It's Worse Than That, They're Dead, Jen
Apr. 27th, 2026 01:00 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
cakewrecks_feedSo Jen wants you to think our national parks are all fun and games and kayaking and snuggling baby otters and stuff. Well, we live in Florida, man! We have the Everglades where literally everything wants to kill and eat you. Or kill you and leave your body for something ELSE to eat you. But definitely with the killing thing.
What, you think I'm exaggerating?
THIS ALLIGATOR WANTS TO EAT YOUR FACE.
That's right, a smashed cake alligator wants to kill you. It's serious down here, guys.
And then there's the snakes:
"Help meeeee!"
Which this baker has so helpfully illustrated mid-murder.
We've got poison toads:
"I want you to croak."
And snakes:
GAAAAAAkeepscrollingkeepscrollingkeepscrolling
And giant angry spiders:
Who team up with killer bees...
Did I mention the snakes?
BECAUSE WE HAVE A LOT OF SNAKES.
Not to mention the armies of squirrel-sized mosquitoes:
They're very friendly. No sense of personal space.
Piranhas:
Seriously.
And panthers.
NO LION.
Because of course we have panthers. Why wouldn't we have panthers?! I mean, what would a swamp be without FRIGGIN PANTHERS?!?!?!
So.
To sum up, if you come to one of Florida's many beautiful national parks, you're gonna die. Probably. Best not to chance it. Just go to Disney and marvel at the animatronic deer and bunnies, which are super lifelike this time of year.
This has been a public service announcement from Cheryl G., Kelly V., Tracey S., Anony M., Sarah G., Andrew W., Ashley M., Kelly R., & Gretchen T.
*****
If you know someone who loves frogs, maybe skip the wreck and get them this instead:
Fanatical About Frogs
It's part of a cool animal series with incredible art. In fact I'm also eying Obsessive About Octopuses, just for the cover alone. Hnnng.
*****
And from my other blog, Epbot:
Mostly Contemporary Romances
Apr. 27th, 2026 03:30 pmsmartbitches_feedMine to Take
RECOMMENDED: Mine to Take by Jackie Ashenden is $1.99! In one of the RT Rewind episodes, Sarah and I discussed how Ashenden’s books felt like a precursor to today’s dark romance. Elyse read this and really enjoyed it. She gave the book an A-:
I immensely enjoyed the start of this series and am looking forward to the rest of the books. If you like sexy biker gang president CEO heroes who are bossy in the bedroom–and let’s be honest, who doesn’t?–then consider picking up Mine to Take.
First in a brand new series featuring the members of the Nine Circles Club—friends bound together by power, secrets, need…and the love they will find and stop at nothing to keep.
Passion always comes at a price.
Gabriel Woolf is unstoppable. A ruthless businessman, he has perfected the art of revenge. Ever since his mother’s death, Gabriel has harbored only one wish: To take down the man who ruined their lives. But all bets are off when he meets his father’s step-daughter, Honor St. James. Beautiful and innocent, she is everything Gabriel never knew he wanted—and now there’s no turning back…
Is her desire worth the risk?
Honor wasn’t born yesterday. She knows that Gabriel is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, willing to cross any line to get what he wants…herself included. But Gabriel’s passion for Honor—in spite of her connection to the man he hates the most—cannot be denied…and the feeling is utterly mutual. Can Gabriel be trusted? The only thing she knows for sure is how he makes her feel. And she can’t keep herself from coming back to him, over and over again…
I Believe in a Thing Called Love
I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo is $2.99! This is a contemporary YA romance with a heroine who turns to K-dramas to give her tips for love. Readers found this to be super cute, but some reviews mentioned not being on board for the heroine’s romance tactics.
Desi Lee knows how carburetors work. She learned CPR at the age of five. As a high school senior, she has never missed a day of school and has never had a B in her entire life. She’s for sure going to Stanford. But—she’s never had a boyfriend. In fact, she’s a disaster in romance, a clumsy, stammering humiliation-magnet whose botched attempts at flirting have become legendary with her friends. So when the hottest human specimen to have ever lived walks into her life one day, Desi decides to tackle her flirting failures with the same zest she’s applied to everything else in her life. She finds her answer in the Korean dramas her father has been obsessively watching for years—where the hapless heroine always seems to end up in the arms of her true love by episode ten. It’s a simple formula, and Desi is a quick study. Armed with her “K Drama Rules for True Love,” Desi goes after the moody, elusive artist Luca Drakos—and boat rescues, love triangles, and fake car crashes ensue. But when the fun and games turn to true feels, Desi finds out that real love is about way more than just drama.
