Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast

We’re back in the time machine, heading back to December 2012 to see what new books were reviewed in Romantic Times magazine.

We’ve got “multicultural” books, beefy paragraphs, big thorns, Schroedinger’s baby, and “charming vulgar nonsense.” Plus, we ask a very important question: if you were suddenly the heroine of an Inspirational romance, how would you know?

TW/CW for the erotica section at the end. It was a time, y’all.

If you want to watch this episode with images of the covers and Amanda and I cracking up a lot, head over to our YouTube page.

We also mentioned:

• SNL: Dylan McDermott or Durmot Mulroney?
• Goodreads: The Folly of the World review

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Support for this episode comes from Labyrinthine by CJ Holmes, a dark, myth-inspired romantasy—where love is dangerous, desire is a risk, and monsters don’t always look like monsters.

Princess Azhara was born cursed. Marked by ancient magic. Promised in an unholy bargain sealed in blood, she is the prize. When the Reaping begins, suitors will descend into the labyrinth beneath the palace—each one fighting to win her hand or die trying.

A “beautifully woven tale of love, magic, and sacrifice,” Labyrinthine is available now in paperback, ebook, and audio, wherever books are sold. Learn more at CJHolmesWriting.com, or check the link in the show notes to find your copy today!

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This episode is brought to you by Ophelia — an original audio drama, inspired by Hamlet, where Ophelia finally gets to be the main character.

Forbidden magic, a crumbling kingdom, a slow-burn love triangle with a prince and his very guarded, very intriguing, best friend. The kind of love triangle where you will absolutely pick a side and you will not be quiet about it. Learn more at Hatch.co/ophelia

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Nalini Singh is back to talk about Archangel’s Eternity, which I have been calling “Archangel’s Finale.”

We’ve got questions from readers and listeners, and some behind the scenes details about how Nalini organizes the massive worlds she’s built in her series.

Plus she teases some major surprises for the next Psy-Changeling book, and what she’s working on right now.

You can find the video of this episode on our YouTube channel if you’d like to watch us!

You can find Nalini Singh at her website, NaliniSingh.com, and on Instagram and Facebook as AuthorNaliniSingh.

Do not miss the chance to sign up for her newsletter!

We also mentioned:

• Nalini’s virtual event with the Ashland Public Library on Wednesday, June 10!
• The next Psy-Changeling book is Cold Redemption, coming out in December 1, 2026.
• Nalini’s prior episodes:
• 676. Exploring Atonement Sky with Nalini Singh
• 489. Archangel’s Light with Nalini Singh
• 409. Alpha Night and Alpha Women With Nalini Singh
• 361. Playing Verbal Poker with Nalini Singh
• 356. Our Book Club Discussion of Rebel Hard by Nalini Singh
• 24. An Interview with Nalini Singh

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Support for this episode comes from The Undergrads: Student Union by #1 New York Times-bestselling author Julie Murphy–a sexy new rom com about a college marriage of convenience that goes way beyond chemistry 101. Ali Hazelwood calls The Undergrads: Student Union “one addictively swoony book.” Available now wherever books are sold!

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This episode is brought to you by Hatch, producers of Ophelia, an original audio drama, inspired by Hamlet, where Ophelia finally gets to be the main character. Book one of the three part series is now available for free wherever you stream, with new chapters dropping every Tuesday. For books 2 and 3, check out hatch.co/Ophelia.

Stay tuned to the end of the episode for a sample of Ophelia, brought to you by Hatch.co! 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Programming note: this week's episode is dropping on 30 April 2026. Smart Bitches Trashy Books, LLC, is withdrawing our labor on May 1, 2026, alongside other companies, school districts, and activists as part of the May Day Nationwide Day of Collective Action. For more information, visit MayDayStrong.org.

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Ilana Masad and Stevie K. Seibert Desjarlais are the editors of a new and excellent anthology called Here for All The Reasons: Why We Watch the Bachelor.

