Links: Bookshelf Decor, Tea, & More

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/06/links-bookshelf-decor-tea-more/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145940

Workspace with computer, journal, books, coffee, and glasses. Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Thank you all for the lovely comments on my dress. Now begins the waiting game until it arrives, while I hem and haw over shoe choices. I’m thankful we’re eloping, so I don’t have to factor in the many hours I’ll need to be on my feet.

I mentioned this in the Hide Your Wallet comments yesterday, but SBTB Summer Romance Bingo will be returning this year. The bingo card will be revealed on Saturday and the official start is on June 20th. Plan accordingly!

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If you’ve been looking for other places to shop for things that aren’t Amazon, Target, etc., I’ve found this IG account that lists other retailers for specific categories of items like Pride merch, kitchen gadgets, and more.

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How cute are these bookshelf tavern signs? I’m also curious how many people organize their shelves by genre.

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Another Instagram account that the algorithm served me: A Mug of Life. The account owner travels around England and offers to share a thermos of tea with strangers. If you love accounts like Humans of New York or Meet Cutes NYC, you may want to follow this one.

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Bless this boyfriend and how confused he seemed by a diva cup.

@ellareames the eyelash curler @Billy Howard ♬ original sound – Ella Reames

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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!

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/06/links-bookshelf-decor-tea-more/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145940

The Big Idea: Kalla Harris

Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/06/04/the-big-idea-kalla-harris/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=55917

Sometimes, great ideas can stem from just a single word. Author Kalla Harris talks about her single-word-inspiration in the Big Idea for her debut YA novel, The Ground That Devours Us. Follow along as she takes you through the many changes this story underwent; you’ll be dying to read it.

KALLA HARRIS:

The Big Idea for my young adult debut, The Ground That Devours Us, came from another Big Idea. Yep, you read that correctly—two ideas were meshed together to create this diabolically plotted dystopian novel set in a post-apocalyptic Charlotte, NC.

My writing group, lovingly called HQ, can take some of the credit. In 2020, we started a creative writing prompt challenge for the month of October, and each day we’d write a short story based on a specific word. The word in question? Blood. I didn’t think much about the story when I sat down to write it, only that I was going to type out a few quick paragraphs and be done with it. Except when I started, the words began to flow. Suddenly, a scene unfurled in my mind: a sarcastic teenage girl fighting a zombie prince to the death. Spoiler: there was a lot of blood. As the words appeared on the page, so did the setting. A dying world full of slayers and zombies with supernatural abilities. What started as a short story turned into a full-fledged chapter, which quickly devolved into late-night outlining sessions in my pajamas.

Over a few months, that single chapter became an entire novel. My main character, Ruby, was a hardened zombie hunter who needed enough kills under her belt to gain access to a human compound on the other side of the decimated city she lived in. There, she and her twin sister would finally be safe from the flesh-eating creatures that go bump in the night, including that (unfortunately cute) zombie prince from the writing prompt.

After revising, I entered The Ground That Devours Us into a writing program called Pitch Wars. I didn’t get in, but two of the incredibly talented mentors I’d applied to offered to work with me on the side, although they did warn me that their feedback would suggest significant changes.

Oh boy, they weren’t kidding. I ripped the story to shreds. Cut characters, subplots, and entire settings. Amid the chaos, the idea of switching out zombies for a new paranormal creature was tossed around, and that’s when it hit me: vampires. I wanted to create a unique take on the ever-familiar “bloodsuckers” pop culture knows and loves, giving them abilities that matched the apocalyptic setting, such as earth-walking, and trading out their fangs for infection-spreading, sharp fingernails.

As the ideas churned, my new Big Idea formed: What if Ruby was a vampire hunter who lived in the human compound? What if said human compound may not be the saving grace she thinks it is? What if the zombie prince from the writing prompt was now a ruthless vampire named X who turns Ruby’s twin sister? What happens when Ruby has to team up with X to keep her sister “alive” long enough to find a cure for vampirism?

These questions quickly turned into realities on the page. They became huge plot points and fundamentally changed how Ruby interacted with her world and the characters that live in it, including her sister and X. This Big Idea ultimately landed me with my editor (and literary agent!) and placed me on the path to traditional publishing. Regardless of which Big Idea you look at, though, if you plan on picking up The Ground That Devours Us, expect lots of blood.

The Ground That Devours Us: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Bookshop

Author socials: Website|Instagram

Read an excerpt.

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/06/04/the-big-idea-kalla-harris/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=55917

Horror, Amanda Quick, & More

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/06/horror-amanda-quick-more/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145925

The Night Circus

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is $1.99! This fantasy novel was everywhere when it came out and does seem to have romantic elements. While the setting captured readers’ attentions, some wished it had more emotional depth.

Two starcrossed magicians engage in a deadly game of cunning in The Night Circus, the spellbinding bestseller that has captured the world’s imagination.

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Ravished

Ravished by Amanda Quick is $1.99! This is a historical romance with some Beauty and the Beast vibes, which many readers loved. However, other readers felt the heroine’s characterization was a bit inconsistent with constant mood changes. Have you read this one?

From the cozy confines of a tiny seaside village to the glittering crush of the a fashionable London soiree comes an enthralling tale of a thoroughly mismatched couple . . . poised to discover the rapture of love.

There was no doubt about it. What Miss Harriet Pomeroy needed was a man. Someone powerful and clever who could help her rout the unscrupulous thieves who were using her beloved caves to hide their loot. But when Harriet summoned Gideon Westbrook, Viscount St. Justin, to her aid, she could not know that she was summoning the devil himself. . . .

Dubbed the Beast of Blackthorne Hall for his scarred face and lecherous past, Gideon was strong and fierce and notoriously menacing. Yet Harriet could not find it in her heart to fear him. For in his tawny gaze she sensed a savage pain she longed to soothe . . . and a searing passion she yearned to answer. Now, caught up in the Beast’s clutches, Harriet must find a way to win his heart–and evade the deadly trap of a scheming villain who would see them parted for all time.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Silver Nitrate

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is $1.99! This released a couple summers ago. Moreno-Garcia always has some interesting setups for her horror and mystery novels and I think does a good job creating a sense of place and time.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Daughter of Doctor Moreau and Mexican Gothic comes a fabulous meld of Mexican horror movies and Nazi occultism: a dark thriller about the curse that haunts a legendary lost film–and awakens one woman’s hidden powers.

Montserrat has always been overlooked. She’s a talented sound editor, but she’s left out of the boys’ club running the film industry in ’90s Mexico City. And she’s all but invisible to her best friend, Tristán, a charming if faded soap opera star, though she’s been in love with him since childhood.

Then Tristán discovers his new neighbor is the cult horror director Abel Urueta, and the legendary auteur claims he can change their lives—even if his tale of a Nazi occultist imbuing magic into highly volatile silver nitrate stock sounds like sheer fantasy. The magic film was never finished, which is why, Urueta swears, his career vanished overnight. He is cursed.

Now the director wants Montserrat and Tristán to help him shoot the missing scene and lift the curse . . . but Montserrat soon notices a dark presence following her, and Tristán begins seeing the ghost of his ex-girlfriend.

As they work together to unravel the mystery of the film and the obscure occultist who once roamed their city, Montserrat and Tristán may find that sorcerers and magic are not only the stuff of movies.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Pole Position

Pole Position by Rebecca J. Caffery is 99c! This was an indie published romance that received a paperback release earlier this year. I believe Dahlia mentioned this in her queer romance posts.

Kian Walker has always been the golden boy of motorsport. The four-time Championship winner has racing in his DNA – his father was a legend on the track, just don’t let him catch you comparing the two. As reckless and unreliable at home as he was behind the wheel, there’s nothing Kian wants less than to be just like his dad.

Enter Harper James. This year’s rookie called up to compete with the big boys – and Kian’s new teammate. Cocky, hot-headed and with a reputation for breaking as many hearts as he does new track records, Harper’s the opposite of Kian in every way. But when the season starts, there’s no getting away from him.

