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cakewrecks_feed) wrote2025-08-13 01:00 pm
Sadly, the Sesame Street Paving Company never found the rest of Elmo:
Thanks to Timberly M., who knows the baker was trying for a carrot. I'd say they nailed it.
*****
And from my other blog, Epbot:
smartbitches_feed) wrote2025-08-13 06:00 amThis guest review is from Crystal Anne! Crystal Anne with An E comes to us from a sunny clime, but prefers to remain a pale indoor cat. She enjoys reading, cross-stitching something nerdy, going to see live music, and playing video games. She works as an autism consultant by day, got a degree in information science for fun, and currently serves on her local library advisory board.
…
The brain is a funny thing.
My reading over the last couple of months had become, well, quite dark. I should say that I don’t necessarily find anything wrong with reading dark books. Do you, and enjoy yourself. What I find with my own brain is that sometimes, especially after a streak of primarily reading darker books, I find my brain needs to shift gears and do a Fast and Furious style 180.
Naturally, as one does in this situation, I decided to search out some reading that would be funny and sweet and maybe magical.
Also, very pink.
So, I yoinked out A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna ( A | BN | K | AB ). I had not read anything by this author previous to this, but the summary and cover seemed to promise exactly what I was after.
And, oh, it delivered.
That book was a warm hug, a cup of peppermint tea, and the stickiest cinnamon bun ever. When it finished, I immediately started her first book, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches ( A | BN | K | AB ), because my brain was not ready to leave the worlds that Mandanna had created.
So let us break down those worlds, shall we?
The characters in these books are utterly caring for one another. At every turn, someone is constantly thinking of the well-being of someone they love, and working actively to preserve that person’s safety and happiness.
The humor runs toward being very arch and British (which, given that Mandanna herself is British, is not super-surprising). I enjoy dry British humor, and these books do this very well. There are also nice touches of absurdity here and there (the undead rooster being my favorite), and they balance the urgency of the stakes well.
I listened to Mandanna’s appearance on the She Wore Black podcast, and I was very struck by her approach to stakes in her books. She said that cozy doesn’t mean devoid of stakes or urgency, it’s just that those stakes may not be for the world or society at large, but those stakes ARE important and critical for the characters. I liked that approach a great deal, as I think we all can understand the idea of balancing our care for the things going on in the world with the things that are important to us and our happiness and well-being.
In addition to the emphasis on caring, there’s also a strong emphasis on kindness and acceptance. In The Very Secret Society for Irregular Witches, the main character, Mika, while kind and loving to those around her, finds it hard to believe that others could accept and love her as she is, and that lack of belief informs her tendency to keep others at arm’s length.
In A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping, Luke, in his protectiveness of his younger sister Posy, who is autistic and has significant communication differences, is constantly braced for people to be judgmental of her and frankly, ready to run away to keep her safe and un-judged.Which is why, when instead of being judged or ridiculed, Posy is accepted and almost instantly loved by the residents of Batty Hole (that’s the inn, and what a fantastic name), he is caught very off-guard.
It’s alluded to that Luke himself is neurodivergent and also very possibly on the spectrum, but he learned to squash those traits and spend his entire life “masking”, because otherwise, he was punished for those traits in some way. It is part of what makes him skeptical of the idea that people could love and accept Posy just as she is, because he has never experienced that in his own life. It is when Mika accepts the love and kindness of those around her that she finds ways to extend that acceptance outward and form a community, when before, the witches in the story had always made a point of isolating themselves.
Let’s talk about the sensory aspects of these books. You can practically smell the cinnamon buns and the tea, and you can almost see the magic glittering through the air. The writing loves to focus on these details, and they are, for lack of a better term, yummy. Mika in particular is described as a gifted potions witch, and I like to think that this is what her potions looked like.
It would be easy to take these aspects of a book, and make it too twee and sugary. These books avoid that by having some bite in that British humor. In addition, the characters in A Witch’s Guide have experienced trauma and bigotry, and that informs how they approach certain things, and they have had to reckon with and address their trauma. Sera, the heroine of A Witch’s Guide, has experienced the trauma of losing her magical abilities to save someone she loves, and it has made her grouchy and guarded, and is constantly having to do and redo the work of addressing her mental health and letting those around her carry some of the load.
I think that’s the most important thing about these books: no matter how messed up or grotesque we feel, there are people around us ready to show us how to be loved and cared for, and that we deserve love and care. Those people will likely err, but everyone will keep going, and everyone keeps doing that hard work, day after day, because the love and affection will continue.
It’s hard sometimes, especially right now, to feel okay about focusing on ourselves and our need for rest and recovery in a world that is constantly reminding us how on fire things are. It’s easy to feel powerless. We’re not, but we also cannot pour from an empty cup, and the characters in these books have to learn and re-learn that throughout these stories.
That, to me, is comfort.
What about you? Have you read these books? Were they as comforting for you?
I hope so. Comfort is a precious commodity at the moment.
If you’d like to write a guest post examining some of your favorites, get in touch with Sarah!
smartbitches_feed) wrote2025-08-12 03:30 pm
The Duchess Takes a Husband by Harper St. George is $1.99! This is a KDD and is book four in the Gilded Age Heiresses series. This last book in the series features Camille, whose wedding to a terrible man is what kicks off book one.
A scandalous arrangement between a London rogue and an American duchess leads to lavish stakes.
