[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

Ancillary Justice

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie is $2.99! know Carrie really loves this book (and the entire series, I believe). It’s also a Hugo Award winner! Readers really loved the scifi world building, though some admitted wanting more action in the first book of the Imperial Radch series

Winner of the Hugo, Nebula, British Science Fiction, Locus and Arthur C. Clarke Awards.
 
On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.
Once, she was the Justice of Toren – a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy.
Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Beg, Borrow, or Steal

Beg, Borrow, or Steal by Sarah Adams is $1.99! This came out in January and is the third book in the Rome, Kentucky contemporary romance series. Have you read this one?

Two feuding second-grade teachers (and neighbors) find themselves teaming up in this rivals-to-lovers romance by the New York Times bestselling author of The Rule Book and Practice Makes Perfect.

Emily Walker hates having her carefully crafted world disrupted by anyone, most of all her legendary nemesis, Jack Bennett. He’s the opposite of the wonderful heroes she dreams up in her double life as a romance writer, which is why Emily was perfectly happy when Jack left Rome, Kentucky, mid-school year, with his fiancée. The last thing Emily saw coming was Jack’s return at the start of the summer after calling off the wedding and ending his relationship, but he’s here to stay—as her colleague and her neighbor.

Jackson Bennett is glad to be back, eager to renovate his house and work on the next mystery novel under his bestselling pen name. But when he realizes he’s now neighbors with the one woman who has always pushed his buttons, he discovers something he’s even more excited for—thwarting Emily and her petty plans to sabotage his return.

With their chemistry-fueled animosity at an all-time high, Emily accidentally sends an email to their school’s principal that could reveal her secret literary side hustle. She needs to steal back her manuscript, and Jack—she hates to admit—is just the man to help her. Surprisingly, Jack agrees. Will their unlikely alliance put an end to their rivalry? Or could it lead to a steamy plot twist they never saw coming?

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

The Inheritance Trilogy

The Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin is $2.99! This collection includes all three books, plus a novella. That’s almost 1500 pages for less than $3. Jemisin has won numerous awards, has been reviewed favorably on the site, and is really an amazing writer. Seriously, this is a steal. What are you waiting for?!

In this omnibus edition of N.K. Jemisin’s brilliantly original award-winning fantasy series, a young woman becomes entangled in a power struggle of mythic proportions.

A REALM OF GODS AND MORTALS.

Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian north. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky. There, to her shock, Yeine is named an heiress to the king. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle.

The Inheritance Trilogy omnibus includes the novels: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The Broken Kingdoms, and The Kingdom of Gods.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

How to Sell a Haunted House

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix is $1.99! This is a Kindle Daily Deal and was mentioned in a previous Hide Your Wallet.

When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to leave her daughter with her ex and fly to Charleston. She doesn’t want to deal with her family home, stuffed to the rafters with the remnants of her father’s academic career and her mother’s lifelong obsession with puppets and dolls. She doesn’t want to learn how to live without the two people who knew and loved her best in the world.

Mostly, she doesn’t want to deal with her brother, Mark, who never left their hometown, gets fired from one job after another, and resents her success. But she’ll need his help to get the house ready for sale because it’ll take more than some new paint on the walls and clearing out a lifetime of memories to get this place on the market.

Some houses don’t want to be sold, and their home has other plans for both of them…

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Sparkly Lego®  Twilight

Sep. 22nd, 2025 07:00 am
[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by SB Sarah

Twilight
A | BN | K | AB
Y’all, Twilight is upon us. Born the same year as this here websiteTwilight is celebrating it’s 20th anniversary October 7. (Note: I still have SBTB 20th Anniversary stickers, if you’d like one! They’re free!)

The celebrations will be in various quarters: The movie is back in theaters for a limited engagement, after teasing the re-release on Instagram. A limited number of theaters will be screening the five Twilight movies, one film per night for five nights, starting on October 29. The screenings also include a bonus roundtable with some of the folks involved, including Stephenie Meyer.

I think this is genius, honestly. In time for Halloween, and for a much-needed dose of nostalgic dopamine. Also, the first movie is tree porn.

I know other outlets are planning anniversary coverage, but one unexpected source of Twilight delight: Lego®!

I was taking a tour through the catalog, and thinking “Wow, there are a lot of new sets I’m digging.”

NB: some links include affiliate codes that send a portion of your purchase back to us at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your consideration.

Y’all know about my love of How to Train Your Dragon, right? There’s a Toothless:

A Lego Icons figure of Toothless wearing his mechanical tail and saddle harness. There's a lego articulated fish at his feet and he's breathing out a little cloud of clear air in lego formLego Icons: Toothless – $70

I feel there is a strong chance I’m going to want this for my very own.

And there’s a Gameboy™, which members of my household will covet:

A lego gameboy model made of grey, black and pink pieces, with tiles that look like game play screens and little cartridges for games like Zelda and SuperMarioLego Gameboy: $60.

Please note: there isn’t actual game play on this model. There are tiles that look like gameplay screens – I had to scroll and double check because I was confused how a functional Lego Gameboy was $60 – it’s not functional. BUT IT IS VERY COOL.

And then I got to the back pages of the catalog.

EVERYONE is going to want this.

THE CULLEN HOUSE IS A LEGO SET! 

A model of the Cullen house from the movie, with a red pickup truck, a wolf, ,and three levels of a modern house with minifigs of Edward, Bella, Cullen and his wife, Bella's Dad, Jacob, and one of the sisters whose name I never remember.Twilight: The Cullen House – $220

“It’s a house, Sarah,” you might be thinking. “Lego® has plenty of those! There’s even an Italian Riviera scene where I could stage a recreation diorama of the BezoChez Merger and toss protest ducks and Bezos on a surfboard into the water!”

No, wait, that’s what I would do with the Italian Riviera set.

But yes, it is a house. BUT IT IS SO MUCH MORE. 

It’s a Lego Ideas build, which means it was designed by a fan, LobsterThermidore, and uploaded for community voting. (Definitely read the descriptions – they’re hilarious).

This proposed build reached 10k votes, which means Lego folks took a look and said, “YES. THAT IS THE ONE.”

And I mean, honestly, that is the only right answer.

I am not exaggerating when I said the more I looked at it, the harder I chortled in complete delight.

Y’all.

First, this part is very important: the Minifigures™:

The minifigures in a line with the text Includes 7 minifigures: Bella Swan, Edward Cullen (with sparkle effect), Jacob Black, Carlisle Cullen, Alice Cullen, Charlie Swan and Rosalie Hale, plus a brick-built Jacob wolf figure!

EDWARD CULLEN WITH SPARKLE EFFECT?!

SPARKLE EFFECT??!!

And look, I even took my glasses off and looked close-close-close up, and in the images, I cannot discern any sparkle. Grumpypants, yes. Sparkle, not so much.

Minifig Sparkle Effect Edward and Bella at a lego piano. He looks grumpy but not sparkly.

Sparkle Effect Edward is grumpy and playing the piano with Regular Degular Bella.

Minifig sparkle effect Edward and regular degular Bella look at his record collection I think

Sparkle Effect Edward is grumpy watching Regular Degular Bella looking through his record collection.

Edward, bella, his sister with the short hair, and cullen and the other sister, stand in the kitchen. Cullen is holding a GIANT SPOON

Sparkle Effect Edward is grumpy in the kitchen with his Minifig Family — look at the size of that SPOON Cullen has in his “hand.” Is Sparkle Effect Edward about to get smacked? It was Rosalie who broke the bowl.

Even upon close examination of the image files, I can spot no sparkle.

Close up of bella and edward. She's wearing a green hoodie and black legs with long brown hair. Edward is wearing a jacket and shirt and blue legs and is really surly looking

Maybe this is a thing you can only appreciate when you own it? This Reddit user posted an album and…is that the sparkle effect? It looks more like a dermatology appointment is needed asap.

Setting aside Sparkle Effect Edward’s Alleged Sparkle Effect, I did notice three other things.

First, get a load of the hair on the Jacob minifig! I think it’s the same hair piece as Regular Degular Bella, but in black:

Close up of Jacob minifig, with a dark shirt and light pants with long flowing black hair

Second: you can build Jacob as a somewhat-articulated wolf:

A close up of the wolf build which appears to be bigger than Bella's Dad's truck

The wolf looks bigger than Bella’s Dad’s truck. Pity he can’t ride in the back.

But finally, the part that sent me right off the edge of the chair I was sitting on:

Edward and Bella minifigs perched in a tree

THEY ARE IN A TREE. 

IN A TREE!  

Sparkle Effect Edward and Regular Degular Bella IN A GD TREEEEEEEE.

I don’t know why this cracked me up so much but I had to clean my glasses I was cry-laughing so hard. Even now I’m laughing.

Forget the house, the truck, the wolf, the Sparkle Effect Edward.

THEY ARE IN THE TREE.

