Romance ME Podcast

In this episode, we discuss There’s Something about Merry by Codi Hall.
When her life implodes after yet another terrible ex, Merry Winters moves back home to Mistletoe, Idaho to be where she feels rooted. Single dad Clark Griffin is now working on the Christmas Tree farm owned by Merry’s parents. When the position on the farm Merry wants is given to Clark, a tension develops, causing isolationist Clark to actively avoid the boss's daughter.
Longing for an adult connection, Clark signs up on an online dating site where he meets KnottyGirl. As he juggles his feelings for Merry and KnottyGirl, Clark wonders if there just isn’t something about Merry.
Content warning: Animal abuse (but they are still okay, guys) and characters with history of childhood abuse.
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast

In this episode, we discuss The Lucky Heart by Devney Perry.
Felicity returns home after a long absence to reconnect with her family. To make her home in Prescott once again, she must confront the person she used to be and prove to those who knew her, and to herself, that she isn’t that girl anymore. 
One of the people she assumes will need a lot of convincing is Silas, a former friend and infrequent friend with benefits. Both Felicity and Silas will need to reconcile their past feelings before they can begin their future.
Content warning: Domestic abuse, drug abuse, violence against women.
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast

In this episode, we discuss Am I the Asshole? by Cassie Alexander.
While blackout drunk at a party, Becky’s fiancé Logan gets her to agree to summon a demon for a threesome. The demon they summon is Quenalith, who is more than Logan bargained for. But, before he can dispel the summoning magic, Becky and Quen form a connection that is too powerful for either woman to ignore.
When Quen later tracks her down, Becky has to decide whether to ignore their undeniable chemistry or give up her safe life and take a chance on Quen.
Content warning: Cheating and emotional abuse (but not between the main couple), alcoholism, sex trafficking. 
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast

In this episode, we discuss Ten Trends to Seduce Your Bestfriend by Penny Reid.
For the last six years, Winnifred and Byron have maintained distance while orbiting in the same social group. When a mutual friend backs out of a plan to boost Winnie’s online following, Byron offers to be the best friend/secret crush in her Challenge videos. 
Winnie and Byron now need to navigate through their respective comfort zones as they negotiate the boundaries of becoming friends to maybe more than friends. Will they be able to open up and trust each other with their squishy bits?
Content warning: Childhood trauma, abuse survivorship
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast

In this episode, we discuss Easy Magic by Kristen Proby.
After her grandmother dies, Mallory decides to eschew her psychic gifts in favor of a ‘normal’ life with as little connection to the dearly departed as possible. However, one fateful night, her shop in the French Quarter gets waterlogged, which forces her to interact with her landlord, serious CEO Beau.
The chemistry is amazing and things seem so easy, but can she adjust to his affluent lifestyle? And can he accept her spooky side and the dangers it brings?
Content warning: Kidnapping and child murder referenced but off the page.
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast

Welcome to another special bonus episode about NaNo (aka National Novel Writing Month)! This is our very, very late follow-up for our previous Camp NaNo episode. In case you don’t know, Camp NaNo is a modified challenge that takes place in both April and July, where you get more flexibility with word count or can even choose to use the time to edit a previous project. 
In this episode, we discuss Em’s experience this year with both the April and July Camp NaNos.
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast

In this episode, we discuss Issued to the Bride One Marine by Cora Seton.
Two Willows rancher Lena Reed has worked on the family ranch her whole life in spite of her father, the General’s, frequent attempts to dictate how business will be conducted. In order to control and protect Lena and her sisters, the General has been sending cherry-picked servicemen to be their husbands. 
Lena’s would-be suitor Marine Logan Hughes is trying to avoid imprisonment after a botched knight in shining armor moment by marrying Lena, the daughter assigned to him. Fourth in line to get hitched, Lena is unwilling to kowtow to the General’s demands and marry her pre-approved husband. 
Now it’s up to Logan to convince Lena that he’s her man and not her father’s minion.
Content warning: Abusive ex, main character has panic attack,  heroine assaults hero multiple times, mentions of drug trade
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast

In this episode, we discuss Wicked and the Wallflower by Sarah MacLean.
After an accident has left her mildly ruined, Lady Felicity Faircloth's prospects of marrying for money and status are devastated. She's so desperate to get back into society’s good graces, she'll make a deal with a charming Devil, who assures her that he can grant her wish.
But, can she trust his motivations? Will he trust that she knows her own mind? And what will happen when Felicity decides she prefers the Devil she knows?
Content warning: Threats of rape, child abuse. 
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast

In this episode, we discuss Elijah: an Amish Story of Crime and Romance by Sylvia Price.
In Lincoln, Nebraska, Elijah Troyer is a young man on Rumspringa, the Amish rite of passage where young members of the community are given the freedom to choose if they wish to remain in the Amish community or live outside of it. While out on the town, he comes to the aid of Eve Campbell, a young woman in mortal distress. When push comes to shove, he soon realizes that the only thing he can't live without is Eve.
Content warning: Abusive ex-boyfriend, human trafficking
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast

In this episode, we discuss The Corsair’s Captive by Ruby Dixon.
After being taken from Earth and treated like livestock, Fran finds herself being led around like a pet by an alien. Meanwhile, Kivian was planning to gamble for some fuel crystals, but revised those plans when he saw the pretty human getting her chain yanked. Now he intends to liberate Fran’s captor of everything, woman included. 
Kivian wants Fran to know she will be safe with him, but can she trust him?
Content warning: Human trafficking, slavery.
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast

In this episode, we discuss Roommaid by Sariah Wilson.
Maddison is cut off from family assistance at age 23, in a lot of debt, and doesn’t have much of a teacher’s salary to live on. Needing a place to live where cockroaches don’t also call it home, she agrees to live rent free in a really nice place in exchange for doing some light housekeeping and pet sitting.
This apartment comes with a wealthy hunk who isn’t looking for romance in a roommate after being stalked by the previous woman he roomed with. It all seems almost too good to be true, doesn’t it?
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast

In this episode, we discuss Killing Sarai by J.A. Redmerski.
For nine years, Sarai was trained to be arm candy in public and a sex toy in bed. At 23, she meets Victor, who she uses to escape her captivity. Unbeknownst to her, he has his own history of abuse and grooming.
They begin to develop romantic feelings for each other as they navigate the dangerous world of sex trade and hired assassins. 
Content warning: Sex trafficking, sex slavery, sexual assault and rape, child slavery and implications of child rape. 
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast

In this episode, we discuss One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston.
While trying to distance herself from her mother’s pursuit of her missing uncle, August Landry moves to New York City to pursue higher education and higher rent. While boarding the subway, she meets the leather-jacket-wearing-cool-girl Jane Su, who saves her from coffee-shirt humiliation with a red scarf. August soon realizes there is more to the mysterious Jane than she first suspected, and she is forced to admit she wants to investigate Jane's past in order to save her dream girl.
Content warnings: Homophobia.
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast 

In this episode, we discuss Firelight by Kristen Callihan.
Miranda Ellis is a woman with a powerful secret but no social power. Lord Benjamin Archer is a man with all sorts of power and yet he is doomed to cover himself so he doesn’t shock society.
For this couple, marriage and murder intertwine, but only when they learn to trust and communicate will they see the truth.
Content warning: Threats of rape.
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast 

In this episode, we discuss Beach Read by Emily Henry.
January Andrews inherited a beach house and drama when her father passed away. She moves in to save money and figure out how to write a happily-ever-after while feeling beaten down by her crumbling fairy-tale life. Proving that misery did not like or want company, a loud party next door brought her face-to-face with college crush and now famous literary author Augustus Everett.
In an act of creative desperation and mutual attraction, they agree to each try writing in the other’s style, giving a shine to the shady pages and vice versa. But, creative excavation is dirty work and soon both of them have uncovered more than they bargained for. 
Content warning: Mentions of past child abuse and suicide cults.
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast 

In this episode, we discuss The Duke Who Didn’t by Courtney Milan.
Chloe Fong is too busy with making lists about her entrepreneurial ambitions and revenge plots to give the man who almost kissed her any of her time as she checks off her tasks. Jeremy Wentworth is secretly the Duke of Lansing as well as the man who didn’t stick around after their near kiss three years before, but he has now returned with plans for her list-making. She’d like to check him off, but he won’t let her– not without a fight.
Content warning: Mentions of racism. 
Check out Cheyenne Mountain Zoo's free Sustainable Palm Oil Shopping app mentioned in today's episode.
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast 