This might be one of the most dangerous sports in the world, so why then does Kian’s heart feel safer flying around the track at 220mph than when he’s anywhere near his teammate?

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/06/horror-amanda-quick-more/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145925

Geographical Specificity in Romance

Posted by SB Sarah

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/06/geographical-specificity-in-romance/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145794

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.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/06/geographical-specificity-in-romance/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145794

The Every State Reading Challenge with Verity

Posted by Guest Reviewer

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/06/the-every-state-reading-challenge-with-verity/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=140085

This guest post is from Verity, who lives in the UK, and reads a book set in every US state plus DC every year. I was super curious, so I asked her about it. Yes, I know, I’m nosy.

…

Hello, my name is Verity and I like writing cheques my reading brain doesn’t like cashing. Let me explain.

I like to read romance and cozy crime. I have a terrible habit of finding a series I like and then binging the lot. I have an even worse habit of re-listening to my favourite murder mysteries and Terry Pratchett books while I walk to and from the office instead of listening to something new. I have an entire skinny Ikea Billy bookcase double stacked with books waiting to be read (and an overflow pile in front of it) as well as a kindle account groaning with purchases and proofs (thanks NetGalley).

And every year I decide it’ll be a good idea to do a reading challenge.

It’ll help me get the backlog down, I tell myself.

It’ll give me direction and purpose in my reading.

Right? Right? Wrong. Oh, so wrong.

It started with Book Riot’s Read Harder challenge one year, but really I just want to read books that have resolutions (preferably happy ones) and not literary fiction or sad books. Hence the romance. And mystery.

So every year, for the last five years, I’ve challenged myself to read a book set in each state of the US plus Washington, DC. I think I started because I saw someone else doing it and did a rough count in my head of how many series I read already were in different states, got to about a dozen and thought “Oh that’ll be easy”.

Reader: it was not.

50 is a lot of states. (Ed. note: Yes, it is.)

I print out a map to stick in my journal and colour in, and I chose a colour to be the theme.

Two road atlas books open atop one another. One is a beige map with mostly red lines, while under it is a green and blue map showing northern South America and Central America

I have lofty goals like not using an author more than once, or counting rereads as long as I haven’t used them in the challenge before. Every year I think I’ll be better this year, that I only need to do four or five a month, that I’ll happen across most of the states naturally in the course of my reading and it won’t end up in a mad rush at the end of the year.

But every year those goals fall by the wayside and at the start of December I realise I have about a dozen states still to do. And it’s always the same few that cause me trouble.

They often have Ms and Is in their names.
Often they’re states which feature in a lot of Very Old School romances set in the Old West that I really don’t want to read (but I will if it’s a choice between completing the list and not, even though I’ll hate every moment of it).

There are a tonne of books set in New York, Chicago, and LA. There aren’t so many set in Louisville, Milwaukee and Albuquerque. Really the only rule I’ve ever stuck to is that it has to be 51 different books. Doesn’t matter if a book’s about a road trip from Minneapolis to Boise, I can only use it once.

And that’s why this December my reading included:

a middle grade adventure novel set in North Dakota (Codename Zero by Chris Rylander) ( A | BN | K | AB )
a novella length nonfiction pamphlet about Ernest Hemingway and Sun Valley (Hemingway and Sun Valley: The Making of an Icon) ( A )
and a memoir about evangelical Christianity in middle America in the immediate aftermath of the 2016 election. (God Land by Lyz Lenz) ( A | BN | K | AB )

Oh and about a dozen states this year come courtesy of one cozy crime novella series about a woman travelling around the country in an RV she bought after winning the lottery (The Rambling RV series by Patti Benning starting with Murder in Michigan – each book a different state! An ideal opportunity to binge!

And she has other series that are set in Kentucky (The Real Estate Rescue series, starting with Flippin’ Out) ( A ) and Michigan (Darling Deli series, starting with Pastrami Murder)! ( A | BN )

And cozy crime tends to do me better than romance no matter how hard I try – all those series about business owners finding bodies as they go about their business in small towns do lend themselves to what (as a Brit) I think of as “the states in the middle”.

There seems to be a sad dearth of romances set in small towns that aren’t in in-land California or upstate New York. Or the Pacific North West. Although each year there seems to be one state where a bunch of authors have decided to set their romances. One year it was South Carolina. Another it was Maine.

There’s also a big problem of romances set in generic towns – or a nonspecific spot in “New England”.

If this is my chance to get my message to romance authors – and it well might be. I know you’re out there, so here is my plea:

Please be specific – tell me which state you’re setting your book in. Just pick one. I’m a Brit, I won’t know if you’re missing some crucial detail for authenticity about daily life in Ohio. Maybe mention a buckeye, or the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That’ll do. And if your state of choice can be named in the blurb – or at least somewhere in the kindle sample – I will love you for it. “Charlie has just moved back to the small town she grew up in to take over her family’s farm. But it means she’ll have to face her past with the town’s new mayor/sheriff/librarian/deli owner Bowen. He’s the reason she left Iowa/Wisconsin/ Indiana/Arkansas in the first place.”

And if it’s a state that not many other people are setting books within, I’m a loyal customer. I’ve got money and I’m willing to spend it (especially in the last quarter of the year) and so I’ll come back every year for the rest of the series.

Ashley Herring Blake’s Bright Falls series covered me for Oregon for three years.
Sarah Morgan’s O’Neil Brothers series did the same thing with Vermont.
Kansas is Beverly Jenkins’s any year she blesses us with a new Blessings book. And she’s saved my bacon on some of the Cowboy-y states more than once – this year it was Louisiana (Rebel).

A | BN | K | AB

I’m going to have to find a new Ohio option for 2025 because I’ve run out of books in the cozy crime series I have been using (Emilie Henry’s Ministry is Murder, starting with Blessed is the Busybody – the detective is the minister’s wife) and the same applies to Kentucky (Unless Patti Benning adds to the Real Estate Rescue series).

If you’re writing about a global pop sensation and her romance with an NFL star, don’t invent a team that plays in San Antonio or Sacramento, choose Louisville or Columbus.

If you’re writing a romance about a winter sports star, maybe base them in Park City not Lake Tahoe?

And even though it gets harder every year, I’ll be trying again 2025 – so if you’re currently scanning Taylor Swift songs for a title for your next romance, think of me and set “How You Get The Girl” in Concord or Wilmington. Help me make 2025 the year I get this reading challenge thing nailed…

Readers Note: Verity finished her 2024 reading challenge at 11.21pm on Sunday 29 December 2024, fully 40 hours earlier than she finished the challenge in 2023. As such she sees it as a triumph and has already printed her map out again for 2025.

What massive reading challenges have you undertaken? Have you read books set in all 50 states?

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/06/the-every-state-reading-challenge-with-verity/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=140085

A Charlie Picture For Your Tuesday Evening

Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/06/03/a-charlie-picture-for-your-tuesday-evening/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=55899

The title really says it all, don’t you think?

Charlie, a medium sized black, white, and tan dog, laying on a blue and white outdoor rug, looking at the camera. She is adorable!

May you enjoy the rest of your Tuesday!

-AMS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/06/03/a-charlie-picture-for-your-tuesday-evening/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=55899

Well, CAN You Prove You’re a US Citizen?

Posted by John Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/06/03/well-can-you-prove-youre-a-us-citizen/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=55894

In New York magazine this week, an article about how US citizens who have been detained by ICE can have an exceptionally difficult time proving that they they are, in fact, US citizens, or will have the ability to prove it before they are sent off to El Salvador or Rwanda or anywhere else in the world this embarrassment of an administration wants to unconstitutionally send people. And, while acknowledging the fact that it’s deeply unlikely I, a middle-aged white dude who lives in rural Ohio, will find myself attracting the attention of ICE in the first place, the article does raise a larger and sadly growingly more pertinent question: How many US citizens could, in fact, prove that they are US citizens at the drop of the hat? Leave aside for the moment the absolutely correct argument that it should not be incumbent on any of us to do so, and focus on this particular question. Can you, directly and/or indirectly, show that you have citizenship here in the US?

