Happy Friday, everybody!! It’s time to start the weekend and I have a mellow soundtrack for you! I cannot listen to music with lyrics while I’m working. I get distracted by the words, and it interferes with my brain’s ability to produce my own words, which I kind of need to do here and there. Blogging, after all, is was originally a text medium. I also don’t like AI-generated instrumentals, and avoiding them is becoming … Continue reading Friday Videos Love Yellow Cherry Jam →
The re-release of The Luckiest Lady in London has arrived, and Sherry Thomas joins me to talk about the writing of that book more than 13 years ago, how romance and historicals have changed, and how this book is a reflection and subversion of another very, very famous historical romance. Plus, she gives us recommendations of her favorite historical romance authors and some of their books. Note: we had some connectivity issues, so sometimes the … Continue reading 730. Still the Luckiest Lady in London with Sherry Thomas →
It’s the weekend! Hooray! Which means it’s time for me to go spelunking in the world of vintage internet videos (or new ones, I’m not picky) to find goofy delights to share with you. Today: Summer Songs! It’s the last day of July, which often felt like the midpoint of summer, depending on when school was starting. I’m fascinated by the different start dates of schools in the US. Some don’t start until September while … Continue reading Friday Videos Love Summer Songs →
Hey, where are you going? Get in the time machine – we want to bring you back to March 2009 to check out the ads & features from Romantic Times Magazine. We’ve got: Snippy letters to the editor! Covers that look like shaving cream ads for women Reading in a recession Folks explaining steampunk! Pop vs. Soda And you’ll find out what words are used in an acrostic of “pandemic.” TW: In the middle you’ll … Continue reading 729. RT Rewind: March 2009 Ads & Features →
This piece of literary mayhem is exclusive to Smart Bitches After Dark, but fret not. If you’d like to join, we’d love to have you! Have a look at our membership options, and come join the fun! If you want to have a little extra fun, be a little more yourself, and be part of keeping the site open for everyone in the future, we can’t wait to see you in our new subscription-based section … Continue reading I am NOT Getting in the Travel Agency Van: An Oh Hell No Book Pitch →
It’s been awhile since we had a Caption That Cover, so let’s fix that, yeah? In the July 17 Books on Sale post, Amanda featured Better Than a Duke by Suzanne Enoch. And we all met…this guy: Meet Beckett Raines, the Marquis of Hentrose, who needs a wife. (Don’t they all.) That’s…quite a facial expression. And, boy, did y’all notice! Tam noticed it first and said: The Marquis of Hentrose has a very punchable face…. He looks … Continue reading Caption That Cover: Better Than A Duke Edition →
I could swear I featured this video in Friday Videos ages ago, but I can’t find it in the archive. Maybe I talked about it on Twitter or something. (Note: I don’t deadname anyone except Twitter.) I swear my brain is more foggy soup than usual (I mean, I know why but OOF) and maybe it’s started making things up, too? I mean, why not. Maybe it’s reverse manifesting. Anyway, this is South African group … Continue reading Friday Videos Love Freshly Ground →
Jo Piazza is my guest this week to discuss her new book, The Parisian Heist. This book is a dual timeline story weaving together a 1990s heist at the Orsay museum with the story of Jo van Gogh, Vincent van Gogh’s sister in law, who is the reason we know who Vincent is today. Along the way we talk about DNFing books Stealing art Mythologizing artists usually men And how many women do nearly everything … Continue reading 728. The Parisian Heist with Jo Piazza →
This Bookstore Trip Report is from HeatherS! Her current obsessions are buying books at romance bookstores and being a card-carrying member of the Bad Decisions Book Club. A longtime member of the SBTB community, HeatherS currently lives in Texas where currently her brain is at least 90% Heated Rivalry now – hyperfixation say what? We’re doing a double bookstore visit today! Finney’s Books opened in east Austin, Texas in December 2025. Originally open just on … Continue reading Bookstore Trip Report: Finney’s Books and Flutter Romance Bookstore, Austin TX →
This movie imprinted on me HARD. In 1990, I was 15. Pump Up the Volume blew my teenage mind. You could just…make up a radio show? (Well, at the time, no, the FCC got a little tetchy about it.) You could just…start talking? And see who connected with you? We didn’t have so much internet back then. AOL didn’t become AOL until 1991. The internet existed, but it was in limited use with limited access. I … Continue reading Friday Videos Pump Up the Volume →
