Melody Carlisle and Sabrina Bradley love romance and they do it out loud! Every Monday, these long-distance best friends recap romance novels from a comedic, intersectional feminist, sex-positive perspective. If you're itching for a BFF book club or just love raucous slumber party vibes, this is the show for you! Whether you've read the book or not, all are welcome! Giggling, tangents, and sincere joy abound.
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Ep. 345 - A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole
2:02:21
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HBs, we're back with more Immortals After Dark by Kresley Cole! The second (first?) book in the series, A HUNGER LIKE NO OTHER, did not disappoint! This book starts at 11 and then refuses to simmer down. Get ready for big feelings, incredulity, and enthusiastic cackling (though, you should be used to that by now). There were so many times when Mel …
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Ep. 344 - Sorry, Bro by Taleen Voskuni
2:12:53
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Hey y'all! Mel and Sabrina are here with SORRY, BRO by Taleen Voskuni! It's a gorgeous sapphic contemporary between two Armenian-American women, one of whom is on a serious journey to self-discovery. This book weaves a beautiful love story within a rich tapestry of Armenian history and culture. It was GORGEOUS. Bonus Content: Mel's son is the Pitbu…
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Ep. 343 - Avaritia by Colette Rhodes
1:50:28
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Hey HBs! Mel and Sabrina are here with AVARITIA by Colette Rhodes! This series is much beloved by both of them and this book didn't disappoint. Plus, we've got a heroine that is 100% HMHB (Hot Mess HB). It's a grumpy and adorably delusional Shadow Daddy plus a sunshine, go-with-the-flow, sex-positive maximalist. We went into this book with the prom…
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Ep. 342 - Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt
1:56:44
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Hey HBs! We're here with a brand new historical era: Dickens' Times! Elizabeth Hoyt came out swinging with WICKED INTENTIONS, the first book in her Maiden Lane series. We've got a do-gooding heroine who needs cash for her orphanage, a bad boy aristocrat who needs entree into London's worst neighborhood, a murder mystery, a vigilante hero clown, and…
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It's been a minute since we've recapped an alien romance, and HERE WE ARE, HBs! ARTEK by Honey Phillips manages to be both Western Times and alien, which is hard to pull off. This slice-of-life Seven Brides for Seven Brothers retelling was a romp from beginning to end! Bonus Content: Sabrina's Libby nemesis is still abusing her with book 2 of the S…
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Ep. 340 - Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly
2:26:21
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Hey HBs! Mel and Sabrina are here with LOVE & OTHER DISASTERS by Anita Kelly! This queer contemporary romance is set on an amateur cooking show. Dahlia is a divorcee who quit her job to be there and doesn't quite know how she'll pay rent if she doesn't win the $100k prize. Meanwhile, London is the show's first non-binary contestant, this is their n…
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Ep. 339 - The Spymaster's Lady by Joanna Bourne (Part 2)
1:48:11
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Hey HBs! We're here with the second half of THE SPYMASTER'S LADY by Joanna Bourne! Our couple is on a fall-in-love trek on foot all the way to London and boy does Annique feel guilty about being attracted to boy Grey and Robert... little does she know, they're the same bloke! Come with us as we finish our journey through spy times! Bonus Content: M…
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Ep. 338 - The Spymaster's Lady by Joanna Bourne (Part 1)
1:41:20
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Hey HBs! We're here with THE SPYMASTER'S LADY by Joanna Bourne! It's great to be back in France Times with an extra dose of intrigue and nefarious plots! We meet Annique, a 19 year old lifelong spy and Grey, the second in command of all the British spies right after the French Revolution. They are undoubtedly enemies who can't trust each other, unl…
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Ep. 337 - The Villa by Nora Roberts
1:56:58
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Hey HBs! We're here with our first Nora Roberts book, THE VILLA! It's winerytimes and the Giambelli matriarch is here to shake up with corporate structure! But also intrigue and murder with no less than 3,000 characters. And in this head-hopping 3rd person book, everyone (and we mean EVERYONE) gets a POV moment. Plus, not one but two romances! Bonu…
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Ep. 336 - Challengers with Jenny and Katee! (Movie)
1:57:59
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Hey HBs! Mel's here with gueesstttssss! BFFs of Mel and the pod Jenny Nordbak and Katee Robert (of Bonkers Romance) are here to recap the movie Challengers, starring the one and only Zendaya. Jenny and Mel had no idea what they were in for and BOY did this romantic psychological thriller deliver. It's so sexy! And messy! And mean! And baffling! And…
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Ep. 335 - Whispers of the Deep by Emma Hamm
2:11:03
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Hey HBs! We're here with masterpiece of sorcery! Emma Hamm's WHISPERS OF THE DEEP took every single one of Sabrina's phobias and said we shall overcome with seggsy swooniness! It's a monster romance between a merman and a human deep, DEEP under the sea. Like, in the vast deep. He kidnaps her to get information that his people will use to destroy he…
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Hey HBs! We're here with a contemporary sapphic romance! It's a fake relationship extravaganza with a buttoned-up couple's counselor and a cool, alt actor. CW: Mel got really triggered by this book, so look out for discussions of disordered eating, diet culture, rampant fatphobia, and more. Bonus Content: Mel cut her own hair!, where is all the rol…
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Ep. 333 - Beneath Black Sails by Clare Sager
1:42:28
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Hey HBs! We're back with another book we didn't know was part 1 of a 4 part series with the same couple. WHOOPS, but no regrets. BENEATH BLACK SAILS by Clare Sager is a historical fantasy pirate adventure with a famous pirate queen and the pirate hunter sent to take her down. This heroine is brash and fun and we can't get enough of her. Bonus Conte…
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Ep. 332 - D'Vaughn & Kris Plan A Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins
1:52:33
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Hey HBs! This week we've got a delicious contemporary lesbian romance: D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins! This perfect morsel has so many things we love! Reality TV, fat rep, queer rep, overcoming religious trauma, loving and eccentric families, and WOWZA the spicy times are faaaantastic. This is a hard recommend from us! Bonus…
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Ep. 331 - On Dublin St. by Samantha Young
2:06:59
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Hey HBs! We're here with the contemporary Scottish romance ON DUBLIN STREET by Samantha Young! It's Edinburgh, it's family tragedy, it's basing life decisions on great bathtubs. There's an emotionally skittish heroine, an alpha hero who's eight years older, a friends-with-benefits arrangement, and a little too much boundary pushing for Mel's comple…
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Ep. 330 - The Highwayman by Kerrigan Byrne
2:15:52
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Wooo! HBs we're here with book 1 of the Victorian Rebels series, THE HIGHWAYMAN by Kerrigan Byrne. We loooooved this book! As Sabrina is a longtime Kerrigan Byrne fangirl, it's not a shock. We've got a childhood-spouses-to-lovers book that knocked our socks off! But yikes, it gets dark. Lady Loves: Sabrina: if you're lonely, but don't have anyone a…
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Ep. 329 - Death's Obsession by Avina St. Graves
1:42:22
1:42:22
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Hey HBs! In this episode, Sabrina and Mel recap DEATH'S OBSESSION by Avina St. Graves. It's a dark, paranormal, stalker romance that gave us KING OF FLESH AND BONE, SING ME TO SLEEP, and SOUL EATER vibes. Overall, they enjoyed the experience, but were generally underwhelmed. But! They talk a lot about reader "meters" and it's appropriately scientif…
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