The gold standard physical proof of this would be an official birth certificate from within the United States (or naturalization certificate), followed by a valid US passport, followed by a REAL ID driver’s license. To obtain a US passport the first time, you need that official birth certificate or a US naturalization or citizenship certificate. For the REAL ID license here in Ohio, where I live, you need proof of US citizenship (passport or birth certificate) and a social security number, proof of Ohio residency, and, if your name has changed due to marriage or other reasons, legal proof of the name change, from a marriage license or a court-ordered name change.

So: Can you quickly lay hands on an official copy of your birth certificate? Do you now have — or indeed have you ever had — a valid US passport? Do you have a REAL ID-compliant drivers license/state ID card? Do you know your Social Security number (or have access to the physical card itself)? If you’ve ever changed your name, do you have ready access to your marriage license and/or court documents approving that name change?

These are not trivial questions, since in 2024, the Brennan Center noted that over 21 million US citizens of voting age don’t have ready access to documents proving their citizenship, and that the percentage of minority US citizens without these documents is higher than the percentage of white citizens. When the rubber hits the road, nearly ten percent of US citizens can’t easily prove they are citizens. These include some of the people most vulnerable to “accidental” deportation from this country — and I put “accidental” in quotes here because it’s been made very clear that this particular administration doesn’t see deporting US citizens, particularly ones of color, as an actual problem.

Ask yourself whether you have ready access to these sorts of documents, starting with the most critical of these: a legal copy of your birth certificate. If the answer is “no,” then for your own safety (not to mention your ability to vote, which is also pretty important), it might be an excellent time to go about getting those documents and storing them somewhere safe. For the moment, the CDC has a page that can help you find official records in the various US states and territories, and there are also third party companies who can help you locate and obtain various records here in the US. Will any of this cost you money? Of course it will, this is America! But then you will have them, and that’s a good thing.

Personally, if you’re a US citizen, I strongly recommend getting a US passport, including the US passport card (I’ll explain why below). Get them for identification purposes, even if you don’t have immediate plans to travel outside of the US.

Let’s turn these questions back to me, since I am exhorting all y’all to have these documents at the ready. Do I have any/all of these documents ready to go?

In fact, yes. I have a certified copy of my birth certificate in a fireproof lock box. I have a current passport — indeed I renewed it last year, just before the change of administration, in order to avoid any delays due to intentional or inflicted incompetence on the part of the State Department — and I have had a REAL ID for several years, since I saw no benefit in not getting that as soon as possible.

I don’t typically keep my US passport with me when I travel domestically (it stays in the lockbox with the birth certificate), but I do have a US passport card in my wallet at all times, which aside from being useful for land crossings to Mexico and Canada, also “is proof of U.S. citizenship and identity” according to our own State Department (and is also the equivalent of a REAL ID for US domestic air travel purposes). Importantly, the REAL ID Ohio driver’s license which also lives in my wallet is not proof of US citizenship, “just” of legal US residency. So I keep both the passport card and my REAL ID drivers license on me when I leave the house.

Will any of this keep an ICE stooge from looking at one’s various forms of ID and deciding they are fake? Nope! That said, having both a REAL ID and a passport card makes it that much harder for such absolute bullshit to stick after the fact (also, memorize your Social Security number). Do I resent that I live in a time and place where having two forms of ID on me at all times, including one that explicitly tags me as a US citizen, is just about required? Sure do, although this is tempered by the fact that I was doing this anyway, long before it was a defensive posture against my own federal government.

Again, I am white middle-aged dude, and live in rural Ohio, so the chances of ICE getting up in my face about anything is pretty damn low. But if they did, and decided the forms of ID I had on me were fake and tossed me into ICE detention, what else do I have going for me? Well, as noted, I have those other forms of ID in the lockbox. I also have provably US citizen parents, both of whom are still living, complete with birth certificates of their own. Their parents were also provably US citizens. I suspect three full generations of provable US citizenship would be difficult for even this administration to brush aside.

(And before that? Well, everyone came over before (European) immigration quotas and controls were a thing. I have relatives here on the North American continent going back to the 1640s, which is to say, long before the racist-ass current president’s progenitors hied their sorry hides over from the mother country. Which to be clear ought not to fucking matter, as regards US citizenship. But here we are in 2025.)

The other thing I have going for me is that I am, well, me: both well-enough off financially that I could mount a reasonable legal defense, and well-known enough that if ICE actually tried to disappear me, bluntly, it would be noticed by more than my immediate family. Heck, my birthplace is in my Wikipedia article (and even if some troll changes that now, the article history will show it). This doesn’t mean my life wouldn’t be miserable before I got sprung, mind you. Just that it would be difficult for this administration to credibly argue they didn’t know what they were doing before they attempted to ship this particular US citizen into some extranational hole.

Again, at this point, I do not see ICE or anyone else trying to expel me from our national borders. I am, statistically and otherwise, as safe as anyone in the US can be from the unconstitutional fuckery being perpetrated at the moment by our federal government. Also, in the current “show me your papers, no these papers are fake” environment, “safe as anyone in the US can be” is not actually safe at all, especially with an administration that is clearly contemptuous of the US Constitution and the protections it affords not only our nation’s citizens, but everyone who is on our soil. If anyone here lacks constitutional protections, we all lack them; our “rights” exist at the whim of bad people.

For all that, if you’re a US citizen, you should have ready access to your documentation. If you don’t have your birth certificate on hand, get a certified copy of it. If you don’t have a passport, get one, including the passport card. And yes, spring for the REAL ID. We don’t exist in the just world where these don’t matter for your personal security. In the world in which we exist, they are useful to have.

— JS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/06/03/well-can-you-prove-youre-a-us-citizen/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=55894

Naomi Novik, Hockey Romance, & More

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/06/naomi-novik-hockey-romance-more/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145829

House of Earth and Blood

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas is $4.99! We did two podcast episodes with Sarah over the pandemic, if you missed them. Ellen wrote a fantastic review and gave it a B-:

When I started this book, I was expecting a jam-packed, over-the top fantasy with a lot of snark and heart. And House of Earth and Blood did deliver that, even if there were some missteps in execution. If you’ve enjoyed Maas’ other books, and if you can handle all the violence and slavery and slut-shaming, it’s worth it to push through the awkward beginning and the dragging bits in the middle for big payoff at the end.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas launches her brand-new CRESCENT CITY series with House of Earth and Blood: the story of half-Fae and half-human Bryce Quinlan as she seeks revenge in a contemporary fantasy world of magic, danger, and searing romance.

Half-Fae, half-human Bryce Quinlan loves her life. By day, she works for an antiquities dealer, selling barely legal magical artifacts, and by night, she parties with her friends, savoring every pleasure Lunathion—otherwise known as Crescent City— has to offer. But it all comes crumbling down when a ruthless murder shakes the very foundations of the city—and Bryce’s world.

Two years later, her job has become a dead end, and she now seeks only blissful oblivion in the city’s most notorious nightclubs. But when the murderer attacks again, Bryce finds herself dragged into the investigation and paired with an infamous Fallen angel whose own brutal past haunts his every step.

Hunt Athalar, personal assassin for the Archangels, wants nothing to do with Bryce Quinlan, despite being ordered to protect her. She stands for everything he once rebelled against and seems more interested in partying than solving the murder, no matter how close to home it might hit. But Hunt soon realizes there’s far more to Bryce than meets the eye—and that he’s going to have to find a way to work with her if they want to solve this case.