Tempting Olivia
Tempting Olivia by Clare Ashton is $3.49! This is book two in the f/f contemporary Oxford Romance series. Many of Ashton’s books have been mentioned and recommended on the site.
Olivia Sachdeva’s life is flawless. With a first from Oxford and as the youngest partner at Bentley lawyers, she expects high standards from everyone. Her only indulgences are eating iced desserts and repeat watching romcoms, especially those featuring Kate Laurence – pure escapism and cinematic perfection.
But, when the actor walks into Olivia’s office with a bag full of divorce and a messy personal life, that perfect bubble bursts. Kate seems nothing like the screen goddesses she plays, and Olivia must put aside her comfort viewing and handle the case like the true professional she is.
It requires secrecy, especially with indiscreet friends. Will best-friend Charlotte ever read the room? And will Millie, who instantly reads the room, ever stop commenting loudly?
And Kate? She doesn’t know what to think about this frosty lawyer. But she needs a quick divorce from a mistake of a marriage, which was over before it started, and Olivia Sachdeva is the best.
But little by little, Olivia and Kate glimpse behind the mask, to find someone they weren’t looking for, who may not even be perfect, but might be the right person for them.
Read as a stand-alone romance or book two of the Oxford Romance series.
The Bone Raiders
The Bone Raiders by Jackson Ford is $1.99! This released late last year and I remember thinking it sounded pretty fun. Book two in the series is out next month.
The start of an edge-of-your-seat, action‑packed epic fantasy series from the irreverent Jackson Ford, where a wild band known as the Bone Raiders harness the power of gigantic, fire-breathing lizards to defend their homeland.
“Awesome. Masterfully executed. Frequently hilarious.” — Nicholas Eames, author of Kings of the Wyld
WE DIDN’T START THE FIRE . . . BUT OUR GIANT FIRE-BREATHING LIZARDS DID.
You don’t f*ck with the Rakada. The people living in the grasslands of the Tapestry call them the Bone Raiders, from their charming habit of displaying the bones of those they kill on their armour. But being a raider is tough these days. There’s a new Great Khan in the Tapestry. He plans to use his sizeable military to get rid of the raider clans. And then there are the huge fire-breathing lizards that are straying into the grasslands a little too often these days.
Sayana is a raider scout. She knows that to protect their way of life, she needs do something drastic. Like convincing her clan to ride those huge lizards, instead of horses. Sayana doesn’t know how to do it without being eaten and/or cooked alive, but she’d better figure it out fast – or she and her clan, along with every other raider in the Tapestry, will be wiped out.
How to Fake it in Society by KJ Charles
Apr. 27th, 2026 08:00 amsmartbitches_feed
A-
How to Fake It in Society
by KJ Charles
April 28, 2026 · Bramble
Historical: EuropeanLGBTQIARomance
This book brought me a tremendous amount of pleasure. It’s a KJ Charles book, so that’s probably stating the obvious, but this is KJ Charles at her best.
Nico is a French aristocrat with a painting to sell in order to pay off a terrifying moneylender on behalf of his cousin Evelyn (usually referred to as Eve). Nico is engaged to Miss Whitecross, a phenomenally wealthy old woman. He is not old – probably in his twenties, although it’s never stated. While he is out of town, Miss Whitecross’s (evil) nephew trips her going down the stairs and she is now on her deathbed.
Titus makes watercolours and oilpaints professionally. Miss Whitecross is one of his clients and he arrives on Miss Whitecross’s doorstep with her paint order. The butler, Mr Thorpe, sees an opportunity for Miss Whitecross to have her vengeance afterall. Long story short, Titus ends up marrying Miss Whitecross there and then so that her evil nephew doesn’t inherit her fortune – it all goes to Titus.
In a matter of hours, Titus goes from being a shopkeeper with an eviction notice hanging over his head to being fabulously wealthy. Nico returns to town in the days that follow and pays Titus a visit, initially planning to get some money out of Titus as compensation for losing out on a fortune, but he soon becomes Titus’s guide and protector.
One of my predominant thoughts when reading was that the narrator really loved her characters (It’s a third person narrator). This made it so easy to fall in love with the characters myself. I have an extended excerpt from Titus’ wedding to Miss Whitecross that made me squeal with delight.
“Titus planted a very awkward, exceedingly light kiss on her papery hand, rather than her torn and bruised cheek.
“Flatterer”, she said, in a thread of a voice but still with a gleam of satisfaction. “He has it all now, don’t he, Carnaby?”
“The Whitecross fortune passes absolutely to your husband in accordance with the provisions of your father’s bequest.”
