The Spicy Librarian Podcast

Bookish Bingo lands on The Spicy Librarian Podcast this week — and it turns out Dee and Katie are not even a little bit competitive. From sports romance to special editions, historical romance to books that made us ugly cry, we're covering every square on the card.   This week join Dee and Katie for a game of Bookish Bingo — who we found aren't at all competitive. We're working through the full ca...

Your ultimate guide to romantasy and dark romance is here. The Spicy Librarian Podcast's Book Recs 101 is the episode every new and seasoned spicy reader needs. Whether you're just starting out or ready for the deep end, Dee and Katie have you completely covered. Hold on to your TBRs because this week we are sitting down for a full hour of book recommendations- and we are not sorry about what we h...

Dark romance and romantasy meets Telestrations on this week's Spicy Librarian - we're drawing tropes, guessing characters, and somehow attempting to pitch the next New York Times bestselling romance novel. We cover romantasy and dark romance rounds, weekly reading recaps, and watch the whole thing descend into glorious bookish chaos. This week on Spicy Librarian, we played Telestrations, that rand...

The May book club is here and besties, this month's picks were a whole lot. But first, we're pulling back the curtain on what is coming up for The Spicy Librarian. It's our birthday month in July, we have events in the pipeline, and things are getting very exciting around here. We are not ready to spill everything just yet but we wanted to bring you into it because you lot are the whole reason any...

Slaglines: We Wrapped Books, We Gave Clues & Absolutely Nobody Was Helpful We invented a game. We wrapped books in brown paper, gave each other the most unhinged clues imaginable, and made each other guess the title. We're calling it Slaglines - a love letter to the tagline and an absolute disaster of an episode in the best possible way. This week's lineup was a lot. We had a tattooed bad boy...

Look. It's the April book club roundup. We know. We're late. We're had a lot going on.  This month we went three very different directions and we have absolutely no regrets. We're talking Three Nights in Stockholm by Elizabeth Hardy — the snowed-in, slow burn, enemies to lovers romance that had us feral from page one. Then The Poison Daughter by Sheila Masterson — dark, twisty, and not what we exp...

She is one of the biggest names in contemporary romance, and this week she is sitting down with us on Spicy Librarian- and yes, we are absolutely fangirling. T.L. Swan has built an empire of swoony, steamy, emotionally devastating contemporary romance- and the world is finally catching up. We are talking about her latest releases, including The Heart You Kept, the first in her brand new Kings of t...

We did it. Our very first Spicy Librarian subscription book box is here - and in this episode, we’re talking about ALL of it. We’re taking you behind the scenes of what went into creating this box, what we wanted it to represent, what’s inside, and why we chose _*What We Need *_ by Lizzie Stanley as our very first pick. This project means so much to us, and we wanted to properly share the thought,...

Your favourite chaotic besties are back, and we have a LOT to talk about. This episode is pure unfiltered Spicy Librarian- no books to review, no guests to impress, just us sitting down for a proper catch-up with the people who make this whole thing worth doing. That's you, by the way. We see you. We're getting into all the exciting things we have cooking behind the scenes and trust us, the pipeli...

This or that: bookish edition. We are settling scores today and we're serious about it. This is the most fun episode, and with your help, a segment we feel will be sticking around.  This episode we are playing the ultimate bookish this or that game, and the opinions were STRONG. Standalone or 5-part series? Rather meet your favourite author or character? and a bonus f*ck, marry, kill. We went thro...

Summer is coming and so is our reading list- but no, they aren't all beach reads.  Think less chilled rosé on a sun lounger, more completely feral about fictional men and refusing to put books down until 3 am. We know summer makes people think of light and breezy reads- but this is the Spicy Librarian, so this is less of a Summer TBR and more a list of books we are really freaking excited to read...

