Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast

639. RT Rewind: November 2015 Reviews Nov 01, 2024

It’s time to take a look at the new books in November 2015 inside Romantic Times! We’ve got spanking and small towns, and a magazine that seems more targeted toward aspiring writers than readers. That yielded a mixed bag! But we have some books to talk about so let’s get to it!

So many small town contemporaries, so many historicals, so many Four Star reviews with word salad. And some cat poo.

TW/CW: very brief and nonspecific discussion of abusive relationships in the Erotica section.

Please note: I don't have a visual aids post for this episode, but the Ads & Features certainly will!

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638. Smart Bitches After Dark - Tara interviews Sarah & Amanda Oct 25, 2024

Tara Scott, staff writer at SBTB and co-host of the Queerly Recommended podcast, is in the interviewer’s chair, asking Amanda and me questions about Smart Bitches After Dark, our new community support wing. We talk about what After Dark is, and also about the larger enshittification of different parts of the internet, and how we navigate that as a 20 year old blog.

Yay blogs!

I was really nervous about being interviewed, and I hope you enjoy this behind the scenes exploration of the site, the podcast, and the business of being in business.

CW/TW: – I cry later! It’s good but if you’re driving and you’re a sympathy crier like I am, I wanted you to be aware.

We also mentioned:

“The The ‘Enshittification’ of TikTok. Or how, exactly, platforms die.” by Cory Doctorow (Wired) (Archive.org)
Odd Girl Out by Ann Bannon (wikipedia)

You can find out more and join Smart Bitches After Dark right here!

And don’t miss out on Tara’s show, Queerly Recommended!

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637. RT Rewind October 1988 Ads & Features Oct 18, 2024

It’s time for the Ads & Features of the October 1988 (!!) issue of Romantic Times Magazine.

Y’all. We’ve got:

Vintage gossip!
Blind items that are very easy to guess!
Danielle Steel’s two blue Mercedes!
Fuchsia covers with giant flowers and startled animals!
Riverboat gambler romance heroes!
And a truly paltry obituary for an extraordinary author.

It’s 1988. Fuchsia. So much fuchsia.

Blanket content warning for romances written in the late 80s. Be ready for some very offensive tropes.

Do not, and I mean this most sincerely, skip the visual aids. It’s 1988 y’all. The covers are glorious!

LINKS. So many good links!

“Double Trouble: One or Two Women?” by Gillian Whitlock about the alleged plagiarism of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s The Blue Castle by Australian author Colleen McCullough.
Sam Lord’s Castle, Barbados
Sharon Spiak Art listing for Wary Hearts
Eye Heart Romance’s review for Mistress of the Seas by Ruth Langan
Clothes in Books: “Mary Burchell aka Ida Cook” – the patterns from Mab’s Fashions!
Mary Burchell’s Wikipedia page
A BluSky thread from John Bull on Mary Burchell
The Pudding magazine interactive article about romance covers by Jan Diehm and Sandra Chiu

music: purple-planet.com

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636. Swordcrossed Cozy Romantasy with Freya Marske Oct 11, 2024

Freya Marske’s new book Swordcrossed is out this week, and she’s joining us from the other side of the planet to talk about what she calls, “Fantasy of manners, mercantile edition.” We also talk about writing fanfic and her new favorite show, Interview with the Vampire.

Yes, I did mis-number last week’s episode – sorry about that.

Music: purple-planet.com

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635. RT Rewind: October 1988 Reviews Oct 04, 2024

It’s time to journey back to the October 1988 issue of Romantic Times!

That’s right, we’re going all the way back to 1988, a time when one of us on the show wasn’t born yet. We’ve got absolutely appalling plots, some extremely luscious covers, and more – like Amanda’s engagement!

Congrats Amanda and Brian!

TW/CW: crappy family tales in the first 4 minutes, and overall, a number of references to enslavement, violence, colonialism, predatory behavior and assault in the reviews.

Music: purple-planet.com

Don’t miss the visual aids!

We also mentioned:

And you can see Amanda’s beautiful engagement ring on her Instagram!

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634. Climbing Mt. Fuji with Courtney Milan Sep 27, 2024

Courtney Milan is here to talk about her newest book, The Earl Who Isn’t, and about climbing Mt. Fuji! Along the way we talk about training, the shifting style of historical romances, and audiobooks.And we have questions from you!

A few moments to be aware of before you listen: we talk a little about her dog Pele, who passed away earlier this year.

We also mention briefly the topics of antifat bias in medicine, weight gain, chafing, trauma, workplace abuse, cancer, and sexual harassment.

Thank you to Tara, Emily for the questions!

Music: purple-planet.com

You can find Courtney Milan at her website, CourtneyMilan.com, and you can sign up for her weekly tea newsletter as well!

Support for this episode comes from The Starling Inn, the new novel by Claire Therese! Find The Starling Inn by Claire Therese inside Kindle Unlimited now!

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633. RT Rewind: September 2015 Ads & Features Sep 20, 2024

The ads and features of the September 2015 issue of Romantic Times are a nine-layer cake of wonderment and weird.

Don't miss the visual aids! WE GOT FONTS. And dogs!

Side trips include:

Janet Dailey and who is writing her books (we don’t know)
lawyer romances
changes in cover design
a twist cliffhanger in a quiz with no answer key!

Plus, this issue of the magazine and also Amanda both have terrific memories of RT 2015 in Dallas.

We have So many links!

Meet Louisa, the cover model dog! (Instagram)
Reformed Rakes’ episodes on Janet Dailey Part 1 and Part 2
JanetDailey.com – all present tense
Topaz Literary: “Janet Dailey and the Curious Case of the Missing Author”
The Contemporary Romance Color of the Year (SBTB)
Joyfully Jay
“This is the Last RT: Kathryn Falk Announces End of Romantic Times” (SBTB)

Thanks to our sponsor for this week’s episode: Lume! New customers get 15% off ALL Lume products with our exclusive code and link. Use code SARAH15 at LumeDeodorant.com

Music: Purple-planet.com

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632. Being Fine with Friends, with Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer Sep 13, 2024

Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer are podcasting powerhouses with shows like By the Book and How to be Fine With Friends.

This season they’re looking at friendship, the research behind sustaining friendships, ending relationships, and creating new connections with people – and they joined me to talk all about it.

You can find their show, How to be Fine with Friends where you get your podcasts – like this one!

TW/CW: short discussion of diet culture and diet books just after Kristen introduces herself. When she stops talking, hit your 30 second skip and you should be fine.

What are some of the traits you appreciate most about your closest friends?

...

You can find How to Be Fine with Friends where you get your podcasts, and you can follow the show on Instagram @howtobefinepod.

Jolenta Greenberg can be found on her website JolentaGreenberg.com, and on Instagram @jolenta_g.

Kristen Meinzer can be found on her website, KristenMeinzer.com, on Instagram @K10meinzer, and co-hosting her show The Daily Fail.

Music: Purple-planet.com

Thanks to our sponsor for this week’s episode: Lume! New customers get 15% off ALL Lume products with our exclusive code and link. Use code SARAH15 at LumeDeodorant.com

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631. RT Rewind: September 2015 Reviews Sep 06, 2024

We’re going back to September 2015, and I want to ease you into this knowledge, so take a breath, center yourself: that was nine years ago. I don’t get it either but apparently it’s true?

JR Ward is on the cover, and there’s all kinds of good stuff inside! Come with us to visit some reviews that are word salad, and some that made me say, a few times, “Way harsh, Tai. Way harsh.”

Don't miss the visual aids!

Music: purple-planet.com

Thank you to our sponsor for this week’s episode: HelloFresh!

For a limited time, kids eat FREE! Go to HelloFresh.com/sarahkids to unlock this exclusive offer. One free kids’ meal per box for two months while subscription is active. Visit HelloFresh.com/sarahkids!

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630. Behind the Scenes of Real Housewives with Chris DeRosa Aug 30, 2024

Chris DeRosa is co-host of the podcast Fixing Famous People, and has been a reality tv producer for 11 years. We talk about his career starting with Food Network then moving into unscripted reality tv like the Real Housewives, how reality tv has changed, and how much of the narrative producers have influence over – and what parts they don’t.

We’re also locating RH on the larger timeline of major television programs centering women over 40. I think this episode holds a lot for writers because it’s about making the conflict, and the motivations behind that conflict, public and spoken in dialogue. It’s a new way of looking at show/don’t tell.

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629. RT Rewind: October 1999 Ads & Features Aug 23, 2024

Alison aka Fashionably Evil is back with us recapping the ads and features from Romantic Times’ October 1999 issue!

There were leers, horny men, and nipples with personalities, and we explore effective friction and learn about The Douche Chills.

The visual aids are amazing this week – don’t miss the horny covers!

We also mentioned:

Music: Purple-planet.com

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628. Real Housewives and Romance Readers with Shana Aug 16, 2024

Continuing my exploration of reality franchises that are favorites of romance readers, Shana joins me to talk about the Real Housewives franchise: her favorite Real Housewives locations and seasons, and what aspects of this reality franchise appeal to romance readers.

We cover relationships, conflict, and the blend of fiction and “reality,” and some of the ethical considerations as well, especially with the Real Housewives of Dubai.

Are you a Real Housewives watcher? Which ones? Do you think there’s a reason why romance readers are often also Real Housewives watchers?

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627. RT Rewind: October 1999 Reviews! Aug 09, 2024

We have a special guest! Alison, aka Fashionably Evil, won our Romancing the Vote auction to co-host this round of RT Rewind with us! Congratulations!!

Alison picked our issue, October 1999, and wow, it’s just as weird as we’d hoped.

And, as part of the auction, we offered a midroll ad, which we typically don’t run. Alison chose to use her midroll to promote a website we love and admire, Scarleteen.com.

We start with a discussion of Alison’s incredible spreadsheet that she made us (❤️!) and a discussion of historical romance. Along the way: many yikes, many bikes.

I want to offer some heads up for racism, human trafficking, mentions of stillbirth, ableism, Islamophobia in the reviews.

These will be long episodes this month so journey with us back to 1999.

Don't miss the visual aids!

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626. The Bachelor and Romance with Dr. Jodi McAlister Aug 02, 2024

This month on the podcast, I wanted look more closely at the intersection of romance and reality tv, particular the Bachelor franchise and Real Housewives. There is only one place to start with that inquiry: with Dr. Jodi McAlister.

Jodi McAlister is a scholar of romance and an expert on all things The Bachelor, and she’s the author of the Australia-set Marry Me, Juliet trilogy, which you may remember was available digitally in the US as a surprise after a lot of folks, including and especially Amanda, started talking about the books in the series. Shana reviewed the series and the third book, and loved all of them.

So we are talking all things Bachelor, about writing a similar reality tv show for her series, and why romance readers globally dig this franchise so very, very much.

You can find Dr. Jodi McAlister on TikTok, Instagram, and BlueSky, and on her website, JodiMcAlister.com.au.

We also mentioned:

And thanks to our sponsor for this week’s episode, HelloFresh!

Go to HelloFresh.com/sarahkids to unlock this exclusive offer: one free kids’ meal per box for two months while subscription is active. That’s FREE kids’ meals just by going to HelloFresh.com/sarahkids

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625. RT Rewind: December 1997 Ads & Features! Jul 26, 2024

We’re going back to December 1997 to look at the Ads & Features from Romantic Times.

We’ve got a cover with many, many fonts, several memorials for Princess Diana, and we find out what happens when you win an award and find out while you’re on the john. There are profiles of readers and romance reading book clubs, AOL chat rooms about romance for writers and readers, and the price of the Essence of Romance.

It’s a wonderful time capsule, folks.

CW/TW: antifat bias and death

Do not miss the visual aids - the covers alone, my goodness.

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624. Academic Research about Romancelandia with Christine M. Larson Jul 19, 2024

Christine M. Larson is the author of the new book Love in the Time of Self-Publishing: How Romance Writers Changed the Rules of Writing and Success, published by Princeton University Press. This book is NIFTY - it’s about us! I was interviewed for it, and we are going to talk about ALL The Things, from identity-driven ethics of care to RWA to the need for “a collective unified body for creative people.”

Come for the vintage Romancelandia gossip, stay for the labor activism!

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623. RT Rewind: December 1997 Reviews Jul 12, 2024

The book reviews in 1997 may be fewer in number but they are ample in wtfery.

Prizefighter younger sons getting kicked out of brothels on their wedding night!

Nicknames that follow you around the globe in the 1880s!

Regency cats!

We’ve got truly glorious covers, so do not miss the visual aids. They’re incredible.

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622. The Love of my Afterlife with Kirsty Greenwood Jul 05, 2024

Kirsty Greenwood’s book The Love of My Afterlife is out now, and it’s bubbly and charming and funny, with a lot of emotion, so we’re going to talk all about it. We also talk about making friends as an adult, and how there’s just about every genre inside this book. There’s even a heist. This might be why it’s the Good Morning America book club pick this month – congrats Kirsty!

Then I learned she’s a former book blogger so there’s recommendations back and forth, all over the place.

You can find Kirsty Greenwood at her website, KirstyGreenwood.com, and sign up for her newsletter. You can also find her on Instagram and on Facebook at KirstyGreenwoodBooks.

We also mentioned:

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621. RT Rewind: September 2002 Ads & Features Jun 28, 2024

We’re going back in time to look at the ads and features of the September 2002 issue of Romantic Times!

This issue left us with many questions, such as:

What the hell is Tart Noir?

Are reviewers elsewhere too mean? (Not us – we weren’t online yet!)

How much lore is there about pesto?

Should you jump into a pile of leaves?

Should you soak crawfish tails in milk?

Why is an author defending polygamy?

What snack is best for reading and why is it not an apple?

We had a lot of fun, even if the feature article was a bit of a let down, so please come join us for assorted silliness, and a Shadow Prince with no neck!

Don’t miss the visual aids – so many screengrabs, so many weird necks!

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620. Romance and Kickstarter with Oriana Leckert Jun 21, 2024

Oriana Leckert is the Head of Publishing at Kickstarter, and works with the many, many authors who are finding community support on Kickstarter. They’re hosting a celebration all this month, Heartstrings & Hardbacks: Kickstarter and Romance, so we connected to talk about successful romance projects, strategies that work and don’t work on Kickstarter, and the evolution of fandom (a topic I’m always curious about).

Oriana has worked in publishing for a long time, and applies her entire employment experience to her current job. She’s also the author of a book called Brooklyn Spaces, and it sounds like it was a really cool project.

You can find Oriana Leckert on her website, and on Instagram.

We also mentioned:

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619. RT Rewind: September 2002 Reviews Jun 14, 2024

We asked our Patreon community to vote on this month’s issue, and September 2002 won by a wide margin. So let’s dive into the book reviews, shall we?

There are strange subcategories and overlapping genres, and also color-conscious aliens and amnesia, too. Plus, we talk a bit about one of the best lines Avon ever produced.

Don’t miss the visual aids, because some of the covers are something.

We also mentioned:

Avon True Romances
A thread from Ashia Monet on the shift away from story arc to story trope (Twitter)
Carrie’s review for How to Manage a Marquess, where she talks about soap bubble books

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618. The Romance Reader’s Handbook with Steve Ammidown Jun 07, 2024

In June 1989, Kathryn Falk published The Romance Reader’s Handbook, a 354 page spiral bound collection of everything a romance reader would need to know. Steve Ammidown leads us on a brief tour of this artifact of romance history.

There’s a collection of over 2000 pseudonyms, plus a directory of where to contact authors, lists of bookstores that love romance, and recommended reads. And of course, advertisements from authors inviting readers to correspond with them.

This is early social media for authors and readers, and it’s a fascinating time capsule.

A PDF scan of the pages we talk about is available for downloads at SBTB.

You can find Steve Ammidown at RomanceHistory.com, and on Instagram @RomanceHistorian.

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617. A Romance Soundtracks Sampler May 31, 2024

In episode 611, we talked about the ads and features in the April 2005 issue of Romantic Times, and there was an ad on the back cover for Romance Soundtracks. We could not find anything about them, but Malaraa in our Patreon sure did!

We’ve got samples! We’ve got MUSIC that you’re meant to read with, and Amanda tries to identify the genre/album the music was from.

MASSIVE THANKS to Malaraa for finding this treasure trove!

We’ve! Got! Links!

Music: Purple-Planet.com

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616. Reading Rubrics with Shana May 24, 2024

In a review for Never Cross a Highlander, Shana came up with the ACAB scale, or the Alyssa Cole Anti-Slavery Book Scale, which ranks how central the horror of slavery is to the storyline. I asked her to tell me all about it, and Shana, kindly, said yes.Our conversation grows (of course) to include the field of narrative therapy and bibliotherapy, other evaluative rubrics for reading, and the subgenres, professions, settings we can, and cannot, relax into.

NB: I had a cold when we recorded, so apologies for my very low voice.

You can find Shana here at SBTB, and on Instagram @BlackBabeReads.

We also mentioned:

Music: purple-planet.com

Special offer from Lume: New customers get 15% off ALL Lume products with our exclusive code and link. Use code SARAH15 at LumeDeodorant.com.

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615. RT Rewind: May 1994 Ads & Features May 17, 2024

Amanda and I are traveling back in time to May 1994 and taking a look at the ads and features inside Romantic Times Magazine – oh, it’s a time.

We have questions – and answers!

Are Eric Braeden and Victor Newman the same guy?

Is Kathryn Falk writing celebrity gossip and outing people?

Are there Lorena Bobbit jokes?

Were Glamour Shots™ very well represented among author headshots?

We had a great time looking at the reviews, and the ads & features do not disappoint.

Don’t miss the visual aids. Seriously. There’s crooning.

Thank you to Mari the Romance Girl for this issue!

Music: purple-planet.com

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614. Dollar Princesses and Marriages of Convenience with Harper St. George May 10, 2024

Harper St. George joins me to talk about The Stranger I Wed (look at that gorgeous cover) and the dollar princesses of the Gilded Age. We talk about transactional marriages, the power dynamics of marriages of convenience – and Harper has a few recommendations of her favorites!

