Heaving Bosoms

Hey HBssssssssssss! Surprise! This episode is tardy because we decided to thoroughly enjoy our Labor Day weekend over at HBHQ and wow did school start right after! Very exciting changes. This week, Sabrina joins Mel to recap Dark Lover by JR Ward, the first book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series! If you love a hate episode, this just might be for you because... let's just say this was a rough...

Hey y'all! Alexis the Sword and Kimberly Lemming are back to finish our recap King of Flesh and Bone by Liv Zander! If you haven't yet, go listen to Part 1 before finishing this episode. We're about to go topside with our plucky heroine and our psychotic god (ie sad, sad boy) and that might just include a little more twisting! We're not going to get the HEA for these two in this book, but we'll be...

Woo! Alexis and Kimberly Lemming are here to recap King of Flesh and Bone by Liv Zander! It's a dark romance featuring a scrappy, oath-keeping midwife and a selfish, dramatic god of the dead. Did we mention it's pretty dark? WE LOVED IT SO HARD. But! Trigger Warnings: in this episode, we discuss death, suicide, murder, glib mentions of domestic abuse, very very dubious consent (at best), violence,...

Hey HBs! Meredith is here to recap A Lady Awakened by Cecelia Grant ! Wow we loved this book, and part of that was because of all the mixed feelings we had about it during the reading experience. This is a brand new premise to us and we've never seen a historical like this before. Ahhhh! It's so good! Bonus Content: #justiceforthatpig, a very principled, prickly heroine, and so much more! Need som...

HBs, Sarah Wendell from Smart Bitches, Trashy Books is here! We're recapping Dragon Called by Cassie Alexander and Kara Lockharte! It's Paranormal Dragon Times, there's a magic cat, and a badass nurse heroine! Buuuuut, it's a cliffhanger. I know! I'm sorry! Part 2 of this book will be on the Smart Bitches, Trashy Podcast feed on Friday! And then books 2-4 will be recapped on our Patreon this week!...

Hey HBs! Kiran and Lynn Camden are here! They started as listeners and now, years later, we're great friends! They're also long-time besties. We recap Trashed by Mia Hopkins and WE LOVED IT. It's told compeltely from the hero's POV which, Lynn points out, puts him on a "heroine's journey" a la Gail Carriger in a way we've never seen. The characters are vivid, the prose is complex, and th...

Hey HBs! Naima Simone is back to recap Smut by Karina Halle! Two twenty-somethings who hate each other are forced to write their final project together and... it goes really well! Then they start writing erotic romance together under a very secret pen name. There's a lot of (very realistic) romance shame that we didn't love, but the book was soooo good! Bonus content: Naima's daughter got her firs...

Hey HBs! Shante is here to help Mel recap Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai! Supremely private Katrina has just gone viral for a fictional meet-cute and the only one who can save her is her bodyguard and crush. Can their escape turn into a steamy meet-cute? Bonus Content: men who leave their trash for someone else to clean up, sexy eyebrows, presidential pardons, and so much more! Lady Loves: Shante:...

Hey romance lovers! Cathy Yardley is here to recap the Netflix rom-com A Tourist's Guide to Love! Starring Rachael Leigh Cook and Scott Ly and set in Vietnam, this movie is GORGEOUS! The romance is top-notch, the eye-contact is meaningful, and kisses are GOOD! Bonus Content: GenX romances with feral introverts, condescending boyfriends with punchable faces, "is the CEO friend also the stepmom...

Naima and Mel are back to finish the recap of Amazon Prime's My Fault. These two kids try to stay away from each other and they just CAN'T! We can't blame them! Bonus Content: these two are less discreet than Naima AND Mel.. it's impressive, deconstructing translated dirty talk, Smoking Stubble Man of the Chin Clan, telepathic driving plans, and so much more! If you want more step-sibling romance,...

Hey HBs! Naima Simone is back to recap the movie My Fault, based on a novel by Mercedes Ron! Whew, this movie is hilarious! Stepsiblings, "gangs," and so much more! Bonus Content: Watching these movies with your daughter, a guy named Owen, learning to drive, playing tricks on your kids, vroom vroom cars, gang names, and Father's Day cards. Naima mentions the Mzani Youth Choir! Check out...

Hy HBs! Meredith is hereeeee and she has brought us many treats! We're recapping Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree (who is maybe the overall winner of any NaNoWriMo ever?). This high fatasy with low stakes is EXACTLY what I needed! Who knew I would love 300 pages of watching someone slowly build a coffee shop? There's themes of reinvention, found family, finding your place, the zen of an hone...

Sabriiiiina is here to recap The Warlord Wants Forever by Kresley Cole! It's the first in the Immortals After Dark series and we're here to say... maybe don't skip it! We've got two immortals, one femme fatale, one warlord hot dummy, FATE, savage goodbyes, memorable reunions, VERY questionable/dubious/non-existent consent (also enthusiastic consent), and so much more! Could this be viewed as probl...

