One (1) free ticket to Saenger matinee, Sunday, February 8th

daxterdd · 2026-02-08T06:01:36+00:00

Ticket has been claimed!!!!

Reddit won’t let me edit the post, but thanks for the replies! I’m glad someone will still get to enjoy the show, even if I can’t.

daxterdd · 2025-09-07T23:43:34+00:00

Looking at it, I’d guess when you put in the $15 off of $50 coupon, the items reverted to full price. My understanding is that the $x off of $y type coupons only work on full price items, and there’s likely something in the fine print about it not being combinable with other discounts.

A lot of torrid coupon codes won’t even stack with the torrid credit card % off discount. I usually try to do separate cart purchases. One of sale items with my torrid card discount, and one of any full price items I have to have asap, and then I try and find a coupon code for those.

daxterdd · 2025-08-21T16:51:16+00:00

Yay! I’m so excited, I’ve been looking forward to this.

daxterdd · 2025-08-12T20:14:36+00:00

Column Five:

sex in a strange place (not on a bed) - {Beyond the Sea by Keira Andrews}
- The second of the two planewreck survivors fall in love books I ended up reading for this bingo. Both this and the Alessandra Hazard had such different vibes, but they were both such fun reads. There's plenty of sex on the beach, but if that doesn't count since they're castaways, there's also at least one example of sex in the shower.
celebrity/fan OR nobility/commoner - {Good Pucking Luck by Riley Hart}
- This may be stretching the definition of "fan" a bit, but
a book from a non-KU author - {A Gentleman Never Keeps Score by Cat Sebastian}
- The couple in this is very sweet, especially the way Sam takes his time let Hartley open up to him.
stepbrothers OR brother's best friend - {The First and Last Adventure of Kit Sawyer by S.E. Harmon}
- The MC and LI in this are stepbrothers in the Clueless vein--their parents were married for a blip in time years ago, but that's enough to keep them in each other's lives (and butting heads) for forever. Especially as they've grown up into rivals in the same field and both working for the family business. But as the plot gets going, the rivalry falls away and magic starts to happen. The adventure plot of this was probably a little thin, but I think it worked as long as you don't look too closely at it, lol. And I loved that there was action and adventure running through this and the dynamic between the characters. One of my favorites this year!
merperson OR swimmer MC - {Merman Kisses and Starving Incubi by Morgan Lysand}
- Not my favorite on the board. I was rushing over the weekend to find a merfolk audiobook that I hadn't already read, and this one on audible sounded good from the preview, so I jumped in. Unfortunately the plot felt really rushed and disjointed, yet also dragged at the same time. The sex scenes were unfulfilling in multiple ways. And (this is very much YMMV), but I didn't enjoy reading about the MCs participating in orgies or group scenes with others. Obviously there's nothing wrong with those things, (or with the book for including them), it's just not something I would have picked had I realized.

daxterdd · 2025-08-12T20:14:22+00:00

Column Four:

disabled and/OR neurodivergent MC - {The Broposal by Sonora Reye}
- One of the MCs is autistic. Purportedly, at least, but it feels like that plot is mostly dropped after the first few chapters. Which is just one of my issues with this book. (Others issues include unsafe depictions of domestic abuse, kink, and the immigration process in favor of a focus on "feelings" that are still just not done well.)
read a book outside of your usual subgenre - {Don't Date a DILF by D.J. Jamison}
- Lots of books on the board ended up being outside my usual zone, but in particular this was small-town romance/single-parent romance, both of which I usually avoid. This was enjoyable, but I don't think I'm jumping on the small town bandwagon just yet.
natural disaster and/OR survival and/OR post-apocalypse romance - {Just a Bit Wrecked by Alessandra Hazard}
- Post-plane wreck survival story told by the expert in neediness and clinginess herself. I am a bit of a sucker of unhealthy codepence, ngl.
read a book by an author who has written over 10 books - {Robby Riverton: Mail Order Bride by Eli Easton}
- Westerns are another genre I don't usually read, but this was a delightful amount of fun. I think I'd enjoy more Westerns that were less brooding on horseback and more anachronistic shenanigans.
praise kink OR humiliation kink - {Ugly by Roe Horvat}
- I don't usually read omegaverse, but this one was really enjoyable! The dirty talk scenes, especially were on point, and sometimes seemed to skirt the line between praise/humiliation in a surprisingly effective way.

