Hide Your Wallet: November 11th Release Week
Nov. 11th, 2025 08:00 am
Happy Tuesday!
A few big books are coming out this week that are probably on many of the Bitchery’s radar. There’s also a romance with an older couple and as always, more dark and fantasy romances.
Which releases are you excited for? Let us know in the comments!
An Academic Affair
Author: Jodi McAlister
Released: November 11, 2025 by Atria Books
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance
From the “masterly” (The New York Times) Jodi McAlister, a charming new romance about two English professors who embark on a fake relationship…only to discover that it may be harder to pretend than they realized.
Sadie Shaw and Jonah Fisher have been academic rivals since they first crossed paths as undergraduates in the literature department thirteen years ago. Now that a highly coveted teaching opportunity has come up, their rivalry hits epic proportions. Jonah needs the job to move closer to his recently divorced sister and her children, while Sadie needs the financial security and freedom of a full-time teaching position.
When Sadie notices that the job offers partner hire, however, she hatches a plot to get them both the job. All they must do is get legally married. It’s a simple win-win solution but when sparks begin to fly, it becomes clear that despite their education, these two may not have thought this whole thing through.
Perfect for fans of Ali Hazelwood and Abby Jimenez, An Academic Affair pairs Jodi McAlister’s “smart, scorching, and emotionally resonant” (Freya Marske, author of A Restless Truth) writing and academic background to prove that she’s one of the smartest rom-com writers working today.
Shana: McAlister is a new auto buy author for me since I was obsessed with her Marry Me Juliet series.
Lara: I absolutely adored this book. Full review incoming.
Between Two Kings
Author: Lindsay Straube
Released: November 11, 2025 by Bloom Books
Genre: Erotica/Erotic Romance, Fantasy/Fairy Tale Romance, Romance
Series: Spit or Swallow #2
From internet sensation and USA Today bestseller Lindsay Straube comes the second book in the sexy, biting Split or Swallow series, featuring dangerous basilisks, competitive seduction, and a love triangle that could destroy kingdoms.
Tem never thought she’d fall in love.
But now she’s caught between the Serpent King and the newly crowned human king…
And the war that is brewing between the basilisks and the humans.
Tem led a simple life on the family chicken farm, but now, her eyes had been opened—to love, to lust, to the pull of power, gold, obligation, and the violence of greed and war.
When Tem embraced her basilisk half and crested Leo, she thought she’d set him free. Though it nearly broke her, now he could find his first love again, and she could be happy with Caspen.
But love is complicated. As much as Tem embraces her serpent side, rules and loopholes keep her beholden to Leo…despite her marriage to Caspen.
And as it becomes clearer that her decision may not be so simple, their desire continues to smolder…and if one tinder flickers into flame, it could set the entire kingdom on fire.
The highly anticipated continuation of the Spit or Swallow series.
Brigands and Breadknives
Author: Travis Baldree
Released: November 11, 2025 by Tor Books
Genre: LGBTQIA, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: Legends and Lattes #2
Return to the cozy fantasy world of the #1 New York Times bestselling Legends & Lattes series with a new adventure featuring fan-favorite, foul-mouthed bookseller, Fern.
Fern has weathered the stillness and storms of a bookseller’s life for decades, but now, in the face of crippling ennui, transplants herself to the city of Thune to hang out her shingle beside a long-absent friend’s coffee shop. What could be a better pairing? Surely a charming renovation montage will cure what ails her!
If only things were so simple…
It turns out that fixing your life isn’t a one-time prospect, nor as easy as a change of scenery and a lick of paint.
A drunken and desperate night sees the rattkin waking far from home in the company of a legendary warrior surviving on inertia, an imprisoned chaos-goblin with a fondness for silverware, and an absolutely thumping hangover.
As together they fend off a rogue’s gallery of ne’er-do-wells trying to claim the bounty the goblin represents, Fern may finally reconnect with the person she actually is when there isn’t a job to get in the way.
Baldree is back with another cozy fantasy adventure.
Right on Time
Author: Bryckk Wilkes-DuBois
Released: November 11, 2025
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Novella, Romance
Series: Sensual Silvers #1
The Love Was Always There.
The Timing Was Never Right.
Until Now…
Sweet Nora Clayton has always put others’ needs first before her own. Because of this, Nora stayed in an unhappy marriage for the sake of her daughter. Now an empty-nester and at the ripe age of fifty, Nora is now divorced from her husband after putting up with his cheating for years. Nora wants to live the rest of her life in peace and is resigned to never fall in love again. What Nora doesn’t count on is the sexy CEO of the company she works for setting his sights on her.
