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Smut Resolutions 2023

We like to start the new year with some goals to foster some positive energy and give us things to look forward to. So here are some of our goals for 2023.

One Book I Definitely Want to Read This Year:

Erin: I hope I’m not wrong, and the re-release of Alexis Hall’s For Real is this year, because I’ve been holding off on buying and reading it during every listless “What should I read?” moment I’ve had since the announcement that it’s getting republished… 

Holly: I cannot handle the shame of failing a third time, so I’m going to be more generic and say that I’d like to read through more backlist of authors I’ve enjoyed. 

Ingrid: I want to find someone new–I tend to stick with Indie/author requests and the older big names, and it might be fun to do some extra research.

One Topic I Definitely Want to Write about This Year:

Erin: I think I’d just like to harness the energy I had to write about any topic that I had at the end of 2021. 

Holly: What Erin said. I have so many half-written pieces in my Smut Reporting folder.

Ingrid: I just want to do a few thoughtful pieces. I don’t even care what.

One New-To-Me Author I Definitely Want to Try This Year:

Erin: This is a tricky one, because lately everytime I hear the Internet gushing about an author, I’ve gone into some contrary mode of “NO! I WILL ONLY FIND OBSCURE AUTHORS!” So maybe the answer is authors I’ve not heard of yet? Maybe I’ll finally read something by Kate Canterbary. She seems like a writer of tropes I would be interested in reading.

Holly: I’ve been meaning to read Jodie Slaughter since I bought White Whiskey Bargain. Which was, like, three years ago. 

Ingrid: I’ve only read the one Nora Roberts so I think I might need to dip my toe in those waters.

One Theme I Want to Discuss for a Buddy Read This Year:

Erin: Woke up married! Himbos! Something totally fun and entertaining!

Holly: I just need to figure out how to get Erin and Ingrid to buddy-read a Kinsale with me.

Ingrid: Oooo I like Woke Up Married. Maybe some “one-night stand but now we work together”?

One Miscellaneous Reading Goal Will Make Me Happy This Year:

Erin: I’d like to spend my energy on mood reading, so I might dial back the ARCs. 

Holly: Actually writing down some notes for the books I read but don’t review, so that I can remember them when Erin asks us for things to add to very specific niche lists.

Ingrid: Remember anything at all about anything I’ve read.

Team Goals:

We’re going to keep doing buddy reads (Erin’s cooked up some fun themes for us this year!), as well as Superwendy’s TBR challenge. Maybe we’ll do another Smashdown. But our main goals are to have fun and stay sane. 

January Preview:

Let’s get excited for some new smut! Here’s what we’re reading in January

Coming Soon...

2022 Smut Resolutions

To get 2022 started with some positive energy, here are some of our goals for the next year. 


One Book I Definitely Want to Read This Year:

Erin: If I only read one book this year, it will be The Long Game by Rachel Reid.

Holly: Last year, my goal was to read An Unconditional Freedom by Alyssa Cole, but I…didn’t. This year, I will for real. 

Ingrid: I haven’t really read much from Sarah MacLean (I know, I know, but I’m normally reading the new authors!) so I want to read Bombshell.


One Topic I Definitely Want to Write about This Year:

Erin: I’ve had a series about sex percolating in my brain for the past year. Or a series about the treatment of cheating in romance. One of those?

Holly: Entrepreneurship and capitalism (in romance novels). Burn down the system!

Ingrid: Hearts and Crafts: A new series on the craft of writing romance. Basically, using my education but for Smut.


One New-To-Me Author I Definitely Want to Try This Year:

Erin: Jordan L. Hawk. Queer historical paranormal romance? Sounds like 100% my cup of tea. 

Holly: Cara Bastone. Miss Bates says she’s good, and I trust Miss Bates with all things smut-related. She hasn’t led me wrong yet!

Ingrid: Jenny Holiday, the Matchmaker Bay series. It just really seems like something I’d like.


One Theme I Want to Discuss for a Buddy Read This Year:

Erin: I feel like I should say Billionaires just to watch Holly’s and Ingrid’s heads explode. But I’ll actually say let’s look at temporal settings. I’d be particularly interested in the Roaring 20s or the Gilded Age. Or see if we can find some mid-century action?

Holly: Accidental pregnancies. This trope is a hard no for me, but maybe digging into it will make me rethink it?

Ingrid: I wanna know where the mermaid smut is. Mer-week?


