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fandom_secrets_feed) wrote2025-08-22 10:41 pm
fandom_secrets_feed) wrote2025-08-22 10:41 pm
Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books (smartbitches_feed) wrote2025-08-22 05:50 pm
smartbitches_feed) wrote2025-08-22 05:50 pmAll Superheroes Need PR by Elizabeth Stephens
This guest review is from Danielle Fritz. Danielle is a former librarian who has a special affection for children’s lit and books about the funeral industry. She first cut her criticism teeth as a fanfic writer. A resident of the upper midwest, she’s learned to love beer and tater tot casserole and tolerate long winters. Most nights will find her cuddled up with her pups and wearing out her wrists with yet another crochet project.
…
CW: Mild violence, accounts of childhood abuse, vomiting, PTSD, trauma, and anxiety.
This came up on my radar in a recent Hide Your Wallet. Something about the premise drew me in, though I’m not typically drawn to super hero romances or fake dating tropes, and I quickly purchased a copy. I did see the first Avengers in theaters six times when it came out in 2012, and embarrassingly went to a sparsely attended midnight DVD release party to get myself a copy, so maybe there’s some residual affection for comic book heroes deep in the cold cockles of my heart? But this is not a Joss Whedon special — there are plenty of multi-dimensional non-White characters and far fewer quippy one liners.
Vanessa Theriot is on top of the world. At 34 she heads her own PR firm, and they’ve gotten the opportunity to pitch to a huge potential client. Roland Casteel, aka Pyro, a fiery super hero, is a free agent. At the start of the book, he’s being courted by the two Supernatural organizations that sponsor the Heroes and Villains respectively, the Champions of Earth Collation and the Villains Network of America. It’s similar to an NFL trade. The Champions has selected Vanessa’s proposal as one of several they’re showing Pyro. Her small firm is unlikely to be chosen in comparison to the large corporations also making pitches, but she’s hopeful nonetheless.
Vanessa and her team are confident in their pitch, even if Vanessa herself is on the edge of an anxiety attack ahead of the super’s arrival. But the moment Roland enters the conference room he demands Vanessa vacate, immediately. Something about her presence unsettles the super. Utterly embarrassed and completely terrified, Vanessa flees, clumsily causing a chaotic storm of spilled coffee and dropped paper in her wake.
Cue day drinking in disappointment with her colleagues, being cornered by Roland at the bar, and vomiting all over his sweatsuit.
But the next morning Vanessa is greeted by the CEO of the Champions of Earth Collation, the heroes’ organization outside her door with a 10-year contract. Roland has insisted on working with her PR firm, and furthermore, work directly with Vanessa specifically. He’s especially interested in the Lois Lane clause, which is a brilliant campaign that gives Roland a faux partner to soften his image and build excitement around his personal life. He wants Vanessa to be the Lois to his Superman.
But it’s soon revealed that Roland is under the impression that the agreement means more than just dating. He intends to marry Vanessa.
As he continues to hold my hand and stare at me, his lips tilt down into an uncomfortable grimace. “You never have to talk to anybody in this building—or anywhere else—ever again, Vanessa, but I expect my wife to talk to me and, when she does, to call me Roland, not Mr. Casteel.”
“Your wife?” I glance around, feeling deeply uncomfortable holding his hand like this knowing he has a wife. How did that not come up in our research? “You have a wife?”
He freezes. “Yes. You. Or did you not understand the terms of our deal?”
My jaw unhinges, and my eyes flutter, and my knees go weak, and Mr. Casteel curses as he lunges to catch me.
After some negotiation, they come to an agreement. Vanessa will pretend to be Roland’s girlfriend for 4 years of the 10 year contract. They’ll go to events together, partake in photo ops, etc, and Roland will move into her home. He’s hard-headed, but willing to go along with the changes Vanessa’s team suggests to rehab his image…
…like changing his name from the more menacing “Pyro” to a slightly softer “Wyvern,” and wearing a purple costume that compliments his pink-orange eyes (yes, pink and/or orange depending on his mood, y’all this books has some wild moments).