The essays inside are incredible, and provide deep and incisive critique of The Bachelor franchise from people who love, or used to love it deeply. Some of the topics blew my mind. I was so excited to talk to Ilana and Stevie about their work, and we happened to record just as the latest season of The Bachelorette was cancelled, so we talk about that as well.

If you like deep examinations of pop culture and of properties typically dismissed as meaningless fluff – hello, yes, I do! – you’ll have fun with us today.

We’re going to talk about conservative fantasy, polyamory, grad school, changing portrayals of masculinity in reality tv, media literacy and so much more.

As I say during our conversation, I think the best critiques of things come from people who are fans.

TW/CW: At about 50 minutes into the interview, we discuss allegations of domestic violence from Taylor Frankie Paul, and at 1 hour and 20 minutes, we discuss the loss of their friend Dr. Katie McWain, to whom the book is dedicated.

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You can find Ilana Masad at her website, IlanaMasad.com. She’s on Bluesky @IlanaSlightly, and on Instagram @Ilanaslightlyignorant.

You can read Ilana’s article, “How ‘The Bachelor’ Franchise Celebrates Polyamory” from the March 2018 issue of Playboy via the Web Archive. 

Stevie’s work can be found at The Quarterly Review of Film and Television, The Journal of Pedagogy, The Journal of Popular Film and Television, and The Popular Culture Studies Journal. 

You can read “From Nobody to Nurturing: Skeptical Action Heroes Seek (and Find) Different Masculinity” online in the Popular Culture Studies Journal, Vol. 13, Issue 2 (PDF)

We also discussed:

• “Media Literacy and Education in Finland” – Finland Toolbox
• The Finnish National Curriculum on Media Literacy: A Global Model for Education
• “Geriaction” 
• The Call Your Coven podcast
• “Under the Mormon Influence: How the women of Utah blogged and posted their way into American hearts and Wallets” by Bridget Read, 9 Feb. 2026 – The Cut (Paywalled)

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This episode is brought to you by Hatch.

You know how you finish a romantasy and you just need the next thing immediately? Hatch made that thing.

It’s called Ophelia — an original audio drama, inspired by Hamlet, where Ophelia finally gets to be the main character.

Forbidden magic, a crumbling kingdom, a slow-burn love triangle with a prince and his very guarded, very intriguing, best friend. The kind of love triangle where you will absolutely pick a side and you will not be quiet about it.

Book one of the three part series is now available for free wherever you stream, with new chapters dropping every Tuesday. For books 2 and 3, check out hatch.co/Ophelia.

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Music: Purple-planet.com

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Thanks for Geoffroy in the podcast Patreon (merci, Geoffrey!) my guest this week is Claire Trottier, owner of Joie de Livres, a romance and speculative fiction bookshop in Montreal, Canada. Hi Neighbors!

We’re going to talk about:

• Opening a romance and speculative fiction book store
• Wealth disparity!
• Seeing the world premiere of episode 1 of Heated Rivalry at the Image+National queer film festival in Montreal
• The effect of Heated Rivalry on Joie de Livres

Then we trade book recs and you get the scoop on the big event happening at Joie de Livres this September.

You can find Joie de Livres at their website, and on Instagram @joie.de.libres.mtl!

Claire Trottier is on IG as @docreads and @clairetrottier_.

We also mentioned:

• Patriotic Millionaires Canada
• Patriotic Millionaires US
• Resource Generation
• Resource Movement
• Bookclub Bar, NY 
• Image+Nation Film Festival 

Music: puple-planet.com

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When you subscribed to this podcast, I bet you thought, “When is Sarah going to interview an expert on theoretical physics ?” Today is your day!

My guest is Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein author of the book The Edge of Space-Time: Particles, Poetry, and the Cosmic Dream Boogie.

And if you’re thinking, I was really bad at physics – don’t worry, so was I. I found this book to be both incredibly engaging and just the right amount of challenging. Dr. Prescod-Weinstein is going to explain space-time, and how theoretical physics, Black feminist theory, Robert Frost, and the cosmos are all connected.

