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Posted by Amanda

Second Chance Romance

Second Chance Romance by Olivia Dade is $1.99! This is book two in the Harlot’s Bay series and features a second chance romance. I’m hoping this deal lasts!

In the second installment of USA Today bestselling author Olivia Dade’s Harlot’s Bay series, a mistaken obituary leads to the reunion of two former high school crushes. Sparks fly in this hilarious grumpy/grumpy romance, packed with Dade’s signature body positivity and a delicious amount of spice.

Karl and Molly were never together. There was a time, right after high school, where it seemed like they might finally cross the line from friends to lovers…but instead, a foolish misunderstanding meant they never spoke again. Molly went to LA and got married. Karl stayed in Harlot’s Bay and bought a bakery.

The only connection the pair has shared over the years is painfully one-sided: Now divorced, Molly narrates monster romance audiobooks, and Karl is an ever-diligent listener, clinging to his only piece of the one that got away.

Still, Molly hasn’t totally left Harlot’s Bay behind. When she hears that Karl’s obituary has run in the local paper, unexpected grief prompts her to hop on the next flight to Maryland…where she finds Karl very much alive, the victim of nothing but an accidental obituary.

As the pair reunite, they finally hash out their missed connection. True, Molly isn’t quite ready to trust again, but Karl is determined to prove himself worthy of her faith and devotion. And as her remaining time in Harlot’s Bay ticks down, Molly, the habitual cynic, just might find that Karl, the cranky town curmudgeon, is impossible to leave behind a second time.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Business or Pleasure

RECOMMENDED: Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon is $1.99! Apologies if this is a leftover deal from yesterday. Elyse reviewed this one and gave it an A:

Business or Pleasure is a sex-positive, low-conflict celebrity rom com that worked out great for me. I think a lot of readers will enjoy this book (especially the sex positivity!), but it won’t work for anyone looking for angst.

Chandler Cohen has never felt more like the ghost in “ghostwriter” until she attends a signing for a book she wrote—and the author doesn’t even recognize her. The evening turns more promising when she meets a charming man at the bar and immediately connects with him. But when all their sexual tension culminates in a spectacularly awkward hookup, she decides this is one night better off forgotten.

Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done. Her next project is ghostwriting a memoir for Finn Walsh, a C-list actor best known for playing a lovable nerd on a cult classic werewolf show who now makes a living appearing at fan conventions across the country. But Chandler knows him better from their one-night stand of hilarious mishaps.

Chandler’s determined to keep their partnership as professional as possible, but when she admits to Finn their night together wasn’t as mind-blowing as he thought it was, he’s distraught. He intrigues her enough that they strike a deal: when they’re not working on his book, Chandler will school Finn in the art of satisfaction. As they grow closer both in and out of the bedroom, they must figure out which is more important, business or pleasure—or if there’s a way for them to have both.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Voidwalker

Voidwalker by S.A. Maclean is $2.99! This one is a Kindle Daily Deal. It released in August and I mentioned it on Hide Your Wallet.

From the author of The Phoenix Keeper comes an era-defining new fantasy universe where spicy romantasy meets the Cosmere, unmissable for fans of the world-building scale of Sarah J. Maas and the world-shifting stakes of Rebecca Yarros. Voidwalker will be your next romantasy obsession, a deliciously feral story that starts with just two “bite me.”

Fionamara is a smuggler. Antal is the reason her people fear the dark. Fi ferries contraband between worlds, stockpiling funds and stolen magic to keep her village self-sufficient – free from the blood sacrifices humans have paid to Antal’s immortal species for centuries.

Only legends whispered through the pine forests recall a time when things were different, before one world shattered into many, and the flesh-devouring beasts crept from the cracks between realities, with their sable antlers and slender tails, lethal claws and gleaming fangs. Now, mortal lives are food to pacify their carnivorous overlords, exchanged for feudal protection, and the precious silver energy that fuels everything from transport to weaponry.

When Fi gets planted with a stash of smuggled energy, a long-lost flame recruits her for a reckless heist that escalates into a terrorist bombing – and a coup against the reigning immortals, with Fi’s home caught in the crossfire.

She’s always known the dangers of her trade – and of the power she’s wielded since childhood, allowing her to see the secret doors between dimensions, to walk the Void itself. But nothing could have prepared her for crossing paths with Antal. For the deal she’ll have to make with him, a forced partnership to reclaim his city that begins as a desperate bid for survival, only to grow into something far more dangerous.

A revolution. And a temptation – for how sweet the monster’s fangs might feel.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Fuzz

Fuzz by Mary Roach is $3.99! I love Roach’s niche non-fiction titles where she focuses on one, sometimes quirky, topic. Do you have a favorite Roach book?