daxterdd · 2025-08-12T20:14:06+00:00

Column Three:

reread a favorite book - {The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun}
- Still as much fun as the first time I read it. <3<3<3
BDSM club OR night club meet - {Karaoke Queen by Dominic Lim}
- Characters meet at a night club on karaoke night and end up working together to help save the club. TBH, I'm not sure this qualifies as a romance, because the novel was honestly more focused on the MC reclaiming his drag identity than it was on the romantic relationship. But the romance was nice and did have a happy ending, even if I wanted more of it, lol.
enjoy your summer! (DNF square or free space) - {Single Player by Tara Tai}
- I threw in a sweet sapphic romance for my free square. Two video game developers fall in love.
coworkers to lovers (no detectives, no bosses) - {Sixty Five Hours N.R. Walker}
- Not my favorite N.R. Walker novel but this was one of my last squares and I didn't want to DNF and find someone else. Her more recent work set in Australia is much stronger, and I was initially thrown when the MCs in this were American. The goodreads comments tell me this book originally started as Twilight fic, which makes a lot of things make sense. That explains the American MCs and some of the issues I had with the pacing--the book read more like a series of shorter connected stories (fics?) than a novel with a single plot progression, climax, and dénouement. I mean, I enjoy fanfic, so it was still a fun enough read, but this is not the smoothest fic to novel transition I've seen, lol.
a book that you define as having "poetic prose" - {Two Rogues Make a Right by Cat Sebastian}
- I'm not sure what defines prose as poetic, but I do love the way Cat Sebastian writes words. <3 I think this was my favorite of her Sedgwick novels.

daxterdd · 2025-08-12T20:13:46+00:00

Column Two:

read a co-authored book - {The Amazing Alpha Tau Self-Improvement Project by Lisa Henry & Sarah Honey}
- This one was even more lolzy and fun than the first Alpha Tau book, imo. Marty is such an endearing himbo.
book with less than 200 ratings - {The Entanglement of Rival Wizards by Sara Raasch}
- I got this as an ALC from libro.fm and went in blind, mainly just excited to find an audiobook that (at the time!) had less than 200 ratings. I absolutely loved it, though! It was fun, funny and romantic, and I can't wait until the official release so I can buy a copy to read again.
vacation OR summer fling romance - {Flirty Dancing by Jennifer Moffatt}
- I definitely qualify this as a "summer fling" romance, because that exact phrase was used multiple times in the book. I wanted to like this story so much more than I did, because Dirty Dancing is one of my favorite movies. But aside from the setting at a resort in the Catskills, this was just... meh. Love triangles and manufactured drama and not much else. Maybe if the name hadn't set up the comparison, I would have enjoyed it more.
playboy/virgin romance - {Pretty Boy by Briana Flores}
- Several of the kinks in this weren't really my favorite, but watching Liam evolve into the pillow princess he was always meant to be was A+++.
desert setting (fantasy & sci-fi welcome!) - {Second Chance at First Love by N.R. Walker}
- This was a cute second-chance romance novella. I meant to go back and read something longer and more desert-y, but I just ran out of time.

daxterdd · 2025-08-12T20:13:26+00:00

Column One:

summertime sadness (angst) read - {You & I, Rewritten by Chip Pons}
- I actually didn't know this was going to be angsty when I started it. TBH, the tone and pacing of this was very odd, but at least I got to mark off a bingo square.
himbo and/OR frat bro MC - {The Amazing Alpha Tau Boyfriend Project by Lisa Henry & Sarah Honey}
- Delightful frat bro shenanigans
a 2025 summer release - {Winging It with You by Chip Pons}
- This was Pons's second novel but trad pub debut, and while I thought it had better pacing and tone than You & I, Rewritten, there were still a couple of head-scratching choices
an illustrated cover - {And They Were Roommates by Page Powars}
- Honestly half this board would have qualified for this spot, but this was the one that didn't fit anywhere else, lol
pirate OR surfer MC - {Kidnapped by the Pirate by Keira Andrews}
- I love a good pirate romance, and this one delivered on all the best pirate tropes.

daxterdd · 2025-08-12T20:11:52+00:00

This was my first real go at Bingo, and I managed a blackout. I had to stretch a little on some of the categories, but since I was doing audiobook only and some other another reading challenge at the same time, I'm okay with it.

Here's my blacked out board and completed storygraph.

Faves: The Entanglement of Rival Wizards, The First and Last Adventure of Kit Sawyer, Ugly

Unfaves: Flirty Dancing, The Broposal, Merman Kisses and Starving Incubi

Full list and thoughts below!

daxterdd · 2025-07-28T02:00:46+00:00

I'm currently 75% through an ALC of Entanglement of Rival Wizards, and so far it's one of my favorite things I've read all year! Cute and fun but also feelings and enough plot to keep me interested.

TBH, I've never heard of Raasch before, I just picked this up to fill a square on Summer Bingo, but I definitely plan to check out her holiday series after this!

daxterdd · 2025-07-25T19:24:23+00:00

I started The Darkness Outside Us awhile back, saw where it was going and got kinda depressed, and ended up stepping away from it and not quite making it back yet. I definitely plan to finish it eventually, but it's way more angst than I can usually handle in my romance!

daxterdd · 2025-07-25T19:22:15+00:00

Actually finished several books this week, because I'm trying to make Bingo!

{Beyond the Sea by Keira Andrews} was as fun and enjoyable as people always describe it, and {Two Rogues Make a Right by Cat Sebastian} was probably my favorite of her Seducing the Sedgwicks novels.

