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Posted by SB Sarah

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In Memoriam: Minoanmiss (Ny)

Mar. 3rd, 2026 07:33 pm
rachelmanija: (Hedgehog)
[personal profile] rachelmanija
I just heard that [personal profile] minoanmiss has died suddenly and unexpectedly of cardiac arrest; doctors were unable to determine a cause.

I am absolutely in shock. We emailed a couple days ago. I had promised to make her some pottery mini-books ages ago, finally made her a set of her favorite books (The King Must Die, The Bull from the Sea, The Mask of Apollo, and Bujold's Falling Free), plus The Minoan Mer with her as the author. I emailed her to get her current address. I didn't tell her what I was sending, because I wanted it to be a surprise. She sent it and wrote, "thank you in advance :)" Yesterday I tried to mail them. The post office didn't recognize her address, so I emailed her to confirm it and was puzzled when I didn't get a reply as she tends to reply quickly.

I am kicking myself for not making/mailing them sooner. She would have loved them, and she only missed them by days. This is a tiny thing in the grand scheme of it but she was so filled with joy when people made things for her, and all our interactions along those lines were so bright and joyous. The icon is a hedgehog because she sent me a hedgehog magnet for my fridge, which is still there. I should have reached out more.

She sent me rainbow fudge with each layer a different flavor - cardamom and mango were among them - and it was so delicious that every now and then I'd hopefully suggest that she go into professional candy-making.

Her art was so charming and distinctive.

She had such righteous anger and a passion for justice.

She was so sweet and kind and thoughtful. Just a really good person all-round. We never met in person and now we never will.
sovay: (PJ Harvey: crow)
[personal profile] sovay
I was in the middle of making snow-delayed hamantashn when I heard that [personal profile] minoanmiss who always raised a light for memory has gone out. She made art for my niece. I wrote "The House Snakes" for her. (She made art for it.) And once again the people who make this country so difficult to stay alive in are still burning and burdening this earth. I will raise a light, but I feel more like throwing a Molotov cocktail.

Fancake Theme for March: Siblings

Mar. 3rd, 2026 10:05 am
runpunkrun: combat boot, pizza, camo pants = punk  (punk rock girl)
[personal profile] runpunkrun posting in [community profile] fandomcalendar
Photograph of two adorable Vietnamese toddlers in identical denim overalls and dinosaur sweaters, text: Siblings, at Fancake.
[community profile] fancake is a thematic recommendation community where all members are welcome to post recs, and fanworks of all shapes and sizes are accepted. Check out the community guidelines for the full set of rules.

This theme runs for the entire month. If you have any questions, just ask!

Hockey, Non-Fiction, & More

Mar. 3rd, 2026 04:30 pm
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Posted by Amanda

Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism

Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams is $2.99! Sarah wrote about  the release of this book last spring. It was also our fourth most popular post of 2025.

From trips on private jets and encounters with world leaders to shocking accounts of misogyny and double standards behind the scenes, this searing memoir exposes both the personal and the political fallout when unfettered power and a rotten company culture take hold. In a gripping and often absurd narrative where a few people carelessly hold the world in their hands, this eye-opening memoir reveals what really goes on among the global elite.

Sarah Wynn-Williams tells the wrenching but fun story of Facebook, mapping its rise from stumbling encounters with juntas to Mark Zuckerberg’s reaction when he learned of Facebook’s role in Trump’s election. She experiences the challenges and humiliations of working motherhood within a pressure cooker of a workplace, all while Sheryl Sandberg urges her and others to “lean in.”

Careless People is a deeply personal account of why and how things have gone so horribly wrong in the past decade—told in a sharp, candid, and utterly disarming voice. A deep, unflinching look at the role that social media has assumed in our lives, Careless People reveals the truth about the leaders of Facebook: how the more power they grasp, the less responsible they become and the consequences this has for all of us.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Overnight Sensation

Overnight Sensation by Sarina Bowen is $2.49! This is book two in the Brooklyn series, which is a spin-off of the Brooklyn Bruiser series. This features one of my least favorite tropes: the off-limits heroine. However, Bowen is an auto-buy for a lot of us.

Everyone knows the girl is off limits. But it’s so good to be bad.


There’s this girl…
Heidi and I have been trading hungry looks all year, and everything she does makes me smile. But I don’t do girlfriends, and I certainly can’t get involved with the league commissioner’s daughter. I need shots on goal, not a hookup and a widely misunderstood paparazzi photo.

Can I resist her, though? The way she teases me should be a game penalty for interference with my libido.

There’s this guy…
Jason wants me, but he won’t admit it. That man looks at me the way a hockey player eyes the lunch buffet after practice–and I love it.