Honestly, LobsterThermidor, if you thought of this, I offer you major applause.

Some of LT’s original ideas were stellar, and I don’t know if they’re part of the official set, like the “custom printed 1×1 tiles representing each book cover as wall art in the living room (or…dying room?)”

A cross section of the original design proposal showing an open fireplace and 1x1 wall art of lego-versions of the book covers. Including minifig arms holding an apple.

LOOK at that. Little Lego Minifigure arms holding an apple?!

And folks on Reddit noticed other “Easter eggs” hidden in the released design – references to deleted scenes, and odd items that were requests from Meyer, for example.

I just love everything about this, really. Every time I look at it, it makes me laugh. I even pulled the pages out of the catalog to save – spontaneous snort-laughter is in limited supply.

Are you going to climb a tree – I mean, buy this Lego set? 

 

 

[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

The latest bestseller list is brought to you by comfortable shoes, snack breaks, and our affiliate sales data.

  1. Rules for Ruin by Mimi Matthews Amazon | B&N | Kobo
  2. Manic Pixie Dream Earl by Jenny Holiday Amazon | B&N | Kobo
  3. All Superheroes Need PR by Elizabeth Stephens Amazon | B&N
  4. Shatter Me: The Six-Novel Collection by Tehereh Mafi Amazon
  5. The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft Amazon | B&N | Kobo
  6. Someone to Cherish by Mary Balogh Amazon | B&N | Kobo
  7. The Second Chance Book Club by Stephanie Butland Amazon | B&N | Kobo
  8. Once Smitten, Twice Shy by Chloe Liese Amazon | B&N | Kobo
  9. Along Came Amor by Alexis Daria Amazon | B&N | Kobo
  10. Impractical Magic by Emily Grimoire Amazon | B&N | Kobo

I hope your weekend reading was magical!

Sunday Sale Digest!

Sep. 21st, 2025 06:00 am
[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

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 with exclusive content and events.

Everything you’re used to seeing at the Hot Pink Palace that is Smart Bitches Trashy Books will remain free as always, because we remain committed to fostering community among brilliant readers who love romance.

Drew some Tomoko

Sep. 20th, 2025 12:16 pm
fennectik: Anime (Anime)
[personal profile] fennectik posting in [community profile] anime_manga
Recently found out about this lovable anxiety-filled character named Tomoko from Watamote, being quite late to the entire series as it is. Went on sketching her face.

[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by SB Sarah

Buckle up, because I’m doing the books on sale post today, and it’s always chaotic when my scattered brain tries to remember things in order the way Amanda’s does.

 

Rules for Ruin

Rules for Ruin, the first book in Mimi Matthews’ The Crinoline Academy series, is $1.99! Lara reviewed this book and gave it an A (!!) saying, “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.”

She gave up sleep, y’all. The second book, The Marriage Method, will be out on November 25. If you know you’ll want it, a heads up that this is the week of Thanksgiving, so preordering means SURPRISE BOOK when you might be super duper busy and maaaaybe ready to not talk to people for a bit.

No one betrays the Academy. But now Euphemia must break the rules for her enemy, or let the rules break her heart.

On the outskirts of London sits a seemingly innocuous institution with a secretive aim—train young women to distract, disrupt, and discredit the patriarchy. Outraged by a powerful politician’s systematic attack on women’s rights, the Academy summons its brightest—and most bitter—pupil to infiltrate the odious man’s inner circle. A deal is bring down the viscount, and Miss Euphemia Flite will finally earn her freedom.

But betting shop owner Gabriel Royce has other plans. The viscount is the perfect pawn to insulate Gabriel’s underworld empire from government interference. He’s not about to let some crinoline-clad miss destroy his carefully constructed enterprise—no matter how captivating he finds her threats.

From the rookeries of St. Giles to the ballrooms of Mayfair, Euphemia and Gabriel engage in a battle of wits and wills that’s complicated by a blossoming desire. Soon Euphemia realizes it’s not the broken promises to her Academy sisters she should fear. . . . It’s the danger to her heart.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Shatter Me: The Six-Novel Collection

(Fingers crossed this deal stays put!) 

Shatter Me: The Six Novel Collection by Tehereh Mafi is .99c at Amazon (and $19.99 elsewhere). This collection contains the entire series: Shatter Me, Unravel Me, Ignite Me, Restore Me, Defy Me, and Imagine Me. That is a LOT of books.

Lara recommended the first book in a post-apocalyptic Rec League in 2021, saying, “Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me series is YA dystopia (revolution, war/climate devastation, military rule and dominance) with an extremely intense romance at its heart, although the heroine does not end up with her first crush.

Have you read this series?

Juliette can kill with a touch—will she wield her power for good, or will it turn her into the monster she’s always feared she truly is? Find out in the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Shatter Me series—all six novels are now available in this digital collection!

One touch is all it takes. One touch, and Juliette Ferrars can bring a grown man to his knees, begging for mercy. One touch, and she can kill.

No one knows why Juliette has such incredible power. It feels like a curse, like too great a burden for one person alone to bear. But The Reestablishment sees her as an opportunity. As a deadly weapon. And they’ll stop at nothing to shape her into what they want.

Juliette has never fought for herself before. But when she’s reunited with the one person who ever cared about her, she finds a strength she never knew she had.

This bestselling series from powerhouse author Tahereh Mafi showcases relentlessly thrilling action, heart stopping romance, and a war-torn world in which rebellion is the only path to freedom.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

How to Read a Book

How to Read a Book by Monica Wood is $1.99! This may be to coincide with the paperback release. Many reviewers describe this as a “book club book” which is some delightful inception marketing in my brain now: How to Read a Book is a book club book. And now the word “book” has lost its meaning.

Anyway, this book as a 4.26 (!!) star average on GoodReads, and readers describe it as emotional and hopeful on Storygraph. One reviewer on Kobo cautions that while they liked the heroine, they didn’t like that the pastor is a “judgmental pervert” and that the church people were “judgmental and unforgiving.” This reader didn’t like the book for that reason, but that would be a reason for me to read it faster. Another review says there are talking parrots, so this seems like a mixed bag. Have you read this book?

Do you know how to read How to Read a Book, a book that is for book clubs? (Ok, I’ll stop.)

National Bestseller * From the award-winning author of The One-in-a-Million Boy comes a heartfelt, uplifting novel about a chance encounter at a bookstore, exploring redemption, unlikely friendships, and the life-changing power of sharing stories.

Our Reasons meet us in the morning and whisper to us at night. Mine is an innocent, unsuspecting, eternally sixty-one-year-old woman named Lorraine Daigle…

Violet Powell, a twenty-two-year-old from rural Abbott Falls, Maine, is being released from prison after serving twenty-two months for a drunk-driving crash that killed a local kindergarten teacher.

Harriet Larson, a retired English teacher who runs the prison book club, is facing the unsettling prospect of an empty nest.

Frank Daigle, a retired machinist, hasn’t yet come to grips with the complications of his marriage to the woman Violet killed.

When the three encounter each other one morning in a bookstore in Portland—Violet to buy the novel she was reading in the prison book club before her release, Harriet to choose the next title for the women who remain, and Frank to dispatch his duties as the store handyman—their lives begin to intersect in transformative ways.

How to Read a Book is an unsparingly honest and profoundly hopeful story about letting go of guilt, seizing second chances, and the power of books to change our lives. With the heart, wit, grace, and depth of understanding that has characterized her work, Monica Wood illuminates the decisions that define a life and the kindnesses that make life worth living.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

The Second Chance Book Club

The Second Chance Book Club by Stephanie Butland is .99! I wonder if the Second Chance Book Club is as much of a book club book as How to Read a Book?

Hey, where are you going?

This book has a 4.4 star average on Goodreads, and 4.23 on Storygraph, and is about a woman named September who inherits a somewhat disheveled mansion, some money, and, along with it, a book club. Reviewers state that there are many references to other books, and that it’s very sweet and cozy.

Have you read this book? About book clubs?

Ok, I’m done now.

A heart-warming story about how a letter with surprising news changes everything – from the author of the beloved Found in a Bookshop
‘Compelling, eye-opening and heart-stirring, this book is unputdownable’ Katie Fforde

‘A warm and moving read with the healing power of books at its heart’ Kate Storey

‘A beautiful writer . . . such attentive compassion and warmth’ Carys Bray

‘Full of warmth, heart and most excellent book recommendations’ Zoë Folbigg

September was adopted when she was fifteen months old. She knows nothing about her early life, but she grew up safe and loved. Now, though, it’s just September and her feckless boyfriend Shaun. And she’s at her wits’ end. There’s never enough money, and she has nothing to look forward to.

Then a letter comes. September has inherited a house – and Shaun can see endless opportunities if she sells it. But, almost as soon as she sets foot in the garden, September knows she cannot let this home go. And she longs to find out more about the mysterious Lucia who left it to her.