“And my property too. Where’s the will? Read it.”
Mr Carnaby produced a document. “Mr Green, if you will confirm for me that I am giving a faithful reading.”
He waited for the Reverend Mr Green to stand by him, then read out the provisions. A generous sum to Thomas Thorpe, her faithful butler, and as much again to her housekeeper, Mrs Matilda Thorpe. Multiple small bequests to her other servants, and everything else of which she died possessed to –
“Titus Caesar Pilcrow? Caesar?” she croaked.
“My father was greatly interested in Roman imperial history”
“Imbecile. Go on, Carnaby.”
The rest of which she died possessed was bequeathed absolutely to her lawful husband, Titus Caesar Pilcrow, with the exception of one pound to Matthew Laxton, her sister’s son, in recognition of all the love Miss Whitecross bore him.
“In those words,” she said querulously, “And why must I leave him anything?”
“Only so he can’t claim he was forgotten,” Mr Carnaby said in soothing tones. “Are these your wishes Mrs Pilcrow?”
“Mrs – ha. Seventy-eight years without a dratted man in my life and now this tomfoolery. Yes, that’s my wish. Everyone hear me? Pilcrow has it all.”
The reverend, the curate, the lawyer, the doctor and the butler all nodded.
I adored Miss Whitecross. I cared for Titus. And this is all in the opening pages. Imagine how much more love there is to be felt for these characters! And I felt it all!
Titus proves himself to be a respectful, reserved man with a passion for art (and Nico). Nico, as I mentioned, becomes Titus’s protector and support, genuinely. Titus is bewildered by the acquaintances and strangers now asking him for money, either as a gift or a loan. He’s overwhelmed by the Society mothers who now see him as a fitting suitor for their daughters. He has no knowledge of Society rules and expectations. He doesn’t know what to wear or how to behave. Nico helps him with all of this.
For all that it is clear that Nico is up to no good from the start, his care and consideration for Titus are genuine. He guides and encourages and supports as Titus works out for himself what exactly it is that he wants to do now that he is wealthy. There is something unutterably tender about the growing connection between the two. Titus is learning to shed baggage from a previous (emotionally abusive) relationship and stand up for what he wants. Nico is his patient, caring, supportive guide in this new world he finds himself in. Nico himself is starting to dream that maybe things can be different for him too, that a genuine partnership is possible. Maybe he doesn’t need to live “on a combination of his wits and the skin of his teeth” always in service of his next goal. Although there are some very big hurdles that need to be cleared first.
It’s clear from the start what the bleak moment will be. It’s so clear that even Titus knows it. Nico needs money and Titus has it. I won’t spell the details out here as things unfold in a way I did not predict even if the crux of the conflict was written on the wall.
The historical detail is fantastically compelling. A particular favourite of mine was the way that money was put in perspective. There are multiple references throughout to how much money would be required to do certain things. For example, I learnt that an aristocratic household at the time would need £2000 to run for a year. Titus inherits capital that gives him an income of £8000 a year. FABULOUSLY wealthy!
In terms of representation, Evelyn’s gender remains ambiguous for much of the book. If I understand correctly, Evelyn is AFAB but living as a man mostly. When Titus brings it up at the end…
Nico says, “Eve is best understood to be simply Eve … ‘He’ suffices where necessary.”
I had only one tiny disappointment: for me the HEA didn’t feel long enough. I would have liked a glimpse into the future, showing how this found family made a home together. Otherwise, yes, I’m saying it with my full chest, it is nearly a perfect book. I think KJ Charles fans will be as delighted as I was.
Cover Snark: Detective Stabler, Is That You?
Apr. 27th, 2026 06:00 amsmartbitches_feedWelcome back to Cover Snark!
Elyse: The artist was sick the day the learned to draw the lower body.
Sneezy: Never skip leg day.
Amanda: Her dress reminds me of those Barbie dress cakes.
Sarah: That is just So Much Dress.
Also, are his trousers open in the front?! My word!
From Syntha: I don’t even know where to start with this one.
Sarah: He looks like someone. Who does he look like. It’s going to bug me until I figure it out.
Elyse: It’s orange Detective Stabler.
Sarah: YES I THINK YOU ARE RIGHT.
Elyse: Doink Doink!
Sarah: Syntha also sent this and I have to say, I respect the attempt:
Syntha: The giraffe neck just looks so silly rising out of the jacket.
Amanda: Honestly, this one is perfect.
No notes.
Elyse: His center of gravity is just so fucked up.
Can you imagine the orthopedic issues that guy has?
Sarah: I really can’t fault any of it.
