Having

I’ll Have What He’s Having by Adib Khorram is $3.99! Dahlia mentioned this one in her Queer Romance Roundup. Carrie also gave it a B-:

This was a lovely read that didn’t ask too much of my emotions. It was comforting but forgettable. I could read a chapter, wander off, and not think of it again for a month…but when I did get around to picking it up, I instantly remembered how warm and fuzzy it was.

A smart, tender, vivacious romantic comedy about mistaken identities, the line between love and sex, and the way one night—and one person—can change your life forever.

When it comes to love, Farzan Alavi is a disaster. After his most recent heartbreak, he’s drowning his sorrows at Kansas City’s newest wine bar. Only instead of being crowded between strangers, he’s escorted to a VIP table for one. There, the hot sommelier does more than treat him to the meal of his life. The way he flirts with Farzan ignites instant sparks.

There’s just one problem: David Curtis thinks Farzan is Frank Allen, Kansas City’s most influential food critic. The truth only comes out after the two spend an unforgettably hot night together. Good news—both think the mix-up is hilarious. Bad news—David is studying to become a master sommelier and has no interest in a relationship.

Neither expects their paths to cross again . . . until Farzan inherits his family’s bistro and needs David’s restaurant knowledge. The two agree to an exchange: David will answer Farzan’s questions, and Farzan will help David study for his test. Only business turns to pleasure when neither can ignore the attraction still sizzling between them. But with David set on moving after his test, and Farzan committed to his family’s restaurant, how can their relationship last past the expiration date?

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Fuzz

Fuzz by Mary Roach is $2.99! I love Roach’s niche non-fiction titles where she focuses on one, sometimes quirky, topic. Do you have a favorite Roach book?

What’s to be done about a jaywalking moose? A bear caught breaking and entering? A murderous tree? Three hundred years ago, animals that broke the law would be assigned legal representation and put on trial. The answers are best found not in jurisprudence but in science: the curious science of human-wildlife conflict, a discipline at the crossroads of human behavior and wildlife biology.

Roach tags along with animal-attack forensics investigators, human-elephant conflict specialists, bear managers, and “danger tree” faller blasters. Intrepid as ever, she travels from leopard-terrorized hamlets in the Indian Himalaya to St. Peter’s Square in the early hours before the pope arrives for Easter Mass, when vandal gulls swoop in to destroy the elaborate floral display. She taste-tests rat bait, learns how to install a vulture effigy, and gets mugged by a macaque.

Combining little-known forensic science and conservation genetics with a motley cast of laser scarecrows, langur impersonators, and trespassing squirrels, Roach reveals as much about humanity as about nature’s lawbreakers. When it comes to “problem” wildlife, she finds, humans are more often the problem—and the solution. Fascinating, witty, and humane, Fuzz offers hope for compassionate coexistence in our ever-expanding human habitat.

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The Someday Garden was inspired by The Secret Garden, so we’re going to talk about inspiration, gardening, fandoms, changing genres and having your readers grow up with you as a writer.

TW/CW – discussion of grief, and of suicide at almost exactly 1 hour into our conversation.

Want to watch this episode on YouTube? 

Read the transcript →

Here are the books we discuss in this podcast:

You can find Ashley Poston on her website, AshPoston.com, on IG as @HeyAshPoston, and on Threads @HeyAshPoston.

We also mentioned:

• Diary X (RIP)
• Cheerful Plants app (when to water your succulents!)
  • Apple
  • Android
• Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Parody Musical 
• Boothbay Garden, Maine
• Jardin de Quatre-Vents, Quebec, Canada
• The Butchart Garden, British Columbia, Canada

Do you like to listen to your favorite podcasts on YouTube? We’re there, too! Come on over!

If you like the podcast, you can subscribe to our feed, or find us at iTunes. You can also find us on Stitcher, and Spotify, too. We also have a cool page for the podcast on iTunes.

More ways to sponsor:

Sponsor us through Patreon! (What is Patreon?)

What did you think of today's episode? Got ideas? Suggestions? You can talk to us on the blog entries for the podcast or talk to us on Facebook if that's where you hang out online. You can email us at sbjpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave us a message at our Google voice number: 201-371-3272. Please don't forget to give us a name and where you're calling from so we can work your message into an upcoming podcast.

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The transcript for Podcast 722. RT Rewind: May 1996 Reviews has been posted!

This podcast transcript was handcrafted with meticulous skill by Garlic Knitter. Many thanks.

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The Ex Vows

Estranged exes must stick close together to save their best friend’s wedding after a string of disasters in this swoony and steamy second-chance romance.

Georgia Woodward lives by her lists, none more so than the one about her ex, Eli Mora. It’s full of the ironclad dos and don’ts they’ve been following since she returned to the Bay Area after their cataclysmic breakup five years ago.

With the wedding of their mutual best friend, Adam, looming, and them about to step into their roles as best woman and man, Georgia’s never needed it more. She refuses to threaten their tight-knit friend group with her messy—and still very present—feelings. The rules on that list will keep her cool, calm, and compartmentalized.

What’s not on her list? Eli arriving from New York with a new rule-breaking attitude or the all-inclusive venue burning to the ground, leaving the bride and groom in dire straits. Nor does she anticipate Adam asking her and Eli to help him make a miracle happen. Together.

As Georgia and Eli rush up to Napa Valley to pull off the perfect wedding, their old chemistry comes back in technicolor. Somewhere between cake tastings gone wrong, disastrous DJ auditions, and Eli’s heated attention, Georgia starts recognizing the man she fell in love with before. And if she lets herself break her rules, she might find what they’re building isn’t the something old that ruined them—it’s a chance at something new.

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When You Are Mine

When You Are Mine by Kennedy Ryan is $1.99! This is book one in The Bennetts series, which was originally a digital only release, but has since gotten a cover redesign and is being offered in paperback. Books two and three are also on sale.

Forever is a heartbeat away . . .

Kerris Moreton knows how to make things work. Bounced from foster home to foster home as a kid, she adapted; when opportunity arose, she thrived. Now, about to open her own business and accept a marriage proposal, Kerris is ready to build the life she’s always wanted. The only thing missing? A passionate connection with her would-be fiancé, Cam. Kerris wants to believe that sparks are overrated-until Walsh Bennett lights her up like the Fourth of July.

. . . but what about love?

As one of the East Coast’s most eligible bachelors, Walsh enjoys financial independence, fulfilling work with his family’s nonprofit, and plenty of female attention. But lately he’s been distracted by the one woman he can’t have. Lovely to look at and even sweeter to know, Kerris is the soul mate Walsh never thought he would find. The problem is, his best friend found her first . . .

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To Kill a Badger

To Kill a Badger by Shelly Laurenston is $2.99! This is the latest book in the Honey Badgers series. If you’re participating in our summer bingo, this would work for the “Shifter That Isn’t a Bear, Wolf, or Big Cat” square.

Laugh-out-loud humor, a feminist outlook, and one-of-a-kind shape-shifting romance come together with the continuation of the fan-favorite Honey Badger Chronicles from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shelly Laurenston.

Nelle Zhao is a social media maven who knows what matters. And the only thing that matters right now is survival. Not easy, though, when her honey badger teammates attract trouble the way she attracts attention. She didn’t know when it became her job to protect the ones she cares about from themselves, but even she has to admit…she’s really good at it. Too bad some people don’t appreciate when she’s being helpful. Especially Keane Malone, who doesn’t know how to accept a friendly paw. But Nelle excels at helping! And at ignoring other people’s irrational demands, such as doing it all alone. Keane, poor pretty kitty, doesn’t understand the kind of assistance a shit-starting honey badger like Nelle can truly offer . . .

Keane knows two things—he doesn’t like other people, and he is going to crush the de Medicis, an evil coalition of male lion shifters who are not only snatching innocent humans for fun and profit, but also killed his father. And for once, he may not be able to fight this fight alone, forcing him to let long-legged, jet-setting Nelle join the fight. And getting close to Nelle is suddenly bringing out his roar . . .

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Meet Me in the Margins

Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson is $1.99! This one is featured the Rec League for The Shop Around the Corner recs. This was Catherine’s last review for the site and she gave it a B-:

Overall, this was a really fun read, especially if you enjoy stories about writers and writing. I liked the humour, and I really enjoyed the friendship between M.E. and Savannah. While I had some (ok, many) misgivings about their professional relationship, I found their romantic relationship both convincing and charming.

Savannah Cade is a low-level editor at Pennington Publishing, a prestigious publisher producing only the highest of highbrow titles. And while editing the latest edition of The Anthology of Medieval Didactic Poetry may be her day job, she has two secrets she’s hiding.

One: She’s writing a romance novel.

Two: She’s discovered the Book Nook—a secret room in the publishing house where she finds inspiration for her “lowbrow” hobby.

After leaving her manuscript behind one afternoon, she returns to the nook only to discover someone has written notes in the margins. Savannah’s first response to the criticism is defensive, but events transpire that force her to admit that she needs the help of this shadowy editor after all. As the notes take a turn for the romantic, and as Savannah’s madcap life gets more complicated than ever, she uses the process of elimination to identify her mysterious editor—only to discover that what she truly wants and what she should want just might not be the same. Melissa Ferguson’s latest—a love letter to books, readers, and romance—will leave fans laughing out loud and swooning in the same breath.

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I’m officially out of the first trimester, which had a lot of gagging and all day nausea. There were times when I’d just gaze lovingly at the Taco Bell menu on Uber Eats.

We did an early blood test to determine sex and we’re very excited to know that it’s a girl. Honestly, it still doesn’t feel real and I’m surprised at the amount of joy and excitement I feel to get to know this little person when she arrives.

When my therapist asked what I looked forward to in terms of being a parent, it was seeing my child’s personality. What will be their passions and interests? A reader? A gamer? Both? Will they be an outside kid or an indoor kid? So many possibilities!

I’ve been with the site for over a decade and have been reading it much longer. The amount of milestones this community has seen me through only continue to grow. Am I crying as I write this? You know it!