As Bryce and Hunt race to untangle the mystery, they have no way of knowing the threads they tug ripple through the underbelly of the city, across warring continents, and down to the darkest levels of Hel, where things that have been sleeping for millennia are beginning to stir…

With unforgettable characters and page-turning suspense, this richly inventive new fantasy series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas delves into the heartache of loss, the price of freedom—and the power of love.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

The Hook Up

The Hook Up by Kristen Callihan is $1.99 or $2.99 depending on the vendor! This is a new adult romance with a one night stand/friends with benefits trope and a football-playing hero. This is the first book in the Game On series, which I’ve enjoyed. This has a cover redesign and a new ISBN, so double check if you have this on under its old info.

The rules: no kissing on the mouth, no staying the night, no telling anyone, and above all… No falling in love

Anna Jones just wants to finish college and figure out her life. Falling for star quarterback Drew Baylor is certainly not on her to do list. Confident and charming, he lives in the limelight and is way too gorgeous for his own good. If only she could ignore his heated stares and stop thinking about doing hot and dirty things with him. Easy right?

Too bad he’s committed to making her break every rule…

Football has been good to Drew. It’s given him recognition, two National Championships, and the Heisman. But what he really craves is sexy yet prickly Anna Jones. Her cutting humor and blatant disregard for his fame turns him on like nothing else. But there’s one problem: she’s shut him down. Completely.
That is until a chance encounter leads to the hottest sex of their lives, along with the possibility of something great. Unfortunately, Anna wants it to remain a hook up. Now it’s up to Drew to tempt her with more: more sex, more satisfaction, more time with him. Until she’s truly hooked. It’s a good thing Drew knows all about winning.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Uprooted

RECOMMENDED: Uprooted by Naomi Novik is $1.99! A lot of people have recommended this book and Novik’s writing, but some readers did mention on Goodreads that the book is a bit slow at times. Do you love Novik’s writing? What did you think of this one?

“Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human sacrifice, and he were a real dragon. Of course that’s not true: he may be a wizard and immortal, but he’s still a man, and our fathers would band together and kill him if he wanted to eat one of us every ten years. He protects us against the Wood, and we’re grateful, but not that grateful.”

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.

The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows—everyone knows—that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.

But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Fly with Me

Fly with Me by Andie Burke is $2.99! This is a f/f romance, which was mentioned in Dahlia’s monthly queer romance roundup. There’s some fake dating, if that’s your catnip.

A one-way ticket to love or a bumpy ride ahead?

Flying-phobic ER nurse Olive Murphy is still gripping the armrest from her first-ever take-off when the pilot announces an in-flight medical emergency. Olive leaps into action and saves a life, but ends up getting stuck in the airport hours away from the marathon she’s running in honor of her brother. Luckily for her, Stella Soriano, the stunning type A copilot, offers to give her a ride.

After the two spend a magical day together, Stella makes a surprising Will Olive be her fake girlfriend?

A video of Olive saving a life has gone viral and started generating big sales for Stella’s airline. Stella sees their union as the perfect opportunity to get to the boys’ club executives at her company who keep overlooking her for a long-deserved promotion. Realizing this arrangement could help her too, Olive dives into memorizing Stella’s comically comprehensive three-ring-binder guide to fake dating. As the two grow closer, what’s supposed to be a ruse feels more and more real. Could this be the romantic ride of their lives, or an epic crash and burn?

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/06/naomi-novik-hockey-romance-more/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145829

HaBO: Class Difference Romance with a Peach Farm

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/06/habo-class-difference-romance-with-a-peach-farm/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145771

This HaBO is from Sandra, who is looking for this contemporary romance:

I’m looking for a book. I can’t remember if it was Harlequin Presents, but it is a category romance.

The hero used to be in military and owns some land. The heroine goes there, but I don’t remember why.

Fast forward: they are in a relationship and she takes him to a ritzy party where her father puts him down. Hero finds out she lied to him. In the end, she convinces him that he’s more important than her status and in the epilogue she’s pregnant and eating peaches from their farm.

Another detail I remember is she tells him she’s wearing stockings when they are at the party.

Let’s HaBO!

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/06/habo-class-difference-romance-with-a-peach-farm/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145771

Hide Your Wallet: June 3rd Release Week!

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/06/hide-your-wallet-june-3rd-release-week/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145795

Happy Tuesday!

June is looking up to a pretty beefy month. Lots of sci-fi on our radar this month, plus a contemporary retelling, historical romance, and some mysteries.

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

Bald-Faced Liar

Author: Victoria Helen Stone
Released: June 1, 2025 by Lake Union Publishing
Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Living a lie becomes a matter of life and death for a woman hiding from her past in a novel of mounting psychological suspense by the bestselling author of Jane Doe and The Hook.

Traveling nurse Elizabeth May has a promising new home in Santa Cruz. And another new identity. It’s a pattern of reinvention for a woman escaping her traumatic childhood—and hiding from the decades of notoriety and destruction that followed. Invisibility has kept Elizabeth safe. Until now. After all these years, someone sees her for who she is.

Threat by threat, a vengeful stalker is dismantling Elizabeth’s carefully constructed lifetime of lies. And no one in her temporary circle can be trusted—not her fleeting new love interest, not the supportive friend she knows only from online forums, and certainly not the police. They’ve never been there for her.

As fear sharpens to terror, Elizabeth soon discovers something about her past that even she didn’t know. The revelation could finally set her on a path of healing and redemption. Or, now alone in the dark, it could be Elizabeth’s worst nightmare.

Victoria Helen Stone’s latest thriller!

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Want this book? Here are helpful buy links..

Homemaker

Author: Ruthie Knox
Released: June 1, 2025 by Thomas & Mercer
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Series: Prairie Nightingale #1

When a former friend and devoted mother vanishes, a confident homemaker turned amateur sleuth follows an unexpected trail of scandals and secrets to find her.

Prairie Nightingale is both the midlife mother of two teenage girls and a canny entrepreneur who has turned homemaking into a salaried profession. She’s also fascinated with the gritty details of other people’s lives. So when seemingly perfect Lisa Radcliffe, a member of her former mom-friends circle, suddenly disappears, it’s in Prairie’s nature to find out why.

Given her innate talent for vital pattern recognition, Prairie is out to catch a few clues by taking a long, hard look at everyone in Lisa’s life—and uncovering their secrets. Including Lisa’s. Prairie’s dogged curiosity is especially irritating to FBI agent Foster Rosemare, the first interesting man Prairie has met since her divorce. His square jaw and sharp suits don’t hurt.

But even as the investigation begins to wreak havoc on Prairie’s carefully tended homelife, she’s resolved to use her multivalent homemaking skills to solve the mystery of a missing mom—and along the way discover the thrill of her new sleuthing ambitions.

Sarah: Ruthie Knox has written some romances I’ve loved, and now she’s writing a mystery with Annie Mare. Prairie Nightingale is a homemaker, and when one of the moms in her friend group disappears, she investigates.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Find buy links for this book here..

Cosmic Love at the Multiverse Hair Salon

Author: Annie Mare
Released: June 3, 2025 by Ace
Genre: LGBTQIA, Time Travel, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy

A multiverse novel about two women who fall in love despite living in worlds that are five months apart, as they try to find a timeline that doesn’t end in disaster, in this debut novel by Annie Mare.

Tressa Fay Robeson has never been shy, which is how she’s made a name for herself as an in-demand hairstylist and social media star. So she can admit that spending her days at her hair salon and her nights with her tight-knit group of friends (and one grumpy cat) is not the kind of exciting life she’d hoped for.

When a misdirected text from a stranger leads to a flirty exchange, she surprises herself by suggesting an impulsive meetup. But the woman, Meryl, never shows. Tressa Fay brushes it off—until Meryl’s sister and friend show up at the salon demanding to know what’s going on. Because, you see, there’s no way Meryl could have texted her. Meryl has been missing for a month.

Tressa Fay and her tight-knit group of friends soon discover they aren’t dealing with a catfish, but a temporal paradox. As they come to terms with the idea of parallel universes, they realize how many times their paths have crossed like this before. But even as they understand the multiverse more and more, nothing keeps Meryl from vanishing.

As it draws closer to the moment of Meryl’s disappearance, there’s only one question Have they done enough to change the outcome, or have they done so much that none of them will make it past that fateful day in September?

