Rachel Reid, Fiction, & More

Apr. 20th, 2026 03:30 pm
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Posted by Amanda

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab is $5.99! This came out last summer and was a big release. If you’re still waiting on that library hold, maybe grab this one.

From V. E. Schwab, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: a new genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger.

This is a story about hunger.
1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada.
A young girl grows up wild and wily—her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But María knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice. She vows to have no regrets.

This is a story about love.
1827. London.
A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family’s estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. Charlotte’s tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes are swept away by an invitation from a beautiful widow—but the price of freedom is higher than she could have imagined.

This is a story about rage.
2019. Boston.
College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new. That’s why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind. But after an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers . . . and revenge.

This is a story about life—
how it ends, and how it starts.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Time to Shine

Time to Shine by Rachel Reid is $1.99! I believe this is a standalone contemporary from Reid. Lara reviewed this one and gave it a B:

I read this book in a day. A delicious day. A work day! In between meetings and emails I was reading this book. (Sorry, boss.)

For Landon Stackhouse, being called up from the Calgary farm team is exciting and terrifying, even if, as the backup goalie, he rarely leaves the bench. A quiet loner by nature, Landon knows he gives off strong “don’t talk to me” vibes. The only player who doesn’t seem to notice is Calgary’s superstar young winger, Casey Hicks.

Casey treats Landon like an old friend, even though they’ve only interacted briefly in the past. He’s endlessly charming and completely laid-back in a way that Landon absolutely can’t relate to. They couldn’t have less in common, but Landon needs a place to live that’s not a hotel room and Casey has just bought a massive house—and hates being alone.

As roommates, Casey refuses to be defeated by Landon’s one-word answers. As friends, Landon comes to notice a few things about Casey, like his wide, easy smile and sparkling green-blue eyes. Spending the holidays together only intensifies their bromance-turned-romance. But as the new year approaches, the countdown to the end of Landon’s time in Calgary is on.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Wild Dark Shore

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy is $2.99! I hesitate to call this one “recommended” but we had an amazing guest post about this book. Be warned, it will definitely make you cry.

From the beloved, New York Times bestselling author of Migrations and Once There Were Wolves, a novel about a family living alone on a remote island, when a mysterious woman washes up on shore

A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A rising storm on the horizon.

Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers. But with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants, packing up the seeds before they are transported to safer ground. Despite the wild beauty, isolation has taken its toll on the Salts. Raff, eighteen and suffering his first heartbreak, can only find relief at his punching bag; Fen, seventeen, has started spending her nights on the beach among the seals; nine-year-old Orly, obsessed with botany, fears the loss of his beloved natural world; and Dominic can’t stop turning back toward the past, and the loss that drove the family to Shearwater in the first place.

Then, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman washes up on shore. As the Salts nurse the woman, Rowan, back to life, their suspicion gives way to affection, and they finally begin to feel like a family again. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting her heart, begins to fall for the Salts, too. But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers the sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own dark secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, can they trust each other enough to protect one another—and the precious seeds in their care? And can they finally put the tragedies of the past behind them to create something new, together?

A novel of heart-stopping twists, dizzying beauty, and ferocious love, Wild Dark Shore is about the impossible choices we make to protect the people we love, even as the world around us is ending.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Book People

Book People by Jackie Ashenden is 99c! This contemporary romance was mentioned on Hide Your Wallet. This was also our third bestselling book of last year.

Don’t miss this utterly charming, spicy, enemies-to-lovers rom-com from Jackie Ashenden!

When Kate, a fledgling bookseller, decides to open a bookshop that celebrates the kinds of genre fiction she loves to read (popular and fun!), she’s surprised to find that not everyone in the town is as excited as she is.

Least excited of all? Sebastian, owner of the highbrow bookshop across the road, who has rules for everything: the kind of books he sells, the clothes he wears, and the people he dates (no-one local).

When the pair find themselves working together on the town’s literary festival, their growing attraction becomes harder and harder to ignore. Professional rivalry aside, just one steamy kiss can’t mean anything, can it?

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

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Posted by Taija PerryCook

Fabricated images flooded social media platforms after the first lady denied any close ties to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
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Posted by Rae Deng

A judge later ruled that federal prosecutors could not seek the death penalty for Mangione due to technical flaws in their arguments.