Despite her illustrious title, Camille, Duchess of Hereford, remains what she has always been—a pariah. Though her title means she’s technically accepted by London Society, the rebellious widow with her burgeoning interest in the suffrage movement and her American ways isn’t exactly high on every hostess’s guest list. But Camille starts to wonder if being an outcast is not without its perks when the tantalizing answer to her secret fear appears in the shape of Jacob Thorne, the illegitimate son of an earl and co-owner of London’s infamous Montague Club.
Jacob is used to making deals with his club members—he’s just not accustomed to them being beautiful women. Nor have the terms ever been so sweetly seductive as Camille’s shocking proposition. To finally buy his own club and gain the crucial backing of investors, Camille offers Jacob the respectability of a fake engagement with a duchess. In return, the tempting widow has one condition: she wants Jacob to show her if it’s possible for her to experience pleasure in bed.
The lure of such a bargain proves too delicious to resist, drawing the enterprising rogue and the wallflower duchess into a scandalous game and an even more dangerous gamble of the heart.
Guilty Pleasures by Laura Lee Guhrke is $1.99! This is book one in the Guilty series. I have a bit of a soft spot for this book. Not sure how well it holds up!
One of Daphne Wade’s guilty pleasures is to watch the Duke of Tremore as he works, shirtless, on the excavation site of his ducal estate. Anthony Courtland is by far the most exciting and handsome man she has ever known, and she dreams of one day being able to speak with him without getting tongue tied.
Anthony, meanwhile, only sees Daphne as a hard worker on his excavation team. He considers her a plain young lady and says so in a careless remark to a friend, unaware that Daphne is outside the library door, her heart shattering to pieces. So Daphne decides she will not be so silly any longer. She begins to be tutored in the social graces, forcing Anthony to see the beauty who has been right in front of his eyes.
RECOMMENDED: Angel in a Devil’s Arms by Julie Anne Long is 99c! There are also several of Long’s historicals on sale if you are missing any in your ebook library. Catherine reviewed this one and gave it an A:
Angel in a Devil’s Arms was just enormous fun to read. It’s sweet, it’s sexy, it’s fun, and it’s just a little bit subversive. Highly recommended.
From USA Today bestselling author Julie Anne Long comes the second book in an exciting new historical romance series, the first since her beloved Pennyroyal Green series.
He has devil’s blood in his veins. At least, that’s always been the legend. How else could the Duke of Brexford’s notorious bastard son return from the dead? The brutal decade since Lucien Durand, Lord Bolt, allegedly drowned in the Thames forged him into a man who always gets what—and who—he wants. And what he wants is vengeance for his stolen birthright…and one wild night in Angelique Breedlove’s bed.
Angelique recognizes heartbreak when the enigmatic Lord Bolt walks into The Grand Palace on the Thames, and not even his devastating charm can tempt her to risk her own ever again. One scorching kiss drives home the danger.
But in the space between them springs a trust that feels anything but safe. And the passion—explosive, consuming—drives Lucien to his knees. Now his whole life depends on proving his love to a woman who doesn’t believe in it…because his true birthright, he now knows, is guardian of Angelique Breedlove’s heart.
RECOMMENDED: Behooved by M. Stevenson is $1.99! Carrie reviewed this and gave it a B+:
Behooved is a charming fantasy romance that draws from Beauty and the Beast stories and shifter romances in a creative and sometimes very funny way. It also has a solid representation of life with a chronic illness. While this book wasn’t subtle about its messages, it was heartwarming, exciting, and sweet.
A charming slow-burn romantasy featuring a duty-bound noblewoman with a chronic illness, a prince who would rather be in a library than on a throne, and a magical ride through a world of cozy enchantment
Bianca knows her duty comes before her heart. So when the threat of war looms, she agrees to marry the neighboring kingdom’s heir. But not all royal weddings are a fairytale, and Prince Aric, Bianca’s betrothed, is cold, aloof, and seems to hate her on sight.
To make matters worse, on their wedding night, an assassination attempt goes awry—leaving Aric magically transformed into a horse. Bianca does what any bride in this situation would she mounts her new husband and rides away to safety.
Sunset returns Aric to human form, but they soon discover the assassination attempt is part of a larger plot against the throne. Worse, Bianca has been framed for Aric’s murder, and she’s now saddled with a husband who is a horse by day and a frustratingly attractive man by night.
As an unexpected romance begins galloping away with their hearts, Bianca and Aric must rely on each other to unravel the curse and save the throne.
“Behooved is bewitchingly charming, a romantic fairy-tale adventure that will sweep you off your feet (or hooves)!”—Sarah Beth Durst, New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop
smartbitches_feed) wrote2025-08-12 02:00 pmThis HaBO comes from Kathy, who wants to find this paranormal romance:
It starts with the Alpha killing a man and taking the man’s daughter. The Alpha takes her to his pack and enslaves her at the tavern where she is forced to work. He ignores her for as long as possible. Her father was a horrible shifter, abusing women, and no one knows the daughter stayed with her dad to help the women escape. The Alpha hates her, but she is his mate.
She discovers she also has magical healing powers. The Alpha’s pack has witches who teach and train her.
Two other packs are vying for power and control. The leader of the “bad side” is the Alpha’s mother. It’s turned into a war, with packs taking sides. The Alpha’s brother comes to fight with him, and his lead warrior is a kickass woman. The heroine and the Alpha eventually travel to the “Mountain,” where they need to destroy some kind of dark magic to destroy the Alpha’s mom.
