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The Smut Report

@smutreport.com
2.6K followers 232 following 2.9K posts

We are three crones who have been swapping smut since we were maidens and therefore spend a lot of time yelling about romance books. Primarily managed by Holly. Blog at smutreport.com

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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 3h
Review: Baby Bump for the Mafia Boss by Evie Rose OTT Mafia Light Romance is ridiculous and fun.
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Review: Baby Bump for the Mafia Boss by Evie Rose (2026)
Heat Factor: She’s a virgin, he hasn’t been with anyone for ages (because of her, obvi), completely OTT Character Chemistry: “I love you so much, I won’t say anything for fear of upsetting you! But also, I’m kind of upset about it!” Plot: Two dumdums succumb to their mutual lust while trapped in the wilderness for a night, avoid each other for four months, then continue to avoid talking when a surprise pregnancy makes physical avoidance less desirable. Overall: It wasn’t as fun as the other two books I’ve read by this author, but it was still ridiculous and fun.
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 22h
This month's author spotlight is Rachel Reid. Hockey season is right around the corner, and if you haven't read her yet (but are thinking about some hockey reading this fall), here's what you should know about her books.
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Author Spotlight: Rachel Reid
Looking for a new author to try? Here's everything you need to know about Rachel Reid, whose books included Heated Rivalry (and the rest of the Game Changers series!), Time to Shine, and The Shots You Take. What She Writes: High heat M/M romance novels, almost entirely centered on Canadian protagonists (Game Changer and Common Goal being the exceptions), and always (so far) featuring active or retired hockey players. Writing Style: Reid writes in a semi-close 3rd person, past tense, with great suggestion. Because of this, the reader has numerous opportunities to observe the protagonist lying to himself, or to catch the little hints of emotional investment that are unclear to the protagonist in the midst of his own emotional turmoil, so it packs that emotional punch that frequently results in stomach flutters.
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 28/09/2026
It's Book Club time, and this month we read The Paris Match by Kate Clayborn. There were fewer tears and more metaphors than expected.
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TSR Book Club: The Paris Match by Kate Clayborn
This month was Holly's pick, and the team read The Paris Match by Kate Clayborn. There's discussion of on-the-nose metaphors, how we feel about *Paris*, and the moments that are really great. Note: There are a few big reveals in this book that happen about 3/4 of the way through, and we discuss them, so here's your SPOILERS note. Heat Factor: There’s a lot going on Character Chemistry: It’s like lightning and in those lighting flashes they are revealed to each other Plot: Damaged people overly invest themselves in other people’s unraveling wedding, and find their own impetus to change…
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 24/09/2026
If you're looking for more book people and artists to follow, @bookspotlight.bsky.social has curated some *great* starter packs
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 24/09/2026
ICYMI, yesterday's review
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Skye Kilaen @skyekilaen.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Queer authors, if you will be publishing a book on ITCH DOT IO and/or KOBO PLUS between now and Dec 31, please make that book known to me below. Especially if you're not publishing on the Evil River! Pre-order link is best, itch profile is great (so I can follow you), or whatever ya got. 🌈📚
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 23/09/2026
Dueling Review: Daggerbound by T. Kingfisher This is less a review with two different opinions because Ingrid and Holly both thought this book was great, and more a review of two people talking about how amazing it is that Kingfisher makes books that are simultaneously cozy and horrifying.
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Dueling Review: Daggerbound by T. Kingfisher (2026)
Swordheart, Book #2 Holly's Review of Swordheart, Book #1 | The Whole Team's Convo about Swordheart, Book #1 Holly's Take Heat Factor: A high ratio of innuendo to shagging Character Chemistry: Mutual admiration society Plot: Learned Edmund is bringing a dagger and some books to the big city but *surprise!* the dagger is a person Overall: This hits all the Kingfisher checkboxes Ingrid's Take Heat Factor: There’s heavy flirting and blushing but it’s not what I’d consider high heat.  Character Chemistry: I think meant to be opposites attract but they’re both ultimately serving as the cheerleader to each other’s humility/wounds…
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 22/09/2026
Haven't read this one, but I have read another book in this sex planet series, and it was utterly bonkers.
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 22/09/2026
Happy Release Day to REVENGE OF THE SUNSHINE, which features the most upbeat (if poorly thought out) revenge plot. And also a cute roommate situation.
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 21/09/2026
Reposting for the weekday crowd!
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 21/09/2026
Review: Revenge of the Sunshine by Jackie Lau Jackie Lau is a go-to comfort read author for me, and this one absolutely delivered on the premise.
