Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Fairfield CT Library Romance Panel Postponed

2009-11-07T21:28:45+00:00

Kristan Higgins, Toni Andrews and I were scheduled to appear on a panel all about romance writing and reading next weekend at the Fairfield Public Library in Fairfield, CT. The panel was set for 14 November but it’s been postponed until February 2010.

I’m bummed, though I totally understand how scheduling craziness works. I will have to wait to unleash my quiet squeeing at poor Kristan, but when I have the updated dates, I’ll let you know.

HaBO: Not So Much Fecundity Please

2009-11-07T18:50:11+00:00

One of the aspects of romance that some folks LOVE and some folks loathe is the emphasis on children upon children and pregnancy as part and parcel to the happy ever after. For some people, a romance novel isn’t complete without a baby, either in the plot, or in the future, or a secret in the plot to be revealed in the future. For others, babies in romance are distinctly not-romantic (especially when one is tired to the point of blindness from taking care of one at all hours of the night) or, in the case of those going through infertility treatments or facing the inability to conceive, terribly painful.

Reader C. has asked for romance recommendations that aren’t about babies, and may even involve infertility as part of the plot- preferably a known condition that isn’t magically healed with frequent and dedicated applications of the spooge of healing from the Wang of Mighty Lovin™.

I’m hoping for some book recommendations, but I am also fairly sure it’s
a lost cause. Also, I don’t want to start a shit storm.

What I would really like to find are some romances (preferably historical,
but contemporary, sci-fi/fantasy, etc. are …

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Smart Bitches in Marie Claire

2009-11-06T18:24:14+00:00

Thanks to alert awesome person Michelle Hauf, I found out that our site is featured in Marie Claire this month (December 2009 for those of you in Australia, where it’s already 2011).

We’re on page 98 as part of a list of the top 15 Best Websites for Wasting Time.

OH. My. GOD. Could I be more flattered?! HOLY HELL.

We’re on a list with Daily Danza, CakeWrecks, There I Fixed It, and 1Bruce1—and Lifetime, Wow? I may swoon.

Here’s a scan of the list, should you like 14 other ways to suck the time out of your day. I’m already working my way through the list. Thanks, Marie Claire!

Friday Videos Love Spanish and Fighting

2009-11-06T12:04:13+00:00

Amy sent this to me awhile back - and it’s hilarious. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it’s muy bien. So for all your NaNoWriMoFos out there, here’s some passionate inspiration, including a guy who understands the importance of the shirt unbuttoned, but still tucked in.

And no romance novel is complete without a fight scene, right? Right! Becky sent me this one: it’s impeccable. All sequences of dramatic action should be so intense. And full of homoerotic tension.

Note, if you will: COPIOUS MAN TITTY for Friday Videos, in both cases! WOO!

Everything I Need to Know: High School Mystery Redux

2009-11-05T08:43:53+00:00

Time once again for “Everything I Need to Know, I Learned from Romance Novels,” where, with the power of enormous backlist, romance solves relationship problems. If you’d like advice, feel free to email me at sarahATsmartbitchestrashybooksDOTcom. I never reveal names or locations, so don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.

Here’s this week’s letter:

Dear Smart Bitch Sarah:

I’m a long-time lurker - having only commented a handful of times - but one mystery has been constantly on my mind lately… and after driving all my friends crazy about it, I thought I might graduate to driving Smart Bitches crazy. I think I’m in dire need of the Everything I Need To Know clue gun.
10 years ago I went to high school with a guy who stared at and followed me for two or three years. Deep, straight-at-my-face, eyes-following-my-every-step-as-I-moved stares. I saw him with at least three different girlfriends in that time, but he went on staring at me, even when he was with them. At first I thought he might have a crush on me, and I was flattered as he was very cute (and I’ve never …

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Free Samhain book for Kindle

2009-11-04T19:54:16+00:00

Heads up! Bound for the Holidays by Mackenzie McCade is free for Kindle download from now until 9 November.