In this episode, we discuss Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison.
After taking a penny and leaving a penny, Pia Giovanni is wrapped into the loving (and smothering) wings of an ancient dragon. All Dragos Cuelebre, a.k.a. the dragon, wants to do is protect her as if she were the most valuable treasure in his hoard. Unfortunately, Pia’s theft has far-reaching complications that put them both in danger. And, while Dragos has forgiven her, he has no intention of letting her go. 
Content warning: Dubious consent.
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast

In this episode, we discuss Haven by Rebekah Weatherspoon.
Claudia Cade's camping trip with her brother turns horrific, leaving her running for her life and relying on the kindness of a stranger. Shep Olsen happens to be in the right place at the right time and saves Claudia from a terrible fate. Months later, they reunite to find closure. Now that the dust has settled, the city girl and the mountain man must figure out if what they feel is not just lust but actually love.
Content warning: Graphic violence off the page and healing from related trauma, and BDSM
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast

In this episode, we discuss Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs by Molly Harper.
After having one of ‘those days,’ Jane is mistaken for a deer, shot, and then gets better when Gabriel transforms her into a vampire. While trying to navigate the world as an undead person, she also is trying to figure out what she and her sire are to one another. It’s complicated.
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast

In this episode, we discuss the Camp NaNo experience, Em’s previous attempts, as well as her writing plans for the month of April.
Check out our recommended reading list for learning about writing.
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast

In this episode, we discuss Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston.
America's First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is convinced he has a nemesis in the British Prince Henry of Wales due to a previous snubbing. When an act of clumsiness creates a $75,000 problem that requires the First Son and Prince to play nice for the public and their respective world leaders, Alex learns the truth behind Henry’s carefully crafted image. Soon, Alex and Henry must make a decision that will go down in history. 
Content warning: Homophobia
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast

In this episode, we discuss Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.
This story is written as an autobiography from the viewpoint of Jane Eyre, who wishes to be seen and loved for being a person. She manages to improve her station in life, growing from discarded, undereducated girl into an industrious and accomplished governess. 
Her employer, Edward Rochester, is a passionate and complicated man who treats Jane more as a friend and confidante than as an employee. As their relationship grows, a secret of Rochester's comes to light and deconstructs the happiness they have tenuously built, forcing Jane to flee in the night. 
Although Jane picks up the pieces of her life, she constantly feels pulled to return to Rochester. But, when she finally answers the call, what will she find?
Content warning: Child abuse.
 
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast

In this episode, we discuss Butterface by Avery Flynn.
Gina Luca plans weddings, content in her life having mostly made peace with the "butterface" label given to her in high school. Stickler Ford Hartigan is a "hot" by-the-book police officer who wants to get to know Gina and gather intel on her mildly mob-ish brothers. 
While initially denying their shared chemistry, they prove capable of renovating Gina's old Victorian and grow into a relationship; however, can they repair their burgeoning romance when Ford's hidden motives are revealed?

If you would like to skip the movie commentary, our closing thoughts begin about 1h:38m into the track. 
In this episode, we discuss The Princess Bride movie by William Goldman and directed by Rob Reiner.
After her true love  allegedly dies, Buttercup agrees to marry Prince Humperdinck. Former farm boy turned pirate Westley attempts to save her from that fate so they can reunite. Meanwhile, Inigo and Fezzik bromance across the Florian countryside.
Back in the real world, a sick grandson is uninterested in hearing his well-meaning grandfather read him a “kissing book.” However, as the young boy hears about the adventures of Westley, Buttercup, Inigo, and Fezzik, he gradually becomes more invested, and maybe doesn’t even mind the kissing parts so much.
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Don't forget, for this episode, we are trying a new format called “watch with ME” where we have pre-recorded our commentary for you to listen along while you watch The Princess Bride movie with us. 
To fully enjoy this episode, you will need to watch The Princess Bride movie along with us, using your platform of choice. If you do a Google search for "stream princess bride" you will find a list of the services that currently host the movie. 
If this format is not your cup of tea, please join us for our next book episode, releasing on March 6th!