You can find Harper St. George at her website, HarperStGeorge.com, and on Instagram @HarperStGeorge.

We also mentioned:

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613. RT Rewind: May 1994 Reviews May 03, 2024

Amanda and I are traveling to May 1994 and taking a look at the book reviews in this edition of RT Rewind!

We’re answering many questions, including:

Why does five stars mean something is a classic, but one star is acceptable?
What do CS, RM, VR, and F stand for inside Contemporary and New Reality?
What grade did Dreaming of You receive?

There’s so much Fabio, a telepathic cat, blaming tornadoes for murder, and a lot of time travel.

But my gosh, golly, gee whiz, do not miss the visuals for this episode!

Music: purple-planet.com

Control Body Odor ANYWHERE with @lumedeodorant and get 15% off with promo code [SARAH15 ] at LumeDeodorant.com! #lumepod

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612. Poetry in Scots with Len Pennie Apr 26, 2024

Len Pennie’s book of Scots poetry poyums is out in the US this week, and you might have seen my post about her book launch earlier this week. Len is my guest today and we’re going to talk about:

Poetry!
Healing from trauma and abuse
The subversive revolution of teaching a word a day in a minoritized language
Using humor to overcome the “cultural hangover of linguistic oppression”
More poetry!

TW/CW: discussion of intimate partner violence and domestic abuse, depression, stalking.

Music: purple-planet.com

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611. Romantic Times Rewind: April 2005 Ads & Features Apr 19, 2024

Y’all, the April 2005 issue of Romantic Times is a treasure of truly amazing fun. So many of you told me that episode 609, where we looked at the reviews, made you laugh so hard you cried.

Well, let me share some highlights of what is about to happen to your eardrums.

The Mr. Romance Cover Model Pageant was a Six-episode reality tv show on the Oxygen network, and we missed it when it ran. It’s not all on YouTube but we have a few links!
We have the arrival of what I called the “venti sized” paperback
Romance writers with “dedicated rooms for Star Wars collectibles!”
We’ve got some disturbing gimp masks on computer generated Poser people.

It’s a glorious time. Come on over.

Did you ever attend Mr Romance at RT? Did you see the Mr Romance Pageant on tv?! And gosh, do you have a Romance SoundTrack CD? Please tell me everything.

Don’t miss the visual aids!

Links! For your browsing pleasure!

And visit the visual aids for a clip from Mr Romance on the Oxygen network!

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610. Writing Super Fun Fantasy with Kimberly Lemming Apr 12, 2024

What happens when you write the books you want to read but are having a hard time finding? Many good things. Kimberly Lemming loves fantasy, and started writing her own catnip, which led to the joy that is the Mead Mishaps series.We answer ALL the tough questions, like how many mead mishaps have we personally experienced? How does one make the bananas spin? And why is Galavant the greatest production ever made?

Note: in the middle of the episode, the email Kimberly sent that gave me a peek at the cover for That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Human, which was in the final stages of development, so you’ll hear me lose my cool.

For the book and video games we discuss in this episode, please visit our show notes page!

You can find Kimberly Lemming at KimberlyLemming.com, and on Instagram @KimberlyLemming.

We also mentioned cover artist Mike Pape, and the cover art for the Mead Mishaps series is visible on his website, too!

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609. Romantic Times Rewind: April 2005 Reviews Apr 05, 2024

We’re taking a tour through the new releases across many genres from April 2005, nearly 20 (!!!) years ago. Romance has changed a wee little bit.

How much cringe shall we find? Plenty!

Other oddities? Mainstream includes YA and Chick Lit. Contemporary includes New Reality. Regency in Format includes Corinthians! And we’re trying to understand a character who wants to “dim the pain of turning 30.” It’s a ride, as usual.

Side trips include Sea Breeze, Stridex, and St Ives Medicated Apricot Scrub.

TW: for mention of sexual assault, body horror – we do announce it in the audio so you can skip ahead.

You can find all the Romantic Times Rewind episodes, visual aids posts, and more in one convenient place!

Don't miss the visual aids for this episode!

We also mentioned:

Regency in format, not genre: This r/HRNovlesDiscussion post shows a treasure trove of Regency/format books.
Did you use St. Ives Medicated Scrub? I sure as heck did.
RegRom.com answers the question, ‘What is a Corinthian?’
Amanda mentioned author Naomi Hirahara in a recent Get Rec’d with Amanda post

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608. Women as Shields and Scapegoats: Talking Kate Middleton with Melissa Blue Mar 29, 2024

Mel Blue was my guest when we discussed Spare – which has become one of my most listened-to episodes – so I asked her back to talk about the narratives of PR, why the weird stories around Kate Middleton grabbed attention worldwide, and why so many people were and are paying attention.

On one level it’s a story that originated in gossip about rich and powerful people in an archaic power structure being weird. But it’s also a story of misinformation, propaganda, and a complicit media system, and we deal with that over here in the US, too.

This was recorded on Wednesday, March 20, and we did a follow up this week following the announcement late Friday, March 22, that Kate Middleton is undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer. So there are two parts to this episode.

A few content warnings: Discussion of self harm, disordered eating, suicidal ideation, and child abuse and exploitation.

Please visit the show page for all the resources used for this episode, including news articles, Instagram live recordings, and Twitter threads.

Music: Purple-planet.com

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607. RT Rewind: March 2016 Ads & Features Mar 22, 2024

We’re looking at the ads and features from the March 2016 issue of RT Book Reviews!

We’ve got cowboy heads growing out of gravel roads, a dude who looks like he’s on fire, and that one guy who is always ripping his shirt off from romance covers. We decide on an in-house definition of “Castle Bangenschloss.”

Oh! And a really angry reader wants self pub authors to stop using the same stock images for different covers. It’s wild, y’all.

Don’t miss the visual aids that go with this episode!

We’ve got links!

Thank you to our sponsor, Lume! New customers get $5 off Lume’s Starter Pack with our exclusive code.Use code SARAH30 at LumeDeodorant.com.

Music: Purple-planet.com

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606. Behind the Scenes of Classic Cover Art: Shirley Green and Sharon Spiak Mar 15, 2024

Shirley Green and Sharon Spiak are the duo behind many, and I mean many of your favorite romance covers, and are absolutely 100% the duo behind one of mine – For the Love of a Pirate by Edith Layton. The hair. The waves. THE ROCKS.

I connected with Shirley and Sharon and got a History Lesson in how cover shoots used to work. We’re talking costume, art direction, photography, and painting skills combined to make some very memorable covers, and how much deliberate emotional care went into some of the photo shoots with the cover models.

You can find Shirley Green’s portfolio and stock image collection at ShirleyGreenPhotography.com. You can find Sharon Spiak at SharonSpiakArt.com.

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605. RT Rewind: March 2016 Reviews Mar 08, 2024

Amanda and I are diving into the reviews from the March 2016 issue of RT Book Reviews.

In this episode you will learn about A Tale of Two Biddies. You’ll discover Baby Bothering and God Bothering. And most importantly, are demons really a natural fit for the Regency era?

All these questions are more will be answered in this episode!

Don’t miss the visual aids for this episode!

Music: Purple-planet.com

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604. Dessert Projects, Romantasy, and Whimsy with Katee Robert Mar 01, 2024

Katee Robert joins me to talk about her many releases this year, about marketing through Kickstarter and direct-to-reader options like Patreon, and about the foundational books in fantasy and romance that got her started.

We also talk about current issues, like Findaway Voices and Spotify’s changes to the terms of service for authors.

You can find Katee Robert on her website, KateeRobert.com. You can also check out her Patreon.

We also mentioned

“The trial put the inner workings of the company on public display in sometimes unflattering ways. In his testimony, Dohle argued that success in publishing is driven by instinct and random luck, not necessarily a company’s size — an argument that the judge found unconvincing. And he revealed his dissatisfaction with the company’s performance since the 2013 merger.”

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603. Romantic Times Rewind: April 2006 Ads and Features! Feb 23, 2024

We’re traveling back to April 2006 in this month’s RT Rewind!

We discuss the evolving cover art for the Immortals After Dark series and style changes in illustrated covers. We also talk about

Well water adventures
Author photo? MUST be leaning
A contest made of author prom photos
Many predecessors to GoodReads
A book from 1991, promoted in 2006, made into a movie in 2022.

And a FULL PAGE of Mr. Romance.

When I start talking about Redeeming Love, massive trigger warning and content warning, just a giant pile of YIKES. The book summary begins at 35:20.

Thank you for the reviews, the support, and the positive feedback to this series! If you’re enjoying these episodes, please drop a comment below or on the visual aids post and let me know?

Music: purple-planet.com

Don't miss the visual aids! Really, I mean it!

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602. Foundations of Fantasy Romance with Jennifer L. Armentrout Feb 16, 2024

Jennifer L. Armentrout joins me to talk about the books she considers the foundation of her fantasy romance reading, and what classical historical romances she adores. Her newest book, Visions of Flesh and Blood is out next week, so we’re looking forward, and back – and way, way back in the past.

We talk about a series she’s paused, and why, and what it means to update a book that doesn’t ‘age well.’

What fantasy or historical romances were foundational reading for you? I’d love to know which are your favorites!

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601. Romantic Times Rewind: April 2006 Reviews! Feb 09, 2024

We’re traveling back to April 2006 in this month’s RT Rewind! We take a look at the reviews in this issue and we’ve got some one-star reviews, and curiously paranormal is part of contemporary? It’s weird.

Things I initially pronounce wrong: demesne

TW/CW: mention of suicide in book reviews, plus snakes and rat infestations.

Link to visual aids!

...

Music: purple-planet.com

Coupon! LUME: New customers get $5 off Lume’s Starter Pack with our exclusive code. Use code SARAH30 at LumeDeodorant.com.

Support for this episode comes from LUV! LUV is an app that connects authors and fans with producers, actors, plus film and publishing industry folks to celebrate romance in many marvelous formats, and demystify the process of adapting books for film and television. LUV is available on Apple and in Google Play, and online: checkoutluv.com.

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600. Life is Too Short to Have Sex You Don’t Like, with Emily Nagoski Feb 02, 2024

It's our 600th episode!! Emily Nagoski is back to talk about her new book Come Together: The Science (and Art!) of Creating Lasting Sexual Connections.

We talk about the genesis for this book, which is in part that writing a book is stressful and hard, and while writing Come As You Are, Emily noticed that her own interest in sex was missing. By diving headlong into all the research, she realized that people who sustain lasting sexual connections have a few major things in common, which is what this book is all about.

CW/TW: we mention this in the conversation, but it's important to note that at 23:36 we talk about intimate partner violence, and at 1:00:45 we talk about intentional weight loss. We are also talking about intimacy, sex, and sexual practices.

Music: Purple-planet.com

You can find out more about Emily Nagoski at her website, EmilyNagoski.com.

We also mentioned Dr. Shamika Thorpe's work, which you can find at DrShemeka.com.

And I mentioned this Tweet from author Racheline Maltese.

Thank you to our sponsor, HelloFresh. Visit HelloFresh.com/smarttrashyfree and use code smarttrashyfree for FREE breakfast for life! One breakfast item per box while subscription is active.

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599. Romantic Times Rewind: December 2015 Ads and Features Jan 26, 2024

We’re traveling back to December 2015 in this month’s RT Rewind, and we're taking a look at the ads and features in this issue!

We’ve got LONG series from Elizabeth Hoyt, Kresley Cole, and Shannon Stacey, plus SWAT team shifters, Navy SEAL Highlanders, and some memories, some not so great, of the 2016 RT convention in Vegas…at the Rio.

And then! We have a supplement that only appears in the digital editions of RT at the time: the Indie/Hybrid News & Reviews Supplement. It’s a wild ride.

Don't miss the visual aids for this week's episode!

What's the longest series you’ve stuck with?

What Duran book should Amanda read?

Music: purple-planet.com

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598. Historical Romances for Horse Girls with Mimi Matthews Jan 19, 2024

Mimi Matthews returns to the show to talk about her latest novel, The Lily of Ludgate Hill, which is the third book in her Belles of London series. Among the major themes of this book? PINING. SO MUCH PINING. Which I love.

But this is also a book about grief: characters are pining for what was as much as other characters are pining for what could be. So we talk about grief, loss, hope, and about adapting to massive upheaval - and about The Gilded Age television show.

CW: We talk a lot about grief, disordered eating, diet culture in the 90s and 2000s, the death of Mimi’s father, which inspired parts of Lily.

Music: purple-planet.com

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597. Romantic Times Rewind: December 2015 Reviews Jan 12, 2024

We’re traveling back to December 2015 in this month’s RT Rewind!

We take a look at the reviews in this issue and along the way talk about audiobook series, historical romance, Jesus by Volume, and the ever-so-small range of grades in each genre. We also take a side trip into JR Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series.

You can find the visual aids for this episode right here!

You can find all the Romantic Times Rewind episodes, show notes, and visual aids at RTRewind.com!

We also mentioned my review of Lover Revealed by JR Ward.

And finally: thank you to the SFWA for sponsoring this episode! Be sure to check out HEA Quest on January 20!

Music: purple-planet.com

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596. Books, Wishes, and Extremely Good Jokes with Sneezy, Sandra, Jenna, Lisa, and Shana Jan 05, 2024

Our final holiday wishes episode - thank you to everyone who makes these episodes such a treat. It’s an honor to connect with all of you!

This week, Sneezy, Sandra, Tiffany, Lisa and Shana share recommendations, wishes, and terrible jokes. CW: we start off and end with some talk about anxiety brain gremlins, so FYI.

Thank you again for making these episodes so fun! Happy New Year!

We also mentioned:

COUPON WOO HOO! Go to HelloFresh.com/smarttrashyfree and use code smarttrashyfree for FREE breakfast for life. One breakfast item per box while subscription is active.

Music: purple-planet.com

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595. Holiday Wishes from Amanda, GarlicKnitter, Alanna, and Claudia Dec 29, 2023

We've got books, wishes, and wonderful jokes from Amanda, GarlicKnitter, Alanna, and Claudia! We’re traveling around the world with this episode! We’ve got many, many books to tell you about, and also wishes for cozy light and joy.

Music: purple-planet.com

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594. Holiday Wishes and Recs from Verity, Elyse, Carrie, and Rich Dec 22, 2023

More holiday wishes, book recs, TV recs, and bad jokes, with you as my guests!

This week, I’m joined by Verity, Elyse, Carrie, and Rich, aka Mr. Elyse, and we talk about So Much Entertainment! Verity and I chat about books, tv, and writing - so if you’re looking for some British tv shows, you’re in a lot of luck. We do start with some critique of the early 2000s language about women, bodies, body shaming, and anti-fat bias.

Then I chat with Elyse and Carrie, who review for SBTB, and maybe they liked the same book (they did!). And then Rich, aka Mr. Elyse, tells us about a book that rocked his world.

What about you? Were any of these books on your list? Any anti-inflammatory cookbook ideas? Telly suggestions? Let us know!

Happy Holidays from all of us, to all of you!

Music: Purple-planet.com

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593. Romantic Times Rewind: July 2004 Ads & Features Dec 15, 2023

It’s July 2004, and the ads and features are a wild ride.

I might say that every month but this month it is especially true. We learn about a bunch of different bookstore that are still in business - and encounter a lot of ads for small presses that are, alas, long gone. There’s a lot of romance history in this issue.

Bonus: I solve a HaBO for Amanda! Live! I’m so proud of me.

Important: Do NOT miss the visual aids for this episode. My goodness me.

Music: Purple-planet.com

Coupon! New customers get $5 off Lume’s Starter Pack with our exclusive code and link. And for a limited time, returning customers can get $5 off their next purchase of $30 or more, too! Use code SARAH30 at LumeDeodorant.com.

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592. Holiday Wishes and Recs from Agnès, Sue, Jo and Varian Dec 08, 2023

It’s time for holiday wishes, book recommendations, and absolutely dreadful jokes, with listeners and reviewers as my guests!

Each year I invite the review team from SBTB and the members of the Podcast Patreon to connect with me to offer recs, wishes, and, if they wish, a bad joke. These episodes are so popular and are like weekly hugs for your ears and your brain, with some potential hugs toward your TBR, which is definitely about to get a little taller.

In this first of our holiday wishes series, Agnès, Sue, Jo and Varian join me.

Find out what books made up 10% of Agnès’ reading this year!
What series and what webtoon did Sue get lost in?
What series did Jo and I have in common? What book did Varian text absolutely everyone about?
And what happens when I’m on the receiving end of all the wonderful terrible jokes?

Happy Holidays from all of us, to all of you!

Coupon!

New customers get $5 off Lume’s Starter Pack with our exclusive code. And for a limited time, returning customers can get $5 off their next purchase of $30 or more, too! Use code SARAH30 at LumeDeodorant.com.

Music: purple-planet.com

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591. Romantic Times Rewind: July 2004 Reviews Dec 01, 2023

Thanks to Kay Sisk for sending us this issue! We’re taking a look at the book reviews from the July 2004 issue of RT Book Club – yup, the magazine had a different title back then.

This issue predates the founding of SBTB, in fact! The genres are different, and so are the books inside. And! We have some one-star reviews!

We’re going to talk about

Color changing taffeta!
Sex in department store fitting rooms!
American historicals

And heads up for some absolutely incredible amounts of exoticism, racism, and something called “Lad Lit.”

Music: purple-planet.com

Link to visual aids!

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590. Audiobooks and Romance Tropes with Mara Wilson Nov 24, 2023

Recently, Mara Wilson was talking about her favorite (and least favorite) romance tropes on social media, so I invited her onto the podcast to tell us all about it. You may know Mara Wilson from Matilda or Mrs. Doubtfire, but she’s currently working very happily as an audiobook narrator, most recently for Chuck Tingle's Camp Damascus!

Please note: we don’t talk a lot about the films she has been in, because this was recorded while SAG-AFTRA and the WGA were on strike. Special thanks to Basil and Freya!

