Paranormal Romance, Christina Lauren, & More
Nov. 3rd, 2025 04:30 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
smartbitches_feedIt Had to Be Him
It Had to Be Him by Adib Khorram is $3.99! This romance came out in September and was mentioned on the site. Did any of you pick this one up?
Heartstopper meets Eat Pray Love in this swoony, spicy, second-chance romance from USA Today bestselling author Adib Khorram about two former classmates unexpectedly reuniting in Italy.
Ramin Yazdani’s marriage proposal has just gone bottoms up: his ex dumped him in public for being boring. Bent on proving him wrong, Ramin books a spontaneous solo trip to Italy. When he runs into his high school crush while in a gelateria, however, his resolve to reinvent himself is put to the test.
Noah Bartlett’s in a rut. Since his divorce, he’s become a bit of a homebody. So when his ex-wife insists he join her and their son on an Italian holiday, Noah reluctantly agrees. But his reticence turns to excitement when he sees his former classmate, who’s aged just like a fine wine. As a teenager, Ramin fascinated him—and since Noah now knows that fascination was code for crush—all those feelings are quick to come rushing back.
Soon Ramin and Noah are tumbling headfirst into a relationship. Only Ramin fears Noah’s feelings won’t last without Ramin’s adventurous new persona—and Noah’s not sure he can be the supportive partner Ramin deserves. With the days counting down to the end of their trip, can their love last without the magic of Italy?
Dirty Rowdy Thing
Dirty Rowdy Thing by Christina Lauren is $1.99! This is book two in the Wild Seasons series, and I think it may be my favorite out of the quartet. Content warning for cancer talk.
Despite their rowdy hookups, Harlow and Finn don’t even like each other…which would explain why their marriage lasted only twelve hours. He needs to be in charge and takes whatever he wants. She lives by the Want-something-done? Do-it-yourself mantra. Maybe she’s too similar to the rugged fisherman—or just what he needs.
One Italian Summer
One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle is $2.99! This is women’s fiction with some time travel/magical realism elements. I remember this one being pretty popular when it came out.
In this “magical trip worth taking” (Associated Press), the New York Times bestselling author of In Five Years returns with a powerful novel about the transformational love between mothers and daughters set on the breathtaking Amalfi Coast.
When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mom, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: to Positano, the magical town where Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone.
But as soon as she steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother’s spirit. Buoyed by the stunning waters, beautiful cliffsides, delightful residents, and, of course, delectable food, Katy feels herself coming back to life.
And then Carol appears—in the flesh, healthy, sun-tanned, and thirty years old. Katy doesn’t understand what is happening, or how—all she can focus on is that she has somehow, impossibly, gotten her mother back. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman before her. She is not exactly who Katy imagined she might be, however, and soon Katy must reconcile the mother who knew everything with the young woman who does not yet have a clue.
“Rebecca Serle is known for her powerful stories that tug at the heartstrings—and her latest is just as unforgettable” (Woman’s World) as it effortlessly shows us how to move on after loss, and how the people we love never truly leave us.
The Wolf at the Door
The Wolf at the Door by Charlie Adhara is $1.99! This is a m/m paranormal romance and was recommended by Aarya in our Underrated Authors & Romances Rec League. Though this one wasn’t Aarya’s favorite in the series, she still really liked this one.
A former FBI agent is partnered with the enemy in this suspenseful male/male shifter romance from debut author Charlie Adhara
Hunting for big bad wolves was never part of Agent Cooper Dayton’s plan, but a werewolf attack lands him in the carefully guarded Bureau of Special Investigations. A new case comes with a new partner: ruggedly sexy werewolf Oliver Park.
Park is an agent of The Trust, a werewolf oversight organization working to ease escalating tensions with the BSI. But as far as Cooper’s concerned, it’s failing. As they investigate a series of mysterious deaths unlike anything they’ve seen, every bone in Cooper’s body is suspicious of his new partner—even when Park proves himself as competent as he is utterly captivating.
When more people vanish, pressure to solve the case skyrockets. And though he’d resolved to keep things professional, Cooper’s friction with Park soon erupts…into a physical need that can’t be contained or controlled. But with a body count that’s rising by the day, werewolves and humans are in equal danger. If Cooper and Park don’t catch the killer soon, one—or both—of them could be the next to go.