Sarah: This was a suggestion while I was looking at the Neckromancer (I see what was done there) and in icon size it looks like he is drooling.
Amanda: You can just tell this man has an overinflated ego.
Sarah: He is his own Chosen Champion, huh? Yeah, I see it.
The Transcript for Episode 715 with Claire Trottier is Ready!
Apr. 26th, 2026 03:32 pmsmartbitches_feed
The transcript for Podcast 715. Books, Wine & Nachos at Joie de Livres: A Conversation with Claire Trottier has been posted!
This podcast transcript was handcrafted with meticulous skill by Garlic Knitter. Many thanks.
Parks & No Wreck: Sunday Sweets To TREAT YO'SELF
Apr. 26th, 2026 01:00 pmcakewrecks_feedThis week is National Park Week, so I decided to round up 10 Sweet nature cakes that would make Leslie Knope proud.
(By Intricate Icings Cake Design)
Preeeeettty.
Now, I'm a hermit blogger with what my doctor described as a "shocking" vitamin D deficiency, so I think it's safe to say I'm not the outdoorsy type. BUT! I hear there's actually a lot you can do in our national parks.
Things like:
Kayaking:
(By Mike's Amazing Cakes)
Hiking:
(By Sweet and Sassy)
Camping:
(By The Royal Bakery)
And fishing!
(By Tiffany's Baking Co.)
At least, I think you can fish in some parks, right? Either way, those sculpted waves over the fish are super cool. (Note all the broken hooks, 'cuz the fish won. Ha!)
There's also that classic park activity:
(By Little "Miss" OC's Kitchen)
Eating!
Or I guess the proper term is "picnicking."
For you park-lovers getting married, here's a delicate hand painted number:
(By Cake Central member Ratga)
I like how the tree tops extend over the tiers!
Or how about the pebbles-and-bark textures on this one?
(By Delicut Cakes)
Not to mention my favorite color flowers. Mmmm.
This sugar waterfall works perfectly with a topsy-turvy cake:
(By Rising Flours)
Also perfect? The white frothy bits near the bottom. So good.
I'm diggin' the silhouettes on this one:
(By Colorado Rose Cake Company)
Plus? It's fondant-free!
And finally, while it's not exactly a parks-celebrating cake, I couldn't pass up showing you guys this EPIC Ron Swanson lumberjack cake:
(By Artisan Cake Company.)
Even the axe is sugar! And it's filled with red flannel!
Now that's sweet.
Happy Sunday, everyone!
*****
Trekking The National Parks
This is an award-winning strategy board game for park lovers and families alike, with over 8,000 five-star reviews on Amazon.
Get Rec’d with Amanda – Volume 113
Apr. 26th, 2026 09:00 amsmartbitches_feedHello and welcome back!
In this edition, we have two very different mystery options. There’s also some cozy fantasy and non-fiction.
Have any book recommendations you’d like to pass along? Drop them in the comments!
The Gardeners’ Club
This certainly feels like Thursday Murder Club, but with a gardening club instead. It has an ensemble cast and is a standalone (for now!).
Gardening is dirty work—but should it be deadly? When a corpse turns up in the community greenhouse, Gill Swanley discovers her new hobby might be more dangerous than she imagined.
When Gill Swanley decides to take up gardening to fight a bad case of midlife malaise, she never expected it to become quite such a dangerous hobby.
Pushing herself to “get out there,” Gill picks herself up the secateurs and joins the Bromley Botanists. Here she finds a seven-strong group whose main agenda is how to win the coveted Golden Trowel for best community club of the year.
But when a dead body turns up in the community greenhouse, they suddenly have more serious matters to consider than victory. They must uncover whether their arch-rivals, Croydon, are taking things to another level or whether someone more dangerous is targeting their rag tag group.
Can they dig up the truth before someone else is left pushing up the daisies?
The Halfling’s Harvest
I saw this on a list of books for Stardew Valley fans. It’s a cozy fantasy and, while I love Stardew Valley and have sunk hundreds of hours into the game, I also know cozy fantasies aren’t quite for me. But they might be for you!
When pumpkins glow and cider flows, behold the harvest’s magic.
For most halflings, the annual harvest festival is a time to revel in life’s simple pleasures—hearty feasts, flowing wine, and warm hospitality. But for Marigold Bramblefoot, owner of the Dew Drop Inn and Vineyard, it’s the busiest—and most stressful—time of the year.
Juggling an inn full of quirky guests, preparing for the bustling festivities, and managing her vineyard would be enough to overwhelm anyone. But Marigold has her sights set on something bigger: winning first place in the annual wine competition and finally stepping out of her father’s shadow.