Thaddeus “Thad” Sanborn, President and CEO of one of the most successful communications companies in the country has reached the pinnacle of his career. There’s no business deal he can’t close. No offer has ever been rejected and there have never been any terms he couldn’t negotiate. He’s stayed on top of the game while raising three sons on his own. Thad is handsome, rich, successful and has been voted one of the most eligible bachelors over the age of fifty in Savannah. So, why is getting his Vice President’s executive assistant to notice him so damn hard?
The attraction between Thad and Nora has always been present but dismissed due to company rules against fraternizing. So, what happens when these two travel together to the beautiful island of Maui to close a multi-million-dollar deal?
Things heat up, of course! For Thad, the decision is simple; he wants Nora in his life. But for Nora, who is still healing from her divorce, it’s not quite that simple. Ultimately, she must decide which she wants to her career or the love of a lifetime?
RIGHT ON TIME is a novella featuring an interracial romance between an MMC and FMC fifty years of age and older. This spicy little, short story is the perfect little intro to the SENSUAL SILVERS series featuring “smut for your mama” with main characters who find the love later in life. This series will bring all types of heat and sensual scenes without all the ‘heavy lifting’ topics associated with growing older.
Because life, love, and good sex doesn’t end at fifty! It just gets better!
Shana: Hello, it’s a novella with a couple over 50.
The Seventh Champion
Author: Sylvia Mercedes
Released: November 11, 2025 by Ace
Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale Romance, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: The Dragon Queen Duology #1
A dragon princess joins forces with a scarred prince to escape a competition for her hand in marriage, unaware he is hiding dark secrets of his own in the first of a new romantasy duology from the author of Bride of the Shadow King.
Swept from her quiet life as an apothecary’s apprentice to the treacherous court of the High King, Rosie Harpwood is shocked to discover she is the long-lost daughter of the demonic Dragon Queen. Reawakening her dormant magic is the kingdom’s only hope for salvation, but the journey is perilous, and she’ll need a champion to guide her. So the High King hosts a series of trials to determine which prince is worthy of the honor — as well as claiming Rosie’s hand in marriage.
Rosie, however, has other ideas.
A talented healer and lover of small, fluffy creatures, Rosie wants nothing to do with demon queens or saving the world. Determined to escape this fate, she joins forces with one of the champions to plot her getaway. Prince Valtar may be enigmatic and a little bit terrifying, but something about him makes her blood burn in ways that have nothing to do with her dragon heritage.
Trained from youth to serve the Dragon Queen, Valtar has proven himself a ruthless assassin. Posing as a suitor to get close enough to his target shouldn’t be a problem. But Valtar wasn’t planning on his target being Rosie, the girl he failed to assassinate years ago . . . who has haunted his dreams ever since.
Elyse: I enjoyed her Shadow King series.
Turns of Fate
Author: Anne Bishop
Released: November 11, 2025 by Ace
Genre: Mystery/Thriller, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy
Series: Isle of Wyrd #1
A young detective investigating crimes of the uncanny will learn that bargains can change your fate—for good or ill—in this darkly enthralling fantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of the Others and the Black Jewels series.
Words have power. Intentions matter.
Most people come to Destiny Park for entertainment. They come to have their cards read to tell them a bit about their future. They come to walk through a beautiful park and to eat at the hotel’s restaurant. They come in the hope of catching a glimpse of the Arcana, the paranormal beings who rule the Isle of Wyrd.
But some people come to make a bargain with the Arcana—to change their fate. And some people come for dark purposes.
When Detective Beth Fahey is sent to Destiny Park to inquire about a “ghost gun,” she will begin a strange journey on which she must learn to navigate the Arcana’s unforgiving laws and dangerous attractions. Her search will draw her into seemingly impossible cases and the secrets of her own past as tensions rise between the Arcana and their human neighbors across the river.
For the Isle of Wyrd is a place where the dead ride trains to their final destinations, predators literally become prey, and seekers’ true natures are revealed in the ripples of destiny unknowingly stirred in their wakes.
Who will live? Who will die? And who will be lost in between?
Amanda: New series by Anne Bishop!
Your Knife, My Heart
Author: K.M. Moronova
Released: November 11, 2025
Genre: Military, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: Dark Forces #1
From USA Today Bestselling author KM Moronova comes a brand-new compelling and addictive dark romance in her Dark Forces world.
Dark. Deadly. Irresistible.