Can we HaBO this one?
cakewrecks_feed) wrote2025-08-12 01:00 pmFor Chocolate Day we decided to illustrate a beloved children's classic.
I highly recommend hitting play and reading along:
(Note: Mild language at the very end. Also, it’s a Morgan Freeman impersonator.)
An elephant makes a big poop.
A mouse makes a tiny poop.
A one hump camel makes a one hump poop.
A two hump camel makes a two hump poop.
Hahaha, only kidding.
Fish poop...
...and so do birds.
And bugs, too.
Different animals make different kinds of poop.
Different shapes, different colors, even different smells.
Which end is the snake's behind?
What does whale poop look like?
Some stop to poop, others do it on the move.
Some poop here or there.
Others do it in a special place.
Grownups poop. Children poop, too.
While some children poop on the potty, others poop in their diapers.
Some animals poop and pay no attention.
Others clean up after themselves.
These poop by the water:
This one does it in the water.
He wipes himself with paper then flushes it down.
All living things eat, so everyone poops.
Thanks to Stephanie M., Beth W., Lisa R., Dede H., Robin, Robin E., Anony M., Anna O., Anthony S., Wendi P., Anita C., Cassandra M., Christie D., & John W. for our crappiest post yet.
(Can you believe none of those were supposed to look like poop? Except maybe the rainbow swirly one - which I'm guessing is unicorn poop, and therefore gets a free pass.)
(SEE WHAT I DID THERE?)
*****
P.S. In case your life was missing a set of cat butt magnets, I found you some:
Cat Butt Magnets
There's also a set for dogs.
You're welcome.
******
And from my other blog, Epbot:
smartbitches_feed) wrote2025-08-12 08:00 am
Welcome back to Hide Your Wallet!
We have a good handful of books coming out this week: a new Chuck Tingle, plenty of mysteries, contemporary romances, and of course, more fantasy.
What new releases are on your radar this week? Let us know in the comments!
Author: Sienna Sharpe
Released: August 12, 2025 by Sourcebooks Landmark
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Mystery/Thriller, Romance
Falling in love can be murder…
No one in Lily Lennox’s life can understand why, for each of the past five summers, she has shut her successful business and chosen instead to be paid minimum wage lifeguarding at the exclusive Riovan Wellness Resort on a sun-soaked Caribbean island. Fortunately for her, they also aren’t aware of the mysterious deaths that have occurred on the island every time she’s there.
Lily always does her best not to attract attention. She is determined to make toxic people pay for the damage they do – and when your mission is murder, it’s best not to draw suspicious eyes. But this year a very attractive journalist, Daniel Black, is asking a few too many inconvenient questions. Is he there to hunt her down? And if so, how will she manage her growing attraction towards him – at the same time as getting away with murder?
Sarah: Perhaps this lifeguard is killing terrible people, and maybe that journalist should stop asking about it.
Author: Jennifer Ashley
Released: August 12, 2025 by Berkley
Genre: Historical: European, Mystery/Thriller
Series: A Below Stairs Mystery #8
Valiant cook and amateur sleuth Kat Holloway must uncover the secrets of Victorian London’s most elite noblemen to save the man she loves, from the New York Times bestselling author of Speculations in Sin.
Kat Holloway knows that her beau and confidante Daniel McAdam has a talent for dangerous work as a Scotland Yard agent. At long last though, Daniel’s coldhearted boss has promised that after a final mission, his debt will be repaid, and he’ll finally be free. However, Daniel must risk his life one last time, masquerading as a secretary to an elderly viscount who could be the mastermind behind the recent plots against the Queen and her government.
Using her contacts throughout London, Kat discovers several of her friends and colleagues have been victims of vicious blackmail. They’ll do anything to protect their scandalous secrets, even conform to the blackmailer’s political agenda. If Kat and Daniel wish to save each other and the Crown, they must prove the blackmailer’s identity and evade those who will stop at nothing to eliminate them.
Sarah: New Kat Holloway!!
Author: Jackson Ford
Released: August 12, 2025 by Orbit
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: The Rakada #1
The start of an edge-of-your-seat, action‑packed epic fantasy series from the irreverent Jackson Ford, where a wild band known as the Bone Raiders harness the power of gigantic, fire-breathing lizards to defend their homeland.
“Awesome. Masterfully executed. Frequently hilarious.” — Nicholas Eames, author of Kings of the Wyld
WE DIDN’T START THE FIRE . . . BUT OUR GIANT FIRE-BREATHING LIZARDS DID.
You don’t f*ck with the Rakada. The people living in the grasslands of the Tapestry call them the Bone Raiders, from their charming habit of displaying the bones of those they kill on their armour. But being a raider is tough these days. There’s a new Great Khan in the Tapestry. He plans to use his sizeable military to get rid of the raider clans. And then there are the huge fire-breathing lizards that are straying into the grasslands a little too often these days.
Sayana is a raider scout. She knows that to protect their way of life, she needs do something drastic. Like convincing her clan to ride those huge lizards, instead of horses. Sayana doesn’t know how to do it without being eaten and/or cooked alive, but she’d better figure it out fast – or she and her clan, along with every other raider in the Tapestry, will be wiped out.
Amanda: This is giving me Kings of Wyld vibes and I’m not mad at it.