COUPON! Find your new favorite fits and get 15% off @marinelayer with our exclusive link -> marinelayer.com/SARAH15. #marinelayerpod

Music:Purple-planet.com

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589. Romantic Times Rewind: June 2014 Ads & Features! Nov 17, 2023

We are back with the June 2014 issue of RT Book Reviews, and we are taking a look at all the advertisements and features – and it’s a ride.

We discuss the RT awards, the ads congratulating the winning authors, strange distorted feet, and wolf eyed vikings.

No, we don’t know what that means, either.

But we do have a question! Amanda, it seems, has never read a Harlequin Presents! Which one should she read for Maximum Presents experience?

Music: purple-planet.com

Coupon! Coupon! New customers get $5 off Lume’s Starter Pack with our exclusive code and link. And for a limited time, returning customers can get $5 off their next purchase of $30 or more, too! Use code SARAH30 at LumeDeodorant.com

Link! Link! Check out all the visual aids for this episode right here at SBTB!

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588. True Crime as Social Change with Sarah Weinman Nov 10, 2023

Sarah Weinman joins me to talk about true crime, a genre which I absolutely cannot read! We talk about how true crime “can be a catalyst for social change” and why people, especially White women, obsessed with true crime.

Plus we talk about Sarah’s latest books, Scoundrel, which has a surprising (to me) literary angle for true crime, and the anthology, Evidence of Things Seen. We discuss at length looking at the true crime genre as a whole, and exploring what true crime can do better ethically and socially.

VERY IMPORTANT INFO: We are talking about true crime in a larger context socially and ethically, but we also mention specific cases, and when possible we name the victims. We also talk frankly about the mental health costs of doing this kind of writing and investigative journalism.

The timestamps for when we mention specific cases, which include murders of young people, and talk about mental health are:

13:45.71
19:19.556
24:24.126
32:43.584

Please look after yourself, ok?

Music: purple-planet.com

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587. Romantic Times Rewind: June 2014 Reviews Nov 03, 2023

We’re heading back to June 2014 to look at the nearly three hundred new books reviewed in RT Book Reviews.

Come on a journey with us through historical, contemporary, thrillers, and inspirational, and learn more about cattle fraud. We are obsessed with boilers.

Also: apologies in advance for the fact that I cannot say "minutiae," which, my bad. It's a word that never comes out of my brain correctly. My apologies.

All the book covers, images, and more are right here at this link.

Music: purple-planet.com

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586. Saying Yes to the Dress with Valerie Bowman Oct 27, 2023

In the May 2014 Ads and Features episode of our Romantic Times Rewind series, the cover feature was all about Valerie Bowman, her latest book - and inside was a mention of her appearance on Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta in 2014!

So Amanda and I connected with Valerie to hear all the details! We talk about weddings and dresses and reality tv, including a side trip discussion to the real housewives, Scandoval, and $17,000 sunglasses. Then we invent our own reality shows. This is a goofy, silly, very fun episode.

Music: purple-planet.com

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585. May 2014 Ads & Features: Romantic Times Rewind Oct 20, 2023

We’re back, traveling in time to May 2014 to take a look at the ads and the features inside RT Book Reviews magazine! Side trips include Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta, the immortality of strange stock images on book covers, and the importance of alligator fritters in the marketing budget.

You can find all the ads and images on SBTB!

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584. Queer Pirate Decolonization Fantasy with Maggie Tokuda-Hall Oct 13, 2023

THIS is episode 584 (I said in the intro that last week was 584 but I was wrong. Oops - my bad).

Maggie Tokuda-Hall returns as a guest to talk about The Siren, The Song and the Spy, and so much has changed since our last conversation in Episode 406 when the first book, The Mermaid, The Witch, and the Sea released in May 2020.

We also talk about racism and her experience with Scholastic regarding her book Love in the Library, and we talk about Baldur’s Gate and queer pirate fantasy. Come for the discussion of dismantling facism, and stay for the video game and book recs. You know, as usual.

You can find Maggie Tokuda-Hall at her website, PrettyOKMaggie.com.

We also mentioned:

I also mentioned my appearance on the Rephonic.com list of 12 Best Author Interview Podcasts - thanks, y'all!

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584. Romantic Times Rewind: May 2014 with Amanda Oct 06, 2023

It’s our first Romantic Times Rewind episode, starting with May 2014! We are looking at all 298 (!) book reviews in issue 363 of RT Book Reviews Magazine.

Amanda and I are going to pick a book from each of the review collections by genre, from historical to urban fantasy to the Teen Scene. We also discuss the very narrow grading rubric, and the rarity of two- and one-star reviews.

Journey back to May 2014 with us! And come find all the fun visuals and books in the show notes at https://bit.ly/RTRW584 and at Instagram and Tumblr!

You can find all the visual aids, screengrabs, and covers right here at SBTB.

And the entire RT Rewind archive is at RTRewind.com

Music: purple-planet.com

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Bonus: Introducing Romantic Times Rewind Oct 03, 2023

Typically on Tuesdays I release bonus episodes for the Patreon community, but this week, everyone gets the bonus because Amanda and I are introducing Romantic Times Rewind, a new series of podcast episodes where we look back at old issues of RT Book Reviews and Romantic Times Magazine. WOO HOO!

Amanda and I are going to re-read old issues of RT, and record two episodes each month. One issue will be looking at all the reviews by genre in a particular issue, and the other will look at the features, ads, and book covers inside.

I’ll be posting images and screengrabs from the issue on Smart Bitches, and on Instagram and Tumblr (for that extra retro flavor!).

Plus, as a member of the Patreon, you’ll have access to the complete issues we’re looking at, so you can read along with us - and tell us which books from back issues you’d most want to read.

Part of the inspiration for this series comes from the absolutely wonderful podcast Listen to Sassy, where Tara Ariano, David T. Cole, and Pamela Ribon re-read old issues of Sassy Magazine, which was a formative part of my teenager-hood.

Romantic Times Magazine and RT Book Reviews isn’t online anywhere that I’ve seen, and the site went dark in May 2018 shortly after the closure of the magazine and the conference was announced.

Most humbly, I ask: if you have back issues of RT Book Reviews or Romantic Times, print or digital, and you’d like to send them to be, PLEASE get in touch with me - sarah AT smart bitches trashy books.com. I’m scouring eBay magazine vendors and trying to gather as many as I can, and right now I have some from 2014, 2015, and 2016.

Links!

Listen to Sassy at ListenToSassy.com
Time Magazine, March 2008: “Crazy and In Charge.”
Delia's Catalog
NewType Magazine

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582. COVID Bereavement and Activism with Lorelei King Sep 29, 2023

Lorelei King has been a guest on the show before, and you may recognize her name and her voice from her work in romance audiobook narration. This week, Lorelei joins me to talk about her role as a core participant in the official UK government COVID Inquiry, which begins its second phase on October 3. We also discuss her volunteer work on the COVID Memorial Wall in London.

A content warning: We’re talking about COVID, and about death, as Lorelei’s husband Vince Marzello died from COVID in March 2020. We’re also going to talk about Boris Johnson, so big content warning for buffonery there. So I want to give you a heads up now that this episode may not be what you want, and that’s ok. Please look after yourself.

We’re talking about difficult things in this episode, but it’s fundamentally about living with grief, finding hope and finding purpose after terrible loss.

Music: purple-planet.com

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581. Death, Candy Corn, and Witches with Amanda and Maria Vale Sep 22, 2023

Several years ago, Amanda had coffee with Maria Vale at a conference, and Maria mentioned a book she was working on that sounded really cool.

And now, Molly Molloy and the Angel of Death is available to read! So we got together to talk about the book, what it’s like to write something that feels risky, different, and comes with warnings about HEA-expectations.

This becomes a conversation about the HEA, how it works, and how it is interpreted by different readers. What are your expectations for an HEA?

Music: purple-planet.com

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580. Stop and Look at the Stars, with Jennifer L. Armentrout Sep 15, 2023

I had a whopping good time talking with Jennifer Armentrout about her new book, Fall of Ruin and Wrath, about ApollyCon - which is now almost 10 years old!

We’re going to talk about the behind the scenes of ApollyCon, her launch title for the new Bramble imprint of fantasy romance, plus she takes questions from some of you about disability advocacy, living with a visual impairment, and what changes she’s seen in publishing.

Music: Purple-planet.com

You can find Jennifer L. Armentrout on her website, on Instagram, and her Facebook Group JLAnders.

We also mentioned:

And, I request a humble favor: If you have a moment and your thumbs are not busy, would you be so kind as to leave a review for the show? I used to have a few on Apple Podcasts and now they are all gone! Apple is a mystery - but reviews help other folks find the show. So if you enjoy the podcast and you want to help me reach more nifty people, please review us. Thank you!

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579. Punk Rock Writing with Chuck Tingle Sep 08, 2023

Dr. Chuck Tingle is back!My episode with Chuck Tingle from 2016 remains one of my most popular, and I was very excited to have Chuck back on the show while he was in the middle of his tour for Camp Damascus.

We’re going to talk about eliciting joy, proving love, the three most maligned genres and why they’re denigrated, and Chuck’s ever-evolving trot as an artist and a person.

Thank you to Caroline Perny for coordinating this interview!

Music: purple-planet.com

LINKS!

You can find Chuck Tingle on his website, ChuckTingle.com, and on Tumblr (!!) at DrChuckTingle.Tumblr.com.

It's been a long time since I've linked to Tumblr. Ah, good times.

We also discussed his prior episode, Episode 206. Proving Love: An Interview with Dr. Chuck Tingle.

Finally, a humble request: if you are so inclined, would you please leave a review for the show? I used to have some on Apple Podcasts - and now I have none? I would appreciate your time and comments so very much. Thank you.

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578. Harlem After Midnight with Louise Hare Sep 01, 2023

Louise Hare is the author of the Canary Club mystery series, and book two, Harlem After Midnight is out this week! Louise joins me to talk about her main character, Lena Aldridge, and how Lena uses every asset at her disposal to navigate both a transatlantic cruise in book one, and Harlem in the 1930s in book two.We also talk about writing in dual timelines and the fun of writing family drama and murder, and most of all writing a character whose most familiar home is whatever stage she is on.

It is a little tricky to do an interview for the second book of a mystery series, so to give you a bit more context, this is the cover copy for Harlem After Midnight:

Harlem, 1936: Lena Aldridge grew up in a cramped corner of London, hearing stories of the bright lights of Broadway. She always imagined that when she finally went to New York City, she’d be there with her father. But now he’s dead, and she’s newly arrived and alone, chasing a dream that has quickly dried up. When Will Goodman—the handsome musician she met on the crossing from England—offers for her to stay with his friends in Harlem, she agrees. She has nowhere else to go, and this will give her a chance to get to know Will better and see if she can find any trace of the family she might have remaining.

Will’s friends welcome her with open arms, but just as Lena discovers the stories her father once told her were missing giant pieces of information, she also starts to realize the man she’s falling too fast and too hard for has secrets of his own.

…

Music: purple-planet.com

...

A humble request from me, your podcast host and producer: If you have a moment and your thumbs are not busy, would you be so kind as to leave a review for the show?

I used to have a few and now they are all gone? It is a mystery - but reviews help other folks find the show., so if you enjoy the podcast and you want to help me reach more nifty people, please drop us a review if you're so inclined? Thank you!

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577. Killing Folks with Deanna Raybourn Aug 25, 2023

Deanna Raybourn is back, and we’re talking about some of the unusual methods used to kill folks in Killers of a Certain Age –and there are mild plot spoilers for that book, please be aware. We also talk about the images she receives from fans of her series, and the larger context of why there’s a sense of catharsis reading about terrible people meeting terrible ends.

TW/CW: I mention lice when talking about networks of women. And we’re talking about poison, murders, and some serial killers.

Music: purple-planet.com

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A humble request from me, your podcast host and producer: If you have a moment and your thumbs are not busy, would you be so kind as to leave a review for the show?

I used to have a few and now they are all gone? It is a mystery – but reviews help other folks find the show., so if you enjoy the podcast and you want to help me reach more nifty people, please drop us a review if you’re so inclined? Thank you!

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576. BookTok, Hockey Romance, and People as Products with Kayleigh Donaldson Aug 18, 2023

Pop culture critic and former book blogger Kayleigh Donaldson joins me to talk about BookTok, hockey romance, and the Seattle Kraken. We’re locating this conversation in a larger discussion about fandom, fanfiction about real people, and the ways celebrity culture, fan culture, and romance intersect.

I want to mention that we do talk very briefly about Johnny Depp and fandom, and larger issues of misogyny and sexual harrassment.

Music: purple-planet.com

You can find Kayleigh Donaldson on Twitter @Ceillidhann, and on Pajiba.com. Her newsletter, The Gossip Reading Club, is excellent.

We also mentioned the Dundee Stars hockey team in Dundee, Scotland, and I mentioned Klout, which was a way, way old memory of online weirdness.

And here are the articles she mentioned that she wrote:

Paste Magazine: "The Hottest Romances of the Season are All Happening On Ice"
Paste Magazine: "Why is Adam Driver the Hero of Every Romance Novel Now?"
Pajiba.com: "Krack My Back: Booktok, the Seattle Kraken, and Why You Shouldn't Turn Real People into Your Playthings."

Important Coupon News!

To celebrate 5 years of HEAs, Love’s Sweet Arrow is offering Smart Bitches listeners 20% off purchases in store and online throughout the month of August with code SMARTBITCHES. All orders over 100 dollars will receive a free gift with purchase. Enter code SMARTBITCHES at checkout online or mention it in store to receive your discount. Code applies only to in-stock products. Free gift will be selected by staff when filling your order.

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575. Dragon Called: Part II of a Heaving Bosoms Crossover Aug 11, 2023

Time for another Heaving Bosoms Crossover!

The first part of this recap of Dragon Called is up this week at Heaving Bosoms, and here for your listening pleasure is part II. I do a quick recap at the start, so no worries.

This book, and episode, are both very NSFW though - heads up for that.

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Important coupon news!

To celebrate 5 years of HEAs, Love’s Sweet Arrow is offering Smart Bitches listeners 20% off purchases in store and online throughout the month of August with code SMARTBITCHES.

In addition, all orders over 100 dollars will receive a free gift with purchase. Enter code SMARTBITCHES at checkout online or mention it in store to receive your discount.

Code applies only to in-stock products. Free gift will be selected by staff when filling your order.

***

New customers GET $5 OFF a Lume Starter Pack with code SARAH30 at lumedeodorant.com/sarah.

***

Music: purple-planet.com

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574. Historical Romance with Mimi Matthews Aug 04, 2023

Mimi Matthews joins me to talk about self publishing historical romance, and about being one of many lawyers who write romance. We also talk about chronic pain and recovery, disability, and the joys of re-reading. Plus, she shares some of her all time favorite historical romances.

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573. Man Titty Fruit Roll Up: Romance Conference Memories with Amanda Jul 28, 2023

In past years, Amanda and I would be at different romance conferences around this time, and it got me thinking. So we connected to talk about what we miss about romance-focused conferences, and what would our ideal book-focused conference look like?

So! Many! Links! To share with you!

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572. Horror Recs for Romance Readers with Agatha Andrews from She Wore Black Jul 21, 2023

Agatha Andrews from the She Wore Black podcast joins me to share some summer horror recs perfect for romance readers! We also discuss her activism in Texas, how libraries are sanctuaries, and the origins of purse bingo as a charity fundraiser.

Plus, what happens when Taylor Swift fans and Stoker Con share the same hotel.

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Music: purple-planet.com

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571. Geeky Gen-X Romance with Cathy Yardley Jul 14, 2023

Cathy Yardley joins me this week to talk about her new book, Role Playing, which is a Gen-X romance featuring “an unapologetically grumpy forty-eight-year-old hermit” who joins an online gaming guild as Bogwitch and meets a healer named Otter. We talk about writing romance for 20 years and counting, and Cathy shares video game recs and book recs, too!

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570. Sex Positivity with Lana Ferguson and Rachel Lynn Solomon Jul 07, 2023

In Rachel Lynn Solomon’s newest book Business or Pleasure and in Lana Ferguson’s new book The Nanny, both authors engage directly with sex positivity and honest intimacy through their characters and the plot.

I’ll let the authors describe their books, but we’re talking about sex lessons where the heroine is teaching the hero how to be better at sex after a terrible one night stand, about OnlyFans and autonomous sex work, and most of all, about how romance is encouraging people to own their sexuality and advocate for their pleasure and satisfaction.

I had a BALL recording this, and I hope you enjoy listening to it just as much.

Thank you to Kristin Cipolla, their publicist at PenguinRandomHouse, for the incredible pitch and for setting up this interview.

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569. Romance in Libraries with Robin Bradford Jun 30, 2023

Librarian Robin Bradford has a new book: The Reader’s Advisory Guide to Romance! We talk about what reader’s advisory is, and how she teaches libraries to welcome readers looking for romance, and introduce romance to readers who aren’t aware it’s something they like.

Robin talks a lot about book covers as marketing devices on Twitter, so of course we talk about the evolution of romance covers, too, plus summer book lists from schools and the media, and different online sources for book discovery. (Yes, I’m still navigating low-grade grief at the loss of Twitter personally and professionally.) Robin also gives library workshops to other librarians (a profession that is eighty-six percent White) about diversifying collections, and we talk a lot about that experience.

Most important - how do you support your library? Robin has suggestions!

Music: purple-planet.com

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568. Behind the Scenes at the Ballet, with Melanie Hamrick Jun 23, 2023

Melanie Hamrick is a former ballerina at the American Ballet Theatre and has just released her debut romance, First Position. So we are talking about ballet, and about balancing - both on your toes, and in career changes. We also cover how much writing and ballet have in common.

We are talking about professional ballet, so there is some mention of disordered eating and extreme body consciousness.

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567. Historical Research and Ill Mannered Ladies with Alison Goodman Jun 16, 2023

Alison Goodman’s new book, The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies is out this week, and you are definitely going to want to read this book - and listen to this episode! We talk about her book, of course, and about writing female-forward action scenes featuring “old maids.”

