Posted by Sean Gaffney

https://suitablefortreatment.mangabookshelf.com/2026/05/10/heroine-saint-no-im-an-all-works-maid-and-proud-of-it-vol-6/

http://27.19116

By Atekichi and Yukiko. Released in Japan as “Heroine? Seijo? Iie, All Works Maid desu (ko)!” by TO Books. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Matthew Jackson. Adapted by Michelle McGuinness.

A lot of these “we’re in the world of a game” series tend to fall into two categories. Either the game just goes off the rails immediately but the main character doesn’t realize it and is determined to fight against a fate that no longer exists (e.g. Observation Records of My Fiancee), or the game has a malevolent mind of its own and is determined to make sure those pesky villainesses die and heroines save the day. This title is firmly in the second category, and while the bulk of most of the book is fairly light and maid-related, it does not let you forget it. The climax of this book does feature the “heroine”, Melody, but because she’s already derailed this game as far as possible, even she cannot save the day in the end. And it’s not going to be the tsundere duke’s daughter either, who comes a lot closer but falls short. No, in the end it’s past tragedies that will have to win out.

Despite the fact that you’d never imagine it with a culture like the one we have, it’s school festival time, and thanks to the dumbass Prince Christopher suggesting something anonymously assuming no one would go along with it, their class is doing a maid cafe. Since Cecilia is currently convalescing back home, Melody will of course not be participating (yet… the festival will be in the next book, and I have my suspicions), but she can advise folks on what works and doesn’t work when it comes to a practical maid uniform. Celedia would like to be getting closer to the capture targets, but alas all she’s doing is secretarial work related to the festival, and she thrown a hissy fit that goes wrong thanks to the evil lurking inside her. Unfortunately, said hissy fit is stopped by Christopher, and even though he and Anna-Marie have done their best to avoid having the plot impact them, it’s time for him to turn evil.

Christopher and Anna-Marie have been around since the start, usually complaining about the fact that they’re trying to stop the plot of the game but that it’s been stopped before it gets to them, but they’ve been relatively minor characters. Here they get more to do, though I’m sure they wish they didn’t. I feel bad for Christopher, who didn’t do anything wrong, really, but ended up almost destroying the world, because thanks to Celedia’s extra added evil Melody is NOT strong enough to head him like the game says. The final scenes are really dark and horrific, both because Christopher is slowly being mind-controlled and also because we get a flashback showing Maika’s reaction to her brother and his “childhood friend’s” death, and how deeply that affected her. It’s pretty heartbreaking, and Christopher and Anna-Marie are appropriately heartbroken. It also allows the Maika that’s HERE to accidentally save the day, though she’s unaware of it. I really enjoy the way this series interweaves everyone’s past lives into the mix.

As I noted earlier, we get all the buildup to the festival but not the festival itself. And by the time the next book comes out, the anime will have aired. We’ll see how that goes. Sometimes it helps, sometimes you’re Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter. But the books are good.

https://suitablefortreatment.mangabookshelf.com/2026/05/10/heroine-saint-no-im-an-all-works-maid-and-proud-of-it-vol-6/

http://27.19116

darths_and_droids_feed

https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/2776.html

Episode 2776: Well, Look at Me, I’m Coming Back Again

The veil between life and death is an interesting thing to explore in a game setting. You can make it more like a veil, so people can look through to the other side. See glimpses of spirits of dead people, or so dead people can look out at the world of the living.

Or you could replace it with a different metaphor. Like a revolving door. Yes, people die, but they also come back just as easily.

Perhaps it's a wall that you can climb over, if you put in enough effort. Perhaps you could fall off while climbing and end up thrown back to where you began. Dust yourself off and try again.

Or maybe it's an airlock. You get stuck in between for a while, adjusting to the conditions on the other side. You can knock on the door while waiting. And if you make the trip too quickly you get a kind of metaphysical bends.

aurilee writes:

Commentary by memnarch (who has not seen the movie)

Right. That plot point. The movie probably doesn't make any more sense than sneaking onto the shuttle, but this is also the universe where Palpatine kept in shape by playing squash. And I'd count destroying the Death Star Mk II as a victory. Sure, it's not an intergalactic hyperspace death ray, but it was still a massively overpowered weapon.