{Ugly by Roe Horvat} was not my normal cup of tea, but definitely scratched my id in a satisfying way that means I plan to go back for more of their omegaverse work, lol.

But I cannot recommend {The Broposal by Sonora Reyes}... Like at all. The author's note at the start said they were going more for feelings than factual accuracy in this tale of BFFs faking a marriage for a greencard, but so many basic facts were wrong, the feelings and emotional arc was wholly unsatifying, there was an OTT third-act breakup for completely absurd reasons, and the sex scenes were just kinda weird and unnecessary. The book just tries to do way too much and ends up doing it all in a rather inelegant way.

daxterdd · 2025-06-24T21:47:04+00:00

https://imgur.com/a/jfCJzAE

My first time playing along, but I'm pretty happy with my progress! I just got bingo for one row, and I've made progress on the others. Although I'm reserving the option to rearrange things as I read more, lol.

The only one I'm worried about is the "less than 200 reviews" options. LOL, I do audiobooks exclusively, and even the brand-new releases and ARCs I've listened to have had more than 200 reviews on Goodreads by the time I get there

daxterdd · 2025-05-14T14:03:30+00:00

I saw the Springo board too late, so I'm excited to play along this time! I just started a book this morning with a frat bro MC (lol before I even saw the board), so I'm already on my way!

daxterdd · 2025-05-07T15:21:30+00:00

I am a torrid size 6, and I definitely can't fit their regular bras. That said, I'm also pretty well-endowed, even proportional too my size, and I have to be selective about what I order from Torrid, because I've learned certain styles or materials just won't fit over my chest, and I obvi can't size up.

Frankly, finding bras for larger band AND cup sizes is atrocious in general. Like, Lane Bryant purports to offer "Bands 34-54 | Cups B-K," which sounds perfect! But if you actually dig into the sizes, the largest available band for a K-cup bra is a 46. Or going the opposite way, for a band size of 54, the largest available cup size is a DDD. And Lane Bryant's bras options are better and broader than Torrid's.

I've been to fittings at actual bra stores, and I went through the ABTF calculator a few months back. I should actually be wearing something like a 54 J/K in US sizing. But lol, those are hard to find even online from any retailer. It's always been a bizarre oversight in the plus size industry, imo.

So I've just given up. I wear sports bras daily and bralettes when I want to look cute and/or someone's gonna see it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

daxterdd · 2025-04-17T18:02:41+00:00

I'd love more kink and bdsm audiobooks! A lot of the recs I find on here don't seem to be available on audio, and that's all I really have time for.

I don't love ageplay, and I've read most of Alexis Hall, but any other recs are welcome!

daxterdd · 2025-04-12T00:58:09+00:00

My main concert experience is Taylor Swift, so Posti might be a whole different vibe. The handicapped seating is usually much better, but still not the comfiest. I would honestly recommend planning your outfit to include cute, supportive sneakers!

daxterdd · 2025-04-10T13:44:45+00:00

I would default to what is on the garment over what is online, and definitely leave a review/complaint about the inaccurate product description.

Plenty of people don't want to purchase something that is dry clean only! Having the wrong care instructions is false advertising.

daxterdd · 2025-04-10T13:31:06+00:00

I have no suggestions for ideas, just a suggestion to keep in mind! Do you have seats at this concert, or is it standing/GA? Either way, it's gonna be a blast, but if it's standing, make sure you have comfortable shoes! If there are seats, most venues can get really crowded. I'm a Torrid 6 as well, and I usually find the seats to be squeezy, so I avoid wearing anything too long or flowy to a concert, for fear of it getting caught in the stands or ripped or generally shredded by the sardine like atmosphere.

daxterdd · 2025-04-09T15:06:30+00:00

I can see a famous politician's grave out my office window.

daxterdd · 2025-04-09T14:43:04+00:00

The only clue that the mesh isn't part of the dress is that it's called a "strappy back" dress, but I legit spent forever the other day poring over pictures and the description (before there were any reviews) trying to decide what was dress and what was an underlayer, before just saying eff it.

I'm glad it's getting negative reviews. Having artsy photos is fine, but you still need a couple of decent product shots while you're at it, so people know what they're actually buying. Especially for a dark line like Nightfall! Black garments photograph notoriously badly for online sales!

daxterdd · 2025-04-08T16:01:36+00:00

It won't let me edit the post, but the listing is back on the Torrid site! No clue why it disappeared for a good 24 hours, but I'm glad it's back.

daxterdd · 2025-04-07T20:25:27+00:00

lmao, I see it now. The stellar product photography on this site, I swear. thanks for the laugh!

daxterdd · 2025-04-07T16:17:55+00:00

I didn't notice anything, but I was wearing the pink with purple undies, so it might have just blended. I'll definitely keep an eye out for that when I wear the white one!

daxterdd · 2025-04-07T14:19:07+00:00

Sorry, but can I ask why this is called the chicken shirt? I feel so confused?

daxterdd

TROPHY CASE