But when victory is finally within my grasp, I blow it and humiliate myself. Even then I can’t even avoid him–as the team intern, I’m in constant view of his hard body and cocky smile.

I need another chance. Jason Castro is about to learn the true meaning of an overnight sensation.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

How the Word is Passed

How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith is $2.99! This was mentioned either on Hide Your Wallet or Whatcha Reading, and generally comes highly recommended. How are library waitlists doing for this one?

Poet and contributor to The Atlantic Clint Smith’s revealing, contemporary portrait of America as a slave owning nation 

Beginning in his own hometown of New Orleans, Clint Smith leads the reader through an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks-those that are honest about the past and those that are not-that offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping our nation’s collective history, and ourselves.

It is the story of the Monticello Plantation in Virginia, the estate where Thomas Jefferson wrote letters espousing the urgent need for liberty while enslaving over 400 people on the premises. It is the story of the Whitney Plantation, one of the only former plantations devoted to preserving the experience of the enslaved people whose lives and work sustained it. It is the story of Angola Prison in Louisiana, a former plantation named for the country from which most of its enslaved people arrived and which has since become one of the most gruesome maximum-security prisons in the world. And it is the story of Blandford Cemetery, the final resting place of tens of thousands of Confederate soldiers.

In a deeply researched and transporting exploration of the legacy of slavery and its imprint on centuries of American history, How the Word Is Passed illustrates how some of our country’s most essential stories are hidden in plain view-whether in places we might drive by on our way to work, holidays such as Juneteenth, or entire neighborhoods—like downtown Manhattan—on which the brutal history of the trade in enslaved men, women and children has been deeply imprinted.

Informed by scholarship and brought alive by the story of people living today, Clint Smith’s debut work of nonfiction is a landmark work of reflection and insight that offers a new understanding of the hopeful role that memory and history can play in understanding our country.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

It’s a Love Story

It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan is $1.99! This is a contemporary romance with a former teen TV star who tells a lie that spirals out of control. Have you read this one?

From the USA Today bestselling author of Nora Goes Off Script, a novel about a former adolescent TV punchline who has left her awkwardness in the rearview mirror thanks to a fake-it-till-you-make-it mantra that has her on the cusp of success, until she tells a lie that sets her on a crash-course with her past, spending a week in Long Island with the last man she thinks might make her believe in love.

Rules for a love story: There are none. It’s all a lie.

Jane Jackson knows that true love is a lie. Laughter is the only truth—you can’t fake a belly laugh. Jane should know, she spent her adolescence as “Poor Janey Jakes,” the barbecue-sauce-in-her-braces punchline on America’s fifth-favorite sitcom. Now she’s a Creative Executive at Clearwater Studios and she’s living by a new mantra: Fake it till you make it.

Except, she might have faked it too far. Desperate to get her first project greenlit and riled up by pompous cinematographer and one-time crush Dan Finnegan, she opened her mouth and a big fat fib fell out. She claimed that Jack Quinlan, hottest popstar of the moment, has promised to write an original song for the soundtrack. Jack may have been her first kiss—and greatest source of shame—but she hasn’t spoken to him in twenty years.

Now, Jane must turn to the last man she’d ever want to owe: Dan Finnegan. Because Jack is playing a festival in Dan’s hometown on Long Island, and Dan has an in. A week in close quarters with Dan while facing down her past is Jane’s idea of hell, but Dan just might surprise her. While covering up her lie, can they find something true?

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

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Posted by Amanda

This HaBO is from Anna, who wants to find this romance:

I recently came across this scene from a new book an author was self promoting on Instagram and looked it up on Goodreads but I guess I forgot to add it. She’s probably not as well known or maybe an indie author. It was one of those pictures of the excerpts.

The heroine is a transfer student to Eastern or Central Europe, most likely in a college setting (possibly Austria? Switzerland?). From what I remember, a female side character started insulting her or started an argument and the hero publicly defended her.

The trope might be sports romance as well but I could be wrong. I’ve been trying to look everywhere for it.

Sound familiar?

siderea: (Default)
[personal profile] siderea
I have been kicking around a post idea for something like a year or a year and a half, but I've been torn between wanting to write it as a post (and tell you things) and wanting to ask for solutions.

Mr. Bostoniensis and I have been trying to consolidate our household, and the Brave New World of the Internet is... not facilitating this. Vendor after vendor, platform after platform, is organized around the concept of a single user account. Even when company accounts nominally allow multiple user accounts, typically one user account is the real user account and the other has restricted access.

For instance, when setting up joint financial instruments, we split up the work: I would set up the joint bank accounts, he would set up the joint credit cards. We subsequently discovered that he can't access the statements and tax documents in our nominally-joint bank account's online portal, and I can't have an independent login at all for our allegedly joint credit cards that show up on my credit report.