One Miscellaneous Reading Goal Will Make Me Happy This Year:

Erin: Focusing on reading my TBR and indie books. I’m a little burned out on how much I see the same trad covers over and over on the Socials. 

Holly: Reading some of the many many smut books that I already own. Maybe I’ll do SuperWendy’s TBR Challenge this year to help me along?

This is less than a quarter of my unread smut stack of DOOM

Ingrid: I feel like 2021 was just me mucking around in a big bog of drab dullness so I would like to spend some time just selfishly reading what I want to read, regardless of whether I review it or not.


Team Goals:

  • One buddy read per month! 
  • Another smashdown! March Smashness. March Hotness. We’re working on the title.
  • Romance vs. women’s fiction group post series.

January Preview:

To get us started, here’s what we’re reading in January

We’re also scaling back our review schedule a bit, and are planning on posting three reviews a week, instead of the four-a-week schedule we’ve been doing for the past three years. That means no more Sunday reviews…and maybe we’ll have the time for some of that smut reporting we’ve been promising.

Coming Soon..., Monster Mash Smashdown

October Preview: Monster Mash Smashdown

Well, it seems like Romancelandia is on a bit of a monster love bender, and we at The Smut Report want to join the fun. Is this our usual reading jam? Not really. Are we going to have fun with it? Absolutely. 

For the month of October, we’ve decided to read not one, not two, but eight books together. Can we do it? We shall see. Every Friday, we’ll post a group review discussing two books selected based on a theme. 

We proudly present: Monster Mash Smashdown!

Week One: Aliens of the non-humanoid variety

Week Two: C.M. Nascosta has written two books and we couldn’t decide, so we’re reading both

Week Three: Beauty and the Beast retellings with Beasts that stay beasts

Week Four: Tentacles

Are we ready for this?!

Continue reading “October Preview: Monster Mash Smashdown”
Coming Soon...

Welcome to Xmas in July

Hello, faithful smut readers. It’s hot as balls here, and we’re dreaming of the cold. 

So we figured: why not spend the dog days of summer reading some delicious wintry smut? We’re looking for two people snowed-in at that cute lodge. We’re looking for snowshoeing. We’re looking for snowball fights, and red noses, and catching snowflakes on your tongue. We’re looking for snuggling together under a cozy blanket next to a roaring fire. We’re looking for sex on the rug in front of that same roaring fire. We’re looking for hot chocolate and hot toddies. 

We’ll also be reading some non-Xmas books

While we’re calling this month of winter fun times “Xmas in July,” please note that we won’t just be reading Christmas romances. We’re especially looking forward to some wintertime reads that aren’t Holiday Specials—and to Holiday Specials that feature some *other* winter holidays. Like Hannukah. Or Valentine’s Day. Or Chinese New Year. (We’re also keeping an eye out for those books that put the XXX in Xmas, if ya know what I mean…)

But about Christmas. A few years ago, we had a discussion about Christmas Specials in particular, and why they don’t work for us. And maybe, just maybe, it’s because reading these stories about how the right decorations and some joy in your heart make everything better while you’re stressed out about visiting family and preparing a turkey and and and is just not helpful. So this is also an experiment. Maybe we’ll like these stories a lot more if we read them while we’re sweating by the pool and cleaning up popsicle messes and having watermelon seed spitting contests. (Yes, Holly still buys watermelons with seeds sometimes for precisely this purpose. And has some volunteer watermelon plants in her herb garden this year. Coincidence? Probably.) 

Want to join us in our summer reading adventure? Let us know about your favorite cold and wintry romance. Or pick one of the ones we’re reading, and read along with us! 

Here are some of the books that we’re hoping to get to this month:

Coming Soon...

February Preview

We usually include our preview for the month at the end of last month’s wrap up (because of laziness, mostly), but February is a Big Month for Romancelandia, so we have some extra things to say.

But first, the preview:

Now, the things:

  1. Valentine’s Day is a-comin’! So we are girding our collective loins for a bunch of articles about Fabio. Please don’t send them to us. But seriously, you would think that people would be tired of writing hot takes about romance without, uh, talking to people to actually think about romance on a regular basis.
    With that said…we might do a special something for Valentine’s Day. But no promises.
  2. February is Black History Month. In the past, we’ve focused on highlighting books by Black authors in February. But Smut is ALWAYS Political, not just when we’re “supposed” to think about Black history, so we’re trying to highlight smut by marginalized voices year-round.
    If you’re interested in some thematic reading, here’s a list of Black and Interracial historical romance that Holly put together last summer.