Tara: I’ve enjoyed some other multiverse stories, so I’m looking forward to checking out this take.

Elyse: The premise of this book sounds trippy and reminds me vaguely of Griffin and Sabine.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Want to order this one? We’ve got the links you need!.

I’ll Pretend You’re Mine

Author: Tashie Bhuiyan
Released: June 3, 2025 by HarperCollins
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance, Young Adult

Summer Ali has been making a name for herself in the music industry for years, slowly but surely climbing the charts—but the world doesn’t know her stage parents are the ones who molded her entire public persona. Finally eighteen, Summer breaks free of their control and focuses on creating her own path.

Upon running into writer’s block, Summer grows eager to take any opportunity to shake things up—even if it means agreeing to a PR stunt with child-actor-turned-playboy, Jules Moradi, famous for his tabloid escapades.

At first, Jules keeps his distance, maintaining professional boundaries. But as time passes, his walls come down, and Summer uncovers who he is beyond his reputation, and it’s someone more like her than she ever realized. As the lines blur between fake and real, Summer begins questioning who she is and what she wants—and if her dreams are worth sacrificing her heart.

Elyse: I love a celebrity romance.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Want to order this one? We’ve got the links you need!.

Of Monsters and Mainframes

Author: Barbara Truelove
Released: June 3, 2025 by Bindery Books
Genre: Horror, LGBTQIA, Paranormal, Science Fiction/Fantasy

Spaceships aren’t programmed to seek revenge—but for Dracula, Demeter will make an exception.

Demeter just wants to do her job: shuttling humans between Earth and Alpha Centauri. Unfortunately, her passengers keep dying—and not from equipment failures, as her AI medical system, Steward, would have her believe. These are paranormal murders, and they began when one nasty, ancient vampire decided to board Demeter and kill all her humans.

To keep from getting decommissioned, Demeter must join forces with her own team: A werewolf. An engineer built from the dead. A pharaoh with otherworldly powers. A vampire with a grudge. A fleet of cheerful spider drones. Together, this motley crew will face down the ultimate evil—Dracula.

The queer love child of pulp horror and classic sci-fi, Of Monsters and Mainframes is a dazzling, heartfelt odyssey that probes what it means to be one of society’s monsters—and explores the many types of friendship that make us human.

Amanda: A sentient ship out to kill Dracula. What amazing fever dream is this?!

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Want to order this one? We’ve got the links you need!.

The Unmapping

Author: Denise Robbins
Released: June 3, 2025 by Bindery Books
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy

Intimate and spellbinding, The Unmapping is a character-driven, literary speculative exploration of a city’s descent into chaos and confusion, perfect for fans of Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel and Exit West by Mohsin Hamid.

4 a.m., New York City. A silent disaster.

There is no flash of light, no crumbling, no quaking. Each person in New York wakes up on an unfamiliar block when the buildings all switch locations overnight. The power grid has snapped, thousands of residents are missing, and the Empire State Building is on Coney Island—for now. The next night, it happens again.

Esme Green and Arjun Varma work for the City of New York’s Emergency Management team and are tasked with disaster response for the Unmapping. As Esme tries to wade through the bureaucratic nightmare of an endlessly shuffling city, she’s distracted by the ongoing search for her missing fiancé. Meanwhile, Arjun focuses on the ground-level rescue of disoriented New Yorkers, hoping to become the hero the city needs.

While scientists scramble to find a solution—or at least a means to cope—and mysterious “red cloak” cults crop up in the disaster’s wake, New York begins to reckon with a new reality no one recognizes. For Esme and Arjun, the fight to hold the city together will mean tackling questions about themselves that they were too afraid to ask—and facing answers they never expected. With themes of climate change, political unrest, and life in a state of emergency, The Unmapping is a timely and captivating debut.

Amanda: This sounds trippy and really interesting.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Want this book? We can help: buy links ahoy!.

Worth Fighting For

Author: Jesse Sutanto
Released: June 3, 2025 by Hyperion Avenue
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Series: Meant to Be #5

Laugh and swoon with the next book in Disney’s Meant to Be collection by bestselling and award-winning author Jesse Q. Sutanto, whose novel Dial A For Aunties Emily Henry called “Utterly clever, deeply funny, and altogether charming.”

Mulan is reimagined as a contemporary romance about family expectations, mistaken identity, and high stakes mergers—of both business and the heart.

As the right hand of her father’s hedge fund company, Fa Mulan knows what it takes to succeed as a woman in a man’s work twice as hard, be twice as smart, and burp twice as loud as any of the other finance bros she works with. So when her father unexpectedly falls ill in the middle of a critical acquisition, she is determined to see it through. There’s just one the family company in question is known for its ultra masculine whiskey brand, and the brood of old-fashioned aunts, uncles, and cousins who run it—lead by the dedicated but overworked Shang—will only trust Mulan’s father, Fa Zhou, with the future of their business.

Rather than fail the deal and her father, Mulan pretends she’s Fa Zhou. Since they’ve only corresponded over email, how hard could it be to keep things moving in his absence?

But the email leads to a face-to-face meeting, which leads to an invitation to a week long retreat at Shang’s family ranch. One meeting she can handle, but a whole week of cattle wrangling, axe-throwing, and learning proper butchering techniques, all while trying to convince Shang’s dubious family that this young woman is the powerful hedge fund CEO they’ve been negotiating with? Not so much—especially as she finds it harder and harder to ignore the undeniable spark between her and Shang.

Can she keep her head in the game and make her father proud, all while trying not to fall into a trough, or in love with Shang?

Amanda: Mulan is my favorite Disney princess, so I’m stoked for this.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Want this book? We can help: buy links ahoy!.

A Most Unlikely Lady

Author: Darcy McGuire
Released: June 6, 2025 by Boldwood Books
Genre: Historical: European, Romance
Series: The Queen's Deadly Damsels #4

Preorder the BRAND NEW instalment in Darcy McGuire’s gorgeously funny, spicy romance series, featuring Queen Victoria’s Deadly Damsels! She may be innocent…but she’s also deadly!

When seemingly fragile Miss Ivy Cavendale takes the headmistress position in an orphanage, it is her chance to stay anonymous in society. But not all is what it seems with Miss Ivy. When an intruder breaks in one night, she’s quick to draw her weapon, and while fear – her constant companion – has mysteriously disappeared, one thing is very she and her charges are the next target of The Devil’s Sons.

Commissioner Edward Worthington owes the head of The Queen’s Deadly Damsels a debt. So, he must keep an eye on the Duchess’s new protégé. How much trouble can the shy Miss Cavendale be? Rather a lot, actually. The diminutive wallflower has been overlooked and forgotten by society’s elite, but Edward sees a woman full of fascinating contradictions he’s compelled to unravel.

Burdened by secrets and childhood trauma, Ivy is stunned as Edward ignites a breathless curiosity within her. And when he asks her to join forces to identify the dangerous intruder at The Widow’s Ball, she cannot refuse. She may not trust many, but something tells her she should trust Edward… with more than just this mission.

Lara: I’m intrigued…

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Want this book? We can help: buy links ahoy!.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/06/hide-your-wallet-june-3rd-release-week/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145795

Bridge Types

https://xkcd.com/3097/

Pontoon bridges are just linear open-sided waterbeds.

https://xkcd.com/3097/

Giving Into Instagram Ads: Thigh Society

Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/06/02/giving-into-instagram-ads-thigh-society/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=55874

I recently realized that a lot of my posts lately have been starting with “I was scrolling on Instagram when I got an ad for this,” and then I’d buy the thing and tell you all about it. So I figured I’d just start calling it its own thing at this point since apparently a lot of what I’m doing is being influenced by ads and writing about whatever I just bought.

For today’s “I saw a hundred ads for this thing and finally bought it,” we have the Thigh Society shorts. I have been patiently waiting until summer to tell y’all about these shorts, and it’s finally June so I feel justified in saying that this is in fact, the must have item for summer.