Hmmm. So now Rey is going to kill Palpatine, Anakin's going to notice the midi-chlorians transferring away from Palpatine, teleport back and try to possess Rey? Is that what's being set up here? Given how well that went for Luke in Episode VI, I wonder what exactly is going to happen to keep Rey from getting successfully possessed. Probably another Force power that Rey manages to pull out of nowhere, like that healing thing I think.

Transcript

https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/2776.html

smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/05/get-recd-with-amanda-volume-114/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=172741

Welcome back!

Sometimes Get Rec’d sneaks up on me. The books this week are split between fiction and non-fiction. Two of each!

What recommendations would you like to pass along? Let us know in the comments!

Gather

This is part of the Norton Shorts collection, which I find to be pretty interesting in terms of offerings and topics. Anthropologist Ashanté M. Rees takes a look at the relationship between Black communities, food, and gathering.

A vibrant new vision of food justice that celebrates Black food and recognizes the power of gathering to create sustainable, systemic change.

Food justice is defined as the understanding that our food system is unequal and that something needs to be done about it. But how can we create a world where everyone has enough? What does it mean to truly nourish ourselves and our communities?

In Gather, anthropologist Ashanté M. Reese argues for a vibrant new vision of food justice that places Black communities at the center and offers us a visionary, delicious path forward. Reese reveals that to truly create equity in our food systems, we must embrace the abundance that already exists around us—and recognize that the social body is as important as our individual health

Gather presents rich, on-the-ground stories of gathering around food in four spaces—gardens, family reunions, repasts, and protests. Blending rich storytelling with analysis, these chapters argue for the political power of food and invite us to learn from the tactics Black communities have long used to create sustainable, systemic change.

There are no simple solutions to the problems of acute need. But by recognizing that food justice is already all around us, we can start working together to create a more nourishing, joyful world. Gather is an intimate and urgent invitation to embrace local power, build better food systems, and nourish ourselves, body and soul.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Grand Slam Romance: Book 1

Magical girls meets a sports romance in this queer graphical novel romance! There are three books in total in this series.

Storytelling team Ollie Hicks and Emma Oosterhous’s first Grand Slam Romance is a queer, full-color graphic novel that’s equal parts romance, softball, and drama, where the balls are fast, the smooches are spicy, and the girls . . . magical—now in paperback

Mickey Monsoon is the hotshot pitcher for the Belle City Broads, and their team is poised to sweep the league this season. But Mickey is thrown off their game when Astra Maxima shows up to catch for the Gaiety Gals, the Broads’ fiercest rival. Years ago, Mickey and Astra were best friends . . . and maybe more. That was until Astra unceremoniously dumped Mickey to become a softball wunderkind at a private girl’s school in Switzerland. Now, Astra is flirty, arrogant, and reckless on the field—everything the rule-abiding Mickey hates.

Astra thinks Mickey’s cute and wants to fool around, despite their rocky history and the trail of jilted softballers that Astra leaves in her wake. Too bad the only thing Mickey wants is vengeance for their broken heart and wounded pride! But even they have to admit—Astra is a certified babe. And that’s not Astra isn’t just a softball superstar, she’s a full-fledged magical girl.

Full of wet mitts, hard hits, and a bevy of softball-playing babes, Grand Slam Book 1 is a flawless home run that is sure to knock readers out of the park.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Humankind

If you’re looking for non-fiction that won’t leave you terribly depressed, this book showcases ways in which humankind has come together.

From New York Times bestselling author of Utopia for Realists comes a “bold” (Daniel H. Pink) and “extraordinary” (Susan Cain) argument that humans thrive in a crisis and that our innate kindness and cooperation have been the greatest factors in our long-term success on the planet.