What’s to be done about a jaywalking moose? A bear caught breaking and entering? A murderous tree? Three hundred years ago, animals that broke the law would be assigned legal representation and put on trial. The answers are best found not in jurisprudence but in science: the curious science of human-wildlife conflict, a discipline at the crossroads of human behavior and wildlife biology.

Roach tags along with animal-attack forensics investigators, human-elephant conflict specialists, bear managers, and “danger tree” faller blasters. Intrepid as ever, she travels from leopard-terrorized hamlets in the Indian Himalaya to St. Peter’s Square in the early hours before the pope arrives for Easter Mass, when vandal gulls swoop in to destroy the elaborate floral display. She taste-tests rat bait, learns how to install a vulture effigy, and gets mugged by a macaque.

Combining little-known forensic science and conservation genetics with a motley cast of laser scarecrows, langur impersonators, and trespassing squirrels, Roach reveals as much about humanity as about nature’s lawbreakers. When it comes to “problem” wildlife, she finds, humans are more often the problem—and the solution. Fascinating, witty, and humane, Fuzz offers hope for compassionate coexistence in our ever-expanding human habitat.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Freedom of speech

Mar. 11th, 2026 02:18 pm
liv: cartoon of me with long plait, teapot and purple outfit (Default)
[personal profile] liv
There's been a rant I have been meaning to turn into an essay for a while, but Ken White (Popehat) has done it better, so I direct you to his really well-written and referenced (though US-centric) article: The Fashionable Notion of 'Free Speech Culture' Is Justifying State Censorship, Ironically. Criticism. Is. Not. Censorship, and “Free speech culture” has a natural tendency to discount the speech rights and interests of people who criticize speech.

This is important in Europe too, not just in the US, because it's a deliberate, specific Russian infowar tactic to promote far right events at UK universities and claim censorship if anyone objects. A network based at [Cambridge] University and backed by Thiel, which it said was using the issue of free speech to “normalise white nationalism on UK campuses”. Neither Putin nor Thiel has anyone's freedom at heart, and they're all too successful at distracting people with a toddler-like notion of "freedom" where you get to say the naughty words without being told off.

shorter version of my original opinion, building on White's piece )
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[personal profile] laughing_tree posting in [community profile] scans_daily
image host

There was a video game for Maximum Carnage way back in the day, and I was a Production Assistant on the commercial for it. My job was to drive the truck full of camera equipment from Long Island to Manhattan, pick up my producer, get breakfast and bring it all to set… but I didn’t realize that I left the key to the lock on the truck at home until we got the breakfast. My producer sat on giant coffee urns and held bagels in his lap as I drove to set – but I was so frazzled that I drove the wrong way down the West Side Highway and was pulled over by a cop!!! -- Joe Kelly

Maximum Carnage! I have to say, it’s been a minute, and I was a Clone Saga do-or-die back around when it landed – but I remember a whole pile of villains infighting and yelling at each other and hating each other as much as (or more than) they hated the comics. Can’t beat that! -- Charles Soule

During the 90s, I was off reading Proper Comics like Hate, Eightball, and Love & Rockets, so Maximum Carnage passed me by a little bit – I hear Carnage is pretty Maximum in it, but that’s about all I know. -- Al Ewing

(https://aiptcomics.com/2026/03/05/venom-unleashed-17/)

Read more... )

wednesday

Mar. 11th, 2026 08:40 am
summersgate: (Default)
[personal profile] summersgate
I'm still not in tip top shape. No appetite and queasy. Still diarrhea. But I can live with that better than with nausea. And now Dave seems to be sick. I hope he didn't get the norovirus. He could be feeling sick because yesterday when he went out on his boat he found there was a gas leak. Possibly he's still feeling sick from inhaling fumes while he was trying to clear the gas out of the enclosed area where the tank was. And Andy's not feeling very good either. Last week Dave took him to the vet and she gave him antibiotics but he's not a bit better yet. Doesn't want to eat at all. Tho if Dave gives him some "real" meat (roasted chicken or burger) he will eat it.

I did go for a walk down to the creek with the dogs yesterday afternoon. The light was beautiful.

IMG_20260310_174321659_HDR.jpg
This log I like to sit on has a nice view.

IMG_20260310_174213588.jpg
Looking towards the lake.

IMG_20260310_174702850.jpg
These volunteer daffodils showed up after Dave mowed a shortcut to the house 2 summers ago. I think they somehow traveled from grandma's patch which is up by where Andy is. We're doing our best to help them proliferate.