Author: Evelyn Skye
Released: August 12, 2025 by Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
In elementary school Chloe Hanako Quinn is assigned Oliver Jones as her pen pal. Before sending her letter she also whispers a note into it…and he hears her. It is the beginning of a friendship that blooms into something more—that is, until disaster strikes.
Now more than twenty years later Chloe is a high school guidance counselor in New York City, but life is not what she dreamed it would be as she faces a layoff, rising rent, a situationship, and loneliness. Desperate for encouragement, she gives herself a pep talk via uplifting messages written on yellow origami paper that she folds into roses. When one of the roses accidentally finds its way to a neighbor in need of cheering-up, Chloe, feeling a desire to spread kindness and optimism, begins purposely leaving them around town.
Across the city, Oliver has picked himself up from the rough circumstances that forced him to leave everything behind as a teenager—including Chloe. Now a successful financial analyst, Oliver’s past continues to haunt him. But when the city is suddenly inundated with yellow origami roses, a specific one finds its way into his hands and changes his life forever.
Sarah: A second chance story with a heroine named Chloe who gives herself pep talks through origami roses, which somehow also works on other people.
Author: Mallory Marlowe
Released: August 12, 2025 by Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Paranormal, Romance
A chance at love might not be out of this world in this astronomically charming romantic comedy from the USA Today bestselling author of Love and Other Conspiracies.
Los Angeles social media influencer El Martin seems to have a picture-perfect life. But what El wants more than anything is to find something real to make her heart race in a way it hasn’t in years. She doesn’t expect that feeling to come from capturing footage of an unidentified flying . . . thing, much less from the charming Man in Black who keeps following her around.
Agent Carter Brody is trying his best to keep the Private Intelligence Sector afloat by dragging their hopelessly out-of-date office into this century, even though what he really wants to do is follow in his father’s footsteps by identifying and hiding extraterrestrial sightings. He gets his chance after being assigned to El’s case and is stopped in his tracks not only by her ingenuity and confidence but also by an unnerving coincidence—her sighting looks eerily like what Carter himself saw right before a family tragedy.
The deeper El and Carter fall into the mystery, the harder it is for them to ignore their growing chemistry as their own alien feelings become dangerously terrestrial.
Mallory Marlowe returns with another quirky paranormal romance.
Author: Chuck TIngle
Released: August 12, 2025 by Tor Nightfire
Genre: Horror, LGBTQIA
“An existential masterwork that, like life, is equal parts atrocity and delights.”—Olivie Blake, New York Times bestselling author of Masters of Death
Lucky Day is the latest from Chuck Tingle, USA Today bestselling author of Camp Damascus and Bury Your Gays, where one woman must go up against horrifying odds to save the world.
Four years ago, an unthinkable disaster occurred. In what was later known as the Low-Probability Event, eight million people were killed in a single day, each of them dying in improbable, bizarre strangled by balloon ropes, torn apart by exploding manhole covers, attacked by a chimpanzee wielding a typewriter. A day of freak accidents that proved anything is possible, no matter the odds. Luck is real now, and it’s not always good.
Vera, a former statistics and probability professor, lost everything that day, and she still struggles to make sense of the unbelievable catastrophe. To her, the LPE proved that the God of Order is dead and nothing matters anymore.
When Special Agent Layne shows up on Vera’s doorstep, she learns he’s investigating a suspiciously—and statistically impossibly—lucky casino. He needs her help to prove the casino’s success is connected to the deaths of millions, and it’s Vera’s last chance to make sense of a world that doesn’t.
Because what’s happening in Vegas isn’t staying there, and she’s the only thing that stands between the world and another deadly improbability.
New Chuck Tingle alert!
Author: Lizzie Damilola Blackburn
Released: August 12, 2025 by Penguin Books
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance
In this lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers rom-com, two exes are faced with one deadline. Will they make it to the end?
Temi and Wale meet in London. They flirt, date, meet each other’s friends.
Then they break up. And Wale goes on a reality dating show.
Instead of giving in to heartbreak, Temi throws herself into her writing. She’s within touching distance of a book deal that would solve all her problems. But publishers keep passing on her novel and bills still have to be paid. So, when the opportunity to ghost-write a celebrity memoir arises, Temi accepts.
And, of course, the celebrity turns out to be Wale…
Will Temi and Wale repeat the patterns of their past? Or can they write a whole new story?
Exes reunite when the heroine is assigned with ghostwriting the hero’s memoir, after his villain edit on a reality dating show.
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Released: August 12, 2025 by Avon
Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale Romance, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: Braided Fate #1
New York Times bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer makes her adult debut with this irresistible and steamy fantasy about three characters whose paths will collide in surprising ways – two royals pushed into a political engagement, and the assassin tasked with hunting them down.
WARRIOR. King Maddox Kyronan’s fire magic has earned him a ruthless reputation on the battlefield, but now his kingdom is slowly burning. Ky’s only chance to save his people is to enter a marriage alliance with the neighboring nation of Astranza, and hope that the royal family’s power to manipulate the weather will help his land flourish once more. He just needs to ensure no one finds out how the blaze began.
PRINCESS. With war looming on the horizon, Princess Jory’s home needs the protection of the fearsome warrior king, but she is hiding a dangerous her family’s magic is fading. Tempting as it is to reject her duties and run away with her childhood friend, Asher, Jory knows that she is the kingdom’s last hope. When she meets her intended, Jory is surprised to discover that beneath Ky’s daunting exterior is a compassionate and sharp-witted man who sets her heart aflame. But what will he do when he realizes she’s deceiving him?
