Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AC Arthur’s new book The After Party is out, and she joins me to talk about all things friendship, cocktails, murder, revenge, and more.Because it was inspired by the movie 9 to 5, we deep dive into revenge on bad bosses and movie nostalgia, too....Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's time for another Vintage YA Recap, this week with Laurie's Song by Suzanne Rand.Prepare yourself for some exhausting friendships, boring boyfriends, social stress, and some ~*absolutely outstanding*~ outfits and POETRY.Oh, yes. Poetry. This is a good one....Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.