Podcasts about annabeth albert

On the final episode of 2023, Sam and Kim open a bottle of fizz and delve into Catered All the Way, the queer holiday romance from Annabeth Albert. What makes a good holiday romance? How would we write ours? And what is the most off-putting word to read in erotica? Find out here.

Romance author Margot Radcliffe and friend Jessica discuss the Conventionally Yours podcast episode of Guys Read Romance.

Romance author Margot Radcliffe chats with guy friend Matt about Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert.

Jeff & Will offer up recommendations for watching and reading during the holiday season. Among the shows they discuss are "The Big Brunch," "Chucky," "Ted Lasso," "Spirited," and "Matt Rogers: Have You Heard of Christmas?" In addition they shout out the upcoming queer holiday rom-coms, "The Holiday Sitter" on Hallmark Channel and "A Christmas to Treasure" on Lifetime. In books, Jeff talks about his recent Alice Oseman binge, and Will raves about his Annabeth Albert binge. Then it's on to holiday reads with books by Lee Blair, Mia Monroe, Robin Knight, and Julie Murphy & Sierra Simone. Complete shownotes for episode 407 along with a transcript of the show are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. Big Gay Fiction Podcast is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Find many more outstanding podcasts at frolic.media/podcasts!

Hey friends! We're back with a new episode all about Annabeth Albert's Conventionally Yours! Conventionally Yours follows Conrad and Alden, two rivals who are stuck on a road trip together that could change their lives completely. A huge prize at the largest fan convention is at stake, but only one can win. Who will win, and is there something even bigger at stake here for the boys? Theme Song By Man With Roses

Brea and Mallory discuss unlikeable characters, recommend nerdy romance and interview author Mike Chen! Email us at readingglassespodcast at gmail dot com!Reading Glasses MerchRecommendations StoreSponsors -GreenChefwww.greenchef.com/GLASSESCODE: GLASSES30Evitewww.evite.com/GLASSESLinks -Reading Glasses Facebook GroupReading Glasses Goodreads GroupAmazon Wish ListNewsletterLibro.fmBooks Mentioned - The Girl Who Can Move Shit With Her Mind by Jackson FordThe Pallbearers Club by Paul TremblayLight Years from Home by Mike ChenStar Wars: Brotherhood by Mike ChenBunnicula by James and Deborah HoweMeet Me in Another Life by Catriona SilveyThe Love Hypothesis by Ali HazelwoodConventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert 

Jeff & Will remind everyone that the Big Gay Fiction Fest takes place this coming weekend on Saturday, December 4. The guys also announce the Big Gay Fiction Book Club selection for December: Jay Northcote's "A Boyfriend for Christmas." Next, they talk about books they're looking forward to in the first half of December, including titles from Alice Crane, Charlie Novak, Keira Andrews, Lane Hayes, RJ Scott & V.L. Locey, K.C. Kassidy, Sophie Gonzales & Cale Dietrich, Riley Hart, and Jax Calder. Jeff reviews the holiday romances "The Geek Who Saved Christmas" by Annabeth Albert, "Forever Wilde in Aster Valley" by Lucy Lennox, and "Spiced Kisses" by Charlie Novak. Will reviews "Christmas Mountain" by Garrett Leigh. Complete shownotes for episode 349 along with a transcript of the show are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. Big Gay Fiction Podcast is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Find many more outstanding podcasts at frolic.media/podcasts!

Today I am chatting with prolific author Annabeth Albert, author of multiple LGBTQ romance series!. In this episode, we chat about her novels, a few books getting published in 2021. Annabeth shares LGBTQ recommendations for you to add to your TBR. Please note this interview was recorded during Summer 2021. BOOKS RECOMMENDED:Out of Character by Annabeth Albert These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder Anne of Green Gables by LM MontgomeryConventionally Yours by Annabeth AlbertHope on the Rocks by Annabeth AlbertSailor Proof by Annabeth Albert The One True You and Me by Remi K EnglandCAMP by LC RosenLet There Be Light by A.M JohnsonWritten in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur SUPPORT THE WHAT TO READ NEXT PODCAST!If you're enjoying the show, please subscribe and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Or you can subscribe to the show on Spotify. Spread the love. And if you liked this episode, share it with your friendsLIBRO.FMLove to listen to audiobooks and want to support your local independent bookstore? Libro.fm offers audiobook subscriptions for $14.95 where you not only have access to a great library of books but you are also supporting your local indie bookstore. Sign up today and get access to a free audiobook by visiting http://whattoreadnextblog.com/librofm (affiliate link at no cost to you) FROLIC PODCAST NETWORK What to Read Next Podcast is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts! CONNECT WITH LAURA YAMIN AND TO PURCHASE THE BOOKS MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST:http://WhattoReadNextBlog.com

Jeff & Will celebrate the podcast's sixth anniversary and announce the Big Gay Fiction Fest, a virtual online reader event taking place Saturday, December 4 that will celebrate gay holiday romances. The guys have a ton of book recommendations as they look at books releasing in November. First up it's holiday-themed releases from E.J. Russell, H.L. Day, Leta Blake, Annabelle Greene, Garrett Leigh, Annabeth Albert, Lucy Lennox, Ali Ryecart, Penelope Peters, and Ashlynn Mills. Next the focus turns to more romances coming this month, including titles by Megan Slayer,   Lisa Henry, Saxon James, Joe Satoria, Jenn Burke, Louisa Masters, E.M. Lindsey, Jeris Jean, Sierra Simone, Adriana Herrera, Kris Ripper and Winter Blackthorne. Will also reviews the contemporary romance "If Only for Today" by Gabbi Grey, and the historical holiday short "The Longest Night" by EE Ottoman. Complete shownotes for episode 343 along with a transcript of the show are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. Big Gay Fiction Podcast is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Find many more outstanding podcasts at frolic.media/podcasts!

What would you do if you thought your son was dating your stepson? That's the topic this week's letter as Annabeth Albert joins Xio, Avery & Roan in a must-listen episode where they all definitely don't agree. 