I don't have much planned today. Crochet. Possibly if I start to feel better I'll sweep the floors. Rest in bed. Looks like a dark rainy day.

Reading Wednesday

Mar. 11th, 2026 07:41 am
sabotabby: (books!)
[personal profile] sabotabby
 Just finished: Lullabies For Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill. Naturally, this was great, and surprisingly uplifting at the end. I don't have a lot to add after last week—if you haven't read it, I highly recommend it.

Currently reading: Indigenous Ingenuity: A Celebration of Traditional North American Knowledge by Deidre Havrelock and Edward Kay. This is a kids' book about technologies and traditional knowledge systems used by pre-contact Indigenous peoples. I'm reading it for work but it's been on my radar for awhile. It's quite good and informative, if you can get past three things that I find cringe: 1) the kind of writing for children that includes lines like "Do you think you would enjoy being creative?", 2) a certain exuberant reiteration of "gosh, weren't Indigenous people SMART and RESOURCEFUL" as if they're not that now, and if we need to be constantly reassured, and 3) it's pretty American-centric, though it does mention Nations on the land currently known as Canada as well. But very useful overall, and the problems I find with it are largely centred around my own dislike of how books for children are written and fairly significant but subtle framing between the US and Canada as to how we talk about Indigenous civilizations and sovereignty.
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Posted by Carrie S

This piece of literary mayhem is exclusive to Smart Bitches After Dark, but fret not. If you'd like to join, we'd love to have you!

Have a look at our membership options, and come join the fun!

If you want to have a little extra fun, be a little more yourself, and be part of keeping the site open for everyone in the future, we can’t wait to see you in our new subscription-based section with exclusive content and events.

Everything you’re used to seeing at the Hot Pink Palace that is Smart Bitches Trashy Books will remain free as always, because we remain committed to fostering community among brilliant readers who love romance.

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Posted by Lara

B

Never Spar with a Viscount

by Lindsay Lovise
March 10, 2026 · Forever
Historical: European

I am always delighted to find new-to-me historical romance authors and this one is a treat. I started mid-series, which isn’t ideal, but I followed the story with glee. I will, however, be going back and starting with the first book because this series has so much Lara catnip.

You all know I’m a bit of a blurb hater at this point, but this one did a good job, so I’ll share it here:

Ivy Bennett has escaped the marriage mart once already—by becoming a governess to the new Lord Brackley’s unruly little sisters. Spending her days in the schoolroom and her nights running a secret self-defense class for women, she has absolutely no interest in a husband. So when Ivy is handed a secret assignment by the spymaster known as the Dove, she sees an opportunity: fake a courtship with the enigmatic Owen Brackley to avoid her conniving father’s attempts to marry her off, complete the mission, and finally secure her freedom. Simple. Until it’s not.

Women across London are succumbing to a strange madness, and they all share a connection to Brackley—the same man who looks at Ivy like he sees right through her and is none too bothered by her lack of ladylike charm. As Ivy gathers gossip like breadcrumbs and dodges increasingly dangerous attempts on Brackley’s life, she realizes two things: someone wants the viscount gone, and the closer she gets to the truth, the harder it is to tell what’s real and what’s just part of the game.

Okay fine, you got me, I do have one tiny gripe with the blurb: it made the mystery plot seem bigger than it is. This is definitely a ROMANCE-FORWARD plot, which delighted me. The mystery plot was fine, but the falling in love plot was SUPER.

Ivy and Owen both have traumatic pasts due in large part to their terrible, abusive fathers. Ivy is the youngest of seven – all her other siblings being brothers and until the oldest of them was able to physically stand up to and chase away their abusive father, Ivy lived in fear. So she studied her brothers during their various fencing, etc. classes. She would sometimes taunt the younger ones into sparring with her. And she got really good at self-defence, so much so that, during a late night encounter it is …

Show Spoiler

Ivy that saves Owen! I told you this was Lara catnip!

This brings up one of the things I love most about this book: It is slowly revealed that Owen is fully accepting of Ivy exactly as she is and he is secure enough in his masculinity that …

Show Spoiler

He loves that Ivy teaches self-defence classes, not only to other women, but to his sisters too.

With each reveal of an aspect of Ivy’s personality, Owen meets her with full-bodied, whole-hearted acceptance. It’s such a lovely thing to read (and feel!).

I have been so swept away that I’ve forgotten to lead with the most obvious information: this is a grumpy x sunshine romance, but both characters have depth and neither conform to caricatures. Yes, Owen is quite surly, but it’s made refreshing by Ivy’s insistence at making fun of his surliness. It’s also only a skin-deep grump. Very close to the surface is a kind-hearted man. Ivy is sunshine, but that sunshine takes delight in teasing Owen into the grumps. The two really do complement each other in that respect.

