
Welcome to Book Beat! 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.

RECOMMENDED: Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade is $1.99! Shana reviewed this one in October and gave it a B+:
Spoiler Alert is tropey wish fulfillment, but at its heart, it is a quiet contemporary with a #couplegoals relationship where both characters offer comfort, create beautiful art, and help each other overcome insecurities. Spoiler Alert is also a love letter to fandoms, that will make you want to chase your romance novel with a shot of fanfiction.
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It’s time for the Ads & Features of the October 1988 (!!) issue of Romantic Times Magazine. Y’all. We’ve got: Vintage gossip! Blind items that are very easy to guess! Danielle Steel’s two blue Mercedes! Fuchsia covers with giant flowers and startled animals! Riverboat gambler romance heroes! And a truly paltry obituary for an extraordinary author. It’s 1988. Fuchsia. So much fuchsia. Blanket content warning for romances written in the late 80s. Be ready for … Continue reading 637. RT Rewind October 1988 Ads & Features →
In this week’s podcast episode, we’re looking at the glorious ads and features for the October/November 1988 issue of RT Magazine. Thank you to Amy M. for this issue! You can also find all the RTRW content at our category page for Romantic Times Rewind. If you want to listen and follow along with this entry, we have more detail in the audio, but you can click play and listen and read and absorb all … Continue reading Romantic Times Rewind: October 1988 Ads & Features →
If you’ve noticed CloudFlare verifying that you’re human, that’s because I had to enable extra security because of a DDOS attack. I also woke up to 1500+ spam email messages sent through contact forms on the site, too. The poor server is having A Time of it. At least it’s not Tuesday, I guess? Then I’d have all those dildos to contend with. (Also: every time I see that cover, my brain wants to read … Continue reading Just a Little DDOS Fun, Dildos, and Finding the Mystery Cowboy →

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna $1.99! Thanks to everyone who let us know about this one! Fingers crossed it’s still ons ale.
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Hello, everyone! We have a slightly different Rec League this week. On a bonus episode of the podcast, which we release for SBTB Podcast Patreon members, Sarah asked me to come up with some fall gaming recs. Well, I definitely overdid it and had twenty in a matter of ten minutes. Most of these are cozy games, with a couple of exceptions. If you are a fellow cozy gamer, allow me to plug Wholesome Games. … Continue reading The Rec League: Video Games for Fall →
Welcome, everyone! My partner and I are officially homeowners and we got to sign our paperwork in a haunted law office. Absolute perfection. We won’t move in for a bit because there’s painting to do and flooring to replace, but I’m feeling very emotional (in a good way) about the whole thing. The notion of not renting anymore and being able to customize whatever I want feels so freeing! The possibilities are endless! I’m also … Continue reading Links: Podcasts, Cheese, & More →

All the Right Notes by Dominic Lim is $2.99! Dahlia mentioned this one in her monthly queer romances column. It was also Lim’s debut and I’ve heard good things about it.
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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 … Continue reading If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens →

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Human by Kimberly Lemming is $2.99! This is book three in the Mead Mishaps series. Carrie reviewed the first book in the series and gave it a B. I believe this series does have some content warnings to be aware of, so definitely do some checking!
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