The only problem? Her rival, Darkroot Cellars, has dominated the competition for a decade thanks to the druidic magic behind their wines.
With her hands full and her heart set on success, Marigold must balance the chaos of the festival, a budding romance, and unraveling the vineyard’s hidden mysteries, all while discovering what it truly means to craft her own legacy. Because in Willowbrook, the harvest festival is more than a celebration—it’s a season for transformation, and Marigold’s is long overdue.
About the Welcome to the enchanting world of Tales of Aedrea, where small-scale stories, low-stakes adventure, and cozy fantasy come to life within an epic, high-fantasy realm.
The Iron Garden Sutra
I love scifi horror/mystery so much. It also doesn’t hurt that the marketing copy references two of my favorite scifi titles with “S. A. Barnes’s Dead Silence with a touch of Becky Chambers’ A Psalm for the Wild-Built.”
Klara and the Sun meets S. A. Barnes’s Dead Silence with a touch of Becky Chambers’ A Psalm for the Wild-Built in Nebula Award-winning author A.D. Sui’s darkly philosophical murder mystery, as a death monk and a team of researchers trapped onboard a spaceship of the dead encounter something beyond human understanding…
Vessel Iris has devoted himself to the Starlit Order, performing funeral rites for the dead across the galaxy, guiding souls back into the Infinite Light. Despite the comfort he wants to believe he brings to the dead, his relationships with his fellow Vessels are distant at best, leaving him reliant on his AI implant for companionship.
The spaceship Counsel of Nicaea has been lost for more than a thousand years. A relic of Earth’s dying past, humanity took the ship to the stars on a multi-generation journey to find another habitable planet yet never reached its destination. Its sudden appearance has attracted a team of academics eager to investigate its archeological history. And Iris has been assigned to bring peace to the crew’s long departed souls.
Carpeted in moss and intertwined with vines, Nicaea is more forest than ship. Skeletons are all that remain of the crew, and Iris’ religious rituals are met with bemusement by the scientists—and outright hostility by the engineer Yan Fukui. Determined to be more than just the curator of the dead, Iris tries to make himself useful to the team, desperate to form friendships.
But Nicaea’s plant life isn’t the only sentience to have survived in the past millennia. Something onboard is stalking the explorers one by one. And Iris with his AI enhancement may be their only hope for survival. . .
You’re So Strong
This is the only non-fiction title in the bunch and deals with grief, young widowhood, and suddenly becoming a single parent. She also has a great instagram account where she talks to and seeks advice from other widows.
“Vulnerable and slyly funny.”–Publishers Weekly
“You’re doing so well,” they tell you. “You’re so strong.”
Meanwhile, you’re standing in the middle of your living room, staring at a mountain of grown-man Legos, wondering if it’s disrespectful to donate them or insane to keep them.
You’re on hold with AT&T for the third time this week, trying to explain to a stranger that the account holder doesn’t need unlimited data anymore because he’s dead. You are holding it together on the outside, but on the inside, you are navigating a map that no one gave you, for a terrain you never wanted to visit.
Leslie Harter-Berg knows too well the absurdity of the “admin of death”–the paperwork, the passwords, the phone calls that punctuate the grief. She knows what it’s like to have a life that was “pretty darn good” implode into a reality of solo parenting and widowhood at the age of thirty. She knows exactly what it feels like to have to do school drop-off when simply getting out of bed seems insurmountable.
In this relatable, poignant, and funny memoir-meets-grief-guide, Leslie shares her many attempts at conquering the stages of grief and her ultimate acceptance that no one is actually grading her in Coping 101. In this deeply honest account of life after loss, Leslie learns the hard way that surviving is often more profound and beautiful than thriving.
If you’re exhausted by the well-meaning but empty promises that this is a “blessing in disguise,” that “now you have a guardian angel” or “everything happens for a reason,” come sit next to Leslie as she discovers that there’s not a magic prayer for moving on, and that it’s time to lay down the mantle of “doing grief right.”
PostSecret Exhibition Expansion
Apr. 25th, 2026 11:00 ampost_secret_feed
The ‘Museum of Us’ in San Diego has expanded the PostSecret Exhibition to include “Naked Mail”. Secrets written and mailed on objects, not postcards.
The potato and knife mailed to PostSecet with secrets are not on view, but you will be able to see the artificial banana, (packaged) condom, coconut, license plate, shirt, roller skate, the original PostSecret mailbox, and more.
The post PostSecret Exhibition Expansion appeared first on PostSecret.
