686. Ladies in Hating and Yearning with Alexandra Vasti

686. Ladies in Hating and Yearning with Alexandra Vasti

Author: Sarah Wendell September 26, 2025 Duration: 58:05

Alexandra Vasti is back, because her new historical romance Ladies in Hating is out this week!


We are going to talk about:

  • Good angsty yearning
  • When a character is their love interest’s bitch eating crackers
  • Lesbians in history!
  • Erotic Victorian fiction


Side trips include historical publishing houses, how nothing in romance is new, and how a lot of our current erotica, including that book where someone schtupps a door, is connected to books with the same sexual pairings in the Victorian era.


You can find your copy of Ladies in Hating wherever you most like to acquire your books. And if your library doesn’t have it, ask them to order it for you!


And don't miss Alexandra's last appearance on the show in Episode 664. Haunted Abbeys and Hidden History with Alexandra Vasti!


...


Please consider joining our Patreon to help turn off dynamic insertion ads for everyone: patreon.com/smartbitches





Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


If you’ve ever felt a little defensive about loving romance novels, or just want to dive deeper into the books you can’t put down, Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast is your perfect companion. Host Sarah Wendell approaches the genre with a critic’s sharp mind and a fan’s enthusiastic heart, creating conversations that are as thoughtful as they are joyful. This isn’t just author interviews, though you’ll hear brilliant voices like Ilona Andrews, Sarah J. Maas, and the wonderfully unique Chuck Tingle. The scope of the podcast is deliberately wide, bringing in reviewers, librarians, editors, and publishing professionals to examine every facet of the romance world. You’ll get honest talk about tropes and trends, the business behind the books, and why these stories resonate so powerfully with millions of readers. Regular appearances from Amanda Diehl add another layer of camaraderie and insight. Listening feels like being part of a smart, welcoming book club where no opinion is dismissed and passion is a given. It’s a celebration of a genre that dominates fiction, explored with humor, intelligence, and genuine curiosity. Whether you’re a longtime devotee or a curious newcomer, this podcast offers a rich, engaging, and deeply human look at the stories we love.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast
Podcast Episodes
624. Academic Research about Romancelandia with Christine M. Larson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:25
Christine M. Larson is the author of the new book Love in the Time of Self-Publishing: How Romance Writers Changed the Rules of Writing and Success, published by Princeton University Press. This book is NIFTY - it’s abou…
623. RT Rewind: December 1997 Reviews [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:56
The book reviews in 1997 may be fewer in number but they are ample in wtfery.Prizefighter younger sons getting kicked out of brothels on their wedding night!Nicknames that follow you around the globe in the 1880s!Regency…
622. The Love of my Afterlife with Kirsty Greenwood [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:59
Kirsty Greenwood’s book The Love of My Afterlife is out now, and it’s bubbly and charming and funny, with a lot of emotion, so we’re going to talk all about it. We also talk about making friends as an adult, and how ther…
621. RT Rewind: September 2002 Ads & Features [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:16
We’re going back in time to look at the ads and features of the September 2002 issue of Romantic Times!This issue left us with many questions, such as:What the hell is Tart Noir?Are reviewers elsewhere too mean? (Not us…
620. Romance and Kickstarter with Oriana Leckert [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:31
Oriana Leckert is the Head of Publishing at Kickstarter, and works with the many, many authors who are finding community support on Kickstarter. They’re hosting a celebration all this month, Heartstrings & Hardbacks: Kic…
619. RT Rewind: September 2002 Reviews [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:58
We asked our Patreon community to vote on this month’s issue, and September 2002 won by a wide margin. So let’s dive into the book reviews, shall we?There are strange subcategories and overlapping genres, and also color-…
618. The Romance Reader’s Handbook with Steve Ammidown [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:02
In June 1989, Kathryn Falk published The Romance Reader’s Handbook, a 354 page spiral bound collection of everything a romance reader would need to know. Steve Ammidown leads us on a brief tour of this artifact of romanc…
617. A Romance Soundtracks Sampler [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:57
In episode 611, we talked about the ads and features in the April 2005 issue of Romantic Times, and there was an ad on the back cover for Romance Soundtracks. We could not find anything about them, but Malaraa in our Pat…
616. Reading Rubrics with Shana [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:04
In a review for Never Cross a Highlander, Shana came up with the ACAB scale, or the Alyssa Cole Anti-Slavery Book Scale, which ranks how central the horror of slavery is to the storyline. I asked her to tell me all about…

«1...678910