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And they both interpreted their success or failure as deserved rather than a consequence of macroeconomic forces and chance. The end.
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I hope your weekend reading was fabulous!
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Yes, I’ve been on a bit of a tear recently as far as covers go, but let’s just say I had a bit of a backlog from when I was writing the novel. Now that it’s been cleared off the table I have a little time to do this sort of thing. This is currently how I do my “me” time. It’s this or setting fire to things.
This song is one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite bands, and I had been meaning to get to it for a bit. Also for this one I had a technical project of trying to nail the vocal balance, which is for me the trickiest part of doing any of this. I think I did pretty decent job sitting it into the mix this time around. It’s fun to still be learning things.
Enjoy!
— JS
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The Man from Madras, whose balls were of brass, is in fact a meditation on the need to find synthesis between humanity and technology in modern life.
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Book Beat aims to highlight other books that we may hear about through friends, social media, or other sources. We could see a gorgeous ad! Or find a new-to-us author on a list of underrated romances! Think of Book Beat as Teen Beat or Tiger Beat, but for books. And no staples to open to get the fold-out poster.
Author: Daphne Fama
Released: August 12, 2025 by Berkley
Genre: Gothic, Horror, Mystery/Thriller
A young woman is drawn into a dangerous game after being invited to the mazelike home of her childhood friend, a rumored witch, in this gothic horror set in 1986 Philippines.
In this game, there’s one rule: survive.
Orphaned after her father’s political campaign ended in tragedy, Josephine is alone taking care of the family home while her older brother is off in Manila, where revolution brews. But an unexpected invitation from her childhood friend Hiraya to her house offers an escape….
Why don’t you come visit, and we can play games like we used to?
If Josephine wins, she’ll get whatever her heart desires. Her brother is invited, too, and it’s time they had a talk. Josephine’s heard the dark whispers: Hiraya is a witch and her family spits curses. But still, she’s just desperate enough to seize this chance to change her destiny.
Except Ranoco house is strange—labyrinthine and dangerously close to a treacherous sea. A sickly-sweet smell clings to the dimly lit walls, and veiled eyes follow Josephine through endless connecting rooms. The air is tense with secrets and as the game continues it’s clear Josephine doesn’t have the whole truth.
To save herself, she will have to play to win. But in this house, victory is earned with blood.
A lush new voice in horror arises in this riveting gothic set against the upheaval of 1986 Philippines and the People Power Revolution.
Gothic horror with Filipino folklore!
Author: Ursa Dax
Released: July 9, 2024 by Peace Weaver Press Inc.
Genre: Western, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: Cowboy Colony Mail-Order Brides #1
A quiet alien cowboy, a human woman on the run, and one very messy marriage of convenience. What could possibly go wrong?
In debt and on the run from a crime lord whose nose I may or may not have broken, I take the first ticket off-world that comes my way. It’s an all-expenses-paid, one-way trip to an isolated ranching outpost.
The only catch?
I have to marry an alien cowboy.
My plan is simple enough. Shack up with my groom Silar and convince him to keep me during the first month of our marriage. As long as he doesn’t decide to send me packing after the thirty-day trial period, I’ll be safe.
But maybe my plan isn’t so great after all. Silar talks more to his animals than he does to me, seems perplexed by every wifely duty I try to perform for him, and goes to offensively great lengths to avoid touching me.
Other than his eyes glowing bright white every time he looks at me, I have no idea what’s going on in my new husband’s head. Meanwhile, he shows me in subtle, wordless ways just how good a man he can be when he thinks that no one’s watching.
Yup. My plan officially sucks. Because now, it’s not just my life at risk if Silar sends me away after thirty days…
It’s my stupid human heart.
Welcome to the cowboy colony planet, where men outnumber women ten to one and cattle outnumber them all…
I’m getting Ice Planet Barbarians but make it Western.
Author: Natasha Pulley
Released: March 19, 2024 by Bloomsbury Publishing
Genre: LGBTQIA, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
A compulsively readable queer sci-fi novel about a marriage of convenience between a Mars politician and an Earth refugee.
