We're finishing our first Season of the podcast talking about the romance book "Please Don't Go" by E. Salvador. It's officially sad girl summer but don't be scared to read it because it is so good! The story deals beautifully with themes of grief and healing as we fall in love with Josephine and Daniel. Josephine does not want to be close to anyone and Daniel is busy being "a great guy" for everyone else while pushing down his own sadness rooted in trauma. E. Salvador trusts the intelligence of her readers and as a result achieves a 4 pumpkin spice level sad girl romance that is a must read. Josephine is a swimmer and Daniel is a hot baseball player who speaks spanish and italian--you're welcome!

This week we are talking about "Into the Blue" by Emma Brodie. It's more lit fic than romance, but it plays by some key romance rules...This book will make you cry but you will be so grateful you read it. If you're a fan of "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" by Gabrielle Zevin, then you will love this book. Noah and AJ have such a strong connection that spans from their video store working youth to the Broadway stage. We highly recommend you read the physical copy of this book.

We know we're not supposed to judge a book by it's cover but...we all do. WE ALL DO! That's why we were so excited to talk with Cat of TRC designs about her process as a designer of romance book covers. Cat works with authors like Anna Huang, Sav R. Miller and Tessa Hale to name a select few. Learning about her journey to become a book cover designer and her process was super cool. Listen to hear the magic of following your passion, even when you're perfectionism threatens to shut you down before you begin.

Director Dawn Wilkinson directed the last two episodes of one of "Off Campus" our latest romance adaptation obsession! We got to talk to her about the experience and she was so forthcoming about the whole process. Wonder how they shot those hockey scenes? How they navigate the intimacy on set for those spicy scenes we love? Dawn has all the answers. The show is a hit because it is a great adaptation and we talk about how that came to be.

We got to talk with romance author Tessa Bailey about her book, "My Summer Vacation" and s'more...It was such an insightful conversation about the value and joy of smut. Tessa was incredibly cool to talk to and she has so many great romance novels out there to choose from. Cait is a huge fan as someone who doesn't like to always have to linger over a slow burn before we get to the "good stuff"!

If you are an Austen fan, then you are in for a treat! Reading this romance feels like reading Jane Austen. Author Janice Hadlow did an exceptional job finding the Austen voice and gave us a look deeper into the world of "Pride and Prejudice". As Court points out in this episode we get a mini epilogue of Darcy and Elizabeth's happily ever after. This book is all about the most overlooked Bennet sister, Mary, and she will be your new favourite by the end. We can't thank author Katherine Center enough for putting this book on our radar! (And the BBC show adaptation is incredible, we will be discussing it on another episode!)

We got to sit down with author Brooke Fast and talk about her debut Dystopian Romance "To Cage A Wild Bird". This is the prison romantasy book you've been waiting for! It was really fun to talk with Brooke about her writing process and the inspiration for the book. In this fast-paced story Raven infiltrates a brutal prison to save her brother Jed and falls for the mysterious prison guard Vale...This is book one of a two part series, with the second book slated for release in early 2027.

This week we cover an essential summer romance read:

Every Summer After by Carly Fortune

This was Carly Fortune's debut novel in 2022 and now it will be a new show releasing on Amazon Prime this week! Listen in as we talk about Percy and Sam and their dual timeline love story set in Ontario's cottage country.

We got to chat with author Annabel Monaghan about her latest summer romance story "Dolly All the Time". A romance book with a female protagonist closer to 40 than 22? Yes, please! What a breath of fresh air. This one hit home hard, probably because Dolly's struggles were very relatable as a fully adult woman. Annabel was so wonderful to talk to and she shared great insights about writing. Cait had some tech difficulties on her end for this recording but we made it through. We can all relate to Dolly...all the time!

The delight that is this romance. It's totally PG which is Katherine Center's style and it will absolutely captivate your heart. Jojo is our FMC who attends her sister's wedding on a cruise ship hoping to get over a past crush, but then Cooper our MMC turns out to be more than just her childhood bestie. This book opens with a bang that we did not see coming! Chatting with author Katherine Center was so much fun, she was filled with romance writing insights.