When the members of Lucia’s book club arrive, for the first time September hears stories of her mother, of the aunt who adored her, and of the secrets that broke the family apart. And she begins to make new friends.

September feels safe here. But money alone can’t bring contentment. September is at the start of a journey full of surprises, shocks – and opportunities, if she’s brave enough . . .

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks

The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks by Shauna Robinson is $1.99 at Amazon – price-matching fairies, come on by! Katie mentioned this novel in a March 2024 Books on Sale post, saying it was good, and Heather S mentioned it in a Whatcha Reading post, saying, ” I really liked the characters. I knew it was women’s fiction, not romance, going in, so that was fine. It did have the “outsider comes in and in like 3 months knows a ton of people who will risk their jobs to help her so she can save everyone” trope, which annoyed me.” I also spotted this book recommended in a thread on Facebook for “recs with Gilmore Girls vibes.”

This book has a 3.81 average on Storygraph, and a 3.73 average on GoodReads. Robinson’s first book, Must Love Books, was on sale last month. 

Have you read this one?

“A sparkling bookish story about rules just begging to be broken.” — Abby Jimenez, New York Times bestselling author of Part of Your World and The Friend Zone

I, Maggie Banks, solemnly swear to uphold the rules of Cobblestone Books. If only, I, Maggie Banks, believed in following the rules.

When Maggie Banks arrives in Bell River to run her best friend’s struggling bookstore, she expects to sell bestsellers to her small-town clientele. But running a bookstore in a town with a famously bookish history isn’t easy. Bell River’s literary society insists on keeping the bookstore stuck in the past, and Maggie is banned from selling anything written this century. So, when a series of mishaps suddenly tip the bookstore toward ruin, Maggie will have to get creative to keep the shop afloat.

And in Maggie’s world, book rules are made to be broken.

To help save the store, Maggie starts an underground book club, running a series of events celebrating the books readers actually love. But keeping the club quiet, selling forbidden books, and dodging the literary society is nearly impossible. Especially when Maggie unearths a town secret that could upend everything.

Maggie will have to decide what’s more important: the books that formed a small town’s history, or the stories poised to change it all.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by SB Sarah

The August 1996 issue of Romantic Times featuring Love and Laughter, a new line from Harlequin, with a big banner at the top and two smaller covers for two of the lead titles, one being Dates and Other Nuts.It’s the 90s so the Ads and Features from the August 1996 issue of Romantic Times are a treasure trove of confusion. We’ve got:

  • A tour of Jude Deveraux’s Grade II Listed Home in Suffolk
  • Barbara Cartland perfumes
  • How should emoji faces be written? Nose or no nose?
  • What is the appeal of “nursing him back to health” plots?
  • And RT is going to answer the eternal question that has plagued womankind throughout the ages. It’s a doozy.

Music: purple-planet.com

Listen to the podcast →
Read the transcript →

Here are the books we discuss in this podcast:

We mentioned:

Ready for some 90’s visual aids? OH YES.

Most particular thanks to Live4Art on eBay, who takes terrific photographs

Show Spoiler

Brownwyne Wolfe's Once Upon a Tangled Tale: A photograph of a blonde woman in a wedding dress with giant puffy sleeves and a veil flying behind her, being embraced by a VERY blonde frost and tip John DeSalvo in a tux

Frost & Tip!

Lady of Fire by Janeen O'Kerry features a blonde John DeSalvo with no shirt and a kilt, and long gold hair He is lifting a woman with red hair in a nightgown into the sky. Seriously, his hand is under her thigh and her back is arched. Behind her is a giant fire

He’s throwing her into that fire, right?

Venus Rising by Flora Speer, A woman in a strapless gown or maybe a bedsheet is arching her back against the midsection of a shirtless man with a mullet. There's a folly or maybe a spaceship behind them

That looks like a spaceship folly.

The ad for Deeper than the Night - a vampire and a miniskirt! A man in a high collar cape and a mullet frowns while below him he embraces a woman in his cape. She's wearing a short black a line shirt and a button down shirt

The Vampire, and the Mini Skirt! (I would have killed, lol, for a skirt like that in high school.)

An ad for Sweet Rewards by Melinda McRae and Halfway Home by Bronwyn Williams. Sweet Rewards has a picture of two hats, one top hat and one wicker hat wrapped in fabric and topped with flowers. Halfway Home has a picture of a couple embracing and she looks like she's nursing from his naked chest.

HAT! Also – breastfeeding pose!

A not-great-resolution cover of Halfway Home showing the blonde heroine kneeling in front of the hero, whose shirt is unbuttoned and off his shoulders but still tucked in Behind them is a MASSIVE FIRE - it is making them glow so you know they're very close

Apologies for the low res image, but not only is she kneeling/about to bite his nipple/or something else, they’re IN A FIRE.

Everyone is on fire in this issue.

A black and white image of a cover painting - a shirtless very muscular man with a big mullet, a woman with long hair in an off the shoulder gown, leaning into his chest, and they are about to smooch The caption is incredible Celebrity Topaz Man Michael O'Hearn makes his romance novel cover debut on Justine Dare's HEART OF THE HAWK, due out in October 1996. Michael is a bodybuilder and former Mr. America, who won his third Mr. Universe title last December, and who regularly appears as Thor on TV's Gladiators.

This caption has so much incredible information and is an entire journey.

DAME BARBARA CARTLAND CELEBRATES HER 95TH BIRTHDAY WITH SCENT OF ROMANCE BARBARA CARTLAND is marking her 95th birthday July 9th with a special perfume, Scent of Romance. "Any man would want to kiss a woman wearing this—but go no further," she said. Her classic fragrance created by The Perfumers Guild will raise funds for Dame Barbara's charities. Available only by mail order in England, priced at £I2.95 (Approx $17.95). It can be ordered from the U.S. using Visa/MC by fax—011 44 1923 268200.

Barbara Cartland perfumes! They’re on eBay, but I bet they don’t smell great.

An old image of Barbara Cartland in a gown with a single narrow strap and gathered fabric. Barbara's hair is curled around her head and she is wearing a pointed tiara

Check out this portrait of Dame Barbara! The gown, the tiara, the pose. Incredible.

Another ad that also shows how the pivot from clinch to single item covers is happening:

An Avon Books ad that shows two books at the top, Runaway Magic by Deborah Gordon, and Once More with Feeling by Emilie Richards, both have single item covers. Runaway Magic has a partially opened jeweled box with light coming out, Once More with Feeling has a dove carrying a heart locket. Below is Wicked at Heart by Danelle Harmon, which has a shirtless mullet man embracing a woman in a lose gown in a giant rose bush (Ouch) and Someone Like You by Susan Sawyer has a woman with curly hair kneeling on the grass in front of a mullet blousy shirt man who has his hand under her chin. It's a very tender pose

Someone Like You by Susan Sawyer in color - it's very pastel and pastoral, with a blonde woman in a pink gown kneeling in the grass between the knees of a open bloused mullet man who is holding her chin

Pastel and tender poses – looking the black and white covers up to see the color version is very fun.

And, one final cover: is this Peter Gallagher?

Andrea Kane's Echoes in the Mist shows a woman in a pink gown with ruffles, seated on a white iron bench with her legs over a man's lap. The man looks like Peter Gallagher, and he's wearing a burgundy coat and a cravat. They are posed in a garden with MUTANT LARGE FLOWERS like bigger than both of them.

Check out the flowers surrounding Peter Gallagher and his friend: MUTANT LARGE FLOWERS ATTACK!

 

If you like the podcast, you can subscribe to our feed, or find us at iTunes. You can also find us on Stitcher, and Spotify, too. We also have a cool page for the podcast on iTunes.

More ways to sponsor:

Sponsor us through Patreon! (What is Patreon?)

What did you think of today's episode? Got ideas? Suggestions? You can talk to us on the blog entries for the podcast or talk to us on Facebook if that's where you hang out online. You can email us at sbjpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave us a message at our Google voice number: 201-371-3272. Please don't forget to give us a name and where you're calling from so we can work your message into an upcoming podcast.

Thanks for listening!

Remember to subscribe to our podcast feed, find us on iTunes or on Stitcher.

Witches, Contemporary Romance, & More

Sep. 18th, 2025 03:30 pm
[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

Libro.fm’s buy-one-get-one sale is happening from Sept 16-19, and you can get two audiobooks for one credit. And if you’ve been thinking of joining Libro.fm, you can get three audiobooks for the price of one if you’re a new member buying a one credit per month plan. This means if you use code SWITCH, you could end up with six audiobooks for three credits you receive on sign up.

A Psalm for the Wild Built

A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers is $2.99! Sarah loved this one and gave it an A-. It was also her favorite read of 2021:

Thinking about that book brings back the feeling of awe and stillness and gratitude I had when reading it. It’s so peaceful and kind. I almost miss it (which is fixable because I can re read).