I veckans avsnitt pratar vi om spelvärlden och dess attityd mot kvinnor.Veckans tips;Link rekommenderar Conventionally Yours av Annabeth Albert, Goldy rekommenderar bâtard av Stromae.Ni kan nå oss via mail på hej.menvisst@gmail.com eller på poddens instagram.Inbjudan till våran discordLinks instagramGoldys instagramLinks GoFundMe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello and welcome to Episode Forty-One of Page Turn: the Largo Public Library Podcast. I'm your host, Hannah! If you enjoy the podcast subscribe, tell a friend, or write us a review! The English Language Transcript can be found below But as always we start with Reader's Advisory! The Reader's Advisory for Episode Forty-One is Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert. If you like Get a Life, Chloe Brown you should also check out: The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory, The Boy Toy by Nicola Marsh, and High Heat by Annabeth Albert. My personal favorite Goodreads list Get a Life, Chloe Brown is on is Psst psst Psst Netflix look here for romcoms to adapt. Happy Reading Everyone Today's Library Tidbit is from the Children's and the Teen departments and is all about book boxes! Book boxes are fun, creative ways for libraries to promote reading and foster creativity. For some of our young patrons being able to choose a box and own a new book is not something they get to do. Plus, everyone loves a good mystery box. Additionally, book boxes are a good was for libraries to give away advanced reader copies of books, as well as, snacks and goodies to our patrons. Publishers love to send libraries advanced reader copies of books. We cannot put these book into circulation or sell them in the Friends bookstore because they are not the final copies of texts. Advanced reader copies, or ARCs, are a way for publishers to promote new titles they're releasing to people who can in turn promote those titles to readers. Libraries, bookstores, and online reviewers can all sign up for ARCs! Over a few years the number of ARCs we have in storage can grow to uncomfortable numbers. We've been known to give away ARCs in the past through holiday events, but this is the first time we've tried out book boxes! The book boxes in children's are for ages 8-12 and the book boxes in teen are for 12-18. There is a limit of 2 per household in children's and a limit of 1 per teen in the teen room. A 12 year-old must choose between one of the children's book boxes and a teen book box. The child or teen must be present to choose the book box. There are limited amounts so once there gone you'll have to wait until they restock! Book boxes come stocked with a book, a snack, stickers, do-dads, bookmarks, and stationary. The mix of goodies changes with boxes, but there will always been a bunch of fun goodies! Each box is labeled with a couple of key words about the book so that the child and teen can select a book they are more likely to enjoy! The ARCs in the boxes are not guaranteed to be books that have not yet been published, however, there is the potential for someone to get a book no one else has read yet. Some of the key words we have used before are: realistic, fantasy, sports, LGBTQ+, family, school, grief, and mermaids. The boxes have been available up in teen for a few months and available in children's for a month and have been wildly popular. If you're over 18 and can't get one of our book boxes you can get a similar experience by signing up for one of our Bespoke Book Bundles. The two big differences between the two: no snacks in Bespoke Book Bundles and you have to return the books. You can also, as readers sign up on NetGalley or Edelweiss. These websites allow readers to potentially get e-ARCs of upcoming titles, for free. There may be some stipulations, such as reviewing titles, and you are never guaranteed access to any title. And now it's time for Book Traveler, with Victor: Welcome to Book Traveler. I am Victor, a librarian here at Largo Public Library and today I am going to be talking to you about a book called How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: the Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need by Bill Gates. Synopsis: Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering,

To kick off the month, Jeff has news about a discussion he's moderating with authors Penny Aimes and Verity Lowell in association with Carina Adores and Buffalo Street Books for Bookstore Romance Day coming on August 21. The guys talk about some great programming they've been watching recently, including the documentary "Summer of Soul," the crafting shows "Making It" and "All That Glitters," musical comedies "Central Park" and "Schmigadoon!" They also look at the teen dramas "Gossip Girl" and "Young Royals" plus the horror trilogy "Fear Street." For the August book preview, Jeff and Will look at upcoming books by K.M. Neuhold, Macy Blake, Lauren Blakely, Annabeth Albert, Haven Hadley, Dahlia Donovan, Frederick Smith & Chaz Lamar Cruz, and Rachel Reid. Jeff also reviews "Out of Character" by Annabeth Albert and "Flash Fire" by TJ Klune. Complete shownotes for episode 325 along with a transcript of the show are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. Big Gay Fiction Podcast is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Find many more outstanding podcasts at frolic.media/podcasts!

Jeff & Will kick off the show talking about what they've been watching, with a mix of classic toys, incredible comedies, documentaries, 1970s variety specials, and musicals Next it's a look at books they're looking forward to this month, including titles from Annabeth Albert, Lauren Blakely, Jocelynn Drake, Charlie Novak, Mia Monroe, Lane Hayes, Geoffrey Knight, Jackie North, RJ Scott and TJ Klune. The show wraps up with reviews. Jeff looks at "One Last Stop" by Casey McQuiston, "Heart Ripper" by K.A. Merikan, and "Punch Me Up to the Gods" by Brian Broome. Will discusses "Meet Cute Diary" by Emery Lee, "May the Best Man Win" by ZR Ellor, and "Sunset Springs" by Kacen Callender. Complete shownotes for episode 320 along with a transcript of the show are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. Big Gay Fiction Podcast is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Find many more outstanding podcasts at frolic.media/podcasts!

The guys welcome back Jay from Joyfully Jay and Lisa from The Novel Approach to talk about what they've been reading recently. They discuss books by Paul Rudnick, Maria Ingrande Mora, Kate Hawthorne, Jason June, Joanna Chambers and M.A. Grant. Plus, they each share a book they're looking forward to in the coming months, including titles by Annabeth Albert and David R. Slayton. Complete shownotes for episode 319 along with a transcript of the show are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. Big Gay Fiction Podcast is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Find many more outstanding podcasts at frolic.media/podcasts!

