If you’re curious about this book, please check triggers. The author has a more comprehensive list on her website. Hooked is a dark, contemporary mafia romance with lots of winks and nods to Peter Pan. It’s the first book in the Never After series, which is a reimagining of known fairytales and House of Mouse movies, but with villains as the love interests. This is your common revenge story of a man wanting revenge against … Continue reading Hooked by Emily McIntire
This guest review comes from Lucynka! Lucynka is a long-time lurker, who has occasionally commented under a couple different names in the past. Over the last few years, she’s become really interested in the history of the romance genre, particularly those forgotten or oft-overlooked parts. You can find her on Bluesky @lucynka.bsky.social, or else over on her WordPress, where she blogs about “obscure bullshit,” including a lot of romance pulp magazines from the 1920s-’40s. … … Continue reading Guest Review: The Lilac Ghost by Irene Saylor
I almost never read celebrity romances. Second-chance romances really turn me off, mostly. Enemies-to-lovers is tough to make convincing. I am so glad that I didn’t judge this book based on my past experience of these tropes because this story was ELECTRIC, particularly the chemistry between the two protagonists! I had a phenomenal time reading it. Cynthie Taylor is 20 years old and has been cast in a small British Regency movie. This is her … Continue reading Let’s Make a Scene by Laura Wood
PamG is a long time fan of Smart Bitches Trashy Books. A former library worker at her alma mater (hs), she is now retired and devoting her time to reading and occasionally commenting on same. She also enjoys memorizing songs and poetry, spontaneously bursting into song, playing with the Merlin app on her phone, and writing the occasional poem. … I don’t ever remember giving a Squee grade before, but nothing else will adequately express … Continue reading Left of Forever by Tarah DeWitt
Many moons ago, I read a few of Kelley Armstrong’s witchy books and loved them. When I saw her name pop up with a contemporary romance, I was intrigued. I’m so glad I picked this up. It’s fake dating done right, in my humble opinion. Gemma is a debut romance author who was told that ‘bad boy’ protagonists sell. Think alpha-hole. So she decides to write what the market is buying and she has the … Continue reading Writing Mr Wrong by Kelley Armstrong
I picked this book up only because I loved Adler’s second book, Happy Medium. (I haven’t read her first yet) For this book, I didn’t feel particularly moved by the blurb. I wasn’t interested in anything to do with a treasure hunt and second chance romance is usually a turn off for me. Yet I still picked this book up and I am so very glad I did. This ended up being a Bad Decisions … Continue reading Finders Keepers by Sarah Adler
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 … Continue reading All the Jingle Ladies by Beth Garrod
CW: Religious trauma, internalized homophobia I don’t typically read romantasy. I haven’t jumped on any of the big titles, even though friends and family, including my husband, have read at least one. And yet, I had to read this one, because the author wrote my favourite book. I don’t make the rules in my brain, I just have to abide by them. I didn’t really know much going into this book except that there’s a … Continue reading The Woman From the Waves by Roslyn Sinclair
Behooved is a charming fantasy romance that draws from Beauty and the Beast stories and shifter romances in a creative and sometimes very funny way. It also has a solid representation of life with a chronic illness. While this book wasn’t subtle about its messages, it was heartwarming, exciting, and sweet. Bianca (our narrator) is a princess whose parents teach her to honor duty above all else and to conceal any vulnerability at all cost, … Continue reading Behooved by M. Stevenson
This is my first Bad Decisions Book Club of 2025. Sleep became a distant memory with this book. For context, I have a newborn. I had the opportunity to sleep, but chose not to because this book was much more important. It is also the start of a series and it’s a series I’m now very excited about! Euphemia Flite was raised in a school for girls on the outskirts of Victorian London. Her origins … Continue reading Rules for Ruin by Mimi Matthews
Discovering Nicola is the third installment in the series and it can be read as a standalone. I know this because I didn’t read the first book, Meeting Millie, and I have perimenopause brain, so I don’t remember any of the finer details of Tempting Olivia, even though it was one of my top reads of 2024. The story starts months after Geeta Sachdeva’s left her husband, because she was desperately lonely as an empty … Continue reading Discovering Nicola by Clare Ashton