Hugo Award-winner Becky Chambers’s delightful new series gives us hope for the future.

It’s been centuries since the robots of Earth gained self-awareness and laid down their tools.

Centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again.

Centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend.

One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of “what do people need?” is answered.

But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how.

They’re going to need to ask it a lot.

Becky Chambers’ new series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

The Long Game

The Long Game by Elena Armas is $2.99! This is part of today’s Kindle Daily Deals. I remember this being a highly anticipated release given the popularity of Armas’s other books.

A disgraced soccer exec reluctantly enlists the help of a retired soccer star in coaching a children’s team in this smalltown love story in the vein of Ted Lasso and It Happened One Summer — from the New York Times bestselling author of The Spanish Love Deception.

Adalyn Reyes has spent years perfecting her daily routine: wake up at dawn, drive to the Miami Flames FC offices, try her hardest to leave a mark, go home, and repeat.

But her routine is disrupted when a video of her in an altercation with the team’s mascot goes viral. Rather than fire her, the team’s owner—who happens to be her father—sends Adalyn to middle-of-nowhere North Carolina, where she’s tasked with turning around the struggling local soccer team, the Green Warriors, as a way to redeem herself. Her plans crumble upon discovering that the players wear tutus to practice (impractical), keep pet goats (messy), and are terrified of Adalyn (counterproductive), and are nine-year-old kids.

To make things worse, also in town is Cameron Caldani, goalkeeping prodigy whose presence is somewhat of a mystery. Cam is the perfect candidate to help Adalyn, but after one very unfortunate first encounter involving a rooster, Cam’s leg, and Adalyn’s bumper, he’s also set on running her out of town. But banishment is not an option for Adalyn. Not again. Helping this ragtag children’s team is her road to redemption, and she is playing the long game. With or without Cam’s help.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Must Love Scones and Secrets

Must Love Scones and Secrets by Maisy Magill is 99c! This is book one in the Moonshine Hollow series and is described as a cozy, fantasy romance with medium spice. I bought it out of curioisty.

He’s a prince longing for freedom.

She’s a baker yearning for the ultimate love story.

Together, they’ll discover that sometimes the sweetest magic lies in unexpected places.

Rosalyn’s enchanted scones bring magic to every bite at The Sconery and Teashop. With a glitter-sneezing caticorn and a thriving business, all Rosalyn needs is a romance as sweet as her baking. When a mysterious Rune Elf strides into Moonshine Hollow, bringing secrets and devastating charm, her perfectly-measured life crumbles faster than a day-old scone.

Bjorn is no ordinary elf. A secret prince looking for an escape, he’s determined to forge his own path far from the expectations of his royal family. When he’s tasked with helping a wild unicorn herd suffering from chaotic magic, he’s relieved to focus on creatures instead of people. That is, until a certain insistently-friendly baker and her pet crash into his carefully guarded solitude.

As Rosalyn and Bjorn work together to uncover the source of the magical imbalance in horned creatures, sparks fly in more ways than one. Her warmth and charm start to melt his icy walls, but Bjorn’s secret could shatter their fragile connection. Rosalyn dreams of the kind of love bards sing about, but will this gruff and guarded prince sweep her off her feet before it’s too late?

Must Love Scones and Secrets is a spicy cozy fantasy romance full of enchanted pastries, mischievous caticorns, and a love story that will warm your heart.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

The Ex Hex

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling is $1.99! This is a light paranormal romance with some witchy elements. This one was…sweeter? More twee? than I had thought it’d be. I hope you get what I’m trying to say here.

New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins, writing as Erin Sterling, casts a spell with a spine-tingling romance full of wishes, witches, and hexes gone wrong.

Nine years ago, Vivienne Jones nursed her broken heart like any young witch would: vodka, weepy music, bubble baths…and a curse on the horrible boyfriend. Sure, Vivi knows she shouldn’t use her magic this way, but with only an “orchard hayride” scented candle on hand, she isn’t worried it will cause him anything more than a bad hair day or two.

That is until Rhys Penhallow, descendent of the town’s ancestors, breaker of hearts, and annoyingly just as gorgeous as he always was, returns to Graves Glen, Georgia. What should be a quick trip to recharge the town’s ley lines and make an appearance at the annual fall festival turns disastrously wrong. With one calamity after another striking Rhys, Vivi realizes her silly little Ex Hex may not have been so harmless after all.

Suddenly, Graves Glen is under attack from murderous wind-up toys, a pissed off ghost, and a talking cat with some interesting things to say. Vivi and Rhys have to ignore their off the charts chemistry to work together to save the town and find a way to break the break-up curse before it’s too late.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

The Love Lyric

Sep. 18th, 2025 10:00 am
[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by Guest Reviewer

B+

The Love Lyric

by Kristina Forest
February 4, 2025 · Berkley
Contemporary RomanceRomance

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 job.

Kristina Forest’s contemporary romances have that fun, unique sparkle to them that heavily build upon the slow-burning chemistry between her leads. The Love Lyric is no exception to that rule and it proves to be a fine novel, though not an outstanding one. But while it’s not Squee material, it definitely comes recommended and is an enjoyable, sweet-natured novel.

Angel Harrison recently moved from Georgia to Los Angeles, where he knows no one and absolutely doesn’t feel at home. At an anti-wedding party thrown by his stylist, Violet Greene, he meets Violet’s sister Lily, who introduces him to another of their sisters, Iris Greene. Angel is instantly captivated by the talented Iris, but after the party, they won’t see each other again for three whole years.

Iris is the classic older sister, forever in charge of cleaning up the messes her siblings have left behind. She is responsible, controlled, and always there for everyone in her life. When she meets Angel again, he’s a rising music star and she is director of partnerships at Save Face Beauty. They’ve both been living full lives; Iris got married and pregnant before she met Angel, but lost her husband in a car accident, leaving her a single mom raising her six-year-old daughter, Calla, alone.

Angel is enjoying the spoils of fame, but while he’s been dating pretty famous women in the meantime, he’s never quite forgotten Iris. Angel is also caught between his strong Christian faith and his very secular career as a soul singer. It’s clear from the very first that they have great chemistry, but they have to keep things cool – Angel is now Save Face’s new brand ambassador.

Angel and Iris depart on a publicity campaign for Save Face, which keeps throwing them together and into romantic situations. But can Iris ever relax and see Angel as a romantic prospect — and can Angel ever reconcile his newfound fame with his faith?

The Love Lyric is a pleasant experience, though it’s not as outstanding as The Neighbor Favor, which opened the Greene Sisters Trilogy. Poor Iris definitely deserves play time and definitely deserves a nice, flirtatious, kind guy like Angel in her life. Angel’s a great, supportive hero who clearly loves and believes in her.

Uneven writing is my big problem with this one. There are scenes where Iris and Angel pop out as interesting, complex characters – and the occasional credulity stretch where they feel like toys of the plot. Iris’ daughter and her sisters in particular feel underwritten and underused; while the focus understandably stays on the tour and the romance between Iris and Angel, I could’ve used more time with Calla especially.

Who doesn’t feel underused? Angel’s mother, a woman of faith who knows which end is up. I definitely enjoyed her presence. A worthy note – while this isn’t marketed as an inspy, there’s definitely a ton of talk about faith and God in here, so your enjoyment of the book may be stymied or enhanced by this part of the plot.

The book also does quite a good job depicting Iris’ anger and sadness in the wake of her husband’s death. She likes Angel but is afraid about supplanting her memories. Naturally, she slowly but surely comes to realize that she won’t lose those memories if she ends up with Angel, but it’s quite a well-done struggle in the meantime.

It’s easy to enjoy The Love Lyric – well-meaning, sweet-tempered, and smooth as butter. It doesn’t reach greatness, but it’s a perfectly decent way to wind up the summer in an agreeable fashion.

 

[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

The Rec League - heart shaped chocolate resting on the edge of a very old bookThis 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 to you by Cait Nary’s LUCKY BOUNCE (I have worn out the virtual spine of my ebook copy re-reading it).

Amanda: Any pairings are welcome!

Shana: Fan Service by Rosie Danan fits but is m/f. The heroine has longtime crush on an actor who turns into a werewolf.

Elyse: Stars in Your Eyes by Karen Callender ( A | BN | K ): Hollywood bad boy and a up and coming star

Darkhearts
A | BN | K
Darkhearts by James L Sutter. Ex-best friend is now a major pop star.

If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales ( A | BN | K | AB ) – members of a boy band (YA).

The Rules of Royalty by Cale Dietrich ( A | BN | K | AB ) (stretching celeb to include Royals).

The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun – reality TV. ( A | BN | K )

Tara: I can think of two f/f romances that fit the bill. Tempting Olivia ( A ) is about a very famous actor who needs a divorce lawyer and hires someone who’s had a crush on her for years.