Thistlemarsh by Moorea Corrigan

Apr. 20th, 2026 09:00 am
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Posted by Lara

DNF

Thistlemarsh

by Moorea Corrigan
April 21, 2026 · Berkley
Science Fiction/Fantasy

There are many reasons that I choose not to finish a book and then subsequently am compelled to write about the experience in a review. Sometimes it is irritation or anger or frustration. Sometimes, like now, it’s because I’ve stumbled across a book that will be someone’s catnip; it’s just not my catnip. I can’t force myself through the rest of the story, but I’m desperate for Thistlemarsh to find its readers. So much so that I wish I could add an asterisk to the ‘DNF’ at the top of this review and somehow flag that this is not an ordinary DNF.

Mouse inherits Thistlemarsh, a manor house, from her uncle but she has to fix up the house in a month or the house goes to Carlyle, someone she hates A LOT. She needs the house because it is where she is going to care for her brother who is deeply traumatised by World War One and can’t fend for himself at the moment or perhaps ever again.

While walking to visit her childhood friend who became the village vicar, she accidentally frees a faerie, Thornwood, from a statue in the woods around the house. In return for a (minor) sacrifice on her part, he agrees to fix up the house for her. Only it doesn’t go smoothly.

Here is my first problem with the book (that might not be a problem at all for other readers): not a lot happens. That smidgen of plot summary takes you bang up to 31% of the book, so it is slow going. In my current personal circumstances, I need something more strident and dynamic in a plot, but I can absolutely see how a slow, gentle story like this could be very comforting for a reader.

An example of the slowness is that there is just over a page talking about how Mouse is making her supper. No thoughts or things happening aside from that. Just a description of her making and eating an egg sandwich and drinking a pot of tea. That’s all that happens for a page. While this is a dealbreaker for me personally, it isn’t necessarily a dealbreaker for someone else.

The writing is lovely. Yes, it’s slow, but the description is rich and creative, especially descriptions of the magic that Thornwood does in the house. Here’s an example of it:

The shape the magic created was massive, a spiderweb of overlapping strands that crisscrossed between portraits, tables, and doors. In the entry way, tangles clustered along the tapestry, in the great elk antlers, and above the doorways.

The Faerie men stalked the lines like cats. Thornwood’s jacket sleeves bore long, dark scorch marks that reached his elbow. He raised his right hand, and Mouse gasped. His hands were clawed.

He snapped his fingers, and the glow of his magic fell away from the threads. Lines of gold remained suspended in the air, the bars of an immense birdcage. With her pinky, Mouse plucked at the closest string. It hummed like a harp. The sound echoed through the hallway, and the other lines joined in harmony where they crossed.

Mouse herself is intrepid and determined. She has some baggage from a childhood that was mostly unhappy, but she is deeply committed to her brother. Thornwood is cantankerous which I always enjoy in a character. But both characters for me lacked depth though. That might well be because I stopped reading at 31%, but life is too desperately short to force my way through a book that isn’t holding my attention.

Nonetheless, Thistlemarsh deserves readers who will be made immensely happy by this cosy fantasy. If you do pick it up, please share in the comments how you found it.

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Posted by aninfiniteweirdo

This time, it’s about information behaviours: by the fans, for the fans

The clickbait title of this post would have been: gatekeeping in fandom. Fandom’s information behaviour is of much interest to scholars as


(…) cult media fans are seen to be an information-intensive group in many respects, with a variety of sophisticated online and offline information practices.


Price, L.; Robinson, L. (2017). ‘Being in a knowledge space’: Information behaviour of cult media fan communities. Journal of Information Science, 43(5), 649-664. doi.org/10.1108/JD-05-2020-0089


These sophisticated practices might involve the role of information gatekeepers.


These gatekeepers seem to have a network that extends outside of the immediate social structure and as such they seem to possess strong ties even to external resources. They are able to filter the flow of information when passing the knowledge on to others. This kind of gatekeeper or information provider can be observed within the context of the game, either at a low level, like in a guild, or at a high level, like someone who for one reason or another has earned acclaim and thus earned credibility.


Nyman, N. (2010). Information Behaviour in World of Warcraft [Master’s thesis, University Umeå].


Nyman here talks about gaming environments and it would be dangerous to generalise based on that, but some takeaways might be warranted. Gaming is based on voluntary and active participation, the communities are collaborative and not based on fixed hierarchies, these are presupposed for the purposes of this post.


Then, Nyman expected to see that the information needed for this participation (how to complete a quest) was gathered through the personal relationships in the game (from the people the gamers are already raiding with, for example).


Well, close enough.


The most common way to gather the information needed (to complete in-game tasks) was by visiting a third-party website.


Nyman, N. (2010). Information Behaviour in World of Warcraft [Master’s thesis, University Umeå].


