Another Thanksgiving has come and gone, and here we are, staring into the void that is the Winter Holiday Season. Honestly, we just do this blog because it keeps us sane. And because Smut is always there for us.
Our Favorite Reads…
What can we say? Cowboy week was a smashing success.
Erin’s Choice: Nighthawk by Beverly Jenkins
Erin reports that this is her favorite Jenkins (so far!). Read for a super-competent hero with enough gray to keep him interesting, a fierce, independent heroine, and well-researched history along with serious cowboy energy.
Holly & Ingrid’s Choice: Big Bad Cowboy by Carly Bloom
This was our buddy read for the month, and both Holly and Ingrid thought it was adorable, fun, and well-crafted. Plus it sparked a great conversation about cowboys, hunkles, and gender essentialism.
More from the Blog…
- Cowboy week! We talked about the cowboy archetype and buddy read Big Bad Cowboy (Erin liked it less than Holly and Ingrid did)
- If you’re not ready to let go of your turkey leftovers, here’s a list of Thanksgiving romances we put together.
- The TBR challenge theme was “Lies”. We also put together a list of some of our favorite deception books.
- The Great Smut Debate Returns! This month, we talked about sex.
- Did you know that Ingrid doesn’t remember anything she reads? Here’s a list of books that actually stuck in her brain.
Notes from Romancelandia…
The Goodreads Choice awards are happening now. Our feelings about it are pretty much *shrug emoji*, since the only finalist any of us has read this year is Hook Line and Sinker, but if you want to know what romances People Are Talking About, here’s the list.
If you’re a romance super-nerd and want to know more about the history of category romances, Rob Imes is a great resource. Here’s a recent post of his about Berkley’s Diamond line.
For even MORE nerdiness, here’s a catalog for a collection of romance novels compiled by book dealer Rebecca Romney.
Last month, I shared a link to a piece on Tor.com about protagonists in Nalini Singh’s psy-changeling universe. Turns out, this is a new regular feature called “Ships in the Night” by Jenny Hamilton, and her piece on sex and bodies in Kit Rocha’s Mercenary Librarians trilogy is also excellent.
If you’re interesting in queer romance, author Skye Kileen is revamping her newsletter to highlight new publications.
Coming Soon…
We’ve got some ARCs we’re super excited about! (Holly is finally getting to try Allie Winters, after Ingrid and Erin both squeed about her books) We’ve got holiday romance! (Look at those Harlequins!)
And we’ve got a very very exciting bunch of buddy reads next week, which may or may not involve dinosaurs and/or the handsome physical manifestation of holiday shopping. Stay tuned!
The Smut Report 