We also talk about her recently completed doctorate, which was in historical fiction research methodology. So come for the Regency spinsters, and stay for the deep dive into research. This is a very fun conversation, which is fitting because it’s about a very fun book.

A special thank you to Yazmine Hassan for setting up this interview!

Music:Purple-Planet.com

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566. The Blessings of Comfort Reads with KJ Charles Jun 09, 2023

Recently KJ Charles tweeted about how absolutely devouring the Blessings series by Beverly Jenkins helped “save her sanity during the 2020 lockdown.”

So I asked if she’d talk to me about it - and to my surprise this is a popular topic at the moment! She recently did a panel about comfort reading, and I’m really excited to take a look at what makes a comfort read, well, comfy. Plus, we learn what a HFY ending is.

And brace yourself, we have a LOT of recs.

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565. Once More with Feeling, with Elissa Sussman Jun 02, 2023

Elissa Sussman has a new book, Once More with Feeling, so of course I could not WAIT to have her back to talk about the story, the pop culture inspirations for this novel, and her research methods.

We also talk about the way stardom and pop stardom specifically has changed since the early 2000s, and how we’re now examining the way we talked about young women and young people at that time.

TW/CW: I want to flag that because we’re talking about pop stars in the early 2000s, there are references to disordered eating, anti fat bias, and staggering misogyny.

I have QUESTIONS: Do you have a favorite musical? Did you or do you have a favorite pop star?

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Music: purple-planet.com

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564. Bunny Aliens in Space: Cover Design with LJ Logosz May 26, 2023

In September of 2022, we snarked a cover, Planet Oster: Fertility Fusion.

The cover designer, who is also one half of the writing team behind the series, reached out to me saying that they were unironically flattered that we’d snarked the cover, and asked if I’d like to talk about the process and the behind the scenes of the design work.

Of course I said yes.

Music: Purple-planet.com

Coupon!

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563. A Bookish Random AMA with Amanda! May 19, 2023

You asked questions, and we have answers! We talk about paranormal worldbuilding mysteries, choosing recommendations to introduce folks to romance, and our origin stories - plus the enigma that is Amanda’s ability to remember book details.

Thank you to Varian, Norette, Rachel, Elizabeth, Sandra, and Sol for the questions!

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562. Cover Snark Live: May Bunny Edition May 12, 2023

Amanda and I are back, trying to shock one another, and possibly you, with astonishing covers. We have Easter and bunnies and our latest guess as to what the next monster schtupping romance trend will be!

For extra fun, try to imagine what the cover looks like based on our baffled descriptions, then have a look at the show notes to see the cover in question. How close are you to the stunning reality?

You can see all the covers right here.

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561. Love and Money with Meredith Goldstein from the Love Letters Podcast May 05, 2023

Meredith Goldstein is the host of the Boston Globe’s Love Letters podcast, and she’s been writing their Love Letters advice column for years.

The newest season of Love Letters has arrived, and this season is all about money. We talk about the stories from couples featured in this season, and what she’s learned about love and relationships writing an advice column for so long.

And of course, we talk about books, too.

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560. Reading Conundrums & Habits Apr 28, 2023

Amanda and I are answering listener questions about reading when you’re burnt out, saving the last book of a series, and mood reading. We also talk video games, cozy horror especially, and more.

Thank you to Agatha, Malaraa, Clay, Ellen, and Abigail for the questions for this episode!

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We also mentioned:

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Music: Purple-planet.com

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559. Essentials of Accessibility with Jeff Adams Apr 21, 2023

Jeff Adams, who you may know as one half of The Big Gay Fiction Podcast, is also a credentialed expert in web accessibility, and he’s co-written a new book, Content for Everyone.

This book is for creative people to help ensure that all your online content, from websites to social media posts, is accessible to everyone.

We’re going to talk about the top four things you can do to make your web content accessible, and spoiler: they’re really not difficult.

Then, of course, we’ve got tv and book recs, because that’s what we do here.

music: Purple-planet.com

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Honeylove.com/SARAH - Get 20% off!

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558. The Myths of BookTok, with Chels Ebooks Apr 14, 2023

Chels, who is on TikTok as Chels_Ebooks, has been doing a series debunking the myths of BookTok, and let me tell you, when people say everything old is new again? Myths about the sales power of readers on social media are recycled with every new platform.

We’re going to debunk some myths about romance and TikTok, and cover what Chels really loves about TikTok, too.

And we have some very special discussions of classic romances and even more classic cover art.

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557. Behind the Scenes with Karelia Stetz-Waters Apr 07, 2023

Amanda and I make a startling discovery at the start of this episode! Author Karelia Stetz-Waters collects clitoris images and research and we have so many questions. After we take a side trip into the French Olympic mascot design, and cliteracy, a term coined by Sophia Wallace.Then we talk about Karelia’s latest book, Behind the Scenes, which was one of Amanda’s favorite books.

Music: purple-planet.com

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556. Excellent Romance & Recs with Olivia Waite Mar 31, 2023

Olivia Waite joins me to talk about her New York Times romance column, and her best-of coverage for 2022. We talk about her favorite books of 2022, about writing grief, writing her column, and what’s next.

We take a side trip into discussing the emotionally intense books that are popular now, and the properties that had an emotional wallop on us when we were younger.

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Control Body Odor ANYWHERE with @lumedeodorant and get over 40% off your starter pack with promo code SARAH at lumedeodorant.com/SARAH! #lumepod

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Music: purple-planet.com

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555. Fashion and the State of Blogging with The Fug Girls Mar 24, 2023

Jessica Morgan and Heather Cocks, also known as The Fug Girls, have been blogging since 2004, and, like me, have seen a lot of changes in the business world online. We talk about how it seems like there’s yet another media contraction happening, and how that affects us, and about their new Substack, Drinks with Broads.

But of course, we also talk about fashion, stylists, and current trends, too. If you’re still looking at pictures from the Oscars, this episode will be a treat.

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554. All Things Bramble and Romance with Monique Patterson Mar 17, 2023

In February, Tor announced their new romance imprint, Bramble, and we had some questions about it!

Fortunately, VP and Executive Editor Monique Patterson sat down with me on her first day in her new position at Bramble to tell us all the things.

We also discuss how romance has changed and evolved over her career as an editor, and about being a nerd about many things including sword collecting and baking.

My favorite part of this conversation: How James Baldwin and Zora Neale Hurston influenced Monique’s acquisitions as a romance editor.

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553. Improv Improving Your Writing with Kelly Farmer Mar 10, 2023

Kelly Farmer is the author of the Out on the Ice series of hockey romances, including her latest, Calling the Shots, and a former improvisational actor. We talk about cover artist magic, her series, and identify a few reason why hockey is such a popular setting for romances.

Then we talk about how improvisational theatre exercises and techniques influence and improve writing. So if you’re stuck in your writing, maybe this will help.

I also finally learn to say Megan Rapino’s name correctly. WIN!

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This is one of the episodes I didn’t run due to the HarperCollins Union strike. Kelly Farmer and I recorded this episode in October 2022 in anticipation of her book Calling the Shots.

I want to thank Kelly for her understanding and for her support of the strike. I’m very happy to share this episode with you now.

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552. Contemporary Romance, RomComs, and Grief with Melonie Johnson Mar 03, 2023

Not all contemporary romances are romcoms, but many are, and Melonie Johnson joins me this week to talk about both, and about her new romcom, Too Wrong to Be Right.

She too wrote a character who works in the funeral industry, so we talk a bit about that, too! The talk about different burial options and discussion of the funeral industry starts at 14 minutes in.

We also touch on burnout in the publishing industry, and grieving the professional relationships that are lost.

Music: purple-planet.com

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551. Season of Love, with Helena Greer and Sam Brody Feb 24, 2023

I connected with author Helena Greer, who wrote Season of Love, which you might have heard me talk about, because I liked it a LOT. And I also connected with Sam Brody, the acquiring editor at Hachette who worked on the book with Helena! So we talk about behind the scenes details of writing and editing, and how this book came to be.

There are a few audio skips or what I think of as sound bubbles, and my apologies for that.

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Music: purple-planet.com

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550. Heaving Bosoms Crossover, Part II: The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie Feb 17, 2023

Welcome to Part II of our Heaving Bosoms Crossover! Some of our most popular episodes in our archive are our crossovers with Heaving Bosoms, and we have a new one for you!

If you tuned in to the Heaving Bosoms episode this week for Part I, you’ll know that we are discussing and recapping The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley. Originally published in 2009, this book inspired So Much Discussion when it was first published.

You can find part one of our conversation at Heaving Bosoms: https://bit.ly/HBXoverPart1

And let’s get started with Part II!

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Music: purple-planet.com

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Control Body Odor ANYWHERE with @lumedeodorant and get over 40% off your starter pack with promo code SARAH at lumedeodorant.com/SARAH! #lumepod

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549. Spare by Prince Harry, with Melissa Blue Feb 10, 2023

Melissa Blue tweeted that she wanted to talk about Spare.So did I! So, we did!

We talk about the book itself, but we also look at the book from our perspective as romance readers and writers, and also as a larger narrative about dismantling propaganda. As Melissa points out, narratives constructed around Meghan and Harry echo narratives we’ve seen about other people, especially women, in public life who are subjected to propaganda to undermine them.

I talk a lot about how dismissing romance ignores a lot of what romance says and does, and what it represents about people, about sexuality, and about relationships. I think the same is true about celebrity narratives: the public narrative, or the approved narrative, is also very distant from the messy, complicated reality, and this particular set of stories gives us a lot to think about and discuss.

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Spice things up this Valentine's day with the game Let's Get Deep from the creators of What Do You Meme? and get 20% off with promo code SARAH at whatdoyoumeme.com/letsgetdeep.

Music: purple-planet.com

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548. Enthusiastic Sex and Podcasting with Emily Nagoski Feb 03, 2023

Emily Nagoski has a new podcast, Come As You Are! If you’ve read her books, you know what this is about. We dive right into questions of consent and enthusiasm, the way the ace/aro community has developed conversations about sexuality within the field of sex education, and how the pandemic has affected sexuality. So much of her show and this conversation center on how to address sexual satisfaction in your own life.

We also talk about her next book, which is about how couples sustain sexual attraction over the long term.

Music: purple-planet.com

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547. The HarperCollins Strike with Olga Brudastova, President of UAW 2110 Jan 27, 2023

This episode was recorded on Monday 23 January 2023. On Thursday, 26 January, the HarperCollins Union announced that HarperCollins has agreed to enter mediation.

In this interview, we go over the breakdown in negotiations that led to the HarperCollins Union strike, and the demands of the union.

Thank you to Barb, Bransler, Clay, Agnes, and Susan for the questions and to the Patreon community for the enthusiastic support and encouragement for this interview.

Music: Purple-planet.com

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546. Love and Mayhem with Ali Hazelwood Jan 20, 2023

Ali Hazelwood has a new anthology in print, Loathe to Love You, and she joins me to talk about becoming a full-time writer and the development of the novellas in this anthology. And then I hit her with a series of silly questions. Woo hoo! Bring on the mayhem.

Music: purple-planet.com

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545. The Art of Good Apologies with Marjorie Ingall and Susan McCarthy Jan 13, 2023

Marjorie Ingall and Susan McCarthy are the authors of a new, dishy, and fascinating book, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry: The Case for Good Apologies. We’re going to talk about public apologies, celebrity mishaps, and the psychology of what creates a good apology. If you’ve been thinking of making amends, or are writing a good grovel, this is a perfect episode for you.

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544. Wishes, Wins, Recs and Happy New Year with Melonie and Amanda Jan 06, 2023

Nobody brings just one book to the recommendation party! Our first podcast of 2023 features Amanda and me talking about her favorite books of 2022, and a new 2023 title, too! Plus, we discuss her discovery of the unique joys of cozy horror.

Plus, Melonie Johnson also shares her wishes, books, and wins. Thank you for being part of our year end episodes! Happy New Year!

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543. Recs, Wishes, and Wins with Martin and Cara Dec 30, 2022

Happy Almost New Year’s Eve!

Today Martin joins me from Norway to talk about his wins and wishes for you this year, and the books that made his year better, and why. Then Cara joins us to share what author got her out of a massive reading slump. Settle in for a nice global holiday visit that will definitely lift your spirits.

Music: purple-planet.com

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542. Recs and Reality TV with Shana and Maya Dec 23, 2022

Shana and Maya join me to talk about the books that absolutely rocked their world this year, and because Shana was reading Seressia Glass’ The Love Con, we take a nice detour into “what we would do if we were in charge of reality television shows.” From GBBO to Project Runway, we have some thoughts!

Music: purple-planet.com

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541. Recommendations and Revolutions with Tara and AJ Dec 16, 2022

Tara and AJ and I connected to talk about books, wins, and wishes, and took a great side trip into why the term “quiet quitting” is hot garbage, and how to achieve contentment and peace by being as mediocre as possible. If you’re feeling burnt out, you might find a lot to love in this conversation.

We also discuss AJ’s new favorite genre: gay longing in spooky landscapes.

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Music: purple-planet.com

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540. Holiday Wishes with Carrie, Sneezy, Sandra, Claudia, Darlene Marshall, and Katherine Dec 09, 2022

More holiday fun! I hope you’re enjoying these year-end recaps as much as we are!

This week, Carrie and Sneezy from the SBTB review team join me to talk holiday wishes, year-end wins, and their favorite books of 2022. We also hear from Claudia, Darlene Marshall, Sandra and Katherine with their picks, too, so hold on to your holiday TBR.

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Music: Purple-planet.com

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539. Wishes, Wins, and Best of 2022 with Sue, JFHobbit, and Maria Vale Dec 02, 2022

It’s time for the first of several end of the year episodes! This year I’ve invited the staff reviewers at SBTB and our podcast Patreon community to tell me their holiday wishes for everyone, a book that made their year better, and their big win for 2022.

This week: Sue, JFHobbit, Maria Vale and Lilisonna share their picks - and of course, no one brings just one best of book!

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538. Jane Austen, Anthropologist, with Nikki Payne Nov 25, 2022

My guest today is Nikki Payne, debut author of Pride and Protest, a contemporary retelling of Pride and Prejudice, set in DC between an activist DJ and a CEO developer.

Nikki is also a tech anthropologist, so this conversation hits on some major current events like what’s happening at Twitter, and how Jane Austen was an anthropologist (and shade queen) as well.

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Music: purple-planet.com

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537. Romance Cliché Throwdown with Amanda Nov 18, 2022

Ready, set: CLICHÉ.

Amanda and I are facing off in a romance cliché battle!

What does that even mean? I know, my brain is a very silly place. Can you out-cliché the two of us? The Heat will be on!

What's your favorite or least favorite romance cliché? Tell us all about it!

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Music: purple-planet.com

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536. Meet Us at Meet Cute: A New Romance Bookshop! Nov 11, 2022

Becca Title is my guest this week as we celebrate the grand opening of Meet Cute, a romance bookshop in San Diego! We talk about the process of opening a bookstore, the lawyer-to-romance pipeline, and the establishment of one of the greatest murals I’ve ever seen.

Then we squee at each other about books. Obviously.

...

Music: purple-planet.com

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535. All Things Magical with Freya Marske Nov 04, 2022

I didn’t know this, but author Freya Marske has been so eager to be a guest on my show, and today, it’s happening! Her latest book, A Restless Truth, is out this week, and if you like queer magical historical mysteries with murder, this series is for you. We talk about magic having a physical cost, and how she highlights the classism and sexism of a magical system controlled and maintained mostly by men. We also talk about her favorite magical systems in fiction, magical spells, and we end with Many, Many recommendations.

Grab a cauldron and join us!

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534. Spooky Season Cover Snark Oct 28, 2022

Amanda and I are back for cover mayhem! We’ve got crimes against Tom Hardy, questionable titles, and lots of visual silliness. There’s background barking of support from Zeb, inquiries as to the union terms of the shifter cover wolves, and questions about the futility of truly ever knowing who it was that let the dogs out.

Thanks to David T. Cole for helping me figure out how to add images. You should be able to see the covers on your screen when we talk about them.

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Music: purple-planet.com

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533. Partners in Crime: The Book and the Wedding with Alisha Rai Oct 21, 2022

One weekend, Alisha Rai got married. Then, two weeks later, her new book came out. So let’s talk about all the things!We cover her wedding, the parties, and how part of her wedding was at a celebrity’s mansion (but we had no idea until the end). And of course, we talk about her newest book, Partners in Crime. We discuss portraying mental health struggles and coping mechanisms, as well as sequel bait, and writing a great caper romance.

Come party, reminisce, and celebrate with us!

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Music: Purple-Planet.com

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Coupons!

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532. Ghosts, Pets, and Zany Questions with Amanda Oct 14, 2022

This is a weird one - enjoy!

Amanda and I have brought zany questions to answer, and we’re going to cover insults, ghosts, pets, and more.

But we want to hear YOUR answers, too!

Especially the one involving Grimace.

...

Music: purple-planet.com

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531. Solving Murder in Space with Mur Lafferty Oct 07, 2022

Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty is the first in the Midsolar Murders series, and is out this week!Amanda and I both really liked Station Eternity, so we were very excited to ask a bunch of questions!

We talk about the absence of grief in the aftermath of murder in some mystery series, how aliens in Lafferty’s world perceive humans (spoiler: wet) and how a sentient ship is both creepy and comforting.

Worry not, this is a spoiler-free conversation, and I hope it makes you curious about this book, too.

So. Would you want to be kidnapped or escorted off the planet by aliens?

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Music: purple-planet.com

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530. Writing the Book You Want to Read with Kyla Zhao Sep 30, 2022

Kyla Zhao is my guest this week ahead of the release of her debut novel, The Fraud Squad, coming out in January!

Kyla’s book was inspired by her time working for high society magazines like Tatler and Vogue in Singapore. We talk about cultural differences, Trader Joe’s, and how her book was her antidote to doom scrolling in 2020.

...

Music: purple-planet.com

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529. The Romancelandia Yarn Collection with Nakia from Wild Star Fibers Sep 23, 2022

Reading romance can lead to many things, including…dyeing wool!