Nyman’s speculation was based on how information sciences gather the most effective ways to gather information. Then, the result could also suggest that third-party websites are, in some way, more effective in providing information.


The game is taking place online, as such Internet is but a few clicks away. So even if the knowledge exists withint he social structure to resolve many of the needs, the quickest path to a satisfactory result is to use a website for research.


Nyman, N. (2010). Information Behaviour in World of Warcraft [Master’s thesis, University Umeå].


In their description of a gatakeeper, the acclaim can be earned either in the game or outside of the game world, while still related to the game. There is reason to think that that acclaim (or social capital) could be earned through contributing information to third party websites.


Furthermore, the voluntary participation of gaming communities is interest-based. While they might not be interpretative communities in the same way fandoms are, it can be speculated that information resources for gamers by gamers will organise and disseminate information in ways that makes sense for these gamers, therefore, making these resources close to as effective, as if they were personally tailored to the information seeker.


It has been observed that fandoms


are saturated and defined by distinctive information behaviours, affecting all aspects of the information communication chain, from creation and dissemination, to organisation and use.


Price, L.; Robinson, L. (2017). ‘Being in a knowledge space’: Information behaviour of cult media fan communities. Journal of Information Science, 43(5), 649-664. doi.org/10.1108/JD-05-2020-0089


So fandoms can provide information effectively to fans specifically because of the distinctive information behaviours, but they are distinctive in what ways? This is something to be further discussed.

Post by Szabó Dorottya

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Posted by Caroline Wazer

A screenshot that has circulated online for years shows the purported quote under a picture of Donald Trump and his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump.
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Posted by Jack Izzo

Given uncertainty around the Iran war, we thought it might be a good idea to refresh everyone's memory on the military draft.
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Posted by Taija PerryCook

Our own screenshot from 2020 shows sparse mapping data in Lebanon, predating Israel's 2026 bombing. Users have flagged the lack of coverage for years.
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Posted by Amanda

The latest bestseller list is brought to you by birthday cake, good hugs, and our affiliate sales data.

  1. Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis Amazon | B&N | Kobo
  2. The Muse of Maiden Lane by Mimi Matthews Amazon | B&N | Kobo
  3. Eclipse the Moon by Jessie Mihalik Amazon | B&N | Kobo
  4. Sylvia’s Second Act by Hillary Yablon Amazon | B&N | Kobo
  5. Our Vicious Oaths by N.E. Davenport Amazon | B&N | Kobo
  6. The Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran Amazon | B&N | Kobo | GooglePlay
  7. Hunter’s Treasure by Olivia Jackson Amazon | B&N | Kobo
  8. The Devil You Know by Kit Rocha Amazon | B&N | Kobo
  9. Son of the Morning by Awkaeke Emezi Amazon | B&N | Kobo
  10. Enemies to Lovers by Alisha Rai Amazon | B&N | Kobo

I hope your weekend reading was something to celebrate!

Three Weeks For Dreamwidth 2026 \o/

Apr. 19th, 2026 10:08 am
goodbyebird: Star Trek Discovery: Michael, "to boldly go." (Disco to boldly go)
[personal profile] goodbyebird posting in [community profile] 3weeks4dreamwidth
NOT OPEN YET BUT WANTED THE EVENT POST UP TOP

✨ April 25th to May 15th ✨

Let's celebrate our awesome online home together! Activities, events, memes, all the special interest blog posts <3



Guidelines
+ Feel free to promote any activity you've got going for 3W4D, either in communities or hosted in your own journal.
+ As this is to celebrate the anniversary and promote activity at Dreamwidth, it is highly appreciated that content tagged for the event stays on Dreamwidth exclusively for the whole three weeks. (obviously nobody's setting the hounds on you)
+ Feel free to tag anything you think would be of interest even if you're not linking it here. It's a good way to meet likeminded people who want to talk about movies/books/hobbies/travel/what have you.
+ Posts tagged with three weeks for dreamwidth (or threeweeks or three_weeks_for_dw) will show up in this feed :)
+ If you wish, drop a link to any content you post anywhere on Dreamwidth for this fest into this community after the start date, with a brief description of the nature of the post. Posting is open to all community members, we'd love to see you!
+ Please do promote any Dreamwidth-only activities happening during the fest <3

psa
We won't be accepting any Harry Potter or AI generated posts.

Promo
A cute pink kitty is playing with the Dreamwidth logo: Come join our celebration of Dreamwidth, April 25th to May 15th.


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Posted by Carrie S

Carrie: Fellow Smart Bitch Shana has been trying to get me to go with her on the JoCo Cruise for years, and she finally succeeded. I joined Shana and two other roommates (Heather and John) on JoCo Cruise 2026 and I honestly don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything quite like it.

