Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We’re back! With more of your questions! We’re going to talk about tv shows we recommend, book recs of course, mayonnaise of course, summer treats, and middle school favorites.Thanks to Laura B, Karelia, Christina B, and Phoebe for the questions!...Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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