Today my guest is Nakia of Wild Star Fibers, who created the Romancelandia collection of yarn. Knitters and readers unite! We’re going to talk about what books inspired the Romancelandia collection, and how she translated tropes to color combinations.

I will have links to her shop in the show notes and she will be putting some of the extras up for sale very soon.

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Music: purple-planet.com

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528. A League of Their Own with Tara Scott Sep 16, 2022

Tara Scott joins me to talk about the television show A League of Their Own! You might have seen her review, and maybe you’ve seen folks talking about it online – it’s wonderful. So we’re gonna squee about it, and no worries – no spoilers.

Heads up – there is some discussion of the consequences of being arrested for being queer at that time period, and that discussion begins at about 24 minutes in.

Thank you to FashionablyEvil for making a surprise appearance in the episode thanks to their comment on Tara’s review!

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Music: purple-planet.net

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527. Killers of a Certain Age with Deanna Raybourn Sep 09, 2022

I’ve been talking about this book for weeks, and now I get to talk to the author: Deanna Raybourn joins me to talk about her new thriller, Killers of a Certain Age.

We talk about the power of being underestimated, and the painfulness of being expected to disappear as you age.

Battles against misogyny! Destroying the patriarchy! Aging is awesome!

Join us for a very casual discussion of hypothetical and and actual historical murder.

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526. Fall Book Wishlists and Trends Sep 02, 2022

This week, we are catching up on what we’re looking forward to, and in particular, what BOOKS we’re looking forward to this fall!

Amanda shares trends she’s noticing amid the books that are being heavily promoted for this fall, too. We cover

Witches
Revenge
Powerful scheming women
Queer horror
Heists
Retellings of classic stories
Adventure comedies

What’s on your list this fall?

Plus, I have the answer to last week's joke! Why does it take 645.5 librarians to change a lightbulb? Listen to find out.

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Music: purple-planet.com

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525. Cover Snark Live! Aug 26, 2022

Romance will never stop bestowing glorious acts of graphic design upon us, so join us for some Cover Snark live! Amanda and I went foraging in the wilds of romance covers and surprised one another with images to discuss.

Check out the covers for yourself! Savor the glorious mayhem!

So many questions.

Which M is the Preg in the MMMPreg?
Where IS the Third M?!
What is the job market like for alien vampires?

If you woke up tomorrow as a wealthy immortal alien vampire, what would YOU do?

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Music: purple-planet.com

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524. Thank You For Listening, and Also For Romance, With Julia Whelan Aug 19, 2022

Author and award-winning audiobook narrator Julia Whelan visits with me to talk about her new book, Thank You For Listening. Along the way we discuss:

Recent press coverage of her book
Self Aware Book Fiction
Competence p0rn
Myths about audiobook narration
And why Romance Is Amazing

Plus, we have book recommendations! (We always do that.)

What about you?

Do you listen to audiobooks? Do you have favorite books or favorite narrators? Tell me all about them!

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Music: purple-planet.com

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523. Summer Reading (and Shoe) Recs with Amanda Aug 12, 2022

In the words of a spam comment, we have some nice and valuable content!

Amanda and I are catching up. What are we talking about? Shoes we are trying to break in, video games we are playing, and all the books we’ve been reading this summer! Amanda’s into sci-fi mysteries, and I’ve read a whole bunch of different genres. Grab a beverage and come visit with us!

What about you?

What books have rocked your reading time?
Have you broken in Birkenstocks? (Am I doomed to agony for eternity?)
What are your most comfortable sandals?
What is your preferred Mario Kart course?

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Music: purple-planet.com

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522. Five Books that Rocked my World with Agatha Andrews from She Wore Black Podcast Aug 05, 2022

Agatha Andrews is the host of the She Wore Black podcast which focuses on gothic and horror, and a former librarian. I was a guest on her show, and now she comes over to visit with me! Horror and romance need to hang out. So we did!

We talk about readers advisory, all the ways to connect books to readers, and then we take a deep dive into the books that rocked her world as a reader.

Do you have any erotic unicorn horror to recommend to Agatha? Got a favorite gothic or horror you adore? Tell me about it, please!

...

Music: purple-planet.com

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521. Heists That Bang and World Travel with Erica Ridley Jul 29, 2022

Let’s talk historical heist romances! Erica Ridley joins me to talk about her newest book, Nobody’s Princess, the latest in her Winchester series, which she describes as putting “Umbrella Academy, Oceans 11, and Batman in a blender and pouring out romantic comedy,” or, “Heists that Bang.”

You can find Erica Ridley at her website https://ericaridley.com/ She’s on all the socials and medias, and as she mentioned, you can join her VIP group for free books and early access to exclusive content.

Music: purple-planet.com

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520. Telling Stories with Julie Garwood Jul 22, 2022

Julie Garwood’s latest book, Grace Under Fire, is out now, and I got to chat with her about her writing career, her process, and writing historicals and romantic suspense. Grab a snack and a beverage and come visit with one of the authors I admire most. (No, my inner 13 year old was not chill. Not even a little.)

You can find Julie Garwood at her website, JulieGarwood.com.

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Music: Purple-planet.com

Thank you to Julie Garwood, and thank you to Stephanie Felty for setting this up. And to Tara, Laura, and Deanna for questions!

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519. Publicist, Bookseller, and Author Danielle Jackson Jul 15, 2022

Danielle Jackson’s new book, The Accidental Pinup, is out now, and I bet you’ve seen the cover in many, many places. It’s terrific. Danielle and I chat about her book, what happened when she saw the cover, and about every professional role she’s had within publishing. She’s been a publicist - she was my publicist for one of my books! She’s also a bookseller, and now she’s an author. So her perspective on the book world is very informed, and pretty unique. We talk about her book, about bookstore events behind the scenes, and what trends we think might be coming next.

You can find Danielle Jackson on her website at DanielleJacksonBooks.com. She also co-hosts the Fresh Fiction podcast!

Music: purple-planet.com

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518. Celebrating Big Happy News with Sonali Dev Jul 08, 2022

Sonali Dev has some very big news! Her upcoming book, The Vibrant Years, is one of the debut titles of Mindy Kaling’s new imprint, Mindy’s Book Studio. So we talk and squee and talk some more about Kaling’s work, about The Vibrant Years, and what Mindy’s Book Studio means for her new book. Has she texted Mindy yet? I will ask!

We also talk about her recent interview in Town & Country magazine, and what she’s working on now. Plus, because Sonali is the greatest, she brought jokes. Multiple bad jokes at the end for everyone to enjoy!

Special thanks to Jen Jacobs for editing this episode, and to Garlic Knitter for the transcript. Thanks to Jes Brock for setting up this interview.

Special note about the intro/outro: Yup, I have COVID. My voice sounds exceptionally weird. I'm doing okay, and thank you for understanding.

Music: purple-planet.com

Coupons? Coupons!

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517. Rebuilding Your Life Over Dinner for One, with Sutanya Dacres Jul 01, 2022

Sutanya Dacres is a podcaster whose new memoir, Dinner for One: How Cooking in Paris Saved Me, just came out. Her memoir is the story behind her podcast: she met and married a French man, moved to Paris…and then her marriage didn’t work out. It’s also the story of her staying in Paris, rebuilding her life, and learning to embrace her new home. Her podcast features Sutanya cooking dinner for one while telling stories about her life, the food she’s making, and challenging the more easily discovered narratives about Americans in Paris. In this episode, we are going to talk about being a Black American in Paris, roasted red pepper salad, and whether or not there are chicken fingers in French supermarkets.

Thank you to Justine Sha and Laura Gianino for helping schedule this interview!

Would you like the recipe for the red pepper salad? Merci beaucoup to Sutanya for giving permission to share it!

Algerian Felfla Salad (Bell Pepper Salad)

Sutanya Dacres

Ingredients

4 bell peppers (any color or color combination)

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to gas mark 8/ 450 ° F/ 230 ° C

2. Put peppers on a baking sheet lined with aluminum and bake for 30-45 minutes, until the peppers are soft. Black spots on the skin are normal.

3. Remove and allow to cool. Once cooled peel off the skin, remove stem and seeds and cut peppers into strips.

4. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat, add garlic, tomatoes and peppers.

5. Cook until tomatoes are soft and all of the vegetables are well incorporated. Add salt and pepper to taste.

6. This salad can be enjoyed by itself, on toast or over rice.

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516. This is What Matters, with Dr. Perpetua Neo Jun 24, 2022

Dr. Perpetua Neo is a psychologist and author of the new book, This is What Matters: A Step-by-Step Workbook for Identifying Your Values, Priorities, and Path Forward after a Crisis. I’ve been reading and working through the journaling prompts, and wanted to interview her to talk about the origins of this workbook, and her practice working with people.

This is What Matters is a series of questions and prompts to help people with post-traumatic growth in identifying on an individual level, well, what matters to you.

We also discuss:

Sleeping like a lion
Embracing free unscheduled time
Cognitive Photoshop
Identifying the life one wants and starting to build it now
When was the last time your heart really sang?

If you’re someone who keeps a journal, this episode will give you a lot to think about.I love books that encourage people to identify their individual desires and goals and enable them to practice the life they want to lead.

Thank You to Maria Orlandi from Adams Media.

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Music: purple-planet.com

Coupons:

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515. Celebrity Romance and Juicy Narratives with Elissa Sussman Jun 17, 2022

Elissa Sussman joins me to talk about her book, Funny You Should Ask, and all about:

Writing a horny heroine’s POV
Dual timelines
Celebrity profiles
Life as a celebrity and managing a fandom
Things that do, and do not twitch

Elissa is an extremely fluent fan of the romance genre, and we talk a lot about romance conventions we love and loathe, and what it means to subvert and undermine some very familiar dynamics, characters, and tropes.

If you love celebrity profiles, the narratives that construct fame, and behind the scenes details, you’ll like this book, and you’ll probably really like this conversation. Please join us!

Thank you to Melissa Folds and Courtney Mocklow at Penguin RandomHouse for setting up this interview!

So - what’s your favorite celebrity profile? Do you follow celebrity gossip narratives? What sites are your faves? Email me - I would love to know. I personally love the DeuxMoi subreddit (not the instagram feed itself). Tell me yours?

...

Music: purple-planet.com

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514. Officiating the HEA with Denise Williams Jun 10, 2022

Denise Williams is a contemporary romance author with several books coming out this year including a series of audio-first novellas set in an airport, beginning with The Love Connection. She is also releasing her third novel, Do You Take This Man.Denise is also a wedding officiant! So we are going to talk about the process of uniting people in matrimony, what she loves most, and making the event meaningful for the people who are present. So many happy wedding stories, this episode will make you smile.Thank you to Daché J. Rogers and Erin Galloway for setting up this interview! Have you officiated a wedding? Been at a memorable wedding event? Tell me everything?...Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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513. Fat Representation and Recommendations with Shana McDavis-Conway Jun 03, 2022

Shana McDavis-Conway is a social change consultant, activist, and a reviewer at this here website! She recently published an article, “Self-conscious, unapologetic, and straight: fat protagonists in romantic fiction” in the journal Fat Studies, and she’s written about fat rep in romance for SBTB a few times, too. We talk about the evolution of fat characters in romance, what’s changing, and then Shana shares the romances that made her a romance reader - and the books that rock her world. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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512. Secret Clubs and Exclusive Spaces with Laura Hankin May 27, 2022

Laura Hankin is the author of Happy And You Know It, A Special Place for Women, and the upcoming book The Daydreams. The paperback of A Special Place for Women is out on May 24th, and as I learned is being adapted for film, too! We talk about the book-to-film adaptation process, and then we take a deep dive into secret societies, exclusive clubs, and how they work (or don’t). We also take a side trip into public vs private or hidden narratives, and why people want to belong.Do you know of a secret club or exclusive society? Do you belong to one? Tell me all about it? I’m very nosy. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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511. Cover Snark Live: Long Thumbs and Shifter Mayhem with Amanda May 20, 2022

Lisa from Shrewsbury sent us an email and two contenders for Cover Snark - so we did Cover Snark live! Check the show notes for a link to the covers, and tell us what you notice first!Happy belated birthday Lisa! Thank you for the wild thumbs and the shifter bonanza!Are you ready for the covers Lisa sent us? I hope so! Click this link here or head to the website, http://sb-tb.com and click "PODCASTS" https://bit.ly/511CoverSnarkIf you liked this episode, let me know! In the comments, via email - it’s fun to try different things and I would love to know if you laughed along with us today.…Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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510. Book Lovers with Emily Henry May 13, 2022

This week, my guest is Emily Henry, whose new romance Book Lovers is out this past week!We talk about slow burns, book tour, puppies, the inspiration for the lead character, Nora, and the Icy City Ex Girlfriend Trope.Thank you to Ann_Knee, Clairatrix, and the enthusiastic members of the Culture Study Discord’s romance channel who were very excited about this interview alongside me. And thank you to publicist Heather Mill who set the interview up....Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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509. Catching Up and Looking Ahead at Book Recs with Amanda May 06, 2022

This week, Amanda and I catch up on a whole bunch of things, including college visits, airboats, and dating!We also have listener email, including recommendation requests and compliments galore!I know some of y’all love the episodes where Amanda and I hang out and talk books and everything, so if you like this one, let me know? Email, comment, tweet at me, whatever - if you’re into these episodes, let me know!CW/TW: discussion of needles in the first 10 minutes.Also: my dogs barked a lot. Sorry about that!What about you? What books are you looking forward to? We’d absolutely love to know!...Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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508. Celebrating 100 Books with Jess Michaels! Apr 29, 2022

Jess Michaels is celebrating the release of her 100th book, 100 Nights with the Duke! That’s a lot of books, and a long career of close to 20 years! We talk about how she’s celebrating this milestone, and we take a look back at how her experience of the romance industry has evolved over two decades.Along the way we cover:* Commemorative tattoos* The biggest changes she’s experienced in her career* How romance readership has evolved* Finding your own compass to guide your businessCW: Jess’ father passed away earlier this year, and we talk a little about that near the end of the episode....Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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507. Romance Kickstarters with Lucy Eden and Katee Robert Apr 22, 2022

Authors Lucy Eden and Katee Robert join me to talk about their very successful Kickstarter campaigns!Lucy’s is currently running and is fully funded: https://bit.ly/EdenKSLoveNotesKatee is in the midst of fulfillment of her Kickstarter, which was fully funded in about five minutes. We talk about why they went with Kickstarter, the essential elements of a successful campaign, and what they’ve learned from the experience so far....Music: Purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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506. Part II of the Bonkers Romance Recap of A Lady of Rooksgrave Hall Apr 15, 2022

This is part two of the special crossover event with Bonkers Romance as we recap of A Lady of Rooksgrave Manor by Kathryn Moon. Part one with me, Melody and Jenny is over at Bonkers Romance, so hello and welcome Bonkers Romance listeners! I’m so happy to have you here today!Be Ye Warned - this episode is extremely nsfw and is a recap of the second half of the book, so spoilers indeed.Also, yes, my brain cannot hold on to "Rooksgrave Hall" vs "Rooksgrave Manor." Apologies. …Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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505. Wedding Tales with Jesse Q. Sutanto Apr 08, 2022

Jesse Q. Sutanto joins me today to talk about the release of Four Aunties and a Wedding, and we talk about all the wedding drama we’ve experienced from behind the scenes and as guests. We talk about weddings with thousands of guests, runaway brides, cultural clashes and the weight of wedding expectations.I would love to know: Do you have a wedding drama story? Did you witness some serious nuptial shenanigans? Please tell me all about it! ...Music: purple-planet.com...Special Crossover Event! Next week, I'm the guest at Bonkers Romance! On Thursday April 14, we'll be recapping the first half of A Lady of Rooksgrave Manor by Kathryn Moon. And then on Friday, April 15, I'll be releasing part 2 of our recap here! I hope you'll join Melody, Jenny and me for a very wholesome monster erotica recap. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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504. Kamila Knows Best with Farah Heron Apr 01, 2022

My guest today is author Farah Heron, whose latest book, Kamila Knows Best, is an updated spin on the Jane Austen classic Emma! Along the way we talk about:Updating a unique, challenging characterAddressing the age gap between the charactersThe importance of hot wet sarisCurly hair care techniquesLipstick recommendationsWhat are your favorite Emma retellings? And what are your go-to lip color recommendations?...Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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503. Bread, Cozy Fantasy, Sex, and Romance with Jane Buehler Mar 25, 2022

My guest today is Jane Buehler, author of The Forest Bride and The Village Maid. I have several favorite parts of this conversation, including our discussion of cozy fantasy, addressing and undoing misconceptions about sex in romance, and sourdough starters and bread making.So fantasy, writing, sex, and bread. Several excellent topics! What about you?What have you learned or unlearned from sex in romance?Do you have a sourdough starter? What’s its name?Do you like cozy fantasy?…Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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502. Classic Rom Coms with Kate Spencer Mar 18, 2022

My guest today is Kate Spencer, author and host of the podcast Forever 35. Her new book, In a New York Minute, is out this week, and y’all, this book was so charming and fun.In this conversation, we talk about:* Vulnerability* Projecting narratives onto strangers* Vintage rom-comsShe’s a romance fan, and a rom-com fan, and we had a lot of fun. ...What about you?What is your favorite vintage rom com? Or not vintage!What stories have your very favorite portrayal of friendship?What city is your favorite?...Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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501. More Celebratory Mayhem with Amanda! Mar 11, 2022

It’s episode 501 - onward toward a thousand! I start with mini interviews with Shana and Elyse, and then Amanda and I have more listener email, questions, recommendations, and many, many jokes. Yay! Thank you for celebrating with us!...Key Questions:What should we do for our next merch opportunity?What SBTB phrases have stuck with you?What is the best kind of French fry?Email: SBJPodcast@gmail.com Voicemail: +1 201 371 3272 - leave a message! ...Our music in this episode is a custom composition from Sassy Outwater titled, "Rhumba for SB." Thanks, Sassy!... Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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500. Mayhem with Amanda! Mar 04, 2022