ASSASSIN. Asher’s done what he must to survive, even if that means getting his hands dirty. Once a young nobleman in Astranza’s palace, where he and Jory caused mischief together, now he’s part of the Hunter’s Guild, employing much darker skills. When a lucrative job comes his way, Asher can’t say no—until he discovers the targets. Someone wants Ky and Jory dead. With the Guild watching, Asher must decide what he’s willing to do to protect the woman he loves.
A tale of three complex characters torn between chasing, betraying, and falling in love with each other, Warrior Princess Assassin marks the beginning of a thrilling new fantasy trilogy filled with enchantment, adventure, and passionate romance.
Amanda: Really excited to see Kemmerer’s adult fantasy romance debut! With anything that hints at a love triangle, I always hope it turns into a Why Choose.
captainawkward_feed) wrote2025-08-12 12:46 amLet’s have another Boston meetup!
When: Saturday, August 16th, 2025 at 1pm
Where: Cambridge Common, in Cambridge, MA, near the Civil War Monument
Closest T stop is Harvard Square on the Red Line. Cambridge Common is a 5-10 minute walk.
The Civil War Monument is the big statue in the center of Cambridge Common, with lots of benches around (but no tables).
Accessibility notes: The park has good pathways to the area where we’re meeting, but no bathrooms in the park. Best nearby public restrooms are in the MBTA station.
I’ll be sitting on one of the benches and I’ll have with me a Catbus plushie (from My Neighbor Totoro). I’ll probably be working on a crochet blanket.
If the weather forecast wildly changes and we have to move indoors, weather location is the Harvard Art Museum Cafe, in the central atrium of 32 Quincy Street.
Feel free to bring any crafts, games, puzzles, etc to work on or share. I’ll also have some art supplies and paper to share.
If you have questions, comments, or are trying to find us, you can reach me at bostonCAmeetup AT gmail DOT com.
smartbitches_feed) wrote2025-08-11 03:30 pm
GUEST RECOMMENDED: The Ruin of a Rake by Cat Sebastian is $1.99! We had a guest review of this one from Heather Morris and they gave it an A-:
That quibble aside, there are so many things little things that I loved. Platonic male-female friendship. Sharpshooting and fake duels. Seduction-by-bookkeeping. A frankly excessive amount of kittens.
Rogue. Libertine. Rake. Lord Courtenay has been called many things and has never much cared. But after the publication of a salacious novel supposedly based on his exploits, he finds himself shunned from society. Unable to see his nephew, he is willing to do anything to improve his reputation, even if that means spending time with the most proper man in London.
Julian Medlock has spent years becoming the epitome of correct behavior. As far as he cares, if Courtenay finds himself in hot water, it’s his own fault for behaving so badly—and being so blasted irresistible. But when Julian’s sister asks him to rehabilitate Courtenay’s image, Julian is forced to spend time with the man he loathes—and lusts after—most.
As Courtenay begins to yearn for a love he fears he doesn’t deserve, Julian starts to understand how desire can drive a man to abandon all sense of propriety. But he has secrets he’s determined to keep, because if the truth came out, it would ruin everyone he loves. Together, they must decide what they’re willing to risk for love.
There’s Something About Mira by Sonali Dev is $1.99 on Amazon! I believe this is Dev’s latest release and features main characters who are trying to track down the owner of a ring.
From USA Today bestselling author Sonali Dev comes the heartfelt story of a woman determined to reunite a lost ring with its owner, who ends up finding herself along the way.
Mira Salvi has the perfect life—a job she loves, a fiancé everyone adores, and the secure future she’s always imagined for herself. Really, she hasn’t a thing to complain about, not even when she has to go on her engagement trip to New York alone.
While playing tourist in the city, Mira chances upon a lost ring, and her social media post to locate its owner goes viral. With everyone trying to claim the ring, only one person seems to want to find its owner as badly as Mira journalist Krish Hale. Brooding and arrogant, he will do anything to get to write this story.
As Krish and Mira reluctantly join forces and jump into the adventure of tracing the ring back to where it belongs, Mira begins to wonder if she is in the right place in her own life. She had to have found this ring for a reason…right? Maybe, like the owner of the lost ring, her happy ending hasn’t been written yet either.
A Duke in the Rough by Trisha Messmer is $2.49! This is book one in a historical romance series and features a new duke hiding his identity.
How can a newly minted duke escape title-seeking debutantes? Lie, of course!
Lady Honoria Bell never recovered from her broken heart. Fending off suitors her marquess father forces in her path, she’s put aside hopes of marriage. However, word of a house party hosted by the new, eligible Duke of Burwood brings a renewed gleam to her father’s eye. But regardless of the new duke’s appeal, Honoria knows he won’t fill the void Drake Merrick left.
If there’s one thing Drake Merrick knows, it’s that aristocratic women care more about a title than they do love. Losing the love of his life because he was a lowly groom proved it. So, when a twist of fate makes him the new Duke of Burwood, he’s determined to choose a bride who wants him—not his title.
Switching places with his man of business seems like the perfect plan to test the affections of eager debutantes. Until it backfires the moment Honoria arrives, and he realizes his heart will always be irrevocably hers.
But will his deception allow her to prove her love? Or will his lies destroy it?
RECOMMENDED: The Rook by Daniel O’Malley $2.99! Carrie loves the series, especially the sequel Stiletto. It’s urban fantasy set in London with a badass cast of characters. But some found the book to have a lot of info-dumping. Have you read The Rook?
