Recs if you like You Beautiful Thing, You (Bad Boys of Bardstown, #1)...

whether for their partners pleasure or because they like the way it looks, have a metal detector handy.

no magnets allowed

Stolen glances, secrecy, and emotions that refuse to stay quiet. Messy, intense, and addictive.

When you love a villian more than a hero

Save a shirtless, bare-chested man! Each one is in dire need of a shirt! 👕 Those covers of romance novels are not very warm, although under the covers, it could be hot. Steaming, in fact. Maybe even scorching. 🥵❤️‍🔥

(Other editions exist where the book cover has a shirtless man, but this list only includes those shirtless on PB. ) Enjoy! 😉

Every New Years Eve we tackle some of the more headphones-in stuff in the romance pool. Two years ago, that stuff was breeding kink. Mila Finelli AKA Joanna Shupe joined us to recommend some books.

In the episode, we start out giggling and then get serious as we try to get to the bottom of this very specific thing that seems to have had a recent resurgence in romance. We do patriarchy, body autonomy and heteronormativity, then get into the provenance of this particular romance trope.

Books where she loves him but he breaks her heart directly/indirectly & then works to win her back