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Adib Khorram’s new book, Isn’t He Romantic, is out this week, so of course I wanted to ask many questions about it. This is the third in a trilogy about three queer Iranian American friends, and our conversation touches on some of the themes of the book, such as aging and ageism in the gay community, reclaiming fun games from your youth, and about trends in m/m romance currently. You can find Adib Khorram on his website, AdibKhorram.com! We also mentioned: Podcast: Adib on the Culture Study podcast discussing heartthrobsYouTube: Adib on The Gaily ShowInterview: Adib on the APALA siteStonewall Sports! We Need Diverse BooksRomancing the CraftClair Obscur: Expedition 33Young the Giant: Victory Garden Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re back in the time machine to check out the ads and features from the February 2012 issue of Romantic Times. We’re talking about Anastasia, Madame Toussauds, and how close some cover models get to showing some hog. THEN! Then, we have about a half hour of live cover snark. I’m wondering if this video will be taken down by the Y’Tube, because these covers are…unclothed. What was the thing you were obsessed with when you were younger? Was it mythology, Anastasia, or something else? Do you love historical pettiness? What’s your favorite example? Don’t forget you can find this episode on YouTube – for now! And, you can feed the YouTube werewolves if you Lycan Subscribe to our channel! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest this week is Dylan Allen, and Lucy Wilson-Tagoe, who are conveniently the same person. Dylan Allen is a bestselling author of contemporary romance, while Lucy Wilson-Tagoe’s newest book To Catch a Sinner, is out now. It’s a mystery and a romance set in DC that focuses on art repatriation and the cultural minefield therein. So we’re going to talk about art, writing, the DC of her imagined world in the book, and about the romances that shaped her writing. We also talk about her choosing a new pen name and why that was so meaningful for her. You can find the links and books we mentions in the show notes at SBTB. You can find this episode on YouTube if you’d like to watch our conversation. You can find Lucy Wilson-Tagoe at her website, LucyWilsonTagoe.com, and on Instagram. You can find Dylan Allen at her website, DylanAllenBooks.com. We also mentioned: Dylan Allen’s interview with Jillian Stein of Blue Box Press (YouTube)The National Museum of African American History and Culture  music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This month we’re going back to September 2012 to take a look at the new books in Romantic Times magazine. We’re talking about a very male hero, letting teens be teens, and hooray, there are dozens of terrible men to add to the pile. We also talk about our favorite Garth Brooks songs, and our go-to karaoke songs. (What’s yours?) At about 25 minute in we talk about something rather morbid – books bound in human skin, of which there are very few for obvious reasons. You can find us on YouTube if you’d like to watch this episode! And you can find all the books we mentioned at SBTB! Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jess Rothschild is a podcaster and journalist, one of the founding writers at Autostraddle, and her latest project is a documentary podcast called Finding Fire Island, about the history of Fire Island, Cherry Grove, and the Pines. Her prior work includes The Cult of Soul Cycle, and I love BOTH of these productions. Jess has been writing online longer than I have, and we talk about internet history, the process of making a podcast documentary, and what it’s like to have all your neighbors tell their most juicy, gossipy stories to you. For work.  Finding Fire Island is a unique historical record, and I hope you’ll listen or watch.  Please be advised that you can’t talk about gay history in the US without talking about the AIDS epidemic and the loss of so many people, so this episode is a little poignant at times.  