This is infuriating. What we want to happen is that he and I have equal full access to the accounts we share, such that either of us can do what needs to be done on them, which I thought was a pretty normal approach to, well, life. I did not think heterosexual marriage was some sort of weird counter-cultural edge-case, and it offends my software developer soul to be reduced to sharing usernames and passwords.

But that is exactly the case, and I would just hold my nose and do it, except for one thing.

Two-factor authentication.

If I want to be able to two-factor into an account that uses his phone number, I have to access his phone. Something best done while he is not asleep, which, unfortunately, is precisely when I am most likely to want to be paying bills or doing online shopping. Likewise, if he wants to two-factor into an account that uses my phone number, he'll need access to my phone. Which, honestly, he could probably slip into the room and grab off the charger while I'm asleep – which is precisely when he'll be wanting into those accounts – but that does him no good if say I were out of town or in the hospital or some such.

And more and more 2FA is becoming mandatory. You can't turn it off. (Or in the notable case of one of our credit cards, you can turn it off. It will two-factor you anyways, but the account settings assure you it's off.)

Two-factor authentication is stupid and awful for so many reasons, but it has only recently dawned on me that one of them is that 2FA is intended to keep anyone else from logging in to your account and I actually want someone else to log into my account. Legitimately, I think.

So.

Obviously, the Bostoniensis household requires some sort of telephony solution such that:

• text messages (SMS) sent to a single phone number propagate to two cell phones; *

• either of the two cell phones can originate text messages from that single phone number which is not the phone number of either of those phones; **

• and the phone that didn't send the reply gets a copy of it, so it can stay in sync with the convo; ***

• voice calls sent to that single phone number propagate to one, the other, or both simultaneously of the two cell phones, depending on a on-the-fly configurable schedule of when which call goes where; ****

• either cell phone can originate a voice call that will appear to come from the shared number; ****

• ideally, both cell phones could conference into the same call with a third party, but that's a bonus;

• must be compatible with Android phones, an probably needs to support iOS as well; we'd love a solution that also supports web and/or MacOS desktop access, but that's a bonus.

I am looking for recommendations for solutions that (are known to) meet this specification. There are lots of solutions for small businesses, but r/smallbusiness drags a lot of them for filth, and also we're cheap and don't want to pay a fortune, especially for a lot of businessy services we don't need like the ability to spam-SMS 10k prospective customers an hour or (all the rage right now) deploy an AI receptionist or surreptitiously surveil our customer service agents' work for quality and training purposes or integrate with Salesforce.

Also, crucially, a lot of these services seem to be based on a phone tree model, where each handset gets its own extension, and I'm really unclear how that would work with automated voice-call 2FA. Not well, I am guessing.

So what I am looking for is knowing recommendations that can answer from direct experience as to whether a solution will support our intended use case.

Has anybody else even tried to solve this problem? Or does everybody else just accept that financial instruments, online retail accounts, and virtual services can only really belong to one member of a couple at at time?

This seems like something there should be an obvious commercial service for, targetted at families, but the only one I found no longer is in the Play store and also may be wholly defunct.

As a side note, this isn't only relevant for couples. It's relevant to all sorts of multi-adult households, from polycules to multigenerational households. It is of particular relevance to people with aging elders who might want to be able to get into the elder's accounts to help them from afar. Especially adult siblings of aging parents, where no one sibling should be the only person stuck with all the administrative work. It's surprising that I haven't found a commercial solutions to this yet, and wonder if there already is one everybody else already knows about.

* Necessary to allow either member to receive a 2FA text message when either one initiates a log in.

** Necessary in the case we want to revoke texting permission to a third party by "text STOP to end".

*** Necessary not to engage in an inadvertent Abbot and Costello routine.

**** Necessary because every once in a while a 2FA system will barf on texting VOIP numbers, and only successfully get through with automated voice call 2FA. Also it would be nice for one of our other use cases – the "get Siderea's doctor's office to call back and make sure a human answers no matter when they do" use case – for there to be one number that rings through to both of us. But also necessary that we can schedule it not to ring when one or the other of us are asleep, while still ringing through to the other. I need to be able to 2FA at 2:00 A.M. and Mr. B very much needs my doing so not to cause his phone to ring.

***** Maybe not strictly necessary, but there's a lot of systems that react poorly, or at least with more scrutiny, to customer calls about accounts other than the ones associated with the number the call is coming from. It would be better if we just only ever called NStar from the number they have on record for us, but that means we need to be able to originate voice calls from the same number we'll be using with them for security purposes.


Edit: I'm really hoping for a non-Google, commercial solution.
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Posted by Amanda

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!

Just a handful of books on our radar this week, but there are busier weeks ahead this month.

Which new releases are you excited for this week? Let us know in the comments!