Named a Best Book of 2024 by The Washington Post * Amazon * Book Riot * LitHub * Paste Magazine * HuffPost
In the wake of an environmental catastrophe, January, once a principal in London’s Royal Ballet, has become a refugee in Tharsis, the terraformed colony on Mars. There, January’s life is dictated by his status as an Earthstronger-a person whose body is not adjusted to lower gravity and so poses a danger to those born on, or naturalized to, Mars. January’s job choices, housing, and even transportation are dictated by this second-class status, and now a xenophobic politician named Aubrey Gale is running on a platform that would make it all worse: Gale wants all Earthstrongers to naturalize, a process that is always disabling and sometimes deadly.
When Gale chooses January for an on-the-spot press junket interview that goes horribly awry, January’s life is thrown into chaos, but Gale’s political fortunes are damaged, too. Gale proposes a solution to both their problems: a five year made-for-the-press marriage that would secure January’s future without naturalization and ensure Gale’s political success. But when January accepts the offer, he discovers that Gale is not at all like they appear in the press. They’re kind, compassionate, and much more difficult to hate than January would prefer. As their romantic relationship develops, the political situation worsens, and January discovers Gale has an enemy, someone willing to destroy all of Tharsis to make them pay-and January may be the only person standing in the way.
Un-put-downably immersive and utterly timely, Natasha Pulley’s new novel is a gripping story about privilege, strength, and life across class divisions, perfect for readers of Sarah Gailey and Tamsyn Muir.
Elyse posted about this one in our slack with just the words “Queer fake marriage ballet sci fi.” What a lovely combo of words.
Author: L.K. Steven
Released: July 29, 2025 by Del Rey
Genre: Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: Silvercloak Saga #1
In this addictive new fantasy series set in a world where magic is fueled by pleasure and pain, an obsessive detective infiltrates a brutal gang of dark mages—knowing that one wrong move will get her killed. . . .
“A dazzling (and frequently sizzling) new fantasy.” —Kiersten White, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lucy Undying
Two decades ago, the Bloodmoons ruthlessly murdered Saffron Killoran’s parents, destroying her idyllic childhood. Hell-bent on revenge, she lies her way into Silvercloak Academy—the training ground for her city’s elite order of detectives—with a single goal: to bring the Bloodmoons to justice.
But when Saff’s deception is exposed, rather than being cast out, she’s given a rare opportunity: to go undercover and tear the Bloodmoons down from the inside.
Descending into a world where pleasure and pain are the most powerful currencies, Saff must commit some truly heinous deeds to keep her cover—and her life. Not only are there rival gangs and sinister smuggling rings to contend with, but there’s also her growing feelings for the kingpin’s tortured son, with his vicious pet fallowwolf, his dark past, and the curious prophecy foretelling his death at Saffron’s hand.
With each day testing her loyalties further, Saff finds her web of lies becoming harder to spin. And when one false step could destroy everything and everyone she’s ever loved . . . the detective who’s dedicated her life to vengeance just might die for it.
Book One of the Silvercloak Saga
“Magic is fueled by pleasure and pain” gives me slight Kushiel’s Dart vibes, and I see that as a good thing.
smartbitches_feedI’ve posted about my love of Book Outlet before. They’re a great option if you don’t mind waiting to get a physical book when it’s on sale; you’re kind of at the mercy of their stock.
Right now, they’re running a big fiction sale with paperbacks and hardcovers available for $5.99. There are some new releases and special hardcover editions!
I also have a referral coupon, which is $5 off a $25 order. I think I’ve posted it before, so some of you may have already snagged it.
If you see any great books as part of the sale, please drop your recommendations in the comments!
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Six Wild Crowns by Holly Race is $2.99! This is book one in a series. Elyse reviewed this and gave it a B:
This book is a wonderful reading experience. The setting, clothes and manners are all from a familiar enough place in time that it didn’t require a ton of world building, but Elben was still unique as a fantasy world. The action and the conflict were paced very well so the book grows in momentum. There’s also the “Earl has to die” plotline that I always appreciate.
NO KING CAN RULE THEM ALL.