Cameron Mortem has a problem—he can’t stop killing his partners. Officially labeled clinically insane, he’s also one of the most lethal assets in the Dark Forces, a brutal underground military operation built on obedience, survival, and silence. But an experimental drug has fractured his control, making him a liability whenever someone else is on the field. As punishment, he’s thrown back into the Under Trials—a merciless boot camp designed to break the weak and sharpen the ruthless.
His one directive? Don’t kill the new girl.
Emery Maves narrowly escapes a death sentence after her own brutal crimes, only to find herself forced into the same violent world. Assigned to Cameron, she’s expected to survive the Trials and her partner’s unstable nature. But Emery quickly realizes there’s more to Cameron than bloodlust and body counts. Beneath the madness lies a terrifying allure—and a strange, dangerous tenderness.
As the Trials push them to their limits, Emery must navigate the brutal demands of the Dark Forces while resisting the pull of a man who could just as easily kill her as protect her. And Cameron must fight the one urge he’s never been able to overcome.
Their bond is intoxicating, chaotic, and born of violence. And if it doesn’t destroy them both, it might just save them.
Amanda: The marketing campaign got me, especially since I’ve been on a dark romance kick lately.
The Nameless Land by Kate Elliott
Nov. 11th, 2025 12:05 amBook Poll
Nov. 10th, 2025 10:36 amWhich of these books would you most like to see reviewed?
Red Rising, by Pierce Brown. SF dystopia much beloved by many dudes.
13 (12.1%)
Lone Women, by Victor LaValle. Fantastic cross-genre western/historical/horror/fantasy.
28 (26.2%)
The Lout of Count's Family, by Yu Ryeo-Han. Korean isekai novel.
15 (14.0%)
The Haar, by David Sodergren. Cozy/gory/sweet horror about an old Scottish woman and a sea monster.
24 (22.4%)
The Everlasting, by Alix Harrow. Very unusual Arthurian AU time-travel fantasy.
44 (41.1%)
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, by Stephen Graham Jones. Fantastic historical horror about a Blackfeet vampire.
31 (29.0%)
Best of all Worlds, by Kenneth Oppel. Another absolutely terrible children's survival book, what the hell.
16 (15.0%)
The Age of Miracles, by Karen Thompson Walker. Coming of age at the end of the world; Ray Bradbury vibes but girl-centric.
14 (13.1%)
Surviving the Extremes, by Kenneth Kamler. A doctor for people in extreme climates/situations analyzes their effects on the body.
27 (25.2%)
When the Angels Left the Old Country, by Sacha Lamb. A Jewish demon and angel leave the old country; excellent voice, very Jewish.
41 (38.3%)
An Immense World, by Ed Yong. Outstanding nonfiction about how animals sense the world.
39 (36.4%)
Combat Surgeon: On Iwo Jima with the 27th Marines, by James Vedder. What it says on the box.
10 (9.3%)
Slewfoot, by Brom. Illustrated historical dark fantasy set in early American colonization.
6 (5.6%)
Animals, by Geoff Ryman. Animal zombie horror, at once deeply sad and utterly bonkers.
18 (16.8%)
Anyone read any of these?
Holly Black, Hockey Romance, & More
Nov. 10th, 2025 04:30 pmEveryone I Kissed Since You Got Famous
Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous by Mae Marvel is $2.99! Marvel is the writing duo of Ruthie Knox and her wife, Annie Mare. This book was mentioned in Hide Your Wallet and Dahlia’s queer romance round-up..
An actress home for the holidays makes a bet with her former best friend-turned-online sensation.
Katie Price is known in every living room in America. A small-town Wisconsin girl who became an A-list star, she rarely makes it home, but this year is different… Little does she know it will lead her straight into the piercing blue-eyed gaze of Wil Greene.
A lot has happened in the decade since those cold Wisconsin nights when Wil and Katie drove around in Wil’s Bronco senior year. Since then, Wil’s law career hasn’t taken off. Her father passed away. And what started as a personal challenge―kissing a new person twice a week, every week―has made her a growing sensation, but her life is still stuck in phase one. Through the years, the two have never left each other’s thoughts and desires, but now suddenly, they are back in each others’ lives. Their reconnection is instantaneous and the passion is palpable… but can it stand the test of time?
Witty, emotional, and steamy, Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous is an unforgettable romantic read for everyone who almost kissed their best friend. And then finally did.