I'm very excited to share this episode with you! Joining me are romance authors Adriana Herrera and Vanessa Riley to talk about writing diverse historical romance. For exclusive bonus content and early access to episodes, consider joining the Chapter 3 Podcast Patreon   Looking for a book mentioned in the episode? Check here! *Note that all links are affiliate links from which we earn a commission to support the podcast   Books from On My Radar segment: This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron: https://amzn.to/3wINY2c The Return of the Sorceress by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: https://amzn.to/3q58ZSi Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson: https://amzn.to/3wD659T Out of Character by Annabeth Albert: https://amzn.to/2SLFVTB   Other Books Mentioned Duke I'd Like to F by… Sierra Simone, Joanna Shupe, Eva Leigh, Nicola Davidson, Adriana Herrera: https://amzn.to/3iRpUWU One Week to Claim it All by Adriana Herrera: https://amzn.to/3gAsy1t A Duke, the Lady and a Baby by Vanessa Riley: https://amzn.to/35DCMYA An Earl, the Girl and a Toddler by Vanessa Riley: https://amzn.to/3wFpU0f Island Queen by Vanessa Riley: https://amzn.to/3xnUgEq     Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @Chapter3Podcast and you can also find Bethany talking about books on YouTube @BeautifullyBookishBethany. You can now find episodes on YouTube as well! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy6yRiktWbWRAFpByrVk-kg Interested in early access to episodes, private Discord channels and other perks? Consider joining the Chapter 3 Patreon! Or join our public Discord. A new episode will be available to download in two weeks!  This episode was recorded using a Blue Yeti USB condenser microphone kit: https://amzn.to/342dnqx

Join Laura and Jen as they discuss a few titles that are awesome to check out, especially during Pride! Titles to checkout: “Gideon the Ninth” by Tamsyn Muir, “The Murderbot Diaries” by Martha Wells, “Last Night at the Telegraph Club” by Malinda Lo, “Trans Like Me: Conversations for All of Us” by CN Lester, “Pet” by Akwaeke Emezi, “The House in the Cerulean Sea” and others by TJ Klune, “Conventionally Yours” and others by Annabeth Albert.

Today's episode Stef from Sourcebooks Casablanca joins me as we chat about upcoming new romance releases as well as backlist titles that we should check out. This episode is full of contemporary, historical, paranormal and fantasy romance.    BOOKS RECOMMENDED: Neon Gods by Katee Robert  The Princess  Stakes by Amalie Howard What if You & Me Roni Loren Out of Character by Annabeth Albert  Uncharted by Adriana Anders  I Kissed a Girl by Jennet Alexander A Spot of Trouble by Teri Wilson  Witch Please by Ann Aguirre  Big Bad Wolf by Suleikha Snyder  Pretty Little Lion by Suleikha Snyder  A Duke's in Wolf Clothing by Susanna Allen The NightBorn by Isabel Cooper  The Duke Who Loved Me by Jane Ashford Winner Takes All by Sandra Kitt The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes by Xio Axelrod Enjoy the View by Sarah Morgantheler Happy Single's Day by Ann Marie Walker  Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall  A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet  Nightchaser by Amanda Bouchet Every Last Breath by Juno Rushdown  Crazy Cupid Love by Amanda Heger  The Rebel Wears Plaid by Eliza Knight Hold Your Breathe by Katie Ruggle  Lord of Lies by Amy Sandas Earl's Just Want to Have Fun by Shana Galen  The Last Wolf by Maria Vale  Terry Spear  Surprise Box by Love's Sweet Arrow  CONNECT WITH SOURCEBOOKS CASABLANCA Website  TikTok Instagram  SUPPORT THE WHAT TO READ NEXT PODCAST! If you're enjoying the show, please subscribe and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.  Or you can subscribe to the show on Spotify. Spread the love. And if you liked this episode, share it with your friends   FROLIC PODCAST NETWORK  What to Read Next Podcast is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts!    CONNECT WITH LAURA YAMIN  WhattoReadNextBlog.com  

Pop Culture Siblings Gwen talked about actual celebrity siblings: The Hemsworths (we had to google Luke), Miley and Noa Cyrus, William and Harry (we digressed quite a bit about the public persona of the Royals and what that meant to us growing up), The Jonas Brothers, Hanson, and other family bands. Danielle looked at sibling trilogies or series in books: Talia Hibbert's Brown Series, of course, but also Nora Roberts' Chesapeake Bay series (which has some found family elements! More on that later), Alexis Daria's new series has three cousins. In historicals, you have Julia Quinn's Bridgertons and Grace Burrowes's Windhams, which span generations. There's also an interesting element with found families, like in The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon, the Sometimes in Love series by Melonie Johnson, and Annabeth Albert's #gaymers series. We also quickly talked about a few TV shows with great/interesting sibling relationships that are important to the storylines: Schitt's Creek, Black-ish, and This Is Us (though Danielle needs a break from the emotional manipulation of TIU!) * Recs from TALIA HIBBERT ACT YOUR AGE, EVE BROWN, the third book in the Brown Sisters series, is now available! Authors Talia loves: Nalini Singh, Beverly Jenkins, Vanessa Riley, KJ Charles, Danielle Allen, Kennedy Ryan, Therese Beharrie Talia loves Recipe TikTok and Gwen told us about Sleepwalker TikTok Talia found this lovely blush by British indie beauty brand, Eloise Beauty Coming soon from Talia: her first YA romance! Also, a spin-off series of the Brown Sisters, Skybriar, where all of the books are Austen inspired. Check out https://www.taliahibbert.com/ to sign up for her newsletter, and find her on the socials: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook Reader Group  * Goals/Comfort & Joy Danielle loves the Target Cozy Nights candle (it's her home's signature scent), and Gwen also recommends the Go Smudge Yourself candle by Malicious Women Candle Co. Gwen says get outside more!!! * Find us on the Socials! Gwen Twitter Facebook Instagram Danielle Twitter Instagram Fresh Fiction Twitter Facebook Instagram EventBrite

The Big Gay Fiction Book Club selection for April is announced: “Striking Sparks” by Ari McKay. The guys also share the news of a new online book convention called IQARUS as well as a new fiction podcast from JC Calciano, “Steamy Stories.” Jeff & Will discuss books they're looking forward to in April, including titles by Rebecca James, Annabelle Greene, Jaxon Knight, and Kris Ripper along with two anthologies, “Taking a Chance” and “Fables Retold.” Jeff also reviews “The Sky Blues” by Robbie Couch and Will reviews his re-read of “Served Hot” by Annabeth Albert. Complete shownotes and transcript for episode 299 are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. Big Gay Fiction Podcast is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Find many more outstanding podcasts at frolic.media/podcasts!