My biggest love to Sarah, my fellow bitches, and the romance reading community.

Menopause, and its hot sister, Perimenopause: they come for us all, and wow, can it be a ride.

I was not informed at all about menopause by anyone in my life, and learned about it the same way I learned about sex: through books.

The sex books were romances, which wasn’t always great, and Judy Blume books, which turned me off of the name “Ralph” for the entirety of my life. I learned a lot through fiction, and then nonfiction, when it came (heh heh) to sexuality.

With menopause, thankfully there are MANY MORE books to choose from, and many more community resources – this list from The Menopause Wiki is substantial!

Here are some that I’ve read, examined, or had recommended to me, and I would LOVE to know which books you recommend to those of us in the Bitchery who are Feeling the Change, having Personal Summers, Enduring Insomnia, and maybe have Unending Rage (that was my first symptom).

What Fresh Hell Is This?

Author: Heather Corinna
Released: June 1, 2021 by Hachette Go
Genre: Nonfiction

What to Expect When You’re Not Expected to Expect Anything Anymore

Did you see the title and flame-filled cover of this book, and did your weary, sweaty, confused, and exasperated soul scream, That one! That is the book for me!!? If so, I’d first like to extend my deepest sympathies, an ice pack, and some of these very helpful edibles. If it’s three in the morning as you’re reading this, as it may well be, you likely want those more than a book. But since I can’t really give you the other stuff, I can at least offer you this book. . . .

Perimenopause and menopause experiences are as unique as all of us who move through them. While there’s no one-size-fits-all, Heather Corinna tells you what can happen and what you can do to take care of yourself, all the while busting pernicious myths, offering real self-care tips—the kind that won’t break the bank or your soul—and running the gamut from hot flashes to hormone therapy. With big-tent, practical, clear information and support, and inclusive of so many who have long been left out of the discussion—people with disabilities; queer, transgender, nonbinary, and other gender-diverse people; BIPOC; working class and other folks—What Fresh Hell Is This? is the cooling pillow and empathetic best friend to help you through the fire.

Written by Heather Corinna, founder of Scarleteen, one of the most helpful websites in the known universe, this book is wonderfully inclusive because it includes queer,  nonbinary, trans, and disabled folks. It’s fierce and very Gen-X in style, which I appreciate immensely.

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The Menopause Manifesto

Author: Jen Gunter
Released: May 25, 2021 by Citadel Press
Genre: Nonfiction

The internationally renowned, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Vagina Bible , Dr. Jen Gunter has been called the world’s most famous–and outspoken–gynecologist (The Guardian), the internet’s OB/GYN, and one of the fiercest advocates for women’s health. Now, in The Menopause Manifesto, Dr. Jen Gunter brings you empowerment through knowledge by countering stubborn myths and misunderstandings about menopause with hard facts, real science, fascinating historical perspective, and expert advice.

The only thing predictable about menopause is its unpredictability. Factor in widespread misinformation, a lack of research, and the culture of shame around women’s bodies, and it’s no wonder women are unsure what to expect during the menopause transition and beyond.

Menopause is not a disease–it’s a planned change, like puberty. And just like puberty, we should be educated on what’s to come years in advance, rather than the current practice of leaving people on their own with bothersome symptoms and too much conflicting information. Knowing what is happening, why, and what to do about it is both empowering and reassuring.

Frank and funny, Dr. Jen debunks misogynistic attitudes and challenges the
over-mystification of menopause to reveal everything you really need to know about:

– Perimenopause
– Hot flashes
– Sleep disruption
– Sex and libido
– Depression and mood changes
– Skin and hair issues
– Outdated therapies
– Breast health
– Weight and muscle mass
– Health maintenance screening
– And much more!

Filled with practical, reassuring information, this essential guide will revolutionize how women experience menopause–including how their lives can be even better for it!

Tara reviewed this book, written by Dr. Jen Gunter, who also wrote The Vagina Bible, and who has been a on the podcast in episode 367. The Vagina Bible, Shoes, and Other Essentials: A Conversation with Dr. Jen Gunter, and in episode 459. Facts, Feminism, and Menopause with Dr. Jen Gunter.

Tara gave this book an A, saying “I didn’t expect this book to make me cry, but it did. Specifically, I got teary when I was reading the introduction and came across this sentence: “It shouldn’t require an act of feminism to know how your body works, but it does.” I felt equal parts furious, seen, and relieved….” I’ve read it, too, and concur that it’s excellent at making me feel recognized, particularly the chapter on where the scaremongering negativity toward hormone replacement therapy came from.

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The New Menopause

Author: Mary Claire Haver
Released: April 30, 2024 by Rodale Books
Genre: Nonfiction

Filling a gaping hole in menopause care, everything a woman needs to know to thrive during her hormonal transition and beyond, as well as the tools to help her take charge of her health at this pivotal life stage–by the bestselling author of The Galveston Diet.

Menopause is inevitable, but suffering through it is not! This is the empowering approach to self-advocacy that pioneering women’s health advocate Dr. Mary Claire Haver takes for women in the midst of hormonal change in The New Menopause. A comprehensive, authoritative book of science-backed information and lived experience, it covers every woman’s needs:
– From changes in your appearance and sleep patterns to neurological, musculoskeletal, psychological, and sexual issues, a comprehensive A to Z toolkit of science-backed options for coping with symptoms.
– What to do to mediate the risks associated with your body’s natural drop in estrogen production, including for diabetes, dementia, Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, and weight gain.
– How to advocate and prepare for annual midlife wellness visits, including questions for your doctor and how to insist on whole life care.
– The very latest research on the benefits and side effects of hormone replacement therapy.
Arming women with the power to secure vibrant health and well-being for the rest of their lives, The New Menopause is sure to become the bible of midlife wellness for present and future generations.

Hilariously (to me) the summary starts with “filling a gaping hole in menopause care,” which is imagery that makes my immature inner 13 year old laugh herself silly. This book has a solid amount of information about mental health changes that may come with the arrival of Meno and her sister Peri, such as increased anxiety or auditory hallucinations.

Important Caveat: This book was recommended to me by a neighbor, and does include a lot of references to the author’s prior book, The Galveston Diet, so if you’re uninterested in diet-focused discussion, you may want to skip this one. Also worth mentioning is that Dr. Haver has a line of vitamins and supplements, and I remain very skeptical of anyone trying to give me health information while also profiting from products related to that issue.

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The Definitive Guide to the Perimenopause and Menopause

Author: Louise Newson
Released: March 16, 2023 by Yellow Kite
Genre: Nonfiction

Your complete, expert, evidence-based guide to the perimenopause and menopause.

Dr Louise Newson is fast becoming the leading medical expert on hormone health. This revised and expanded edition of her bestselling book has all the information and advice you need to understand the impact of low hormone levels on your perimenopause symptoms as well as on your future health post-menopause. There’s an up-to-date guide to HRT doses, how to deal with HRT availability fluctuations, new research on testosterone and its benefits beyond libido boosting and startling findings on how low hormones can increase our propensity towards addictive behaviours, including intake of alcohol. New interviews with experts including Dr Lisa Mosconi discuss pertinent questions such as whether HRT can reduce the risk of dementia, and new case studies from Newson Health reveal essential research on how hormone imbalance can impact the neurodivergent brain.

With the gender pay gap highlighting inequality in the workplace and women’s pension pots diminished, it is vitally important that the frightening stats showing almost 60% of women have taken time off work or reduced their hours due to menopause symptoms are broadcast far and wide. This book will empower and inform you to improve your own menopause care as well as understand the bigger societal issues that have been ignored for far too long.

Published in 2023 by a UK-based menopause specialist, this book focuses on evidence-based information (thank heavens) and research from Dr. Newson’s nonprofit Newson Health Research and Education. Some reviewers thought that there wasn’t enough information on subjects like vaginal prolapse (ugh) and recommend this book as a starting point for further investigation and research.

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Want to order this one? We’ve got the links you need!.

 

 

 

The Menopause Brain

Author: Lisa Mosconi
Released: March 12, 2024 by Avery
Genre: Nonfiction

The New York Times bestselling author of The XX Brain shows women how to navigate menopause successfully and come out the other side with an even better brain.

Menopause and perimenopause are still a black box to most doctors, leaving patients exasperated as they grapple with symptoms ranging from hot flashes to insomnia to brain fog. As a leading neuroscientist and women’s brain health specialist, Dr. Mosconi unravels these mysteries by revealing how menopause doesn’t just impact the ovaries—it’s a hormonal show in which the brain takes center stage.

The decline of the hormone estrogen during menopause influences everything from body temperature to mood to memory, potentially paving the way for cognitive decline later in life. To conquer these challenges successfully, Dr. Mosconi brings us the latest approaches—explaining the role of cutting-edge hormone replacement therapies like “designer estrogens,” hormonal contraception, and key lifestyle changes encompassing diet, exercise, self-care, and self-talk.

Best of all, Dr. Mosconi dispels the myth that menopause signifies an end, demonstrating that it’s actually a transition. Contrary to popular belief, if we know how to take care of ourselves during menopause, we can emerge with a renewed, enhanced brain—ushering in a meaningful and vibrant new chapter of life.

Dr. Lisa Mosconi’s prior book is The XX Brain, and this one builds on that research to explain through a neuroscientist’s perspective what is happening to the brain during meno and peri. The first half is more neuroscience and “what is up with your brain,” which is MY JAM. But per several reviewers, alas, there is a lot of diet culture and some “please be serious” recommendations about lifestyle and food in the second half. Further, if you don’t have a uterus on board, please note that much of the book focuses on periods.