A Ghastly Catastrophe

A Ghastly Catastrophe by Deanna Raybourn

Author: Deanna Raybourn
Released: March 3, 2026 by Berkley
Genre: , ,
Series: Veronica Speedwell Mysteries #10

Veronica and Stoker are practically dying for a new adventure, but when their wish is granted, they find themselves up against a secret society and a darkly seductive duo in this landmark historical mystery from beloved New York Times bestselling and Edgar® Award–nominated author Deanna Raybourn.

When the corpse of an entitled young man is found entirely drained of blood in a carriage next to Highgate Cemetery, Veronica’s interest is piqued. And then a second victim is found, his death made to look like a suicide—and Veronica and her intrepid beau Stoker know the hunt is on. The two men share one link: they were both members of a society so secretive that only a singular mention of it can be found anywhere.

Thirsty for more clues, Veronica and Stoker hear that a young Romany boy may know more about their first victim, and the only way to the boy is through an old acquaintance of Stoker’s, Lady Julia Brisbane. Lady Julia and her dashing husband, Nicholas, occasionally track down murderers and are only too happy to help. But as it becomes clear that the secret society is a dangerous sect looking to entice immortality seekers, Veronica and Stoker find themselves ensnared by a decidedly more sinister couple.

The professed leader of the society claims to be a creature of the night; his partner practices witchcraft and they both fancy themselves emissaries of the otherworldly. Just as Veronica and Stoker get closer to learning the true purpose of the society and unraveling this macabre mystery, another body turns up, and they quickly discover they’ve gone from being the hunters to the hunted. . . .

Sarah: I love this series. LOVE it. I am so ready to hang out with Veronica.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

In Her Own League

In Her Own League by Liz Tomforde

Author: Liz Tomforde
Released: March 3, 2026 by Golden Boy Publishing
Genre: ,

As the first female team owner in Major League Baseball, Reese Remington has spent her entire life preparing for this role. With a sharp mind and years of experience working behind the scenes, she’s more than qualified. But the public only sees a woman in a man’s world — not the person who’s earned their place on the field. Under constant scrutiny and pressure to prove herself, Reese can’t afford distractions.

Especially one that comes in the form of the team’s tempting field manager who questions her every decision.

Emmett Montgomery is a former All-Star turned coach who treats his players like family and the field like home. After years of running the team his way, the last thing he wants is a new boss, let alone one who seems ice-cold and laser-focused on business. But forced to spend long hours – and too many away games – side by side, he begins to see the fire beneath Reese’s control, the heart behind her ambition, and the unwavering determination to prove herself.

When heated banter turns into sizzling chemistry, professional boundaries blur and the spark between them becomes impossible to resist. But Reese is constantly reminded of how many people are waiting for her to fail, and the safest move is to keep Emmett at arm’s length – for the sake of the team, the season, and her career.

But keeping their distance is one game neither of them can seem to win.

The heroine is the first female team owner in Major League Baseball.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

The Library of Amorlin

The Library of Amorlin by Kalyn Josephson

Author: Kalyn Josephson
Released: March 3, 2026 by Erewhon Books
Genre: ,
Series: The Age of Beasts #1

A brilliant con artist and a secretive librarian collide in New York Times bestselling author Kalyn Josephson’s enchanting adult fantasy debut packed with twists, tricks, slowburn romantic tension, and magical creatures — perfect for fans of S.A. MacLean, Mai Corland, and K.A. Linde.

“Absolutely fantastic—I couldn’t put this book down! A stunning, absorbing, and timely tale about a wondrous library, magical beasts, and a conwoman with both everything and nothing to lose. I loved it!” —Sarah Beth Durst, New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop

Kasira used to be a masterful con artist: choosing her target, building trust, judging the precise moment to make her move. Now, she’s working off a lengthy prison sentence by hunting dangerous magical creatures on behalf of the fanatical kingdom of Kalthos.

But Kasira’s past catches up to her when the ambassador from Kalthos arrives at her camp with a deal: her freedom in exchange for infiltrating and destabilizing the magical institution meant to protect all six kingdoms—the Library of Amorlin.

When Kasira assumes the role of the new Assistant Librarian, she enters an enchanting world brimming with books and beasts, tempting her with a life she can never have. But Kasira’s real future depends on her long con to bring down the Librarian. Unfortunately, Allaster is as prickly as he is handsome, and his monstrous secrets are about to catch up with them both . . .

Amanda: A former con artist and a librarian!

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

No Matter What

No Matter What by Cara Bastone

Author: Cara Bastone
Released: March 3, 2026 by The Dial Press
Genre: ,

Sometimes love sends you back to the drawing board.