We did it! It’s episode 500!Amanda and I have email and recommendations, your absolute favorite books, weird questions, and a LOT of mayhem. Plus mini interviews with Shana, Tara, Carrie & Elyse. There are so many great questions, clips, and conversations, you guessed it, there will be two episodes celebrating all the fun. ...KEY QUESTIONS:What would you do in the wasp/hair/bus situation?What’s the worst commute you’ve ever had?What would an AI generate for your industry conventions?What book do you love most of all?...Our music in this episode is a custom composition from Sassy Outwater titled, "Rhumba for SB." Thanks, Sassy! ...This episode is dedicated to our fellow Smart Bitch Catherine Heloise McLean, whom we lost earlier in February. May her memory be a blessing, and may we all read wonderful books. With gold lame, glitter and excellent baking. And Eurovision. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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499. Sweet Dreams Romance Recap: Cover Girl, with Jeff and Will Feb 25, 2022

Jeff and Will from The Big Gay Fiction Podcast are joining me for the Sweet Dreams Recap of book #9, Cover Girl by Yvonne Green.This cover, y’all. And inside! We have a rather gross boyfriend, and an even worse mom, and nature nerds! This is undoubtedly one of the greatest Sweet Dreams cover of them all.TW/CW: Chapter 10 is a little upsetting....Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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498. Valentine’s Love, Candy, and Wishes with Amanda Feb 18, 2022

Happy Valentine’s Week! Amanda and I have voicemail messages, updates on tattoos, book and lip balm recommendations, and more! Come hang out with us and nosh on all that half price candy. What candy are you buying?Thank you to Nancy, Claudia, Jimmy, StylinsonBirds, Leslie, and Ann!…Music: purple-planet.comShow notes: Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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497. The Invisible Goddess, Part II, with Melody from Heaving Bosoms! Feb 11, 2022

It’s part II of our recap of The Invisible Goddess by AC Dawn, a retelling of the myth of Hestia, goddess of the hearth and home. Have you read it? Did you like it? I have some things to tell you! A NEW PODCAST! I’m co-hosting LoveStruck Daily with Alisha Rai! LoveStruck Daily is a new podcast from iHeartRadio produced by Frolic Media that will deliver a true love story and those HEA feels every weekday. Our first episodes are out - we hope you like them!…Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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496. The Invisible Goddess, Part I, with Melody from Heaving Bosoms Feb 04, 2022

Melody is back!Some of our most popular episodes are our crossovers with Heaving Bosoms, and we have a new one for you! We read The Invisible Goddess by AC Dawn, a retelling of the myth of Hestia, goddess of the hearth and home. We had a LOT to talk about, so I’ve divided this into two episodes.Here in episode one, we’ll recap about half the story, and you’ve got options! You can read the story (it’s not long) before episode two if you like. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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495. Fearless Knitting and Writing with Vanessa North Jan 28, 2022

I follow Vanessa North on Instagram and after she posted a picture of her first completed project of 2022, I had to talk to her about knitting. So of course we also talk about gender, crafting, raising fearless trans teenagers, photography, and writing romance. Plus book recs, as always.LPT: Always Buy Extra Buttons!...Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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494. Tubthumping with Anxiety, and More New Year’s Wishes! Jan 21, 2022

Amanda and I catch up on her “lots of things to look forward to” plan, which now includes things that were done! We talk about anxiety, therapy, angsty books, trimming your own bangs, and we have book and video game recs, plus new year’s wishes from Elyse, Pudding, and Jane B!Do you like angsty books? Are there books that help you feel things cathartically?…Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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493. Sweet Dreams Romance Recap: Green Eyes by Suzanne Rand Jan 14, 2022

Time to deep dive into another classic YA Romance: Sweet Dreams #7, Green Eyes by Suzanne Rand. Julie has a problem with the green-eyed monster, and it lasts for a lot of pages. We’ve got:Insecure teenagersSwim team!Yet Another Teen Hangout with a Fun NameJust Talk to Each Other for Goodness’ SakeJoin me as I struggle. Seriously, it’ll be fun.NB: I misread “Chip” as “Chuck” but they’re the same person. (**headdesk**)Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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492. Squeeing About Fandoms and Feels with Olivia Dade Jan 07, 2022

My guest this week is Olivia Dade! We had such a good time talking about fan supercuts, watching shows through gifsets, Game of Thrones spoilers, and writing characters with ADHD and learning disabilities.Highlight: we discover a vintage ship we have in common and we exclaim at each other.Thank you to Rachel, Alanna, and Kelly from the Patreon community for some of the questions in this episode! Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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491. Book Recs, Wishes, and Jokes: Farewell to 2021, and Wishes for 2022 Dec 31, 2021

Amanda and I are saying goodbye to 2021, and looking ahead to 2022! We talk about exciting things coming in January, including the 17th anniversary of Smart Bitches, plus we talk about books that got us through 2021.Super bonus: we’ve got messages from Tara, Catherine, Sneezy, and Martin who have book recs, wishes for the new year, and lots and lots of jokes. This episode is our New Year’s wish for you: stay safe and happiest new year to you wherever you are. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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490. Sweet Dreams Romance Recap: California Girl by Janet Quin-Harkin Dec 24, 2021

It’s time to recap Sweet Dreams #6, California Girl by Janet Quin-Harkin, also known as Rhys Bowen! Jennie is a swimmer with her eyes on the Olympics, and Mark is a grumpy loner on crutches who sketches Jennie one day in the cafeteria. We’ve got:Overbearing sports parentsSnark about Texas driversHomesicknessLots and lots of swimmingLearning to set boundariesDreamy grumpy artist hero!Alas, CW/TW for ableist language and anti-fat bias in the book, which is very lightly skimmed over in the episode....Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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489. Archangel’s Light with Nalini Singh Dec 17, 2021

My guest this week is Nalini Singh! I have reader questions from our Patreon community and publicist and past podcast guest Erin Galloway about Archangel’s Light, Nalini's latest release. We cover writing multiple series at the same time. We also talk about fan art, which she absolutely loves, and about reading slumps - and how to escape them.Thank you to Ann, C, Varian, and Erin for the questions! Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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488. Sweet Dreams Recap: Little Sister by Yvonne Greene Dec 10, 2021

This week, we have lots to talk about! First, some of y’all wrote fantastic epilogues to the very unsatisfying ending of Princess Amy, recapped in episode 486, and I share my ideas, too.Then, it’s time for Sweet Dreams 5, Little Sister. We’ve got:Big MisunderstandingsPlot Points that were in the cover copy so they’re not that dramaticSnarky sister fightsReally loving and supportive, thoughtful parentsAnd Drama Kids! Lots of ‘em!Thank you to jfhobbit, Malaraa, and Kara for the epilogues! Don’t miss jfhobbit’s art! Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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487. The Wit and Wisdom of Bridgerton with Julia Quinn Dec 03, 2021

Julia Quinn joins me to talk about The Wit and Wisdom of Bridgerton, a new release collecting quotes about the different characters, plus new commentary from Lady Whistledown. We talk about picking up Lady W’s pen after 20 years, looking back on the original series, her most embarrassing moment from high school, and the joyful romance fans in Brazil.At about 42:00 in, we talk about her recent loss of her father and sister.Thank you to Katerine, Crystal, Rhonda, Katherine, Agnes, Kelly, Laura, and Kate for the questions....Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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486. Sweet Dreams Recap: Princess Amy by Melinda Pollowitz Nov 26, 2021

This is a weird one, y’all. We’re taking a trip back to the early 80s where fiction for teens and pre-teens came with some awful, upsetting messaging, but also some fantastic clothing choices, some excellent descriptions of weird children’s birthday parties, a cute boy and a very good dog. It's Princess Amy by Melinda Pollowitz!I figured I’d probably have to issue some warnings at some point, re-reading vintage YA, so here we are.TW/CW: assault, jerkward rich bros, disordered eating, and severe anti-fat bias.I want to know what you'd put in the epilogue to this book - please comment or email your ideas because I am desperate to fix this. ...Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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485. BONUS! Romance in Games at Talking Simulator Nov 22, 2021

Hey, y'all! A special treat bonus episode for your American holiday week needs. Yup, there will be a regularly-scheduled episode on Friday, but here's an extra treat! I was a guest on Talking Simulator discussing...romance in video games. Isn't it weird when a topic puts itself in front of you so many times? Here's the description from host Jordan Webber. Enjoy! ...Sarah Wendell is the co-founder of Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, a website for readers of romance fiction, and host of their podcast Smart Podcast, Trashy Books. When she's not reading, she loves to play video games, so Jordan invited her on the show to talk about how games approach her area of expertise: romance.For this whistlestop tour through how romance is written in the kinds of games Sarah plays (Dragon Age, Mass Effect, The Witcher, Stardew Valley...), she and Jordan discuss the male gaze, indecision when faced with an abundance of love interests, happily ever afters, whether or not romanceable characters should have their own preferences, and what romance novels Sarah would like to see adapted into a game.Sarah has also discussed this topic with her cohost Amanda and with Laura Nash from The Short Game podcast.That Twitter thread about the male gaze that lived rent free in Sarah's head is from @kyalbr. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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484. The After Party with AC Arthur Nov 19, 2021

AC Arthur’s new book The After Party is out, and she joins me to talk about all things friendship, cocktails, murder, revenge, and more.Because it was inspired by the movie 9 to 5, we deep dive into revenge on bad bosses and movie nostalgia, too....Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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483. Sweet Dreams Recap: Laurie’s Song by Suzanne Rand Nov 12, 2021

It's time for another Vintage YA Recap, this week with Laurie's Song by Suzanne Rand.Prepare yourself for some exhausting friendships, boring boyfriends, social stress, and some ~*absolutely outstanding*~ outfits and POETRY.Oh, yes. Poetry. This is a good one....Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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482. Big Gay Podcast AMA Part II! Nov 05, 2021

As I have been teasing in recent episodes, this is part two of our crossover episode with The Big Gay Fiction Podcast! Amanda and I connected with Jeff and Will and answered listener questions from our Patreon communities.The Big Gay Fiction Podcast released part one Thursday 4 November so you get all four of us being ridiculous together for two episodes back to back.We’re talking about the first m/m romances we ever read, and we have book recs, food discussions, and some thoughtful conversations about genre and community, too.Part One of this Conversation! https://www.jeffandwill.com/biggayfictionpodcast/2021/11/04/episode-344-mega-crossover-event-with-smart-podcast-trashy-books/Don't miss the Big Gay Fiction Fest, on December 4, 2021! Find all the details at http://www.biggayfictionfest.comShow notes: https://bit.ly/482BigGayFictionAMA Music: Purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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481. Sweet Dreams Recap: The Popularity Plan by Rosemary Vernon Oct 29, 2021

It's time for part two of the Sweet Dreams Romance Recap Project, featuring The Popularity Plan by Rosemary Vernon. Unlike P.S. I Love You, I hadn't read this one before, so it's an adventure for all of us. We've got some hefty social anxiety, friends with Plans (and wall calendars as seen on the cover) and some very classic dating tropes. Grab your tea and your comfy hoodie and come hang out with me!...Music: Purple-Planet.comShow Notes! https://bit.ly/481PopularityPlanSD2 Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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480. Love In the Mix: A Cookbook for Romance Readers, with Leslie Hachtel Oct 22, 2021

Leslie Hachtel and Nikki Brock put together Love In The Mix: A Cookbook for Romance Readers to benefit ProLiteracy, and she joins me to talk about it. Leslie tells me all about the cookbook, how it came to be, and some of her favorite recipes. We discuss family favorites and family history through food, and then, as a bonus, I’ve added info about two favorite recipes for you to try. Over 70 romance authors contributed recipes and stories, and you can find the cookbook in print and digital editions everywhere books are sold. All proceeds benefit ProLiteracy!...Music: purple-planet.comShownotes: https://bit.ly/480LoveintheMix Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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479. Sweet Dreams Recap: PS I Love You by Barbara Conklin Oct 15, 2021

It's time! It's time! This is the first of the Sweet Dreams Romance Recap Project, wherein I am recapping the first twenty Sweet Dreams YA romances, starting with Sweet Dreams #1, P.S. I Love You by Barbara Conklin.This book is a lot. It's angsty and tragic, but there are some moments I remember so very clearly, and I probably read this more than 30 years ago. This was definitely one of my gateway books. What about you? Show Notes: https://bit.ly/479PSILoveYouSD1Music: Purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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478. The Magic of Interactive Fiction with Rebecca Slitt from Heart’s Choice Oct 08, 2021

Amanda and I take a deep dive into interactive fiction with Rebecca Slitt from Choice of Games and Heart’s Choice. We get into the details of how interactive fiction works, and what the process of writing it is like - and we have some recommendations, never fear!...Music: purple-planet.comShownotes: https://bit.ly/478RebeccaSlitt Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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477. “Faust Meets Galaxy Quest”- Light from Uncommon Stars with Ryka Aoki Oct 01, 2021

My guest this week is author Ryka Aoki, whose new book Light from Uncommon Stars is out this week! We cover transgender identity, found family, space opera & The Brady Bunch, the liminal state of The Olive Garden, Chonky books, and what, and where, is the best donut? I really want to hear your donut recs: sbjpodcast@gmail.com! ...Music: purple-planet.comShow Notes: Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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476. Behind the Scenes of Reviewing Romance with Shana and Amanda Sep 24, 2021

In our last collection of Patreon listener questions, we had two about the process of reviewing: what we look for, and what questions we’re trying to answer when we write a review. Shana joins Amanda and me to talk about the process of reviewing romance, how reviewing helps us identify what we most like to read, and how reading and review works for each of us as writers, and for me doing editorial oversight.Thank you to Patreon members Tara C and Leslee for the very kind and thoughtful questions!...Music: Purple-planet.comShow Notes: https://bit.ly/476Reviewing Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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475. Badass Anthologies and Vintage YA with Dahlia Adler Sep 17, 2021

YA Author, reviewer, and editor Dahlia Adler joins me to talk about all the Badass Anthologies she’s editing, about her upcoming book, Home Field Advantage, and her latest, Cool for the Summer. And, inspired by a recent Instagram pic of her Bantam Love Stories collection, we also talk about vintage YA romances.Stay tuned for the outro where I have a special announcement of a new podcast project inspired by this conversation!TW/CW: discussion of fatphobia in Sweet Valley.Music: purple-planet.comShow Notes! https://bit.ly/475DahliaAdler Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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474. Day Trips, Fluffy Books, And Some Fries Sep 10, 2021

Amanda and I are answering one last round of questions! We cover day trips and all the places where it’s imperative that we eat fries, we’ve got book recs for fluffy contemporary romances, and we talk about table top games we love.Thanks to Tara, Christina, and Malaraa for the questions!...Music: purple-planet.comShow notes: https://bit.ly/474DayTripsnFries Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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473. We Love Books and Convenience Store Snacks Sep 03, 2021

Amanda and I are arranging marriages between books and candy (we missed this part of Ellen’s question last week!) and we talk about what romances we’d want to see adapted into limited series, who we’d cast in our dream productions, and what we’ve learned over the years of working with the website.Thanks to Ellen, Kate K, Leslee, and Sue for today’s questions!...Music: purple-planet.comShow notes: https://bit.ly/473BooksSnacks Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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472. Fantasy and Historical Recs Plus Behind-The Scenes with Amanda & Sarah Aug 27, 2021

Amanda and I are back talking about recommendations, snacks, candy, and more! Sue asks about the behind-the-scenes part of running the website as a business, Ellen is looking for some recs to ease the wait for the next Tessa Dare novel, and recs for fantasy that avoid the problem of Too Much Plot/Not Enough Kissing.Thanks to Sue and Ellen for today’s questions - and we’ll come back to the recs for candy and books in the next episode, Ellen!...Music: purple-planet.com...Show notes: https://bit.ly/473AmandaSubmit your rec league request! https://bit.ly/RecLeagueReqs Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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471. Romance Games and Interactive Fiction with Laura Nash of The Short Game Podcast Aug 20, 2021

Laura Nash of The Short Game joins me to talk about romance in short games - games you can play in 8-12 hours. We cover dating simulators and interactive fiction, and we rank the Dream Daddies. Laura shares some upcoming and very-brand-new games she’s hecking excited about, too! From Hatoful Boyfriend to Boyfriend Dungeon to genderfluid boarding school sims, we've got lots to talk about!...Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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470. Sending a Hug Into the World: A Conversation with Becky Chambers Aug 13, 2021

My guest this week is Becky Chambers, author of the Wayfarers series and the new novella, A Psalm for the Wild Built.We talk about the book itself, and themes of caregiving and comfort, and the process of writing a book with the goal of sending a hug out into the world. Thank you to Malaraa and Molly from our Patreon community for the questions!...Music: purple-planet.comShow notes: https://bit.ly/470BeckyChambersMore on A Psalm for the Wild Built: https://bit.ly/APftWB Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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469. Awakened by the CEO’s Kiss, with Morgan and Isabeau from Whoa!Mance Aug 06, 2021

I’m joined by Morgan and Isabeau from the Whoa!Mance podcast! They are celebrating three years of podcasting, and their latest exploration of romance has been to look at category romances. I thought it would be fun to take a deep dive into a brand new contemporary romance, so we all read Awakened by the CEO’s Kiss by Therese Baharrie.This episode is a low-spoiler discussion of the book, and of all the interesting and subversive things that it does. We cover kiss tension, books that give you chest tingles, and more. You can listen if you’re read it, or if you haven’t, but you might really like this book so we recommend it either way!...Music: purple-planet.comFind Whoa!Mance: https://www.whoamancepodcast.com/Shownotes: https://bit.ly/469WhoaMance Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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468. Romance and Video Games with Amanda and Sarah Jul 30, 2021

Amanda and I are chatting about our favorite romance-laden RPGs, and our favorite characters to romance in Stardew Valley, Dragons Ages (all of ‘em), Witcher 3, and more. We compare romance options, discuss favorite pairings, and yup, we really like Dragon Age. Moral of this episode: Don’t Bring Your Tits to a Gunfight.This is the TikTok we chortle about: https://bit.ly/TkTkDrAgShow Notes: https://bit.ly/468VideoGames...Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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467. Realizing Sexuality Through Romance with Tara Scott Jul 23, 2021