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Grown Woman Talk

Author: Sharon Malone
Released: April 9, 2024 by Crown
Genre: Nonfiction

A practical guide to aging and health for women who have felt ignored or marginalized by the medical profession, from a leading Ob/Gyn and expert on menopausal and post-reproductive health

The medical system today is increasingly complicated and impersonal, and unfortunately, it is not going to be less so in the future. The rules of engagement have changed in medicine, but no one has bothered to inform patients. Much is written about Black women and women of color, be it our increased cancer risk, our alarming obesity statistics, or our disproportionate risk of cardiovascular diseases, but very little is written for us, and a diagnosis from Dr. Internet doesn’t cut it. Talk about being sick? Dr. Sharon Malone is sick of that.

Grown Woman Talk is for all women who have often not been seen or heard. For more than three decades as a practicing Ob/Gyn in the nation’s capital and now as chief medical officer of Alloy Women’s Health, Dr. Malone has served women across the city all the way to the upper echelons of power. In this book, she gives us the nudge we all need to become effective and efficient advocates in getting the care we deserve. Part medical memoir of the Malone family experience tracing from the Jim Crow South to the highest corridors of power in Washington, part relatable clinical scenarios of women from all walks of life and experiences, and part practical medical and logistical advice, this book is a reliable and easy-to-understand resource. In addition to information on ailments like fibroids, cancer, heart disease, and perimenopause, it also helps us navigate the medical establishment of today with advice on how to choose a doctor, why our family’s health history matters, and how to decide among treatments. Combining emerging practices with the latest research the book addresses many women’s greatest gap, the one between what they believe and what is actually true.

With a combination of medical expertise, up-to-date science, and lived experience, Grown Woman Talk addresses the most common conditions women over forty deal with. And it helps women, especially Black women, identify the power they have and how to use it to chart a path to improve their health outcomes and thrive.

Grown Woman Talk focuses on menopause for Black women, who are historically underrepresented and unfairly treated in medical establishments. Dr. Malone shares medical information and medical history, some tied to her own life leading several reviewers to call this a combination guide and memoir. The focus is on self-advocacy and helping women, especially Black women, navigate the medical care they need.

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The Official We Do Not Care Club Handbook

Author: Melani Sanders
Released: January 13, 2026 by Harvest
Genre: Nonfiction

We. Do. Not. Care.

Hop aboard the Hot Mess Express, Sisters, and welcome to the club!

Do you wake up with night sweats at 3:26 a.m., overstimulated, mad at anything breathing, and ready to put the world on notice?

Do you forget the words you are saying as you are saying them?

If you have a she-shed and no longer care about clothes that fit or cellulite on your legs (legs is legs!), then welcome to the club—the We Do Not Care Club (WDNC). You’re now a card-carrying member with an exclusive invite to the big­gest hormonal party in town.

This club is for all of our Sisters in perimenopause, menopause, and post­menopause who are over it. Here is a list* of things We Do Not Care about today:

• Shaving our legs. That’s on our summer bucket list. Winter is here.
• Plucking our chin hair. If we can’t see it, neither can you.
• Wearing bras. Be happy we have a shirt on.
• Wearing PJs all day. Clothes is clothes.
• Being on time. Be happy that I showed up — I don’t even want to be here.
• Cancelled plans. We didn’t want to go anywhere anyway.
• If you’re cold. Don’t even think about touching that thermostat.

*partial and incomplete

Melani Sanders, founding member of the WDNC, is here to tell you that it’s okay not to care. You’re not alone. This book is your life raft. Let’s hold on for dear life—and get through this together.

I can’t write a post about menopause without mentioning Melani Sanders’ We Do Not Care club, and the bestselling handbook she published this year. If you’ve missed Sanders’ WDNC meetings on IG or TikTok, she’s ready to tell you how few fucks we are giving as we move through peri into full menopause. Some reviews state that it was developed quickly to harness the success of her social media posts, but the writing is direct and honest, especially about sex and body changes. Those that didn’t like it seem to have objected to the profanity.

The larger message is about releasing yourself from social expectations that may never have been necessary to care about, because peri and meno are here to divest you of giving a crap about dumb stuff and finding every possible way to be comfortable at an uncomfortable time.

What about you? Do you have any books about menopause or perimenopause that you recommend? 

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Savor It

Summer won’t last forever.

Sage Byrd has lived in the coastal town of Spunes, Oregon (not to be confused with Forks, Washington) her entire life. She’s learned to love her small world, with the misfit animals on her hobby farm, and her friendships with the town’s inhabitants. But when her 5-year relationship ends and her ex, town-golden-boy Ian, suddenly gets engaged, Sage needs a win—something that will convince everyone to stop pitying her all the time, and to put Ian in his place. The Festival of Spunes, the town’s annual summer competition, would be the perfect opportunity. She just needs a partner.

Fisher Lange was a hotshot chef in New York City until the loss of his sister left him numb, grieving, and responsible for his teenage niece Indy. When Fisher loses his Michelin star along with his love of cooking, his boss sends him and Indy to Spunes on a much-needed summer sabbatical to consult on a restaurant opening. But when clashes with the townspeople threaten his last chance to redeem himself and a kiss with his new neighbor Sage leads to dating rumors, a strategic alliance might just be the best way to turn things around.

A deal is struck. Sage will improve Fisher’s image in the eyes of the town and remove the roadblocks he is facing with the restaurant, and Fisher will be Sage’s partner for the competition. But as their pact quickly turns into steamy rendezvous, emotional wounds begin to heal, and the pair tries to savor every moment, they start to realize that summer is racing by much faster than they would like…

Filled with spicy summer fun, small-town charm, and Big Feelings, this highly anticipated romcom is Tarah DeWitt’s best yet.

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The Nanny’s Handbook to Magic and Managing Difficult Dukes

The Nanny’s Handbook to Magic and Managing Difficult Dukes by Amy Rose Bennett is $2.99! This is book one in the Parasol Academy series, which is a historical fantasy romance.

Mary Poppins meets Bridgerton in a feel-good blend of cozy fantasy magic, historical romance, humor, and Victorian era charm, as a recent graduate of the Parasol Academy for Exceptional Nannies and Governesses finds her supernatural abilities are little help when it comes to falling for the shy, mysterious inventor who happens to be her employer . . .

For readers of Heather Fawcett, Allison Saft, Katherine Arden, Freya Marske, and Olivia Atwater’s Regency Faerie Tales series.

Emmeline Chase, 25-year-old widow and new alumna, may be more high-spirited than the Academy would like. Few graduates, however, could turn a mismanaged teleportation onto a duke’s rooftop into an offer of employment. But Emmeline’s circumstances, along with her desperation to support her bankrupt, incarcerated father, have made her dauntless. Which seems the primary qualification to work for expert horologist Xavier Mason, Duke of St. Lawrence, and manage his three rambunctious wards. Yet Emmeline soon discovers that the nobleman’s heart-melting voice and captivating mind present an entirely different sort of trouble. She cannot risk losing her license by fraternizing with her employer . . .

Xavier’s wards have sent two nannies packing in a month thanks to frogs, firecrackers, and general mayhem. In addition, Xavier’s professional reputation is on the line. He’s already considered odd, with his talking raven companion and his fascination with timekeeping instead of pleasure-chasing with his peers. Charming, vivacious Emmeline seems intrigued with his quirks—but Xavier must have absolute peace to design London’s “King of Clocks” for Westminster Palace before the competition closes. Emmeline can no doubt restore order. As long as he doesn’t fall under her spell . . .

Yet, with a possible saboteur in their midst, and the attraction flaring between them threatening to become a deliciously disastrous distraction, a touch of magic may be required . . .

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Look Before You Leap

Look Before You Leap by Virginia Heath is $2.99! Guest reviewer Lisa gave this one a B-:

Virginia Heath has crafted plenty of A-level, Squee-laden reads over the course of her historical romance writing career, and I’ve ranked her among my favorite historical authors of all time more than once. Her latest series, Miss Prentice’s Protegees, had been solid up until now, but Look Before You Leap is a weaker entry than the previous book in the line-up.

In this hilarious second installment of a Regency romance series, a single lord is forced to settle down…and when a houseparty brings a happy-go-lucky lady’s companion his way, his grumpy heart is unexpectedly warmed.

Nine years ago, Lord Guy Harrowby, Viscount Wennington, was publicly humiliated by a failed and reckless romantic gesture. Despite this, his mother clings to the promise he made her then: that she would have a house full of grandchildren by his thirtieth birthday. Still single, embittered, and swiftly approaching thirty, Guy’s work is his life. In desperation, his mother blindsides Guy with a weeklong house party at his estate filled with annoying debutantes, all competing to be his wife.

After failing as a governess, Lottie Travers is struggling as a lady’s companion. Raised in an all-male household, she’s developed habits that get her dismissed. Even after years of Miss Prentice’s teachings of how to be a lady, she climbs trees better than she embroiders and can’t resist riding horses astride, in breeches. But with the family farm in trouble, and her father now in dire need of her wages, she’s determined to conquer her wildness once and for all.

Even with his home full of eligible women, there is only one who catches Guy’s eye—though he tries to deny it. For Lottie, succeeding in her new role proves difficult when the Wennington estate is filled with horses, and a spark ignites between her and the grumpy lord. Will they remain stuck in their ways, or learn that they may just be the perfect match?

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One Cursed Rose

One Cursed Rose by Rebecca Zanetti is $2.99! This is book one in the dystopian fairy tale Grimm Bargains series. I recently reviewed this and gave it a D, but no judgement if you want to try the crazysauce for yourself.

For fans of Scarlett St Clair and Sarah J Maas, New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti explores the forbidden and the taboo in this modern twist on Beauty and the Beast – the first in a seductive new dark romance series set in a world where information is power, and those who control the flow of information live like gods…

“Sexy and utterly engrossing!” —bestselling author J.T. Geissinger

They christened me Alana—and while the name means beauty, beneath that surface is a depth I allow very few to see. I’m sole heir to Aquarius Social, a media giant about to succumb to an unseen enemy. My father’s solution is to marry me off to the son of a competing family. My reaction? Not a chance. Now I have just a week before the wedding to change my fate.

