Sometimes, you just have to let your spicy views out!
Everybody Doesn’t Use a Protestant Cross!
This might seem like a weird hill to die on, but I honestly cannot with the little, gold, Protestant crosses in all the fan art of Ilya Rozanov of Heated Rivalry fame. ILYA IS RUSSIAN! HE WEARS A RUSSIAN CRUCIFIX! Okay, Reid doesn’t specifically describe the appearance of the cross, but we’ve got some pretty…
That Terrible Green-Eyed Monster
I’m going to slide on into Holly’s Hot Takes for a moment to be yelly about jealousy in romance. That is to say, I’m going to be yelly about jealousy being a dealbreaker in romance. Here’s why: jealousy is a human emotion. Refusing to allow characters this emotion is taking an entire work truck out…
A Few Words on Anthology Etiquette
Picture this. I’m reading a romance anthology. It feels like a low-stakes way to try out new authors, and if I’ve got a big, meaty one, it keeps me busy for a while, as I read one novella after another. Yes, I’m a weirdo who reads anthologies front to back. (I did this even before…
Let’s Talk About Revel vs. Relish
Hi Friends! I’m going to take a minute to talk about the difference between “reveling” and “relishing” because if I read another book that says “relishing in” (which I absolutely will, probably this week, even) I am going to SCREAM. Please give me a little bit of credit (Just a little bit! I am trying!)…
Give me paperbacks or give me death
A couple of things all happened at once: I read this article about how much publishers charge libraries for e-books. Let’s just say it’s upsetting.I read a paperback for the first time in weeks after all ARCs on my phone, all the time. (It was a Theresa Romain novel and it was DELIGHTFUL.) I also read,…
Let’s Talk about Big Peen
What’s the Opposite of a Size Queen? Because whatever that is, it’s me. So, fellow smut readers, have you noticed that men in romance novels tend to be… well-endowed? That’s rhetorical. Of course you’ve noticed. Time for a poll! What I find so interesting is that, even if it IS the case that an author…
Why I read smut: some notes on catharsis
Let me tell you a story. I rarely read books that Erin or Ingrid has already reviewed. One of the pressures of running a blog is that I’m always on to the next book, the next thing; after all, there’s so much smut to discover! But sometimes, I want to settle in and read a…
Yes, please do jam your fingers into my mouth
It’s time for another installment of That’s Not Sexy! This time, I want to talk about the thing where one party forcibly inserts their fingers into the other party’s mouth. I am not talking about Jane kissing or sucking on John’s fingertips here. I am talking about John pushing Jane’s mouth open and sticking his…
Bitches Be Shopping
It’s time for a poll! Given the title of this post, you might have already guessed that I am FIRMLY in the category of “Thanks, I hate it.” In fact, a shopping trip in the middle of the story sometimes goes so far as to ruin a book for me. Is this completely irrational? Probably.…
Please don’t tell me about your pubes
Scene: Here I am, reading a romance novel. Things are getting hot and heavy. Off come the shifts. Off come the pants. And then, the hero remarks on the heroine’s pubic hair, mostly shaved except for the perfect landing strip. And I am not excited about the sex any more. To be clear, explicit sex…
Heroines Who Giggle
I hate them. Actually, allow me to rephrase that to be more accurate. I hate it when a heroine giggles. I hate it even more when the heroine is an otherwise grown-ass woman with an established career but when the hero gives her the eyebrow wiggle or says something that’s mildly amusing she breaks into…
I Want to Lick the Sweat from His Body
Have you ever wanted to lick someone’s sweat? Because I haven’t. Yet this image is something that appears quite frequently in romances. Specifically, the heroine sees the hero all sweaty from doing a Manly Thing (laying pipe, making a soufflé, playing sportsball, etc) and is like: “I want to lick that sweat.” Time for a…
Sexy Smirking
I’m here to talk (briefly! I promise!) about a pet peeve of mine. Sometimes, I read romance novels, and the protagonists do a lot of smirking. Like, a lot. And I have to wonder: am I missing something? Is there such a thing as a sexy smirk? Smut Readers! Help me out here: When our…
The Smut Report 