The Ten Thousand Doors of January
RECOMMENDED: The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow is $2.99! I read this one and gave it a B+:
If you’re in the mood for a lovely, tender fantasy novel about belonging and one that feels more like a long, relaxing bath than a hot, intense shower will all of the fancy pressure and pulsating settings you can imagine, you’ll love this one. It’s a soothing pick for when you hope to take comfort in a book
In the early 1900s, a young woman searches for her place in the world after finding a mysterious book in this captivating and lyrical debut.
In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place.
Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.
The Cruel Prince
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black is $2.99! This is book one in The Folk of the Air series. This is a pretty popular series, though I haven’t gotten around to reading it. Is it more new adult or young adult in content?
Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.
And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.
Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.
In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.
Rookie Move
Rookie Move by Sarina Bowen is $1.99! This is book one in the Brooklyn Bruisers series about a hockey team. Both Elyse and I have enjoyed books in this series. Readers loved the second chance romance in this book, but found the pacing in the first half a bit slow.
The first novel in a sexy new series featuring the hockey players of the Brooklyn Bruisers and the women who win their hearts—from the USA Today bestselling author of the Ivy Years series.
In high school they were the perfect couple—until the day Georgia left Leo in the cold…
Hockey player Leo Trevi has spent the last six years trying to do two things: get over the girl who broke his heart, and succeed in the NHL. But on the first day he’s called up to the newly franchised Brooklyn Bruisers, Leo gets checked on both sides, first by the team’s coach—who has a long simmering grudge, and then by the Bruisers’ sexy, icy publicist—his former girlfriend Georgia Worthington.
Saying goodbye to Leo was one of the hardest things Georgia ever had to do—and saying hello again isn’t much easier. Georgia is determined to keep their relationship strictly professional, but when a press conference microphone catches Leo declaring his feelings for her, things get really personal, really fast….
Sick, probably. Will get back in a week or two.
Nov. 10th, 2025 08:28 am
ALTSick, probably. Will get back in a week or two.
Thanks to Smart Bitches After Dark
Nov. 10th, 2025 11:00 amBig news!!
Because of the Smart Bitches After Dark community, I’ve been able to turn off ALL of the external ads on SBTB.
You’ll still see ads in the sidebar, or between content if you’re on mobile but that adserver is in-house – meaning I manage, administer, and control it.

Which also means that you won’t run into ads for things that are offensive or anathema to the community values here at SBTB, such as banners for pregnancy “crisis” centers, concealed carry options, right-wing candidates or referendums, or *shudder* ICE.
I won’t get into the long story of trying to play whack-a-mole with advertisers who may not always represent their businesses accurately, but I can say that over the past few months, trying to stay ahead of ads that are harmful or appalling has been a job. I have categories I approve of, and categories I requested be blocked, but that doesn’t mean that the ad itself is coded correctly by the advertiser. One hypothetical example: homeland security is not “home and garden.”

You may have noticed the proliferation of ICE ads and other DHS blather freaking everywhere, and many outlets have been covering how Spotify, HBO, and other streaming services are replete with these ads.
I’ve been dealing with a similar challenge with the podcast – a listener let me know a dynamic ad for ICE recruitment had run prior to the show, and as a result they would no longer be listening. To be clear: I don’t blame them. I am eternally grateful that they let me know what was happening, and grateful to the podcast community for helping me turn off those external ads, too.
Basically, not to dwell on this though I think and rant about it A LOT, it’s lucrative to run right wing ads. Right wing grift is abhorrently well-funded, and being complacent and letting ads like those run means more passive money for the creator (me) and for the platform that serves the ads.
Ad spend for these spots tops $20 billion dollars, and comes with higher percentages of revenue for creators than non-political campaigns. In other words, they’re more profitable than your average ad, and businesses like podcast platforms, streaming services, and internet ad brokers want to run them.
They make SO much freaking money.

Your support through After Dark membership means I can remove all of them for everyone who visits.
Your support has made the site better for all the readers who come to hang out here. Thank you.
Other upgrades that aren’t as visible include a server upgrade (woo!) and a caching options that should make the site load much faster, plus some improved functions coming in 2026.
One example: I’ll be moving the SBTB Daily newsletter and the Books on Sale newsletter from MailChimp to an in-house newsletter manager (as soon as I, um, teach myself how to use it) and SBTB will be able to offer weekly digest options and a newsletter of just After Dark content for community members!
And as I mentioned earlier in October, we’ve got plans for fun stuff:
- A quarterly romance book club
- Live streaming of video games
- Old Skool recaps of whatever truly off the wall romances I can find*
- Remember those Judith Krantz and Danielle Steel tv adaptations? Oh, yeah. Those.
