The Smut Plug

Our post-apocalyptic wish finally arrived this week (sort of). Mercury Striking by Rebecca Zanetti is a dystopian romance that promises spice at the end of the world, but we’ll see if it survives its own plot.

📖 This Week’s Book: Mercury Striking by Rebecca Zanetti

💞 Tropes: MF, post-apocalyptic, military romance, forced proximity

⚠️ Triggers: Death, violence, kidnapping, pandemic

🔖 Episode Chapters

• 00:00:00 - Catching Up and Introducing Mercury Striking

• 00:07:00 - Book Ratings and Review

• 00:24:45 - Deep Dive: Mercury Striking

• 01:01:35 - Final Thoughts and Next Week’s Book

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A spooky season reverse harem where the men watch a little too closely? Fall For Us by Samantha Bee sounds tailor-made for us, so grab your candy bucket and find out whether this one's a trick or a treat.

📖 This Week’s Book: Fall for Us by Samantha Bee

💞 Tropes: MMMF, reverse harem, stalker romance, multi-POV

⚠️ Triggers: Stalking, murder, noncon, dubcon, drugging

🔖 Episode Chapters

• 00:00:00 - Catching Up and Introducing Fall for Us

• 00:09:55 - Book Ratings and Review

• 00:24:59 - Deep Dive: Fall for Us

• 01:05:40 - Final Thoughts and Next Week’s Book

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Sports romance? Check. Historical romance? Check. Queer romance? Check, check, check. This week's pick is doing everything at once and somehow still manages to keep it under 400 pages. We love.

Come with us on a time machine straight to the 1960s with You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian and two of the sweetest green flags we've read all year.

📖 This Week’s Book: You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian

💞 Tropes: MM, sports romance, historical romance

⚠️ Triggers: Death (off page), grief

🔖 Episode Chapters

• 00:00:00 - Catching Up and Introducing You Should Be So Lucky

• 00:06:00 - Book Ratings and Review

• 00:19:45 - Deep Dive: You Should Be So Lucky

• 00:51:20 - Final Thoughts and Next Week’s Book

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This week BookTok finally got to us and we picked up Kiss of the Basilisk by Lindsay Straube. Is it actually that good or did we just get played by the algorithm? We discuss: whether gold teeth are hot, the exact rules for when it's fine to hook up with someone's dad, and if there's a ceiling on how much smut one book should hold (there is). Come lose your mind with us.

📖 This Week’s Book: Kiss of the Basilisk by Lindsay Straube

💞 Tropes: MFM, romantasy, dark romance

⚠️ Triggers: Sexual assault, torture, violence

🔖 Episode Chapters

• 00:00:00 - Catching Up and Introducing Kiss of the Basilisk

• 00:14:57 - Book Ratings and Review

• 00:32:35 - Deep Dive: Kiss of the Basilisk

• 01:25:55 - Final Thoughts and Next Week’s Book

⭐Enjoyed the episode? Here's how to support the show:

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Swordheart by T. Kingfisher had us TALKING. We debate what romantasy really means, spiral into the intricacies of borrowing against your mortgage, and get real serious about the legality of marrying a sword…who is also a man. It’s fine. 

📖 This Week’s Book: Swordheart by T. Kingfisher

💞 Tropes: MF, romantasy, found family, grumpy/sunshine

⚠️ Triggers: Discussion of past abuse, attempted assault, violence

🔖 Episode Chapters

• 00:00:00 - Catching Up and Introducing Swordheart

• 00:08:30 - Book Ratings and Review

• 00:23:10 - Deep Dive: Swordheart

• 01:05:57 - Final Thoughts and Next Week’s Book

⭐Enjoyed the episode? Here's how to support the show:

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We are fully in our single dad appreciation era. Join us for the coziest of autumn reads (we know, it's still summer, but we are preparing) as we dig into Julie Olivia's If It Makes You Happy. This one's got it all: friends to lovers, opposites attract, slow burn, and major 90s nostalgia.

📖 This Week’s Book: If It Makes You Happy by Julie Olivia

💞 Tropes: MF, small town romance, slow burn, single dad, dual POV

⚠️ Triggers: death of a parent (off page), grief, emotional abuse

🔖 Episode Chapters

• 00:00:00 - Catching Up and Introducing If It Makes You Happy

• 00:07:13 - Book Ratings and Review

• 00:16:45 - Deep Dive: If It Makes You Happy

• 01:08:55 - Final Thoughts and Next Week’s Book

⭐Enjoyed the episode? Here's how to support the show:

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We're searching for our ideal BDSM book, and we cracked open an MM age gap romance to see if can deliver everything we need. For Real by Alexis Hall promises kink, tenderness, and a hookup that turns into something more. Does it finally scratch the itch or leave us thirstier than ever? 

📖 This Week’s Book: For Real by Alexis Hall

💞 Tropes: MM, BDSM, age gap, dual POV

⚠️ Triggers: loss of a grandparent

🔖 Episode Chapters

• 00:00:00 - Catching Up and Introducing For Real

• 00:13:15 - Book Ratings and Review

• 00:29:40 - Deep Dive: For Real

• 01:15:04 - Final Thoughts, Predictions, and Next Week’s Book

⭐Enjoyed the episode? Here's how to support the show:

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Still on the hunt for the perfect FF romance, and this week we're going down under to look for it (see what we did there). Ribbonwood by Ruby Landers is a small town romance that alleges to be enemies to lovers, but we'll be the judge of that.

📖 This Week’s Book: Ribbonwood by Ruby Landers

💞 Tropes: FF, enemies to lovers, small town romance

⚠️ Triggers: grooming and abuse (past), death, PTSD

🔖 Episode Chapters

• 00:00:00 - Catching Up and Introducing Ribbonwood

• 00:06:54 - Book Ratings and Review

• 00:21:25 - Deep Dive: Ribbonwood

• 01:09:13 - Final Thoughts, Predictions, and Next Week’s Book

⭐Enjoyed the episode? Here's how to support the show:

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We had high, high hopes for Harvest Season off the back of book one in Brynne Weaver's Season of Carnage series. But did it deliver, or should this have been a duology? Death, destruction, and mayhem are guaranteed.

📖 This Week’s Book: Harvest Season by Brynne Weaver

💞 Tropes: MF, serial killer romance, small town romance

⚠️ Triggers: Many, including: murder, gore, torture, dementia/Alzheimer's. Highly recommend reading the full trigger warnings.

🔖 Episode Chapters

• 00:00:00 - Catching Up and Introducing Harvest Season

• 00:09:10 - Book Ratings and Review

• 00:21:47 - Deep Dive: Harvest Season

• 01:13:56 - Final Thoughts, Predictions, and Next Week’s Book

⭐Enjoyed the episode? Here's how to support the show:

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How about: We're back, and we brought serial killers. This week it's Tourist Season by Brynne Weaver. We're talking pet woodchippers, crotch rocket races, Halloweentown vibes, and ball meat (IYKYK). We're hot, we're bloody, let's go.

📖 This Week’s Book: Tourist Season by Brynne Weaver

💞 Tropes: MF, enemies to lovers/revenge, serial killer romance, small town romance

⚠️ Triggers: Many, including: murder, gore, torture, dementia/Alzheimer's. Highly recommend to read the full trigger warnings.

🔖 Episode Chapters

• 00:00:00 - Catching Up and Introducing Tourist Season

• 00:22:23 - Book Ratings and Review

• 00:25:13 - Deep Dive: Tourist Season

• 01:15:48 - Final Thoughts, Predictions, and Next Week’s Book

⭐Enjoyed the episode? Here's how to support the show:

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