You can find Jess Rothschild on Instagram @JessXNYC. Links ahoy! Finding Fire IslandThe Cult of Body and SoulHulu – Black Twitter: A People’s HistoryHot Takes and Deep Dives – Jess’s podcastCaitlin Whyte – Jess’s Sound DesignerThemAutostraddleDads & Daddies Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are back in the early 90s, when the mullets were epic and the covers were sumptuous. Come on back to July 1992 with us as we explore the ads & features of the 100th issue of Romantic Times Magazine! This issue contains some FASCINATING retrospective looks at romance, cover art, and more, and I think it is one of the primary sources cited for some of the more common stories I’ve heard about romance. Were you a Borders, B. Dalton, or Waldenbooks reader, or another bookshop entirely? Don’t forget – you can watch this episode on YouTube with the visuals on screen, or look for the visual aids at SBTB! We also mentioned: The sandals from Keen I mentioned in the outro.Lucynka’s posts on SBTB about pulp romanceMarysville Public Library: Nora Roberts Go Fish (Facebook video)Lake Villa District Library: Nora Roberts Challenge (Tiktok video) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dylan MarcAurele is the writer and composer behind The Heated Rivalry Unauthorized Musical Parody, and I am extremely excited to share this interview with you! We’re going to talk about writing musical theatre, his writing process, and how long it took him to write this musical (you won’t believe it). He also talks about the actors and how the show came to be – it’s delightful. Musical theater and romance have a lot of similarities I hadn’t considered, and I learned so much from this conversation – I hope you love it, too. I also have some questions from author Kirsty Greenwood, who I saw the musical with, as she is also a massive musical theater fan. Thank you, Kirsty! You can find Dylan MarcAurele at his website, DylanMarcAurele.com.  We also mentioned: Pop Off MichelangeloLewis Loves ClarkThe Real Housewives of New York Parody MusicalPlaybill: Heated Rivalry Parody Musical to Release Cast Album And of course, you can find tickets to The Heated Rivalry Unauthorized Parody Musical at their website. ... Special thanks to the sponsor for this week's episode: A Hard Habit to Break by Siera London. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s RT Rewind time again! This month, we’re going back to July 1992 to check out the new releases reviewed in…the 100th issue of Romantic Times magazine! Yup, the cover is memorable, and so are the book covers. We discuss: Cover models! Who would be the cover model for subgenre specific magazine issues?Nostalgia! Are the tag lines on the cover both references to cigarette ads?Reviews! There are some absolute classics in this issue, including Outlander.Reading slumps! There are so many people in one, including me. Do you like to listen to your favorite podcasts on YouTube? Come hang out with us there, and you’ll see the book covers, images, and faces we make at each other. We also mentioned: Hollywood Demons: “Stephen Collins, America’s Dad” (HBO) (TW/CW Discussion of CSA, CSAM)A clip of Scaachi Koul and Rob Anderson discussing Stephen Collins from the documentary (Facebook Reel)“Are You Afraid of the 90s?” Rob Anderson’s comedy special (YouTube – free)Rob Anderson’s website, Heartthrob-Anderson.comWhatcha Reading? July 2026 Part I Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The re-release of The Luckiest Lady in London has arrived, and Sherry Thomas joins me to talk about the writing of that book more than 13 years ago, how romance and historicals have changed, and how this book is a reflection and subversion of another very, very famous historical romance. Plus, she gives us recommendations of her favorite historical romance authors and some of their books. Note: we had some connectivity issues, so sometimes the edit sounds a little abrupt. If you’re watching the video, the video does freeze while the audio continues. My apologies. You can find Sherry Thomas at her website, SherryThomas.com. She’s on Bluesky, on Instagram @writersherrythomas, and on Facebook as AuthorSherryThomas. Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey, where are you going? Get in the time machine – we want to bring you back to March 2009 to check out the ads & features from Romantic Times Magazine. We’ve got: Snippy letters to the editor!Covers that look like shaving cream ads for womenReading in a recessionFolks explaining steampunk!Pop vs. SodaAnd you’ll find out what words are used in an acrostic of “pandemic.” TW: In the middle you’ll hear from Editing Sarah – which is when I interject additional info into the episode while I’m editing it – for about a minute and a half. There is some gross fatphobia and mean terminology in that section. Skip ahead when I start reading the paragraph about 30 seconds. And you can watch this episode on YouTube to see all the images as we discuss them.  