In a Tudor England infused with deadly magic, a very different history will unfold for the wives of Henry VIII. Perfect for fans of The Priory of the Orange Tree, Six Wild Crowns is an epic fantasy filled with legendary dragons, vicious courtly intrigue, and sapphic yearning.
As tradition has it, the king of Elben must marry six queens and magically bind each of them to one of the island’s palaces or the kingdom will fall.
Clever, ambitious Boleyn is determined to be her beloved Henry’s favorite queen. She relishes the games at court and the political rivalries with his other wives. Seymour is the opposite – originally sent to Boleyn’s court as a reluctant spy and assassin, she ends up catching Henry’s eye and is forced into a loveless marriage with the king.
But when the two queens become the unlikeliest of things – friends and allies – the balance of power begins to shift. Together, they uncover a dark and deadly truth at the heart of the island’s magic. Boleyn and Seymour’s only hope of survival rests on uniting all six of the rival queens – but Henry will never let that happen.
The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem is $2.99 and a KDD! This is book one in The Scorched Throne series. I heard about this one through a reading newsletter one of my friends sends out. She isn’t a big romance reader, but had great things to say about this fantasy romance.
Ten years ago, the kingdom of Jasad burned. Its magic outlawed; its royal family murdered down to the last child. At least, that’s what Sylvia wants people to believe.
The lost Heir of Jasad, Sylvia never wants to be found. She can’t think about how Nizahl’s armies laid waste to her kingdom and continue to hunt its people—not if she wants to stay alive. But when Arin, the Nizahl Heir, tracks a group of Jasadi rebels to her village, staying one step ahead of death gets trickier.
In a moment of anger Sylvia’s magic is exposed, capturing Arin’s attention. Now, to save her life, Sylvia will have to make a deal with her greatest enemy. If she helps him lure the rebels, she’ll escape persecution.
A deadly game begins. Sylvia can’t let Arin discover her identity even as hatred shifts into something more. Soon, Sylvia will have to choose between the life she wants and the one she left behind. The scorched kingdom is rising, and it needs a queen.
In this Egyptian-inspired debut fantasy, a fugitive queen strikes a deadly bargain with her greatest enemy and finds herself embroiled in a complex game that could resurrect her scorched kingdom or leave it in ashes forever.
The Truth About Dukes by Grace Burrowes is $1.99! This is a historical romance and the fifth book in the Rogues to Riches series. The hero and heroine have previously known each other during some hard times and now need each other once more. Lots of catnip!
A new duke and a woman with a secret in her past get a second chance at love in this delightful and charming Regency romance from the New York Times bestselling author of the Windham series.
Robert Rothmere is hiding a past no duke should have endured, but he’s not hiding it well enough. Sooner or later, his enemies will learn that he spent years locked away at a private asylum. To get their hands on his wealth, they’ll try to send him right back to his worst nightmares. If Robert is to foil their schemes, he needs to marry a perfectly proper, blessedly boring, deadly dull duchess, immediately—and he knows exactly which quietly delightful lady he’d love to entrust with that role.
Lady Constance Wentworth has cultivated a reputation for utter forgettability. She never speaks out of turn (in public), never has a daring thought (that she admits aloud), and never comes close to courting scandal… as far as anybody knows. Her path crossed Robert’s years ago, though, and she’s never forgotten the extraordinary lengths he traveled to keep her safe when she hadn’t a friend in the world. She longs to be his demure duchess…but little does he know that to marry her would be utter madness.
Love in Focus by Lyla Lee is $2.99! This came out in May and was mentioned on Dahlia’s monthly queer romance roundup. I also believe this is Lee’s adult romance debut.
When her seven-year long relationship suddenly falls apart, relationship advice columnist Gemma Cho is convinced that real love doesn’t exist. As a bisexual woman who’s had zero luck with both men and women, she’s ready to give up on her own romantic prospects when she gets paired up with Celeste Min, a world-renowned photographer, on a highly visual, potentially career-saving piece on modern love.