If there is one belief that has united the left and the right, psychologists and philosophers, ancient thinkers and modern ones, it is the tacit assumption that humans are bad. It’s a notion that drives newspaper headlines and guides the laws that shape our lives. From Machiavelli to Hobbes, Freud to Pinker, the roots of this belief have sunk deep into Western thought. Human beings, we’re taught, are by nature selfish and governed primarily by self-interest.

But what if it isn’t true? International bestseller Rutger Bregman provides new perspective on the past 200,000 years of human history, setting out to prove that we are hardwired for kindness, geared toward cooperation rather than competition, and more inclined to trust rather than distrust one another. In fact this instinct has a firm evolutionary basis going back to the beginning of Homo sapiens.

From the real-life Lord of the Flies to the solidarity in the aftermath of the Blitz, the hidden flaws in the Stanford prison experiment to the true story of twin brothers on opposite sides who helped Mandela end apartheid, Bregman shows us that believing in human generosity and collaboration isn’t merely optimistic—it’s realistic. Moreover, it has huge implications for how society functions. When we think the worst of people, it brings out the worst in our politics and economics. But if we believe in the reality of humanity’s kindness and altruism, it will form the foundation for achieving true change in society, a case that Bregman makes convincingly with his signature wit, refreshing frankness, and memorable storytelling.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Not Quite Dead Yet

A woman has a week to solve her own murder. If you love mysteries that are high on tension, consider this one!

In seven days Jet Mason will be dead.

Jet is the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Woodstock, Vermont. Twenty-seven years old, she’s still waiting for her life to begin. She’ll do it later, she always says. She has time.

Until, on the night of Halloween, Jet is violently attacked by an unseen intruder.

She suffers a catastrophic brain injury. The doctor is certain that within a week, she’ll suffer a deadly aneurysm.

Jet never thought of herself as having enemies. But now she looks at everyone in a new light: her family, her ex-best friend turned sister-in-law, her former boyfriend.

She only has seven days, and as her condition deteriorates she has only her childhood friend Billy for help. But nevertheless, she’s absolutely determined to finally finish something:

Jet is going to solve her own murder.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/05/get-recd-with-amanda-volume-114/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=172741

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Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/05/sunday-sale-digest-81/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=172696

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.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/05/sunday-sale-digest-81/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=172696

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Posted by Frank

https://postsecret.com/2026/05/10/adopted-daughter/

https://postsecret.com/?p=53113

To: “frank” <frank@postsecret.com>

Dear Frank,

I’m not sure where to begin. I haven’t closed out my PostSecret tab in over 5 years now. It’s something that brings me comfort to see daily, that the site is not going to abandon me.

As this Mother’s Day approaches, I find myself in a mental world of a mess. I was adopted at birth, and that adoption was a closed adoption. I have tried a couple of times to find my biological mother, but have been shut down by family, extended family, and even the court system here.

I do know that the parents who adopted me, are my parents. They did a fantastic job raising me and providing me with a life I would have only probably dreamed of. But it doesn’t take away the abandonment and rejection I’ve had to deal with time and time again. That hole only gets worse as I get older, my parents age, and I raise my son.

Speaking of my son, he is the only gift I knew I ever wanted in life. To be a mom. I am so blessed to be his mom and that he chose me to fulfill that role for him. But man has this been a hell of a ride. I almost died during childbirth. The pain that I’ve endured is beyond words. I feel so lucky because of my son and the fact I am still alive this coming Mother’s Day, that I am 50% excited to celebrate.

With all the trauma I have had to endure and will keep enduring until I am fixed, I just can’t find a way to express my gratitude for my biological mom. I may never get to meet her, that hole in my soul may never be filled…. But my deepest secret has always been that I want to hear her heartbeat. As an adult I would do anything to hear that heartbeat that I listened to everyday for 9 months. That heartbeat that gave me life. And chose for me to live. I am pro choice, but I am so thankful my mom chose for me to live. I wish I could hug her and thank her.

Since I can’t thank her, and I don’t have the guts to do one of the ancestry tests, I am sending you my thanks for her.

The fact your website is always there and does not abandon anyone, no matter their struggles, is something I’ll always be thankful for.