I also recently finished Make or Break by E. J. Noyes ( A | BN | K | AB ), which has one of the lead actors on a police drama and the key makeup artist falling for each other. They’ve had mutual crushes for years and finally act on it.

What celebrity crush romances would you recommend?

A Thriller, F/F Romance, & More

Sep. 17th, 2025 03:30 pm
[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

Libro.fm’s buy-one-get-one sale is happening from Sept 16-19, and you can get two audiobooks for one credit. And if you’ve been thinking of joining Libro.fm, you can get three audiobooks for the price of one if you’re a new member buying a one credit per month plan. This means if you use code SWITCH, you could end up with six audiobooks for three credits you receive on sign up.

Once Smitten, Twice Shy

Once Smitten, Twice Shy by Chloe Liese is $1.99! Fingers crossed this sale is still valid! This is book three in The Wilmot Sisters series. The description mentions it’s a retelling of Twelfth Night.

Star-crossed lovers learn that practicing romance leads to the perfect happy ending in this steamy reimagining of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.

Since heartbreak entered the scene, Juliet Wilmot, once a hopeless romantic, has sworn off love. But when she’s presented with the chance to revisit romance—purely for practice—with the gorgeous, off-limits guy she keeps serendipitously running into, it feels like a sign from the universe.

Quiet, shy Will Orsino knows happily-ever-after isn’t on his horizon. Problem is, for the sake of the family business, marriage is.  Resigned to the inevitable, but with no confidence he can woo a wife, he can hardly say no when fate hands him the alluring, unattainable woman he keeps crossing paths with, offering to help him learn the ropes of romance.

Neither of them looking for love, Jules and Will agree they’re the perfect pair to practice romance. Except that practicing to perfection leads to an irresistible attraction. Their once smitten hearts, though still twice shy, might have happily-ever-after written in the stars for them, after all.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

When Women Were Dragons

RECOMMENDEDWhen Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill is $1.99! Carrie read this one and gave it an A:

I adored this book. This was an astonishing, gripping, and inspiring read that I will return to again and again.

Learn about the Mass Dragoning of 1955 in which 300,000 women spontaneously transform into dragons…and change the world.

Alex Green is a young girl in a world much like ours. But this version of 1950’s America is characterized by a significant event: The Mass Dragoning of 1955, when hundreds of thousands of ordinary wives and mothers sprouted wings, scales and talons, left a trail of fiery destruction in their path, and took to the skies. Seemingly for good. Was it their choice? What will become of those left behind? Why did Alex’s beloved Aunt Marla transform but her mother did not? Alex doesn’t know. It’s taboo to speak of, even more so than her crush on Sonja, her schoolmate.

Forced into silence, Alex nevertheless must face the consequences of dragons: a mother more protective than ever; a father growing increasingly distant; the upsetting insistence that her aunt never even existed; and a new “sister” obsessed with dragons far beyond propriety. Through loss, rage, and self-discovery, this story follows Alex’s journey as she deals with the events leading up to and beyond the Mass Dragoning, and her connection with the phenomenon itself.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Discovering Nicola

Discovering Nicola by Clare Ashton is 99c! This is book three in Oxford Romance series. This is a f/f romance where the leads are divorcees.

Sparks fly between Nicola Albright KC and Geeta Sachdeva, but not the good kind. They’re the sort that leave small fires, devastation, and everyone peeping between their fingers at arrogant lawyer, Nicola, on one side, and everyone’s favourite mum, Geeta, on the other.

Yet when both are divorced and at a new stage in life, they find themselves living within glowering distance of each other, in beautiful Iffley Village, Oxford. Reluctantly they call a truce and try to make friends. It’s tricky though, when there’s more than one reason they’ve circled and snapped for years.

For a start, Geeta’s lawyer daughter, Olivia, idolises the eminent King’s Counsel barrister, to eye rolls from Geeta. And to Nicola’s annoyance, her own daughter, Charlotte, has always turned to perfect mama Geeta for comfort and understanding. Animosity between the two is a given.

Until they force themselves to be nice to each other, that is, and then they’re compelled to question everything…

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

The Villa

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins is $2.99! This is a Gothic thriller, which is all sorts of Elyse catnip. It was also mentioned in a previous Hide Your Wallet. Have you read any of Hawkins’ thrillers?

From New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins comes a deliciously wicked gothic suspense, set at an Italian villa with a dark history, for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware.

As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 30s, their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend.

Villa Aestas in Orvieto is a high-end holiday home now, but in 1974, it was known as Villa Rosato, and rented for the summer by a notorious rock star, Noel Gordon. In an attempt to reignite his creative spark, Noel invites up-and-coming musician, Pierce Sheldon to join him, as well as Pierce’s girlfriend, Mari, and her stepsister, Lara. But he also sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Lara composing a platinum album––and ends in Pierce’s brutal murder.

As Emily digs into the villa’s complicated history, she begins to think there might be more to the story of that fateful summer in 1974. That perhaps Pierce’s murder wasn’t just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but that something more sinister might have occurred––and that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind.

Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge––and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends.

Inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the Manson murders, and the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle––the birthplace of Frankenstein––The Villa welcomes you into its deadly legacy.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by SB Sarah

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 with exclusive content and events.

Everything you’re used to seeing at the Hot Pink Palace that is Smart Bitches Trashy Books will remain free as always, because we remain committed to fostering community among brilliant readers who love romance.

Links: Llamas, Celine Dion, & More

Sep. 17th, 2025 08:00 am
[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

Workspace with computer, journal, books, coffee, and glasses.Welcome back! You’re getting some hot and fresh links this morning.

Vacation kicks off today and all I can say is hell yeah. It’s been desperately needed the past few weeks. I’ve downloaded a bunch of short Chinese dramas for the plane. I usually stock up on videos and books, but then I just fall asleep.

Are you a plane sleeper? The white noise just puts me right out.

Word on the street is that Celia Lake will be offering a series bundle sale for her 50th birthday from September 19-23. There will be 50% off from her store. (Link most likely won’t be live until the 19th.)

Enjoy some llamas and their handlers in costumes. Do you have a favorite?

This link was sent in by frequent commenter and previous podcast guest FashionablyEvil. Apparently being a buff centaur is what women look for most in a partner.

Enjoy this lovely rendition of “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now” by Celine Dion at The Barbershop Harmony Society’s quartet semifinals.

A last-minute addition from Sarah: 

Marilyn Hagerty, the writer of the famous Olive Garden review for the Grand Forks, North Dakota location went very viral, has died at age 99. Cheers to a long life, and condolences to her family.

Her Olive Garden review went very viral and was mocked endlessly, though Hagerty was defended by Anthony Bourdain himself (I hope they’re having a really big drink together) who later published a book of her reviews.

If you can’t find a copy of the review, a Redditor has posted it.

As a reviewer, in my opinion, this is art. Not only did people mistake it for inane or simple, but they missed the entire point: she barely says 10 words about the food.

She mentions what’s present in the salad, how many breadsticks she received (2), and says the entree was “warm and comforting on a cold day,” and describes the portion as “generous.” But she doesn’t say whether the food was good; she describes temperature and amount. She then goes on to describe the decor, the clothing of the staff, the seating near the entrance, and the readability of the menu.

Many people will argue with me that Pittsburgh, where I am from, is not in the midwest. That is true; it’s in a mid-Atlantic state. But the culture of Pittsburgh is quite Midwestern, and this review is truly my personal pinnacle of “Midwestern Nice.” This was a scathing review without saying a negative word. She might as well have called that chicken Alfredo “interesting.”

That review is art. I am deeply fortunate to have been alive to witness this review, and to have lived at the same time as the woman who wrote it. Cheers, Mrs. Hagerty. I hope the food is perfect, wherever you go.

-SW

Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by SB Sarah

Today, Amanda shared with me a post from writer and illustrator Odette Locke, who recently shared information about her upcoming romance in progress, A Corps of Health and Safety, with some Instagram graphics that lit my brain on fire.

Important note: absolutely no part of this post is a knock against the author, their idea, their work in progress, any of it. This is about the larger implications of what is part of the aspirational fantasy of romance. 

(Sidenote: A Corps of Health and Safety is a hilarious title and I love it.)

An illustration of a man in a suit, hard hat and viz jacket holding a woman also wearing a viz vest. Her hair is long and dark down to her lower back. The text reads Nobody WANTED to join the Magical Health and Safety Corps.

The second picture shows the couple in the middle surrounded by the trope tags, such as grumpy, forbidden love, berserker knight, love rules, NSFW magic, and at the top, Fantasy OSHA

It’s this part that grabbed me:

A close up of the words Fantasy OSHA and workplace romance

Fantasy. OSHA.

FANTASY OSHA. 

Does this mean that the fantasy aspects of romance – people trying to be the better versions of themselves, people loving one another as they are – now includes functional governmental regulation and oversight? 

I’m completely serious when I say that this is both horrifying and alluring as a concept.