“The body you are wearing used to be mine.” So begins the letter Myfanwy Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her.
She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Chequy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare, potentially deadly supernatural ability of her own.
In her quest to uncover which member of the Chequy betrayed her and why, Myfanwy encounters a person with four bodies, an aristocratic woman who can enter her dreams, a secret training facility where children are transformed into deadly fighters, and a conspiracy more vast than she ever could have imagined.
Filled with characters both fascinating and fantastical, THE ROOK is a richly inventive, suspenseful, and often wry thriller that marks an ambitious debut from a promising young writer.
cakewrecks_feed) wrote2025-08-11 01:00 pmWhat do you get when you go into a Mexican bakery, where they speak English, and ask them - in Spanish - to write "Happy Birthday" in English?
I mean, besides confused.
You get this:
Which, if I remember my 1st grade Spanish, means "The Happy Complaining Eagles."
Wait.
I took French.
[Googling]
Ah. "Happy Birthday English!" I guess that does make more sense.
Or...
What do you get when you go into a Chinese bakery and ask them to write "Congratulations Ian!" in both English and Chinese?
You get some reeeally enthusiastic “Englrsh chunese”, that's what.
Hey, I'm actually starting to feel a bit better about U.S. bakeries! Maybe we're not the only wreckerators out there. Maybe there are places even worse off in the wreckage department!
Never mind. Feeling's gone.
Thanks to our wrecky ambassadors Chris L., Mary S., and Kendra P. for fostering international unity. In wrecks.
*****
P.S. Here's a (hilarious) reminder that English is almost as confusing as these cakes:
P Is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever
*****
And from my other blog, Epbot:
smartbitches_feed) wrote2025-08-11 06:00 amWelcome back to Cover Snark!
Amanda: Does she have to pee?
Claudia: Yes! Also, his left pant leg is missing?
Sarah: Why is the perspective weird? Their legs look so short and their heads are so large?
Okay taking another look, I think the angle of her hip looks too low.
So it looks like her legs are short and her midsection is bizarro long, and her head is sized correctly, just looks out of whack with the leg.
Sarah: So frame one is where her hips likely are, and frame two is where it looks like her hips are because of her leg position.
Elyse: That’s like the walk you do when your period gushed and you’re trying to get to the potty without spillage.
Sarah: COME ON. YOU’RE NOT EVEN TRYING.
Tara: This is so bad it might actually be…perfect?
Sarah: It reminds me so much of 2010s web design when folks were going for an 80s aesthetic updated.
Tara: It also feels like one of those “which mood are you?” memes. Yesterday I was a bottom right, but today I’m a bottom left.
Sarah: Oh my gosh you are RIGHT.
A continuation from last Snark’s Hanover Square romance:
From Susie: Do all these heroes in this series have a Leg Thing? I mean, no shame, but that last one is giving me pause. Like even that horse is offended.
Sarah: She’s not really on that horse, is she?
Elyse: The horse is like “WTF. Why am I involved in this?”
She is floating in the air next to that horse.
Amanda: Pall Mall like in the cigarettes?
Sarah: OH MY GOOD GOD HOLY HELL
Y’all are not going to believe this one.
LOOK at that fucking guy.
Elyse: How long is her upper leg? How is her knee attached? What in the orthopedic hell is happening here?
How. Just how.
Sarah: this is going to be a “trying to figure out how legs work’ cover snark
The outward curve of purple fabric near or at her hip is disorienting.
Elyse: Maybe she has backwards knees like the horse her sister is inexplicably floating next to it.
Sarah: All these folks have leg fetishes. Or specifically behind-the-knee fetishes.
Elyse: Has this artist not actually seen a human leg before?
Sarah: The over-the-shoulder, fondling the back of her knee cover is giving me SO MUCH ICK.
Kiki: Is she even conscious?!
Amanda: Well, I admire the consistency.
cakewrecks_feed) wrote2025-08-10 01:00 pmFor all you parents who think your kids have nothing but LEGO on the brain:
Found here, and made by Sweet on Cake
They do.
Or, ok, at least sometimes it seems that way. But really, who can blame them? And who can resist a cake made of LEGO that is actually cake?
By Cakes & Biscuits by Lisa, photo by Cracker's Art [more party pics at the link]
Part of me wants to play with that forklift. The other part wants a fork and a glass of milk.
The classic primary color bricks are still the most popular, of course:
But now there are also pretty pastels out from the new LEGO Friends line:
By Star Bakery
Not to mention those mini-figs sure have come a long way, am I right? I love the little shoes.
The most popular LEGO series, though - at least going by the amount of cakes I've seen for it - is Ninjago:
These little ninjas are EVERYWHERE. In fact, there's probably one behind you. You just can't see him, because he's a ninja. And also probably really small.
Then there are the LEGO video games, which have taught us that every beloved movie character is at least 43% cuter when LEGO-fied:
Na na na na na na na nanananaa...BATMAN!
By CakeCentral member natskys
You remember Luke, right? He's the guy who flew around in the Millennium Falcon...
Submitted by Mary Anne P., made by Cake Central member hvanaalst
...with that guy who found the Ark of the Covenant:
"Cakes. Why did it have to be cakes?"
:D
Here's a Sweet for a real LEGO wizard:
LEGO love isn't just for kids, though, and I have the wedding cakes to prove it!