Celeste is extremely talented, sexy, and gay, and would be the perfect collaborator and rebound for Gemma if it weren’t for one major fact: she’s Gemma’s ex, the one that broke her heart in college and moved to a whole another country before Gemma could even make sense of what went wrong between them. Despite working on a project together about what constitutes love and romance in the modern age, when it comes to their own affairs, both Gemma and Celeste are tripping over each other’s feet…and into each other’s arms.
Heightened by their shared love for love and the unmistakable sparks that still fly between them, Gemma and Celeste struggle to keep their relationship strictly professional. For the sake of her career, Gemma needs this piece to do well. And for the sake of what’s left of her beaten up hopeless romantic heart, she wants to fall head over heels for Celeste again. But can she trust Celeste to feel the same this time around?
LOVE IN FOCUS is a second chance sapphic rom com that will appeal to fans of THE BOLD TYPE and DELILAH GREEN DOESN’T CARE.
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Unrelated, but according to Maynard 2019 there's an infinite number of primes that don't require the letter W.
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February marks an anniversary for us: in this month in 2001, Krissy and Athena and I moved to this house in Bradford, Ohio, so now we have been citizens of this village and state for 25 years. On the 20th anniversary, I wrote a long piece about moving here and what that meant to us, and that’s still largely accurate, so I’m not going to replicate here. I will note that in the last five years, we’ve become even more entrenched here in Bradford, as we went on a bit of a real estate spree, purchasing a church, a campground, and a few other properties, and started a business and foundation here in town as well. We’ve become basically (if not technically precisely) the 21st century equivalent of landed gentry.
It’s possibly fitting that after a quarter century here in rural Ohio, I finally wrote a novel that takes place in it, which will be out, as timing would have it, on election day this year. The town in the novel is fictional but the county is real, as it my own, and it’s been interesting writing something about this place, now — that also, you know, has monsters in it. I certainly hope people around here are going to be okay with that, rather than, say, “you wrote what now about us?” There is a reason I made a fictional town, mind you.
I continue to be a bit of an odd duck for the area, which I don’t see changing, and despite the fact the number of full-time writers in Bradford has doubled thanks to Athena. On the other hand, as I’ve noted before, my output is such that Bradford is the undisputed literary capital of Darke County, and I think that’s something both Bradford and Darke County can be proud of.
Anyway, Ohio, and Darke County, and Bradford, have been good to me in the last quarter century. I hope I have been likewise to them. We’re likely to stay.
— JS
smartbitches_feedWe talk about the inspiration for this very magical book, and about books that are sanctuaries. We also talk about library advocacy, book banning, and the deadly threat of bureaucracy.
My favorite thing that Kate says: “When you love a book, it also loves you.”
Listen to the podcast →
You can find Kate Quinn at her website, KateQuinnAuthor.com. She’s on Instagram @KateQuinn5975.
We also mentioned:
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What did you think of today's episode? Got ideas? Suggestions? You can talk to us on the blog entries for the podcast or talk to us on Facebook if that's where you hang out online. You can email us at sbjpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave us a message at our Google voice number: 201-371-3272. Please don't forget to give us a name and where you're calling from so we can work your message into an upcoming podcast.
Thanks for listening!
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On occasion, you know the ending of your story before you start writing. Most other times, you find the path as you go, each twisting turn appearing before you as you continue on your merry way. The latter seems to be the case for author Gideon Marcus, who says in his Big Idea that he wasn’t always sure how to wrap up his newest novel, Majera.
GIDEON MARCUS:
What’s the big idea with Majera? That’s a hard one, because there are lots of threads: the unstated, obvious, valued diversity of the future, which helps define the setting as the future. That’s a familiar technique—Tom Purdom pioneered it, and Star Trek popularized it. There’s a focus on relationships: found family, love in myriad combinations. There’s the foundation of science, a real universe underpinning everything.
But I guess what I associate with Majera most strongly is conclusion.
Starting an exciting adventure is easy. Finishing stories is hard. George R. R. Martin, Pat Rothfuss. Hideaki Anno all have famously struggled with it. When Kitra and her friends first got catapulted ten light years from home in Kitra, I started them on a journey whose ending I only had the vaguest outline of. I had adventure seeds: the failing colony sleeper ship in Sirena, the insurrection in Hyvilma, and the dead planet in Majera, but the personal journeys of the characters I left up to them.