Classic Secrets
Apr. 25th, 2026 10:45 ampost_secret_feed
—email—
In response to the teacher who cannot find magic in his or her classroom:
Your role is not to be the magician. Your role is to be the believer.
The magic will reveal itself (it is most often locked inside your students).
The post Classic Secrets appeared first on PostSecret.
PostSecret License
Apr. 25th, 2026 08:20 ampost_secret_feedTo: “frank” <frank@postsecret.com>
Dear Frank-
Twelve years ago I mailed in my license plate with the message “I don’t know where my home is” scrawled on the front. I had just dropped out of college and moved across the country to live with my dad. A lot has changed since then, but some things haven’t.
My life imploded (again) and I found myself back in my dad’s house; I changed careers, graduated college, and went to grad school. But that secret has followed me for a decade, often featured on the website or exhibits.
It popped up a few weeks ago and I thought “nothing has changed, I’m still just that lost kid” and then I realized how wrong I was. I’m not sure that I feel any more at home here now than I did back then, but something has changed. I found home in myself. Finally the skin that I live in feels like enough. Thank you for being a place of growth, love, and acceptance for all these years.
-Erica
Hi Erica,
Thanks for your secret! I remember receiving that “naked mail” over a decade ago and yes it has been shared many times; on the web, in my PostSecret talks, and in museums from the Smithsonian to the Museum of Us.
I know many people have felt a connection to your secret and I believe many will now relate to your story behind it. Courage is contagious and I believe your story will inspire others to tell their truth – and take that first step in their journey.
Your secret definitely has a home, so glad you found yours.
Be well,
-Frank
The post PostSecret License appeared first on PostSecret.
Whatcha Reading? April 2026, Part Two
Apr. 25th, 2026 07:00 amsmartbitches_feed
Welcome back! Here’s what we’re reading right now:
Carrie: I just finished the Trembling Hand, ( A | BN | K | AB ) a nonfiction that I read slowly, and am starting The Chamber, ( A | BN | K | AB ) a thriller which I hope to speed through since it’s all plot
Lara: I just started a cosy mystery by an author that (from what I can tell) started as an influencer. The Potting Shed Murder by Paula Sutton. ( A | BN | K | AB ) I’m only a couple pages in but I’m intrigued!
Amanda: I started The Fey Hotel, but my brain is all over the place and was having some issues latching onto the world building. I was not aware it took place in a fantasy Seattle based on the cover.
Sarah: I finished Fair Game by Patricia Briggs, ( A | BN | K | AB ) part of the Alpha & Omega series, and am debating whether to move to the next book or take a break. I love the relationship development and the exploration of ethics, justice, and acceptance, but woo damn are they violent AF. I mean, for me. There are probably more violent books out there.
Elyse: I just finished the entire ACOTAR series ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) and went from my cynical self to a die hard fan. I took off 10/27. There is something addicting in those pages…
Shana: I just started Key Lime Sky by Al Hess. So far there’s pie, queers, and alien invasions.
Susan: I’m reading Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, ( A | BN ) which is very dramatic and somehow is not m/m romance, despite reading exactly like Global Examination.
Whatcha reading? Let us know in the comments!
Non-Fiction, a Boxed Set, & More
Apr. 24th, 2026 03:30 pmsmartbitches_feedThe One You Can’t Forget
RECOMMENDED: The One You Can’t Forget by Roni Loren is $1.99 and a KDD! I love this series and highly recommend any of the books in it. However, please be warned that it deals with the aftermath of a school shooting.
Most days Rebecca Lindt feels like an imposter…
The world admires her as a survivor. But that impression would crumble if people knew her secret. She didn’t deserve to be the one who got away. But nothing can change the past, so she’s thrown herself into her work. She can’t dwell if she never slows down.
Wes Garrett is trying to get back on his feet after losing his dream restaurant, his money, and half his damn mind in a vicious divorce. But when he intervenes in a mugging and saves Rebecca―the attorney who helped his ex ruin him―his simple life gets complicated.
Their attraction is inconvenient and neither wants more than a fling. But when Rebecca’s secret is put at risk, both discover they could lose everything, including what they never realized they needed: each other
She laughed and kissed him. This morning she’d melted down. But somehow this man had her laughing and turned on only a few hours later. Everything inside her felt buoyed.
She felt…light.
She’d forgotten what that felt like.
The Very Secret Sex Lives of Medieval Women
The Very Secret Sex Lives of Medieval Women by Rosalie Gilbert is $2.99 and another KDD! I mentioned this non-fiction in a previous Get Rec’d. I love a niche history deep dive.