Roland is a deeply intense character. There’s a hardness to him that’s immediately off-putting. He’s not cold in his intensity, either, it’s appropriately fiery given his super powers. When he first appears, he’s so disheveled it’s alarming — he’s wearing a shirt with a severely stretched out collar, sweatpants with holes in the knees, scuffed boots with the soles practically falling off, his hair and beard are a hot mess. He’s blunt, beyond the point of being rude.
We only get a handful of chapters from his POV in comparison to the bulk of the book being in Vanessa’s, and it’s immediately clear he is utterly obsessed with Vanessa and has no idea what to do with himself. He’s a lot for a character like Vanessa, who had a childhood full of abuse and suffers from long term ramifications, including PTSD and anxiety. Roland’s whole energy can be triggering at times for her. But throughout the text he works hard to understand her trauma and change his spikey nature to become a safe space for Vanessa.
At times, he comes across as demanding or controlling. But this doesn’t turn Vanessa off; in fact, it becomes clear over time that Roland’s commands are usually a means of centering her when PTSD or anxiety starts sending her towards a spiral. It can be clumsy at times, but I considered that his ham-handed behavior might simply be the only way he initially knows how to react to someone he loves being in distress.
I think this could give a lot of readers the ick, but I found it an interesting dynamic that sort of sits between super liberated heroines vs the omega type passive heroines. Vanessa sets boundaries quickly, but she appreciates Roland’s hyper-protective nature and diligent observation of her emotions. After a deeply traumatic childhood, she’s grateful to have a partner who is deeply obsessed with her. It wouldn’t work for me, but it works for her.
I appreciate that we get more backstory from Vanessa beyond “abusive mother” and “suffers from PTSD.” She’s a wiz at all things PR, a very strong business leader, and much beloved by her team. No one seems to look down on her for her shyness or occasionally awkwardness (though a reader might get secondhand embarrassment).
We’re quickly introduced to Vanessa’s large adoptive family, who she’s been with since the age of 12 after coming to them through the foster care system. If I have one complaint about the characters in this book, it’s that there are 5 brothers in Vanessa’s family and they are indistinct and interchangeable. I get reasons why an author would establish a large family for a character, but it’s ineffective to me if they’re kind of just a blur rather than unique individuals, unless the blur is set up for comedic purposes. I think giving Vanessa just two or three siblings might’ve been more effective. But otherwise I like the positive representation of foster families and the presence of her loving parents.
There was some great trans rep through Vanessa’s best friend and chief marketing officer, Margerie. She is a down-to-earth, vivacious character who is extremely competent in their career. We don’t see any transphobia…
…only one instance of Vanessa expressing worry that someone might have reservations about dating Margerie, which are quickly banished. I loved that we got to see Margerie flirt a bit with one of Vanessa’s brothers. There was some great sexual tension and I hope maybe book 3 will focus on them as a couple?
In regards to world building, we’re not getting Tolkien levels of exposition, just enough to grasp what this world looks like with super heroes under contract to corporations. I was definitely left wanting more details about the way these organizations worked, and I’m hopeful the follow up books will give us more insight into how the rival heroes and villains companies operate.
I personally prefer not to be spoon fed world-establishing information. However, we do get some moments where characters just sort of internally dialog with themselves backstory that might’ve otherwise been shown vs told. This mostly crops up when discussing the origins of the supers. Within the first chapter, Vanessa explains how 22 years ago 48 children with abnormal gifts landed throughout the world. Some of these alien children were given to foster families, others were kept in government facilities and examined by the Supernatural Defense Department. It’s definitely a topic that is ripe for exploration in future books. Much like with Superman, there’s more emphasis on framing the “hero” part of these characters over the “alien.”