In this episode full of reviews, Jeff looks at the first two books in the “Vino & Veritas” series, “Featherbed” by Annabeth Albert and “Heartscape” by Garrett Leigh. He also talks about the romantic comedy “Revenge of the Brobot” by JC Calciano. Will has three historical novellas with Ava March's “Object of His Desire” and “Pleasures of Somerville Park,” plus Eden Blake's “One Good Lord Deserves Another.” Complete shownotes and transcript for episode 295 are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. Big Gay Fiction Podcast is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Find many more outstanding podcasts at frolic.media/podcasts!

Bianca returns to talk about last year's reading, new goals, and comfort reads like found families and historical romance. There are a lot of geeky and nerdy characters in this episode as well. Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 213: Funicular Reads. Subscribe to the podcast via this link: FeedburnerOr subscribe via Apple Podcasts by clicking: SubscribeOr listen through TuneIn Or listen on Google Play Or listen via StitcherOr listen through Spotify Or listen through Google Podcasts Books discussed: Conventionally Yours by Annabeth AlbertThe Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha PhilyawThe Chain by Adrian McKintyWhite Ivy by Susie YangOne by One by Ruth WareOther mentions:The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins ReidA Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles#readwhatyouownPop Sugar Reading ChallengeBook Riot Read Harder ChallengeSomething is Killing the Children by James Tynion IVThe Backstagers by James Tynion IVHawkeye: Kate Bishop by Kelly ThompsonComixologyThe Guild (tv show)Magic the GatheringRead or Dead podcastArticle about Spotify It Takes Two to Tumble by Cat SebastianShuggie Bain by Douglas StuartRelated episodes:Episode 094 - House Arrest with Libby YoungEpisode 127 - The Sadness Between Books with Bianca EscalanteEpisode 145 - Things Get Dark with Bianca EscalanteStalk us online: Bianca is @bianca on Litsy Bianca at GoodreadsJenny at GoodreadsJenny on TwitterJenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy All links to books are through Bookshop.org, where I am an affiliate. I wanted more money to go to the actual publishers and authors. I link to Amazon when a book is not listed with Bookshop.

Amanda and Jenn discuss cozy murders, no pining, ending our productivity obsession, and more in this week’s episode of Get Booked. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. This post contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, Book Riot may earn a commission. Feedback Bunheads by Sophie Flack (rec’d by Caroline) My Casting Couch was too Short by Marion Dougherty (rec’d by Wynnde) Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse, The Inheritance Trilogy by NK Jemisin, and The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie (rec’d by Cari) Questions 1. My book club has a “read your own book” format – each month we choose a theme and everyone chooses their own book to read based on it. For February, we’re doing an anti-romance theme. Basically, books about dysfunctional couples who should definitely not be together! The only book I can think of along these lines is Gone Girl (Nick and Amy are the worst). Do you guys have any suggestions for books about dysfunctional relationships? Thanks! -Sarah 2. I dipped my toe into capital-R adult Romance in 2020 for the first time, and… it wasn’t great, mainly because I deeply hate  grand public gestures/declarations of love, and also am not a fan of either the third-act breakup or the ‘this could be resolved in a five minute conversation’ miscommunications! So I’m looking for books that don’t contain any of the above, please! Other details: any sub-genre is fine; I like steamy kissing but not *too* much explicit sex (a little is okay); I’m not super keen on enemies to lovers but it’s not a hard no; and if it could have an easily accessible audiobook that would be extra great! (But I know this is a lot of very specific asks so if it doesn’t tick all the boxes that’s okay.) As I say, I’m very new to Romance so super mainstream things are probably fine! (The main authors I’ve read from are Christina Lauren, Alyssa Cole and Tessa Dare: my feelings on all of them were pretty ambivalent.) Thank you so much! -Hana 3. I love your podcast and listen to every episode

The burning passion in his eyes. The snide comments. The smouldering looks. It can only mean one thing: he hates you. Or it could mean that he loves you. So, two things, I guess. It could mean two things. We're figuring out adult, human emotions because today we're doing Hate to Love! On this passion-fulled episode, we read "The Hating Game: A Novel" by Sally Thorne and "Conventionally Yours (True Colors Book 1)" by Annabeth Albert. Today our hatefully loving hosts discuss: how romantic conventions can be, the unsung heroes of the HR department, and how this trope can go so very wrong so very quickly.

In the final episode of 2020, Will reviews RJ Scott's "Cupcakes and Christmas" and Jeff looks at the first two books in the "Rosavia Royals" series: "Up for Heir" by Stella Starling and "Reign or Shine" by HJ Welch. Jeff & Will also reveal some of their favorite reads from 2020, which include books by Jaxon Knight, TJ Klune, Annabeth Albert, Philip William Stover, Maz Maddox, Layla Reyne, Jayce Ellis and Julian Winters. Complete shownotes for episode 279 are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. Big Gay Fiction Podcast is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Find many more outstanding podcasts at frolic.media/podcasts!

