ELissa Sussman joins me to talk about her book, Funny You Should Ask, and about: Writing a horny heroine’s POV Dual timelines Celebrity profiles Life as a celebrity and managing a fandom Things that do, and do not twitch Elissa is an extremely fluent fan of the romance genre, and we talk a lot about romance conventions we love and loathe, and what it means to subvert and undermine some very familiar dynamics, characters, and … Continue reading 515. Celebrity Romance and Juicy Narratives with Elissa Sussman →

Denise Williams is a contemporary romance author with several books coming out this year including a series of audio-first novellas set in an airport, beginning with The Love Connection. She is also releasing her third novel, Do You Take This Man. Denise is also a wedding officiant! So we are going to talk about the process of uniting people in matrimony, what she loves most, and making the event meaningful for the people who are … Continue reading 514. Officiating the HEA with Denise Williams →

Shana McDavis-Conway is a social change consultant, activist, and a reviewer at this here website! She recently published an article, “Self-conscious, unapologetic, and straight: fat protagonists in romantic fiction” in the journal Fat Studies, and she’s written about fat rep in romance for SBTB a few times, too. We talk about the evolution of fat characters in romance, what’s changing, and then Shana shares the romances that made her a romance reader – and the … Continue reading 513. Fat Representation and Recommendations with Shana McDavis-Conway →

Laura Hankin is the author of Happy And You Know It, A Special Place for Women, and the upcoming book The Daydreams. The paperback of A Special Place for Women is out on May 24th, and as I learned is being adapted for film, too! We talk about the book-to-film adaptation process, and then we take a deep dive into secret societies, exclusive clubs, and how they work (or don’t). We also take a side … Continue reading 512. Secret Clubs and Exclusive Spaces with Laura Hankin →

Lisa from Shrewsbury sent us an email and two contenders for Cover Snark – so we did Cover Snark live! Check the show notes for a link to the covers, and tell us what you notice first! Happy belated birthday Lisa! Thank you for the wild thumbs and the shifter bonanza! Are you ready for the covers Lisa sent us? I hope so! If you liked this episode, let me know! In the comments, via … Continue reading 511. Cover Snark Live: Long Thumbs and Shifter Mayhem with Amanda →

This week, my guest is Emily Henry, whose new romance Book Lovers is out this past week! We talk about slow burns, book tour, puppies, the inspiration for the lead character, Nora, and the Icy City Ex Girlfriend Trope. Thank you to Ann_Knee, Clairatrix, and the enthusiastic members of the Culture Study Discord’s romance channel who were very excited about this interview alongside me. And thank you to publicist Heather Mill who set the interview … Continue reading 510. Book Lovers with Emily Henry →

This week, Amanda and I catch up on a whole bunch of things, including college visits, airboats, and dating! We also have listener email, including recommendation requests and compliments galore! I know some of y’all love the episodes where Amanda and I hang out and talk books and everything, so if you like this one, let me know? Email, comment, tweet at me, whatever – if you’re into these episodes, let me know! CW/TW: discussion … Continue reading 509. Catching Up and Looking Ahead at Book Recs with Amanda →

Jess Michaels is celebrating the release of her 100th book, 100 Nights with the Duke! That’s a lot of books, and a long career of close to 20 years! We talk about how she’s celebrating this milestone, and we take a look back at how her experience of the romance industry has evolved over two decades. Along the way we cover: Commemorative tattoos The biggest changes she’s experienced in her career How romance readership has … Continue reading 508. Celebrating 100 Books with Jess Michaels! →

Authors Lucy Eden and Katee Robert join me to talk about their very successful Kickstarter campaigns! Lucy’s is currently running and is fully funded, and Katee is in the midst of fulfillment of her Kickstarter, which was fully funded in about five minutes. We talk about why they went with Kickstarter, the essential elements of a successful campaign, and what they’ve learned from the experience so far. … Music: Purple-planet.com

This is part two of the special crossover event with Bonkers Romance as we recap of A Lady of Rooksgrave Manor by Kathryn Moon. Part one with me, Melody and Jenny is over at Bonkers Romance, so hello and welcome Bonkers Romance listeners! I’m so happy to have you here today! Be Ye Warned – this episode is extremely nsfw and is a recap of the second half of the book, so spoilers indeed. Also, … Continue reading 506. Part II of the Bonkers Romance Recap of A Lady of Rooksgrave Hall →

Jesse Q. Sutanto joins me today to talk about the release of Four Aunties and a Wedding, and we talk about all the wedding drama we’ve experienced from behind the scenes and as guests. We talk about weddings with thousands of guests, runaway brides, cultural clashes and the weight of wedding expectations. I would love to know: Do you have a wedding drama story? Did you witness some serious nuptial shenanigans? Please tell me all … Continue reading 505. Wedding Tales with Jesse Q. Sutanto →