#scandalous recs

[iamlivingmusic]

Violet Sorrengail's Guide to Spinning a Scandal by/for @caeli0306

[bellasbookclub]

Reccer Spotlight: Eden!

Woman, Eating

Our Hideous Progeny

House of Hollow

The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch

A Study in Drowning

Eden's got some spooky and gothic gems from the YA and adult sections, all with gorgeous covers (if you care about that sort of thing.) Full text available in their tab of the Bella’s Book Club Summer Reading ‘24 Reclist!

more info on BBC Summer Reading 2024

more Reccer Spotlights

[targarrus]

astrid is very cool i think more people should check her out

[murasaki-cha]

✨️Character development✨️

Evangeline in OUABH: JACKS GO FUCK YOURSELF!!

Evangeline in ACFTL: I'm gonna go and fuck Jacks myself.

[betterbooksandthings]

"Radically reimagining queer joy is the project of the best queer historical romance books.

Historical research and fantasy are the founding pillars of historical romance. There are certain things about the past that any historical romance is willing to hand-wave away. In return, readers of the genre buy into that imagined past.

Queer historical romance is perhaps more radical in its approach. Not because it is less historically accurate than any other historical romance but because it works against the myth that queer people never existed in the past.

Patriarchy, Teleology, and Queer Historical Romance

Patriarchy and teleology undoubtedly work against queer historical romance. The teleological view of history is the idea that history works in a forward march of progress to a single unified goal. Teleology works against historical romance’s aim to humanize people from the past. The genre gives characters access to joy and agency that often feels anachronistic, especially to readers unfamiliar with the periods.

Pair teleology with a frankly overwhelming body of historians using patriarchal lenses to interpret history, and many dismiss all historical romance as entirely inaccurate. Not to mention, a general de-prioritization of joy and the humanization of people throughout history complicates the idea that everyone should view the past one way.

As historical romance books continue to include queer and BIPOC characters, arguments of historical inaccuracy continue to pile onto the genre. Queer historical romance rejects the claim, “In the before times, things were bad, everyone was horrible, and queer people or non-white people didn’t have power.”

So, while all historical fiction will include fiction by its genre category alone, diverse historical romance bears the brunt of historical inaccuracy claims.

What Makes a Great Queer Historical Romance?

So maybe it is unsurprising that I love queer historical romance quite so much. It’s radical, fun, engrossing, and sometimes downright silly.

Selecting just a dozen books to feature in this list was difficult, especially when so many queer historical romance authors have excellent backlists. If I were you, I would start with the twelve best queer historical romance books here and then go into each other’s backlist for an even better time."

[belle-keys]

any recommendations for courtroom dramas that aren't law & order, htgawm, suits, or anatomy of a scandal? bonus points of you can recommend me a legal drama aired in spanish.

[elismor]

Gen X Music Rec

You may have noticed by now that a common theme to these recs is the phrase "turn it up". That's because we listened to music on cassette tape and it degraded with multiple plays and if you loved a song enough, you eventually HAD to turn it up.

Also? This song is a fucking banger.

Bonus: For a glimpse of true Gen X greatness, check out the video: https://youtu.be/47y5bo8wtqM?feature=shared

[badrockbookrecs]

The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennett, Witch by Melinda Taub

Oh. My. GOD. Read this book. Please. Even if you aren't into Pride and Prejudice or that whole genre of novels. Do it.

Lydia is a witch, Kitty is her familiar who used to be a cat, Wickham is a demon, and of course like any book that sucks me in this hard, there's a *lot* of questions around mistakes and responsibility and redemption.

The first bit is slow -- still definitely witchy, but mostly country slice-of-life. And then it accelerates. Hard. Addresses feminist topics as well as colonialism, racism, and slavery, really interrogating the hell out of British society at the time. As well as going deep into the relationship between Lydia and her family, and friends.

I'm obsessed.

Also, there's queer characters who don't feel shoehorned in there. And the original characters are just as compelling if not more as the reinterpreted canon P&P characters. Also I would die for Georgiana Darcy. My perfect baby child.