Today our guest is Stephanie Tzogas. Stephanie is Associate Publicists for Carina Press and Carina Adores. In this episode, we dive into upcoming releases for both Carina Press and Carina Adores as well as some great  backlist titles that you should check out.  BOOKS RECOMMENDED:  Just like That by Cole McCade - https://amzn.to/3iwgufo Just Like This by Cole McCade - https://amzn.to/2GCi3ew Better than  People by Roan Parrish - https://amzn.to/34DlhqP The Love Study by Kris Ripper - https://amzn.to/3cVGTlI Hearts on Hold by Cherish Read-  https://amzn.to/30vEDNh  House Rules by Ruby Lang - https://amzn.to/3iw3jvd Not Dead Yet by Jenn Burke - https://amzn.to/34lmId6 Lynsay Sands - https://amzn.to/2GEuPJO Adriana Herrera - https://amzn.to/3l76MBS Out of Uniform by Annabeth Albert - https://amzn.to/3cVzOln Better not Pout by Annabeth Albert - https://amzn.to/2HNoNXA Act Like it by Lucy Parker - https://amzn.to/33se90L Teddy Spenser isn’t Looking for Love by Kim Fieldings - https://amzn.to/3nfHmE1 This is not the end by Sidney Bell - https://amzn.to/34l4Yic  Serving Sin by Angelina M. Lopez - https://amzn.to/3ngwzcV Here to Stay by Adriana Herrera - https://amzn.to/34lncjq You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria - https://amzn.to/3l907r5 Tools of Engagement by Tessa Bailey - https://amzn.to/3jH9HRq   CONNECT WITH STEPHANIE  Twitter    JOIN PATREON COMMUNITY  Get weekly romance recommendations, early access to author interviews and exclusive Patreon audio series by joining the Patreon community. Monthly perks start at $1  a month. Want to join the fun? Sign up today; http://www.whattoreadnextblog.com/patreon   FROLIC PODCAST NETWORK  What to Read Next Podcast is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts!    AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE If you purchase a book through my Amazon or Bookshop link, I will receive a commission at no cost to you that will help cover the cost of the podcast    CONNECT WITH LAURA YAMIN  WhattoReadNextBlog.com Instagram  Goodreads

Today our guest is Stefani Sloma. Stefani is the Assistant Marketing Manager for Sourcebook Casa. In this episode, we chat about what book reviewers/bookstagrammers should know about working with Sourcebooks Casa. We also talk about Sourcebooks backlist titles and anticipated new releases.    BOOKS RECOMMENDED: Terry Spear - https://amzn.to/33msI4Z Paige Tyler - https://amzn.to/2FsYdlV  Maria Vale -  https://amzn.to/3mgqo8f Season of the Wolf by Maria Vale - https://amzn.to/3kdPWRE Sharon Sala  - https://amzn.to/35y4ebu Grace Burrowes - https://amzn.to/3hyhorC  Amelia Grey - https://amzn.to/2FyIOjs Debbie Burns - https://amzn.to/3mh75LZ Lucy Gilmore - https://amzn.to/3how38t Kari Lynn Dell - https://amzn.to/3imlTqh Joanne Kennedy - https://amzn.to/3hnMbY1 Carolyn Brown - https://amzn.to/3iwuqqI Julie Ann Walker - https://amzn.to/3hsM65k Katie Ruggle - https://amzn.to/2FzdvVK Blue Sky Cowboy Christmas by Joanne Kennedy - MassMax - https://amzn.to/2FubSsH Joy to the Wolf by Terry Spear - https://amzn.to/3mc4kvv The Best Cowboy Christmas Ever by June Faver - https://amzn.to/2FyLltY Smoking Hot Cowboy Christmas by Kim Redford - https://amzn.to/3iv5mk2 Mistletoe and Mr. Right  by Sarah Morgenthaler - https://amzn.to/35w4qYX A Tail for Two by Mara Wells - https://amzn.to/35xqaDR Ride the Tide by Julie Ann Walker  - https://amzn.to/3hvp2CS Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey - https://amzn.to/2RA8LSR Tweet Cute by Emma Lord - https://amzn.to/3itFkgL Beach Read by Emily Henry - https://amzn.to/3hr3uYe The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa - https://amzn.to/3iv6ggq The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai - https://amzn.to/2DVRe46 Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall - https://amzn.to/2Zw2KLi Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert - https://amzn.to/2FB3xn6 Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morgenthaler - https://amzn.to/3hylcZW Come home to deep river  by Jackie Asheden - https://amzn.to/2ZxqDSB How to Bang a Billionaire by Alexis Hall - https://amzn.to/3hrLDjM CONNECT WITH SOURCEBOOKS CASA Website  Twitter  Instagram 30 DAYS OF PODCASTING - SEPTEMBER 2020 For the month of  September, I am releasing a brand new episode per day. These episodes will be full of book recommendations. Enjoy!    JOIN PATREON COMMUNITY  Get weekly romance recommendations, early access to author interviews and exclusive Patreon audio series by joining the Patreon community. Monthly perks start at $1  a month. Want to join the fun? Sign up today; http://www.whattoreadnextblog.com/patreon   FROLIC PODCAST NETWORK  What to Read Next Podcast is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts!    AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE If you purchase a book through my Amazon or Bookshop link, I will receive a commission at no cost to you that will help cover the cost of the podcast    CONNECT WITH LAURA YAMIN  WhattoReadNextBlog.com Instagram  Goodreads  

Jeff & Will talk about TV they've been enjoying including Love, Victor on Hulu, Legendary on HBOMax and the short film Out on Disney+. Will reviews Connor by Daryl Banner while Jeff looks at The Rational Faculty by Gregory Ashe and The Astonishing Life of August March by Aaron Jackson. Jay from Joyfully Jay and Lisa from The Novel Approach share some of their favorites from this past Spring, including books by C.S.Poe, Gregory Ashe, Annabeth Albert, Kevin van Whye, KJ Charles and Allie Therin. They also have a special Pride Month reading recommendation and share what Pride means to them. Complete shownotes for episode 246 along with a transcript of the interview are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. Big Gay Fiction Podcast is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Find many more outstanding podcasts at frolic.media/podcasts!