You are most welcome to subscribe to our YouTube channel if you would like! We also mentioned: “When Your Friend Goes Steampunk” by Key & Peele (YouTube)Booklender.comBookMooch.comPaperbackswap.com“‘Girls’ EP Inks Deal With HBO, Developing Comedy With Mike White” by Lesley Goldberg, December 2, 2013, Hollywood Reporter“‘Mr. Romance’ woos New Regency” by Michael Fleming, December 16, 2008, Variety Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jo Piazza is my guest this week to discuss her new book, The Parisian Heist. This book is a dual timeline story weaving together a 1990s heist at the Orsay museum with the story of Jo van Gogh, Vincent van Gogh’s sister in law, who is the reason we know who Vincent is today. Along the way we talk about DNFing booksStealing artMythologizing artists usually menAnd how many women do nearly everything half scared. You can find Jo Piazza – and her book tour! – at her website JoPiazza.com. Her podcast is Under the Influence. And you can hear her discussing her book Everyone is Lying to You in Episode 677. Everyone is Lying to You with Jo Piazza. We also mentioned: Anthony Amore, Director of Security and Chief Investigator at the Isabella Stewart Gardner MuseumThe Gardner Museum TheftThe Red Wheelbarrow Bookshop, ParisIn the Café: Agostina Segatori in Le Tambourin, Van Gogh MuseumA Crab on its Back, Van Gogh MuseumBookcase Books, Jo Piazza’s pop up bookstore, on Bookshop.org  Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re back in the time machine heading to March 2009 to check out the new books reviewed in Romantic Times Magazine. We’ve got: Hot dog shrinesAlpha heroinesPT CruisersAllegories for the siege of LeningradWhore’s Dust We’ve got some new books in the magazine that are still bangers today across many genres, alongside some books that we’re going to leave in 2009, right after we talk about them in this episode. We got big yikes, folks! Big yikes! You can find this episode on YouTube at Smart Podcast Trashy Books. Music: purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A few months ago, Kayleigh Donaldson joined me to discuss Oscar predictions and other pop culture stories, and we decided to connect quarterly to discuss popular culture. We discuss the misogyny attached to Timothy Chalamet hate, a deep dive into the public post history of Club Chalamet as indicative of larger issues in fandom behavior, Madonna’s new album, Lizzo’s new album, and the Tartan Army. The through-line of our conversation is really fandoms, specifically changing fan and audience behavior for better or for worse, what it means, why it’s happening, and maybe, how can it stop already. When two book bloggers who have been on the internet for a good while discuss pop culture, it’s a very good time. You can find Kayleigh Donaldson at her website, KayleighDonaldson.com, on Bluesky, and on Pajiba.com. You can also sign up for her (excellent) newsletter, Gossip Reading Club. You can find Kayleigh on the following episodes: 576. BookTok, Hockey Romance, and People as Products with Kayleigh Donaldson678. The Osmanification of Fiction Covers with Kayleigh Donaldson703. Oscars and Gossip with Kayleigh Donaldson We also mentioned: IG: footage of Madonna and Connor Storrie at Paris Fashion WeekWidow’s BayBitch by LizzoConfessions 2 by MadonnaMy Lady Jane Do you like to listen to your favorite podcasts on YouTube? https://www.youtube.com/@SmartPodcastTrashyBooks Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest this week is Kirsty Greenwood, whose new book Romantic Hero is out now everywhere, all over the world. Kirsty writes what she calls “speculative romantic comedy,” and I really loved her first book, Love of my Afterlife. We discuss SHOCKING topics like deleting the first book she tried to write, the character journeys in Romantic Hero, dealing with writer’s block, and punching people in the face. Want to watch this episode? Find us on YouTube! New! I’m posting clips from Romantic Times Rewind on TikTok!  ... You can find Kirsty Greenwood at her website, KirstyGreenwood.com, and sign up for her newsletter. You can also find her on Instagram and on Facebook at KirstyGreenwoodBooks. You can also listen to us discussing Love of my Afterlife in Episode 622. The Love of My Afterlife with Kirsty Greenwood. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The time machine is all charged up, and we’re headed back to May 1996 to take a look at the ads & features from Romantic Times magazine. It’s the late 90s, so you know that means Incredible Cover Art. We also discover just how much creepy stuff Amanda owns currently, debates about babies in romance, cheap conference hotel rooms, woman flamingos, and incredible women heroines. I don’t know if you’re a video watcher, but the video for this episode has ALL the visuals on screen.  But if you’re NOT a video watcher, the visual aids were so bountiful I needed to give them their own post.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.