Bonkers Romance

We're joined by Katee Robert to recap Stalked by the Kraken by Lillian Lark! We talk about why this book is the perfect soft introduction to tentacles because it gives you a taste of the possibilities without being anything extreme. We also chat about kraken stereotypes, why we’re all pervs who want certain things to happen when tentacles are at play, and what on earth Katee Robert considers bonkers—given that she’s spent the last few years teaching most of us that we’re into things we thought were hard limits.

For the full episode, check out The Temple of Defiant Joy, our members site that gets you exclusive content, bonus episodes, free books, custom artwork and more! Going forward, the last episode of every month will only be available in full to Temple members, but everyone will still have free access to the rest of our episodes.

Have you checked out Katee’s Kickstarter campaign for her Wicked Villains series yet? The artwork is STUNNING and we can’t wait to have it all in our hands!

You should also check out Katee’s Patreon because she’s got all the good stuff over there!

For links to all the books we mentioned, see the show notes on our website!

Mentioned in this episode:

Pirates are waiting for you!

Six brand new bonkers pirate books you can read THIS MONTH from Katee Robert, CM Nascosta, Naima Simone, Andie J. Christopher, Jenny Nordbak, and Nina Saxena! Plus, foiled special editions with sprayed edges, gorgeous art, and so much more! Don't miss it!

Dangerous Tides!

We're joined by Dani Lacey to recap Soul Eater by Lily Mayne! We discuss what it’s been like watching the Ice Planet TikTok craze when Dani hosts the Ice Planet podcast. Jenny throws a full blown tantrum because Melody keeps getting to recap the books with cock pockets. We celebrate this charming, romantic, delicious, sexy AF triumph of a bonkers book that features a smoke monster and the sweetest human guy ever written.

“This is maybe the hottest book I’ve read in a minute...” -Melody

Aftercare Links:

• Dani: True Crime Obsessed podcast (Grizzly Man episode)
• Melody: Bachelor podcasts like The Rosecast, Will You Accept This Rose?, Game of Roses, and Love to See It
• Jenny: The Forbidden Man by Karina Halle

Don’t miss Dani’s fantastic podcasts: Black Chick Lit and Ice Planet Podcast

For links to the books mentioned, check the show notes on our website!

Support for this episode provided by:

Bonkers Romance Book Club! There's a survey going out to our members this week that'll give us some feedback on the kinds of books you'd like to be getting, but in the meantime, we've got exciting choices!

• Through the end of October, you have access to two Karina Halle books that Jenny personally selected as favorites of hers.
• In November, we'll be featuring advanced copies of King of Battle and Blood by Scarlett St. Clair--which is a dark, sexy fantasy. It's like if Alina chose the Darkling...but deliciously filthy.
• To get you in the holiday spirit, we'll also have advanced copies of Duke, Actually by Jenny Holiday in November, which is a royal delight.

Right now, through November 1, you have access to advanced copies of The Lady Gets Lucky by Joanna Shupe! We love Joanna's sexy, Gilded Age historicals and this one is pure catnip. Sex lessons! A reformed rake who falls for his excellent pupil. If you're not part of book club, you can preorder it now and it'll be out next week--or you can join now and get it early! Also keep a look out in the Temple for a bonus episode with Joanna!

Join the Temple of Defiant Joy on our website to get all of these books included with your membership!

Mentioned in this episode:

Pirates are waiting for you!

Six brand new bonkers pirate books you can read THIS MONTH from Katee Robert, CM Nascosta, Naima Simone, Andie J. Christopher, Jenny Nordbak, and Nina Saxena! Plus, foiled special editions with sprayed edges, gorgeous art, and so much more! Don't miss it!

Dangerous Tides!

August Book Club in the Temple!

Temple members at the Joy Bringer and Celebrant tiers can look forward to a bundle of the...

We're joined by Abby Jimenez to recap Hold by Claire Kent! Hold is set on a prison planet and opens with the lines: Find the strongest man there. Give yourself to him in return for protection. It's the only way you'll ever survive.

This was Abby’s first bonkers book, so we discuss how this has opened up her reading world and the marvelous rabbit hole it’s taken her down. We discuss the moments in the book where it’s clear the author has made a ballsy choice (and she nails it!), why it can be more fun when the stakes are higher, and how a book set in a hellish prison planet can be so mindblowingly sexy!