So, basically, Thigh Society sells one product. As they say on their website “we only do slip shorts, and we do them the best.” Very true statement, it turns out. Now, while the only thing they sell is slip shorts, they do have several different versions of the shorts, and they come in multiple colors and sizes. Honestly I have only seen maybe two other clothing brands ever that do XS-6XL. That is some serious range, and much appreciated by someone such as myself.

When it comes to choosing which style of short to get, I knew there was only one choice for me. The one with the pocket. I also wanted ones that weren’t sheer, and The Cargo is one of their shorts that’s actually opaque instead of sheer or semi-sheer. I specifically wanted the pocket one because I don’t like to carry a purse. If you are someone who always has a bag whilst out and about, it may be less of a need for you and you could opt for their cooling ones or even cotton ones. But I gotta have my dang pocket.

If you had asked me before I bought these shorts if I ever thought I’d be obsessed with telling anyone and everyone about a pair of shorts, I’d have said no way. Despite getting tons of ads saying I needed this product, I thought, I definitely don’t need that. Little did I know I did need them all along! They have been so incredibly useful and are something I am genuinely glad I bought.

I am tired of trying all these different “chub-rub” powders and creams to prevent chafing. I will say, out of everything I tried, First Aid Beauty’s Anti-Chafe Stick is my preferred product, but still, I don’t really prefer using products like that when I can just wear a super comfortable, breathable undershort instead.

Chafing is more than just annoying, it’s like a genuinely painful thing that has prevented me from doing activities I want to be doing! Like you’re telling me walking hurts when you’re chafing? Life is so unfair sometimes. These shorts have single-handedly prevented any and all chafing for me every single time I’ve worn them.

I wore them under all my dresses on the Joco cruise this year, and I wore them in California and Texas when it was hot as hell outside. They’re honestly just perfect for traveling and walking around in, and they are so easy to pack and to launder. Plus, on the Joco cruise deck when it was super windy, I didn’t have to worry about Marilyn Monroe-ing anyone.

I’m not saying you need these shorts, but I am saying if you are someone who is prone to chafing, who likes walking around, exploring, traveling, all that good stuff, and live somewhere that summers are hot, you might want to grab a pair or two of these (plus you get free shipping when you buy two).

Even though I have several pairs of The Cargo, I’m thinking about buying some of the non-pocketed ones to wear as sleep or lounge wear because they’re seriously just that comfortable.

What products do you like to use for chafing? Have you heard of this brand before (they’ve been advertising to me for like one entire year on Insta at this point)? Let me know in the comments, and have a great day!

-AMS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/06/02/giving-into-instagram-ads-thigh-society/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=55874

Jenny Holiday and Contemporary Romances

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/06/jenny-holiday-and-contemporary-romances/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145751

Earls Trip

RECOMMENDED: Earls Trip by Jenny Holiday is $1.99! Fingers crossed this isn’t a leftover deal from the weekend. This is a standalone historical romance and was described as Ted Lasso meets Bridgerton for a 19th century spin on The Hangover. We ran a guest review of this one and it earned a B+.

Even an earl needs his ride-or-dies, and Archibald Fielding-Burton, the Earl of Harcourt, counts himself lucky to have two. The annual trip that Archie takes with his BFFs Simon and Effie holds a sacred spot in their calendars. This year Archie is especially eager to get away until an urgent letter arrives from an old family friend, begging him to help prevent a ruinous scandal. Suddenly the trip has become earls-plus-girls, as Archie’s childhood pals, Clementine and Olive Morgan, are rescued en route to Gretna Green.

This…complicates matters. The fully grown Clementine, while as frank and refreshing as he remembers, is also different to the wild, windswept girl he knew. This Clem is complex and surprising—and adamantly opposed to marriage. Which, for reasons Archie dare not examine too closely, he finds increasingly vexing.

Then Clem makes him an indecent and quite delightful proposal, asking him to show her the pleasures of the marriage bed before she settles into spinsterhood. And what kind of gentleman would he be to refuse a lady?

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Unromance

Unromance by Erin Connor is $2.99! This is a recent release, coming out in January. I believe this is in the queue for Cover Awe and it was mentioned on Hide Your Wallet.

A recently dumped TV heartthrob enlists a jaded romance novelist to ruin romance for him—one rom-com trope at a time—so he never gets swept off his feet again . . .

Sawyer Greene knows romance. She’s a bestselling author of the genre—or she was, until her ex left her with nothing but writer’s block and a broken heart. But when she gets stuck in the elevator with a handsome stranger, she sees their meet cute for what it is: just a one-night stand. It might have worked, too, if they could stop running into each other.

Actor Mason West sees Sawyer’s reappearance in his life as a sign. Obviously, they’re meant to cure each other. Him of the hopeless romanticism that only ends in heartbreak—and tabloid trainwrecks—and Sawyer of her writer’s block. Their agreement is simple: 1. No (more) sex, and 2. No matter how swoony the circumstances, absolutely no falling in love.

It’s a foolproof plan–until Sawyer and Mason find that, once set in motion, some plots can’t be stopped—and that they might be hurtling towards a happy ending…

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Seven Days in June

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams is $1.99! One of Williams’ other romances also has a Netflix adaptation. I remember this working well as a gateway book for people to give contemporary romances a try.

Seven days to fall in love, fifteen years to forget and seven days to get it all back again… From the author of The Perfect Find, this is a witty, romantic, and sexy-as-hell new novel of two writers and their second chance at love.

Brooklynite Eva Mercy is a single mom and bestselling erotica writer, who is feeling pressed from all sides. Shane Hall is a reclusive, enigmatic, award-winning literary author who, to everyone’s surprise, shows up in New York.

When Shane and Eva meet unexpectedly at a literary event, sparks fly, raising not only their past buried traumas, but the eyebrows of New York’s Black literati. What no one knows is that twenty years earlier, teenage Eva and Shane spent one crazy, torrid week madly in love. They may be pretending that everything is fine now, but they can’t deny their chemistry-or the fact that they’ve been secretly writing to each other in their books ever since.

Over the next seven days in the middle of a steamy Brooklyn summer, Eva and Shane reconnect, but Eva’s not sure how she can trust the man who broke her heart, and she needs to get him out of New York so that her life can return to normal. But before Shane disappears again, there are a few questions she needs answered. . .

With its keen observations of Black life and the condition of modern motherhood, as well as the consequences of motherless-ness, Seven Days in June is by turns humorous, warm and deeply sensual.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Make It Sweet

Make It Sweet by Kristen Callihan is $1.99! Aarya mentioned this in a previous February’s Hide Your Wallet and said she was tempted by the blurb. I haven’t kept up with Callihan’s more current romances. What do you think of them?

From New York Times bestselling author Kristen Callihan comes a charming, emotional romance about redefining dreams and discovering unlikely love along the way.

Life for Emma isn’t good. The world knows her as Princess Anya on Dark Castle, but then her character gets the axe—literally. The cherry on top is finding her boyfriend in bed with another woman. She needs a break, and sanctuary comes in the form of Rosemont, a gorgeous estate in California promising rest and relaxation.

Then she meets the owner’s equally gorgeous grandson, ex–hockey player and current recluse Lucian Osmond, and she sees her own pain and yearning reflected in his eyes.

He’s charming when he wants to be but also secretive and gruff, with protective walls as thick as Emma’s own. Despite a growing attraction, they avoid each other.

But then there’s an impromptu nighttime skinny-dip, and Lucian’s luscious homemade tarts and cream cakes start arriving at Emma’s door, tempting her to taste life again…

In trying to stay apart, they only grow closer—and their broken pieces just might fit together and make them whole.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/06/jenny-holiday-and-contemporary-romances/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145751

Cover Awe: Butts

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/06/cover-awe-butts/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145759

Welcome back to Cover Awe, where we discuss book covers we like!

I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself by Glynnis MacNicol. A watercolor of a woman lounging on her stomach on a muted blue chaise. Her butt is out.