After a traumatic accident threatens the foundations of their happy marriage, a couple tries to rebuild and find their way back to each other—and themselves—in this tender, slow-burn romance by the bestselling author of Ready or Not and Promise Me Sunshine.

“Cara Bastone is an absolute master of tender, emotional, soul-charged love stories.”—B.K. Borison, New York Times bestselling author of First-Time Caller

Roz and Vin can’t look each other in the eyes anymore, let alone share a bed. It’s been a year since they survived a life-altering accident, and their marriage hasn’t been the same. But Roz has held out hope that they can fix things, until she discovers Vin has signed a new lease. So she does what any soon-to-be-divorced Manhattanite would do: sign up for a figure-drawing class.

Between Roz’s determined attempts to improve her artistic skills and her adventures with her best friend, Raffi, she can almost ignore Vin’s impending move-out date and his footsteps in their previously unoccupied guest room. But it would all be a lot easier if Vin wasn’t Raffi’s older brother, and if she didn’t still find him incredibly, debilitatingly attractive and kind.

So kind, in fact, that Vin offers to let Roz draw him. What is she supposed to say? It’s probably better than her original plan of finding some random male model online, and she needs all the practice she can get. Plus, that’s sure to make a separation easier, right? Focus on every detail of your estranged spouse’s body while drawing him in the nude? But after the year they’ve spent avoiding each other, it feels good to see and be seen by one another again.

As Roz works to capture the wholeness of the person she fell in love with, will they both be able to draw upon the feelings they buried deep inside to finally heal together?

The latest Cara Bastone, featuring a marriage in trouble!

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Star Shipped

Star Shipped by Cat Sebastian

Author: Cat Sebastian
Released: March 3, 2026 by Avon
Genre: , ,

Cat Sebastian’s long-awaited foray into contemporary romance! A witty, emotional, and deliciously slow burn enemies-to-lovers romance between two costars on a popular sci-fi television series.

Simon and Charlie, actors on a long-running sci-fi show, can’t stand one another. Charlie is impetuous, outgoing, and basically feral, and Simon thinks he should have stayed in reality television where he belongs. They’ve spent the better part of a decade quarreling over the spotlight and pretty much everything else, and everybody in the industry knows it. Now that Simon’s contract is finally done, he can move to New York, start fresh with work he actually likes, and get away from Charlie.

Simon’s only problem is that people might assume he’s been pushed off the show due to being impossible to work with. And he is kind of difficult to work with. He doesn’t get along with people—unlike Charlie, who somehow tricked everyone on the show into adoring him despite some outrageously bad on-set behavior during the show’s first season. Simon would rather never have to see Charlie again, but reluctantly agrees to stage a very public friendship during the short time before he moves. When Charlie has to leave town to deal with a family emergency, this means Simon comes along. Their road trip brings Simon to places he would never have willingly chosen to visit—and he finds he’s actually not having a terrible time.

The more he gets to know Charlie, the more Simon suspects he’s underestimated his former coworker. Simon also realizes that after seven years, Charlie might know him better than anyone ever has. Even stranger, Charlie seems to be starting to actually like him, despite knowing him so well. Still, Simon is about to move three thousand miles away, so whatever’s starting between him and Charlie can’t really amount to anything… right?

Elyse: I loved Sebastian’s historicals, so I’m excited for this contemporary.

Lara: I adored this book! It lifted me out of my Heated Rivalry hangover.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Mhairi McFarlane, Witches, & More

Mar. 2nd, 2026 04:30 pm
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Posted by Amanda

How to Lose a Lord in Ten Days

How to Lose a Lord in Ten Days by Sophie Irwin is 99c! I believe Lara mentioned this one in a recent-ish Whatcha Reading. It’s also a standalone historical romance.

From the Sunday Times bestselling author comes a delicious new romance…

He wants a wife. She wants to be jilted. This. Is. War.

Rich, handsome and titled Lord Ashford has every lady in England longing for his hand in marriage.

Everyone, that is, except Miss Lydia Hanworth – the only young woman Ashford wishes to marry.

Pressured into accepting Ashford’s proposal, the announcement must be kept secret for ten days. Can Lydia free herself from her obligations before the engagement is publicly announced, without ruining her reputation? You can achieve an awful lot in ten days, after all…

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Mad About You

Mad About You by Mhairi McFarlane is $1.99! This is a contemporary romance about two strangers who become roommates and carry their own baggage around marriage and weddings. McFarlane’s books have been favorably mentioned on the site, but I see the common critique that they often contain more much serious topics than the covers/description imply.