JoCo Cruise is named after its founder, Jonathan Coulton. Coulton is a singer-songwriter who is best known for his songs that are science fiction/fantasy adjacent. His most famous songs are probably “Still Alive” from the game Portal, “Redshirt” which was inspired by a John Scalzi book which was inspired by Star Trek, and “Re: Your Brains” which must be heard to be believed.

Here’s a video set to Jonathan Coulton singing his song “I Feel Fantastic” that gives the general vibe –  not shown is crafting, discussions with authors, and general introverting (also it’s from 2012, so we had different guests):

JoCo was co-founded by Paul and Storm, a comedy duo who are known for organizing W00tstock and for Mystery Theater 3000 among other things, and Drew Westphal. JoCo Cruise has all kinds of special guests, but there’s a real sense t hat mostly Coulton, Drew, Paul and Storm invite all their friends and see who has time to attend.

Green Letters on a white wall say Welcome! Everything is fine.
Hallway decoration – one of many

For instance, Aimee Mann, a singer-songwriter, usually comes on this cruise , having just finished a tour with Coulton as her opening act. Author Mary Robinette Kowal has been an unofficial guest on four JoCo Cruises (counting this one). Author John Scalzi has been on eleven of these things, while sing-songwriter-ukelele player Mollyele has been on every single one since 2011!

You get the idea – there’s always a lot of new guests (mostly writers and performers of comedy and/or music) but there’s also a lot of regulars who put on a great show but also seem to just really like hanging out on a boat, and this sense of a gathering of buddies pervades the entire experience.

crowd of happy people poses for photo on stage
Last performance brought everyone together to sing Sloop John B by the Beach Boys because of COURSE they did

I’ve been to a lot of conventions, large and small. But I have never had an experience like JoCo Cruise. Being on the ocean is incredibly healing – and on top of that (literally, harr harr), there is gaming and crafting and reading and various panels and performances. If you want to do something that isn’t on the schedule, you can form an impromptu, unofficial gathering, which is why I turned a corner once and ran into twenty or so people playing instrumental Irish music.

When I went, I was in a bad emotional and physical place in my life. When I came home, I was so rejuvenated, so fully myself again, that when my daughter saw me, she cried happy tears. This was such a healing and inspiring event. Here are my two favorite memories, which I have selected largely because they occupy different spot on the “tranquil – wild” spectrum.

view of the ocean from deck with a table that has a toy lizard and glass of iced tea
Iced tea with a little buddy on the Lido Deck, I did a lot of reading here!

There was an area called The Crow’s Nest that has floor-to-ceiling windows with cushioned, comfy reclining chairs lined up facing them. The Crow’s Nest was usually fairly quiet. One day I got comfortable on a chair. I fell asleep looking at the ocean and I woke up looking at the ocean and I felt that deep sense of calm that comes with knowing what you want from life, which in my case is to see the ocean waking and sleeping as many days as possible.

My other favorite memory was at the opposite end of the ‘tranquil – wild’ spectrum. Shana, Heather and I went to ‘John Scalzi’s Nerd Prom’, at which I danced so ecstatically (with my arms, since I use a wheelchair) with the whole group singing “Don’t Stop Believing” and “Titanium” in a state of pure joy, that I had a sort of tranced-out moment. Instead of the trance state taking me out of my body, I felt fully and deeply in my body (which is literally largely titanium at this point and I’m about to add more) and felt this surge of both communal and individual defiance and joy. I’ve carried that joy in my heart since.

Carrie dancing from her wheelchair, bathed in blue light
CarrieS, photo by Shana, at the Nerd Prom

Shana: Dancing with you at Nerd Prom was one of the favorite moments!

My first JoCo Cruise was in 2020 right before the first Covid lockdown. I met NK Jemisin, took a writing class by Rebecca Roanhorse, read on the beach for hours, and knit by the pool with a bunch of people who patiently answered my embarrassing new knitter inquiries. It was bliss. For months after, while other people were learning to make sourdough during the lockdowns, I started dreaming about how to get back to that nerdy summer camp.

I’d hoped you would love it as much as I did!

This was my fourth JoCo Cruise and it felt like a snacking plate with little bits of my favorite things—crafting, music, comedy, board games, food, and of course, books. The world is dark right now, and laughing till my face hurt at Ron Funches’ stories about being wildly unsuccessful on The Traitors, was just what I needed.