By Mad Eliza's Cakes and Confections
Don't you love the brick borders? Such a fun touch!
Or for something a little less subtle and a lot more WOW:
WOW. Look at those details!
Now there's a wedding built on a firm foundation of fun, fondant, and... er... flowers. Love it.
Happy Sunday!
*****
P.S. Speaking of flowers, have you seen the ones made out of LEGO? 'Cuz they are SO COOL:
LEGO Flower Bouquet Building Kit
Such a sweet gift idea. I like how you have to do a double take to realize what they're made of!
*****
And from my other blog, Epbot:
smartbitches_feed) wrote2025-08-10 06:00 amThe latest bestseller list is brought to you by popsicles, portable fans, and our affiliate sales data.
I hope your weekend reading was super chill.
smartbitches_feed) wrote2025-08-09 08:00 am
Welcome back to Whatcha Reading! Here’s how we’re kicking off August:
Sarah: I’m reading Stone and Sky, ( A | BN | K | AB ) the new Peter Grant book in audio because Kobna Holdbrook-Smith’s narration is top-tier for me. And I’m reading The Seven O’Clock Club, ( A | BN | K | AB ) which is set within a grief therapy group
Amanda: I’m reading The Assassin and the Libertine ( A ) on Kindle, which reimagines the French Revolution with vampires. I like it so far, but it feels like a very slow read despite being average length. I also picked up King of Pride by Ana Huang. ( A | BN ) Really enjoyed book one in the Kings of Sin series. The hero of Pride is a prominent secondary character in book one and I was very interested for his story.
Lara: I’ve fallen head long into Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ). I’m currently on book 7 and savoring every second.
So, whatcha reading? Let us know in the comments!
smartbitches_feed) wrote2025-08-08 03:30 pm
RECOMMENDED: The Blacksmith Queen by G.A. Aiken is $3.99! (Or free with KU!) This was my one pick for hilarious reading in our Ready Set Go. I also gave this an A-. Seriously, it’s so much fun:
The Blacksmith Queen is a bloody, feminist romp that exudes girl power in all forms, and I’m envious of its fantasy girl squad.
When a prophesy brings war to the Land of the Black Hills, Keeley Smythe must join forces with a clan of mountain warriors who are really centaurs in a thrilling new fantasy romance series from New York Times bestselling author G.A. Aiken.
The Old King Is Dead
With the demise of the Old King, there’s a prophesy that a queen will ascend to the throne of the Black Hills. Bad news for the king’s sons, who are prepared to defend their birthright against all comers. But for blacksmith Keeley Smythe, war is great for business. Until it looks like the chosen queen will be Beatrix, her younger sister. Now it’s all Keeley can do to protect her family from the enraged royals.
Luckily, Keeley doesn’t have to fight alone. Because thundering to her aid comes a clan of kilt-wearing mountain warriors called the Amichai. Not the most socially adept group, but soldiers have never bothered Keeley, and rough, gruff Caid, actually seems to respect her. A good thing because the fierce warrior will be by her side for a much longer ride than any prophesy ever envisioned…
Love at First Book by Jenn McKinlay is $1.99! I’m only seeing the sale at Amazon, but hopefully it’ll be price-matched. The heroine is a librarian, who gets the opportunity to help her favorite author with writer’s block.
When a librarian moves to a quaint Irish village where her favorite novelist lives, the last thing she expects is to fall for the author’s prickly son… until their story becomes one for the books, from the New York Times bestselling author of Summer Reading.
Emily Allen, a librarian on Martha’s Vineyard, has always dreamed of a life of travel and adventure. So when her favorite author, Siobhan Riordan, offers her a job in the Emerald Isle, Emily jumps at the opportunity. After all, Siobhan’s novels got Em through some of the darkest days of her existence.
Helping Siobhan write the final book in her acclaimed series—after a ten-year hiatus due to a scorching case of writer’s block—is a dream come true for Emily. If only she didn’t have to deal with Siobhan’s son, Kieran Murphy. He manages Siobhan’s bookstore, and the grouchy bookworm clearly doesn’t want Em around.
When Siobhan’s health takes a bad turn, she’s more determined than ever to finish her novel, while Kieran tries every trick in the book to get his mother to rest. Thrown into the role of peacemaker, Emily begins to see that Kieran’s heart is in the right place. Torn between helping Siobhan find closure with her series and her own growing feelings for the mercurial Irishman, Emily will have to decide if she’s truly ready to turn a new page and figure out what lies in the next chapter.
The Groom List by Ella Quinn is $2.99! This one, as of right now, is also another Amazon-only discount. This is book three in The Worthington Brides historical romance series.
In a Season filled with surprises, the irrepressible Worthingtons welcome thrilling new love matches into their lively extended family . . .
Intelligent. Kind. Must like children. Passable looks. A man of means. Must make us laugh . . .
For Lady Alice Carpenter, these are some of the “musts” on the checklist for eligible bachelors compiled with her sisters as they husband-hunt among the ton. Yet when she encounters a striking nobleman on her morning ride in Hyde Park, Alice soon tallies another list of first impressions . . .
Shallow. Flirtatious. Without seriousness of purpose. Impossible to avoid . . .
Gifford, the Marquis of St. Albans, must wed in order to wrest his estate from his controlling father. How hard could it be to snag a suitable match? Waltzing with lovely Lady Alice at the Season’s whirl of balls and soirees however, defies Giff’s expectations: his dance moves are smooth but their small talk is excruciating—he offers up gossip sheet tidbits while she interrogates him on his charitable works—or lack thereof!
