Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: Reviews, Interviews, and Discussion About All the Romance Novels You Love to Read

Dena Heilik sent us an email awhile back when we discussed briefly the process of buying ebooks for libraries. Dena is the department head of Philbrick Hall, the fiction & DVD Department at the Central Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, and she had a lot of things to say about building a digital collection of romance. We discuss the fact that all digital titles from HarperCollins and now Harlequin and Carina titles have a 26-checkout limit for libraries, and the other frustrations of increased ebook prices with metered limits on checkouts when dealing with an ever-decreasing library acquisition budget.

In this episode, Elyse and Sarah interview Sarah MacLean, New York Times bestselling author of historical romance. We talk about Billionaire Dinosaurs, but more about her upcoming book, Never Judge a Lady by her Cover, which comes out Tuesday, 25 November. We cover identity, the need for Regency pool boys, and the strange ways MacLean's book has appeared as a sort of Easter egg on NPR. (Spoilers 19:00-25:00)

This week I chat again with Kate Noble and Kate Rorick who are conveniently the same person about the upcoming tv show The Librarians. We talked about this during a podcast interview I did with her over the summer. The reboot, which premieres December 7 is going to be also premiering within days around the world. So all those other alleged countries that exist outside the US? You get this show brand new at the same time. Yay! So we talk about the show, the episodes she wrote, and also how success is judged when the way we watch tv constantly changes. I also answer listener mail about novellas and podcasts.

Carrie Sessarego and Sarah discuss the badass Victorian women Carrie has been researching, including travelers, scientists, inventors and spies. She talks about them in a presentation she gives titled, "Victorian Women Who Out-Steampunked Steampunk." We also discuss books she's enjoyed recently and what she's reading now.

Sarah was finally in the same place as Angela James, whom Jane and Sarah mention frequently in podcast episodes as "Angie," and they both had time for an interview. We talk about what she's reading currently, what she thinks of Scribd, the potential for menage wizard biscuits, and also about space opera.

Sarah sits down with Amanda, who reviews at Smart Bitches and was the very capable intern for both SBTB and for the DABWAHA. We talk about what books she brought with her to grad school in Boston, and the likely plot of her newly made-up New Adult Romantic Suspense: Robbed for Her Nutella. We also discuss Amanda learned about the New Adult from a recent webinar about the genre with several HarperCollins New Adult authors.

Sarah interviews New York Times Bestselling author Courtney Milan in this episode. They talk about the lawsuit filed by Ellora's Cave against Jane Litte and Dear Author, about legal things in general, and why it's a bad idea to piss off lawyers and journalists. Plus, they have a really fascinating discussion thanks to some very smart questions asked by folks on Facebook.

Jane and I are together again - yay! We don't talk about the lawsuit against her because, well, many reasons. But we do talk about Kindle Unlimited, the KU All Stars, and a few of the different subscription services. We AGREE on a BOOK. I can hear you asking, "Really?" YES. Yes, we do. But of course we like it for totally different reasons.And Jane talks a bit about the books she's loved best recently.

This week, Sarah interviews Elyse and we discuss Many Many Things. We talk about why Elyse likes erotic dominant/submissive stories. We talk about the tropes she likes, alpha heroes, and power dynamics that appear in multiple sub-genres. We talk about manicures and Elyse's longtime love of time -travel romances. Remember when they were ALL time travel romances? ALL OF THEM? Plus, Elyse has a HaBO for us. Audio HaBO! IMPORTANT NOTE: From about 22:00 -27:00 we discuss a book wherein there is a rape scene, and Elyse goes into some detail about the context and how it fits in the larger story. If that's something that will upset you, I wanted you to be aware.

Carrie and Sarah discuss cons, and the magic of small and large communities of fans gathering in once place. We also talk about her research into women of the Victorian era, developments in science, technology and social issues, and the weird sense that history repeats itself.

This week, Jane and Sarah interview John Jacobson, whom you may know from his blog Dreaming in Books and from interacting with him on Twitter. He's been a romance reader and a unique voice in the romance community since he was 15. Now he's a sophomore in college, and we wanted to ask what he's reading, what he thinks about New Adult, and about the presence (or absence) of sex and sexuality in YA romance.

After technical difficulties with a recording with Jane (DARN IT), I asked on Twitter if anyone would like to tell me about what they're reading for this week's podcast. So please meet Ilona Andrews, NYT best selling author, who wants to tell us about a barbarian romance she discovered, written under a pen name that she didn't recognize. Then we talk about her favorite authors, Harlequin Presents, fantasy, and more, including the scientific problems with rabid badgers.

This week, Sarah dives into the email inbox to share what you have been writing to us about. We touch on reading recommendations for romance readers and young readers, along with fandoms, international book borrowing options, and more.

Sarah interviews with Kat Mayo about blogging, Melina Marchetta and the possibility of her books being made into films. And when book bloggers get in a room, microphone or no microphone, we talk about what we're reading. And we give tips on how you can identify the REAL billionaires in Australian-set contemporaries.

In this week's episode, Sarah chats with Nikki, an Australian romance reader who is also part of the Buffy fandom Down Under. They chat about fandoms, and some of the reasons they make people happy, as well as Emma Approved, going down the rabbit hole when you love something that much, and more. Then, more recommendations for young readers!