Cover designed by Cassandra Garruzzo Mueller

Amanda: I support butts on covers. I think the softness of the painting with the blocky neon green text is a very good pairing!

Elyse: Butts, butts, butts.

Sarah: The first thing I heard about this book was book folks talking about the luscious and erotic cover. Boy, were they right.

Lara: Oh, I love this pairing too!

Nine Tailed by Jayci Lee. A white nine-tailed fox descends toward dark blue mountains. It's tails are a mix of pink, teal, and blue, all tipped in white.

Cover design and illustration by Elizabeth Turner Stokes

Amanda: Oh I love this one.

Elyse: The colors on this are just gorgeous.

Sarah: This is another book where I heard about the cover first! The colors are incredible.

Lara: So rich and vibrant!

Spanish edition of The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner. An illustration cover in very muted tones. A large glass jar is in the center with an image of a domed building inside. Around the bottle, creeping in from the sides of the cover, are pale green leaves and red flowers.

Cover design by Calderón Studio

Amanda: I love this Spanish edition. It’s more detailed for me than the original and I like the softness of the color palette.

Sarah: I love miniatures. Like wee teeny cereal boxes, tiny furniture, clay sculpted food – I love it. So I love this cover and I could look at it for hours.

Am I the only one transfixed by miniature human things? That’s still a hobby for sure.

Lara: The muted hues are really working for me.

For She is Wrath by Emily Varga. A young woman raises a sword to a darkened, green sky. She's wearing a simple dress and her dark, curly hair is blown back from her face. A large fire burns behind her, and the right and left borders have an outline of a gold paisley design.

Cover design by Jen Edwards

Elyse: Fuck yeah, she is.

Amanda: Apparently this is a retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo, which makes me even more interested!

Sarah: Holy crap. That’s limitless eye candy.

Lara: The cover is gorgeous but that title is perfection.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/06/cover-awe-butts/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145759

Sunday Sale Digest!

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/06/sunday-sale-digest-33/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145688

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!

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/06/sunday-sale-digest-33/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145688

SBTB Bestsellers: May 17 – May 30

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/06/sbtb-bestsellers-may-17-may-30/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145711

The latest bestseller list is brought to you by running errands, diet coke, and our affiliate sales data.

First-Time Caller by B.K. Borison Amazon | B&N | Kobo
Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis Amazon | B&N | Kobo
Only and Forever by Chloe Liese Amazon | B&N | Kobo
The Wraith King by Juliette Cross Amazon | B&N
Holding the Reins by Paisley Hope Amazon | B&N | Kobo
The Undetectables by Courtney Smyth Amazon | B&N | Kobo
Someone to Romance by Mary Balogh Amazon | B&N | Kobo
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson Amazon | B&N | Kobo
The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler Amazon | B&N | Kobo
Flirting with Disaster by Naina Kumar Amazon | B&N | Kobo

I hope your weekend reading was fabulous!

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/06/sbtb-bestsellers-may-17-may-30/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145711

A Smart Bitches After Dark Recap

Posted by SB Sarah

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/05/a-smart-bitches-after-dark-recap/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145570

It’s been a little over six months since we launched Smart Bitches After Dark, and I wanted to share some of what we’ve been doing and what’s coming up in 2025.

First: we have over 225 subscribers! WOW. Thank you so much!

I’d hoped to have 100 by December 2024, and you blew through that milepost, and crashed through the next one, too.

Thank you. Your support is fundamental in keeping the site open for everyone, and helping new readers find us, and the romance genre as well. From the squishiest, most earnest part of my heart, thank you.

If you’re not familiar, Smart Bitches After Dark is our community support subscription, where we’re building some new features and bringing back some classic SBTB as well. Here’s what we’ve been doing in the past few months!

Romance Dish Course Tea Time

After taking suggestions for the name, I’ve been sharing more in-depth discussion posts that examine some of what’s happening in the genre, and in its fandom.

The HEA is Really Freaking Powerful is one of those posts, which I later made public to share with everyone:

Portmanteaux aren’t going anywhere, and neither are attempts to market books by genre and by trope to audiences looking for that genre and trope. Thinking this hard about why the portmanteaux are popular, what they’re doing, how they work, and why they’re important has made me appreciate how inclusion of part or all of the word “romance” is signaling a very specific message: “HEA found here.”

We’ve discussed what we’ve learned about ourselves from reading romance:

Romance takes a lot of crap, some of which I myself am serving, but I could give a 20 minute talk on how romance fiction offers readers an unparalleled opportunity for exploration of the self within the privacy of their own imaginations, especially regarding sexuality.

And we’ve talked about trends in cover re-design that appear to obfuscate the presence of people of color, and how current popular styles for covers are more confusing than every to some of us.

Tara wrote about Spite Reading for Joy and Comfort, or What I read on my Spring Vacation, when she found herself in Scotland during the UK Supreme Court ruling that sex is binary, a ruling that a certain rotted someone campaigned for heavily and celebrated afterward:

As a queer person, I hate her and won’t put another penny in her pocket, especially knowing that she’s funding organizations that harm trans people and is now also attacking asexual people, nor can I read the original books ever again. I can’t rewatch the old films and I will not be watching the new show.

However, I find tremendous comfort in reading queer stories about her characters, literally out of spite for her, and am thrilled when they’re (often) written better than anything she wrote.

But in addition to the dish course, we have some regular features I love, and that are very popular with the community as well!

Tarot After Dark

Every month, Carrie writes a Tarot After Dark post featuring a different tarot deck with close ups of some of the art work, and a new layout for questioning. We’ve been very fortunate that the designers of these layouts have been so generous to let us share them!

Carrie’s approach to tarot is very open and flexible:

My personal belief is that Tarot cards are effective for many not because of occult or supernatural occurrences, but because the images on the cards help the different parts of our brain communicate in different ways.

Often the querent (the person getting the reading) is stuck in a moment or a decision, and looking at the images on the cards and exploring their symbolism can help the subconscious talk to the conscious, ‘unsticking’ the querent by giving them a new way to read the cards.

Carrie also collects and loves to feature fascinating and gorgeous tarot decks, including from independent artists.

For example, her April Tarot After Dark, Road Trip, featured the Cephalopold Tarot Deck by Kitsune and used a spread from Owl and Bone, who not only granted permission but made a new graphic for the post to illustrate the layout.

Here’s an excerpt from that post.

Card: Six of Swords

An orange octopus steers narwhals across frothy waves towards calm waters.

The Six of Swords is all about leaving toxic shit behind. It is a complex card, depicting grief, hope, and empowerment in a single image. It represents a difficult departure, and many artists focus on the aspect of grief that is embodied in this card. However, the card is also a hopeful and triumphant one, and to me, the octopus steering six narwhals towards safety emphasizes the more joyous aspects of this card. The seas are scary and turbulent, but you can see calm seas just ahead!

This card in this position challenges the reader to explore not only the literal but also the spiritual and emotional. I am hoping to explore various locations. But I’m also hoping to rediscover joy, to remember how much potential for delight remains in life, and to test the limits of my physical abilities and my capacity to adapt to them realistically.

That will mean letting go of some dreams and allowing new ones to take their place, and it will mean releasing previous conceptions about my mobility and energy and replacing them with new ones. What do you want to discover?

I love this feature so, so much. Especially the May/June reading, titled, WTF?! using a layout with permission from artist Evvie Marin, who created the Interrobang Tarot.

After Dark at the Movies

Carrie is also popping popcorn and watching absolutely bonkers movies for After Dark at the Movies, prompting me to make another logo because it’s fun.

I would never, ever have heard of the film Hundreds of Beavers if not for Carrie writing about it at length:

Friends, Hundreds of Beavers is the kind of movie that makes me laugh uncontrollably while I’m convinced that I am going straight to hell. Some day, some wretched day, bitterness and cynicism will fill your soul and you will feel a deep need to howl your barbaric yawp into the void while pondering the cruelty and idiocy of life. That, dear Bitches, is when you need to watch Hundreds of Beavers.