I know a lot of people don’t write the way I do. I think writers mirror the opposing schools of acting: on one end, the Method of sliding deep into character; on the other, George C. Scott’s completely external creation of an alternate personality. In the Scott school of writing, characters are puppets acting out an intricate dance created by the author. In the Method school of writing, of which I am a member, the characters have independent lives. I know that seems contradictory—how can fictional agglomerations of words achieve sentience?
And yet, they do! I didn’t plan Kitra and Marta’s rekindling of their relationship. Pinky’s jokes come out of the ether. Heck, I didn’t even come up with the solution that saved the ship in Kitra—Fareedh and Pinky did (people often congratulate me on how well I set up that solution from the beginning; news to me! I just write what the characters tell me to…)
All this is to say, I didn’t know how this arc of The Kitra Saga was going to end. But I knew it had to end well, it had to end satisfyingly, for the reader and for the characters. There had to be a reason the Majera crew would stop and take a breather from their string of increasingly exotic adventures. The worldbuilding! All of the little tidbits I’d developed had to be kept consistent: historical, scientific, character-related. There had to be a plausible resolution to the love pentangle that the Majera crew found themselves in, one that was respectful to all the characters and, more importantly, the reader’s sensitivies and credulity.
That’s why this book took longer to put to bed than all the others. It’s not the longest, but it was the hardest. Frankly, I don’t think I could even have written this book five years ago. I needed the life experience to fundamentally grok everyone’s internal workings, from Pinky’s wrestling with being an alien in a human world, to Peter’s coming to grips with his fears, to Kitra’s understanding of her role vis. a vis. her friends, her crew, her partners. In other words, I had to be 51 to authentically write a gaggle of 20-year-olds!
Beyond that, I had to, even in the conclusion, lay seeds for the rest of the saga, for there is a central mystery to the galaxy that has only been hinted at (not to mention a lot more tropes to subvert…)
Conclusions are hard. I think I’ve succeeded. I hope I’ve succeeded. I guess it’s for you to judge!
Majera: Amazon|Amazon (eBook)|Audible|Barnes & Noble|Bookshop|Kobo
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Just look at this cover for Monsters of Ohio. Look at it! It is amazing. I am so happy with it. It’s the work of artist Michael Koelsch (whose art has graced my work before, notably the Subterranean Press editions of the Dispatcher sequels Murder by Other Means and Travel by Bullet) , and he’s knocked it out of the park. I am, in a word, delighted.
And what is Monsters of Ohio about? Here’s the current jacket copy for it:
In many ways Richland, Ohio is the same tiny, sleepy rural village it has been for the last 150 years: The same families, the same farms, the same heartland beliefs and traditions that have sustained it for generations. But right now times are especially hard, as social and economic forces inside and outside the community roil the surface of the once-placid town.
Richland, in other words, is primed to explode… just not the way that anyone anywhere could ever have expected. And when things do explode, well, that’s when things start getting really weird.
Mike Boyd left Richland decades back, to find his own way in the world. But when he is called back to his hometown to tie up some loose ends, he finds more going on than he bargained for, and is caught up in a sequence of events that will bring this tiny farm village to the attention of the entire world… and, perhaps, spell its doom.
Ooooooooooh! Doooooom! Perhaaaaaaaps!
If that was too much text for you, here is the two-word version: Cozy Cronenberg.
Yeah, it’s gonna be fun.
When can you get it? November 3rd in North America and November 5 in the UK and most of the rest of the world. But of course you can pre-order this very minute at your favorite bookseller, whether that be your local indie, your nearby bookstore chain, or online retailer of your choice. Why wait! Put your money down! The book’s already written, after all. It’s guaranteed to ship!
Oh, and, for extra fun, here’s the author photo for the novel:
Yup, that pretty much sets the tone.
I hope you like Monsters of Ohio when you get a chance to read it. In November!
— JS
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The Earl That Got Away by Diana Quincy is $1.99! This is book two in the Sirens in Silk historical romance series. It’s also a second chance romance!