More Like the CHOKER, Amirite: Justice League International Annual #2 (JLI 18/?)
Nov. 2nd, 2025 04:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tcampbell1000 posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
scans_daily
This funny Joker comic hit the market on the same day as The Killing Joke. I can’t emphasize that enough.
And that’s not even the most baffling thing about it.
( THREE staples?!?! )
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November 3rd, 2025: These are my giant skeleton opinions and I stand by them!! – Ryan | ||
Give Me a Reason by Jayci Lee
Nov. 3rd, 2025 11:00 amsmartbitches_feed
This guest review comes from Lisa! A longtime romance aficionado and frequent commenter to SBTB, Lisa is a queer Latine critic with a sharp tongue and lots of opinions. She frequently reviews at All About Romance and Women Write About Comics, where she’s on staff, and you can catch her at _@thatbouviergirl on Twitter. There, she shares good reviews, bracing industry opinions and thoughtful commentary when she’s not on her grind looking for the next good freelance job.
…
I am one of the worlds’ pickiest people when it comes to Jane Austen retellings. I have squeed over a handful of them as I’ve trawled through various arcs and used books over the past few years; I’ve gotten lucky twice over recent months, between Caroline Bingley: Private Investigator and this modern retelling of Persuasion that’s packed with chemistry and blessed with Jayci Lee’s prodigious writing skills. It knows how to modernize the yearning that goes on between Frederick and Anne and succeeds both in doing its own thing and leaving the reader excited to watch these two get together. It’s a fine novel that works beautifully in its newly modern clothing.
Anne Lee is an actress who swears she doesn’t think about Frederick Nam anymore after their awful breakup back in college. She left for an altruistic reason — to save her family from impoverishment, she took her talents to Seoul and became a part of the k-drama world. Frederick responds by becoming a fireman in their hometown of Los Angeles. He swears off romance entirely. Anne thinks she’ll never see Frederick again, but then her cousin Bethany asks her to come to career week at her kindergarten class. After ten years, Anne comes home. Frederick attends too. They uncomfortably meet and mingle, and Anne thinks that’s the end of it. But then Bethany asks her to be her? maid of honor — and learns Frederick is the groom’s best man. Now as they participate in wedding-related activities, they have to confront the messy past they’ve left behind – and a future they might yet share.
There’s one key ingredient every single interpretation of Persuasion must have — yearning. It’s all about the yearning. If Anne and Frederick don’t look across a crowded room and pine for one another with the heat of a thousand suns, then you’re not remaking Persuasion. And Give Me a Reason is absolutely packed with restrained passion and yearning. There’s too much hurt between Frederic and Anne for them to initially approach each other, and yet they still want to be together.
Anne’s dilemma is understandable, and it’s nice to see her be the one who leaves Frederick behind instead of being left behind to pine. She’s clearly struggling with discovering her own spine and worth as the book opens up, then learns to go after what she wants – a great character arc that absorbs the reader. Frederick remains sympathetic in the narrative: he’s painfully responsible and duty-bound, but led by his passion.
There’s a big reason why this isn’t a squee, however, and it boils down to this — the book’s big mis is very annoying.
I didn’t buy for one second that Frederick would fall in love with another woman, but Anne has to believe it because of Reasons. This plotline wastes time that could be spent on properly hashing out the reason why Anne left California, and it felt like it existed to stretch out the angst factor. I know why it’s in there – it reflects the structure of Persuasion – but it’s still irritating.
Much of Anne and Frederick’s reunion works, from the mistrust between them to their passionate reunion. They earn their happy ending but…
We skip right by the proposal! How can you skip a proposal scene in a book like this?
While those mitigating factors are minor, they’re enough to drag this one down from an “A”. Give Me a Reason is a solid Austen retelling and a miracle in a very crowded field.
Cover Awe: Color Combos
Nov. 3rd, 2025 08:00 amsmartbitches_feedWelcome back to Cover Awe!
The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks
Cover design by Donna Sinisgalli Noetzel
Amanda: I love how simple and thought the design is with the train border and smoke turning into the title.
Sarah: That border is So NEAT.
Lara: I’m loving those rich colours too.