THE TWINS ARE HERE!!!! Kimberly Lemming and Alexis the Sword join Mel to recap Crow by A Zavarelli! Irish Mafia, missing BFF, scrappy boxer's daughter orphan, MAGNETIC ATTRACTION, Russian Mafia, basement Dexters, pole dancing!, and Rob Zombie lap dances. CW: sexual assault, violence against women, and mentions of child abuse in a later book in the series. Look, Mel loved book. Kim and Alexis, not...

HBs, we're back with this delicious display! Display of what? Still not totally sure! All we know is we loved almost every second of it. Bonus Content: applause post-first sexytimes, Two Face, and so much more! Lady Loves: Naima: Charlize Theron always. She makes an excellent St. Vincent. Mel: Check on your thermoses! Maybe they say "push to clean" and you don't have to deal with weird,...

Oh golly! Your pal and mine Naima Simone has turned this into a Yoshi Appreciation Podcast. That's right, she's back to talk about our new problematic fave Through My Window on Netflix! This dubbed classic is a new adult stalking extravaganza that gave us all the delicious conflicting feelings! It's Venezuelan Twilight and we're not mad about it. Content Warnings: stalking, emotional abuse by a ro...

Hey y'all! It's part 3 of The Bride! The final part! This last 20% of the book is so action packed that it'll make your head spin. Bonus Content: demanding bribes for adulting, severe aversions to heights, necrophilia jokes that Mel understands right in front of you, Sabrina putting the mystery's puzzle pieces together in real time, and so much more! Don't miss out on the Dangerous Tides Kickstart...

Hey HBs! Sabrina is back for part 2 of The Bride by Julie Garwood! We start with the morning after the consummation and watch these two hot dummies try to parse their feelings while also shedding a bit more light on the suspense subplot! (There's a murderer in their midst) Bonus Content: blinking like a broken cupie doll, abandoning sexytime metaphors, and so much more! Lady Loves: Sabrina: Frozen...

HB Sabrina and Mel begin our saga covering The Bride by Julie Garwood! Boy this book is bonkers! We couldn't stop talking about this Medieval Highlander Times gem, so this is part 1 of 3. Bonus Content: Approaching books with an open heart but wary mind, loving books even if they're problematic, Mel tells problematic childhood stories, getting scruffed, Fishbowl Jamie, 1100s saddle? What is?, and...

Hey HBs! It's part two of Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake by Alexis Hall! Meredith and Mel recap the competition, the switcheroo, and so much more! Lady loves: Meredith: Pansies. It's flower season and flowers are happy! And annuals are cheap and cheerful! Mel: Also spring flowers! My magnolia tree is blooming for the first time since we moved into the new house and I'M OBSESSED!!! Dangerous Tides...

Hey HBs! Meredith is back to recap Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake by Alexis Hall! Structurally, it's one of the most interesting romance novels I've read. Plus, it comes with Alexis Hall's signature wit AND WE LOVED IT! Did it elicit some completely rational text messages from Mel to Meredith? No. This text required hard muppet texting; that's what good books do! They make you care. [Insert sheepi...

Sophie Jordan is here to recap Gentle Rogue by Johanna Lindsey! It's Pirate Times! It's England Times! It's America Times! It's all the head hopping! It's George's adventure and she's falling in love along the way. It's also a HUGE inspiration for CM Nascosta's book in the Dangerous Tides series TO RAVISH A ROGUE. Nascosta takes Lindsey's delicious bonkers framework and adds monsters and more bath...

HAPPY ST. VINCENT DAY, HBs!!!!!! It's a community celebration! Thank you to everyone who wrote in and sent audio files! I LOVED hearing and reading all your thoughts! I'm basically obsessed with you. #stvincentwouldalways Thank you for celebrating Sebastian St. Vincent with us! Socials referenced: @theheakitchen | @quote_quake Books recommended: Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas The Luckiest Lady In...

KIMBERLY LEMMING IS BAAAACK!!!!!!! Let us rejoice! And she brought a fabulous contemporary novel that involved a bakery, a boxing gym, an ex's wedding, a divorce party, a cake eating contest, a parrot in a shirt, and more nouns that feel like they maybe shouldn't go together but actually did. BEAUTIFULLY, in fact. Mimi Grace did it with Make a Scene. Oh, also dirty talk! Truly a marvel. Bonus cont...

Hey HBs! Blair Leigh and Bryan are here to help Mel recap Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall! Luc and Oliver are here with all the witty banter, misunderstandings, and fake dating goodness! Plus, a fabulous cast of side characters we couldn't get enough of. AND THE SWOON FACTOR! It's high! Whew. Bonus Content: Achilles penises, bathroom antics on dates, distraction snuggles, "DELETE, BLOCK,&qu...