Romance ME Podcast

In this episode, we discuss Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh.
Sascha is a Psy who is experiencing a problematic flare up of emotion, which could get her sent to ‘rehabilitation’ to have her feelings/personality removed. To avoid this fate, she suppresses her emotions to pass as a normal Psy – nothing to see here. That all changes when she meets Lucus, a Changeling who’s used to expressing all of his feels and getting his own way. Lucus is trying to catch a serial killer. He senses that Sascha is different and hopes she can help. 
Exposure to the Changeling way of life has Sascha questioning everything. While they try to stop the murderer from starting an all-out war, Sascha must also decide if she wants to continue to control her emotions.
Content warning: Mind rape, elements of dubious consent
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast | Facebook: @romanceMEpod

In this episode, we discuss Transcendence by Shay Savage.
Ehd is a man with a cave but no tribe. As a result, he struggles to find a purpose for his life after the end of another long, lonely winter. Enter his purpose: Elizabeth, a mysterious woman from the future. Together, they must face the prehistoric wilderness while trying to find some way to communicate without words.
Content warning: Dubious consent, attempted rape, threat of child loss, heroine is maybe a highschooler
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast | Facebook: @romanceMEpod

In this episode, we discuss Spellbound by Allie Therin.
In 1925 New York, booze and non-heterosexuality were illegal. A magical disaster is threatening the city, and New York’s mightiest heroes are attempting to prevent the atrocity. Two of these champions are Arthur Kenzie, a wealthy veteran of The Great War, and Rory Brodigan, a poor orphan hiding a secret identity. When Arthur’s past returns to threaten the future, they work together to save the city and themselves.
Content warning: Racist and homophobic laws and social conventions of the past.
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast | Facebook: @romanceMEpod

In this episode, we discuss The American Roommate Experiment by Elena Armas.
New romance writer Rosie moves into her bestie’s empty apartment to avoid being crushed to death by the bathroom ceiling in her own apartment. Bestie is on her honeymoon, so Rosie can’t ask her for permission, but assumes it’s fine. While there, she meets bestie’s cute older cousin Lucus, who she’s had an online crush on for months. Unlike her, he is supposed to be there. 
Since neither Rosie nor Lucas want the other to be out of a place to stay, they agree to cohabitate as roommates until Rosie’s apartment is fixed. It is under this not-crumbling roof that they devise a plan to help Rosie out of her romance writer’s block by engaging in dating experiments. When it works to inspire her, she and Lucus are left wondering if they can truly believe in the results.
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast | Facebook: @romanceMEpod
Check out Em's recommendation for this episode: Moment of Truth by PBS NewsHour.

In this episode, we discuss Book Lovers by Emily Henry.
Nora Stephens is not a small town girl. Nora Stephens is the city girl who gets dumped by boyfriends for the small town girl. As a last hoorah before her sister gives birth, Nora and her sister Libby go to Sunshine Falls, NC, so they can have a vacation from city life… a life Nora loves. 
But, what’s a vacay without a checklist? Not one Nora and Libby want to be on, so they devise a list of Small Town Must Dos to keep themselves occupied – one of which is for Nora to date a small town guy. Nora goes along with this despite the fact that she’s developing feelings for a not-so-small town guy who doesn’t count as far as her sister is concerned.
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast | Facebook: @romanceMEpod

In this episode, we discuss Bows and Eros by Ava Devlin.
In a quiet, snow covered town, grade school teacher Noor expects to deal with the chaos of Family Fun Day, not ancient Greek gods running amuck.
Amidst the mayhem, she pairs up with Ethan, the single father of a former student, both to find his child and to help tame the wild love magic. But, with so much love in the air, how can Noor know if her developing feelings for Ethan are real?
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast

In this episode, we discuss Forbidden by Beverly Jenkins.
Eddy is traveling to California with dreams of owning her own restaurant. On the way, she trusts the wrong person and is abandoned to die in the Nevada desert. Luckily, Eddy is rescued by Rhine, a local business owner who happens to be in the right place at the right time.
Eddy and Rhine have an immediate, yet forbidden, attraction to each other. But now Eddy is out of the frying pan and into the fire of social rules which state that people of color can’t marry white people. Rhine has a secret that will allow them to be together, but is he willing to give up the privileges he’s been granted passing for white so that he can marry Eddy?
Content warning: Racism including segregation, some racist language, hate crimes, and mentions of racist violence. Threat of sexual assault. Mentions of child abuse and pedophilia. One of the main characters is a former slave.
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast

In this episode, we discuss A Ticking Time Boss by Olivia Hayle.
Perhaps you’ve heard this before: a journalist and a billionaire walk into a bar and become texting buddies. 
The journalist, Audrey Ford, is having a panic attack because blind dates are stressful, and the billionaire, Carter Kingsley, is just the sort of guy who can help out with a joke or two. They bond, exchange phone numbers, and stay connected. 
Later, Audrey meets Carter face to face once again when she goes to interview her new boss, who turns out to be Carter. Awkward. As they try to figure out who they are to one another and whether they can even still be friends, Audrey and Carter might just discover a truth they didn’t see coming.
Website: romanceMEpodcast.com | Twitter: @romanceMEcast

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