Tara joins me to talk about how reading lesbian romances helped them realize their sexuality after having grown up in a very conservative religious environment.Side trips include Robin Hood in many varieties, Don’t Stop Believing, and movies to watch while kinda stoned.Romances help people understand a lot of aspects of themselves, and I love hearing about how reading has helped Tara live more authentically.TW/CW: we talk about growing up queer in a conservative church environment, the specter of conversion therapy, and the discovery of mass graves at Indigenous residential schools....Music: purple-planet.com...SHOWNOTES: https://bit.ly/467TaraScott Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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466. Recipes, Seasonal Reading, and Adventure Romance with Amanda and Sarah Jul 16, 2021

It’s part three of what I called “AMA with AMAnda and Sarah.” We’re chatting about our favorite recipes, cooking blogs, and cookbooks, favorite french fries, seasonal re-reading, contemporary cozy mysteries with romantic elements, trends, and adventure romance recs. Plus, how to snowboard while holding an onion.Thanks to Bransler, Cheri, Norette, Manda, and Laura B. for the questions!SHOW NOTES? Yes, show notes! https://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast/466-recipes-seasonal-reading-and-adventure-romance-with-amanda-and-sarahYeah, that URL is long. Here's a shorter one: https://bit.ly/466AMAnda2...Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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465. TV, Book, and Mayo Recs with Sarah and Amanda Jul 09, 2021

We’re back! With more of your questions! We’re going to talk about tv shows we recommend, book recs of course, mayonnaise of course, summer treats, and middle school favorites.Thanks to Laura B, Karelia, Christina B, and Phoebe for the questions!...Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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464. Guilty Pleasures with Dr. Arielle Zibrak Jul 02, 2021

Arielle Zibrak is the author of Guilty Pleasures, a new book in the Avidly Reads series from New York University Press. She’s also a former editor of romance fiction, and a professor of 19th century popular fiction. Her new book - which is terrific - examines the concept of the “guilty pleasures” and seeks to unpack and answer the question, “What is it about ribald romance novels, luxurious interior design, and frothy wedding dresses that often make women feel their desires come with a shadow of shame?”This is one of those conversations that made my brain go all jiffy pop with bunches of ideas. I hope you enjoy it as well!You can find Avidly Reads: Guilty Pleasures wherever you get your books, and I’ve got links in the show notes, too....Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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463. Women and Poison in History with Mikki Kendall Jun 25, 2021

Today, we’re going to talk about food safety law, and the history of women who probably poisoned their husbands. Allegedly.Mikki Kendall, on Twitter as @Karnythia and the author of Hood Feminism, is an eager historian into the mysteries of what women got away with, and so we cover poison clusters, dying of fever, and the poisons hanging out in your back yard. This conversation was inspired by two Twitter threads, and I’ll link to both.As Mikki said in an email after we recorded, “we have evidence of poison clusters with inorganic poisons from autopsy reports & you can look at death record indexes when hunting for clusters of odd deaths.”CW/TW: Food safety, horror stories, actual murder, questions about what’s in vaguely labeled food, and discussions of signs of intimate partner and child abuse....Music: purple-planet.comShow notes with book info: https://bit.ly/463MikkiKendallTwitter thread about food safety law: https://twitter.com/Karnythia/status/1395581960785911808?s=20Twitter thread about MURDER: https://twitter.com/Karnythia/status/882012566070939648 Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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462. An AMA with AMAnda and Sarah, Part the First! Jun 18, 2021

I asked the Patreon community what they’d like to ask Amanda and I, and howdy damn, I got some really thoughtful and fun questions! In this conversation, we’re talking about astrology, apps, allergies, and all the book recs. If you like hanging out while we chat, this episode is for you. Thanks to everyone in the Patreon community for their questions!...Music: purple-planet.com...Show notes, links and book recs: https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?post_type=podcast&p=100162 Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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461. Gods, Demons, and Retirements with Lois McMaster Bujold Jun 11, 2021

Catherine and I chat with Lois McMaster Bujold (!!!) about The Assassins of Thasalon. If you like the Penric & Desdemona books as much as we do (which is a LOT) you’ll love this episode!We cover the origin story of Penric and Desdemona, how her retirement partially rests on self publishing, and how much manga she’s reading and watching - with recommendations.Thank you to our Patreon community for the transcript, and to Laura G., Francene, Jamie, and Agnes for the questions!...Music: purple-planet.comFull show notes with links to books: http://bit.ly/461McMasterBujold Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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460. A Lowcountry Bride and Fulfilling Dreams with Preslaysa Williams Jun 04, 2021

Author and actor Preslaysa Williams joins me to talk about her new book, A Lowcountry Bride, which she calls “a love letter to Charleston.” We discuss the beauty and pain of complicated history, the process of writing this book over ten years, and the weirdness of seeing your younger self in animated gifs.Find the books and show notes: ...Music: Purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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459. Facts, Feminism, and Menopause with Dr. Jen Gunter May 28, 2021

Tara and I exclaimed at each other about Dr. Jen Gunter’s latest book, The Menopause Manifesto, so we figured we should exclaim at her, too. In this conversation, we cover the book, the facts and science about menopause, and the history of how predatory patriarchal bullcrap has influenced how we think, talk, and learn about menopause. We also talk about pseudoscience, getting health advice from Facebook and Instagram (bad idea jeans), and curly hair!TW/CW we talk briefly about weight changes during menopause, and how people in medicine treat people based on weight (not good). That section is at about 27:00 in and lasts for two minutes....Music: purple-planet.com...Check out Tara's review of The Menopause Manifesto: http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/reviews/the-menopause-manifesto-by-dr-jen-gunter/ Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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458. Hard Sell and Revolutionary Romance with Hudson Lin May 21, 2021

My guest this week is author Hudson Lin (she/her) whose new book Hard Sell is out 25 May! Hard Sell is a trope-tastic queer romance between Daniel and Tobin, who have a secret affair while working opposite sides of a business deal. Lin and I talk about the writing process and how she portrays Daniel’s professional burnout in the story (no spoilers, I promise). We also discuss why Lin thinks romance is a revolutionary genre, and how it’s disruptive to existing power structures. Plus: book and Netflix recs galore! Show Notes: http://bit.ly/458HudsonLinMusic: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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457. YouTube Vlogging And a Very Meet Cute With Colin Dobson-Fox of Foxes Afloat May 14, 2021

Colin Dobson-Fox is the co-host and producer behind one of my favorite YouTube channels, Foxes Afloat, which recently reached over 100k subscribers (a very big deal in YouTube Land). Colin and his husband Shaun live aboard a narrowboat in the UK, and produce weekly vlogs of their travels, and their lives, including Colin’s life with autism and with mental illness.This is a bit afield of my usual interviews, but I was fascinated by Colin’s editing process as he takes over 40 hours of film and edits to a 15-30 minute vlog. So this episode is partly about editing and shaping a story of their own lives week to week over the past three years, but also about being a public figure in a small piece of the internet. We also talk about how his relationship with his husband Shawn started (don’t miss that part) (Seriously, goodest part).Vlogs (and blogs, and podcasts, and writing) are as much about crafting the story as they are about shaping and editing that story, and the overlap between what the Foxes do and what I do was too tempting not to explore. I hope you enjoy my quiet fangirl squeeing and our conversation....Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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456. Bananas, Pajamas, Cat Yak, and a TV Theme Sing-Along with Sarah & Amanda May 07, 2021

Sing along with us! Reach into the deep vault of your memory, and sing TV themes as we attempt to stump one another. We also start by talking about cat vomit because of course we do. We cover all the great children’s tv themes, teen crushes, songs that come with instant Pavlovian responses, and more. So if you were craving some bizarre and enjoyable silliness, this is your episode. (We hope you sing along!) Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3QVu4uQWfueMK0uPhUnNan?si=ecdd25bbf2e84023...Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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455. History, Engineering, and Air Fryers, with Vanessa Riley Apr 30, 2021

My guest this week is Vanessa Riley, whose newest book, An Earl, The Girl, and a Toddler is out now! We talk about reframing history, interrogating the fantasy of historical romance, and the overlap between mechanical engineering and writing romance. We also talk about the narrators for her books, including Bahni Turpin and Adjoa Andoh (aka Lady Danbury on Bridgerton!). And we discuss air fryers - you know, all the essentials....Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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454. Anchored Hearts and Appetites with Priscilla Oliveras Apr 23, 2021

Amanda and I talk food, Key West, more food, writing bilingual characters, family drama, food, baseball, and writing with Priscilla Oliveras. Her latest book, Anchored Hearts, is out now, and there is SO much to discuss. This book made Amanda full on sob, and we have a really good time talking to Priscilla about it (don’t worry - no spoilers!).If you caught my goof last week, that was episode 453, not 463. I’m ahead of myself....Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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453. Uzma Jalaluddin and Hana Khan Carries On – with Bonus COVID Vaccine Info with Dr. Jen Gunter Apr 16, 2021

Uzma Jalaluddin joins Amanda and me to talk about Hana Khan Carries On, which caused one of us some Bad Decisions Book Club membership. We discuss the book (no spoilers, don’t worry!) and the fabulous podcasting heroine, Hana, who’s got a You’ve Got Mail kind of relationship with the owner of a rival Halal restaurant. We cover representation, gorgeous cover art, and writing about characters finding and using their voices. It’s so much fun - Uzma is a wonderful guest.But first! We have a special health bulletin of sorts. This week I interviewed Dr. Jen Gunter for her upcoming book The Menopause Manifesto. Her book is out in June, and our interview will be released in May, but because of new information about how the COVID vaccines may be affecting menstrual cycles, I asked her about the information available now. That brief conversation starts the episode as I know many of you may be scheduling appointments for yourselves and others. The upshot: the vaccine may affect menstrual cycle and cause irregularities, and it’s important to know so you’re prepared. You can read more in Dr Gunter's latest newsletter:https://vajenda.substack.com/p/the-covid-19-vaccine-and-menstrualAnd you can learn more about Dr. Kate Clancy's study here: https://redcap.healthinstitute.illinois.edu/surveys/index.php?s=LL8TKKC8DP...Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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452. Historical Pandemics and Ye Olde Social Media with Anna Lee Huber Apr 09, 2021

[bookaside slug="a-wicked-conceit"] The latest book in Anna Lee Huber’s Lady Darby series is out, and she’s my guest this week to talk all about it. If you haven’t read this book yet, there are no spoilers, so fear not! And if you haven’t read the series, this might tempt you to try it (it’s great) because we’re going to talk about history. A Wicked Conceit has several relevant parallels to life right now. History totally went through the mimeograph machine on this one - remember those? Please note: during our conversation we talk briefly about Lady Darby’s first marriage, which was abusive, and about trauma response and memory, but we don’t go into specifics.Thank you to Brittanie Black, Anna’s publicist at Berkley, and to Angela James for some of the questions this week....Music: purple-planet.com...The show notes know that your efforts are deeply appreciated!http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast/452-historical-pandemics-and-ye-olde-social-media-with-anna-lee-huber Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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451. More Earl Had to Die: Victoria Helen Stone’s The Last One Home Apr 02, 2021

Victoria Helen Stone has a new book out! The Last One Home is a dual-timeline domestic thriller in the genre of “Earl Had to Die.” In this conversation, we discuss her moving from writing romance as Victoria Dahl to writing domestic suspense and thrillers, growing up in poverty, and the power of nostalgia. Then Victoria figures out a key reason why “Earl Had to Die” books about revenge are so very satisfying.There are some spoilers for Jane Doe and Problem Child herein, so be ye warned!...Music: purple-planet.com...Show notes hot diggity! http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast/451-more-earl-had-to-die-victoria-helen-stones-the-last-one-home Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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450. Dragons on the Sex Planet with Shani and Bridget from Romance at a Glance Mar 26, 2021

This week I am joined by Shani and Bridget from the Romance at a Glance podcast! We talk about their current season, where they’re focusing on dark romances, and about podcasting.Then, we talk about a book. For this episode, we all read Draekon Mate: Exiled to the Prison Planet.Check this blurb: “Crashed spaceship. Prison planet. Snarling, lethal predators. Two big, hulking, bronzed aliens who turn into dragons. The best part? The dragons insist I’m their mate.This isn't the space vacation I thought it would be."We talk about the key elements for sex planet alien fucking books, consent and kink, fantasies, dragon sex, and more.Please note: this episode is much higher on the NSFW scale than usual....Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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449. PB & Mayo Sandwiches (and Girl Scout Cookies) With Amanda and Sarah Mar 19, 2021

As a follow up to last week’s podcast, I share the broadcast of Amanda and I making peanut butter and mayo sandwiches, inspired by folks who have shared strong opinions.Yes, we eat PB and Mayo sandwiches. Live on air. I’m sorry.But we also talk a LOT about cookies so if you’re hungry, maybe have snacks before you press play?We also cover:Good roommate code of behaviorThe culinary roles of the Wendy’s FrostyMayo as condiments for fries? (YES)Potato chips IN the sandwich? (YES)We answer these Very Important Questions:What are the regional mayos near us?What peanut butter brands reign supreme?How many mayos are in our fridge?How much does Amanda love pickles?Should we add pickles to the mayo and PB sandwiches?Which Girl Scout Cookies (regional and national) are the very greatest ones?And we have one of The Funniest Neighbor Stories I have EVER heard.Seriously, if the year marker of the Quarantimes has got you a little down like it has me, and if you need more silly-laugh and food mayhem, you’ve come to the right podcast episode. Visuals for this episode are in the show notes....Music: purple-planet.com...Visual aids in the show notes! https://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast/449-pb-mayo-sandwiches-and-girl-scout-cookies-with-amanda-and-sarah Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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448. Strong Food Opinions and Sandwich Debates With Amanda and Sarah Mar 12, 2021

Need a break? How about highlights from another Stereo broadcast with Amanda and me! We started by asking what keeps folks feeling happy (pizza FTW), but when we bring up mayonnaise, things go way off the rails. Way, way off the rails. We are going to cover crucial debates and fundamental food opinions such as: the egg-continuum of quiche to pie whether a food is a soup or a quesadilla is red velvet the Very Worst Dessertwhy are there vegetables in all these baked goodsand, grand finale, the species and genus of food inside another food. Seriously, if you need to silly-laugh, you’ve come to the right podcast episode....Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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447. Hanging Out with Sarah J. Maas Mar 05, 2021

[bookaside slug="a-court-of-silver-flames"] Sometimes I’m fortunate enough to do an interview with an author I’ve never met, but with whom there’s an instant connection. That happened for Amanda and me last year when we interviewed Sarah J. Maas in Episode 395..And now, Sarah J. Mass is back, nearly one year later to the date, to talk about her new book, A Court of Silver Flames, and about sexytimes, the magic romance house, rage, mental health, and re-reading books through the pandemic. There are so many little love letters to romance in A Court of Silver Flames, so of course we talk about the most lovely parts of being a romance reader, too.Special thanks to Elizabeth, Manda, Jennifer, Rachel, and Becca for questions, and to our Patreon community who was so enthusiastic when I announced this interview. Your support helps make the transcription of extra-extra long episodes like this one possible, so thank you.TW/CW: Please be aware: Between 47:30 and 01:05:00, we discuss assault, attempted assault, and resulting rage against patriarchal misogynist bullshit. We also talk about menstrual silliness, and what we call our periods.Many of the Patreon community told me that last year’s episode with Sarah was one they’ve re-listened to, as it’s inspiring and comforting and firm in its support of mental health care, therapy, and medication. This one is no different, and we hope it becomes one of your new favorites.Extra special thanks to Sarah J. Maas for hanging out with us....Podcast After Party! Tune in Tuesdays at 730pm ET on Stereo! Live broadcasts and you can record messages for us to play during the show! Download Stereo now at stereo.com/smartbitches!...Music: purple-planet.com...The Shownotes admire how you look after yourself and those around you: http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast/447-hanging-out-with-sarah-j-maas Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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446. Fantasy and Sci Fi in 2021 With Caroline Perny from Tor Feb 26, 2021

Caroline Perny, Publicity Manager at Tor, joins us to talk about what books are coming out in 2021. We recorded in mid-November, so we start by talking about carbs, which is a perennial subject, and about genre descriptors, which are perennial as well.But the books? OH we have a LOT to tell you about. If you like sci fi, fantasy, speculative,We talk about books from 2020 that you might have missed, and what’s coming out this year, so get ready.Which books are you looking forward to? And what virtual events did you enjoy in the past year? I’d love to know!...Podcast After Party! Tune in Tuesdays at 730pm ET on Stereo! Live broadcasts and you can record messages for us to play during the show! Download Stereo now at stereo.com/smartbitches!...Music: purple-planet.comSHOWNOTES think you look FABULOUS today: https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast/446-fantasy-and-sci-fi-in-2021-with-caroline-perny-from-tor Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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445. Hot Locksmith Action, Dumplings, and Murder: Book Recs from Amanda and Sarah Feb 19, 2021

Every Tuesday night at 730ET, Amanda and I are live on Stereo (download and join us at stereo.com/smartbitches!) and this is one of our broadcasts!This is a live recommendation extravaganza: witches, baking, mysteries, older heroines, and great audiobook suggestions. Plus we daydream about what we’ll do when the world opens up, and I share my theory of the universal expression of human love....Podcast After Party! Tune in Tuesdays at 730pm ET on Stereo! Live broadcasts and you can record messages for us to play during the show! Download Stereo now at stereo.com/smartbitches!...Music: purple-planet.comShownotes: http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast/445-hot-locksmith-action-dumplings-and-murder-book-recs-from-amanda-and-sarah Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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444. The Wife in the Attic: All Things Gothic and More with Rose Lerner Feb 12, 2021

