holy shit for the first time in ten years i forgot nicks birthday

Thank you so much of the recs, I was also recommended Romancing Mr Bridgerton for carriage scenes and guest what? It was bad too 🤣 I won't trust anyone who recommends me Bridgerton books

I think that was a scene with some mild titty sucking, right?

.... Yeah I'll stick with what Joanna Shupe and Grace Callaway are doing with that shit lol. (I think? Indigo has a solid 90s-era carriage bang too, but I'm not sure, I need to reread.)

I think JQ can write some cute, funny moments, but I really don't get the hype, and I tend to feel like a lot of people who recommend her for HR are only recommending her because she's the ONLY one they've read (because of Bton). The only books I'd recommend from that series are The Viscount Who Loved Me and When He Was Wicked and even those aren't like... INCREDIBLE. The others fall into mid (The Duke and I, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton) to forgettable (It's In His Kiss, On the Way to the Wedding) to .... really bad (To Sir Phillip with Love, An Offer from a Gentleman). And I'm constantly told "try the other things she does!" and I will, because I have one with a really good title on my shelf!

... But I've read 8 (technically 9 because for some reason I grabbed that epilogue book at a used bookstore) and only 2 have actually worked for me. It doesn't really matter if they're from the same series--when your series is that long I'm ideally looking for a 4/8 "solidly good to great" score min.

Her sex scenes, though, are some of my least favorites. I actually don't NEED sex scenes to be incredibly explicit. That's my preferred route, lol. But Lorraine Heath is one of my favorite authors, and though her scenes are explicit (to me, anything open door suggests a level of explicitness--if it's telling you something is going inside something and something is flicking something and so on, I think we're getting into the explicit realm even if it remains flowery) they use pretty euphemistic language and don't spell everything out. But dude, Julia just... I don't know. I think it's probably because I'm so unconvinced of the relationships in a lot of those books that I can't fill in the blanks and be convinced that everyone is having good sex. Like, I remember in TSPWL when he goes down on her (something I literally forgot he did because it's so forgettable lol) there's this cut to Eloise like "screaming" and I was all "LOL REALLY. AFTER ONE LICK. REALLY."

And the thing is that there are others that I'll let get away with that. Lorraine can get away with that, lol. But first off, I don't actually think she does that that often (most Bton heroines don't get their pussies eaten, sadly, but they do respond to practically zero stimulation like they're getting it from the back with a vibe in play) secondly, she's written such great chemistry and such hot heroes that I'm like "fine, I can believe that THAT guy has IT". But like... for example, in Waking Up with the Duke she writes this scene where Ainsley, who's known to be one of the greatest lovers in London (IT'S IN THE SERIES TITLE) goes down on Jayne for the first time, and like... she's hesitant to enjoy it initially. She's like, back bowing immediately, because this is a pretty conflicted, clinical moment for them. As good as he IS at it, she's not immediately into it.

Because Lorraine makes choices like that, I think her sex scenes tend to feel fuller than they are, and a lot fuller (and hotter) than anything JQ writes.

Anyway, here have an essay lol

Congress Wants to Make Wolf Trophy Hunting Legal in 4 States – Act Now to Stop This!

Time and again, wolves in the U.S. have had to face attempts at having their protection revoked – so they could be mindlessly killed in large numbers. Recently, several members of Congress introduced legislation that would cancel Endangered Species Act protections for wolves located in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Once the protection is gone, trophy hunters and commercial trappers would be able to kill the animals legally, an inhumane reality no one should wish to make true.

H.R. 424 and S. 164 have a euphemistic name of the “Gray Wolf Management Act,” but what the legislation really means for wolves, is legal murder. No wonder the law is being called, more fittingly, the “War on Wolves Act” by advocates. What is more, according to a Care2 petition, it blocks citizens from using federal courts to challenge this disturbing action by Congress, which is especially appalling since the majority of citizens in the states in question have already stated that they do not support cruel wolf hunting methods.

Removing wolves from the Endangered Species Act is not backed up by science in any way – it is a politically motivated decision that seems designed to benefit people, who have no respect for animal lives – and undercuts efforts to protect the environment.

Once the Endangered Species Act protections were removed for wolves by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – which, ironically, one would expect to have the interest of wild animals at heart – Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming immediately opened up inhumane trophy hunting and trapping seasons on the animals. In the Great Lakes alone, over 1,700 gray wolves were killed. This senseless slaughter obviously cannot go on.

In what is the hatred towards wolves rooted? Sadly – and shockingly – it seems like the current political actions in the matter are motivated in a big part by scaremongering and fiction. Quite literally. We all know what power myths and fairy tales have on a human mind, but being unable to differentiate between reality and Little Red Riding Hood is a different thing whatsoever…

Click here to sign the Humane Society of the United States’ petition to the Representatives and Senators to oppose H.R. 424 and S. 164 and the killing of wolves!