You know that pain you feel when someone trashes your God Tier reads? Yeah. That's this episode. This week on Spicy Librarian we are facing it head-on- reading out the one-star reviews of our absolute five-star books and defending them to the community. Some of these reviewers had valid points. Some clearly had no idea what they were picking up. And some have a LOT of big feelings about books we w...

*Content Warning* We discuss themes of suicide, sexual violence and sexual assault within literary fiction. This week on Spicy Librarian, Dee and Katie are joined by the wildly unapologetic CJ Riggs for an episode that is chaotic, hilarious, and just a little bit feral—in the best possible way. CJ Riggs is redefining erotic horror, serving up stories that are equal parts spicy, disturbing, and com...

We said what we said. And we are not taking it back. This week on Spicy Librarian Podcast, Katie, Dee and backup, are doing something dangerous: sharing our most unpopular book opinions. The ones you whisper. The ones that get you cancelled in the group chat. We are saying them out loud, and we are standing by every single one. We're getting into to whether or not we want Xaden to die? Is Throne o...

Three books. Three genres. One episode that has absolutely everything. This month's Spicy Librarian book club is serving a full course meal - we've got dark romance, romantasy, AND contemporary, and every single pick delivered. First up, Bloody Black by Rhiannon Hargadon - a pirate dark fantasy retelling of Blackbeard that we did not see coming for us but here we are. Feminine rage, revenge, a slo...

It's giving green flag. Actually no. RED FLAG. Actually… both?? This week on Spicy Librarian we are settling the debate once and for all — because we are taking the most iconic romance tropes and deciding, definitively, whether they are a green flag or a red flag. And yes, things got heated. Enemies to lovers? Second chance romance? Instalove? The possessive MMC? We are going through them all, we...

This week on Spicy Librarian, Dee and Katie are sitting down with the incredibly talented J Rose- UK indie author, dark romance queen, and the woman behind the internationally bestselling Blackwood Institute series. And yes, we are absolutely fangirling. J Rose writes challenging, plot-driven dark romance packed with angst, heartbreak, and broken characters fighting for their happily ever afters....

We need to talk. Because this episode went fully, completely, unapologetically off the rails — and we are not sorry.   The episode you have all been waiting for, we are talking about the most chaotic, feral, and genuinely WHAT DID I JUST READ books we have ever picked up. Dark romance lovers, morally grey girlies, and "I read the trigger warnings and said yes anyway" readers — this one is absolute...

Your favourite chaotic book besties are back! There is so so much going on we can’t tell you fast enough, from book club and releasing new events and the fact we can’t keep books on the shelf for longer than 5 hours! Keep your eyes on our socials and stay close. Don't say we didn't warn you. 👀 We've also got exciting reads lined up for future book clubs that we can't spill on just yet — but trust...

Are you obsessed with morally grey love interests, enemies-to-lovers slow burns, and magic systems that somehow make you feel things? You're in the right place. In this episode of Spicy Librarian, we're diving deep into the world of romantasy, where fantasy worldbuilding meets heart-racing romance, and unpacking what these stories really say about love, desire, and feminine rage. From fae courts t...

After the most chaotic week on record, we finally got to sit down and record in our brand new shop. The Spicy Librarian is officially open, up and running. Join D and Katie for a debrief of a chaotic, wholesome week and opening weekend! 

Join D and Katie this week as they talk all things dark romance- from the rise of dark romance as it takes its place in traditional publishing to the power in reclaiming the narrative, we explore what dark romance means to us. 

This week, join D and Katie as they discuss all things BookTok and Bookstagram, the good, the bad, and the ugly; from influencer culture to demystifying indie publishing, the trends we've all seen (and loved to) and our dream fancasts. Enjoy this joyful and chaotic discussion of online communities and why we're all here. 

Join us this week for our weekly catch-up and book club review of B. A. Pepper's Indie debut novel 'Daughter of Stone'

This week, D and Katie break down all things romance, chat all things sub-genres and tropes, their favourites and what's on the TBR for '26.