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Review: Revenge of the Sunshine by Jackie Lau (2026)
Love & Spite, Book #1 Heat Factor: A solid chunk in the middle is them having allllll the sex Character Chemistry: She asks him to do activities with her and he discovers that having fun is a good thing Plot: Zoe gets revenge on her cheating ex by fake-dating his older brother. With exclamation marks! Overall: This was a fun read with surprising depth.
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 21/09/2026
This week on the podcast, we're talking about sex scenes that don't deliver.
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Tumblereads: Spanky Hanky Panky
Our conversation this week was inspired by this piece by Rien Grey on "if only" eroticism. We do talk about sex a bit more than we normally do, so please proceed accordingly.
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 19/09/2026
I would like to state, for the record, that while this piece was about my irritation about the writing style, I was also *deeply* annoyed by the purple blood stuff. Also the green blood stuff.
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 19/09/2026
I definitely hate move fast and break things, especially because the broken things are household appliances and hospitals and community ties.
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azteclady @azteclady.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
It's been a year, and shit is just getting worse: musings on disability, a year later.
herhandsmyhands.wordpress.com
Musings on disability: a year later.
For several months now, I’ve been fighting the impulse to write a rant about the appalling callousness on display on social media towards people with disability, especially people notionally …
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 18/09/2026
Review: Ignite the Infernos by Ivy Asher Ingrid was super excited about this follow up to Spark the Flame, but she's not sure it succeeded in doing what it needed to.
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Review: Ignite the Infernos by Ivy Asher (2026)
Secret of the Syphon, Book #2 Review of Secret of the Syphon, Book #1 Heat Factor: It’s mostly a lot of angry yearning, but it does have some heat Character Chemistry: They’re mates but they haven’t bonded yet and it apparently can be broken, but they don’t really want it to be… Plot: Ever flees Aeson and the Wing after killing the witch responsible for blocking the Syphons’ powers, he chases her, she re-establishes a tenuous connection with Aeson and the Wing after shattering that trust and then she pulls more shady moves because she can’t seem to help herself.
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 18/09/2026
We got some history corrections in the replies (which is awesome) but what I'm really looking for are recommendations for awesome Medieval romances that were published in the last ten years (besides Elizabeth Kingston)
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 18/09/2026
I would 100% read this book
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 17/09/2026
This week on My First Smut, Jessica Siskin talks about emerging from her literary reading bubble to find that romance books are awesome, actually.
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My First Smut: The Romance Resurgence
My First Smut is a recurring feature where we talk about our formative smut experiences. These short confessionals may include such details as: What book did you read? How old were you? Were there other people involved? What made the experience special? What role does smut play in your life? This week, Jessica Siskin talks about emerging from her literary fiction bubble (we're so happy to have her here!) First romance novel you read I''d read plenty of books with romance before, but the first time I realized I was reading a ~romance~ it was People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry.
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 16/09/2026
I love the specificity of her wanting to cover this man in hagfish slime
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 16/09/2026
It's TBR Challenge day and *apparently* the Smut Report team was on top of things, so we've got three mini reviews for your reading pleasure!
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TBR Challenge: Lush Life
September’s theme prompt for Super Wendy’s #TBRChallenge 2026 was “Lush Life.” Here are the books we chose to tackle our TBRs this month. Holly Read: Something about Emmaline by Elizabeth Boyle Bachelor Chronicles, Book #1 Why was this book on your TBR? Well, this might not be in the spirit of the challenge, but Erin suggested it (very recently) for a recommendation list we were putting together, and I was like, “Oh, I definitely gotta read that one.” Why did you choose this book for this month’s challenge? Emmaline is a con artist who has finagled her way into the aristocracy.
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 15/09/2026
We're discussing Medieval Romance on the blog today, and cover such important issues as: Is the political intrigue stressful or fun? Is the lack of hygiene too gross to enjoy? Must there be knights?
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Let’s Talk Settings: Medieval Romance
Bottom line: Do you like the Medieval setting? Holly: OMG YES. I don’t even know why but it hits every single part of my id. Erin: It’s so stressful. And for years I really couldn’t get over how filthy everyone had to be all the time. It got better, but it’s not fully in the realm of total suspension of disbelief for me. Ingrid: I don’t? But I also think it’s half because of what Erin said and half because most of the Medieval romances I’ve read were real old and real…morally questionable.
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 15/09/2026
ICYMI, my blog post from yesterday
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 15/09/2026
I can confirm that Reina's romances are both cozy and thoughtful
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 15/09/2026
Started my morning by deleting 120 unread emails. Today, I am invincible!