Sent from a place a love and care

~~~

The post Adopted Daughter appeared first on PostSecret.

https://postsecret.com/2026/05/10/adopted-daughter/

https://postsecret.com/?p=53113

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https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260509.html

Many bright nebulae and star clusters in planet Earth's sky

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260509.html

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Posted by Lara

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/reviews/what-angels-fear-by-cs-harris/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?post_type=reviews&p=172232

A

What Angels Fear

by C.S. Harris
November 1, 2005 · Berkley

What Angels Fear has been mentioned positively a few times on the site but never reviewed. I became aware of the series when I received a marketing email for the 19th book in this series. When a series reaches that kind of number, there’s usually something special about it so off I went to the library for the first one in the series.

It was initially slow going for me to get into but I think that’s because it’s been so very long since I read anything that wasn’t a romance. Once I adjusted mentally, I found the writing immersive and compelling. Scent, in particular, is used in evocative ways to communicate the atmosphere.

Sebastian St Cyr is a remarkably interesting character. He’s part of the aristocracy and he worked in army intelligence for five years before selling out of the armed forces and returning to London. At the start of the story, he’s only been back for 10 months. He is quick (in all possible senses) and carrying a certain amount of baggage and disillusionment from his time in the war. This is a man (and a story) that is not scared to face and then dig into the horrors humanity can perpetrate. Despite the fact that Sebastian would deny this, he believes that justice should be equal and fair.

I enjoyed the multiple points of view present and the well-rounded secondary characters, particularly the magistrate Sir Lovejoy. I haven’t looked ahead in the series at all, but I do hope that this magistrate makes a return. In general, the secondary characters are interesting, dynamic and stand apart from each other in distinct ways, so it’s a pleasure to read.

To my delight, there seems to be a romantic subplot which I’d like to leave as a surprise for my fellow readers. .

I found the mystery gripping. It’s tightly plotted and as with all good mysteries, at the end, the culprit is a genuine surprise, but when you look back at the clues, they all align with that suspect. I particularly enjoyed the detailed Regency London I got to know through the various clues dug up and followed by Sebastian.

If you can stomach the content warnings and you don’t mind romance playing second fiddle and you enjoy a self-aware hero with baggage, then you might enjoy this book as much as I did. Once I mentally adjusted to the genre of the book, I found myself so immersed in the story that my actual life was forgotten while I was reading. I’m going to have to pace myself with this series. While I’ll definitely continue reading it, I’m going to space out the books so I can savour them.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/reviews/what-angels-fear-by-cs-harris/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?post_type=reviews&p=172232

smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/05/whatcha-reading-may-2026-part-one/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=172686

Wooden bench and flowering plants in garden Happy Saturday! It’s time for Whatcha Reading! Here’s how we’re kick off May:

Lara: After reading Dolly All The Time by Annabel Monaghan ( A | BN | K | AB ) (and LOVING it with one tiny caveat – full review coming), I’ve decided to delve into her back catalogue and this morning I started Nora Goes Off Script. Of course I only got 20 minutes in before my daughter woke up and the pre-school morning routine kicked in, but I’m looking forward to it. (edited)

Claudia: I am in some circle of hell where nothing is sticking!!

Shana: Oh no! That sounds so hard, Claudia.

A | BN | K | AB

I’m reading A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers, ( A | BN | K ) on audiobook. I tried to read the book when it first came out, but I wasn’t in the right mood for a meditative read. It’s perfect for me right now!

Sarah: I’m reading Platform Decay for the 2nd time, and a book called Murder at Gulls Nest, a mystery set in the 50s featuring a former nun who leaves her convent after 30 years to figure out what happened to her missing friend, a former novitiate.

Susan: My brain is very smooth this week, so I’m basically switching between D-Genesis ( A | BN | K | AB ) (researcher accidentally kills a dungeon boss in a car accident and unlocks the stat window, decides to research how levelling up works) and The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter ( A | BN | K | AB ) (very fun; an accountant gets summoned to a magical world, attempts to solve the national budget, and falls into a very respectful fuck or die).