John Scalzi helps organize the writers track and every year some of my favorite women authors are on the Boat. This year I got to meet Amal El-Mohtar, one of the coauthors of my favorite sapphic sci-fi romance, This is How You Lose the Time War. 

Shana, a Black woman in a purple top with short curly hair, leans toward Amal El-Motar, who is seated. She has long wavy hair and glasses. they're both smiling at the camera
Shana and Amal El-Motar

Linda Holmes was there too, and when I met her I blurted out that Evvie Drake Starts Over was my favorite romance I read in 2025 about white people. And then I walked away quickly.

There honestly aren’t a lot of places where I feel like I can be my most authentic self, and I’m glad I found this one. Every year I reconnect with some new part of my younger self on the JoCo Cruise. Last year it was playing card games, and this year it was dress up. I did cosplay for the first time, as Maru from Stardew Valley.

My first day on my first JoCo Cruise, I watched people sing karaoke with varying degrees of skill while receiving resounding applause and cheers. Another Black woman sitting near me saw my first time cruiser pin and told me, “This is a great place. Yes, there are a lot of White people, but people are kind and you can be as weird as you want to be.”

I’ve found that to be true, so while I unpack all the random swag I got during my cruise, I’m missing Boat fiercely and looking forward to being back, soon.

CarrieS (short white woman) with blue and purple hair, wearing a headress with a fake crow on it and a long black dress
CarrieS at the Crow Party at which everyone wears black and trades shiny trinkets

Carrie: The feeling of being able to be your most authentic self was certainly something I felt, and I heard it stated in various ways by different people on the trip and actively encouraged by staff and volunteers.

I saw it encouraged by our name tags that said “Ask me about…” which not only allowed but encouraged people to wax eloquent about their special interests.

I saw it expressed by everyone’s generosity – I’ve never seen so many people give so many things away! Not promotional swag, just little presents, often handmade, given for no purpose other than to spark joy in the recipient!

I was most touched to hear the sentiment reflected in a discussion I attended about living as a transgender person in America. I’m paraphrasing, but basically the moderator stated that the JoCo Cruise is the version of the world we all want to live in, a world in which we are allowed to be fully ourselves and in which we are accepted as our authentic selves.

Boat gave me the chance to remember myself again, and that was probably the best thing about the trip. As I learned while solving a treasure map, the real treasure was the friends we found along the way (and also the chocolate coins).

group of people playing instruments
Impromptu Irish music, anyone? Not pictured: author talks, panels, karaoke, gaming, crafting, eating, drinking, dancing, napping, legos, treasure hunts, swimming, making friends, sea chanties, stargazing, yelling at the moon, more napping…

 

Sunday Sale Digest!

Apr. 19th, 2026 07:00 am
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Posted by Amanda

This piece of literary mayhem is exclusive to Smart Bitches After Dark, but fret not. If you'd like to join, we'd love to have you!

Have a look at our membership options, and come join the fun!

If you want to have a little extra fun, be a little more yourself, and be part of keeping the site open for everyone in the future, we can’t wait to see you in our new subscription-based section with exclusive content and events.

Everything you’re used to seeing at the Hot Pink Palace that is Smart Bitches Trashy Books will remain free as always, because we remain committed to fostering community among brilliant readers who love romance.

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Posted by Joey Esposito

The video originated from an account known for sharing AI-generated content of notable political figures.

Leif & Thorn news tidbits

Apr. 18th, 2026 09:19 pm
erinptah: Madoka and Homura (madoka)
[personal profile] erinptah

Leif & Thorn Volume 8 reward packages are arriving for backers. (If you’re one of them, sharing photos like this and tagging me is encouraged.)

I’m also doing another backlist shipping special for Volumes 1-8, to get them in the mail before the latest Trump-induced price hike. If you’re outside the US and want these books but couldn’t afford the postage costs, grab them quick.

I’m almost out of Volume 3, and running low on Volume 4. So my next crowdfunding campaign might have to be a double reprint.

Or maybe I’ll pay for the reprints upfront, and offer them along with all my other existing books/merch at the next BackerKit Holiday Market. They haven’t announced another one yet, so no promises…but the November 2025 one was a huge success, they’ve gotta be planning a reprise for 2026.

Tiernan sketch on the outside of a package

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Posted by Rae Deng

Disney did release its slate of upcoming movies during an April 2026 convention, but none of them are called "Charlie Kirk."
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Posted by Joey Esposito

There has been no shortage of rumors about everything from Johnson's personal life to his political career.
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Posted by Jordan Liles

Online users shared the alleged black-and-white photo in early 2026, claiming it appeared in Jeffrey Epstein's federal case files.
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