Sarah: I love these collections of covers. So many pretty details to look at. The simplicity still says so much about the book. Love it.
The Confidence Games by Tess Amy
Cover illustration by Yordanka Poleganova
Sarah: I can’t decide if I like this. It’s eye catching and very bi-color-flag noir almost.
Tara: I like the colours, but I think it could be much more effective with a few tweaks.
Sarah: It kind of reminds me of what my eyelids look like when I stare at something bright and then shut my eyes. Almost like it’s a negative?
Tara: Yeah, it has too much going on and too many elements blend together with the darkest colour (it especially irks me that the hair on the person on the right blends into a jacket and… a door? Who can say.). The title text also runs over colours that are too light in some spaces. So, overall, it forces the eyes and brain to struggle a little too much.
Sarah: I wonder if the overexposed sort of feeling is deliberate?
Tara: That’s a great question. It might be! I’m hoping so at this point, because I can respect it as a deliberate choice, even if I don’t love how my eyes keep bouncing around and don’t know where to land.
Cover illustration by Petra Braun
Amanda: I love the subtle hint that this is a poly romance.
Shana: Oooh, I love the color combinations too.
Elyse: This is the kind of illustrated cover I’m here for.
Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson
Cover art by Sasha Vinogradova
Elyse: The green and hot pink is such a distinctive combo.
Tara: I really like those together.
Sarah: The color palette, the lighting, and the modern spray paint on antique furnishings are all genius.
Cemetery Kids Don't Die #4 is dawning horror.
Nov. 2nd, 2025 10:51 amthanekos posting in scans_dailyIssue #3'd ended on Birdie realizing that her friend Wilson was also in danger from the VR game Nightmare Cemetery.
Her brother Pik was in a coma, mentally taken into the game by the " King of Sleep ". The King'd shoved one of his claws through her friend Enid's left eye while she was helping look for Pik.
Wilson had also been helping her - they'd both taken sleeping pills to get around the hard time-limit on their Dreamwaves, expecting to be able to wake each other up.
But she wasn't able to wake him. She was grounded by her worried and frustrated dad, able only to watch videos about other victims of Nightmare Cemetery.
( She found someone else who'd lost a sibling. )
Her brother Pik was in a coma, mentally taken into the game by the " King of Sleep ". The King'd shoved one of his claws through her friend Enid's left eye while she was helping look for Pik.
Wilson had also been helping her - they'd both taken sleeping pills to get around the hard time-limit on their Dreamwaves, expecting to be able to wake each other up.
But she wasn't able to wake him. She was grounded by her worried and frustrated dad, able only to watch videos about other victims of Nightmare Cemetery.
( She found someone else who'd lost a sibling. )
SBTB Bestsellers: October 18 – October 31
Nov. 2nd, 2025 09:00 amsmartbitches_feedThe latest bestseller list is brought to you by discount candy, crunchy leaves, and our affiliate sales data.
- The Geographer’s Map to Romance by India Holton Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- The Worst Guy by Kate Canterbary Amazon | B&N
- Remember When by Mary Balogh Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- A Bachelor Establishment by Jodi Taylor Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- A Tale of Mirth and Magic by Kristen Vale Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- Writing Mr. Wrong by Kelley Armstrong Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- Totally and Completely Fine by Elissa Sussman Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Amazon | B&N | Kobo
I hope your weekend reading was fantastic!
2025 Rhinebeck Recap
Nov. 2nd, 2025 07:00 amsmartbitches_feed
If you were to ask me what day of the year I get most excited for, it isn’t Christmas or my birthday, it’s the New York Sheep and Wool Festival aka Rhinebeck. It’s the largest fiber festival in the world with about 50,000 people attending and it’s held in the Hudson Valley in fall when the foliage is gorgeous.
I hadn’t been able to attend since 2021 due to a lot of different things, but this year my best friend and I decided we needed to go in order to make some space for ourselves. She had been caring for her late mother during her battle with cancer for the last few years. I’ve been dealing with a landslide of aging parent issues, and to make that more difficult one of those parents is a narcissist.
Added to that is the fact that every day there seems to be some new kind of horror being reported in the news. I’m scared for my gay niece and sister. I’m scared for my trans friends. I’m scared for my job which is being impacted by tariffs.