Sarah: Update: I’ve now started the audiobook of Platform Decay, narrated by Kevin R. Free, AND am still reading Murder at Gull’s Nest.

Whatcha reading? Tell us in the comments!

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/05/whatcha-reading-may-2026-part-one/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=172686

apod_feed

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260508.html

Which way is

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260508.html

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Posted by Victor Mair

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=73483&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=some-recent-articles-on-language-and-linguistics-part-2

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=73483

"How Six Minnesotans Are Preserving Their Rare Languages." Das, Shubhanjana. Sahan Journal, April 28, 2026. https://sahanjournal.com/arts-culture/native-speakers-rare-languages-minnesota/.

"An Inverse Correlation between Structural Linguistic and Human Genetic Diversity." Graff, Anna et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 123, no. 18 (May 5, 2026): e2526762123. https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2526762123.

"An Interdisciplinary Perspective on the Definition of Evaluative Meaning: What Can Linguistics Learn from Psychology and Philosophy?" Jiang, Jiaxing et al. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (May 7, 2026). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-026-07138-7.

"Source Language Interference or Cognitive Load Minimization? Evidence from a Syntactic Dependency-Annotated Corpus of Bidirectional Interpreting." Jiang, Xinlei et al. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (April 29, 2026). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-026-07400-y.

"A New Early-Ninth-Century Manuscript of Cædmon's Hymn: Rome, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Vitt. Em. 1452, 122v." Magnanti, Elisabetta et al. Early Medieval England and Its Neighbours 52 (April 28, 2026): e9. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/early-medieval-england-and-its-n/article/new-earlyninthcentury-manuscript-of-caedmons-hymn-rome-biblioteca-nazionale-centrale-vitt-em-1452-122v/2496FC9C9E4876935BB4190048C7C8A9.

[courtesy of Ted McClure]

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=73483&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=some-recent-articles-on-language-and-linguistics-part-2

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=73483

smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/05/demons-time-travel-more/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=172669

The Marriage Method

RECOMMENDED: The Marriage Method by Mimi Matthews is $1.99! Lara reviewed this one and gave it an A:

If you’re looking for a book that has tender love at its core set in a good mystery with lashings of feminism in Victorian England, then this book will more than surpass your expectations.

The Academy always comes first . . . which makes marriage to its most formidable adversary an exceedingly inconvenient arrangement.

Well removed from London’s more curious eyes, the Benevolent Academy for the Betterment of Young Ladies strives toward one clandestine goal: to distract, disrupt, and discredit men in power who would seek to harm the advancement of women—by appropriate means, of course.

When intrepid newspaper editor Miles Quincy starts to question the school’s intentions, the Academy appoints Penelope “Nell” Trewlove, one of their brightest graduates, to put this nuisance to rest. An easy enough mission, she supposes. Or it would be, if Miles wasn’t so fascinating—too fascinating to resist—and if Nell’s visit to London didn’t perfectly coincide with the murder of one of Miles’s reporters.

When the inexorable claws of fate trap Nell and Miles in a compromising situation, they agree to an arrangement that will save their reputations while enabling them to investigate the story that led to a man’s death, as well as the surprising chemistry between them . . .

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

The Heart Principle

RECOMMENDED: The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang is $1.99! This is the third book in The Kiss Quotient trilogy, which I loved. I liked this one a lot. However, I’m not sure if or when I’ll do a re-read as it deals heavily with caring for a parent, especially one with which the heroine has really complicated dynamics. I had to do that over the pandemic and it was a very personal and emotional read for me.

A woman struggling with burnout learns to embrace the unexpected—and the man she enlists to help her—in this heartfelt new romance by USA Today bestselling author Helen Hoang.

When violinist Anna Sun accidentally achieves career success with a viral YouTube video, she finds herself incapacitated and burned out from her attempts to replicate that moment. And when her longtime boyfriend announces he wants an open relationship before making a final commitment, a hurt and angry Anna decides that if he wants an open relationship, then she does, too. Translation: She’s going to embark on a string of one-night stands. The more unacceptable the men, the better.