So, the mystery. It’s kind of fragmented and only comes together right near the end. Characters who I can only assume had their moment in the sun in previous books do play a key role in the mystery plot. The mystery is fine. Nothing particularly special about it, but it does a good job of building non-romance tension.

While I was underwhelmed by the mystery plot and found those sections a little plodding, I really loved the dynamic between Owen and Ivy, especially their acceptance of one another as allies, then more. I just had a really good time reading this book. I found it to be immersive escapism – just what I need at the moment. If you’re looking for the same, then I recommend Never Spar with a Viscount.

just press post already

Mar. 10th, 2026 09:48 pm
ursamajor: people on the beach watching the ocean (Default)
[personal profile] ursamajor
Stuck in my head this week: the CHVRCHES cover of Such Great Heights. Lauren Mayberry was the opener for the Northeastern leg of the Postal Service anniversary tour, and I have been enjoyably earwormed with her band's version of this song. It's making me want to do a ukelele cover of it, somehow.

YT video within )

*

I don't usually pay that much attention to celebrity news, nor am I a fan of horror movies (I tend to run screaming the other direction), but it feels right to rewatch Army of Darkness upon hearing the news that whatever cancer Bruce Campbell's just announced that he's got is "treatable, but not curable." But jeez, that's like two major ones of these "fuck cancer" announcements in just a few weeks now. Le sigh.

Of course, this means I'll need to figure out how to get ahold of a copy of said movie, and I'm feeling just cantankerous enough about the state of media preservation that I'm wondering where I can pick up a physical copy on DVD (yes, DVD, we don't have a BluRay player). And it turns out there's apparently fifty bajillion editions, heh.

*

This year's hamantaschen flavors: vanilla dough with cherry preserves, vanilla dough with apricot hot pepper jelly, chocolate dough with raspberry preserves, chocolate dough with peanut butter. I tried out Smitten Kitchen's dough recipe this year to see how a buttery dough behaved compared to the oil-based recipe I usually use from [personal profile] noghri, with mixed success. The chocolate dough options remained intact, probably partly because I didn't roll it out to 1/8" thin, partly because I froze the peanut butter balls before folding them into the dough, and partly because the raspberry preserves were thick enough to not spread. I think it came out a little dry relative to the fillings, probably two minutes too long in the oven. The vanilla dough behaved with the apricot hot pepper jelly because it wasn't really a jelly, definitely more of a preserves texture. But with the cherry "preserves," it was another story, because the texture of that was much closer to an improperly-set jam, which I only realized starting to scoop it into the cookies. If you think all of the blowouts were the cherry ones, you'd be right!

Had friends over for dinner to help eat the hamantaschen, and I also made chicken adobo and rice and a mizuna salad with seaweed dressing. K brought fancy fruity sodas from TJ's, and we didn't remotely realize how late it had gotten until one of us looked at our watches and gasped that it was after midnight, heh. I really ought to do that more often; I like hosting my friends and us gossiping around a table until all hours. Plus, it's good motivation to keep things a bit tidier around here!

And it felt good to show off progress in the library/my office. Still need to figure out the desk situation; still need to frame the art I want to hang up in there; still want this rug to drape over the back of the glider chair. And I need to figure out a good reading lamp. But now that we've been here almost five years, figuring out how to make things the way we want; what we want to change, what we want to keep.

*

I never did post about our Super Bowl menu, but we made:

- Seattle: Teriyaki Wings, because it's a thing; every Seattle local friend I've ever visited there has taken me out for teriyaki there.
- Boston: Miso Clam Chowder. Used the Saveur recipe as a base, then to get it closer to Oga-style, added an assortment of Japanese mushrooms. Subbed out the cream for coconut milk, but that swung the flavor profile significantly more Thai, so I may need to consider other options if I want it to taste like Oga's. And I'll go ahead and pick up some ume next time for a topping, I think it needs just a bit of that fermented sourness to taste right.

I ran out of steam before making it to the Boston Cream Pie (Joanne Chang's, of course), but I did also make a smoked salmon dip: cream cheese, lemon juice, dill, onion powder, green onions, garlic, chili crisp, and smoked salmon on top.

Boxes to storage unit

Mar. 11th, 2026 12:01 am
silver_chipmunk: (Default)
[personal profile] silver_chipmunk
I got up at 7:30 to shower and dress. No breakfast or coffee cause I was out of both milk and creamer.