Who knew the unforeseen twist would be an assassination attempt on me and an unwanted rescue by Thorn Beathach, the head of the rival social media empire driving Aquarius under? The richest, most ruthless of them all, the Beast protects his realm with an iron rule: no one sees his face. When he shows himself to me, I know he’ll never let me go.

Thorn may think he can lock me in his enchanted castle forever, but I’m not the docile Beauty he expects. If the Beast wants to tie me up, I’m going to take pleasure from every minute of it . . .and we’ll just see who ends up shackled.

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It’s a quick little post today. I’ve been having a craving for Publix’s Southern Style Potato Salad and I was able to find a dupe recipe online. Brian made it over the weekend and it’s a pretty good replacement. My only critique was just a touch more mayo and mustard as it was slightly dry for me.

Do you ever get cravings for very specific brand foods or regional foods?

…

Sarah’s post on Books as Luxury Items had a mention on Ep 466 – Buying Dracula Himself – Is Reading for Rich People Now? of Reading Glasses. 

…

Interested in vintage romances or collecting romance paperbacks? There’s a blog for that!

…

If you’re a big fan of the 1984 Ghostbusters, now there’s a Gozer doll. I’m just tickled by its existence.

…

Darker Times is a new a worker-owned, reader-supported horror magazine. Right now, they have some Pride content up!

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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

I’ve written pretty often about how much I love affectionate satire and parody. You might have guessed from the past 21 years of our examination of romance fiction that this might be my jam. So clearly THRUPM would appeal to me, right?

Except I thought I didn’t like musicals. But would you believe that because of THRUPM, I figured out why I didn’t think musicals were for me and how wrong I was?

This is a powerful show, folks.

I do like musicals! And I like this one especially because it’s cheeky, enthusiastic, sarcastic, clever, and so freaking funny. Every inhale was a laugh on the exhale.

This is the official description of The Heated Rivalry Unauthorized Parody Musical:

Inspired by the hit show about hockey, Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody follows starry-eyed golden boy Shane Hollander on his journey from power center to power bottom.

Relive all of the moments from the show that made you wet (with tears) up close on the small-stage by an incredible cast of Broadway actors who thought they were auditioning to be in Season 2. Sporting a bop-infused score, scene-stealing cameos by characters like “Rose Landry” and “Ilya’s Ass”, and time jumps absolutely no one can keep track of, audiences will find themselves hot, bothered, and probably saying, “….Girl!”

Because with love, sometimes it comes when you least expect it… and sometimes, it comes hands-free. So, grab a Canada Dry and join us for this hot and steamy romp!

 Accurate copy is accurate.

The theater is a small venue on 27th between 10th and 11th avenue, with a lobby on the first floor and the theater several floors above (the audience is escorted to the elevator by a volunteer usher – ours had seen the show more than 10 times and loved it still).

This is the entrance ticket before the box office:

The framing of the show starts in the first number, where three Susans explain how watching the show was all they could think about, and now that “the lunches are packed” and the husbands has been given her iPad and told to “go play,” they’re ready to re-watch.

Their re-watch is the musical, with Susan 1, played by Ryann Redmond (WHO IS FABULOUS) and the other cast members retelling the plot with a few minor and hilarious changes.

I’m not a theater critic by a long shot, and don’t feel as qualified to evaluate a musical production as I do a historical romance with a “musicale” in it, but this show rocked my socks clean off.

Dylan MarcAurele wrote the book, music, and the lyrics, and holy crap. I would stutter and blink a lot and form half words if I met them; seriously, I am in awe of this person’s talent. The songs are lyrically hilarious, and swing from silliness to surprisingly touching without warning. I should not expect to find myself tearing up from a song titled, “Cold Heart, Big Ass.”

Every person on the stage was jaw dropping good.

The acting, singing, stage direction, choreography, writing, and the score were all top notch, and all of it was performed like a sort of DIY high-school-theater production with interchangeable set pieces on wheels, and a very, very small stage. The theater itself is also small, and that enhances the exuberant “we’re all having a ball together” feeling of the show.

Jimin Moon, who plays Shane, was magnetic. He even imitated some of Hudson Williams’ expressions and mannerisms to the point that he looked a LOT like Hudson on stage. Jay Armstrong Jones held all the cold intensity and smolder of Ilya and his dangly cigarette, and as the story progressed, allowed that coldness to become almost clumsy, like Ilya was tripping over his own persona. Rose Landry gets her own number, which is excellent, and yes, Ilya’s Ass is a whole plot point.

…”point’ is too small a word. Plot mound? Plot dump truck? Ilya’s ass is a whole thing, is what I’m saying.

My favorite part was the audience. There were four Rozanov jerseys, two Hollanders and a Hunter, and an audience comprised of a very wide range of ages and styles. When I arrived, there were older-than-me couples waiting already, and what looked like a small book club.

Then a group of four sat down next to me in the lobby, and the women started telling their partners what Heated Rivalry is about while they were going upstairs to the theater.

Surprise! (All of them were laughing the entire show.)

I love the energy of being with people who love something tremendously and also poke gentle fun at it with sharp, clever wordplay. There are more innuendos in this show than there are in the entire archive of this website. Every person involved seemed to be having a great time, and what’s more, they were as earnestly engaged with their respective characters as they were winking at the story and at the audience.

If you find yourself able to see it, or want to make a trip to NYC for it (I did) it’s extremely worth the effort. As of right now, tickets are available through 7 September.

Some of the most talented people in every department came together to create this hysterical confection of a show. This was truly one of the most fun, silly, campy, loving, and funny performances I have ever seen, ever.

For more information:

• The Heated Rivalry the Unauthorized Musical Parody website (Tickets here!)
•  Additional photos of the cast at EW: “Heated Rivalry takes the stage: First look at Ilya and Shane in The Unauthorized Musical Parody (exclusive)” by Nick Romano
• Photos from the premiere at Playbill.com.
• And, of course, the trailer.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

From V. E. Schwab, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: a new genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger.

This is a story about hunger.
1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada.
A young girl grows up wild and wily—her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But María knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice. She vows to have no regrets.

This is a story about love.
1827. London.
A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family’s estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. Charlotte’s tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes are swept away by an invitation from a beautiful widow—but the price of freedom is higher than she could have imagined.

This is a story about rage.
2019. Boston.
College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new. That’s why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind. But after an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers . . . and revenge.

This is a story about life—
how it ends, and how it starts.

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No Matter What

No Matter What by Cara Bastone is $2.99! Big thank you to everyone who let us know about this deal. Hopefully it lasts! I was honestly just okay on this one. The marriage in trouble conflict didn’t quite work for me and I found it to be rather slow. YMMV!

Sometimes love sends you back to the drawing board.

After a traumatic accident threatens the foundations of their happy marriage, a couple tries to rebuild and find their way back to each other—and themselves—in this tender, slow-burn romance by the bestselling author of Ready or Not and Promise Me Sunshine.

“Cara Bastone is an absolute master of tender, emotional, soul-charged love stories.”—B.K. Borison, New York Times bestselling author of First-Time Caller

Roz and Vin can’t look each other in the eyes anymore, let alone share a bed. It’s been a year since they survived a life-altering accident, and their marriage hasn’t been the same. But Roz has held out hope that they can fix things, until she discovers Vin has signed a new lease. So she does what any soon-to-be-divorced Manhattanite would do: sign up for a figure-drawing class.

Between Roz’s determined attempts to improve her artistic skills and her adventures with her best friend, Raffi, she can almost ignore Vin’s impending move-out date and his footsteps in their previously unoccupied guest room. But it would all be a lot easier if Vin wasn’t Raffi’s older brother, and if she didn’t still find him incredibly, debilitatingly attractive and kind.

So kind, in fact, that Vin offers to let Roz draw him. What is she supposed to say? It’s probably better than her original plan of finding some random male model online, and she needs all the practice she can get. Plus, that’s sure to make a separation easier, right? Focus on every detail of your estranged spouse’s body while drawing him in the nude? But after the year they’ve spent avoiding each other, it feels good to see and be seen by one another again.

As Roz works to capture the wholeness of the person she fell in love with, will they both be able to draw upon the feelings they buried deep inside to finally heal together?

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The Trident and the Pearl

The Trident and the Pearl by Sariah K.L. Wilson is 99c! I liked this debut with a few notes, though I think it’s very much worth the sale price. These were my thoughts on Goodreads:

This one didn’t hit its stride until about the halfway point and admittedly I struggle with first person POVs when there’s only one. It’s often a lot of internal cyclical conflict.

However, I did enjoy the world building and mystery. There’s a cliffhanger and I do want to see how the gang gets out of this pickle.

A desperate queen makes a deal with the gods to save her land in this spellbinding romantasy debut from Sarah K. L. Wilson.

Queen Coralys rules the Kingdom of the Five Isles, but when disaster strikes, killing her husband and destroying half her nation, she pleads with the gods for salvation. And they do save her, turning back the terrible winds and tide and snatching her islands from the brink of destruction.

But the gods have a wicked sense of justice and they demand an exchange for their Coralys must marry the first man to set foot on her pier. Coralys expects the fleet of a neighboring country to come to rescue her people, led by its prince, a loyal ally. What she gets instead is a fisherman so sunburnt and stinking that her court can barely keep their breakfast down.

Coralys marries the fisherman just as she promised the gods, and sets out with him in his unkempt dinghy, with nothing but hopes of revenge against the gods to keep her from despair. But what she does not know is that the fisherman is actually the god of the sea. And he stepped on her dock for a reason.

His own kingdom besieged, his body terribly wounded, and his place as a god threatened, the fisherman has plans to turn the tides set against him and finally offer a place of refuge for his people. But working the magic he needs will require the help of the one woman bent on his destruction.

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I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com

I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com by Kimberly Lemming is $1.99! This is book one in the Comic Chaos series and came out last February. Book two is due out in August of this year.

A hilarious and sexy romance about a woman who gets dropped on a strange planet only to fall for not one, but two, aliens, from the author of I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf.