A “wickedly entertaining, informative and thought-provoking” look at romance, courtship, and other intimacies behind closed Medieval doors (Dr. Markus Kerr, PhD, MDR).
Were medieval women slaves to their husband’s desires, jealously secured in a chastity belt in his absence? Was sex a duty or could it be a pleasure? Did a woman have a say about her own female sexuality, body, and who did or didn’t get up close and personal with it? No. And yes. It’s complicated.
The intimate lives of medieval women were as complex as for modern women. They loved and lost, hoped and schemed, were lifted up and cast down. They were hopeful and lovelorn. Some had it forced upon them, others made aphrodisiacs and dressed for success. Some were chaste and some were lusty. Having sex was complicated. Not having sex, was even more so.
Inside The Very Secret Sex Lives of Medieval Women, a fascinating book about life during medieval times, you will discover tantalizing true stories about medieval women and a myriad of historical facts. Learn about:
- The true experiences of women from all classes, including women who made history
- The dos and don’ts in the bedroom
- Sexy foods and how to have them
- All you need to know for your wedding night, and well as insider medical advice
- How to get pregnant (and how not to), and more
“Quite compelling and hilariously funny. I have been chuckling out loud and my husband says he thinks he ought to read it if it’s such a tonic. God forbid!” —Susanna Newstead, author of the Savernake Novels
Change of Plans
Change of Plans by Dylan Newton is $1.99! This is book three in the Matthew Brothers series and features a hero with a below‑the‑knee amputation and a chef heroine raising her three nieces. I’ve heard good things about Newton’s contemporaries, but they seem to fly under the radar.
In this charming romantic comedy, a hometown hero comes to the rescue of a chef unexpectedly left to care for three little girls—who may end up saving him too.
When disaster strikes and chef Bryce Weatherford is given guardianship of her three young nieces, her life goes from cooking with fire…to controlling a dumpster fire. Five‑year‑old Addison refuses to remove her fairy wings, eight‑year‑old Cecily won’t bathe, and tween June is majoring in belligerence. With all this chaos, Bryce jettisons hope for a life outside of managing her family and her new job.
It’s been years since Ryker Matthews had his below‑the‑knee amputation, yet the phantom pain for his lost limb and Marine career haunts him. To cope, he focuses on his vehicle restoration business. He knows he’s lucky to be alive. Yet, “lucky” feels more like “cursed” to his lonely heart.
When Ryker literally sweeps Bryce off her feet in the grocery store’s baby aisle, they both feel sparks. But falling in love would be one more curveball neither is ready to deal with… or is it exactly the change of plans they need?
Kitty Norville Box Set: Books 1-3
Kitty Norville Box Set by Carrie Vaugn is $6.99! This set collects books 1-3 in the urban fantasy series. Did any of you read these books? If so, let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Kitty Norville isn’t just a radio DJ, she’s a werewolf and despite her best efforts, keeping that a secret is harder than you would expect in this bind-up of three complete books that are “fresh, hip, [and] fantastic” (L. A. Banks, author of the Vampire Huntress Legends series).
KITTY AND THE MIDNIGHT HOUR: Kitty Norville is a midnight-shift DJ for a Denver radio station and a werewolf in the closet. Her new late-night advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged is a raging success, but it’s Kitty who can use some help. With one sexy werewolf-hunter and a few homicidal undead on her tail, Kitty may have bitten off more than she can chew.
KITTY GOES TO WASHINGTON: Celebrity werewolf and late-night radio host Kitty Norville prefers to be heard and not seen, but when she’s invited to testify at a Senate hearing on behalf of the country’s supernaturals, her face gets plastered all over national TV. Before long Kitty’s inherited a brand-new set of friends and enemies. Kitty quickly learns that in this city of dirty politicians and backstabbing pundits, everyone’s itching for a fight — and she’s about to be caught in the middle.
KITTY TAKES A HOLIDAY: After getting caught turning into a wolf on national television, Kitty retreats to a mountain cabin to recover and write her memoirs. When werewolf hunter Cormac shows up with an injured Ben O’Farrell, Kitty’s lawyer, slung over his shoulder, and a wolf-like creature with glowing red eyes starts sniffing around the cabin, Kitty wonders if any of them will get out of these woods alive…
The Rose That Grew From Concrete
Apr. 24th, 2026 08:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rizzy_rosie8 posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
poetryDid u hear about the Rose that grew from a crack
in the concrete
Proving nature's laws wrong it learned 2 walk
without having feet
Funny it seems but by keeping its dreams
It learned 2 breathe fresh air
Long live the rose that grew from concrete
When no one else even cared!
