Our Next Chapter: A Rom-Com & Romance Books Podcast

Lauren Okie is back for our first-ever return guest episode, and we’re talking all things Tropesick, her second novel out June 16. We get into romance tropes, writing through fear, sophomore-book pressure, big emotional swings, and why Lauren is so good at writing stories that feel messy, honest, hot, and human.

Plus, we rank Andrea’s favorite romance tropes and somehow make room for Annabel Monaghan, fake dating, Jason Momoa, and Matt’s ongoing refusal to watch The Notebook.

Matt & Andrea here. Thanks for joining us on this journey. 
We'd love to hear from you. Visit us at www.OurNextChapterPodcast.com

In this episode, we're recording at LaunchPad Studios in Dallas while surviving  May: graduations, theater awards, senior celebrations, middle school milestones, Mother’s Day, road trips, and the big-time realization we’re about to have both a high school freshman and a college freshman.

Then we dive into two of our favorite new summer reads: The Shippers by Katherine Center and Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan. 

Matt & Andrea here. Thanks for joining us on this journey. 
We'd love to hear from you. Visit us at www.OurNextChapterPodcast.com

We kick things off with author signatures, big family updates, and the very strange feeling of watching their boys grow up and move toward their own next chapters.

Then we're joined by Dr. Irena Smith, author of Troika, a powerful memoir about a three-day road trip across California with her mother and daughter that unfolds into something much deeper: family history, identity, generational dynamics, and the stories we carry with us.

We talk improv and storytelling, how ADHD can be a creative superpower, the art of “show, don’t tell,” and what it means to write something true without losing the humor and lightness of real life. Plus, The Impossible Detour somehow becomes a time-traveling carnival romance.

And to wrap it all up, we celebrate our anniversary with trivia from the years we started dating and got married, because nothing says romance like remembering Napster, Survivor, and Wedding Crashers.

Matt & Andrea here. Thanks for joining us on this journey. 
We'd love to hear from you. Visit us at www.OurNextChapterPodcast.com

Andrea is back on pothole patrol, we wrestle with the soulmate question at the heart of Your Soul Mail Is Attached, and after our conversation with Joan F. Smith, we get a special soul mail delivery of our own.

Joan joins us to talk about the big idea behind her new adult novel, her move from YA to adult fiction, her writing process, and how personal experiences shape her stories. Plus, she plays The Impossible Meet Cute with us and closes things out with our Final Five.

Matt & Andrea here. Thanks for joining us on this journey. 
We'd love to hear from you. Visit us at www.OurNextChapterPodcast.com

We took this one to the movies.

In this special episode, we headed out to see Project Hail Mary , then talk through all of it, and yes, this is your official spoiler warning.

We’re breaking down what worked, what surprised us, and the moments that stuck with us most. From Gosling's glasses crawling all over his face to Rocky being Amaze Amaze Amaze, we’re getting into everything.

If you haven’t read or seen it yet, maybe save this one.
If you have, come hang out.

Matt & Andrea here. Thanks for joining us on this journey. 
We'd love to hear from you. Visit us at www.OurNextChapterPodcast.com

Matt and Andrea kick things off with an audiobook narration audition before welcoming bestselling author Natalie Keller-Reinert to the show. Natalie shares how a lifelong love of horses turned into a writing career, the path from indie publishing to Flatiron Books, and the story behind her new novel The Jump.

We then wrap up with a story about the Dreamers and Readers festival and how the Dallas-Fort Worth book community showed up for authors when it mattered most.

Matt & Andrea here. Thanks for joining us on this journey. 
We'd love to hear from you. Visit us at www.OurNextChapterPodcast.com

We’re back with a conversation we loved with bestselling author Jenn Dugan, whose newest novel, Anderson in Bloom, is out tomorrow!

Jenn shares her journey from writing after bedtime to publishing multiple books a year, and what it really means to write messy, complicated characters who still deserve big love. We talk about finding your voice, navigating YA and adult romance, reclaiming your story, and why she likes to take “two disasters and make them kiss.”

Matt & Andrea here. Thanks for joining us on this journey. 
We'd love to hear from you. Visit us at www.OurNextChapterPodcast.com

We’re continuing our one-year POD-aversary celebration on Our Next Chapter — and this week we’re joined by USA Today bestselling fantasy romance author Kate Golden.

Kate stops by to talk about her new romantasy novel Half City, the first book in the Harker Academy series — a dark academia story featuring demon hunters, forbidden attraction, and a mystery that unravels at an elite supernatural academy.

We also play our recurring author game, The Impossible Meet Cute, which somehow results in a rom-com that has dogs and Hawaii. You’ll understand when you hear it.

If you love romantasy, fantasy romance, dark academia, conversations about the writing process, and authors getting honest about craft, you'll dig this.

Thanks for celebrating year one with us!

Matt & Andrea here. Thanks for joining us on this journey. 
We'd love to hear from you. Visit us at www.OurNextChapterPodcast.com

One year in, and we’re celebrating our podaversary with romance author Sophie Sullivan. In this chapter, we talk about her long road to publication, redefining success, and trusting the timing of the story you’re in.

We dig into anxiety, joy, and what it means to keep writing anyway, even when the goalposts move. Plus, we play Check In / Check Out, wrap with our final five questions, and reflect a bit on what one year of conversations has taught us so far.

Matt & Andrea here. Thanks for joining us on this journey. 
We'd love to hear from you. Visit us at www.OurNextChapterPodcast.com

In this chapter, we’re joined by YA romance author Jessica L. Cozzi to talk forced proximity, big teenage emotions, and her debut novel We’ve Hit Turbulence. We dig into what it’s like writing a book while also working as a publishing publicist, seeing the industry from both sides of the mic, and knowing how the sausage gets made. Plus, we play a quick game of Real or Fake Genres, where things get weird fast.

Matt & Andrea here. Thanks for joining us on this journey. 
We'd love to hear from you. Visit us at www.OurNextChapterPodcast.com