Aftercare Links:

• Dirty John podcast
• Music by Nathan Evans
• Something Was Wrong podcast

Don’t miss Abby’s most recent release, Life’s too Short or you can preorder Part of Your World now!

For links to the books we discussed, check out the show notes on our website!

Mentioned in this episode:

Pirates are waiting for you!

Six brand new bonkers pirate books you can read THIS MONTH from Katee Robert, CM Nascosta, Naima Simone, Andie J. Christopher, Jenny Nordbak, and Nina Saxena! Plus, foiled special editions with sprayed edges, gorgeous art, and so much more! Don't miss it!

Dangerous Tides!

August Book Club in the Temple!

Temple members at the Joy Bringer and Celebrant tiers can look forward to a bundle of the first three books in Kit Rocha's BEYOND series as well as CAUGHT A VIBE by Eva Moore! We. Are. SO STOKED!!!

Book Club

We're joined by Sarah MacLean to recap The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt! We discuss the many ways books can be bonkers (Sarah’s love of bananas books), sexy times in a sex club with a masquerade mask, how self indulgent it is to sob on the ground for hours, and the seriously good books we’ve read lately!

Be sure not to miss Sarah’s brand new, super sexy, bonkers fun romance, Bombshell!

For the complete list of books we mention (with links), check out the show notes on our website!

Support for this episode provided by:

Read, Romance, Repeat is a romance of the month club from The Ripped Bodice (and you need it). Each month subscribers receive two brand new romance novels plus an additional gift such as a journal, bookmark or candle.

-Choose from prepaid or pay as you go subscription plans

-Use code BONKERS for $5 your first box

-Order by October 15 to receive the October box

If you’re thinking ahead for the holidays, Read, Romance Repeat would be a great gift for the reader in your life. All holiday orders will need to be placed by December 13.

Mentioned in this episode:

Pirates are waiting for you!

Six brand new bonkers pirate books you can read THIS MONTH from Katee Robert, CM Nascosta, Naima Simone, Andie J. Christopher, Jenny Nordbak, and Nina Saxena! Plus, foiled special editions with sprayed edges, gorgeous art, and so much more! Don't miss it!

Dangerous Tides!

August Book Club in the Temple!

Temple members at the Joy Bringer and Celebrant tiers can look forward to a bundle of the first three books in Kit Rocha's BEYOND series as well as CAUGHT A VIBE by Eva Moore! We. Are. SO STOKED!!!

Book Club

We're joined by Naima Simone to recap The Lady and the Orc by Finley Fenn! We discuss Naima and Jenny’s mutual obsession with Lord of the Rings, that time Naima accidentally showed the guy at the phone case kiosk a description of orc parts (that he’s still sitting somewhere thinking about), gloriously thick orc thighs, and why Jenny has declared Luke Arnold her sworn enemy!

Be sure not to miss Naima’s stellar upcoming book, Christmas in Rose Bend that comes out October 26!

For the list of books we mentioned in this episode, check out our website for the show notes!

Mentioned in this episode:

Pirates are waiting for you!

Six brand new bonkers pirate books you can read THIS MONTH from Katee Robert, CM Nascosta, Naima Simone, Andie J. Christopher, Jenny Nordbak, and Nina Saxena! Plus, foiled special editions with sprayed edges, gorgeous art, and so much more! Don't miss it!

Dangerous Tides!

August Book Club in the Temple!

Temple members at the Joy Bringer and Celebrant tiers can look forward to a bundle of the first three books in Kit Rocha's BEYOND series as well as CAUGHT A VIBE by Eva Moore! We. Are. SO STOKED!!!

Book Club

We’re joined by Sierra F*cking Simone to recap Ensnared by Tiffany Roberts! We discuss how bonkers books must fulfill the promise of the premise, how Jenny and Mel are consensual creeps, how Jenny is a spider kink hipster, and why this marvelous book sold a skeptical Sierra Simone on spider romance!

“A real bonkers romance doesn’t just have fearlessness in the premise, but the author doesn’t shy away from the terrifying thing they signed up to write.” -Sierra Simone

“The call of timidity is very strong. I can sometimes feel the temptation to take a safer path.” -Sierra Simone

For a full list of the books mentioned in the episode, head over to bonkersromance.com!