All in all, this book was a fun romp. There were some truly wild moments of alien biology I won’t spoil, but they were more amusing than horrific. Roland and Vanessa’s tension and chemistry was truly delicious. Their physical relationship was a bit of a slow burn but well worth the wait. As I said, I think some readers might be turned off by their dynamic, but I found the departure more compelling and, while it wouldn’t work for me personally, I was very happy to read how well that dynamic worked for Roland and Vanessa.
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scans_daily2025-08-22 06:49 pm
iamrman) wrote in scans_daily2025-08-22 06:49 pmNightwing (1996) #3
Writer: Chuck Dixon
Pencils: Scott McDaniel
Inks: Karl Story
Nightwing gets a tip-off about the False Facers’ next heist.
( Read more... )
The Comics Curmudgeon (joshreadscomics_feed) wrote2025-08-22 04:43 pm
joshreadscomics_feed) wrote2025-08-22 04:43 pmMetapost: Foreshortened COTW
Comics Curmudgeon readers! Do you love this blog and yearn for a novel written by its creator? Well, good news: Josh Fruhlinger's The Enthusiast is that novel! It's even about newspaper comic strips, partly. Check it out!
Slightly shorter list of comments of the week for a somewhat shorter week on my part, but this week’s top comment still delivers the laffs!
“Really liking that accusing look on Dennis’s face. ‘I was promised some kind of circus freak who lived like a dog, and instead I get this boring suburban schmoe? Boo! Zero stars!’” –pugfuggly
As do the very funny runners up!
“Or, you know, just throw out that tacky cheap pink vase, Lois. There is no way Hi is going to use the Japanese art of kintsugi to bring new life to it. At best he’ll slather on some Gorilla glue and you’ll constantly have to remember to turn that side to the wall.” –Tabby Lavalamp
“Big props to yesterday’s Judge Parker for resolving a plot hole with ‘There was probably an entry code for the vacation home in the stuff Glen sent me, which I didn’t read.’ This rings true to life! On the other hand ‘The CIA agent has a pierced septum’ is probably also true to life and I hate it.” –matt w
“Good resume. But she said she wanted to learn from me, and I wouldn’t like to have any employee with low enough self esteem to actually respect me. Have you seen our record?” –Philip
“Since there are no canals in Hartlepool (research consisting solely of scanning the Wikipedia page of that fair city and not seeing any photos of them), I’d like to think that Andy has fallen into an open sewage ditch. Don’t worry, nothing can kill him!” –But What Do I Know?
“Ever since our AI overlords banished women to an infinite plane that just contains kitchen appliances, I don’t get to talk to my friends much anyway. Who knew that this was how Gamergate was going to end?” –Voshkod
“Yeah, right. You didn’t, Naomi. Olive saved her life. You have nice hair, though.” –I’m Not Cthulhu, But I Play Him On TV
“I might be wrong but I think this whole story line is the plot to Madame Web.” –LTJpezcore1
“Heathcliff’s sign is a command, people! You are BLOWING this!” –A Grave Mind
“It’s late, we should be going. Not that sitting here on your sectional and staring at each other all night wasn’t fun, but we were kind of hoping you would offer us some drinks or snacks or entertainment or conversation. Still, your cat’s writing demonstration was a real surprise, so the evening wasn’t a total loss.” –BigTed
“Heathcliff is holding the sign facing away from the group. The other side says ‘Fuck you people.’” –The Rambling Otter
Remember: If you want an ad-free version of this site sent to you every day via email, for $3 a month you can become a Comics Curmudgeon newsletter subscriber! And if you never want to see banner ads on this site, and want to get cool comment-editing features to boot, for the same low price you can become a Comics Curmudgeon website subscriber! You can get each day’s post ad-free via Patreon if that’s your style! And if you just want to give me money directly, you can put some scratch in my tip jar! Thanks to all for your support and readership!
Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books (smartbitches_feed) wrote2025-08-22 03:30 pm
smartbitches_feed) wrote2025-08-22 03:30 pmKDDs, Rachel Lynn Solomon, & More
Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend
RECOMMENDED: Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban is $1.99 and a Kindle Daily Deal! Carrie read this and gave it an A:
Every time I think of this book, I smile. Dear readers, I regret that I have forgotten so many of the finer points of the book. However, I can promise you that it will leave you smiling.
Gwen has a brilliant beyond brilliant idea.
It’s 1857, and anxious debutante Beth has just one season to snag a wealthy husband, or she and her mother will be out on the street. But playing the blushing ingenue makes Beth’s skin crawl and she’d rather be anywhere but here.
Gwen, on the other hand, is on her fourth season and counting, with absolutely no intention of finding a husband, possibly ever. She figures she has plenty of security as the only daughter of a rakish earl, from whom she’s gotten all her flair, fun, and less-than-proper party games.
“Let’s get them together,” she says.
It doesn’t take long for Gwen to hatch her latest scheme: rather than surrender Beth to courtship, they should set up Gwen’s father and Beth’s newly widowed mother. Let them get married instead.
“It’ll be easy” she says.
There’s just…one, teeny, tiny problem. Their parents kind of seem to hate each other.
But no worries. Beth and Gwen are more than up to the challenge of a little twenty-year-old heartbreak. How hard can parent-trapping widowed ex-lovers be?
Of course, just as their plan begins to unfold, a handsome, wealthy viscount starts calling on Beth, offering up the perfect, secure marriage.
Beth’s not mature enough for this…
Now Gwen must face the prospect of sharing Beth with someone else, forever. And Beth must reckon with the fact that she’s caught feelings, hard, and they’re definitely not for her potential fiancé.
That’s the trouble with matchmaking: sometimes you accidentally fall in love with your best friend in the process.
An Impossible Imposter
An Impossible Imposter by Deanna Raybourn is $1.99 and a KDD! This is book seven in the recommended Veronica Speedwell series. Have you kept up with the series?
While investigating a man claiming to be the long-lost heir to a noble family, Veronica Speedwell gets the surprise of her life in this new adventure from the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-nominated author Deanna Raybourn.
London, 1889. Veronica Speedwell and her natural historian beau Stoker are summoned by Sir Hugo Montgomerie, head of Special Branch. He has a personal request on behalf of his goddaughter, Euphemia Hathaway. After years of traveling the world, her eldest brother, Jonathan, heir to Hathaway Hall, was believed to have been killed in the catastrophic eruption of Krakatoa a few years before.
But now a man matching Jonathan’s description and carrying his possessions has arrived at Hathaway Hall with no memory of his identity or where he has been. Could this man truly be Jonathan, back from the dead? Or is he a devious impostor, determined to gain ownership over the family’s most valuable possessions–a legendary parure of priceless Rajasthani jewels? It’s a delicate situation, and Veronica is Sir Hugo’s only hope.
Veronica and Stoker agree to go to Hathaway Hall to covertly investigate the mysterious amnesiac. Veronica is soon shocked to find herself face-to-face with a ghost from her past. To help Sir Hugo discover the truth, she must open doors to her own history that she long believed to be shut for good.
Weather Girl
RECOMMENDED: Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon is $4.99! Carrie read this one and gave it a B+:
I’ve read a lot of books recently in which the romance was the least interesting part of the book. This book gave me the opposite feeling. Ari and Russell are nice people who are nice to spend time with, so while this book was not, shall we say, action packed, it was a lovely story about being honest with and about yourself and others and finding unexpected love.
A TV meteorologist and a sports reporter scheme to reunite their divorced bosses with unforecasted results in this charming romantic comedy from the author of The Ex Talk.
Ari Abrams has always been fascinated by the weather, and she loves almost everything about her job as a TV meteorologist. Her boss, legendary Seattle weatherwoman Torrance Hale, is too distracted by her tempestuous relationship with her ex-husband, the station’s news director, to give Ari the mentorship she wants. Ari, who runs on sunshine and optimism, is at her wits’ end. The only person who seems to understand how she feels is sweet but reserved sports reporter Russell Barringer.