Come for the community, stay for the Hundreds of Beavers, right?

After Dark Knitting Club

Elyse has been sharing her progress on various knitting projects and on some mystery knit-a-longs, which turned out to be stunning.

Gratuitous yarn pictures? Of course. Except not gratuitous; the exact right amount.

She also talks about what she’s watching or listening to while she knits, and there are usually cat pictures because of course there are.

Muzzy’s favorite job in our house is “Pattern” where she lays on whatever pattern you’re working on. She does it with me, with our friends — apparently “Pattern” is the best job.

A black cat lays on top of a knitting pattern
Clearly a very important job; excellent work Muzzy!

Quarterly Personal Book Recommendations

Every quarter, Amanda opens a form for personalized book recommendation requests from the community:

I want to stress that the more information you supply, the better I can match you with some great books.

I will fulfill the requests as they are received before the end of the quarter. Each person will receive an email from me with three books with some notes about why I selected each one.

I try not to pick books (or authors if I can help it) that are already on your Goodreads or Storygraph. If you’d like a nudge or help in what to prioritize from your TBR piles, I’m happy to do so! Just mention it in your responses.

The feedback from folks who have received Amanda’s curated suggestions have been extremely positive, including one reader who replied, “Amanda, thank you! I forgot what exactly this email was and read through thinking wow, these sound exactly like things I want to read, how random. Very excited to get reading.”

As you know, Amanda knows a lot about a lot of different books and loves to match-make, literary style.

Plus, every week Amanda shares Sales After Dark: more deals on books that are part of subscription services or are on a short-term sale, too.

Coming Soon!

We’ve got plans for the next six months, including online crafting and chatting gatherings, revisiting old skool romances, coverage of what hot topics are going around on social media, and more. I’ve also started sketching out how I can host online Romance Trivia evenings benefitting different charities. It’s a long Google doc of plans, is what I’m saying.

If you’d like to join Smart Bitches After Dark, it’s easy: $9 a month or $90 a year, and you’re all set! If you’re a reader who values what we do, and wants to keep the site open for everyone, we’d love to welcome you.

Thanks for being here, and for making the SBTB community the wonderful place that it is!

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/05/a-smart-bitches-after-dark-recap/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145570

Check Engine

https://xkcd.com/3096/

They say it's probably safe to keep orbiting for a while, but if it stays on or starts flashing we might have to call someone.

https://xkcd.com/3096/

View From a Hotel Balcony, 5/30/25: Claremont, CA

Posted by John Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/05/30/view-from-a-hotel-balcony-5-30-25-claremont-ca/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=55867

And what a fine view of a parking lot I have today! I’m on the balcony of my hotel room because it’s a nice morning, and it’s going to get up to the 90s today, so I should enjoy being outdoors while I can. Even if the view is of a parking lot.

I’m in Claremont because this is where my high school is, and tomorrow the class of 2025 is graduating, and I’ll be giving the commencement speech to them. I will be full of wisdom! Or, well, something, anyway. I figured I would get in early to avoid travel mishaps and see a few friends. So far this plan is working excellently.

(For those of you wondering what I will actually say to the Class of 2025, be patient: I will inevitably post it here, and I understand there may actually be video as well. Also, no public appearances this time out, sorry.)

I really like being in Claremont; it’s the town that I generally list, as convenience’s sake, as my “hometown,” because my high school is here. In reality my “hometown” is a general smear across the Eastern San Gabriel Valley, since I also spent significant time in Azusa, Covina, Glendora, San Dimas and La Verne growing up. But that’s hard to explain to people. Claremont it is. There are much worse places to be from.

Anyway, at the moment and I suspect for the rest of the weekend I’m feeling a pleasant nostalgia buzz. I’m gonna go ahead and ride this for a while.

— JS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/05/30/view-from-a-hotel-balcony-5-30-25-claremont-ca/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=55867

Dark Romance, a Boxed Set, & More

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/05/dark-romance-a-boxed-set-more/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145649

Someone to Romance

Someone to Romance by Mary Balogh is $2.99! This is book seven in the Westcott series. I don’t think it’s necessary to read them in order, but I know the characters are interconnected and it might make for a more enriching experience. Do you have a favorite in the series?

Love comes when you least expect it in this captivating new novel in the Wescott Regency romance series from New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh.

Lady Jessica Archer lost her own interest in the glittering excitement of romance after her cousin and dearest friend, Abigail Westcott, was rejected by the ton when her father was revealed to be a bigamist. Ever practical, however, once she’s twenty-five, she decides it’s time to wed. Though she no longer believes she will find true love, she is still very eligible. She is, after all, the sister of Avery Archer, Duke of Netherby.

Jessica considers the many qualified gentlemen who court her. But when she meets the mysterious Gabriel Thorne, who has returned to England from the New World to claim an equally mysterious inheritance, Jessica considers him completely unsuitable, because he had the audacity, when he first met her, to announce his intention to wed her.

When Jessica guesses who Gabriel really is, however, and watches the lengths to which he will go in order to protect those who rely upon him, she is drawn to his cause—and to the man.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

One Cursed Rose

One Cursed Rose by Rebecca Zanetti is $1.99! I mentioned this one on a previous Hide Your Wallet. It’s described as a dark, contemporary Beauty and the Beast retelling. Have you read this one?

For fans of Scarlett St Clair and Sarah J Maas, New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti explores the forbidden and the taboo in this modern twist on Beauty and the Beast – the first in a seductive new dark romance series set in a world where information is power, and those who control the flow of information live like gods…

“Sexy and utterly engrossing!” —bestselling author J.T. Geissinger

They christened me Alana—and while the name means beauty, beneath that surface is a depth I allow very few to see. I’m sole heir to Aquarius Social, a media giant about to succumb to an unseen enemy. My father’s solution is to marry me off to the son of a competing family. My reaction? Not a chance. Now I have just a week before the wedding to change my fate.

Who knew the unforeseen twist would be an assassination attempt on me and an unwanted rescue by Thorn Beathach, the head of the rival social media empire driving Aquarius under? The richest, most ruthless of them all, the Beast protects his realm with an iron rule: no one sees his face. When he shows himself to me, I know he’ll never let me go.

Thorn may think he can lock me in his enchanted castle forever, but I’m not the docile Beauty he expects. If the Beast wants to tie me up, I’m going to take pleasure from every minute of it . . .and we’ll just see who ends up shackled.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

My Fair Concubine

My Fair Concubine by Jeannie Lin is $1.99 and a Kindle Daily Deal! This is a historical “My Fair Lady” style romance – set in the Tang Dynasty in China. Readers loved the retelling and the depth of characterization. However, some readers mentioned that the story dragged at time due to the lack of external conflict.

THE NOBLEMAN WHO TURNED A TEA GIRL INTO A PRINCESS…

Yan Ling tries hard to be servile-it’s what’s expected of a girl of her class. Being intelligent and strong-minded, she finds it a constant battle.

Proud Fei Long is unimpressed by her spirit-until he realizes she’s the answer to his problems. He has to deliver the emperor a “princess.” In two months can he train a tea girl to pass as a noblewoman?

Yet it’s hard to teach good etiquette when all Fei Long wants to do is break it, by taking this tea girl for his own…

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Marie Benedict Historical Fiction Bundle

The Marie Benedict Historical Fiction Bundle by Marie Benedict is $3.99! This set contains four full-length historical fiction titles, which is not a bad deal for less than $4. We’ve featured some of these on sale before, so you may own part of the set.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Marie Benedict has captivated readers with her gorgeous stories of the women forgotten to history.

Now, get four of her acclaimed novels in this specially priced e-book The Other Einstein, Carnegie’s Maid, The Only Woman in the Room, and Lady Clementine PLUS an exclusive excerpt from The Mystery of Mrs. Christie.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/05/dark-romance-a-boxed-set-more/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=145649