Dorothy Valentine is close to getting her PhD in wildlife biology when she’s attacked by a lion. On the bright side, she’s saved! On the not-so-bright side, it’s because they’re abducted by aliens. In her scramble to escape, Dory and the lion commandeer an escape pod and crash-land on an alien planet that has…dinosaurs?

Dory and her new lion bestie, Toto, are saved in the nick of time by a mysterious and sexy alien, Sol. On their new adventure, they team up with the equally hot, equally dangerous Lok, who may or may not be a war criminal. Whether it be trauma, fate, or intrigue, Dory can’t resist the attraction that’s developing in their trio….

As this ragtag group of misfits explore their new planet, Dory learns more about how and why they’ve all ended up together, battles more prehistoric creatures than she imagined (she imagined…zero), and questions if she even wants to go back home to Earth in this hilarious and steamy alien romance adventure comedy romp.

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I’m trying to find a human-alien romance I read a few years ago. It starts from the alien’s POV but eventually alternates with the female protagonist.

He’s a skilled hunter; she’s the only survivor of a crashed colony ship. Stuff I liked: where a lot of sci-fi romance tends to hand-wave the ‘sci,’ the world building and technology had a lot of thought put into them. The main characters acquire each other’s language slowly and realistically. The author doesn’t just chicken out by making the aliens basically humans but blue; the male protagonist’s biology – he has an exoskeleton and his culture is matriarchal; I wanna say it’s spider-ish? – is genuinely *alien,* but the sex scenes are still believable and pretty hot.

Other details…Ok the aliens are definitely based on spiders; the main character’s people live in underground tunnels, and when he goes off on his own (the queen wants to make him her consort and he’s not feeling it. She’s a villain & maybe killed his mother??) he makes a nest in the trees, suspended in webbing like an orb spider. He makes his lady a silk dress. There are a lot of genuinely funny moments, like since all the mammals on the protagonist’s planet are small, unintelligent prey animals, he initially assumes this grown-ass woman is basically a fussy, not-too-bright poodle and treats her accordingly. I chuckled. That said, even though there are laughs, there are some genuinely tense/sad moments as well. I wouldn’t characterize the overall tone as super dark or somber but the book is a little more serious than many alien romances I’ve seen here.

There’s a B plot with his little sister…? The planet itself is pretty lethal with loads of environmental hazards… there’s a 2nd book in the series but I DNFed it; it introduces a predictably xenophobic human rival to our protagonist, but the new guy is such a douche you never really buy it. I’d love any recs for more books in this genre too!

We can certainly run an alien romance Rec League in the future!

Welcome back!

It’s a big release week for us before the month slows down. I haven’t even taken a peek at July yet.

What new releases are on your radar today? Let us know in the comments!

Bump, Set, Sparks

Author: Jennifer Moffatt
Released: June 16, 2026 by St. Martin's Griffin
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance

Two rival volleyball players compete for the championship in this summer romp full of community, crushes, and confidence building from the author of Flirty Dancing.

Jess loves volleyball—she really does. Playing in Southern California Beach Volleyball League with her best friend Tania is a blast, but their recent losing streak has destroyed her confidence. In fact, a lot of what used to bring her joy—stargazing, hanging with friends at Maggie’s bar, and her adorable wiener dog, Fleming—just doesn’t seem like enough anymore. It doesn’t help that Vivienne, one of Jess’s rivals in the league, always seems to be around just when she’s feeling her worst. Vivienne is everything Jess isn’t: beautiful, confident, effortlessly charming, and, most infuriatingly, winning.

When Jess is ghosted again, it’s another blow to her confidence. Who better to challenge her than the most confident girl she knows? And as Jess gets to know Vivienne, she discovers there’s much more to her than just a pretty face (and wicked serve). But even though there’s an undeniable connection between them, they’re competing for the same spot in the pro leagues. Jess has the opportunity to build self-confidence and a better life, but she’ll have to learn to believe in herself, and the people around her, if she doesn’t want to lose everything she’s gaining. And there’s nothing Jess hates more than losing.

Dahlia: First m/m Dirty Dancing, now f/f volleyball… ‘m very into what Moffatt is bringing to queer romance!

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Dhampira

Author: Amy Pennza
Released: June 16, 2026 by Ace
Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale Romance, LGBTQIA, Paranormal, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy

A long-lost noble of the ruthless vampire court discovers she might not need to choose between her two suitors in this blood-pounding new romantasy from the USA Today bestselling author of the Bitten and Bound series.

Corinthe has spent a lifetime longing for excitement outside her sleepy human village. As a dhampir born of a human mother and vampire father, her unique abilities make her desired by those who lurk across the Feyline—the boundary that keeps the magical realm in perpetual twilight where vampires hold dominion. To stay safe, she’s concealed her supernatural strength and taste for blood from her human neighbors, but when her yearning for excitement accidentally exposes her gifts, she is captured to sell to the highest bidder.

Terrified, she expects the worst. But rescue comes in the form of Vander, a handsome stranger who whisks her from the auction stage and across the Feyline . . . where he reveals himself to be a vampire knight of King Rasimir’s court. Notorious for his cruelty, the deranged king is determined to extend his rule to the farthest reaches, and Vander has been tasked with delivering Corinthe to him.

Now a pawn in the vampire court, Corinthe learns that Rasimir intends to marry her off to the arrogant Prince Lorcan and exploit her daywalking abilities for his own gain. But a wedding isn’t the only obstacle in her path to freedom. While Vander burns with dangerous charm, Lorcan watches her with hungry eyes. And both men claim they can help her—if she can trust them.

Amanda: I’ve been on a big Why Choose kick lately!

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Love is a Contact Sport

Author: Frederick Smith
Released: June 16, 2026 by Bold Strokes Books
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance

After a rough breakup, gay romance author Renny Ross heads to the Bay Area for a fresh start. His new gig writing the anniversary story for a local university is supposed to be a fresh chapter (thanks to university president Dr. Taylor James). But Renny didn’t expect to run into a familiar face from his past.

After dropping off his youngest child at college, recently divorced Brent D. King DuPree, is on a journey to freedom, liberation, and living the life he put on hold for over twenty years to raise his family. Figuring out life as a newly out and newly single man, Brent is hesitant about stepping into the Bay Area gay scene until a chance reunion with his first real crush, and the guy he never quite forgot, his peer mentor and tutor in college: Renny Ross.

Neither man expected a second chance. But working together at the same university stirs up feelings that never really faded. Their love doesn’t have to be a secret anymore, but will they get it right this time?

Tara: I’m excited to see a book about someone coming out later in life.

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Romantic Hero

Author: Kirsty Greenwood
Released: June 16, 2026 by Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Contemporary/Other, Fantasy/Fairy Tale Romance, Romance

A heartbroken romance novelist is forced to address her writer’s block when the villainous cowboy character from her books shows up in the real world, desperately in need of his own Happily Ever After. . . from the bestselling author of GMA book club pick The Love of My Afterlife.

Gertie Bickerstaff writes happily-ever-afters for a living. . . . Or she did, until her own love life fell apart. Now her ex is thriving, her deadline is looming, and she can’t write a single word.

The last thing Gertie needs is more drama—like waking up to find a confused and rugged cowboy on her sofa. And not just any cowboy, but River Oakley, the villain from her unfinished novel. Somehow very real . . . and very shirtless.

River wants to go home. Gertie wants her life back. So they strike a deal: he’ll use his cunning ways to help her win back her ex, she’ll finish the novel, and, surely, he’ll return to whatever world he rode in from.

But as River Oakley proves to be so much more than just the bad guy, Gertie has to choose: the ending she thought she wanted . . . or the plot twist she never saw coming.

Sarah: Villain cowboy from romance novelist’s book comes to life.

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The Someday Garden

Author: Ashley Poston
Released: June 16, 2026 by Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy

The new head gardener at the enchanting Lilymoor House stumbles upon a secret garden . . . with a mysterious man trapped inside, in the next magical novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Sounds Like Love and The Seven Year Slip.

When Sophie Drear plans her escape to coastal Maine for the summer—for a temporary job revitalizing the storied grounds at Lilymoor House—she doesn’t expect to fall in love.

But she With the beguiling land, the fragrant flowers, and the towering hedge maze. With the quirky staff and the enigmatic woman who owns the place.

And then, the door appears. Never in the same place twice, it leads her to a secret, and unfinished, garden with a frustrated thundercloud of a man trapped inside.

This mysterious garden is not the only sign that the future of Lilymoor is the foliage resists Sophie’s careful nurturing, vines threaten to strangle the hedges, and the manor’s owner has wild ideas about who will take over when she retires—including her inconveniently attractive nephew who is also there just for the summer.

Despite herself, Sophie has come to care for the residents of Lilymoor just as much as she cares for its grounds. With the help of one man on the outside of the secret garden, and one man on the inside, she might be the only person who can figure out exactly what Lilymoor needs to bloom once more.

Sarah: I’m extremely curious about this book!

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Tropesick

Author: Lauren Okie
Released: June 16, 2026 by Avon
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance

In this lush, slow-burning romance, two childhood neighbors, connected by a shared tragedy, unexpectedly reunite to ghostwrite a love story for a reclusive author. Spending the summer at her secluded Hamptons estate, they soon discover that dozens of classic romance tropes, including the ones they’re crafting on page, are mysteriously playing out in real life.

Katie Caruso is a completely normal twenty-five-year-old girl. At least, for the past eight years, she’s tried to be. She likes glitter and sequins and flirting with cute boys at New York City bars. She’s also a ghostwriter for Meredith Bradford, the bestselling romance novelist of all time. But then Tyler McNally walks back into Katie’s life, and that bedazzled facade crumbles at her platform-sneakered feet.

Katie and Tyler haven’t seen or spoken to each other since the overdose death of Katie’s older brother, a standout MLB pitching prospect. Tyler was her brother’s best friend, and Katie—naturally—was the girl next door. But now, Tyler is a sleeve-tattooed, Ivy League–educated aspiring literary fiction novelist, nine years sober . . . and Katie’s writing partner for the summer.