I haven’t received word of this title being free from other retailers, though in past months the Samhain freebie has also been available at BooksonBoard.com. Any other ebook giveaways you know of? Let me know. It’s the beginning of the month - time to load up the ereader!

GS vs. STA: Groveling

2009-11-04T09:30:13+00:00

Groveling is a powerful thing. When it’s done right, it can demonstrate that a hero or heroine has truly changed, that they understand the flaws of their past behavior and are ready to be not so much of an asshat. Sometimes, depending on the plot, the happy ending rests on the strength of the groveling scene.

Groveling in a romance is something we’ve talked about before - particularly in the big behemoth thread from a few years ago on rape in romance. There’s some powerful juju in hearing someone say, “I was wrong. I was so, so wrong.” Whether it’s mistaken identity or stupidly large misunderstandings, or misunderstanding the heroine when she said she wasn’t a prostitute (“I thought you said, ‘I look hot in a suit!’”), the groveling and asking for forgiveness can do a lot in the hands of a skilled writer to strengthen a character, and establish the possibility for a true happy ending.

Insufficient groveling can be problematic - this was the basis of my problem with Anna Campbell’s Claiming the Courtesan when I read it. And sometimes the groveling is absent altogether. I received this email from a …

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The Bookmatcher: Dangerous Landscapes

2009-11-03T09:15:45+00:00

We’re starting a new feature here at Smart Bitch HQ. I was having a lively email conversation with Billie Bloebaum, who is the book buyer for Powell’s in the Portland airport, and she mentioned how much she enjoyed handselling books she knew were wonderpants but not as widely known as other more prominent bestselling pants.

I mentioned that I’d never had a bookstore employee handsell me a book in a store, and she about fell over. This handselling thing is an art, and with the consolidation of bookstores and the loss of smaller independents, it’s an endangered art. Some bookstore employees are incredibly good at matching your past reading history with newer books or undiscovered treasures. You sometimes find them at indies, and you can also find them at chain bookstores, too. People who are skilled at that art of matching a reader with books she’ll like are lurking among us, and Billie is one of them. Her favorite question: “What’s the last book you read that you really, really loved?”

So, to help her answer that question for more people, we’ve created The Bookmatcher. Folks have written in with …

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Moning, Moning, and Night

2009-11-02T18:34:43+00:00

Thanks to Dell Historicals, should you be perusing your bookshelf, unsure of who wrote this book, there’s no question who the author was:

Or maybe that’s the title: “Karen Marie Moning by Karen Marie Moning.” There’s not enough eponymous romance novels, really - which means someone’s going to come up with a pseudonym like “Spanky Thunderpants” or “His Carnal Desires” so they can hop on the eponymous train.

Thanks to Brandy for the pic, and to Books a Million for having such photogenic carpet.

Oh - that’s another good pseudonym option, especially for eponymous hopefuls: “Photogenic Carpet.”

SEALed and Delivered by Jill Monroe

2009-11-02T09:05:32+00:00
Our Grade: B+
Title: SEALed and Delivered
Author: Jill Monroe
Publication Info: Harlequin November 2009, ISBN: 0373795092
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Jane recommended this book to me when I was looking for a contemporary category to read after a streak of lukewarm, unexciting historicals. On one hand, it was a great suggestion because holy cow did I enjoy it. It’s a book that evolves with so much humor and warmth, you smile while you read it. But on the other hand, whatever comes next has a lot to live up to.

Hailey has just moved home to her family’s beachfront bed and breakfast in San Diego after three failed engagements and a life built on escaping the same employment she’s just returned to: inn management. She and her sister Rachel had left the inn in the hands of a management company, and that company had screwed it up so badly, Rachel and Hailey had to use every piece of their available capital to make an attempt at saving it. The Sutherland, their family inn, was started by their grandparents, and while Hailey had at one time dreaded having to take on the stewardship of the bed and breakfast (and I can’t say as I blame her because that is a LOT of …

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