In the aftermath of a disastrous holiday party, Ari and Russell decide to team up to solve their bosses’ relationship issues. Between secret gifts and double dates, they start nudging their bosses back together. But their well-meaning meddling backfires when the real chemistry builds between Ari and Russell.
Working closely with Russell means allowing him to get to know parts of herself that Ari keeps hidden from everyone. Will he be able to embrace her dark clouds as well as her clear skies?
Coming Back
Coming Back by Lauren Dane is $1.99! This is an erotic contemporary romance with a menage, the third book in the Ink & Chrome series, and Elyse really enjoyed the first book in this series. Some readers felt that a lot of the beginning exposition was missing for the characters, but fans of Dane’s triad/menage romances really enjoyed this.
The men of Twisted Steel are great with their hands.
And they’re not afraid to get dirty.
Mick Roberts, the newest partner at Twisted Steel’s custom hotrod and motorcycle shop, looks like a man with everything. But secretly he still craves the connection he lost when his best friend Adam and the love of his life Jessilynn walked out. Then, he wasn’t ready for the pleasure they promised. Now, things have changed.
Rich, powerful, and insatiable, Adam Gulati is used to getting what he wants. And there’s nothing he wants more than Mick and Jessi. He hasn’t seen either in over a year, but the second he sets eyes on them again his memories-and his desires-can’t be denied.
After trying to live without them, Jessi Franklin realized no one else can satisfy her like Adam and Mick. The three of them need one another-in more ways than one. It’s time to stop pretending and submit to the hunger they all share. But once they go down this road, there’s no turning back. As deeply devoted as they are, no one knows what great bliss their forbidden fantasy will find-or the price they may pay . . .
Cake Wrecks (cakewrecks_feed) wrote2025-08-22 01:00 pm
cakewrecks_feed) wrote2025-08-22 01:00 pmAnd I Thought "Hole Pile" Sounded Bad
When it comes to naming pastries, you could say this bakery has really hit bottom:
But then, maybe this is a tongue-in-cheek kind of thing?
{Ew.}
Butt seriously, I'm sure these doughnuts are out of this world.
In fact, I bet they're really popular on Uranus.
[rimshot!]
Thanks to Robert F. for showing us what happens when you assume you know how to abbreviate "assorted."
*****
P.S. Here's a giggle for my coffee-loving friends:
"My Four Moods" Dragon Tee
:D
It comes in both Men's & Women's cuts, plus a bunch more colors.
*****
And from my other blog, Epbot:
iamrman (iamrman) wrote in scans_daily2025-08-22 02:35 pm
iamrman) wrote in scans_daily2025-08-22 02:35 pmNew Mutants #33
Writer: Chris Claremont
Pencils and inks: Steve Leialoha
Only Storm can save the New Mutants now!
( Read more... )
The Comics Curmudgeon (joshreadscomics_feed) wrote2025-08-22 11:24 am
joshreadscomics_feed) wrote2025-08-22 11:24 amViolence (on-screen, on-course, etc.)
Comics Curmudgeon readers! Do you love this blog and yearn for a novel written by its creator? Well, good news: Josh Fruhlinger's The Enthusiast is that novel! It's even about newspaper comic strips, partly. Check it out!
Luann, 8/22/25
In the current Luann plot, Tiffany has dragged Les to a spa to get a mani-pedi and other treatments, and has been annoyed that he still wants to talk about video games, only to discover that [record scratch] the spa attendant is a gamer as well????? I was wondering if Leviathan was a real game, but the only game by that name I could find links to online is “a multiplayer extraction shooter set in a sci-fi universe where humanity has been abducted by a gargantuan, interstellar beast and changed over the course of several millennia. The abducted were ultimately discarded onto foreign planets. To survive, they have been forced to evolve into three factions of biologically and ideologically distinct lifeforms. Recently, a second wave of abductions have occurred. Fate has brought them together to the surface of the bountiful world of Domusalus; where only ONE FACTION can establish dominance for their survival.” So I guess Luann’s long-term goal is to woo gentle and impressionable young people attracted by the idea of a sea life simulator into a nightmarish world of violent mutants. Fun! Just the sort of thing that would send a hard-core gamer like Les into a state of orgasmic joy, which he appears to have achieved in panel three here.