- Tupac Shakur
The Daily Life Of A Cake Wrecks Reader
Apr. 24th, 2026 01:00 pmcakewrecks_feed
Thanks to Jasmine T., Desi E., Tina M., Jodi F., & Pam C. for always recovering enough to come back tomorrow.
*****
P.S. Sorry for the fowl content. Let me make it up to you with something cuter:
Disney's Tangled "The Snuggly Duckling" Tee
My favorite thing about this shirt is how you can randomly point at people and shriek, "RUFFIANS!" Lots more colors and cuts at the link.
******
And from my other blog, Epbot:
Friday Videos Love Vintage Videos
Apr. 24th, 2026 10:00 amsmartbitches_feed
Happy Friday!
I have been watching a lot of old, excuse me, vintage You Tube videos.
I still quote these all the TIME.
And I miss the period of time when a new Homestar Runner update was Very Exciting. Internet cartoon shows – done originally, I think, in Adobe Flash?
Oh, Flash. You were everywhere.
I did NOT expect that to be so…prescient.
And of course, this 23 (?) year old moment:
I know someone who, about a week or so after this video appeared, ordered a birthday cake for a co-worker that said, “HAPPY BURNINATOR TROGDOR” and the number of times they had to spell it out for the poor bakery clerk was significant.
Can you imagine? This bakery person has been elbows deep in rolls and cookies for hours, and here comes the weirdest cake writing assignment ever.
Happy Friday! May your Le Naps be wonderful, and your burnination effective!
715. Books, Wine & Nachos at Joie de Livres: A Conversation with Claire Trottier
Apr. 24th, 2026 06:00 amsmartbitches_feed
Thanks for Geoffroy in the podcast Patreon (merci, Geoffrey!) my guest this week is Claire Trottier, owner of Joie de Livres, a romance and speculative fiction bookshop in Montreal, Canada. Hi Neighbors!
We’re going to talk about:
- Opening a romance and speculative fiction book store
- Wealth disparity!
- Seeing the world premiere of episode 1 of Heated Rivalry at the Image+National queer film festival in Montreal
- The effect of Heated Rivalry on Joie de Livres
Then we trade book recs and you get the scoop on the big event happening at Joie de Livres this September.
Listen to the podcast →Read the transcript →
Here are the books we discuss in this podcast:
You can find Joie de Livres at their website, and on Instagram @joie.de.libres.mtl!
Claire Trottier is on IG as @docreads and @clairetrottier_.
We also mentioned:
- Patriotic Millionaires Canada
- Patriotic Millionaires US
- Resource Generation
- Resource Movement
- Bookclub Bar, NY
- Image+Nation Film Festival
Music: purple-planet.com
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.
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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!
Podcast Sponsor
Support for this episode comes from The Awkward Agenda, an open-door romance featuring friends-to-lovers, found family, and pirate cosplay, from author Beth Morton.
Cali Barton is sick of playing a background character in her own life. Her plan to rock the world at her new job falls flat after she overhears her co-workers gossiping about her for being standoffish and her boss decides to coach her on her “approachability.” Turns out that for Cali, being quiet and thoughtful somehow translates to “wrong.”
Enter Simon Goldberg, her upstairs neighbor. While Cali spent her childhood flying under the radar, Simon’s Tourette syndrome taught him to roll with the punches. Simon believed he had made peace with his diagnosis. But when the company publishing his graphic novel wants him to go on tour to promote his work, Simon is panicked at the prospect. Television appearances? He’ll either make a fool of himself or become, ewww, an “inspiring story.”
When Simon comes across Cali, he offers to help her dismantle her social anxiety by taking her on a tour of the kind of awkward experiences she’s avoided. Helping her makes him realize just how closed off his own life has become, and having someone to laugh with makes opening up far easier. They learn to see one another for who they really are – but trusting themselves doesn’t come easy, and letting go is the hardest trick of all.
Reviewers are raving about the quiet depth of this romance:
“The emotional core of the book rests in the small moments: shared laughter after something mortifying, quiet late-night conversations, the realization that someone is choosing you—not because you’re polished, but because you’re you.
This is a romance about reclaiming your narrative. About realizing you were never a background character. And about how love can be the safest place to practice being seen.
It’s soft, hopeful, and quietly empowering.”
And one reader said, “I wish I had a bigger audience so I could tell more people about this book. It feels criminally under-reviewed. I’m really hoping it gets the attention it deserves, because it truly is fantastic.”
The Awkward Agenda by Beth Morton is available now digitally in Kindle Unlimited, and in print from retailers everywhere.