In the second installment of Diana Quincy’s steamy Victorian historical romance series, a Persuasion retelling, an Arab-American young woman is reunited with the lost love of her youth and forced to reckon with their past and undying tension.
American Naila Darwish always regretted calling off her engagement to the man she loved because he wasn’t successful enough for her family. Eight years later, she travels to England for her sister’s wedding and gets the shock of her life when she runs into Basil again. Overjoyed, she wonders if the fates have given her a second chance at love.
But Basil Trevelyn is not the same carefree young man Naila rejected all those years ago. Having unexpectedly inherited a noble title, he is now the Earl of Hawksworth, one of England’s most sought-after bachelors. Still bitter after Naila’s heart-wrenching rejection all those years ago, Hawk is cold and distant, suspecting Naila is after his money and position.
When the two lost lovers are repeatedly thrown together, they discover that the chemistry between them burns brighter than ever and that some feelings are too strong to deny. Will they allow pride and lingering resentment to keep them from seizing their last chance at happiness?
Not Another Love Song by Julie Soto is $2.99! Dahlia mentioned this one in a previous Hide Your Wallet. This one is pretty Reylo-coded if that is or isn’t your thing. (It’s my thing and I was just meh on it as a whole.) Do with that what you will!
Two string players fight their attraction for each other as they compete for center stage in this spicy and emotional romance.
Gwen Jackson and Xander Thorne are both musical prodigies, but each has had very different paths to success. Xander was born into classical music royalty, while Gwen had a natural ear for music that was nurtured by a kind shop owner.
After Gwen performs at his friend’s wedding, she’s mortified when she realizes Xander has no clue who she is—despite having worked together for a year at the Pops Orchestra. But she’s more furious that he arrogantly critiques her performance.
When Gwen is offered the role of First Chair of the orchestra, something Xander had secretly coveted for years, their existing hostility goes up a notch. But their respect for each other’s music is undeniable, and their onstage chemistry off the scale. As they begin to explore their feelings for one another, suddenly they’re box office dynamite and the fragile romance that’s growing between them is in danger of being crushed beneath a publicity stunt…
Must Love Moss and Moonshine by Maisy Magill is $2.49 at Amazon! This is a prequel to Magill’s Moonshine Hollow cozy fantasy romance series. There’s a grumpy/sunshine pairing and some amnesia!
A forest-bound dryad longing for connection.
A traveling artisan who’s lost her way—and her memory.
An ancient forest determined to mend two lonely hearts.
Desperate to quit the vagabond life, traveling enchanted jewelry artisan Tansy Foxglove is determined to get to the autumn market in the village of Moonshine Hollow. Nothing will stand in her way… except an ancient forest that has its own plans.
When Tansy sets off for the village, she definitely doesn’t mean to get lost in an enchanted wood. She certainly does not intend to lose her memory. And she wasn’t planning to be irresistibly drawn to the ancient glade’s dryad caretaker.
Kellen’s life is one of solitude. He has no interest in interacting with the outside world. He’s perfectly happy with his solitary life. Right? When a beautiful Sylvan elf who has lost her memory appears in his forest, he has no choice but to take care of her. But when taking care turns to simmering attraction, will this loner change his ways? What happens when her memories return? Will their magical connection survive?
Must Love Moss & Moonshine is the prequel to the enchanting cozy fantasy Moonshine Hollow series, introducing us to the magical town of Moonshine Hollow and its residents.
Each novel in the series can be read as a stand-alone.
Perfect for lovers of steamy fantasy rom-com, romantasy, and cozy fantasy romance with a dash of spice! Fans of Kimberly Lemming, Heather Fawcett, and Cora Crane will devour this super cozy but very passionate tale of magic, romance, and redemption.
Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill is $2.99! Carrie reviewed this one in April and gave it a C:
The descriptive aspects of this book are great. I just wish that the character development was stronger on the part of everyone not named Jenny, and that the plot had more focus.
From an outstanding new voice in cozy fantasy comes Greenteeth, a tale of fae, folklore, and found family, narrated by a charismatic lake-dwelling monster with a voice unlike any other, perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher.
Beneath the still surface of a lake lurks a monster with needle sharp teeth. Hungry and ready to pounce.
