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Welcome back to Whatcha Reading! Here’s what we’re reading right now: Lara: I am reading another bananas book: Tender Cruelty by Katee Robert. It’s the next book in the Dark Olympus series and the tension is at a ten the whole time. I need to take breaks from the intensity of it! Susan: I’m reading volume 3 of Stars of Chaos by priest (m/m steampunk in historical China) and the main couple have kissed! There … Continue reading Whatcha Reading? October 2025, Part One→| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
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Smart Bitches, Trashy Books| Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
Hey, you guys, remember that time that Hobby Lobby stole ancient artifacts from Egypt and Iraq? Technically they bought stolen artifacts. They didn’t do the digging themselves. I like to imagine that someone walked up to one of the high-ups in a trenchcoat and said, “Saaaayy…ya wanna buy a Dead Sea Scroll?” and they said, “Sure, what could go wrong?” This book is totally not about that. This book is about Ruth, who lives in … Continue reading Crafting for Sinners by Jenny Kiefer→| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
Most of these are KDDs and as of right now, many of the deals are only available at Amazon.| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
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 … Continue reading Look Before You L...| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
Would that I, like this book’s heroine, were newly turned sixteen again, for if I were I would have absolutely swooned over The Wicked Lies of Habren Faire. I cannot overstress how madly I would have loved this story. Now I’m old and cranky so I viewed it with a more demanding eye, but anyone interested in Welsh folklore and grumpy heroines will enjoy this road trip through the land of the Tylwyth Teg (fae). … Continue reading The Wicked Lies of Habren Faire by Anna Fiteni→| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
Welcome back to Cover Awe! The Gentleman Spy by Georgina North Cover design by Jennifer Therieau From Kareni: For a future Cover Awe post. Claudia: Oh yes, I really like this. Incongruously it reminds me of a watercolor tattoo. Sarah: Claudia, I had the exact same thought. And the way that the watercolory splotches are partially revealing blocks of written text adds to the intrigue of the image, which I’m presuming matches the book. A … Continue reading Cover Awe: Watercolor, Flowers, & M...| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
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Smart Bitches, Trashy Books| Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books| smartbitchestrashybooks.com
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books| Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books| Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
The following review is for two books which are being released somewhat together. Love Bites was originally released in 2020 but was picked up by Tor and is being re-released on September 9. The sequel, Love Sucks, is also available digitally and will be re-released by Tor on October 7. … After many happy weeks in the land of a favourite author, I stuck my head above the parapet and looked for something new to … Continue reading Love Bites by Cynthia St. Aubin→| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
GUESS WHAT Y’ALL! Not only are we here at the hot pink palace celebrating our 20th anniversary (and yes, you can still get a sticker!) but guess who else is? Yup, the original Twilight! It is not an exaggeration to say that this book changed the trajectory of publishing. Seriously, think of all the trends and subgenres that grew out of Twilight. Off the top of my head, Twilight influenced so many aspects of the industry, such as: YA … Continue reading Twilight is 20, and I’m Recomme...| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
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| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
This After Dark post is open to everyone so folks can see what ridiculous tasks I am assigning myself. Any reviews and book shrieking will be part of the upcoming year in After Dark. … I am traveling to Denton, Texas, for the Art and Jazz Fest. Are there romance-specific quests I might undertake in Denton? Oh, hell yeah. First, Denton is the home of The Plot Twist, a romance bookshop and bar. Will I be visiting? … Continue reading A Quest: What Classic Romances Should I Find?→| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
Welcome back to Whatcha Reading! Here’s how we’re capping off this month: Sneezy: I’ve been rereading Only Hope. It’s still ongoing, and I’m VERY much not a thriller person, but something about some Will Kill You cinnamon rolls is making my brain happy right now. Lara: I’ve been so lucky with books lately. So many good ones! At the moment, I am knee deep in And Then There Was the One by Martha Waters. It’s … Continue reading Whatcha Reading? September 2025, Part Two→| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
It is with a lot of listener and reader encouragement that I’m writing this out, so thank you to everyone who said, “Yes, write the thing.” You might be thinking, given that we are rather familiar with plagiarism going back to 2008 (!) with our adventures with Cassie Edwards’ books, that I would know what to do if it maybe happened to me. And, honestly, I’m used to being cited in roundabout ways. Sometimes editors … Continue reading What to Do If You Think You’ve Been Plagiari...| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
Alexandra Vasti is back, because her new historical romance Ladies in Hating is out this week! We are going to talk about: Good angsty yearning When a character is their love interest’s bitch eating crackers Lesbians in history! Erotic Victorian fiction Side trips include historical publishing houses, how nothing in romance is new, and how a lot of our current erotica, including that book where someone schtupps a door, is connected to books with the … Continue reading 686. Ladies in Hatin...| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
We wanted to thank you all for another summer of bingo! We had over 150 submissions this year, with many of you getting five bingos. That’s a hell of a lot of reading. Everyone who achieved a bingo will be receiving a 2025 SBTB Summer Romance Bingo sticker in the mail. We also are giving away three boxes of books. The winners are: Felicity Jillian B. Amy R. We have plans to do an “unhinged” … Continue reading Thanks for Playing the 2025 SBTB Summer Romance Bingo!→| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
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| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
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Y’all, Twilight is upon us. Born the same year as this here website, Twilight 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, … Continue reading ...| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
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.| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
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.| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
This guest review comes from Lisa! A longtime romance aficionado and frequent commenter to SBTB, Lisa is a queer Latine critic with a sharp tongue and lots of opinions. She frequently reviews at All About Romance and Women Write About Comics, where she’s on staff, and you can catch her at @thatbouviergirl on Twitter. There, she shares good reviews, bracing industry opinions and thoughtful commentary when she’s not on her grind looking for the next good … Continue reading The Love Ly...| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
This Rec League was sent in by Kim. Thanks, Kim! I’d love to see a Rec League about celebrity crush romances—where one MC is the celeb crush of the other MC, who is just a regular person. Strongly prefer MM, but I know that may be too niche. I’m really interested specifically in preexisting celeb crushes, not just “one character is a celebrity” plots. Open to actor crushes, sports, music, etc. This request is brought … Continue reading The Rec League: Celebrity Crush Romances→| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
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.| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
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 … Continue reading Regulation and Oversight Now Part of the...| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
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.| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
I have to be upfront about some personal pet peeves first. I hate cosy witch stories. I don’t like twee and I don’t like cutesy. This book has touches of that initially and a lot towards the end, which has definitely coloured my experience of this book. So if cutesy, twee, and cosy are things that bring you joy, then bump this grade up a level or two. Lara, it’s already a B, I hear … Continue reading Love at First Fright by Nadia El-Fassi→| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
Welcome back to Whatcha Reading! Here’s how we’re kicking off the month of September: Lara: I’ve totally given in to the impulse to read the rest of the Guild Hunter novels. I’m currently reading Archangel’s Light. This series is big and comforting and cathartic. I’m so thankful to have another quiver to my bow of therapy reads. Good people doing good things, defeating evil and loving each other while they do it. Balm for the … Continue reading Whatcha Reading? September 2025, P...| Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books| Smart Bitches, Trashy Books