My guest this week is Nellie Wilson, a teacher and historian who is the author of romance novels including Curated, Corporate Mandated Holiday Romance, and Steel My Heart: An Appalachian Romance. Her fiction is proudly anti-capitalist, and we talked about the need for romance novels about folks who don't live in Stars Hollow or Hollywood. If you hate JD Vance, you’ll love this episode.

Other topics discussed include: reader reactions to HEAs that don’t include monogamy, marriage or parenthood; writing neurodivergent characters; why the best “eat the rich” romances are historicals; Ella’s love/hate relationship with Cinderella stories; why we need more female rakes; Nellie’s defense of third act breakups; calling HR on boss/subordinate romances; and are characters allowed to grow anymore?

Follow Nellie on Instagram at @woahnelliewrites, and buy her books on Amazon here. [Yes, we hate Jeff Bezos, but Nellie is self-published and this is the best way to make sure she gets paid].

Support REBEL EVER AFTER by joining the Patreon at patreon.com/brosandprose, and by giving us 5 stars on your favorite podcast app!

You can follow Ella on Threads, Instagram and BlueSky at @brosandprose for updates about the show and other romance takes. My queer millennial second-chance romance But How Are You, Really is available at bit.ly/buthowareyoureallynovel