Jenny Greenteeth has never spoken to a human before, but when a witch is thrown into her lake, something makes Jenny decide she’s worth saving. Temperance doesn’t know why her village has suddenly turned against her, only that it has something to do with the malevolent new pastor.
Though they have nothing in common, these two must band together on a magical quest to defeat the evil that threatens Jenny’s lake and Temperance’s family, as well as the very soul of Britain.
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Still don't know why they kept asking their ghostly duplicates whether they liked that over and over.
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This fun Rec League was suggested by Geoffroy in the podcast Patreon discord:
A bit niche, but anyone would suggest a series of poly (or adjacent) smutty Paranormal-ish romance that has an insurrectionists vibe? As long as it’s open-door or found family with 4+ bi- polycule who believe ACAB, with enough distance for escapism.
Susan: Did Kit Rocha do any polyamory? It’s genuinely been so long that I don’t remember.
Sneezy: Ya, they did. Now that you mention it, I think their poly books ticks most of the boxes?
Amanda: I can’t remember if the Kit Rocha Beyond series had bi heroes. Maybe in the later books? I only read book one and it was ages ago.Elyse: I believe Consort of Fire ( A | BN ) would qualify as well as Daughter of Tides. ( A | BN )
Amanda: Oooh, good call!
Kiki: Okay I don’t know if it has all of those things but the closest I have is Fleeing Fate by Sabrina Day—bi polycule, paranormal shifters. Can’t remember if it’s got an ACAB vibe though. Also a heads up that a second book was supposed to come out but hasn’t yet!
What books would you recommend? Let us know in the comments!
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What is it? I can’t tell you! When will you be able to know? I can’t say! But when I can tell you, will I? We’ll see!
What I can tell you is that Athena is working on it with me, she’s been great to work with so far, and my decision to hire her at Scalzi Enterprises was pretty smart. Clearly I know what I’m doing all the time.
Anyway, my kid’s awesome and we’re doing cool stuff. I hope we get to share it with you. Eventually.
— JS
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Welcome back, everyone!
Can you believe February is almost over? This month has been so busy for me and I would like a break so I can sleep for a week straight. Please and thank you. Would anyone else like to join me in this hibernation?
Some of my friends have taken up collaging and their collages are so fun and creative. I’m tempted, but I also feel like I’d be too in my head about it “looking good” to enjoy the craft. Such is the life of a perfectionist.
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Right up top! I Heart Sapphic Fic is reporting on some concerning changes to affiliate revenue for erotica.
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The New York Public Library has a list of Best New Romances of 2026. I’m a little confused as some of the titles on the list aren’t 2026 titles, but perhaps they meant romances you should read in 2026.
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Jfhobbit in the podcast Patreon discord let us know about this cozy Pokemon game. I’m curious!
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Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series might be getting at tabletop roleplaying game. A Kickstarter is set to launch soon.
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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!
smbc_comics_feed - Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Antsmartbitches_feed - SBTB Bestsellers: February 7 – February 20smartbitches_feed - Sunday Sale Digest!scalziwhatever_feed - New Cover: “Fall At Your Feet”smbc_comics_feed - Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Nantucketsmartbitches_feed - Book Beat: Alien Cowboys, Marriage of Convenience, & Morexkcd_feed - Eliminating the Impossiblesmartbitches_feed - $5.99 Hardcovers at Book Outlet!smartbitches_feed - Dukes, Contemporary Romance, & Moresmbc_comics_feed - Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Primescalziwhatever_feed - 25 Years in Ohiosmartbitches_feed - 706. The Astral Library with Kate Quinnscalziwhatever_feed - The Big Idea: Gideon Marcusscalziwhatever_feed - Cover Reveal: Monsters of Ohiosmartbitches_feed - Fantasy Romance, a Contemporary, & Moresmbc_comics_feed - Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Battlesmartbitches_feed - The Rec League: Revolutionist Bi Polyculesxkcd_feed - Plumsscalziwhatever_feed - A Secret Project is Afoot at the Scalzi Compound!smartbitches_feed - Links: Pokemon, Tabletop Games, & More![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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