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 15/09/2026
I'm feeling some kind of way about the epigraphs in Bride, so I decided to write about them
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Spoon Feeding
One thing that’s come up quite a bit over the past year, especially in our podcast discussions, is our frustration with authors who spoon feed every bit of information to readers. I admit, usually it’s Ingrid saying this (maybe because more people are guilty of this in her preferred subgenres than mine?), but I read an absolutely infuriating example of this exact phenomenon over the weekend, so I feel like some yelling is in order. The book: Bride by Ali Hazelwood. Before everyone starts yelling at me about how Ali Hazelwood is a writing phenomenon and…
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 14/09/2026
Happy Monday folks! If you need some people in your ears talking about romance to get you through the day, check out our latest convo on the podcast
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 14/09/2026
This week on the podcast, we're talking about things that ruin meet cutes for us.
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Tumblereads: How to Ruin a Meet Cute in 10 Ways
Ingrid loves a craft theme, so this week, we're talking about how authors ruin meet cutes.
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 11/09/2026
Review: The Dark Lord's Guide to Honeymooning (and Other Acts of Tyranny) by Tiffany Hunt This is definitely a transitional book—and while Ingrid loved the first book in this series, the jury is still out as to whether the whole thing will come together.
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Review: The Dark Lord’s Guide to Honeymooning (and Other Acts of Tyranny) by Tiffany Hunt (2026)
Guides to Villainy and Love, Book #2 Review of Guides to Villainy and Love, Book #1 Heat Factor: It’s steamy in a few parts, but there’s a lot going on so they don’t have a ton of time for hanky panky. Character Chemistry: The main characters are clearly in love and can’t figure out how to say it. Plot: Kaz and Arabella are proceeding with their villainous plans for domination but also have to figure out how to regain lost memories, prevent the ley lines from being completely corrupted, fight off being overthrown by a crappy, evil council, and tell each other they’re in love with the other person.
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 11/09/2026
How could I resist buying this?
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 10/09/2026
This week on My First Smut, Rose Prendeville talks Star Trek novelizations and the great feeling of safe anxiety that you get from reading an angsty romance.
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My First Smut: Watching Two Idiots Fall in Love
My First Smut is a recurring feature where we talk about our formative smut experiences. These short confessionals may include such details as: What book did you read? How old were you? Were there other people involved? What made the experience special? What role does smut play in your life? This week, author Rose Prendeville shares her path to romance via Star Trek. First romance novel you read: Imzadi by Peter David How old were you? 13 How'd you get your hands on the book? I was a big Star Trek fan, so I was reading a lot of Star Trek novelizations at the time, and my parents thought nothing of me buying this one in the store.
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 08/09/2026
Hey #romancelandia, in case you missed it because you were, I dunno, outside on Labor Day, here's our review from yesterday
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 08/09/2026
Review: By Any Means by E.M. Caro Industrialist with secrets meets a muckraking journalist. There's a LOT going on in this book, so as long as you're prepared for a meaty read, it's so worth it.
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Review: By Any Means by E.M. Caro
Heat Factor: They’re mostly too busy until things come to a head (literally) in a bathhouse Character Chemistry: There’s a lot of mistrust they have to work through Plot: Laurie is sent to investigate Chary and everything seems like a nothing burger…until the bodies start stacking up Overall: This is a meaty romance
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 07/09/2026
For those who want to enjoy some smut with their labor day celebrations, here's a list from our archives about romances featuring labor organizing smutreport.com/2024/08/31/s...
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Saturday Smutty Six: Union Strong
Happy Labor Day weekend! In honor of the holiday, we’ve pulled together a list of six romances featuring labor organizers. Books are listed in chronological order by setting. Highland Jewel b…
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 07/09/2026
This week on Tumblereads, we're talking about series. And since that is a very broad category, our conversation went all over the place.
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Tumblereads: Series and all their Permutations
This week on Tumblereads, Erin wanted to talk about book series, which is a very large topic, so we kinda went all over the place.
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 07/09/2026
I read The Long Game by Elena Armas yesterday / today and normally contemporary romance is kind of meh for me, but this one got me right in the feels. It's a pretty standard forced proximity / sparring partners situation with a heroine who is very tightly wound but it hit just right.
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 04/09/2026
Review: The Lion and the Deathless Dark by Carissa Broadbent Ingrid doesn't recommend this as a standalone—but being Ingrid, she binged the whole series to write this review. And now she's obsessed.
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Review: The Lion and the Deathless Dark by Carissa Broadbent (2026)
Crowns of Nyaxia, Book #5 Heat Factor: It’s a delayed heat—much resistance to yearning until very near the end. Character Chemistry: They’re both arrogant, hyper-independent control freaks with a very hopeless outlook on the future and intimacy issues, so it’s…good. Plot: This is the point in the Crowns of Nyaxia series where we finally get the villain’s side of the story, and everything goes completely into chaos, as it should. Overall: I’m so excited for the next book that it’s almost painful.
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 03/09/2026
This week on My First Smut, author Melissa R. Collings talks about her slow shift into loving romance.