Rose Lerner has a new Audible exclusive audiobook out this week, The Wife in the Attic. It’s a f/f retelling of Jane Eyre (I just heard a whole bunch of you one-click to buy) and fear not, the ebook will be released later this year. In this episode, Rose and I chat about the differences between Gothic and historical romances, and why (and when) Gothics surge in popularity. We also talk about the subgenre I’m calling “Earl Had to Die,” and about Rose’s adoration of the Raffles books.Plus, stay tuned for a sample of The Wife in the Attic!...Podcast After Party! Tune in Tuesdays at 730pm ET on Stereo! Live broadcasts and you can record messages for us to play during the show! Download Stereo now at stereo.com/smartbitches!...Music: purple-planet.com...The show notes appreciate you and think you're doing just great: https://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast/444-the-wife-in-the-attic-all-things-gothic-and-more-with-rose-lerner Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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443. Snowed In Romance Recs with Amanda & Sarah Feb 05, 2021

Amanda and I are back! We’re chatting about dubious coverage of romance around Valentine’s day - and the outstanding article that Amanda was quoted in that appeared on Forbes.com, written by Rachel Kramer Bussel. (Yes, I'll link to it, no worries!).Then we answer a reader recommendation letter from Kate, who is looking for snowed in romances! Plus food, video games, and a typical number of breakthroughs....Bonus bonus woot woot! Stay tuned after this episode for a fantastic and rather expansive sample of the audiobook of Erica Ridley's new historical romance, The Duke Heist! …Like the episodes with us? Tune in Tuesdays at 730pm ET on Stereo! Live broadcasts and you can record messages for us to play during the show!Download Stereo now at stereo.com/smartbitches!...Music: purple-planet.com...Show Notes ahoy! http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast/443-snowed-in-romance-recs-with-amanda-sarah Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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442. A 2021 Books Preview with Erin Galloway from Berkley Jan 29, 2021

Erin Galloway and I are talking about some of the books that are coming out this year from Berkley. We’ve got competency p0rn romances, bodyguards protecting brilliant women, and hilarious mysteries - plus we take a side trip into illustrated cover art and how the appearance of romance changes.We apologize in advance for the damage to your TBR!...Don't miss our new podcast after party with Amanda and me! Download the Stereo App at http://www.Stereo.com/SmartBitches! Tuesdays at 7:30pm ET, live via Very Cool Avatars, Amanda and I will be hanging out with you. We hope you'll tune in to add your voice to our goofy conversation. We promise silliness, mayhem, and a lot of laughter!...Shownotes, links to books discussed, and more: https://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast/442-a-2021-books-preview-with-erin-galloway-from-berkleyMusic: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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441. Bosoms and Bitches: A NSFW Discussion of Toxic Desire Jan 22, 2021

[bookaside slug="toxic-desire"] It’s a special, extended length episode: Amanda and I are joined by Melody and Erin from the incredibly delightful podcast Heaving Bosoms! I guested on their show and they joined us to return the favor.We read Toxic Desire by Robin Lovett, and we had a LOT to talk about. Spoilers abound! But with forked tongued aliens sporting aphrodisiac venom fangs and gold body armor crash landing on a toxic sex gas planet, that’s not a surprise.Thank you to Melody, Erin, and Amanda for making this episode so much fun! ...Shownotes? Heck yeah, shownotes! Find all the books and links at: https://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast/441-bosoms-and-bitches-a-nsfw-discussion-of-toxic-desire Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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440: Laziness Does Not Exist with Dr. Devon Price Jan 15, 2021

I have been so excited to share this interview. Devon Price is the author of Laziness Does Not Exist, which outlines the three main ways in which “the Laziness Lie” deceives us into denying ourselves rest and care. As I said in my review, this is a book with something for everyone: it addresses historical roots of laziness lie in colonialism and capitalism, and looks at productivity myths, diet culture, gender and sexuality, activism fatigue, parenting, relationship management, and self-abuse.Also, Dr. Price has a chinchilla and you must hear us talk about its name....Music: purple-planet.com...Links to the books we mention in the shownotes: https://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast/440-laziness-does-not-exist-with-dr-devon-price Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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439. Later, 2020! With Shana, Claudia and Carrie Jan 08, 2021

Shana, Claudia, and Carrie, gather to talk books, re-reading, knitting, comfort reading, switching genres, books set in California, figuring out what books are five star reads, and the different ways to be kickass.Happy New Year, and thanks for listening!Find all the books we mention in the shownotes at: https://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast/439-later-2020-with-shana-claudia-and-carrie Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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438. Later, 2020! With Kiki and Amanda Jan 01, 2021

We are still gathering in groups across many time zones to say goodbye to 2020, and to look back at the books, shows, and other essentials that got us through 2020. Bad internet in South Africa got in the way of Lara joining us, but she sent a question for Amanda, Kiki, and me to answer. We talk about nonfiction that made us cry-laugh, audiobooks, TikTok, puzzles, and Cyberpunk clothing glitches. Side trips include depression, anxiety, and treatment, plus Poopsie Sparkly Critters and Cutie Tooties.There is a LOT of laughing in this one so join us for total silliness. Happy New Year!Link to the shownotes: https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast/438-later-2020-with-kiki-and-amanda Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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437. Farewell 2020 With Catherine Heloise, Sneezy and Maya Dec 25, 2020

The SBTB team is still gathering in groups across many time zones to say goodbye to 2020, and to look back at the books, shows, and other essentials that got us through 2020. In this episode, Catherine Heloise joins us from Melbourne Australia, Sneezy is in Taiwan, and Maya is in California, and we’re going to cover books, movies, and manga we loved, our favorite tropes, a little bit of discussion on social anxiety, and how to look back at what we’ve learned this year.If you’re listening to this on the 25th of December, happy Chinese food and a movie day! Stay safe and warm and may your takeout be excellent. And if you’re celebrating Christmas, Merry Christmas to you and yours.This is our last episode of 2020, wow, and I wanted to thank you for listening, for all your email and encouragement. It means a lot to know I’m keeping you company while you quilt, walk the dogs, dye yarn, shelve books, clean, cook, and go about your life. I’m honored to be here with you, so thank you, and happy new year to all of us. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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436. Saying Goodbye to 2020 With Ellen, Elyse, and Tara! Dec 18, 2020

The SBTB team is gathering in groups across many time zones to look back at the books, shows, and other essentials that got us through 2020, and to look ahead to 2021. Everyone brings a question to ask, so in this episode, Ellen, Elyse, Tara, and I talk books, Quarantimes, zoom exhaustion, and coping methods - and I stumble upon a potential new, unexplored fanfic.…Looking for a new podcast to try? May I suggest Boobies & Noobies?Boobies & Noobies is the weekly podcast that asks novice romance readers to think outside the box.Find Boobies & Noobies wherever you get your find podcasts or at https://boobiesandnoobies.com! ...Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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435. Fashion, History, and Romance with Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell Dec 11, 2020

[bookaside slug="the-way-we-wed"] We are talking fashion today! My guest today is Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell, fashion historian, person behind the @WornOnThisDay Twitter account, and author of the new book The Way We Wed. In her book, she looks at the history of wedding fashion, and at the clothing history of the people surrounding marrying couple. We also talk about why some clothing and the fascination with clothing endures, and what changes the Quarantimes will create for fashion, clothing, and trends....Music: purple-planet.com...The links to images we discuss are in the show notes at this URL: http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast/435-fashion-history-and-romance-with-kimberly-chrisman-campbell Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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434. Fried Food, Family Drama (and Jazz): Sexy Small Towns with Reese Ryan Dec 04, 2020

[bookaside slug="second-chance-on-cypress-lane"] My guest today is Reese Ryan, YouTube host and author of the new book, Second Chance on Cypress Lane. We talk about her book, the levels of food p0rn found inside, and about her career - she released four books in 2020! FOUR! Her books for Harlequin Desire have some gorgeous covers (check them out in the show notes!) and her stories have delicious themes across several genres. It's a really fun conversation.Show notes for this episode: https://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast/434-fried-food-family-drama-and-jazz-sexy-small-towns-with-reese-ryan...Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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433. Life, Death, Memory, and Immortality: A Conversation with VE Schwab Nov 27, 2020

Amanda and I are talking with VE Schwab, author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, a book we both enjoyed tremendously. We talk about the 10-year process of writing it and the power of telling an immortality tale about a person who walks through history as a woman. We touch on queerness, achievement, erasure, representation, and also discuss death, loneliness, grief and immortality. About halfway through we take a deep dive into death rituals and experiences with grief and loss, with some specifics at about 42:00-43:00, so be aware if that’s not a topic you can engage with right now. (Take care of you, ok? Thank you.)Stay tuned to the end for a special surprise when Amanda’s roommate finds out who Amanda’s chatting with....Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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432. Saving Endangered Animals, Plus Romance: A Conversation with Michelle Hazen Nov 20, 2020

Michelle Hazen is a romance author and a wildlife tortoise biologist, a semi-nomadic career (the biologist part) (and also the author part) that informs much of her writing. We talk about saving baby animals, writing about trauma, life in the desert doing biologist work, and romance tropes that work really well in the desert....Music: purple-planet.com...Looking for a podcast to try? Have you checked out Tea & Strumpets?Tea & Strumpets is a lively and engaging podcast dedicated entirely to Historical Romance! Join hosts and friends Zoë and Kelsey each episode as they discuss all the steamy (and sometimes tepid) details of the Regency Romance genre. And since the regency technically only lasted 9 years, generally we're talking post-wigs but pre-telephone! Find us wherever you download podcasts, or at RomancePod.com. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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431. Amanda and Sarah’s Q&A Part Deux: Silly Bugaloo Nov 13, 2020

We’re back with more questions from our Patreon community! We have questions about books, romance covers, and of course, food. Strong opinions? Yes! Silliness! Also yes!Thank you again to the Patreon community for providing the very silly, very much needed questions....Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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430. A Very Silly Q&A with Amanda and Sarah Nov 06, 2020

With the help of the Podcast Patreon community, Amanda and I are answering silly questions to help get us all through Hellweek.If you're like me, and a little stressed/overwhelmed/chin-deep-in-existential-dread, a little silliness goes a long way. So Amanda and I are bringing you a temporary respite with an extremely silly Q&A with half the Patreon’s incredible questions - the other half will be in a future episode. Think The Most Goofy AMA You've Ever Heard. Is there background construction noise AND dog barking? Of course! We’re talking candy, bedside tables, time travel, cheese plate perfection, and more - with extra silliness. We hope it gets you through....Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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429. Here She Is: Discussing Beauty Pageants and History with Dr. Hilary Levey Friedman Oct 30, 2020

My guest today is Dr. Hilary Levey Friedman, Brown University professor and author of the new book Here She Is: The Complicated Reign of the Beauty Pageant in America. I had a chance to read the book and was so eager to discuss it, in particular because of the ways in which public conceptions of beauty pageants overlap substantially with public conceptions of romance. We talk about pageants, history, popular culture, and several surprising elements of the culture of Miss America - for example, the number of former pageant contestants who go into politics and public service....Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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428. The Cheese Plate is a Technology: Because Internet with Gretchen McCulloch Oct 23, 2020

Today Amanda and I are talking with Gretchen McCulloch, author of Because Internet and host of the podcast “Lingthusiasm.” If you like listening to a really smart person with intricate knowledge of what’s going on beneath the mundane, this is an episode for you. We start by fangirling about Courtney Milan and creative use of language in some of her favorite novels, and then we talk about internet language. We also talk about how the use of language as a tool for socializing is something we’re all redefining. The words we use, and the spaces in which the words, happen are changing rapidly, and now are even more different.This is a longer episode because we talk about So Many Things. Amanda and I both read and really enjoyed Because Internet, and it was a treat to talk to the author about her book, and about how language and socializing are evolving....Music: purple-planet.com Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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27. Contemporary Romance Jul 19, 2012

Jane and Sarah discuss contemporary romance, especially those successful self-published books that are essentially category romances. Plus, book recommendations, and book characters that made us so irritated we had to stop reading. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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26. An Interview with Sylvia Day Jul 05, 2012

Sarah and Jane interview New York Times bestselling author Sylvia Day about her book "Bared to You," and about her upcoming presidency of RWA. Erin Galloway and Cindy Hwang are also part of the roundtable of much laughing, discussing how they brought Day's self-pubbed book to Penguin, and the response the book has received. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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25. A Look Ahead at Summer Reading Jun 06, 2012

n this podcast, we look at summer reading! Jane and Sarah sit down with Jane's ARC drawer (That's a real thing) and take a look at the books we're excited about coming this summer. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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24. An Interview with Nalini Singh Apr 20, 2012

Sarah and Jane interview Nalini Singh, who is trapped in their hotel room, unable to escape the questioning. The good news: we learn which US reality tv show Nalini is secretly addicted to. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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23. What Are You Reading? Apr 04, 2012

Sarah tunes in to the DBSA Podcast voicemail and adds listener messages to the podcast as we discuss what we're reading. Plus, there's an interview with Sarah's mother in law about audiobooks she loves. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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22. The Romance Canon Mar 22, 2012

Sarah and Jane discuss the romance canon - what it is, who is in it, and why the term 'canon' might mean different things to different people. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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21. It’s DABWAHA Time! Mar 05, 2012

Sarah and Jane talk about the upcoming DABWAHA, A March Madness Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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20. The Mysterious Hymen Feb 21, 2012

Sarah and Jane take a look at your suggestions as to the best name for a book wherein a hymen is located in the incorrect place. We also talk about other things, like romance novels. No, really. Swear! Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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19. Buying, Reading and Reviewing Jan 23, 2012

Sarah and Jane discuss book buying, reading, and reviewing, and Jane attempts to recommend a book to Sarah. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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18. Coltish! A visit with our listener email. Jan 11, 2012

Sarah & Jane talk about coltish legs, books that make us cry, being happy drunks, and werewolf fiction best-of. We also talk about Lisa Kleypas' upcoming 'Rainshadow Road.' Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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17. Ridiculousness Threshold: 29 December 2011 Dec 29, 2011

Jane and Sarah talk about the ridiculous threshold, where hyperbolic characters and plots become too much - and why that threshold varies for different readers depending on genre. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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16. Shopping, Reading, and Renaming the Podcast: 16 December 2011 Dec 16, 2011

This week Sarah convinces Jane to talk about the Agony / Ecstasy Anthology, and we reminisce about old ebook stores and old reading devices. We also discuss schmoopy epilogues, were-bears, and books we're reading right now. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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15. What We’re Reading: November 28, 2011 Nov 28, 2011

Sarah and Jane talk about what we're reading, whether there's more cursing in romance than there was previously, and what we wish for in a paranormal werewolf romance. We also talk about football. Really. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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14. Sarah Mayberry Interview: November 15, 2011 Nov 16, 2011

Jane and Sarah interview Sarah Mayberry, talk about her books and her current work in progress, and make her try on an American accent. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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13. Reader Mail: October 18, 2011 Oct 18, 2011

This week: we peek in the mailbox and answer listener email. Are paranormals and vampire romances on the way out? Have we reached saturation? What surprises does our email inbox hold for us? And what book will Sarah read aloud this time? All the answers are here for your enjoyment. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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12. Getting Cross-Examined About Everything I Know About Love – Oct. 3, 2011 Oct 03, 2011

Jane interviews Sarah and asks merciless questions about Everything I Know About Love, I Learned from Romance Novels, Sarah's new book, which is in stores and libraries now. We also talk about romance novels we love that feature wonderful female relationships. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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11. Romangst: September 22, 2011 Sep 22, 2011

We are all about romangst this week: angsty romances with a lot of emotion, strife, and (we hope) uplifting, believable endings. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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10. Digital backlist, prices, and old skool romances we love: September 14, 2011 Sep 13, 2011

Jane and Sarah talk about digital backlist, and old skool romances they love. We also discuss prices, and what we are willing to pay for older titles released digitally. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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9. Stephanie Laurens and KISS and Teal: September 6, 2011 Sep 06, 2011

We each interviewed historical romance author Stephanie Laurens in support of her new novel, "Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue," and learn more about Avon's KISS & Teal promotion this month. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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8. Adirondack Chair Pr0n, historical romance, and streak reading: August 30, 2011 Aug 31, 2011

We're back, talking about popular series, historical romance, streak reading, erotic romance, and Jane's term for small town contemporary romances. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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7. We’re back! And we’re talking about Romance! Aug 19, 2011

Sarah and Jane start the podcast up again with a discussion of what we're reading, and what Harlequin Presents novels we like. We also discuss at length a new book, "A Lady Awakened" by Cecilia Grant. Good Book Noise is made, and Sarah owes Jane a puppy. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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6. Tropes, empowerment, women in history, and Carolyn Jewel: March 9, 2009 Mar 10, 2009

Sarah and Jane talk about their favorite romantic tropes, from unrequited love to the smoldering hero. What are your faves? We also interview Carolyn Jewel about her book "Scandal," and the power, or lack thereof, that women had in historical time periods. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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5. Victoria Dahl, responding to reviews, and talking dirty: February 23, 2009 Feb 24, 2009

Victoria Dahl, author of "Talk Me Down," joins us to talk about small towns, sexually intelligent heroines, and responding to reviews. Then Jane and Sarah talk about talking dirty- but don't actually get to it. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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4. Claudia Dain, subversive women, and empowering heroines – February 10, 2009 Feb 10, 2009

We have a delicious (and somewhat squeeful) chat with author Claudia Dain about romance heroines who are subversive, powerful, and deviously smart. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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3. Small Presses and eBooks, with Angela James – Dear Bitches, Smart Authors: Jan 27, 2009 Jan 27, 2009

The emergence of epublishing and small presses, and a discussion of market penetration, with special guest Angela James from Sam Hain publishing. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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2. eBooks, the Economy, with guest Malle Vallick – Dear Bitches, Smart Authors Podcast: Jan 12 2009 Jan 13, 2009

We retread some of the economic discussion from our earlier podcast, but we have more to say about what's selling, most notably ebooks. We also have Malle Valick from Harlequin with us to discuss all things bright and digital from Harlequin. Enjoy! Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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1. Our First Episode Dec 31, 2008

Sarah's too close to the phone, Jane is driving, and we're recording our conversation. As Jane says, we are the picture of amateurs. Come watch us grow! Or, listen, as the case may be. Join our Patreon for complete mayhem, shenanigans, and more!

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