That’s where tattooed, motorcycle-riding Quan Diep comes in. Their first attempt at a one-night stand fails, as does their second, and their third, because being with Quan is more than sex—he accepts Anna on an unconditional level that she has just started to understand herself. However, when tragedy strikes Anna’s family she takes on a role that she is ill-suited for, until the burden of expectations threatens to destroy her. Anna and Quan have to fight for their chance at love, but to do that, they also have to fight for themselves.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

A Demon’s Guide to Wooing a Witch

A Demon’s Guide to Wooing a Witch by Sarah Hawley is $1.99! This is book two in the Glimmer Falls series, which didn’t work for me as I prefer my paranormal romances to be a little darker. The heroine is a gym rat witch and the hero is a snarky demon with amnesia.

Calladia Cunnington curses the day she met Astaroth the demon, but when he shows up memoryless, why does she find him so helpless . . . and sort of hot?

Calladia Cunnington knows she’s rough around the edges, despite being the heir to one of small-town Glimmer Falls’ founding witch families. While her gym obsession is a great outlet for her anxieties and anger, her hot temper still gets the best of her and manifests in bar brawls. When Calladia saves someone from a demon attack one night, though, she’s happy to put her magic and rage to good use . . . until she realizes the man she saved is none other than Astaroth, the ruthless demon who orchestrated a soul bargain on her best friend.

Astaroth is a legendary soul bargainer and one of the nine members of the demon high council—except he can’t remember any of this. Suffering from amnesia after being banished to the mortal plane, Astaroth doesn’t know why a demon named Moloch is after him, nor why the muscular, angry, hot-in-a-terrifying-way witch who saved him hates him so much.

Unable to leave anyone in such a vulnerable state—even the most despicable demon—Calladia grudgingly decides to help him. (Besides, punching an amnesiac would be in poor taste.) The two set out on an uneasy road trip to find the witch who might be able to restore Astaroth’s memory so they can learn how to defeat Moloch. Calladia vows that once Astaroth is cured, she’ll kick his ass, but the more time she spends with the snarky yet utterly charming demon, the more she realizes she likes this new, improved Astaroth . . . and maybe she doesn’t want him to recover his memories, after all.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Her Time Traveling Duke

Her Time Traveling Duke by Bryn Donovan is $1.99! This is a standalone romance with a duke who travels to modern times. Have any of you read this one?

Magic meets science and sunshine meets grumpy when a love spell whisks a Regency-era duke to modern times.

Rose Novak, a free-spirited museum employee who dabbles in magic, has had her share of disappointments. So when she tries a little spell for a romance with an “old-fashioned gentleman,” she doesn’t really expect it to work…especially literally. And yet, the duke from a painting she admired at the museum is now standing in her apartment, demanding to know who abducted him.

A man of science and truth, Henry Leighton-Lyons, the Duke of Beresford, has searched tirelessly for a way to turn back time and be with his late wife again. Instead, just as he’s about to pose for his portrait, he’s ripped centuries forward by a feckless, scantily dressed—and utterly bewitching—woman who believes in nonsense like magical crystals and astrology.

Unable to immediately reverse her spell, Rose vows to help Henry return to his own century, even though disguises and high jinks are required to get their hands on an enchanted astrolabe and master the art of time travel. But it’s hard not to fall for the irritable yet honorable duke.

Little does she know that he’s starting to did a reckless love spell get it right, after all?

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/05/demons-time-travel-more/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=172669

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May 8th, 2026

May 8th, 2026: I saw the best minds of my generation, and they're doing great! They're really having a good time of it and it's so nice to see.

– Ryan

http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=4468

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Posted by Sean Gaffney

https://suitablefortreatment.mangabookshelf.com/2026/05/08/the-bladesmiths-enchanted-weapons-vol-4/

http://27.19112

By Kazuma Ogiwara and CARIMARICA. Released in Japan as “Isekai Toushou no Maken Seisaku Gurashi” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Ryan Burris.