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My First Smut: Beautiful Stories / Beautiful Life
My First Smut is a recurring feature where we talk about our formative smut experiences. These short confessionals may include such details as: What book did you read? How old were you? Were there other people involved? What made the experience special? What role does smut play in your life? This week, author Melissa R. Collings talks about realizing that desire wasn't shameful. My first smut was less a particular book and more a very slow rebellion. I started reading romance when I was young, but my version of romance was Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters: longing, restraint, accidental brushes, and glances carrying the emotional weight of an entire relationship.
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 02/09/2026
Review: Playing His Game by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James This one follows the standard fake relationship beats—but it hits them juuuuust right
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Review: Playing His Game by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James (2026)
Heat Factor: Oooo, they do the arguing sexual tension crash into each other thing! Character Chemistry: I finally see all your soft parts, and I’m going to protect them Plot: Mo’s parents only care about image, and Mo chafes under their thumbs, so when he finds himself in trouble again, this time with the squeaky clean team captain, he covers by faking a relationship and is shocked when captain Adam agrees Overall: It really doesn’t stray from the beats, but that’s probably what made the *moments* swoop
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 02/09/2026
I mean, it worked for me (super excited about this one! Jackie Lau writes the best sunshines!)
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 02/09/2026
Just started reading my ARC of this one and I can report that Chapter 1 is *very promising*
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 02/09/2026
I don't use AI, at all, if I can help it. Why would I use AI to write book reviews on a book blog that I started with friends so I could share *my* ideas? (Plus my day job is making other people's AI slop sound like a human wrote it and it is as depressing as you would expect.)
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 02/09/2026
September releases we're excited about!
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September 2026 Releases We’re Excited About
Fence Book One by C.S. Pascat and Johanna the Mad Fence, #1 Releases September 1 Queer sports romance meets elite private school stakes in the first of three young adult graphic novels from the hit series! Scrappy fencer Nicholas Cox has big dreams of following in the footsteps of the father he’s never known, but when he’s accepted into the elite Kings Row private school, he’s thrust into a world of cutthroat competition. Facing down privileged rivals, grueling tryouts, and the seemingly unbeatable Seiji Katayama, Nicholas discovers that it will take more than determination to prove himself worthy of a place on the team.
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 02/09/2026
Intrigued by this one! The one other book by this author I read was excellent (and very sexy)
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 01/09/2026
August 2026 Wrap Up - here's what we got up to on the blog this month
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August 2026 Wrap Up
Is it fall where you are? We're all looking forward to cozy reading weather (and having school be back in session!). Our Favorite Reads Ingrid's Pick: Immortal Game by Allison Saft (Ingrid's full review.) Holly's Pick: A Gentleman Undone by Cecilia Grant Holly loves a prickly heroine, and there is no heroine more prickly than Lydia Slaughter. (Holly's full review.) Erin's Pick: A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske Look, there's a reason this historical fantasy mystery adventure is constantly recommended. (Get on Amazon.) More from the Blog…
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 31/08/2026
Review: Demons and Diplomacy by Megan Frampton I could appreciate what the author was doing, but it wasn't my cup of tea.
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Review: Demons and Diplomacy by Megan Frampton (2026)
Ministry of Supernatural Affairs, Book #1 Heat Factor: They get a bit frisky Character Chemistry: “You are the most attractive man I have ever met and even though I don’t love your lack of morals, I don’t think I can help myself.” Plot: The Devil comes to London, and Cora is the party’s human liaison. Overall: I could appreciate what the author was doing here, but it wasn’t for me
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 31/08/2026
This week's podcast episode -->
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 31/08/2026
For August book club, we read Not Another Vampire Book by Cassandra Gannon I guess we're a real book club now, because only one of us finished the book before we discussed it.
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TSR Book Club: Not Another Vampire Book by Cassandra Gannon
This month was Ingrid's pick, and Ingrid wanted something fun and silly, so we read Not Another Vampire Book by Cassandra Gannon. Mostly, we’re talking about the line between laughing at something or laughing with something. Heat Factor: It’s got heat, but the mayhem kind of masks it Character Chemistry: Does a pretty exceptional job of them seeing each other better than everyone else Plot: Book editor is sucked into what she describes as the “stupidest romance novel,” allies herself with the villain, and runs around trying to escape back to reality.
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 30/08/2026
I almost never post reviews on the weekends so…our most recent review for the Sunday crowd #romancelandia
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The Smut Report @smutreport.com · 29/08/2026
This piece over on @smartbitches.bsky.social about an old book with a new AI cover is even more saddening given how much the characters within the story love art smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/08/the-...
smartbitchestrashybooks.com
The Problem with AI, and Isabella's Rake - Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
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