Annabeth Albert is a prolific hybrid author from the Pacific Northwest of many fan favorite series including the Hotshots, Frozen Hearts, Out of Uniform, Gaymers and more.Annabeth’s author-craft super power is plotting. In this interview we talk about Annabeth's creative process, her latest releases, and how to use plotting to predict and hit a specific length for your fiction project. LINKS*Amazon Affiliate http://annabethalbert.comAnnabeth Albert | Amazon https://amzn.to/35OLcMmMENTIONED ON THE SHOW:BOOKS by ANNABETH ALBERTTreblemaker — Annabeth Albert https://amzn.to/3bk6i68Baked Fresh (Portland Heat Series) — Annabeth Albert https://amzn.to/35KHxPlMr. Right Now — Annabeth Albert https://amzn.to/2WBK3U2Burn Zone (Hot Shot Series) — Annabeth Albert https://amzn.to/2zjAu49Conventionally Yours — Annabeth Albert https://amzn.to/2WiVAIMOTHER AUTHORSPromises — Marie Sexton https://amzn.to/2A5ViwiSuzanne Brockman https://amzn.to/3fwVzIZA.M. Arthur https://amzn.to/3dsC6HBKJ Charles https://amzn.to/35JFonfAnnabeth’s PLOTTING RECOMMENDATIONSJames Scott Bell https://amzn.to/2zkEFNgWriting Love — Alexandra Sokoloff https://amzn.to/2AezI99Save the Cat — Blake Snyder https://amzn.to/3fvZPIFStory Genius — Lisa Cron https://amzn.to/2zneuFGSlade’s PLOTTING RECOMMENDATIONSWrite Your Novel from the Middle — James Scott Bell https://amzn.to/2SRAZt5The Story Grid — Shawn Coyne https://amzn.to/2Lk7BHDStory Grid Community https://storygrid.comRomancing the Beat — Gwen Hayes https://amzn.to/2WgrUfpSUBSCRIBEApple (iOS)| Spotify| Stitcher (Android)Are you new to podcasts?How to subscribe to my podcast— freeHOST LINKSSlade James sladejames.comMM Author Podcast gayromance.showSUPPORT THE SHOWPatreon patreon.com/sladejames

Jess and Trisha discuss some recent RWA developments, review the adaptation of Beverly Jenkins’s Deadly Sexy, and recommend some favorites by Ms. Bev. This episode is sponsored by TBR, Book Riot's subscription service offering Tailored Book Recommendations for readers of all stripes; Book Riot Insiders, the digital hangout spot for the Book Riot community; and Sourcebooks’s Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. To get even more romance recs and news, sign up for our Kissing Books newsletter! News RWA has a brand new Board of Directors and one of the first orders of business was to offer some apologies. Deadly Sexy on Amazon Video may be the romance adaptation you need right now. Books Discussed A Cowboy to Remember by Rebekah Weatherspoon Do You Want to Start a Scandal? By Tessa Dare Reverb by Anna Zabo By Beverly Jenkins: Destiny’s Embrace and the Destiny Series Indigo Through the Storm Forbidden Rebel Keep sending us your recs for what romance adaptations we should discuss, and let us know what you’re reading to take care of yourselves these days. As always, you can find Jess and Trisha at the WIR email address (wheninromance@bookriot.com). You can also find us on Twitter (@jessisreading and @trishahaleybrwn), or Instagram (@jess_is_reading and @trishahaleybrown).

Eric and Kelly talk about YA takes on Shakespeare, as well as offer up some great sports books for YA readers. This episode is sponsored by Book Riot Insiders, the digital hangout spot ffor the Book Riot community, Flatiron Books, publishers of The Night Country by Melissa Albert, and Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. To get even more YA news and recommendations, sign up for our What’s Up in YA newsletter! SHOW NOTES Note: audio quality isn't what it tends to be because of an unidentified issue on Kelly's end. Verona Comics by Jennifer Dugan When You Were Everything by Ashley Woodfolk Wicked Saints by Emily Duncan Ruthless Gods by Emily Duncan Body Talk: 37 Voices Explore Our Radical Anatomy edited by Kelly Jensen Tigers, Not Daughters by Samantha Mabry The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You by Lily Anderson Exit, Pursued By A Bear by EK Johnston As I Descended by Robin Talley Foul is Fair by Hannah Capin If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson Speak Easy Speak Love by McKelle George Falling for Hamlet by Michelle Ray If I’m Being Honest by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegmund-Broka We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry Miranda Kenneally books Zeroboxer by Fonda Lee We Are The Wildcats by Siobhan Vivian Shut Out by Kody Keplinger Break The Fall by Jennifer Iacopelli "More Gymnastics Books, Please!" A Short History of the Girl Next Door by Jared Reck Here To Stay by Sara Farizan Gravity by Sarah Deming Running With Lions by Julian Winters

In the premiere episode of the Big Gay Fiction Book Club Jeff and Will have a deep dive discussion about Annabeth Albert's Arctic Heat. Complete shownotes for this episode are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. Big Gay Fiction Podcast is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Find many more outstanding podcasts at frolic.media/podcasts!

Jeff & Will congratulate Casey McQuiston for Red, White & Royal Blue's wins in the Goodreads Choice Awards. They also shout out the Rainbow Awards winners from the past week. The new segment Romance Revisited is unveiled and Jeff briefly talks about three holiday stories among the re-releases now available. It's all about holiday books this week as Will reviews Mr. Right Now by Annabeth Albert and He's Behind You by Clare London. Jeff reviews A Royal Christmas Cruise by Max Walker and The Christmas Dragon's Mate by Silvia Violet. A E Ryecart joins Jeff and Will to talk about her holiday stories A Christmas Wedding and The Boss of Christmas Present. She also talks with the guys about her other series, how she got started in writing and what led her to gay romance as well as where she might be headed in 2020. Complete shownotes for episode 219 along with a transcript of the interview are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. Big Gay Fiction Podcast is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Find many more outstanding podcasts at frolic.media/podcasts!