As genre conventions require, Katie and Tyler soon find themselves removed from Manhattan and instead writing their love story in “forced proximity” at Meredith’s isolated Southampton home. As the summer unfolds, the tropes Katie and Tyler have written into their novel begin to play out in their own lives. Call it destiny, fate, or magic itself: it’s clear their love story isn’t finished. This time, though, they’ll work through the pain that tore them apart—and fight for their happy ending.

Heart-wrenching and tender, Tropesick is a love letter to the romance genre. With a wink and a nod, Okie has packed the novel with readers’ favorite tropes.

Elyse: I’m curious to see how the author squeezes every trope imaginable into one book, and if it works.

Dahlia: I loved Okie’s debut, The Best Worst Thing, so much, I would’ve followed to her next book no matter what, but this one sounds especially curious and delightful.

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Under Construction

Author: Aurora Rey
Released: June 16, 2026 by Bold Strokes Books
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance

Sadie Simoneaux is finally living her dream of opening a bookstore in her hometown. Equal parts childhood fantasy and a much-needed exit from the hustle culture of tech startups, Sadie has the passion, the plan, and the perfect historic building. All she needs is someone to renovate it.

Peyton Broussard is Sadie’s high school friend and friendly rival, and the town’s only contractor. Rehabbing one of Duchesne’s oldest buildings is a dream job. Helping Sadie reno the apartment upstairs on a shoestring budget isn’t so bad either. But for once, Peyton’s the expert and Sadie’s the one asking for help.

Their competitive banter and long hours quickly turn their professional relationship personal until developers offer Sadie a fast exit and a fat check. If she cashes in, what happens to the love she’s just starting to build?

Tara: I just think this sounds hella cute. Renovation romance, to open a book store? People who already know each other? I’m into it.

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Wildflower

Author: Becky Jenkinson
Released: June 16, 2026 by Del Rey
Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance

A magical florist journeys from the kingdom’s capital to its wild woods to fulfill an unusual request, and stumbles upon friendship, conspiracy, and the buds of new love in this debut cozy fantasy.

The book contains hand-drawn floral sketches inside!

Cursed from birth to always tell the truth, magical florist Felicity “Fliss” Farrow chooses her words carefully to avoid trouble. But when she receives an anonymous request for a mysterious flower, her search leads her directly into trouble’s to Willoh Vane.

Fliss knows the outcast—yet teasingly handsome—sorcerer is rumored to have used dark magic to corrupt the northern forest five years ago. She’s witnessed the resulting feud with Prince Bastion, whom her best friend, Card, is soon to marry. Despite her divided loyalty, Fliss reluctantly accepts Will’s help with gathering rare flowers and finds herself increasingly drawn to him.

As the royal wedding approaches, Fliss fears the flowers she’s delivered are intended for a sinister purpose. But when her warnings are ignored, can she and Will save the kingdom from disaster, and ultimately discover what Fliss has sought for so long—the truth.

Sarah: Magic florist can’t lie, teams up with dark wizard on quest.

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Want to order this one? We’ve got the links you need!.

 

 

 

Georgie, All Along

The acclaimed author of Love Lettering weaves a wise and witty new novel that echoes with timely questions about love, career, reconciling with the past, and finding your path while knowing your true worth.

Longtime personal assistant Georgie Mulcahy has made a career out of putting others before herself. When an unexpected upheaval sends her away from her hectic job in L.A. and back to her hometown, Georgie must confront an uncomfortable truth: her own wants and needs have always been a disconcertingly blank page.

But then Georgie comes across a forgotten artifact—a “friendfic” diary she wrote as a teenager, filled with possibilities she once imagined. To an overwhelmed Georgie, the diary’s simple, small-scale ideas are a lifeline—a guidebook for getting started on a new path.

Georgie’s plans hit a snag when she comes face to face with an unexpected roommate—Levi Fanning, onetime town troublemaker and current town hermit. But this quiet, grouchy man is more than just his reputation, and he offers to help Georgie with her quest. As the two make their way through her wishlist, Georgie begins to realize that what she truly wants might not be in the pages of her diary after all, but right by her side—if only they can both find a way to let go of the pasts that hold them back.

Honest and deeply emotional, Georgie, All Along is a smart, tender must-read for everyone who’s ever wondered about the life that got away . . .

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Backhanded Compliments

Backhanded Compliments by Katie Chandler is $2.99! This is a f/f sports romance. It came out last summer. Did any of you pick this up?

A steamy sapphic romance with a fantastical twist about two bitter tennis rivals who realize they are reluctant soulmates—perfect for fans of Expiration Dates and Here We Go Again.

Juliette Ricci dreams of only one being the best women’s tennis player in the world. She’s worked nonstop with her strict father/coach to prepare for her big chance in the Australian Open. Unfortunately, she’ll be playing Lucky Luca Kacic, an aloof player whose unorthodox style and reigning popularity deeply irritate Juliette.

For months they’ve traded sly insults in their press conferences leading up to their showdown on the court, and their first ever match is the most anticipated of the season. But Juliette refuses to let her nerves—or Luca’s annoyingly perfect abs—get the best of her.

Meanwhile, Luca seemingly has everything Juliette desires but there’s one thing missing from her love. When she shakes hands with Juliette after an agonizing match and sees her rival’s name appear on her wrist, it feels like a cruel joke. Juliette is a spoiled, arrogant brat who wants absolutely nothing to do with Luca or a soulmate.

But despite their personal and professional clashes, the two grow closer after late-night massages and one too many shots of limoncello. Their chemistry is tangible, but Luca’s anxiety tells her that Juliette is just messing with her head to throw her off her game, and Juliette can’t understand why Luca is so hot and cold. With the pressure of the world scrutinizing their every move, they will have to decide what’s more important—being together or being number one.

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Float Plan

Float Plan by Trish Doller is $2.99! This was mentioned in previous Hide Your Wallet. I remember seeing readers I know and trust recommend it, but it flew under the radar for me. Grief and suicide are themes in this one, so check for triggers before buying.

Critically acclaimed author Trish Doller’s unforgettable and romantic adult debut about setting sail, starting over, and finding yourself.

Since the loss of her fiancé, Anna has spent the last year foundering on land, shipwrecked by her grief and inability to move on. But when a reminder goes off about a trip they were supposed to take, she impulsively sets off in their sailboat, intending to complete the planned voyage around the Caribbean that Ben had mapped out for them.

But after a treacherous night’s sail and a brush with an ocean tanker, she decides she can’t do it alone, and hires a professional sailor to help her get to Puerto Rico. Much like her, Keane is struggling with a very different future than the one he had planned, and he can’t refuse her offer. Together they find a way to rebuild their lives and the possibility of new love.

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Sorcery of Thorns

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson is $1.99! This is a young adult fantasy with romantic elements and I’ve heard such good things. I believe I remember Aarya squeeing about this in Slack, but I could be wrong.

From the New York Times bestselling author of An Enchantment of Ravens comes an imaginative fantasy about an apprentice at a magical library who must battle a powerful sorcerer to save her kingdom.

All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.

Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.

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When you encounter a series, are you inclined to read them as soon as they’re available, or do you want to wait until the series is complete to binge them? 

This is contentious because it’s a case of reader preference being at great odds with How Publishing Works. Or “works.”

I have to start by outlining the downside to waiting, a reader habit which I know frustrates authors and publishing folks: if the sales for the early books are low, or decline, the series may not continue. So waiting has its own risks, more for the writer than for the reader.

And I know enough about publishing to curb my Strong Inclination to wait until a story arc is complete before I dive in, but my inclination is always to wait for a complete story arc, even if it’s over three or six or more books.

Why? Because romance, that’s why: I want to know the end is present, that I and the writer know where we’re going, and that I won’t be troubled by cliffhangers (rude). One of my most firm connections to the genre, and genre fiction in general, is that I know the ending is there, that we’re not going on a journey that has no destination in mind. I’ve been burned many times by tv shows, for example, that go off the rails in pursuit of one more season that goes too far beyond the original storyline.

This desire for an ending is part of my other hobbies and projects, too: if I start a quilting project, I like to know who it’s for and where it’s going. One of my favorite methods of planning is “envision where I want to end up, then work backwards.” I’m rather destination-focused.

A | BN | K | AB

For example: There’s a new Nora Roberts out soon, Birth of the Witch, which will be the first of a trilogy. I know Nora has enough fans and publishing history that this trilogy will be completed and I can read one and then anticipate books two and three, or or I can wait for all of them without worry that the later books won’t arrive. They will.

Indie publishing thrives on long-running series, like, REALLY LONG RUNNING SERIES, and some writers craft long story arcs to keep readers engaged. I’ve encountered many readers who are delighted to discover a book and find there are 10+ more of them to deep dive into. Ice Planet Barbarians is like this, and 10 or so years ago, Kristen Ashley’s books were a similar reading experience. A reader would discover them and we’d joke on Twitter, “Ok, bye! See you in a few weeks when you’ve read them all!”

The type of series is important, too – specifically I’m talking about the series that have a larger story arc that requires sequential reading, and not books that operate as somewhat standalone stories in the same world.

The choice to wait for the whole story arc, or read the installments one by one only thrives in a world where writers are equipped with marketing and publicity for all their titles, and alas that isn’t the world we are in.

I asked the SBTB team and got a healthy mix of answers:

Carrie: Binge it!

Amanda:  I typically read them as they come out.

Sarah: I’m calling that “Amanda style.”

Elyse: I do Amanda style but if it’s already all out then I’ll binge.

Tara: I wait until it’s done, unless a friend says I must read it asap.

Claudia: Same as Elyse!! If it’s already out there I will show no restraint. lol

Susan: BOTH.

Read as it comes out, get to the last volume and realise that I forgot what happened, reread the whole thing.

OR: buy the whole thing as it’s coming out, meaning to Amanda it, and then get distracted by a shiny rock and binge it when I remember.