Mark Trail, 8/22/25
Last week Uncle Lumpy declared gator-travel-assistance to be “not quite Fists of Justice™ territory, but at least macho-heroics-adjacent,” which Mark apparently took as a personal challenge! Today’s punch is less about putting a stop to imminent danger and more about putting a stop to a fight that some golf course developer jerk started, but I do enjoy the POV angle we get on the punching in panel three. Usually Mark is a “chin music” guy rather than a “nose bopping” guy, but this dude doesn’t have much of a chin, so you gotta do what you gotta do!
Heathcliff, 8/22/25
As the theme song to the mid-80s Heathcliff & the Catillac Cats cartoon so wisely put it: “Heathcliff, Heathcliff, no one should terrify their neighborhood. But Heathcliff just won’t be undone, playing pranks on everyone.” So why does the Nutmeg family tolerate his presence? Well, as today’s panel demonstrates, a pet who refuses to acknowledge the bounds of polite conventions can be a real asset. Look how happy they are to be relieved of their social obligations! Heathcliff says (via signs, flags, and so on) the truths that others won’t!
Mother Goose and Grimm, 8/22/25
Boy, Ma Goose sure takes a lot of pills! That’s … the joke, I guess? That’s a joke, I guess? They wouldn’t print it in the paper if it weren’t a joke, right?
iamrman (iamrman) wrote in scans_daily2025-08-22 12:33 pm
iamrman) wrote in scans_daily2025-08-22 12:33 pmMister Miracle (1989) #3
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Pencils and inks: Ian Gibson
Highfather of the New Gods drops by unannounced.
( Read more... )
iamrman (iamrman) wrote in scans_daily2025-08-22 10:29 am
iamrman) wrote in scans_daily2025-08-22 10:29 amMartian Manhunter #2
Writer: John Ostrander
Pencils and inks: Tom Mandrake
Bio Armor Jade Warrior Action, Go!!
( Read more... )
Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books (smartbitches_feed) wrote2025-08-22 06:00 am
smartbitches_feed) wrote2025-08-22 06:00 am681. RT Rewind: July 2016 Ads & Features
It’s July 2016, and we’re back in the time machine to check out the ads & features from this issue of Romantic Times Magazine!
We spot an SBTB friend in the letters to the editor, and we talk about romances translated into English, the appeal of the wounded hero, and we spot an ad that’s very clearly some Tay-fic, as I’m calling it. We also discuss an article about Kickstarter in romance – and this is 2016. Look how far we’ve come – and how much RT had its finger on the pulse of new trends.
The July 2016 issue also has several scrapbook-style pages of the RT Convention in Vegas. We recorded a separate episode about those pages, with some conference memories, analysis, and memorabilia, and that will be the bonus episode for this month, dropping on August 26, 2025, for Patreon subscribers, with pictures galore.
Listen to the podcast →Read the transcript →
Here are the books we discuss in this podcast:
We also discussed:
- Our Rec League for Sad Historical Businessmen
- Kickstarter: The Jane Austen Deluxe Collection
- Kickstarter: After the End – A Dystopian Romance Collection
- Kickstarter: Bonkers Romance
- 507. Romance Kickstarters with Lucy Eden and Katee Robert
- Episode 604. Dessert Projects with Katee Robert
- Episode 620. Romance and Kickstarter with Oriana Leckert
- Review: Fresh Romance Volume 1
- Review: Fresh Romance Volume 2
- BBC News: “‘Every word has come back to haunt me’: China cracks down on women who write gay erotica”
And the PDF of “Broken Heroes, Healed Hearts” by Sophie Barnes. (Please comment if the link doesn’t work – I am 92% sure I did this correctly!)
