This Rec League request is brought to you, selfishly, by me! I want mafia romances but in a fantasy or sci-fi setting. GET ME OFF THIS PLANET. Elyse: Oh. Now I want that too. Shana: Taken to Kor by Elizabeth Stephens has space pirates. I’m not sure if that counts. It’s a dark romance. I’m not sure how well it would work as a standalone. Susan: Hana Maruko’s Love Gamble With the Mafia is sort-of … Continue reading The Rec League: Fantasy and Sci-Fi Mafia Romances→
This Rec League is from PamG, who is looking for some competence porn in academic settings: I don’t know if this is appropriate for a Rec League, but I have a rather persnickety request. I really like books set in academia, but I have problems with student/professor match-ups. The issue isn’t necessarily the relationship if it’s consensual and the author addresses the power (or age) imbalance between student and teacher in a serious way. However, … Continue reading The Rec League: Academic Romances for Grown Ups→
This Rec League was suggested by Sarahwasme in the SBTB Podcast Patreon Discord: I am so mad at US men’s hockey team I could spit. (Not really, I hate when dudes do that.) I want to buy all the sports romances featuring women’s team players and gift them to random people on the street. Maybe with a whistle. Anyone have recs for romances featuring women’s league/national team? My first thought is FMC/Soccer player in Mariana … Continue reading The Rec League: Women’s Leagues and National Teams→
This fun Rec League was suggested by Geoffroy in the podcast Patreon discord: A bit niche, but anyone would suggest a series of poly (or adjacent) smutty Paranormal-ish romance that has an insurrectionists vibe? As long as it’s open-door or found family with 4+ bi- polycule who believe ACAB, with enough distance for escapism. Susan: Did Kit Rocha do any polyamory? It’s genuinely been so long that I don’t remember. Sneezy: Ya, they did. Now … Continue reading The Rec League: Revolutionist Bi Polycules→
Shout out to the commenters in our latest Whatcha Reading post! There were some great comments about “In Case of Emergency…Break Glass” books and a request for a post. We’re always happy to run requests like these! We ran a similar post in 2020, so we did our best not to duplicate suggestions. Sarah: In 2020, I mentioned the Call of Crows series, and that I always keep them with me should I need … Continue reading The Rec League: In Case of Emergency…→
This request comes from Shana: I’ve been rewatching Last Tango in Halifax and craving small town older adult romcoms with a similar whimsical vibe. Amanda: I think Megan Bannen’s fantasy books have a small town feel and older characters. Sarah: Would BK Borison’s books work for this? I think the Lovelight series might fit very well. Amanda: I don’t know if the characters are older than 20s? Someone please let us know in the comments! … Continue reading The Rec League: Whimsical, Small Town Romances with Older Couples→
This Rec Leagues comes from Lara! I’m launching a little project to find really excellent regency and Victorian romances that are self or indie pubbed. It’s a favourite subgenre of mine but it feels like fewer and fewer are being published. So I’m looking for other sources. All suggestions welcome! Sarah: Christi Caldwell writes some lush and sometimes over the top historicals. Mimi Matthews and Alice Coldbreath for sure. According to readers on Reddit, Alice … Continue reading The Rec League: Indie and Self-Pubbed Historical Romances→
This Rec League comes from S. Thanks! Hello! I’ve recently read a bunch of heterosexual historical romances featuring distressingly tall heroines who inevitably end up with heroes happily taller than them. Yawn. Do you have any recommendations for books with short kings instead? I’m open to contemporaries and fantasy as well. Amanda: Tangentially, we had a tall heroines rec league back in 2017. Lara: Judging by the cover image (if I’m remembering right) the hero … Continue reading The Rec League: Short Kings→
This Rec League was sent in by Kim. Thanks, Kim! I’d love to see a Rec League about celebrity crush romances—where one MC is the celeb crush of the other MC, who is just a regular person. Strongly prefer MM, but I know that may be too niche. I’m really interested specifically in preexisting celeb crushes, not just “one character is a celebrity” plots. Open to actor crushes, sports, music, etc. This request is brought … Continue reading The Rec League: Celebrity Crush Romances→
This Rec League is from Rebecca from our podcast Patreon Discord: So I’m really enjoying the Below Stairs mysteries and wondered if anyone has any recs for other historical cosy mystery series. What I like about them is they generally resolve well and have that cosy mystery feel, but they also acknowledge some of the social justice issues of the time. I don’t really like high society stuff, so I like that they’re about working … Continue reading The Rec League: Cozy Historical Mysteries→
This request came from Varian in our SBTB podcast discord (another perk of joining the community!): Okay I’ve got a rather niche request. I don’t even know if this exists in romance novels. BDSM romances with no or very little sex, or where orgasms aren’t the main goal. I miss reading BDSM stories/books, but when I get to a sex scene in audio, the “skip 30 seconds” button gets a workout. Smut sounds very different … Continue reading The Rec League: BDSM Romances with Little to No Sex→