- A video series “From the Romancelandia Older Folks Home”
- Exclusive coupons for books, candles, and more
*I procured some truly opulent old skool romances and will be sharing pics and requesting direction on which one to read and review first.
And I’ll be continuing with the monthly Crafty Zoom Zoomy Craft hangouts, plus Tarot After Dark, After Dark at the Movies, our in-depth commentary and analysis about romance and publishing trends, and everything else you’ve been enjoying.

But most of all:
Your support has helped make us even more
independent as a site and a community.
I am having trouble finding the right words to explain how much that means.
In the past 20 years, everything about the internet has changed, and very few people are doing what we do here at Smart Bitches. I take your trust in us very seriously, and I don’t take for granted that we’re part of your digital routine when you visit.
We’re turning 21 in January, and I’m really looking forward to celebrating another year with all of you.

If you’re not a member of After Dark, and would like to join, we would LOVE to have you.
Because if our community is important to you, we need your help to keep our doors open to everyone who wants to connect with romance readers around the world to discuss the books we love to read.

Also – if all these gifs are making you think about how much you want to watch Robin Hood: Men in Tights, here are your streaming options!
Cover Snark: Let Fate Decide!
Nov. 10th, 2025 08:00 amWelcome back to Cover Snark!

Kiki: Hey friends, have we considered moving to shelter and NOT standing in the middle of the road while a tornado heads towards us?
Elyse: Pretty fucking relaxed about that tornado.
Sarah: It’s the tornado of love don’t you get it.
It’s going to bring them even closer together. By smashing them with debris.
Tara: They are letting fate decide!
Sneezy: I need them to not with this “first characters to die in a horror movie” energy.

Elyse: Deez are my teefs.
Amanda: When we can see our cats’ teeth peeking out while they’re sleeping, we call them Teefer Sutherlands.
Sarah: I had another root canal this week (my fifth this year – one more and I get a free one!) and because I need extra anaesthetic, this is literally what I was doing all day. Can I feel my face? No? Still no. Is my nose moving? No? Ok. Am I drooling? Ugh, yes.
Sneezy: Root canal is hot now. You heard it here first, folks!!!

From MegCat: I have questions. Where is her butt? Is she kneeing him in the balls? How come both of them look so effortless in what would be a physically challenging pose to hold for both of them? How long until they both fall over? Should I really have looked at this cover just fresh off a workout when my brain was still in “what muscles should I be working?” mode…
Sarah: First, they’re going to fall over. No idea which direction but gravity will win.
Second, my physical therapist would be HORRIFIED at how they’re treating his lumbar region. Third, is that Olivia Wilde?
Elyse: His hamstrings must be hella loose.
Sarah: Or his ankles are in cement?
Lara: Her legs don’t seem long enough, somehow.
Sneezy: Is she kneeing him in the balls?
Sarah: It really looks like that’s the case – maybe that’s why he’s half bent forward? Nailed him right in the pool noodle.

From Leslie – who designs covers: When I design book covers I always reduce them to thumbnail size to make sure they read well because that is how most of us are going to first encounter a new book, particularly via booksellers’ newsletters. Here’s a fail in that regard.
At first I thought the gal’s varicose veins had ruptured. Then I thought she had red tinfoil wrapped around her legs. After I figured out those red wrinkled things are boots, I got confused about the right boot tip. Is that a cloven hoof?
And eeeuwww—ass crack alert! I like a shapely male tush as much as the next woman, but even on a good body an ass crack is not edgy or sexy, it’s just an ass crack. In that regard, this cover offers up a “2-for” with those droopy jeans, the ever predictable result of in an ass-crack situation. Shout out to the gal wrapped around our hero for doing her heroic best to pull his pants up.
One last rant: I am so over grey bodies on covers when served up with a hit of color. I’d have to look through my graphic trick book but I think this is trick no. 32—a hard one to do well. Case in point: dead bodies with animate boots.
But those boots ain’t walking. I say cook ’m up and serve ’m since they seem more like raw steak than boots. I’ll take mine well done.”
Sarah: I can’t tell if the pants are going up or down, but her ankles and calves do look violently abused.
Also everything in the composition is pointing to the asscrack. Why?
Amanda: Meanwhile, I find his vertebrae very distracting.
Sneezy: Those look like heels…the pointy front makes me think the heel is the skinny stiletto kind.