Charming. Amusing. Irresistible . . . A disastrous idea?
Alice is willing to entertain the possibility that there is more to the man than meets the eye—though what meets the eye is quite attractive. But when Giff’s true character is tested, she realizes it takes more than a list to reveal the heart of a worthy and honorable gentleman . . .
All the Kings Men bundle by Kennedy Ryan is $2.51 at Amazon and $2.99 elsewhere! This collects the first two book in the All the King’s Men series, which follows the same couple. There’s also a bonus epilogue.
From beloved, RITA-award-winning author Kennedy Ryan comes her gripping All the King’s Men duology.
The Kingmaker
In a world of haves and have-nots, Maxim Cade’s family and their oil empire have it all…and he wants nothing to do with it. At odds with his mogul father, he’s determined to build his own empire, even if it means traveling far from home, painted as the black sheep.
Lennix Hunter is the exception to every one of Maxim’s rules. At a protest for the oil pipeline that threatens to mar her ancestral land forever, they meet in a flurry of stars and sparks, and that one moment changes everything. But Maxim’s family is the one stealing from hers, and his father is the man she hates most. He has to lie in order to have her once, and despite the truth, he’ll do anything to keep her.
Even though Lennix tries to hate Maxim, too, their hearts are pointed in the same direction. The inexorable pull between them, across miles and years, will not be denied.
And neither will Maxim.
The Rebel King
Though surrender is what Maxim Cade demanded of Lennix Hunter’s body and heart, she had other plans. They were fast-burning fascination and combustible chemistry, the son of an oil baron and the Apache daughter at war with his family, but she trusted him, and he turned out to be a thief who stole her love.
Still, if what they had was a lie, why had it felt so real?
Now, the man she swore to hate is about to have it all, and he wants Lennix at his side. But when the two of them are forced to face the unthinkable, their rocky foundation is tested, as is the invisible thread that seems to wind their fates together. As they navigate a treacherous political landscape in their quest for justice, Maxim and Lennix soon learn that power is a game, and they are merely the pawns and players. Facing insurmountable odds, will they win the world, or will they lose it all?
cakewrecks_feed) wrote2025-08-08 01:00 pmThat's right, folks: the day you've been waiting for is finally here. All those hours of planning, long nights of anticipation, and stockpiling of Lactaid pills will finally pay off, because today...is Cheesecake Wreck Day.
Now, I know what you're thinking. "Jem," you're thinking - because you frequently get me mixed up with the 80s cartoon rocker - "Jem, how is it even possible to Wreck a cheese cake?"
Why, like this, my adorably confused reader:
[singing] "This-is-how-we-do-it!"
Aww, I see this was taken on my birthday, Mike & Angie. Well, thanks for the thought and all, but that drippy brown splotch has just reminded me: I...uh...don't eat drippy brown splotches. Sorry.
So that's a traditional cheesecake Wreck, but what if I told you it gets even Wreckier?
Yes, my dear Wreckies, I'm afraid it's true: that is a "cake" made entirely of cheese. And not a sweet cream cheese, either - oh no. I'm talkin' the stuff that gets described with words like "sharp," "green veining," and "stinky feet." And it's a wedding cake.
I wish I could say this is a one-time fluke, but unfortunately wedding cheese "cakes" are a growing trend. They're not in addition to the traditional cake, either; they're in place of it. Meaning there is no actual wedding cake at these weddings - just cheese. Cheese! As if that's an acceptable substitute!
What happened to the time-tested wedding arrangement? You know, the one where we bring expensive linens, crystal, and espresso-makers in exchange for a free meal, a little boozy dancing, and a slice of gorgeously decorated, oh-so-scrumptious cake?
Frankly, it only adds insult to injury when someone tries to "pretty" these things up, too:
Fake flowers and ribbon pinned (yes, pinned) into cheese wheels does not an elegant "cake" make.
Still, nothing's as bad as combining cake, cheese, and a pork pie all into a single display:
The question is, can you tell which layer is which?
Cass J., Anony M., Stella P., & Second Anony., I Camembert it; all the Gouda puns Havarti been used!
*****
P.S. If you also enjoy cheesy puns, then BRIE-HOLD!
"Sweet Dreams Are Made Of Cheese" Shirt
::wipes away tear:: It's just so beautiful.
Also it comes in more colors at the link, but I think purple is prettiest. :)
******
And from my other blog, Epbot:
smartbitches_feed) wrote2025-08-08 06:00 am
We’re back!
Amanda picked this month’s issue and so we are journeying back to July 2016!
We tackle vague reviews that tell us no things.
I try to coin a new portmanteau!
We come up with the most unhinged romance bingo squares ever – tell us if we should use them!
We have some plot summaries that are a RIDE, folks.
Hop into our newly refurbished time machine – we needed a bigger drinks fridge – and let’s look at the July 2016 new releases!
…
Inspired by other Patreon folks, including Chris DeRosa at Fixing Famous People, I’ve made some of the Patreon content free so you can sample what we’ve got.
This collection of special previews is available now to all listeners, and there’s a link in the show notes to dive in. And if you like our free samples, join us in the Patreon community where there’s bonus content and more.
Listen to the podcast →
We also mentioned this fabulous Google images result for Alice Clayton.
And here are the two covers we talk about – which do you like better?
Music: purple-planet.com
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Thanks for listening!