Sarah: I relate very much to “I forgot what happened, reread the whole thing.” SO very much.

Shana: I follow Amanda in all things.

Sneezy: I do both as well. With manga and webtoons, I’ve gotten used to reading each chapter as it comes. With books, the stakes for a cliffhanger or unfinished series feels more… dangerous??? Threatening?????? It really makes no sense. It’s not like webtoons and manga are guaranteed to finish (a moment of silence for Nana) and I certainly prefer to have the whole thing before going in with both mediums, but for whatever reason my brain is a lot more precious about books.

Susan: HAVE YOU SEEN THE NEW EDITIONS OF NANA.

HAVE YOU HEARD THAT IT MIGHT ACTUALLY BE GETTING AN DNDING AFTER ALL THIS TIME

Sneezy: the WHAT.

WHAT.

WHERE DID YOU HEAR THIS?????? WHAT DID THE MANGAKA SAY????????

Susan: Nana Manga Finally Returning After 15 Years

Sneezy: Susan, I can’t

I’m not breathing

Are you breathing?

It’s actually happening!!!!

A series having a finale after a 15 year pause?

That’s a long time to wait for a new book. Biggest congratulations to Nana fans!

And speaking of series, what about you?

I’m very curious about your preference: Would you prefer to read a series as they arrive, or would you love to binge-read a completed series from start to end? Do you binge some and not others? What’s your preference? 

1. Slayers of Old by Jim Hines Amazon | B&N | Kobo
2. The Library of Flowers by L.C. Chu Amazon | B&N | Kobo
3. Game of Rogues by Julie Anne Long Amazon | B&N | Kobo
4. Field Guide for the Formerly Villainous by Autumn England Amazon | B&N | Kobo
5. Not Here to Make Friends by Jodi McAlister Amazon | B&N | Kobo
6. Snacking Cakes by Yossy Arefi Amazon | B&N | Kobo
7. An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister Amazon | B&N | Kobo
8. Brooklynaire by Sarina Bowen Amazon | B&N | Kobo
9. Relationship Goals by Brittany Kelley Amazon | B&N | Kobo
10. Worth Fighting For by Jesse Sutanto Amazon | B&N | Kobo

I hope your weekend reading was lovely!

Elyse: I’m reading The Iron Garden Sutra by A.D. Sui. ( A | BN | K | AB ) It’s a sci-fi locked room mystery with a monk as a protagonist and I’m really enjoying it.

Sarah: I just started The Parisian Heist by Jo Piazza, ( A | BN | K | AB ) as in, I’m 2% into the book.

Claudia: I’m just finished Dearest Beast by Felicia Grossman. Suffer-no-fools “unlikeable” heroine is the “beast” in this retelling.

Shana: I’m continuing to burn through the Rivers of London series. And I just started Flirting Lessons by Jasmine Guillory. ( A | BN | K | AB )

Lara: I enjoyed Dearest Beast, but the retelling aspect passed me by. Didn’t notice it at all.

A | BN | K | AB

Tara: I’m reading The Whole Truth by Haley Cass ( A ) and I’m loving it. Enemies to lovers with two closeted country music stars who agree that a casual arrangement could be beneficial.

Amanda: I just finished Broken Breath by Blake Black. ( A ) It’s a Why Choose romance set in the downhill racing circuit. The heroine poses as a man to get revenge for a crash seven years earlier that left her near death. It ends on a cliffhanger, but wasn’t bad, even if what feels like the primary love interest isn’t my bag.

Susan: I’m a volume and a half into My Fiancé Cheated But a New Love Rings, ( A | BN | K | AB ) and so far it’s very silly! It’s your standard “woman finds out her idiotic royal fiancé is cheating on her” premise, but this time her bodyguard instantly offers to help her fake her own death. … The two leads spend a lot of time flapping about how adorable the other one with is. It’s kinda cute.

Whatcha reading? Tell us in the comments!

All of Us Murderers

The lush Gothic drama of Crimson Peak meets the murderous intrigue of Knives Out with an LGBTQIA+ love story to die for from award-winning author KJ Charles.

WHO WILL SURVIVE LACKADAY HOUSE?

When Zeb Wyckham is summoned to a wealthy relative’s remote Gothic manor, he is horrified to find all the people he least wants to see in the world: his estranged brother, his sneering cousin, and his bitter ex-lover Gideon Grey. Things couldn’t possibly get worse.

Then the master of the house announces the true purpose of the gathering: he intends to leave the vast family fortune to whoever marries his young ward, setting off a violent scramble for her hand. Zeb wants no part of his greedy family—but when he tries to leave, the way is barred. The walls of Lackaday House are high, and the gates firmly locked. As the Dartmoor mists roll in, there’s no way out. And something unnatural may be watching them from the house’s shadowy depths…

Fear and paranoia ramping ever-higher, Zeb has nowhere to turn but to the man who once held his heart. As the gaslight flickers and terror takes hold, can two warring lovers reunite, uncover the murderous mysteries of Lackaday House—and live to tell the tale?

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A Duke in the Rough

A Duke in the Rough by Trisha Messmer is $2.49! This is book one in a historical romance series and features a new duke hiding his identity.

How can a newly minted duke escape title-seeking debutantes? Lie, of course!

Lady Honoria Bell never recovered from her broken heart. Fending off suitors her marquess father forces in her path, she’s put aside hopes of marriage. However, word of a house party hosted by the new, eligible Duke of Burwood brings a renewed gleam to her father’s eye. But regardless of the new duke’s appeal, Honoria knows he won’t fill the void Drake Merrick left.

If there’s one thing Drake Merrick knows, it’s that aristocratic women care more about a title than they do love. Losing the love of his life because he was a lowly groom proved it. So, when a twist of fate makes him the new Duke of Burwood, he’s determined to choose a bride who wants him—not his title.

Switching places with his man of business seems like the perfect plan to test the affections of eager debutantes. Until it backfires the moment Honoria arrives, and he realizes his heart will always be irrevocably hers.

But will his deception allow her to prove her love? Or will his lies destroy it?

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Silk and Steel

Silk & Steel by Kat Martin is $2.99! This is book two in the Litchfield series. This was also the answer to a HaBO, where the hero walks in on the heroine performing an autopsy.

SHE COULD TAKE HIS NAME,

Lady Kathryn Grayson is a gently bred noblewoman with a privileged future ahead of her… until her greedy uncle decides to steal her fortune by committing her to an insane asylum. Her only escape is to stow away in the carriage of Lucien Montaine, Marquess of Litchfield, who hears her story with disbelief and suspicion. Yet Kathryn’s instincts tell her Lord Litchfield is a man of honor — and her only salvation. Desperate to save herself, she attempts to seduce him and forces him into marriage.

BUT SHE COULDN’T TAKE HIS HEART.

The moment Lucien encounters the ragged, hungry waif with the dignity of a queen, he fights against wanting her. Though captivated by her intellect, strong will and beauty, he will never love the woman who has deceived him.

OR SO HE THOUGHT…

Though their battle of wills grows stronger every day, desire threatens to overpower his fury. Can this maddening woman who is now his bride melt his heart of steel? Or will her silken touch only strengthen his vow never to fall prey to the dangers of love?

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Mine Till Midnight

Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas is $1.99! This is book one in The Hathaways series. Be warned, the hero is part Romani, though the book uses more offensive terminology. Last time this was on sale, there were dubious comments on how well this has aged. Subsequent books are also on sale at $3.99 a piece.

Two hearts steeped in scandal . . .

When an unexpected inheritance elevates her family to the ranks of the aristocracy, Amelia Hathaway discovers that tending to her younger sisters and wayward brother was easy compared to navigating the intricacies of the ton. Even more challenging: the attraction she feels for the tall, dark, and dangerously handsome Cam Rohan.

Wealthy beyond most men’s dreams, Cam has tired of society’s petty restrictions and longs to return to his “uncivilized” Gypsy roots. When the delectable Amelia appeals to him for help, he intends to offer only friendship—but intentions are no match for the desire that blindsides them both. But can a man who spurns tradition be tempted into that most time-honored arrangement: marriage? Life in London society is about to get a whole lot hotter . . .

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

I think Adam knows every Weird Al song, and his music is part of every road trip. And it’s wild to think about Weird Al’s longevity as an artist, too. He’s been popular and creating comedy music since the mid-70s.

So I figured this week, I’d share some of my faves.

“Foil” – if you don’t know this one, can you guess what song he’s parodying?

“White & Nerdy” – This is one of my favorites, in part because Chamillionaire was so delighted with it:

After Chamillionaire won a Grammy for “Ridin,'” he found Weird Al to thank him for the parody, citing it as a big reason why his song won the Grammy that year.

My other favorite “Al Raps” video: “Amish Paradise.”

Finally: “Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies*:”

Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits only allowed the parody if he were playing guitar (and Guy Fletcher on synthesizer, I just learned) which makes sense. Knopfler’s style is very distinct.

Friday Videos wish you a very silly, long-lasting weekend!

What’s your favorite Weird Al parody?

We’re talking about the newest books from May 1996, including the second book in what is now a 15-book much-loved series, and some truly memorable character names.

We’ll investigate, “What’s wrong with this man?” We’ll have “lashings of good fun.” Plus we learn a SHOCKING TRUTH about Amanda’s reading history.

Read the transcript →

Here are the books we discuss in this podcast:

Want to watch on YouTube?

We also mentioned:

• Movie Pooper
• Classic Romance: Which One First? Nora Roberts Edition
• My Reddit post about the centerfold

Music: Purple-planet.com

If you like the podcast, you can subscribe to our feed, or find us at iTunes. You can also find us on Stitcher, and Spotify, too. We also have a cool page for the podcast on iTunes.

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Everything is Tuberculosis

Instant #1 New York Times bestseller! • #1 Washington Post bestseller! • #1 Indie Bestseller! • USA Today Bestseller!