It’s a lot.
I wasn’t sure what to expect at Rhinebeck this year, since other sheep and wool festivals have been smaller partly due to those same tariffs (most wool is processed outside the US) and a down economy making travel harder.
I shouldn’t have worried. Once again I was reminded that fiber people are, by and large, incredibly kind and supportive of diversity.
Knitting and other fiber arts have a history of being forms of resistance. In WWI and WWII knitters used different stitches to encode messages into their work. After the 2016 election Pussy Hats were everywhere, and women’s marches were a sea of pink, knitted headwear. There’s also the fact that knitting groups appear innocuous but are a way for women and other marginalized groups to gather without scrutiny.
Rhinebeck wasn’t smaller this year: it was overflowing. In fact there were three “pre-Rhinebeck” events to allow vendors who didn’t make the list to show their goods: Cakepalooza, a Woolen Affair and Indie Untangled.
The lines were long, but people were incredibly patient and kind. I’ve noticed over the past ten months that people seem more comfortable being rude or hostile in public spaces but that didn’t translate over to this festival. People happily shared their space with others, complimented one another’s sweaters, and were patient even when the internet went down for some vendors and the wait times crawled by.
The space was also incredibly welcoming and inclusive of queer folks. In my personal experience, my knitting groups have been pretty much 50/50 queer and straight/cis folks. From sweaters in various versions of the queer flags to people openly enjoying the space with their partners of all genders, it felt safe and welcoming to all. I live in an area where, unfortunately, people feel comfortable commenting or harassing queer folks in public, which has caused some of my loved ones and friends to withdraw more in public spaces. That was not the case here.
That said, the knitting community is still a predominantly White space. With the exception of a few notable dyers like Neighborhood Fiber Co., most of the vendors were White. There’s still work to be done in making our community more inclusive.
As we left the fairgrounds there was a group of MAGA supporters flying Trump flags and holding anti-immigrant and homophobic signs. I’m not sure if they assumed that the knitting community would be conservative or if they were just there to stir shit up, but I don’t think they were prepared for the heat they got. No one was violent, but pretty much every single car that passed them let them know what they thought. A man with an anti-immigrant sign started walking to the cars, thought better of it, and went back to his little group and sat down in a snit.
It’s been a rough year and I feel like a raw nerve sometimes. I didn’t realize how much I needed a space where everyone was kind and patient, where I didn’t witness any harassment, and where I could just relax without anxiety.
I’ve already booked my hotel for next year.
Have you attended Rhinebeck or other craft festivals and fairs? Which ones do you love?
Kickass Women in History: Tze-gu-juni, AKA Huera
Nov. 1st, 2025 06:00 amsmartbitches_feed
Tze-gu-juni, also known as Huera, was a woman whom Geronimo called “The Bravest of Apache Women.” She was a woman of intensely powerful inner strength who survived captivity, a trek across the desert, and mountain lion attack to serve her tribe as a shaman.
Tze-gu-juni was born around 1847. As a child, she survived a lightning strike that killed her mother and sister. She seems to have lived an otherwise peaceful life until October 14, 1880, the day of the Battle of Tres Castillos, the battle that killed Chiricahua Chief Vittorio and ended Vittorio’s War, a war Vittorio waged against U.S. and Mexican Army soldiers in New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico. Tze-gu-juni was captured along with approximately seventy other women and children and taken to Mexico City, where she was enslaved and given the name ‘Huera’.
During her captivity, Tze-gu-juni became fluent in Spanish and secured a role as a translator at an Apache reservation in Arizona. She and about five others planned an escape and fled into the desert. They had one knife and one blanket and would have to walk for approximately 1300 miles to reach safety. They foraged for food and water in the desert.
Along the way, Tze-gu-juni was attacked by a mountain lion. She tightened the blanket around her neck which saved her, and fought off the mountain lion. She was badly wounded but managed to reach San Carlos Reservation, where Geronimo and Tze-gu-juni’s future husband, Mangas, were living. Her hands and face were scarred for the rest of her life and she had limited use of her hands thereafter.