RK got to my place around 9:00 and loaded the boxes in his car. We went to Dunkin' Donuts, where I got us breakfast, and then went and picked up [personal profile] mashfanficchick. We went to the storage facility, and moved boxes around. That took less time than I expected.

RK didn't want to go out to eat, so he just dropped [personal profile] mashfanficchick off, and then me.

I put in a Shipt order, to get more milk and creamer, and other things, though I forgot cat food. Fortunately I have enough for now. I went and lay down while I was waiting for the delivery, and when the delivery came, the items the Kid ordered for Middle Brother's birthday had arrived too.

So I put the Shipt order away, and then wrapped all the birthday stuff. Used up all my wrapping paper.

I took a brief nap from 5:30 to 6:60, then at 7:00 Teamed the FWiB. We talked til it was time for my Al-anon meeting. I find it interesting to say the least that when the guy was deleting things from the computer, he left Zoom and Teams. Whatever.

The meeting was very small, just me and S. But it gave us a little time to catch up.

After the meeting I had dinner, then Ubered over to [personal profile] mashfanficchick's. We are hanging out now.

Tomorrow out to Smithtown to Middle Brother's birthday.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. Shipt.

3. The presents that the Kid ordered arrived.

4. My meetings and the people there.

5. Beautiful weather.

6. RK.

Volunteer social thread #162

Mar. 11th, 2026 01:34 am
pauamma: Cartooney crab wearing hot pink and acid green facemask holding drink with straw (Default)
[personal profile] pauamma posting in [site community profile] dw_volunteers
I helped do An Science.

How's everyone doing?

[127] RESIDENT EVIL (various)

Mar. 10th, 2026 09:27 pm
zombieproof: rebecca chambers - resident evil (flamethrowing)
[personal profile] zombieproof posting in [community profile] icons
---RESIDENT EVIL 4 (REMAKE)
[x]55 leon scott kennedy
[x]3o luis serra
[x]o2 leon & luis
[x]o2 ingrid hunnigan

---RESIDENT EVIL: INFINITE DARKNESS
[x]23 leon scott kennedy

---RESIDENT EVIL 6
[x]o6 leon scott kennedy
[x]o9 helena harper


( i have no good cut text for this )
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[personal profile] renay posting in [community profile] ladybusiness
A collection of thoughts about Notes from a Regicide by Isaac Fellman: Read more... )

[118] RESIDENT EVIL 9

Mar. 10th, 2026 08:51 pm
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[personal profile] zombieproof posting in [community profile] icons
---RESIDENT EVIL 9 Spoilers for early game
[x]118 grace ashcroft


(Warmth of a new dawn on my face)
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[personal profile] github posting in [site community profile] changelog

Branch: refs/heads/main Home: https://github.com/dreamwidth/dreamwidth Commit: a7c872c2e9a9286da62970e298ad04106c860b90 https://github.com/dreamwidth/dreamwidth/commit/a7c872c2e9a9286da62970e298ad04106c860b90 Author: momijizukamori momijizukamori+bugzilla@gmail.com Date: 2026-03-10 (Tue, 10 Mar 2026)

Changed paths: M bin/build-static-modern.sh

Log Message:


Build JS for ES6, not ES2020 (#3532)

Co-authored-by: Cocoa momijizukamori@gmail.com

To unsubscribe from these emails, change your notification settings at https://github.com/dreamwidth/dreamwidth/settings/notifications

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[personal profile] melroseee posting in [community profile] icons
[12] The Pitt Robby/Abbot icons
[3] Noah Wyle & Shawn Hatosy icons

pitt icon 004 06 100 pitt icon 004 014 100 pitt icon 004 07 100

See the rest here.

[ SECRET POST #7004 ]

Mar. 10th, 2026 07:01 pm
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[personal profile] case posting in [community profile] fandomsecrets

⌈ Secret Post #7004 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


01.



More! )


Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 15 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1000.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 1 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
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[personal profile] kaberett

Back at the beginning of January [profile] beadsbuttonslace wrote up some reflections on this book, which interested me enough that I put in a hold on my library's only digital copy, which was an audiobook, and then I managed to listen to it in under a week, and now I am subscribed to Johnston's newsletter (and reading its archives) and also trying to work out whether I want to buy a physical copy or a digital copy for my own library.

Which is to say: I liked it. A lot.

Read more... )

And some final notes:

shakalooloo: (Shortpack)
[personal profile] shakalooloo posting in [community profile] scans_daily
Okay, so my last few posts have featured images that not everyone could view. So, let's try ImgBB, and see if that works better.

00

That better? Or worse? Anyway, stuff happens in this issue that you may not want to see. And I'm not talking about the mutant nudity.

Read more... )

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