Non-Fiction, Collections, & More | Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Glitterland

From the acclaimed author of Boyfriend Material comes a deeply emotional romance about heartbreak, hope, and learning to love against all the odds.

Once the golden boy of the English literary scene, now a clinically depressed writer of pulp crime fiction, Ash Winters has given up on hope, happiness, and—most of all—himself. He lives his life between the cycles of his illness, haunted by the ghosts of other people’s expectations.

Then a chance encounter throws him into the path of Essex-born Darian Taylor. Flashy and loud, radiant and full of life, Darian couldn’t be more different…and yet he makes Ash laugh, reminding him of what it’s like to step beyond the boundaries of his anxiety. But Ash has been living in his own shadow for so long that he can no longer see a way out. Can a man who doesn’t trust himself ever trust in happiness? And how can someone who doesn’t believe in happiness ever fight for his own?

In the past, the universe is a glitterball I hold in the palm of my hand.

In the past, I am brilliant and I am happy and my every tomorrow is madness.

In the past, I am soaring, and falling, and breaking, and lost.

And now, there is only this.

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Most Delicious Poison

An evolutionary biologist tells the story of nature’s toxins and why we are attracted—and addicted—to them, in this “magisterial, fascinating, and gripping tour de force” (Neil Shubin).

A deadly secret lurks within our spice racks, medicine cabinets, backyard gardens, and private stashes.

Scratch beneath the surface of a coffee bean, a red pepper flake, a poppy seed, a mold spore, a foxglove leaf, a magic-mushroom cap, a marijuana bud, or an apple seed, and we find a bevy of strange chemicals. We use these to greet our days (caffeine), titillate our tongues (capsaicin), recover from surgery (opioids), cure infections (penicillin), mend our hearts (digoxin), bend our minds (psilocybin), calm our nerves (CBD), and even kill our enemies (cyanide). But why do plants and fungi produce such chemicals? And how did we come to use and abuse some of them?

Based on cutting-edge science in the fields of evolution, chemistry, and neuroscience, Most Delicious Poison reveals:

• The origins of toxins produced by plants, mushrooms, microbes, and even some animals
• The mechanisms that animals evolved to overcome them
• How a co-evolutionary arms race made its way into the human experience
• And much more

This perpetual chemical war not only drove the diversification of life on Earth, but also is intimately tied to our own successes and failures. You will never look at a houseplant, mushroom, fruit, vegetable, or even the past five hundred years of human history the same way again.

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All the King’s Men Bundle

From beloved, RITA-award-winning author Kennedy Ryan comes her gripping All the King’s Men duology.

The Kingmaker

In a world of haves and have-nots, Maxim Cade’s family and their oil empire have it all…and he wants nothing to do with it. At odds with his mogul father, he’s determined to build his own empire, even if it means traveling far from home, painted as the black sheep.

Lennix Hunter is the exception to every one of Maxim’s rules. At a protest for the oil pipeline that threatens to mar her ancestral land forever, they meet in a flurry of stars and sparks, and that one moment changes everything. But Maxim’s family is the one stealing from hers, and his father is the man she hates most. He has to lie in order to have her once, and despite the truth, he’ll do anything to keep her.

Even though Lennix tries to hate Maxim, too, their hearts are pointed in the same direction. The inexorable pull between them, across miles and years, will not be denied.

And neither will Maxim.

The Rebel King

Though surrender is what Maxim Cade demanded of Lennix Hunter’s body and heart, she had other plans. They were fast-burning fascination and combustible chemistry, the son of an oil baron and the Apache daughter at war with his family, but she trusted him, and he turned out to be a thief who stole her love.

Still, if what they had was a lie, why had it felt so real?

Now, the man she swore to hate is about to have it all, and he wants Lennix at his side. But when the two of them are forced to face the unthinkable, their rocky foundation is tested, as is the invisible thread that seems to wind their fates together. As they navigate a treacherous political landscape in their quest for justice, Maxim and Lennix soon learn that power is a game, and they are merely the pawns and players. Facing insurmountable odds, will they win the world, or will they lose it all?

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Bridgerton Prequels Collection

An exclusive collection featuring the four novels of Julia Quinn’s Georgian-set Bridgerton prequel series, following the close friends and neighbors of the charming, powerful Bridgerton family—the Rokesbys.

In her inimitable style – full of wit, wisdom, gossip, and romance – Julia Quinn introduces the charismatic Rokesby brothers as they maneuver through the scrutiny of London’s high society and secure matches worthy of their station – and their hearts. Adored by millions of fans worldwide, these timeless stories will transport you to a world of propriety, passion, and mischief—and love.

In these four books, you will meet:

Billie Bridgerton and George Rokesby, family friends who cannot stand the sight of each other, in Because of Miss Bridgerton.

Cecilia Harcourt and Edward Rokesby, the handsome—and amnesiac—best friend of Cecilia’s brother, in The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband.

Poppy Bridgerton and Captain Andrew James Rokesby, a reckless privateer for the Crown, in The Other Miss Bridgerton.

Georgina Bridgerton and Nicholas Rokesby, childhood friends forced to marry to avoid social ruin, in First Comes Scandal.

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