Alluring? Listen, I don’t want to weird anyone out, but the saying “regulations are written in blood” is still true, even if our federal systems for oversight, regulation, and protective rulemaking are being dismantled in favor of exploitation, profit, and really not giving a fuck about actual people.

There’s a lot of absolutely justified disparagement regarding government oversight, particularly now, but I also know that regulation of workplace safety is in dire need of improvement. Hell at this point it’s probably in dire need of EXISTING IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Many of the governmental agencies that provide guidance, regulation, oversight, and enforcement that are designed to protect people have been gutted – you probably know this already.

And while I fully acknowledge that there are many, many, maaaaaany places where that regulation and oversight are applied unfairly and that the system we had is nautical miles away from perfect, the loss of much of it is only beginning to be experienced. A fuckass executive order in February halted all OSHA rulemaking, and, as reported by Sarah Kettenmann at Shipman & Goodwin LLP,  paused a number of rules under review, including measures and standards designed to protect employees from heat injury. Much like many other agencies on the federal level, the mandate this year and for the next three  will be limitation or elimination of enforcement, fewer resources, fewer people doing the actual labor, and of course, no new regulations that might respond to current dangers in work environments.

I kind of love the idea of Magic OSHA, a body that, I’m presuming, provides workplace protection and rules to enforce that protect magical workers. I think that’s a really fucking clever premise – especially because I love stories about the people who do the actual meticulous work behind the scenes. This sounds kinda cool!

At the same time, my brain was ON FIRE WITH RAGE at the idea that the best OSHA we have would be fictional and in a world of magic.

And most of all, that the existence of functional agencies of regulation and oversight for workplaces is now part of the fantasy of romance. Like, holy shit.

Romance as a genre and a shared universe was and is and will be a reflection of the world in which it is written and read, so this is dead-on accurate as a potential required element of a happily ever after, especially in a workplace romance. Functional protections for people in their places of work can be seen as another aspirational piece of romance, alongside all the other things I joke about being scarce in the real world, and plentiful in the books we love.

WOW. That’s bleak.

I hope Odette Locke keeps working on this book, because I need all the aspirational HEA I can get, especially when it comes to safety regulation and oversight.

[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

Libro.fm’s buy-one-get-one sale is happening from Sept 16-19, and you can get two audiobooks for one credit. And if you’ve been thinking of joining Libro.fm, you can get three audiobooks for the price of one if you’re a new member buying a one credit per month plan. This means if you use code SWITCH, you could end up with six audiobooks for three credits you receive on sign up.

Witch King

RECOMMENDEDWitch King by Martha Wells is $2.99! Carrie reviewed this and gave it a B+:

The biggest thing you need to know about Witch King is that it is very different from Murderbot. If you are hoping for a fantasy version of Murderbot you will be disappointed. The tone is different, the humor, when it exists, is dryer, the scope is different, and the violence is dialed waaayyy up. However, on its own merits, Witch King is a complex, interesting fantasy novel that keeps two timelines moving and introduces a group of allies who gel into a found family.

“I didn’t know you were a… demon.”
“You idiot. I’m the demon.”
Kai’s having a long day in Martha Wells’ WITCH KING….

After being murdered, his consciousness dormant and unaware of the passing of time while confined in an elaborate water trap, Kai wakes to find a lesser mage attempting to harness Kai’s magic to his own advantage. That was never going to go well.

But why was Kai imprisoned in the first place? What has changed in the world since his assassination? And why does the Rising World Coalition appear to be growing in influence?

Kai will need to pull his allies close and draw on all his pain magic if he is to answer even the least of these questions.

He’s not going to like the answers.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Burn for Me

RECOMMENDEDBurn for Me by Ilona Andrews is $1.99! Burn for Me is the first book in the Hidden Legacy series, and is an urban fantasy/billionaire romance with magic and suspense. We had a great guest squee on the entire series and I can definitely confirm the books are amazing!

#1 New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews launches a brand-new Hidden Legacy series, in which one woman must place her trust in a seductive, dangerous man who sets off an even more dangerous desire . . .

Nevada Baylor is faced with the most challenging case of her detective career—a suicide mission to bring in a suspect in a volatile situation. Nevada isn’t sure she has the chops. Her quarry is a Prime, the highest rank of magic user, who can set anyone and anything on fire.

Then she’s kidnapped by Connor “Mad” Rogan—a darkly tempting billionaire with equally devastating powers. Torn between wanting to run and wanting to surrender to their overwhelming attraction, Nevada must join forces with Rogan to stay alive.

Rogan’s after the same target, so he needs Nevada. But she’s getting under his skin, making him care about someone other than himself for a change. And, as Rogan has learned, love can be as perilous as death, especially in the magic world.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Grin and Beard It

Grin and Beard It by Penny Reid is $3.49 at Amazon! It’s available elsewhere, but not at the sale price. This is book two in the Winston Brothers series.

Sienna Diaz is everyone’s favorite “fat” funny lady. The movie studio executives can’t explain it, but her films are out-grossing all the fit and trim headliners and Hollywood’s most beautiful elite. The simple truth is, everyone loves plus-sized Sienna.

But she has a problem, she can’t read maps and her sense of direction is almost as bad as her comedic timing is stellar. Therefore, when Sienna’s latest starring role takes her to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park she finds herself continually lost while trying to navigate the back roads of Green Valley, Tennessee. Much to her consternation, Sienna’s most frequent savior is a ridiculously handsome, charming, and cheeky Park Ranger by the name of Jethro Winston.

Sienna is accustomed to high levels of man-handsome, so it’s not Jethro’s chiseled features or his perfect physique that make Sienna stutter. It’s his southern charm. And gentlemanly manners. And habit of looking at her too long and too often.

Sienna has successfully navigated the labyrinth of Hollywood heart-throbs. But can she traverse the tenuous trails of Tennessee without losing her head? Or worse, her heart?

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

The View From the Top

The View from the Top by Rachel Lacey is $2.99! I believe this is an Amazon only release, but it’s in KU if you’re a subscriber.  This is a f/f romance with characters in their 30s.

When a driven businesswoman from Boston collides with a free-spirited artist on a Vermont mountainside, they share a memorable—and steamy—night, but life soon pits them against each other over the fate of a family business.

Emily Janssen prefers to play it safe. At thirty-five, she’s still working at the inn her grandmothers own while dreaming of a day when she’s able to support herself fully with her art. And while her friends have all hiked to the summit of the mountain in their hometown of Crescent Falls, Vermont, something has always held Emily back.

Diana Devlin has already made it to the top. Well, almost. She’s this close to securing the promotion that will put her in line to take over as CEO of her family’s hotel chain when her father retires. Everything is going to plan until an unexpected run-in with an alluring artist on a mountainside throws Diana off course, resulting in one of the hottest nights either she or Emily have ever experienced.

Emily walks away from their rendezvous feeling inspired to channel some of Diana’s confidence and finally chase her dreams. For Diana, it’s a reminder that with the right woman, she is capable of wanting more than one night.

But their growing passion threatens to burn them both when they learn that the hotel Diana’s in town to buy is none other than Emily’s grandmothers’ beloved inn. It’s Emily’s home, and no big city outsider—not even Diana—is going to take it away from her.

Will the view from the top be worth the climb, or will they both have farther to fall?

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

This HaBO is from Tarli, who wants to find this book:

Ok honestly I feel like I remember so much I could just rewrite the book myself, but I’ve honestly been looking for it for over 10 years. It was a Mills and Boon type book that I read in the early 2000s (but it was probably published earlier—maybe 1980s or 1990s).

The heroine had red hair and was on an anthropological expedition (maybe archaeology-related).

Her uncle or mentor figure had investigated a mysterious hidden people before her and may have been killed by a cult of humans who worshipped these people and saw themselves as their protectors.

When she was on her expedition, all her coworkers/guides were murdered by the cult. She dragged their bodies into a jeep to protect them.

She somehow made it to the secret lands through a cave or underwater portal, but was quickly taken as captive.

The main guy has silver hair and can shapeshift into a wolf. He’s a leader of some sort of the secret people.

She’s held captive (but treated okay, like a guest except she can’t leave), and her room she’s given is attached to the main male character’s room. At one point, she feared assault and hid a knife above the wardrobe—but he never harmed her, and they built trust over time.

There was a cultural festival at some point in this secret land involving fabrics, ribbons or satin or something, and she ends up taking part in.

Eventually, she escaped or was let go and hid out in a beach house back in the modern world, but the cult followed her there.

The wolf-shifter hero had been watching over her in wolf form, and I think fought off the cult.

At the end, she finds out the secret land is vanishing and won’t be accessible for long and she makes the decision to go and live there with the main guy permanently.

It wasn’t a lengthy novel, probably not part of a series, and I think had one of those bodice-ripper covers (maybe red-haired woman + bare-chested man).