Visual aids? YES VISUAL AIDS!
I read this as, “The man who shattered her back.”
This is the ad for RECTOR, prompting us to say, “I hardly knew her!” Also: one of these books is not like the others.
Hey, we know Heather S, too! (Hi Heather!)
2016 TayFic anyone?
If you like the podcast, you can subscribe to our feed, or find us at iTunes. You can also find us on Stitcher, and Spotify, too. We also have a cool page for the podcast on iTunes.
More ways to sponsor:
Sponsor us through Patreon! (What is Patreon?)
What did you think of today's episode? Got ideas? Suggestions? You can talk to us on the blog entries for the podcast or talk to us on Facebook if that's where you hang out online. You can email us at sbjpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave us a message at our Google voice number: 201-371-3272. Please don't forget to give us a name and where you're calling from so we can work your message into an upcoming podcast.
Thanks for listening!
Remember to subscribe to our podcast feed, find us on iTunes or on Stitcher.
iamrman (iamrman) wrote in scans_daily2025-08-21 06:39 pm
iamrman) wrote in scans_daily2025-08-21 06:39 pmEntry tags:
Manhunter (1988) #3
Writers: John Ostrander and Kim Yale
Pencils: Doug Rice
Inks: Sam Kieth
Dumas takes Mark Shaw's family hostage.
( Read more... )
Smart Bitches, Trashy BooksSmart Bitches, Trashy Books (smartbitches_feed) wrote2025-08-21 03:30 pm
smartbitches_feed) wrote2025-08-21 03:30 pmWitches, Holiday Romance, & More
A Duke by Default
RECOMMENDED: A Duke by Default by Alyssa Cole is $1.99! We read this for my book club and we all agreed there wasn’t enough blacksmithing and sword-making. Carrie enjoyed this one and gave it an A-:
This is such a solid book – it’s tear-jerking, it’s inspiring, it’s sexy and romantic, it’s interesting (sword history!) and it’s funny. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.
New York City socialite and perpetual hot mess Portia Hobbs is tired of disappointing her family, friends, and—most importantly—herself. An apprenticeship with a struggling swordmaker in Scotland is a chance to use her expertise and discover what she’s capable of. Turns out she excels at aggravating her gruff silver fox boss…when she’s not having inappropriate fantasies about his sexy Scottish burr.
Tavish McKenzie doesn’t need a rich, spoiled American telling him how to run his armory…even if she is infuriatingly good at it. Tav tries to rebuff his apprentice—and his attraction to her—but when Portia accidentally discovers that he’s the secret son of a duke, rough-around-the-edges Tav becomes her newest makeover project.
Forging metal into weapons and armor is one thing, but when desire burns out of control and the media spotlight gets too hot to bear, can a commoner turned duke and his posh apprentice find lasting love?
A Holly Jolly Ever After
A Holly Jolly Ever by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone is $1.99! This is book two in the Christmas Notch series. I don’t love holiday romances, but I’ve been tempted by the promise of spiciness. Though I’ve also heard the books aren’t as spicy as they let on. What are your thoughts?
An actress and a perpetually single former boy-band member are reunited as costars on a steamy holiday film in this all new spicy rom-com by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone, bestselling coauthors of A Merry Little Meet Cute.
Kallum Liebermanis the funny one™. As the arguably lesser of the three former members of the boy band INK, he enjoyed his fifteen minutes of fame and then moved home where he opened a regional pizza chain called Slice, Slice, Baby! He’s living his best dad bod life, hooking up with bridesmaids at all his friends’ weddings. But after an old one-off sex tape is leaked and quickly goes viral, Kallum decides he’s ready to step into the spotlight again, starring in a sexy Santa biopic for the Hope Channel.
