Help us send off Shelf Pleasure with a bang! In our final episode we discuss Unhinged by Vera Valentine and debate the logistics of getting it on with your front door. As a little treat, listen to us tell on ourself (more than usual) as we answer listener questions!
CW: explicit sex, violence, voyeurism, attempted food drugging, gun violence, stalking, murder (off-page)
What would it be like if you were super into your stalker? Find out in this month’s episode as Shelf Pleasure jumps into Lights Out by Navessa Allen. As an added bonus, enjoy snippets from the audiobook (including a Batman impersonation, a screaming cat, and voice modulators)
CW: explicit sex; BSDM (including knife, blood, breath, and primal play); violence; references to rape, abuse, and cannibalism (off-page, recounted); stalking; murder; and desecration of a corpse.
Shelf Pleasure is back with a (gang) bang! Listen in to experience Initiation by Alethea Faust and learn about all of the ways in which your favorite kink can be used to cast spells. Are you more into conjugation or adulation? Or maybe it’s transmutation...
CW: explicit sex, violence, kidnapping, drugging, sexual assault (off page)
Happy Ho-lidays from Shelf Pleasure! More than stockings are getting stuffed this month as we review The Wedding Witch by Erin Sterling. All we want this year is a four-poster bed and someone to whisper sweet nothings to us in Welsh.
CW: explicit sex, death (accidental)
It’s Thanksgiving and the ladies of Shelf Pleasure are gobbling up more than turkey this year! Join Krista and Kelsey as they head back to Graves Glen in The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling and prepare to get veryyyyy interested in pickup trucks along the way.
CW: explicit sex, misogyny, attempted murder
Happy Halloween from the Shelf Pleasure crew! This month we tackle Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver and answer the age-old question: how do serial killers balance their day jobs with their nighttime hobbies? A warning: we don't recommend snacking while you listen to this one.
CW: explicit sex, violence, murder, gore, cannibalism, references to child abuse and sexual assault (recounted)
Shelf Pleasure is back with Brian's Pick and this may be his wildest one yet! Strap in as we explore the world of Morning Glory Milking Farm by CM Nascosta and learn everything you need to know for a plentiful, speedy collection. If you prefer episodes on the unhinged side, then we have some sensational news for you: this is an episode you definitely don't want to miss.
CW: explicit sex, divorce, discussions of stalking
Summer may be winding down but Shelf Pleasure is keeping it hot with Curvy Girl Summer by Danielle Allen! Listen in to hear us rant about the importance of female friendships and learn just how we think apologies should be delivered.
CW: explicit sex, fatphobia, fetishism, death of a loved one (off-page, recounted)
Happy Pride from Shelf Pleasure! This month we’re celebrating sapphic love with Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur. For added fun, count how many times we say cozy in a single episode and enjoy both our daytime soap opera picks and big three placements!
CW: explicit sex, abandonment, infidelity (recounted)
Shelf Pleasure dives back in to the Omegaverse this month when they discuss Bride by Ali Hazelwood. See if they finally pop for a Were dick or if it’s still knot for them. SJM readers (or hopefuls) beware: there may be spoilers for her series in here too!
CW: explicit sex, violence, death of parent (off-page, recounted), attempted murder
Better later than never! Shelf Pleasure is back to talk heavy religious trauma and magical baby making in The Succubus’s Prize by Katee Robert. Because who needs therapy when you can have wild fertility orgies in a sex demon realm instead?
CW: explicit sex, abuse, religious trauma, cancer
Some might say dirty talk can make or break a spicy scene... so it’s time to see how Shelf Pleasure's latest read fared with this challenge. This month, Krista and Kelsey keep the contemporary romances going with The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang. Bonus points if you can guess which classical song gets referenced in this book.
CW: explicit sex, violence, ableism, sexual harassment, sexual assault
Shelf Pleasure is back and this month they're bringing you some college-age romance with Icebreaker by Hannah Grace. Listen in to learn who loved it, who hated it, and who (surprisingly) had enough sport-related knowledge to tell fact from fiction.
CW: explicit sex, violence, alcohol use, gaslighting, slut shaming, disordered eating, death of a parent (historical), assault
In the last episode of 2023, Shelf Pleasure makes the Yuletide gay with Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun. Listen in and decide for yourself: is there enough magic in a snow day to make instalove work??
CW: explicit sex, alcohol and marijuana use, abusive relationship with a parental figure
Shelf Pleasure heads back to Christmas Notch this week to explore A Holly Jolly Ever After by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone. Listen in as Krista and Kelsey discuss their mutual distaste for *certain* romance tropes and learn just how little effort is required to Google “how to masturbate with a vagina”.
CW: explicit sex, infidelity, religious and purity culture trauma, complications with pregnancy and discussions of pregnancy loss
This week on Shelf Pleasure, we reach the end of our journey in Anne Rice’s Sleeping Beauty series with Beauty’s Release. If you thought it couldn’t get wilder than the Bridle Path or the Place of Public Punishments…you thought wrong.
CW: explicit sex, violence, BDSM, pedophilia, enslavement, human trafficking, torture, female genital mutilation (FGM), rape
This week on Shelf Pleasure, Krista and Kelsey dive deeper into the madness with Beauty’s Punishment by Anne Rice. Listen in and learn about creative new things to get stuffed with (just in time for Thanksgiving!)
CW: explicit sex, violence, BDSM, pedophilia, enslavement, human trafficking, torture, rape
This week, Shelf Pleasure is throwing it back to 1983 and diving into The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice. Trust us when we say this is unlike any fairy tale you've heard before.
CW: explicit sex, violence, BDSM, pedophilia, enslavement, human trafficking, torture, rape
Is fucking a ghost the best revenge? Find out when Krista and Kelsey discuss Rough Ghost Lover by Cassie Alexander. As the show’s first official erotica novel, it’s absolutely wild from start to finish.
CW: explicit sex, infidelity, BDSM, violence, attempted sexual assault, human sacrifice, murder
The Kate Prior series Claws and Cubicles continues this week as Krista and Kelsey review The Orc from the Office. Listen in to learn what orc penises look like and how some light violence can really spice up your meet-cute.
CW: explicit sex, non-human genitalia, violence, workplace romance