I think the title might’ve been something like “Call of the Moon” or “Howl of the Wolf”, but I could be totally off.

Let’s HaBO!

[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

Welcome back to Hide Your Wallet!

This week, we’re looking forward to some time travel, a vampire romance, and there’s a new Naomi Novik novella.

Which releases are on your TBR pile this week? Let us know in the comments!

The Austen Affair

The Austen Affair by Madeline Bell

Author: Madeline Bell
Released: September 16, 2025 by St. Martin's Griffin
Genre: , ,

Two feuding co-stars in a Jane Austen film adaptation accidentally travel back in time to the Regency Era in this delightfully clever and riotously funny debut

Tess Bright just scored her dream role starring in an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. It’s not just the role of a lifetime, but it’s also her last chance to prove herself as a serious actress (no easy feat after being fired from her last TV gig) and more importantly, it’s her opportunity to honor her mom, who was the biggest fan of Jane Austen ever. But one thing is standing in Tess’s way—well, one very tall, annoyingly handsome person, actually: Hugh Balfour.

A serious British method actor, Hugh wants nothing to do with Tess (whose Teen Choice Awards somehow don’t quite compare to his BAFTA nominations). Hugh is a type-A, no-nonsense, Royal Academy prodigy, whereas Tess is big-hearted, a little reckless, and admittedly, kind of a mess. But the film needs chemistry—and Tess’s career depends on it.

Sparks fly, but not in the way Tess hoped, when an electrical accident sends the two feuding co-stars back in time to Jane Austen’s era. 200 years in the past with only each other to rely on, Tess and Hugh need to ad-lib their way through the Regency period in order to make it back home, and hopefully not screw up history along the way. But if a certain someone looks particularly dashing in those 19th century breeches…well, Tess won’t be complaining.

A wickedly funny, delightfully charming story, The Austen Affair is a tribute to Jane Austen, second chances, and love across the space-time continuum.

Elyse: This book has time travel, celebrities, and Austen.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Honey and Heat

Honey and Heat by Aurora Palit

Author: Aurora Palit
Released: September 16, 2025 by Berkley
Genre: ,

She’s known as the Ice Princess. He’s got a reputation for melting hearts…except hers. Let the rivalry begin.

Cynthia Kumar always wins. She’s successful, competitive, and knows exactly what she to be the heir to her father’s multimillion dollar business.

Except, her father just chose his successor and it’s not her…it’s her one-night stand.

Rohit Patel can’t believe his luck. He’s just landed the opportunity of a lifetime, his future is once again on track, and the woman he spent one steamy night with could be the love of his life.

Except, she’s his new boss’s daughter and now she hates him.

When Kumar Constructions falls under scrutiny, both Cynthia and Rohit are determined to see its tarnished reputation restored to its original glory. As they each try to swoop in and save the day, their game of one-upmanship fails spectacularly, leaving them no choice but to set their differences aside and work together. But as their partnership to save the company—and their feelings for one another—blossoms, they’ll have to decide what’s more important…their careers or love?

Amanda: It’s been a while since I picked up a workplace, enemies to lovers and this is calling my name.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

The Summer War

The Summer War by Naomi Novik

Author: Naomi Novik
Released: September 16, 2025 by Del Rey
Genre: ,

In this poignant, heartfelt novella from the New York Times bestselling author of Spinning Silver and the Scholomance Trilogy, a young witch who has inadvertently cursed her brother to live a life without love must find a way to undo her spell.

Celia discovered her talent for magic on the day her beloved oldest brother Argent left home. Furious at him for abandoning her in a war-torn land, she lashed out, not realizing her childish, angry words would suddenly become imbued with the power of prophecy, dooming him to a life without love.

While Argent wanders the world, forced to seek only fame and glory instead of the love and belonging he truly desires, Celia attempts to undo the curse she placed on him. Yet even as she grows from a girl to a woman, she cannot find the solution—until she learns the truth about the centuries-old war between her own people and the summerlings, the immortal beings who hold a relentless grudge against their mortal neighbors.

Now, with the aid of her unwanted middle brother, Celia may be able to both undo her eldest brother’s curse and heal the lands so long torn apart by the Summer War.

Naomi Novik has a novella coming out!

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Until the Heart Stops

Until the Heart Stops by Gillian Eliza West

Author: Gillian Eliza West
Released: September 16, 2025
Genre: , , ,
Series: The Oylen City #1

In the city of Oylen, a vampire contingent called The Covenant has ruled for centuries. Their strictest law? No vampire can drink from a living source. This ban on blood drinking created the Souzterain and the black market blood dens that have now run for centuries to give vampires a taste of what they crave most.

Lilith Searah runs one such business. Her life is constant competition with the other dens, the rules of the Covenant, and the danger her inherited profession poses. But when she catches the eye of a powerful immortal and anonymous gifts arrive, she’ll find there’s something more perilous than running an illegal blood den.

Thrust into the ancient world of vampires, Lilith realizes that the nighttime immortals have been keeping dangerous secrets. The only hope she can keep is that the Covenant can be destroyed and that Lilith and her immortal can finally be together.

That is, if she can make it out alive.

Amanda: This sounds really good. I’ll be buying on release day.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

With Stars in Her Eyes

With Stars in Her Eyes by Andie Burke

Author: Andie Burke
Released: September 16, 2025 by St. Martin's Griffin
Genre: , ,

A sapphic bookstore romance about fresh starts and finding that one person who feels like home.

“Snappy, smart, and endlessly swoon-worthy, With Stars In Her Eyes is a front-row ticket to a love story that’s impossible to put down.” – Karelia Stetz-Waters, author of Behind the Scenes

Seconds from a meteoric career launch, cellist Courtney Starling suffers a frightening migraine attack during a key performance. While harmful rumors fly, she escapes to her happy place—her best friend’s Kansas bookshop. Courtney’s working incognito when a scream sends her leaping off a shelving ladder to find the woman who screamed cowering near the register.

When Thea Quinn dropped in for a misdelivered package, she did not expect a mortifying encounter with a bearded dragon in front of an inconveniently attractive bookseller. Clutching an upcoming book club flyer and the tattered shreds of her dignity, she heads back to her new piercing job at the tattoo shop next door. She moved to this quirky place for a fresh start. But maybe the meet-disaster was a sign? Maybe Thea needs to branch out beyond her photography hobby and connect with new people…like at a historical romance book club run by a particularly mysterious and sexy bookseller with a pixie cut?

Friendly lunches become stolen moments between the bookshelves. Courtney and Thea’s old problems feel ages away. But just as their chemistry heats to a combustion point, consequences from Courtney’s past arrive literally on her doorstep at exactly the wrong moment. New revelations and surprising connections take the pair from feeling joyfully lovestruck to confusingly star-crossed. Both women must decide what they’re willing to give up for happily ever after.

Tara: I just think it sounds really cute.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Fantasy Books and Jill Shalvis

Sep. 15th, 2025 03:30 pm
[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

Daughter of Tides

Daughter of Tides by Kit Rocha is $1.99! This is book one of the Born to Sea and Storm series, which came out in May. Have you read this one?

From the author of Consort of Fire and Queen of Dreams comes a scorching romantasy novel full of courtly intrigue and erotic crackle riding the swells of immortal love.

Aleksi, the charming and charismatic god of love, is dying. But nothing can stop the Lover from completing his final quest: a dangerous diplomatic visit to a former adversary.

Setting sail for a mystical kingdom of ice, Aleksi is joined by Einar the Kraken, infamous pirate lord, and Naia, a sweet young water nymph. Intoxicated by the pair’s electric connection, Aleksi vows to enjoy his last days by playing matchmaker, pushing away his own desires for the sake of theirs. But he’s unexpectedly caught up in a raging game of seduction.

As the trio navigates turbulent seas and the political perils of the Ice Queen’s court, dark secrets reveal clues to one’s tragic past and another’s epic destiny. Aleksi’s powers spin out of control while love and lust run wild. And when enemies emerge from the shadows, the Lover is forced to make a choice. Will he give away his heart to save all that he holds dear?

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Godkiller

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner is $1.99! I’ve heard such good things about this one, but I know very little about it. Maria Vale also mentioned this on a podcast episode.

“A richly rendered world . . . Kaner writes action that’s both fun and intelligible . . . If “The Last of Us” didn’t slake your thirst for stories of a grizzled fighter taking a tough kid on the road, then Godkiller should be your jam.”— The Washington Post

Godkiller will have you in its grasp from the first pages. . . An extraordinary journey.” — Samantha Shannon, New York Times bestselling author of The Priory of the Orange Tree

Enter a land of gods and monsters, soldiers and mercenaries, secrets and wishes—the explosive #1 internationally bestselling fantasy debut in a new trilogy for fans of The Witcher and Gideon the Ninth

Gods are forbidden in the kingdom of Middren. Formed by human desires and fed by their worship, there are countless gods in the world—but after a great war, the new king outlawed them and now pays “godkillers” to destroy any who try to rise from the shadows.

