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What to Do If You Think You’ve Been Plagiarised

Yep, it's true - I was so shocked I didn't know what to do next.

What Have You Learned About Yourself from Romance?

Smart Bitches in a blue typewriter font, and After Dark lit up like hot pink neon

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 What Have You Learned About Yourself from Romance?

Book Review

The Stars Too Fondly by Emily Hamilton

The Stars Too Fondly

The Stars Too Fondly has queer romance, found family, diverse representation, multiple references to Star Trek, and space travel. I love all of these things. I should adore this book. But I found it to be deeply implausible, frustrating, and full of undeveloped emotion, ideas, and characters. A really bad book is fine – I can toss it aside with never a qualm. A really, REALLY bad book that delivers its badness exactly as advertised … Continue reading The Stars Too Fondly by Emily Hamilton

Help A Bitch Out

HaBO: Noblewoman in a Love Triangle with a Soldier and a Pirate

This HaBO is from Liz, who wants to find this historical romance: I have a very visceral memory of reading a historical romance (albeit a very PG/maybe PG-13 one) circa 2007 or so. It was set in the Colonial period, in the Americas, and featured a love triangle between a young noblewoman and, I think, a soldier, plus a smoldering pirate. I remember very clearly a subplot where the Strong Willed Young Lady™ has to … Continue reading HaBO: Noblewoman in a Love Triangle with a Soldier and a Pirate

Hide Your Wallet

Hide Your Wallet: April 8th Release Week!

Welcome back to Hide Your Wallet! It’s Tuesday and we’re talking new releases! It appears that Sarah’s trend prediction of romance with mystery elements is spot-on. There are also a couple emotional contemporaries and of course, more fantasy romances. What new releases are you excited for this week? Let us know in the comments!

Looking Back: Revisiting My Favourite Jilly Cooper Romance Novella

Featured image for Looking Back: Revisiting My Favourite Jilly Cooper Romance Novella

In 2005, a series of romance novellas by Jilly Cooper were republished. In my teens and early twenties, I had devoured her Rutshire Chronicles, and so it was inevitable that these would cross my path, too. Today, I have four of the seven novellas. As part of my nostalgia kick, I decided to re-read the one I remembered most fondly: Prudence. Prudence (originally published in 1978) follows Prudence, a copywriter in London who has a … Continue reading Looking Back: Revisiting My Favourite Jilly Cooper Romance Novella

Cover Awe: Creepy and Trippy

Beholder by Ryan La Sala. A very white cover with an eye at the center. The iris is swirled with green, gold, and peach. The colors bleed out at the bottom and make up the title in this wavy, trippy pattern. A chrome spider sits over the eye, with its legs curling around the edges.

Welcome back to Cover Awe! Cover design by Meg Sayre Amanda: So many great details like the blood on the collar and the phantom hand. Sarah: I love how the illustration looks sort of like a daguerreotype. I’m sure there are whole rooms on Pinterest that use this color palette. Sneezy: I love that the visuals of the briars bursting out of the painting feels like it’s sort of playing with the title. Cover design … Continue reading Cover Awe: Creepy and Trippy

Sunday Sale Digest!

Smart Bitches in a blue typewriter font, and After Dark lit up like hot pink neon

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 Sunday Sale Digest!

Kickass Women in History: Tamara Lempicka

Tamara Lempicka (also known as Tamara de Lempicka) is having a well-deserved moment. Born in Poland in 1894, she was a painter who was famous during her lifetime for her portraits, her distinctive artistic style, and her personality. Lempicka led a dramatic life. Born Tamara Rosa Herwitz, she had a wealthy Russian-Jewish father and Polish-Jewish mother. They were baptized by the Polish Reformed Church in 1891 and Lempicka was also baptized in 1897. She married … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Tamara Lempicka

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