This remains a series written almost entirely for teenage boys, but it’s worth noting that this isn’t just one aspect of things teenage boys like. Obviously there’s the stuff about the swords, because teen boys love swords, and fantasy authors love treating the swords like they’re women, which this book absolutely does. It’s also written for teen boys in terms of the sexuality – Lutz and Claudia remain very sexually active, and a princess of another country’s city/tribe is mostly described by her large breasts. But there’s something else teenage boys like, and that’s grimdark, and this series has that as well. It never quite spills over into actual tragedy, but there’s a lot of bleak, depressing stuff in this series, ranging from the start with Claudia being saved from a fate worse than death (more on that later), to a clan leader who has let the love of a sword turn him evil, to a vengeful knight seeking to atone for past sins by killing his fellow sinners. It’s not fluffy.

This story essentially consists of two parts. In the first, Lutz, Claudia, and Ricardo head to the federation to see what’s going on there after the death of their king. Turns out things aren’t great. They meet up with Gwynn, the guy who asked Lutz to create a katana he could give painless death with, and together they head to a wretchedly poor city where the chief seems to really, really hate them. He has a daughter who’s far more sensible, but he also has a bewitching katana that has killed three of her brothers when they challenged dear old dad. Maybe an unbewitching katana from Lutz can help. When they return home, they find that there’s a masked avenger going around killing the lazy knights, and while Lutz and especially Claudia have no love lost for those guys, Lutz decides to investigate just in case this turns out to be the fault of one of his katanas, like almost everything else in this series.

There is some humor in this, of course. The darkness of the village chief and his bewitching sword is offset by the adorableness of the first love between Gwynn and Melty. There’s another subplot about Ricardo asking for a second katana to be used with Tsubaki as a dual wield, and it’s up to Lutz to show Ricardo that dual wielding is something mostly done by fictional heroes for good reason. But we see slavery here, and a village whose people are starving to death just because its chief wants a second priceless katana to go with his first. There’s also the entire plot with Donaldo, who worships Lutz for all the wrong reasons. Lutz has to secretly meet with Donaldo to resolve this, because much as Claudia likes to pretend that she’s over the terror of what the knights did to her in the first book, she’s really not, and he knows that he needs to handle this away from her. The darkness of this world leaks in whether you want it to or not, and it’s impossible to get rid of.

It will be interesting to see where this series goes next – especially given we’re now seeing Enchanted Weapons by people other than Lutz. I’m still really loving it.

https://suitablefortreatment.mangabookshelf.com/2026/05/08/the-bladesmiths-enchanted-weapons-vol-4/

http://27.19112

gunnerkrigg_feed

http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=3255

She's probably beyond the Ultraworld.

http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=3255

smartbitches_feed

Posted by SB Sarah

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/05/friday-videos-say-make-your-time/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=172323

So, wanna hear something a little embarrassing?

I have been Chroniquelly Onlinne since forever, but there were some mysteries that to me seemed like magic.

Like Photoshop.

To be honest, Photoshop remains a bit of a mystery to me, and the skills I do have with it probably amount to .00001% of its capabilities.

So when I first saw this video ages and ages ago (2001??! 25 years?) I could not believe how road signs and awnings and whatnot were all altered and looked so real. Ah, what an innocent time for me.

Watch on YouTube

Even a random Ziggy sighting? This is quite a time capsule.

I hope your weekend contain all your base that belong to you.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/05/friday-videos-say-make-your-time/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=172323

smartbitches_feed

Posted by SB Sarah

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast/717-archangels-finale-with-nalini-singh/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?post_type=podcast&p=172637

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!

Listen to the podcast →

Read the transcript →

Here are the books we discuss in this podcast:

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

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We also mentioned:

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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But as Clover and Bennett hide the true nature of their marriage, they find that playing house isn’t all that bad–especially with certain marital benefits in the mix. In fact, Clover and Bennett are soon forgetting the most important part of their fake marriage of convenience . . . that it’s supposed to be fake.

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