As a child, Kissen saw her family murdered by a fire god. Now, she makes a living killing them and enjoys it. But all this changes when Kissen is tasked with helping a young noble girl with a god problem. The child’s soul is bonded to a tiny god of white lies, and Kissen can’t kill it without ending the girl’s life too.

Joined by a disillusioned knight on a secret quest, the unlikely group must travel to the ruined city of Blenraden, where the last of the wild gods reside, to each beg a favor. Pursued by assassins and demons, and in the midst of burgeoning civil war, they will all face a reckoning. Something is rotting at the heart of their world, and they are the only ones who can stop it.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

The Bright Spot

The Bright Spot by Jill Shalvis is $1.99! This is book five in the Sunrise Cove small town romance series. There are rescue animals and some tasty food descriptions.

Luna Wright is a lot of things, but sweet and trusting isn’t on the list. However, she’s a sucker for the underdog and a hard-luck story. Adopted at birth, with scant knowledge of her biological family, she’s created her own inner circle, a motley crew which includes her bestie Willow, to help her run the struggling but charming Apple Ridge Farm.

With a farm-to-table café as well as a menagerie of rescued animals (complete with a baby goat who keeps escaping to the pantry to eat the secret stash of decidedly not organic potato chips), it’s the best home she’s ever known. But when the owner Silas, who they secretly call The Grinch, passes away, Luna discovers the farm is now under control of his investment manager, the enigmatic Jameson Hayes….and her. And that Silas had many, many secrets.

Now Luna’s carefully controlled corner of the world is threatened and she—along with some help from her friends—has to dig deep to find true strength and the real meaning of love and family.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

The Hexologists

The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft is $2.99! I mentioned this one on Hide Your Wallet because of the married couple solving magical mysteries. It also has some amazing blurbs. Have any of you read this one?

The first book in a wildly inventive and mesmerizing new fantasy series from acclaimed author Josiah Bancroft where magical mysteries abound and only one team can solve them: The Hexologists. “Bancroft is a magician.” — Madeline Miller, New York Times bestselling author of Circe

“Fantastic! The Hexologists fizzes eloquently with wit and elegance, but also has marvelous worldbuilding and an excellent plot – and a central pair of characters who I quite simply love. A cocktail of a book made with the very best champagne.” — Genevieve Cogman, author of The Invisible Library

The Hexologists, Iz and Warren Wilby, are quite accustomed to helping desperate clients with the bugbears of city life. Aided by hexes and a bag of charmed relics, the Wilbies have recovered children abducted by chimney-wraiths, removed infestations of barb-nosed incubi, and ventured into the Gray Plains of the Unmade to soothe a troubled ghost. Well-acquainted with the weird, they never shy away from a challenging case.

But when they are approached by the royal secretary and told the king pleads to be baked into a cake—going so far as to wedge himself inside a lit oven—the Wilbies soon find themselves embroiled in a mystery that could very well see the nation turned on its head. Their effort to expose a royal secret buried under forty years of lies brings them nose to nose with a violent anti-royalist gang, avaricious ghouls, alchemists who draw their power from a hell-like dimension, and a bookish dragon who only occasionally eats people.

Armed with a love toughened by adversity and a stick of chalk that can conjure light from the darkness, hope from the hopeless, Iz and Warren Wilby are ready for a case that will test every spell, skill, and odd magical artifact in their considerable bag of tricks.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Comic Style Covers Keep On Coming

Sep. 15th, 2025 10:00 am
[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by SB Sarah

It’s Comics, but it’s not Comic Sans!

Recently Cat Sebastian revealed on Instagram the cover for her new book, Star Shipped, coming out in March 2026:

A vintage comic style illustration of two men about to kiss. One is standing up, has blonde hair in a kind of pompadour, and is wearing a right red shirt and jeans. In front of him is a seated man in a director's chair wearing a white button down and jeans.

Vintage comic style! I dig it. It conveys an era without being exactly specific, and it’s a style that’s nostalgically familiar.

I’ve noticed this style as a growing trend in romance. Now, usually when I notice a trend, it’s after two similar occurrences. That’s a coincidence, I know. This is NOT a coincidence – this is most definitely a trend. Let’s take a look!

I think (I may be wrong here – feel free to correct me) that the book that kicked off the trend was Lyla Sage’s Done and Dusted: 

Done and Dusted - a vintage comic style illustration of a woman with long red brown hair in a orange brown blouse embracing and kissing a man in a white collared shirt with his cowboy hat tipped back away from his face

Followed by Swift and Saddled

A vintage comic style illustration of a woman with a lavender tank top on under some overalls, one shoulder strap of which is down. Her hair is a black bombshell style, and her hand is resting on the cheek of the man behind her who is kissing her on her cheek. He's wearing a cowboy hat and a brown collar shirt.

And, of course, Lost and Lassoedfollowed by Wild and Wrangled:

Vintage comics, ofc, with a man in a red collar shirt with a cowboy hat and a brown beard embracing a woman with flowing red hair I wish my hair would do that honestly. She's wearing a fringed buckskin jacket

Vinage comic style with a blonde man with shaggy hair, a short sleeved blue shirt and an arm sleeve of rose tattoos is embracing a woman kneeling in front of him. She has thick brown wavy hair and is wearing some sort of off the shoulder top

The colors, the textures, and the line art are great replicas of vintage comics.

Cash by Jessica Peterson also uses this style, particularly the texture:

A man in a red button down shirt and cowboy hat is embracing a woman who is tiled backwards in his arms. He's wearing a fuchsia button down and a cowboy hat covers both of their faces while she's wearing a retro styled dress with a blue collar, light blue top and blue skirt

And in December, Duke will come out:

A blue textured comic style background with a doorway through which a man in a cowboy hat is standing witha woman with red hair and jeans and cowboy boots in his arms. They're kissing but again the hat hides their faces

I’m kinda fascinated by the use of the hats to hide their faces, since faces can be (I am told) difficult to draw – I certainly can’t do it.

I’ve also seen the hat-hiding-faces illustration style on Dust Storm by Maggie Gates, though I confess when I saw the image in a small size, I thought he was wearing a potato:

A more flat nontextured illustration of a man in a cowboy hat embracing a woman so that his hat covers both their faces but it's drawn in a way that from far away it looks like a potato on his head, brown and potato shaped.

 

Do you see what I mean? Maybe it’s just my weird brain. Here’s the full-size cover, which is not a potato.

 

A more flat nontextured illustration of a man in a cowboy hat embracing a woman so that his hat covers both their faces but it's drawn in a way that from far away it looks like a potato on his head, brown and potato shaped.

 

Contemporary Western romances aren’t the only books getting the vintage style on the cover: Fan Service by Rosie Danan also uses this technique.

A filming clap board in the foreground has the title and author while there are two comic-style figures, one a man with brown shaggy hair and big chesticles is ripping his shirt off. Behind him is a woman looking over her shoulder at him. She has long straight brown hair and is holding a book with page markers on the side

The background is not quite as textured, but the line art style is similar, I think.

Then, coming on October 25, we have two more books with vintage comic-style illustrated covers!

A green wreath with longhorns at the top surrounds a line art illustration of a man with a beard and a jean jacket and white cowboy hat embracing a woman with long brown hair and a brown jacket

Not as much of the texture, but the line art fits.

Cowboy It’s Cold Outside by Maisey Yates is part of the Four Corners Ranch series – and the above cover is a bit of a departure from the prior eleven books in the series, which had photograph covers:

The Rogue - a photograph of a man in a blue jean shirt open to the waist with a bare chest, leading a horse while a woman with light brown hair and an off the shoulder blouse rests her hand on his chest and is about to smooch him Hero for the Holidays - a photograph of a woman in a red dress and plaid scarf and long brown hair rests her hand on the cheek of a man with a cowboy hat and a brown jacket. They're standing in the snow with a red barn behind them and they're about to smooch The outsider - this cover is great. He's leaning back against a split rail fence, shirt open to his bare chest and a dark cowboy hat on. Standing in front of him is a blonde woman in a light colored dress and she has her hands spread across his chest like she's checking him for ticks

The last book in my “It’s Comics, But it’s Not Comic Sans”  collection:

A retro comic illustration of two women in an elevator. One is tall with brown hair and a red suit on, while a blonde woman leans against her and presses her to the wall. The blonde woman is wearing a pink dress, and her shadow includes devil horns and a devil tail

The Devil She Knows by Alexandria Bellefleur is a neat mix of the textured comic style inside the elevator, and a more matte finish on the wall around it. I really like how their expressions are rendered, and the subtlety of the shadow – and the tag line, “Going down?”

10/10. No notes.

Have you seen vintage comic style covers making a strong comeback? What titles have you noticed?

And what do you think of this style?