John Green, acclaimed author and passionate advocate for global healthcare reform, tells a deeply human story illuminating the fight against the world’s deadliest infectious disease. Signed edition

“The real magic of Green’s writing is the deeply considerate, human touch that goes into every word.” –The Associated Press

″Told with the intelligence, wit, and tragedy that have become hallmarks of the author’s work…. This is the story of us.” –Slate

“Earnest and empathetic.” –The New York Times

Tuberculosis has been entwined with hu­manity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is seen as a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it.

In 2019, author John Green met Henry Reider, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. John be­came fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile. In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequi­ties that allow this curable, preventable infec­tious disease to also be the deadliest, killing over a million people every year.

In Everything Is Tuberculosis, John tells Henry’s story, woven through with the scientific and social histories of how tuberculosis has shaped our world—and how our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis.

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The House at Watch Hill

The House at Watch Hill by Karen Marie Moning is $1.99! This is a Gothic romance and the first in a trilogy. Elyse mentioned this in a previous Whatcha Reading.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Marie Moning is back with a gripping, imaginative, and seductive new series in which a young woman moves to Divinity, Louisiana, to inherit a large fortune and a Gothic mansion full of mysteries and ominous secrets…

Zo Grey is reeling from the sudden death of her mother when she receives a surprising call from an attorney in Divinity, Louisiana, with the news she has been left an inheritance by a distant relative, the terms of which he will only discuss in person. Destitute and alone, with nothing left to lose, Zo heads to Divinity and discovers she is the sole beneficiary of a huge fortune and a monstrosity of a house that sits ominously at the peak of Watch Hill—but she must live in it, alone, for three years before the house, or the money, is hers.

Met with this irresistible opportunity to finally build a future for herself, Zo puts aside her misgivings about the foreboding Gothic mansion and the strange circumstances, and moves in, where she is quickly met by a red-eyed Stygian owl and an impossibly sexy Scottish groundskeeper.

Her new home is full of countless secrets and mystifying riddles, with doors that go nowhere, others that are impossible to open, and a turret into which there is no visible means of ingress. And the townspeople are odd…

What Zo doesn’t yet know is that her own roots lie in this very house and that in order to discover her true identity and awaken her dormant powers, she will have to face off against sinister forces she doesn’t quite comprehend—or risk being consumed by them.

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Tea & Alchmey

Tea & Alchemy by Sharon Lynn Fisher is $2.99 at Amazon! This is a historical fantasy romance. I’ve enjoyed some of Fisher’s other historical fantasy romances, as has Carrie.

A tea leaf reader in nineteenth-century England falls in love—and in danger—with a reclusive alchemist in an enthralling historical fantasy by the author of Salt & Broom and Grimm Curiosities.

Cornwall, 1854. The people of Roche have always whispered about the recluse in the black granite tower that looms above the moorland. But one young woman is driven to discover the truth behind the old tales.

Her life overshadowed by family tragedy, Mina Penrose escapes her lonely days by working at The Magpie, a cozy tearoom on the village’s edge. Lately she’s been seeing shapes in the sodden leaves that hint at the future. After one such omen, Mina stumbles upon a murdered man on the heath. Villagers immediately suspect Harker Tregarrick, a living, breathing mystery who never ventures beyond the bounds of his centuries-old estate.

Until the day after the murder, when the handsome and compelling recluse visits The Magpie…leading to a meeting that will change both their fates. Captivated by a man around whom danger and rumors of death swirl, Mina has never felt more alive. Can she uncover Harker’s heartbreaking history—and the truth about the murder—before tragedy strikes again?

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Sea of Tranquility

The Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel is $2.99! Right now I’m only seeing this sale price on Amazon. This was a big bestseller when it came out in 2022. It looks like St. John Mandel has a new release slated for September!

The award-winning, best-selling author of Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel returns with a novel of art, time, love, and plague that takes the reader from Vancouver Island in 1912 to a dark colony on the moon three hundred years later, unfurling a story of humanity across centuries and space.

Edwin St. Andrew is eighteen years old when he crosses the Atlantic by steamship, exiled from polite society following an ill-conceived diatribe at a dinner party. He enters the forest, spellbound by the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, and suddenly hears the notes of a violin echoing in an airship terminal—an experience that shocks him to his core.

Two centuries later a famous writer named Olive Llewellyn is on a book tour. She’s traveling all over Earth, but her home is the second moon colony, a place of white stone, spired towers, and artificial beauty. Within the text of Olive’s bestselling pandemic novel lies a strange passage: a man plays his violin for change in the echoing corridor of an airship terminal as the trees of a forest rise around him.

When Gaspery-Jacques Roberts, a detective in the black-skied Night City, is hired to investigate an anomaly in the North American wilderness, he uncovers a series of lives upended: The exiled son of an earl driven to madness, a writer trapped far from home as a pandemic ravages Earth, and a childhood friend from the Night City who, like Gaspery himself, has glimpsed the chance to do something extraordinary that will disrupt the timeline of the universe.

A virtuoso performance that is as human and tender as it is intellectually playful, Sea of Tranquility is a novel of time travel and metaphysics that precisely captures the reality of our current moment.

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

This guest review comes from Lisa! A longtime romance aficionado and frequent commenter to SBTB, Lisa is a queer Latine critic with a sharp tongue and lots of opinions. She frequently reviews at All About Romance and Women Write About Comics, where she’s on staff, and you can catch her at _@‌thatbouviergirl on Twitter. There, she shares good reviews, bracing industry opinions and thoughtful commentary when she’s not on her grind looking for the next good freelance job.

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Warning: this review contains spoilers for the entire Bridgerton series, as well as specific spoilers for the entirety of Bridgerton: Happily Ever After.

When you crack open a Bridgerton novel, you expect to see certain elements pressed between the pages. Headstrong heroines, pre-marital relations, misunderstandings, weddings that are anything but typical and kids aplenty. But Julia Quinn leans a little too hard on the latter element with Bridgertons: Happily Ever After. Only a few of the extra epilogues included in the book are worth your while unless you’re deeply invested in the ever-sprawling family’s shenanigans. Otherwise: no uterus is safe.

And I’m serious: whenever Quinn is looking for a touching ‘button’ to narratively push in this book, she just throws a new baby into the pile – a baby inevitably named after some Bridgerton relative or another. Nothing else exciting happens, just babies, more babies, more births and more babies.

This is less noticeable in a book that’s not all about post-married life for these couples, but in Happily Ever After you could set your watch to it and do a drinking game. The fecundity reaches a peak of pure ludicrous hilarity in Francesca’s story, where Francesca and Michael tenderly name their firstborn after John…and then end up having a daughter named Janet. Great baby shower gift idea for any Bridgerton: a baby name dictionary. Holidays must be incredibly confusing down at Bridgerton House.

The number of births offered up by the book is astounding. Menopause means nothing to the Bridgerton clan. Daphne has an oops baby, thinking she’s far beyond her childbearing years when another arrives. Her chapter has some of the most intriguing stuff in the book as a whole, with Belinda emerging as the most interesting figure among the third generation of Bridgerton grandchildren. A tender but hopelessly underbaked revelation about Penelope and Colin’s eldest son also arrives. Then Kate and Anthony have a fun, ribald and rivalrous Pal Mall game that also falls on the “good” side of the ladder.

At this point, baby rabies start to take over the book, overwhelming the narrative until it gets uncomfortable. This is a tome in which Colin tells Penelope his mother will forgive Penelope for being Lady Whistledown if they give her a grandchild (seriously, Violet – you need even more? Are you Lady Elon of Musk?).

Even a character like Francesca — whose infertility is a huge part of her character and whose chapter in this very book copes with her ambivalent feelings about having no biological kids – has not one miracle baby, but two. This is incredibly frustrating, as the way the book handles Francesca’s inner torment over her infertility is beautiful, as is how she comes to grips with just being an auntie in a happy marriage with Michael.

The baby mania peaks with a horrifying thud in Lucy and Gregory’s epilogue, where we witness her hemorrhage and nearly die after giving birth to twins – her eighth and ninth children! While Gregory’s fear and heartbreak in this chapter are touching, I still wanted to give him a vasectomy with a letter opener after reading through Lucy’s incredible pain. Good on the doctor for stepping in and telling them to knock it the fuck off after all of that.

A few more disappointing stories land before we reach a touching and generally well thought-out conclusion. To wit: Amanda Crane falls in love and has premarital sex but I could care less. And Hyacinth finally finds the diamonds she was obsessed with locating in her book – no thanks and yet thanks to her incredibly smug and annoying daughter, Isabella. Bonus points for actually doing something interesting with Hyacinth and Gareth here, instead of just having them pop out another kid.

For all of my carping, several outings save the book from being a D-lister. Besides the Kate and Anthony interlude, Poppy’s quest for love is adorable – though she, too, churns out four kids once a year until her uterus shrugs and gives up. Of course she has yet another “miracle” fifth baby as well, because even associates of the Bridgerton clan must sport a clown-car uterus as well. She names that one after the evil Aramantia as a gesture of goodwill. And calls her “Minty.” Because yes.

The main attraction here is Violet’s tale of finding true love with Edmund, and it is heartbreaking and sweet. But it, too, reveals the limitations of Quinn’s imagination when it comes to happiness for the characters. Make no bones about it: I loved Edmund and love that he was a virgin when he met Violet – a solid counterpart to his rake sons. We follow them from innocent children to happily married couple, and then the bee arrives.

God, poor Violet – with Edmund gone, she has settled back into the role of helpmeet. No second husband for her, and just one dance at a ball, though she entertains the possibility of more. The message is: if you find your true love you will breed until he dies, at which point you will never have a sex life again. After all, your eight kids will finally spit out thirty-three grandchildren and you’ll be too busy to think straight. Good Lord.

That’s one thing I’m thankful the Netflix version of this universe changed – I am glad Violet is the tea someone else will be drinking. As for Bridgerton: Happily Ever After, I’m sending it back. There are too many babies in this soup.