International bestseller Mhairi McFarlane delivers a sharp, emotional new novel about a woman who calls off her engagement to “the perfect man” and moves in with a charming stranger who makes her question everything about her life, her past, and the secrets she’s kept for far too long…

Harriet Hatley is the most in-demand wedding photographer in town, but she doesn’t believe in romance, loathes the idea of marriage, and thinks chocolate fountains are an abomination. Which is why, when her long-time partner proposes, she panics. Suddenly Harriet is single… and living down the hall from her ex. She needs a new apartment, like, yesterday.

Enter Cal Clarke, a hopeless romantic who just experienced his own wedding-related disaster. Harriet and Cal are like chalk and cheese, but as they go from strangers to roommates to friends, it becomes clear they’re both running from something. When Harriet’s most heavily guarded secret comes to light, her world implodes. And Cal, with his witty humor and gentle advice, is a surprising source of calm at the center of the storm.

With her career, friendships, and reputation on the line, Harriet must finally face her past in order to take control of her future. Because if she’s willing to stop playing it safe and risk everything to share her truth, real love and happiness may be waiting on the other side…

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

An American in London

An American in London by Louise Bay is $1.99! Elyse mentioned this in a previous Hide Your Wallet and was tempted by the fake dating plot.

For a people-pleasing New Yorker and a disagreeable (if seriously hot) Brit, it’s love at fourth sight in a funny and emotional romantic comedy by a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author.

Tuesday Reynolds’s dreamy life in Manhattan has gone belly-up. Ditched by her college sweetheart and with her Wall Street banking job at risk, she’s off to London to prove herself to a new CEO. Plans change when Tuesday meets Ben Kelley, a wealthy, scowly, and movie-star-handsome stranger. He’s just missing one thing to make his professional dreams come true.

What does Ben need? Oh, just a fake fiancée to impress a duke and duchess. What’s in it for Tuesday? Enough money to put a down payment on an apartment back in New York, a new wardrobe, and a weekend in the country at the stately home of the duke and duchess. The Bridgerton vibes are absolutely off the charts.

Everything between Ben and Tuesday is completely professional, until the rehearsals for their weekend romance start to feel…almost authentic.

It’s official. Tuesday’s life has been hijacked by a rom-com scriptwriter. But the best love stories aren’t the ones on the big screen. Maybe they’re the real ones that sneak up on you when you least expect it.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

The Witch’s Cottage

The Witch’s Cottage by Emberly Wyndham is $1.49! This is book one in the Season of the Witch series. It mentions a cozy, grumpy/sunshine pairing.

He mends her cottage, she mends his heart.

When Aurora Silvermoon inherits her auntie’s cottage in the cozy village of Faunwood, she’s thrilled. But when she and her talking cat familiar, Harrison, arrive in early spring, it’s a different story. The paint is peeling, the veranda is about to fall clean off, and there are literal holes in the roof. The cottage needs a lot of work before she can call it a home.

Enter Alden Stonewood, the grumpy village carpenter. Though he agrees to help Aurora fix up her cottage, he has no intention of catching feelings for the little green-haired witch. But every time she flashes him a freckled smile or hands him a cup of steaming lavender tea, his frozen heart melts a little more, and he’s not so sure he’ll be able to resist her.

Add Studio Ghibli, Stardew Valley, and a delicious dash of spice into a cauldron, and you’ve got Season of the Witch, a cozy witch romance series for readers who want all the cottagecore witchy vibes with low stakes and low stress. Each book guarantees a short, spicy romance with an HEA and a new love interest added with every novella. Content suitable for readers 18+.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

sovay: (Sovay: David Owen)
[personal profile] sovay
Rabbit, rabbit! To inaugurate the spring month, it snowed flurrily all yesterday morning. This afternoon we are flooded with freezing sun. I can't believe Purim is already upon us. So many names need to be blotted out.

As of the start of the month, I seem to have had over a hundred-dollar drop in my Patreon membership without any notification of a mass die-off in subscriptions. Any suggestions on interpreting this deficit would be appreciated since it is my only steady source of income at the moment and we are so broke.

I am still feeling in something of a mental blast crater about the news. I have spent my afternoon on the phone. [personal profile] rushthatspeaks who also spent his afternoon on the phone is coming over and we are going to lie on the couch and complain about doctors and lawyers. And business executives.

full_metal_ox: A National Geographic cover mock-up, with three marigolds in an analogous orange-yellow color harmony. (Nature)
[personal profile] full_metal_ox posting in [community profile] common_nature
https://visdeurbel.nl/en/

The Fish Doorbell in Utrecht in the Netherlands is an interactive online Citizen Science tool, explained in this post from last year: https://common-nature.dreamwidth.org/281642.html

Star Shipped by Cat Sebastian

Mar. 2nd, 2026 07:00 am
[syndicated profile] smartbitches_feed

Posted by Lara

A

Star Shipped

by Cat Sebastian
March 3, 2026 · Avon
Historical: AmericanHistorical: OtherRomance

This book is exemplary. It can literally be held up as an actual example of what a romance novel should be. I am in awe. But before I wax lyrical about the many ways in which this book is excellent, let’s set the scene.