Support for this episode provided by:

THE TEMPLE OF DEFIANT JOY! Join us in The Temple for bonus episodes, video of our public episodes, access to the Bonkers Romance Book Club, and much more! Membership at the Joy Bringer Tier or higher includes advanced copies of our September BRBC books: Mama’s Boy by Avery Flynn and His Leading Lady by Jenny Nordbak!

Mentioned in this episode:

Pirates are waiting for you!

Six brand new bonkers pirate books you can read THIS MONTH from Katee Robert, CM Nascosta, Naima Simone, Andie J. Christopher, Jenny Nordbak, and Nina Saxena! Plus, foiled special editions with sprayed edges, gorgeous art, and so much more! Don't miss it!

Dangerous Tides!

August Book Club in the Temple!

Temple members at the Joy Bringer and Celebrant tiers can look forward to a bundle of the first three books in Kit Rocha's BEYOND series as well as CAUGHT A VIBE by Eva Moore! We. Are. SO STOKED!!!

Book Club

Welcome to our introductory episode! Get to know a little bit about your hosts, Jenny Nordbak and Melody Carlisle, and learn what Bonkers Romance is all about!

We discuss what “bonkers” means to each of us since it’s something we’ve been asking guests.

• Jenny: It’s the brave decisions authors have made when they chose not to play it safe.
• Mel: It’s those books that make you wonder, “is this even allowed??” with absolute glee.

Why we started Bonkers Romance and what we hope to accomplish with it:

• Celebrate those brave choices authors have made and pulled off
• To choose joy
• To encourage readers to come down the rabbit hole with us

The format of each episode:

• We recap a bonkers book chosen by the guest to exemplify what they consider bonkers
• One of the hosts in each episode hasn’t read the book to make it more accessible for readers who may not have read the book yet.
• Along the way, we’ll have tangents, book recs, funny stories, and more!
• The last episode of every month will only be for our Temple members, but a free preview will be available publicly!

We’re eager to build a community and are excited to hear input, suggestions, book recs, guest recs, and bonkers descriptions in books you stumble upon! You can find us on social media or use the form on our website. We’re particularly looking for bonkers book recs that are inclusive, with a focus on queer rep and books written by authors from marginalized groups.

What is The Temple of Defiant Joy?

We’ve created a members page that functions similarly to Patreon, but gives us more control and flexibility. On there, we have bonus episodes, temple-only episodes, video of our regular episodes, bonus author interviews, Bonkers Romance Book Club, and more! We want it to feel like your community, so if you have ideas, we’d love to hear them! You can check it out HERE!

What is Bonkers Romance Book Club?

All members of The Temple at the Joy Bringer tier or higher will be part of the BRBC, our monthly digital book box subscription. Each month, members will receive two ebooks we’ve handpicked for the community. They’ll usually be advanced copies before the books are even available to the public! Check it out HERE!

Our upcoming episode list is available now on our social platforms, so come follow us on Instagram or Twitter—or join our new Facebook group!

Episode 2: Spider Shibari with Sierra Simone is available now, so don’t miss it!

Support for this episode provided by:

THE TEMPLE OF DEFIANT JOY! Join us in The Temple for bonus episodes, video of our public episodes, access to the Bonkers Romance Book Club, and much more! Membership at the Joy Bringer Tier or higher includes advanced copies of our September BRBC books: Mama’s Boy by Avery Flynn and His Leading Lady by Jenny Nordbak!

Mentioned in

Coming September 23, 2021! Jenny Nordbak and Melody Carlisle are teaming up to bring you a brand new podcast that celebrates romance and the fearless creators who make the genre amazing. Every Thursday, we invite an author or creator from the romance community to recap a truly bonkers piece of romance media and discuss how it’s tropes are maximized and what they do for us. Along the way you’ll get commentary, book recs, hilarious stories, hot takes, and a unique peek into the brains of creators you admire. Join us each week as we celebrate the authors who really *go there* and show us that our hard limits... might just be guidelines.

Mentioned in this episode:

Pirates are waiting for you!

Six brand new bonkers pirate books you can read THIS MONTH from Katee Robert, CM Nascosta, Naima Simone, Andie J. Christopher, Jenny Nordbak, and Nina Saxena! Plus, foiled special editions with sprayed edges, gorgeous art, and so much more! Don't miss it!

Dangerous Tides!