If you held your breath during the liftoff of Artemis II, and were crying when they splashed down safety, not to worry – so was I. I was extremely excited to interview Dr. Prescod-Weinstein, and the timing is perfect. We are in good hands.

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Support for this episode comes from The Awkward Agenda by Beth Morton, an open-door romance featuring friends-to-lovers, found family, and pirate cosplay, available now digitally in Kindle Unlimited, and in print from retailers everywhere. 

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You can find Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein’s

• Personal website: http://chanda.science
• Newsletter: http://news.chanda.science
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chanda.prescod.weinstein/
• Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/chanda.bsky.social

You can find the abstract for her work, “The Cosmos is a Black Aesthetic” at Duke University Press.

We also mentioned NASA’s image collection. 

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Music: purple-planet.com

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My guest this week is podcast community favorite Alisha Rai! We start off catching up on our history of podcasting together, our life changes, and the challenges of making children wear coats.

Then it’s enemies to lovers time! Her new book, Enemies to Lovers is out now, and we both brought the good trowels. We dig into the trope to examine how it works, what the essential elements are, and what can easily go wrong. Along the way we touch on:

• How much we miss buddy road trip comedies
• The weight of being an elder daughter
• And her perspective on the threat of AI to authors

Video is available on our YouTube channel!

Special thanks to the sponsor for this episode: Sotto Voce Scents! Listeners get 15% off with code SMART15!

Sotto Voce Scents creates candles inspired by romance novels, like their bestsellers, "Scoundrelwood" and "Rosemary Me." Look for "Only One Bed" and the "Grumpy/Sunshine" duo coming this spring!

Music: purple-planet.com

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You’ve been hearing me talk about this book for awhile, and I am so excited to share with you my conversation with Fortesa Latifi, author of Like, Follow, Subscribe: The Cost of a Childhood Online. Her research into family vloggers and influencers is superb and I’m still thinking about some of the revelations in this book.

We discuss the origins of influencing and family vlogging, the benefits and the harms that arise from becoming popular, and the emotional, financial, social, and personal costs of that relative fame.

CW/TW: this podcast episode contains discussions of child abuse, exploitation, sexual harassment, and pedophilia. Listener discretion is advised.

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We are back in the time machine, heading to July 2000 to check out the Ads & Features from Romantic Times Magazine!

We’re going to talk about Geocities websites, author research, and Hands.

Lots of Hands.

This one is a little spicy, y’all! At about 45 minutes in there’s an extended discussion of anal in romance fiction (as you do) and at about 50 minutes in, we discuss death, mortuary science, and make some allusions to decomposition.

That’s right. Dead bodies and anal sex. This episode is a banger.

Don't miss the visual aids!

Or, watch the show on YouTube!

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Riss M. Neilson joins me today to talk about her new romance, The Bridge Back to You. This is a second chance love story between two exes who unexpectedly inherit shares of the same restaurant – the restaurant that he runs, and that she kind of ran away from.

There is so much to discuss in this book: we talk about characters with chronic illnesses like endometriosis, or mental illnesses like OCD. We talk about the astrology of her characters and what insights she can gain from their charts, and then, she gives us a list of restaurants to try if we’re ever in Providence, Rhode Island. And Riss even expands my theory about which foods are the universal expression of human love.

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Support for this episode comes from Savage Bonds by EV Mitchell, a gritty, paranormal slow-burn body-positive romance with lots of spice, some knotting, and shared psychic sexytimes. Savage Bonds is available now in Kindle Unlimited, or in print from the author's website or your local library!

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We're back in the time machine, heading to July 2000 - for real this time - to check out the reviews in this issue of Romantic Times magazine!

We’ve got anthologies, Carpathians, and several books where we’re pretty sure the happy ending is to throw the entire man away. We also debate who is possessed by demons because it’s a valid question for several of the books we talk about. 

A mild warning that when we discuss Mystery & Thriller there is a truly gross plot. It’s a doozy. 

And you can watch this one on YouTube if you like!

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