Simon and Charlie are co-stars on a sci-fi TV series and for the seven years that the show has been running, they’ve been fighting, squabbling, and disagreeing. Simon is considering leaving the show and there are (not unfounded) rumours in the industry that he is difficult on set. Charlie is worried about the same thing because before he went to rehab, he was a nightmare on set. So the two decide to try and spread the narrative that they get along in hopes of quashing the rumours. What follows is a little bit of plot, a lot of emotion and a megaton of me smiling at my book.

We only spend time looking at things from Simon’s POV. And Simon is a lot of things. Primarily, he feels he is a mess. He has quite a serious anxiety disorder with mild OCD. He’s also prone to hellish migraines. The insight we get into his perspective and daily life is a punch to the gut. For every word he says out loud, there are a million in his head. The writing is so evocative and visceral that I really felt what he was feeling. It’s a thoroughly fresh, insightful view of mental illness.

In this mutual truce they find themselves in, something magical happens for Simon when he’s around Charlie. He realises that after seven years of working together so closely, they really know each other well, and might even like each other. And after an incident with a connection of Charlie’s, a switch is flipped in Simon’s brain and he decides to make the honest choice when faced with diverging paths forward. This amounts to Simon blurting out his emotional truth and just hoping blindly that it’s okay that he does that. Every little stretch he makes towards Charlie, he is met by Charlie’s steady, consistent presence. It is so beautiful to read.

While narratively we live in Simon’s POV, there are hints as to how Charlie feels. For example, right at the beginning of the book, while they’re still at odds, Charlie notices that Simon has one of his migraines (Simon hasn’t said anything about it) and he insists on driving Simon home because he knows that Simon can’t drive when he’s like this. Turns out, this is not the first time that Charlie has done this. Charlie NOTICES things about Simon. While Simon is pretty ignorant of Charlie’s feelings, as a reader, we get TINY tidbits that hint that there’s more going on from Charlie’s perspective. But for the most part, Simon’s view fills the frame.

I cannot say enough great things about the writing. Here’s just one snippet of the kind of magic that’s woven with words:

There are years of irritations and grievances between them, built up like barnacles, a crust of ill will that makes it impossible to make out the shape of whatever’s underneath. Simon can start to see it, though, and wants to look away.

There is a tremendous amount of humour, too.

We have a strong opening paragraph:

Every day this week, the air conditioner on set has woken up and chosen violence. Simon is not prepared to work in tundra conditions. He isn’t built for Siberian gulags or ice fishing huts.

Or this:

They should have wrapped two hours ago. Lian, the showrunner, looks like she could light the entire set on fire using only her eyes. That would at least warm them up, so Simon’s all for it. He catches her eye and tries to silently communicate that arson is a valid choice right now.

And that’s just in the first part of the first chapter!

This is a story of two people falling in love with the person that knows them best – each other. And it was so gentle on this reader’s heart. I say this because …

Show Spoiler

There is no third-act break up or bleak moment. It’s a slow, inexorable slide into a bath of salted caramel, if salted caramel represents true love.

There is so much to love about this book. The infinite, tender care that Simon and Charlie start to show for each other. The gradual deepening of emotional ties. The wild and messy way that big feelings of love are spoken and shown for each other. There was not a moment of this book that I was not smiling, squeezing my book in glee. Such vulnerability. Such insight. GLORIOUS.

More frog

Mar. 2nd, 2026 07:45 am
merrileemakes: A very tired looking orange cat peering sleepily at you while curled up on a laptop bag (Default)
[personal profile] merrileemakes posting in [community profile] common_nature
In my last posts I described the start and progression of my tadpole adventures. Here's the next instalment.

As soon as the tadpoles started growing legs they changed rapidly. Within days the kinda dopey goldfish behaviour, like nibbling around the surface of the water, disappeared, they became very elusive and shy. Almost like as soon as they started thinking about being predators they realised they were also prey. It was a bit sad, because I really enjoyed watching them, but also necessary for them to become wild frogs. I was glad that I hadn't spoiled them for life on their own.
Read more... )
miscellanium: green speech bubble with text that says "history... it's just one bloody thing after another" (history boys | what is history?)
[personal profile] miscellanium
i mentioned this idea on fedi but wanted to jot down an outline somewhere it'd be easier to format while still being open to public comment. if there's anything you think isn't already addressed here but would be helpful to see discussed pls lmk! there are no stupid questions, but i don't have the bandwidth to do the live q&a now lol.

alternatively, if anyone has fannish horror stories about storage they want to share i'm happy to include them in the presentation and discuss how they might've been avoided.