Hello and welcome to Episode Twenty-One of Page Turn: the Largo Public Library Podcast. I'm your host, Hannah! If you enjoy the podcast subscribe, tell a friend, or write us a review! The Spanish Language Book Review begins at 12:09 and ends 14:32 at The English Language Transcript can be found below But as always we start with Reader's Advisory! The Reader's Advisory for Episode Twenty-One is Grilled Cheese and Goblins by Nichole Kimberling. If you like Grilled Cheese and Goblins you should also check out: Woman World by Aminder Dhaliwal, My Lavender Boyfriend by Marina Ford, and Better Not Pout by Annabeth Albert. My personal favorite Goodreads list Grilled Cheese and Goblins is on is Fluffy Queer Romance. Today’s Library Tidbit is about crafting and mindfulness. You may have noticed we do a lot of crafting programs here at the library. Why do we do them? Well mostly because they’re fun. We like crafting, you like crafting, it’s a win/win. However, why do people like to craft in the first place? Some people craft out of boredom, some out of family obligation, some to make a living, some to preserve a cultural heritage, and some to relax and de-stress. All reasons for crafting are valid reasons for crafting! However, what I’m going to focus on today is crafting for relaxation and to de-stress and why crafting can be a way to do these things. Before getting into that let’s define crafting. Crafting or handicraft are a variety of work done by hand or with simple tools that creates a practical but decorative object. This makes it a subclass of Art, but not all art is handicraft. Some other pseudonyms for crafting are artisanry, handicrafting, handcrafting, domestic arts, folk art, and rural crafts. Crafts often have cultural and/or religious significance to the person who is doing the work. Crafting is also a way to spread a political message. A craft can be anything from needlework to basket weaving to balloon animals to leather work to glass blowing. There are hundreds of different crafts to try out. Finding out which craft you enjoy doing can take time, but it’s well worth it when you do. For a long while crafts were dismissed. They were either seen as unimportant because they were "women’s work" despite a lot of craftsmen being, well, men, and women’s work has been seen as lesser for most of civilization. Or crafts were dismissed because they were practical. The idea being that practical things had less spiritual and emotional importance than the non-practical arts. The Industrial Revolution replaced the need for people to craft. Before the Industrial Revolution, and widespread use of factories to manufacture products, everything was created more or less through crafting. In the late 1800s and early 1900s movements across the world fought back against the dismissal of handcrafting. Two of the most famous movements are the Arts and Crafts movement in Britain and the Mingei movement in Japan. These movements sought to save crafting as the Industrial Revolution threatened the very existence of crafts. The experts in various crafts were unable to pass on their knowledge as apprentices were being conscripted into factory work instead. These two movements, while differing in some major ways, both sought to bring back handicraft and sought to lift up the artisan's abilities. In more modern times First Nations people, Native Americans and Indigenous peoples, in countries and people groups that were decimated by colonialism have started to recover their people’s cultural handicrafts often in danger through the direct prosecution and destruction by white people. Thankfully handicraft across the board has seen a resurgence in culture and is now seen as important to cultural identity or a useful skill to have. But aside from the practical nature of crafts, why do we craft? Well, most people craft because they enjoy crafting.

