Candy and I, we should open the Smart Bitch Book Finder service – our readership is so smart, we can describe one third of a novel and get people giving us the ISBN within an hour. It’s pretty awesome. So of course, a Smart Husband has turned to the Bitchery for help: OK, at the risk of being published, I have a couple of questions that I haven’t been able to answer on my own. … Continue reading One Smart Husband →

LovelySalome wrote: “I have never read a book by Nora Roberts.  Since she makes such lovely, snarky comments and represents our genre so well, I am dead curious to see what she writes.  But her back catalog is just HUGE!! Where to start?  I need recommendations! Maybe even La Nora’s favorite….” Oh, the perils of being prolific. With some authors, you can start at the beginning of a long line of sequels – Feehan, Hamilton, … Continue reading Recommendations: Nora Roberts →

In our last request for international romance, a few folks wrote in with romances that take place aboard a ship, and though the characters might be English, the locales were certainly not. As a spin off, I thought I’d ask the Bitchery for pirate romance, or any high seas romance they’d recommend. I’m personally a sucker for pirate romance, because it’s a lot of fun to say, “YAAAAR!” Pirate and high seas romances can easily … Continue reading Good Shit Vs. Shit to Avoid: Pirate High Seas Romance! →

I don’t read comics very often, and when I do, I’m lucky enough that my comic book geek friends often recommend me the best of the best. Last weekend, I read the first issue of Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse, and I have to say, I’m in love. The artwork is gorgeously Gorey-esque (and, well, gory), the characters are oddball and charming (what’s not to love about a sentient maggot who possesses the body of a corpse?) … Continue reading A comic recommendation →

Ah, the Romance! Not set in the US or in the United Kingdom? You have the hankering for the man-tittied perfection that is the Fabio, a perfect Italian stud hero? The Bitchery is here to help you out: Elliquinn recommends: Mr. Impossible, by Loretta Chase (Egypt) Early books from Kresley Cole, set on ships “in and around various…locations such as polynesia.” Judith Ivory writing as Judy Cuevas. There are some out-of-print titles set entirely in … Continue reading International Luuuurve®, baby, Yeah! →

Ah, the American West in historical romance. Petticoats. Horses. Leather. Men named Chet who want to get in your petticoat and who smell like leather, sweat, and horses (and why does that turn people on? I’d run for the hills if approached by stanky Chet). American Western Historicals also present a unique opporunity: your antagonist? The force acting against your couple? Throughout the WHOLE BOOK? Could be the weather! Now that is an opportunity right … Continue reading Good Shit Vs. Shit to Avoid: American Western Historicals →

Candy discussed this topic at length in a rant about children’s books that are way better than the Harry Potter series, and a lot of you had some fantastic recommendations for YA and children’s novels that were better than HP and his division of children into four ranked groups (that’s the part of the HP series that bugs the hell out of me: “You’re lame and ineffectual, so you’re a Hufflepuff.” WTF?). Candy requested good … Continue reading Good Shit vs. Shit to Avoid: YA Romance →

Lovelysalome asked for several different romance recommendations, and while I can’t launch them all at once, I am going to go bit-by-bit to ask for more Bitchery Booklists. I’d be curious about recommendations for books about non-American / non-English subjects.  Mexico, Australia, the Orient, harems, WWI, Russia, Caribbean, Klondike, other European locales – ANYTHING outside of the regular old settings! So, what are your recommendations? Bring it on!