archival storage for fans on a budget (workshop the title, i'm terrible at these) - individual-scale solutions framed in a way that's accessible/relevant to fen rather than normie grannies

INTRO
  • dammit jim i'm an archivist not a conservator, not giving professional advice, some of this will be out of your control and that's ok. some of the solutions may be out of your current budget but let's take ibuprofen together and make informed decisions
  • basics of agents of deterioration, inherent vice
CORE
  • focus on paper-based (doujinshi, etc) but touch on things like pins, figurines, and other physical media (itabags!)
  • most important things to avoid if possible (touch on off-gassing, etc. eta: including plastic sleeves, thanks tabby)
  • what can you do on a budget? you do not need museum-grade environmental monitors.
    • location in some ways more crucial than the containers
    • give irl examples: larry archive, arcv doujins, hellsing merch?
    • binders&c for display purposes? paging through lobby cards etc.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
  • cataloging as you go
    • easy DIY collection management solutions
  • unbinding bound media: when is it a good idea? how to do it safely, how to label pages if needed (pencils, erasers to recommend)
  • address ipm? unlikely to be a concern for most fans (hopefully) but share a resource
  • not to be a corpo shill but... recommended vendors for officially archival-grade supplies

A post in March

Mar. 1st, 2026 03:55 pm
naye: a forest road seen through a haze of light (going where i want to be)
[personal profile] naye
March really is coming in like a lion! February was long and cold, but as March drew near the snow turned into fog, and today a wild wind has blown the fog into scattered clouds. It was a wonderful day for my first bike ride since July - the ebike is in good shape, fortunately, it just needed a little wash! I've really missed biking.

One of many things I've missed since my chronic illness flared up and I lost my hold of "normal" during a summer and fall of hospital stays and emergency surgeries... I'm still on part time sick leave, still waiting for another surgery. But then perhaps I can go back to commuting by bike and going for slow runs and making plans for things I can be reasonably sure of actually getting to do!

Writing here - we'll see if that becomes part of that new normal I am dreaming of. For now, a little post. Maybe one with sections?

Fandom Trumps Hate
I am doing something very exciting (and a little scary) for the first time ever, and offering to vid almost anything (within limits) over here for [community profile] fandomtrumpshate. Bidding opens soon and I am about equally nervous about nobody bidding on my offer, and about fulfilling the offer! (I am confident in my abilities, but my anxiety does not care.) Feel free to contact me through the details in the post or right here in the comments if you've got any questions about the offer!

Currently Watching
...I was gonna start with a few things I enjoyed in the past few months, but that got overwhelming. And since I'm on part time sick leave under doctor's orders to rest up as much as possible, I've been watching TV on my own - also while embroidering.

Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo is an anime from 2004 that I watched back then. I remembered the fascinating animation style, using patterns and textures instead of flat colors, but I had forgotten how extremely, canonically queer it is. Having a slow rewatch and really enjoying the whole experience.

Mushishi is available for free on YouTube, thanks to Kodansha! IF, of course, you live in an "English Speaking Country". I do not, but I have my ways... It's a slow rewatch, which is really perfect for enjoying it properly. Which I also do through giffing it! I decided to do 10 gifs for each episode. So far I've done the first ten. I'm putting them all in the tag 10xmushishi on my Tumblr. Eventually I think there are going to be episodes I've never seen, which is going to be fun (and not too heartbreaking, I hope).

Chef & My Fridge is what Skuld and I have been watching...basically for a month straight? It started with us both getting really into the second season of Culinary Class Wars, having been really into S1 as well (it was my comfort show when I was hospitalized in December 2024). Then we ran out of that, and Netflix was like "Hey... do you wanna see more of chefs who have been on CCW? We've got a bunch here in this variety show!" So we checked out the variety show and got hooked because it's delightful. Now we're caught up with the almost 60 episodes (each over an hour long) and it'll be fun to have it to look forward to, but it would be even more fun if Netflix could make the 254 episode back catalogue from 2014-2019 available too... (I have my ways but the ways did not have subs for all the episodes, alas.)

I loved Sell Your Haunted House so much that I vidded it after watching it in 2023. Now I'm using it to introduce a friend to Kdrama, and it's worked fantastically well - we watched 4 of the 16 episodes just on Friday night and Saturday before she went back home. It's got so much I love, including great characters, a canonically gen (but easy to ship) M/F friendship, lots of h/c, an intriguing plot, found family, and a great sense of humor.

And we just started a new-to-us show that is not a reality competition or variety show! Knight Flower, which I got curious about after seeing requests for in Festivids letter, and decided we needed to check out after watching marah_sarie's vid for it. I like the concept so far, and love Lee Hanee, so I'm confident it'll be a good watch!

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