Winnie Baker did everything right. She married her childhood sweetheart, avoided the downfalls of adolescent stardom, and transitioned into a stable adult acting career. Hell, she even waited until marriage to have sex. But after her perfect life falls apart, Winnie is ready to redefine herself—and what better way than a steamier-than-a-steaming-hot-mug-of-cider Christmas movie?
With decade old Hollywood history between them, Winnie and Kallum are both feeling hesitant about their new situation as costars…especially Winnie who can’t seem to fake on screen pleasure she’s never experienced in real life. She’s willing to do the pleasure research—for science and artistic authenticity, of course. And there’s no better research partner than her bridesmaid sex tape hall of fame costar, Kallum. But suddenly, Kallum’s teenage crush on Winnie is bubbling to the surface and Winnie might be catching feelings herself.
They say opposites attract, but is this holly jolly ever after really ready for its close-up?
Trouble the Saints
Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson is $2.99! Both Maya and Ellen mentioned this in a Hide Your Wallet post in 2020. Wow, time flies. It has a slightly updated cover, though I think I prefer the black background over the yellow.
“Juju assassins, alternate history, a gritty New York crime story… in a word: Awesome” —N.K. Jemisin, New York Times bestselling author of The Fifth Season.
The dangerous magic of The Night Circus meets the powerful historical exploration of The Underground Railroad in this timely and unsettling novel, set against the darkly glamorous backdrop of New York City, where an assassin falls in love and tries to fight her fate at the dawn of World War II.
Amid the whir of city life, a young woman from Harlem is drawn into the glittering underworld of Manhattan, where she’s hired to use her knives to strike fear among its most dangerous denizens.
Ten years later, Phyllis LeBlanc has given up everything—not just her own past, and Dev, the man she loved, but even her own dreams.
Still, the ghosts from her past are always by her side—and history has appeared on her doorstep to threaten the people she keeps in her heart. And so Phyllis will have to make a harrowing choice, before it’s too late—is there ever enough blood in the world to wash clean generations of injustice?
Trouble the Saints is a dazzling, daring novel—a magical love story, a compelling exposure of racial fault lines—and an altogether brilliant and deeply American saga.
Witches Get Stuff Done
Witches Get Stuff Done by Molly Harper is $1.99! This is a small town paranormal romance between a witch and a librarian. Sounds a little too twee for me, but it could be right up your alley.
Juggling newfound witchy powers, a house full of ghosts, and verbal battles with the handsome local librarian is almost too much for a new witch to manage. A new witch with a coven, however, can get so much more done…
From the moment Riley Everett set foot in Starfall Point, magic bubbled inside of her. But with only her late aunt’s journals and a cantankerous live-in ghost butler to instruct her on all things witchy—including her newly inherited Victorian haunted house—Riley seeks out a coven for sisterhood and support. The last person she expects to be drawn to is the town’s frustrating, yet ridiculously attractive head librarian.
Edison Held knows almost everything there is to know about Starfall Point, but Shaddow House was always off-limits, thanks to its elusive owner. If he can convince the new owner, Riley, to let him take a peek inside, there’s so much he could learn. But as he gets closer to Riley, he’s fascinated by her dazzling wit and fiery spirit. Edison will do whatever he can to help Riley keep her family legacy alive, especially if it means spending more time with the captivating new witch in town.
Bestselling author Molly Harper wields a magical pen in this hilarious, delightful witchy romcom perfect for readers of The Ex Hex and Payback’s a Witch.
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Tokusatsu Femslash Prompt Meme
Description: A multimedia femslash prompt meme for all tokusatsu series and films. From Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, Power Rangers, Ultraman, Kaiju, Sukeban Deka, and even the most obscure Showa-Era toku out there you can think of. If it's in the tokusatsu genre, it's welcome!
Schedule: August 20th until October 31st.
Links:
tokufemslash | Prompt Meme Post | Comm Rules and Guidelines | Ao3 Collection | Squidgeworld Collection | Superlove Collection