More with the new condo; Pluribus; surprising loves
Nov. 9th, 2025 07:07 pmThis week, same as last week, I again bounced around between condos. At the new one I finished ( a bunch of stuff; click if you like houses! )
Physically, I did my TGUs at 55lb for the third week in a row and then touched the back of my head to both feet while in a backbend; only the second time in my life I've done that. I also had a walkover lesson that was surprisingly pleasant.
Spent an afternoon at
Media recommendation for those who like philosophical TV shows: I watched the first two episodes of Pluribus with the squirrel, and really like it so far. It's like a darker version of The Good Place, and holds up American hyper-individualism very effectively against a world that is largely a lot more collectivist. So it appears that the squirrels have a new show! The bug and I also just finished up the single season that exists of Scavengers Reign, which was recommended to me by someone at Zillian and which went delightfully all-out on the alien botany. Text is still my medium of choice, but my recent string of 2-star reviews on Goodreads says I'm doing weirdly better with TV lately.
Did I mention I've been training a lot? Off to the Epsom salt bath with me.
New Community for Video Games Fans
Nov. 9th, 2025 07:20 pm
Description:
The Wheelhouse - Week 15- 2
Nov. 9th, 2025 05:09 pmBut that also means they have until then to get in their accusations on who the Killer(s) is/are! I just had to go back and reread the post where I announced the Killers, because there was a detail I was remembering but It sounded like something I DIDN'T end up implementing. After checking, I was right. It's not a "real" thing... but it might have been fun.
The idea was that the Killers would keep up their roles until the Top 5. Which is still the case. The "extra that got dropped" is that any Killers who made it undetected to the Top 5 automatically won the game! :D Which would have put a LOT more pressure on the rest of you to find them!! As is, it's just that once you get to the Top 5, or you expose all of them, they stop being Killers and resume their normal roles in the game, bleeding back in, and retired from their murderous ways!!
***
How is your weekend going?
Working on it
Nov. 9th, 2025 02:20 pm* Made a long skirt! Discovered that I'd made the waist too loose. Still working on fixing that part.
* Helped make Renaissance-style pantalons for wife (and cut out same for myself).
* Redyed a sad brown shirt to green. ...it came out kinda olive, but still, better than the sad brown it was before. (The reason for all the sewing: we've an SCA camping event coming up in a week or two, and need enough garb for it. Whee!)
Currently 12K into my Novel November, which is a good 3K behind where I 'should' be, but oh well. I'll do the best I can, and either way, it's more than I had before. (Original fic, cosy fantasy romance, taking the prompts 'shapeshifters' and 'protector/protected' and running with them.)
For choir baking this week, I started with Nik Sharma's Spicy Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Cookies, and King Arthur's recommendations for making drop cookies into bars.
( the process of riffage )
( spicy hazelnut ginger bars )
*
I also made Smitten Kitchen's Chocolate Toffee Cookies for the first time in awhile.
( everything is riffs )
( chocolate toffee cookies, modernized )
*
I had a glut of carrots, so I tweaked Serious Eats' Brazilian Carrot Cake recipe to fit a 9x9 pan.
( riff notes )
( carrot cake in a blender )
*
Cramming one last recipe riff in here while I'm thinking about it: yet another choir bake, furikake marshmallow bars. Basically crispy rice cereal treats with added furikake, black sesame, and a little sesame oil.
( furikake marshmallow bars )
Strange Houses, by Uketsu
Nov. 9th, 2025 10:25 am
This is such a fun, unique book. The opening grabs you immediately: Uketsu shows an architect friend the floor plan of a house that his friends are considering buying. The architect spots a number of odd elements that aren't just bad planning, but suggest a very carefully planned and bizarre MURDER HOUSE!
The floor plan of that house and two more come into play repeatedly as Uketsu and his friend investigate, unraveling a truly weird and sometimes spooky mystery via a series of interviews. This book breaks all sorts of rules - it's entirely told rather than shown, a lot of it is exposition, the author appears as a character, and that's not even mentioning the very large role that floor plans play - and I could not put it down.
Is the solution to the mystery absolutely nuts? Sure. Is the book a whole lot of fun to read? Absolutely. Will I recommend it to my customers? You bet!
Translated from the Japanese by Jim Rion, who has a nice afterword about translating it.
Apparently Uketsu is a Japanese YouTuber who only appears wearing a mask, like Chuck Tingle if his thing was drawings and creepy mysteries rather than horror and getting pounded in the butt. I can't wait to read Uketsu's other book, Strange Pictures.