Tze-gu-juni was married to Mangas, son of the Apache leader Mangas Coloradas, during her time at San Carlos. She had many skills to offer the community. In addition to her language skills, she was an expert at making a prized fermented drink called tiswin. She was a healer and shaman. She was also an influential advisor who played an important role in convincing Geronimo’s followers to escape from San Carlos in May 1885.
According to an article by John P. McWilliams, following one of her speeches,
The next day [following a speech by Tze-gu-juni] Geronimo, Mangas and some 145 other Apaches bolted from the reservation, joined within a few days by Chihuahua and Naiche. Soon following in pursuit were some 5,000 U.S. Army troops. “In analyzing this pivotal moment in Chiricahua history,” writes historian Edwin R. Sweeney in From Cochise to Geronimo, “we should not underestimate the influence of Huera.”
Soon after, Tze-gu-juni and many other women were captured and held hostage by the U.S. Army. Geronimo surrendered on September 4, 1886. Geronimo, Tze-gu-juni, and others were held captive for the rest of their lives in Florida, where Tze-gu-juni and Geronimo may have married. Tze-gu-juni used another of her skills all too often: singing dirges for the dead. The date of her own death is unknown, but we remember the woman who walked 1300 miles across the desert and fought off a mountain lion with her bare hands. Bravest, indeed.
For more about this Kickass Woman, check out:
Tze’gu’juni: (a.k.a.: Huera) – Apache Leader & Medicine Woman – Arizona, USA from JaguarBird on YouTube
History.net’s image of Huera, wife of Geronimo
“Wild women of the West: wives of Geronimo” by Chris Enss, from Cowgirl Magazine
“Statement of Geronimo,” March 25, 1886, from Teaching American History
The Native Americans Project at WikiTree: Biography of Huera Apache
"Crunchyroll is destroying its subtitles for no good reason" by Daiz
Oct. 31st, 2025 08:01 pmmalymin posting in anime_mangaArticle Link [here].
While I recommend reading the whole article, I'm also going to place a summary copied from tumblr (og post here) under a cut.
( How Crunchyroll is ruining its subtitles, how we got here, and why it matters. )
Considering the average Dreamwidth user probably remembers when Crunchyroll was a piracy site, as well as the golden age of fansubbing, I'm wondering what people's preferred solution for monopolization, and subsequent decrease in quality, of official anime streaming is. Should we focus our efforts more on pressuring Crunchyroll (and streaming services at large) to fix its subtitles, or on re-invigorating and suporting fansub groups and fansub culture?
The Enigma of Amigara Fault
Oct. 31st, 2025 05:15 pmcyberghostface posting in scans_daily
It's been almost a decade since this was last posted so for Halloween here is one of Junji Ito's most famous horror stories.
( Scans under the cut... )
Happy Halloween, Anime fans
Oct. 31st, 2025 12:09 pmfennectik posting in anime_mangaAlong with Vampire Princess Miyu and Ghost Sweeper Mikami, I've been watching some Shaman King and Ajazukin Cha Cha, which stars an adorable magic apprentice named Cha Cha and her mishaps when conjuring anything, dealing with monsters and vampires at times.
The dubbed version aired on Cartoon Network in another country, not sure if it ever did in the US, but there are some episodes uploaded at YouTube if interested.
So Happy Halloween and all that, I'm going back to my own thing.
The dubbed version aired on Cartoon Network in another country, not sure if it ever did in the US, but there are some episodes uploaded at YouTube if interested.
So Happy Halloween and all that, I'm going back to my own thing.
Generation X Annual 1998 - Generation X vs. Dracula
Oct. 31st, 2025 03:44 pmangelophile posting in scans_dailySomething spooky for Halloween as Chamber has a face off (heh) with old school Marvel Dracula.
Spooky story is by Joseph Harris with spookier art by Tomm Coker.
12 and a chunk pages out of 40.
( Read more... )
Spooky story is by Joseph Harris with spookier art by Tomm Coker.
12 and a chunk pages out of 40.
( Read more... )
Profits of Doom: JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #14-15 (JLI 17/?)
Oct. 30th, 2025 04:47 pmtcampbell1000 posting in scans_daily
Last time out, we showcased
( Nobody ever talks about the COST of maintaining moon-sized ships, but if the Galactic Empire had managed its spending better, its Death Stars might not have so many corridors full of bottomless pits to fall into. )