Smart Bitches Trashy Books | All of the romance, none of the bullshit.

Bitchery Reader Tracy writes:

I remember reading this book while babysitting.  I read it in small doses b/c it belonged to the woman I babysat for, so I only read it when I was babysitting and the kids were in bed (I didn’t want them to tell their mom I was reading her books! LOL)

Anyway, the general premise I remember isn’t much but it was about a guy whose face had been horribly scarred (I believe it was a car accident when he was young and his whole family, except him, died) so he was a recluse in his own home.  Young neighbor girl is in love with him or curious about him or something like that. So, she sneaks into his house (I think she’s “of age” by the time she does this) and they end up making love a bunch of times.  But he still thinks she’s too young or can’t love him b/c he’s ugly.

The title had “beauty” or “rose” in the title I think. It was a “Beauty and the Beast” kind of thing.

I was in high school which was the late 80’s or early 90’s so it wouldn’t be a book published after that time.

This book could be really horrible, but I just remember how fun it was to sneak reading it and re-read the sex scenes LOL

Tracy

From Marta Acosta, who writes:

Okay, here’s my help a bitch out.  I read a book many years ago by a woman author.  The main character is a werewolf.  She locks herself in the basement with a sack of dog food every full moon.  She’s living out in the woods somewhere and often hears other woods.  Some guy guesses her secret and he helps her come to terms with her wolf identity.  I think she joins the pack nearby.  I’d classify it as contemporary fiction, rather than as a paranormal.  I remember thinking it was really well-written and captivating.

Dude saves woman from dog food? Now that is romance. 

Bitchery reader Bella asks for assistance identifying the first romance novel she ever read:

First romance I ever read:

The setting was Europe in the olden days when virginity was a Very Big Deal.  The heroine is supposed to marry, and overhears to husband to be (in the garden?) dissing her and boasting about how deflowering her will be such a great accomplishment for him.

She is pissed.  She knows she can’t do anything about the marriage (I can’t remember if this was due to a loving father’s dying wishes or something, or if she just understands the world in which she lives), but there is one little matter she can do something about.

She decides to lose her virginity and shares a night of passion with an anonymous stranger (at an inn, set up by--? Loyal servant?).  She leaves in the morning before anonymous stranger wakes, leaving a bag of gold on the mantel.

Anonymous stranger is bowled over by the Amazing Gift that this amazingly gorgeous woman has bestowed on him.  He is insulted by the money, and vows to find the Beautiful Stranger.

Heroine returns to her life and marries the cad.  He is abusive (and verrry angry about not being able to deflower her).  The climax of the plot includes the heroine being locked in her room, while the house is on fire.  Of course, she is (somehow) found and rescued by the anonymous stranger.

The only other thing I remember is that the anonymous stranger was a sailor or ship captain.  Something boat related.

But what is it?  Help!

This time, we’re not looking for a book - we’re hunting a cover model. Read on:

I’m looking for the guy in this cover so I can use him as a graphic. I *think* he’s on istockphoto because I’ve seen him on several covers from different e-publishers ( i.e. I don’t believe he’s an EC model), but I CANNOT find him. Someone suggested that I ask the Smart Bitches, so I was wondering if you--or any of the Smart Bitches--would have any clue how to find him?

Help!!

Thanks,
Crystal

Bitchery reader Christine seeks your assistance:

I read this book probably five-ish years ago.  It was an historical set I believe in Maine or another north-eastern state sometime in the 1700 or 1800s.  The captain of a merchant ship makes a marriage of convenience with a young woman through the help of a parish priest or some such religious type person.  The hero needs someone to watch over a nutcase older female relative at his home while he’s away on the ship and the heroine needs to get the hell out of her sister’s (?) house because her husband has been trying to make the moves on her.

The heroine only has gray second hand clothes to wear which bugs the hero.  When he’s away merchanting, he buys a bolt of gray-blue fabric (because it matches the color of the heroine’s eyes) for her to make a dress out of but then he ends up giving it to his mistress who he of course declines to sleep with anymore.  He then purchases a yellow dress and matching hat and brings it back to the heroine, but the nutcase older female relative (who incidentally is a klepto and ends up stealing a bunch of stuff around the house and sewing the stolen goods into quilts) thinks the dress is for her and takes it.  The heroine is very touched by the gifts though and I think this scene ends with their first kiss.

The heroine ends up spending a lot of time with one of the hero’s friends while the hero is away.  The hero misunderstands the situation and gets jealous.  Eventually everything gets sorted out, the nutjob relative dies and the hero and heroine live HEA with the heroine traveling with the hero on his ship.

I thought I remembered the title of the book being ‘The Captain’s Wife’ but I’ve done numerous searches on the internet and come up with bupkiss.  If someone could tell me the title or author, I would be greatly appreciative.