SPOILERY QUESTION BELOW CUT:

Anyone who read it -- what do you think happens afterwards, with Carmen?!? If the sea can turn witches into Selkies, Carmen might be the only person on that boat that Maria *didn't* kill. I wonder if she wants to see her again. I wonder if she can forgive her. Oh god I need a sequel.

[hzry]

Strawberry Fields: 68.9k

There is a truth, generally accepted amongst wizarding society, that while an unmated Alpha may spend their rut with whomever their desires dictate, an unmated Omega must not …

https://archiveofourown.org/works/41634834

[blueteehood]

I'm obsessed. They invented enemies to lovers. They're so stupid. They keep fighting over walls.

Manwha: The Crown Princess Scandal / The Concubine Scandal

[ashmp3]

if i could have purple dove bar soap turned into a perfume i would be so happy. Creamy coconut milk with hints of jasmine��� i mix alien goddess or d&g garden with hugo boss femme but i wish for ONE perfume to have it all -_- And i’ve been thinking of a new freshie to add to my collection and i want to try a drop d’issey. Also this might sound weird if you know the notes but JPG scandal smells so clean and fresh on me i fw it immensely. Can you tell my bday is coming up and my mommy wants to buy me a perfume? Even though i already got myself one in advance. I’ll have to think of different gift but i’ve been so depressed i’ve only been thinking about killing myself lately like it’s flooding my mind i don’t think you’re supposed to feel like this

[discluded]

[pridepages]

🌈 Happy Pride! 🌈

Good things come in sets of sixes as I spotlight some of my favorite rainbow reads.

✨ Category is: Favorites Read in 2023✨

Learn more about them under the cut!

Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail by Ashley Herring Blake (RomCom, Rep: F/F, lesbian, bisexual)

Self-Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore (YA gay remix of The Great Gatsby, Rep: M/M, transmen, sapphic characters, BIPOC mcs)

Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta (YA Scifi, Rep: F/F, bisexual, lesbian, BIPOC mcs)

Teacher of the Year by MA Wardell (Spicy/Sweet Romance, Rep: M/M, gay, unlabeled queer mc, BIPOC mc, neurodivergent mcs, ADHD mc, Jewish mc)

Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli (YA coming out/romcom, Rep: F/F, bisexual, lesbian, nonbinary sc, Jewish mcs, BIPOC scs)

An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera (Historical Romance, F/F, lesbian, BIPOC mcs)

[bohemian-nights]

Look up sheryl lee ralph and robert De Niro in the Mistresses 1992 it’s Daemon and nettles in a modern AU 90s them having an affair and Daemon being obsessed with nettles despite being married

I’ll have to check it out, but Nettles was more than just an obsession to Daemon(the dude was willing to risk his life to save hers)so the comparison falls just a little flat until further investigation.

[mzannthropy]

Anyway, if anyone has any recommendations for books about dysfunctional marriages or dysfunctional families, preferably set at any time in the 20th century, please do let me know. Thank you! (I'll take films too!)

[scandalsavagefanfic]

Hi, I hope it’s ok to ask this… I was looking for a Ra’sJayTim fic I read a long time ago, but couldn’t find it and thought maybe, just mayybe you were the author? It was an A/B/O with Jason as an omega, Tim as a beta, and Ra’s as an alpha. Ra’s kidnapped the two Robins and tried to impregnate Jason with both of their DNA for like superior children. Then they get away and are navigating the pregnancy but and it was super angsty. Sorry to bother with a dumb question. Hope you have a good day!!

I really, really, REALLY wish that was my fic because then it’d still be there. Unfortunately, I think you’re talking about Qamar by secondsongbird which was a true masterpiece even in it’s incomplete form, and when I went to grab the link for you I discovered it was deleted. 

If anyone had the presence of mind to download that fic, I would give a prompt fill in exchange. Literally any tags, any ships, anything you wanted, I’ll write it in exchange for a copy of Qamar by secondsongbird. (the same offer goes for Irrecoverable by Belfire. I know that the further we get from it’s deletion, the less likely I am to find anyone who ever read it, let alone saved it, but I still have hope)

Oh and it’s always ok to ask me questions! I’m terribly slow about answering most of them, but I love getting asks (even if it’s helping people find amazing fics that are not mine lol also, super flattered that you though Qamar could have been mine! It was soooo good)