The guys talk about their past week as Jeff worked on revisions and they saw a production of Oklahoma, which they both enjoyed. They also welcomed the new listeners that have found the show during the past month. Jeff reviews Something Like Gravity by Amber Smith and Will reviews Annabeth Albert's Arctic Wild. Will and Jeff talk with Annabeth Albert about the Frozen Hearts series, including getting a sneak peek of Arctic Heat, which comes out in September. Annabeth also talks about the research that goes into the Frozen Hearts books, the latest in the Out of Uniform and Rainbow Cove series plus she discusses her next series about smoke jumpers. Complete shownotes for episode 195 along with a transcript of the interview are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. Interview Transcript - Annabeth Albert This transcript was made possible by our community on Patreon. You can get information on how to join them at patreon.com/biggayfictionpodcast. Jeff: We are excited to welcome back to the show, Annabeth Albert. She was last here, way back in December 2017 in episode 115, talking about "Wheels Up". You have written so much since then. It's so great to have you back to catch up. Annabeth: Hi, happy to see you. Jeff: Now, the most recent thing you got out is the "Frozen Hearts" series. Tell us a little bit about this series and what its inspiration was. Annabeth: So I started reading in the late '80s, early '90s romance. And I love the Alaska set Debbie Macomber's and Nora Roberts. And so my inspiration for this series would be, what if we went back to that sort of setting but made it LGBTQ and fun and that big, sweeping feeling - the big scenery, big emotions, mountain men? I wanted to capture all that feeling of Alaska. And also all the Alaska shows that I like watching, "Man Versus Nature," all those sort of shows. And so I thought, let's bring that sort of big scenery to life in a series that also has LGBTQ characters. And so it was really fun for me to get to bring that to life. And it's a three book trilogy, and each book stands alone really well because we kind of did it so that there's very little overlap in the storylines for this particular trilogy. With "Out Of Uniform", they were a little more closely linked, you saw more secondary characters popping up, back and forth. And here, they stand alone a little bit more. Will: Aside from the inspiration itself, did you have any experience with Alaska? Have you ever been there? Annabeth: That's what's the funny part. No, I haven't actually been there. I feel guilty admitting that right now. But I have done a ton of research. And I also had Alaska beta readers for each of the books. I had people who actually live in the area in Alaska, who are able to give me feedback. "Oh, this is wrong. The coast is over here. This is..." But I did a ton of reading books set in Alaska and documentaries and message boards. And then like I said, using the beta and the sensitivity readers too from Alaska. Jeff: It's so good to have readers in your readership who can be those beta people when you need them. Annabeth: Yeah. I think that it's really important. In Book Two, I have a hero who's native Alaskan. And so it was really important to me to get a couple of beta readers and sensitivity readers who themselves identified as native Alaskans so I can have that perspective come in. And so that's really important to me. Sometimes it takes a while to find the right beta reader for that particular project. Like with book one, we had some alcoholism and some eating disorders being dealt with in that book. And so what I was able to do is get beta readers for that issue. Like I had an eating disorder beta reader, I had an alcoholism beta reader, I had some sensitivity readers kind of about trauma and stuff like that. So I tried to really bring in a lot of perspectives, so that it's both authentic and it feels true to the character, but also is sensitively done. Will: I agree with you about the sensitivity. I mean, because you're dealing with some pretty, you know, heavy, serious subjects. But they're handled in an intelligent and thoughtful way that doesn't make it like preachy or a downer. So I really enjoyed that in the first book. And I wanted to go back to the second book, "Arctic Wild", which I really, really loved. Can you talk to us a little bit about the ideas and inspiration behind that particular book? Especially the themes kind of like, you know, there's like hurt-comfort going on, there's kind of May-December going on with that particular book. What was the inspiration behind book two? Annabeth: So each of the books, I wanted a different fish out of water, so different characters kind of coming. And so I wanted to do a character who was a little bit older, more settled in his life, and confident in who he is. And so I knew he was going to be older, I knew he was going to be a lawyer, I knew he was going to be fairly well off. And I wanted to do a silver fox sort of character, but I call him my silver bear, because he's also a little bit of a larger guy. I wanted something a little outside the norm for him kind of...and then I was like, "Well, so who is he going to get paired with?" Well, obviously, he's got to get paired with someone who's fun and younger, and kind of his opposite in a lot of ways. But I knew that I wanted the hook that kind of bonds them together to be this plane crash, because I knew all along that book two was going to have a plane crash, because every book kind of has its own thing. And I knew that book two's thing was going to be bush pilot, an emergency situation, we've got a crash landing. How are these guys going to deal with it, and who is the most unsuitable guy I could put with the bush pilot in the wilderness having to deal with this emergency? So I did that. And so that was kind of the thing that kind of spurred the book forward from that point. But as I started plotting, I realized that the bulk of the book was going to come after the plane crash. Because at first I was like, maybe I'll do a really tight timeline, I'll get the whole book into a week. And that just wasn't working for these heroes. They really resisted a tight timeline. So I ended up expanding it and I was like, okay, they're going to have to deal with this aftermath together. And so because they have to deal with it together, they kind of bond in a deeper sort of way, spending the summer together as opposed to just 24 hours in the wilderness. And so to me, that was a real joy to watch them evolve and change. And it's my longest book to date. You can see how thick it is. It's a monster. But part of why it's so big is kind of the scope of it. I was able to bring in the secondary characters, Reuben's daughter, and then Toby's sister and father. I have a lot of secondary characters happening in this one. And it was just really fun for me to take that initial idea--there was going to be a plane crash with these opposites attract guys, and they're going to have to deal with it--to this more sweeping sort of story where it does become, like you said, a hurt-comfort story. How do we cope with the aftermath? And the changes that it brought within each of us. So I think that's kind of what I think the book ends up doing. Jeff: You mentioned the Native Alaskan aspect in book two. And before we hit record, you mentioned that book two is also the most research-heavy of these. What kind of research did you do to get it all to work out right? Because I imagine bush pilot, plane crashes, there's research to do there, too. Annabeth: Yeah, each element, like each sort of...and a lot of times what I do is I work in Scrivener. And in Scrivener I'll have notes for each chapter. And in a short story, like I might have like a line or two of notes per scene. In something like this, I'll have a long list and it'll have the research questions for each chapter that's going to come up. Like, okay, I need to know how a pilot would handle this sort of altitude disturbance in his thing. And what would that actually mean? What do the instruments look like? What sort of plane is he flying and what's the weather like? I have to do a lot of research into that. For that, I look at message boards, I look at small plane businesses, I look at write-ups of past disasters, news reporting. I look at a lot of stuff to kind of get that one detail. Like, I won't just, you know, get one thing. I'll look at a couple of different things to kind of get a couple of perspectives. And the same thing with the Native Alaskan details. Obviously, it's not my own lived experience and I'm really aware of that. So I had the two beta readers who were themselves identifying as Native Alaskan. I did a lot of research with blogs, blogs written by people who identify as Native Alaskans. Autobiographies, I did a couple of phone interviews, I really tried to get a variety of experiences so that I could bring Toby to life in a way that was both sensitive and well-rounded and that reflected a variety of sort of different opinions and different ways that sort of their lives end up unfolding. And so I'm very proud of the amount of research that went into both Toby and the book as a whole because like you said, the bush pilot, the plane crash. I had a floor plan at one point of their rental house, I have a floor plan drawn on my office wall of exactly what this rental house would look like, where it's located, what the driveway...all this stuff. Like, I really go into the minutia. Jeff: I like that attention to detail. Because as you said, it just brings everything more to life as it goes. Now you did mention it was a trilogy, and in September, it wraps up with "Arctic Heat". What's coming in that book and can you give us a little sneak peek? Annabeth: So I am so excited for this one. I love the whole trilogy, each book was its own sort of joy to write. But "Arctic Heat" is the one that I was probably most excited about. It's close proximity. We have a ranger who's handed this volunteer and who's going to be snowed in for the season. And this does happen actually. In Alaska, there are volunteer positions where you can basically go and stay in the State Park over winter. And so you're able to basically experience an Alaskan winter with a ranger. And it's kind of cool. So I was like, "Yeah." When I heard about this, I was like, "Oh, yeah. This has got to be a romance." And so the one hero who comes from California, he's kind of a free spirit and he has no idea what he's in for. Even though he's been around snow a little bit, but he has no idea what he's in for. And then we have the older cranky ranger who also is like, he's lost his longtime partner. She's gone on to be back in the city and he's really kind of cranky about this. And he's been handed this guy, and so they're going to spend the winter snowed in together. And along the way, they're going to catch some feelings, and it's going to be really fun. And so they meet each other at training. And they're really not sure about each other. We have Quill, who's the ranger and Owen, who's the younger guy from California. And Owen has a feeling about Quill kind of from the beginning. And he's got his number. And so they end up going out to dinner. And at this point, Quill doesn't know yet that they're going to be snowed in together all winter. So Quill is kind of in the dark about that. But Owen is sure about kind of, he likes Quill, and he likes Quill a lot. And so I was going to give you guys...now if you read "Arctic Wild" in the back of "Arctic Wild" there's the first scene for this one, for "Arctic Heat". So I didn't want to read to you from that scene, because if you read "Arctic Wild" you've seen it. So I'm going to give you a little snippet of their first kiss. And it just kind of shows they're dynamic. I think it's just a couple of paragraphs and I'm just going to read it to you. And I'm not as good as my narrators, I have awesome narrators but we're just going to see. So they're leaving a restaurant here. "They each paid their share and then headed outside. The light had started to fade, the midnight sun of the summer long past. The crisp bite to the air making Owen wished he had grabbed more than his hoodie. 'Cold?' Quill asked as Owen rubbed his arm. 'A little, yeah. Warm me up, please. I know a shortcut through the alleyways back to the hotel. Lead on.' Owen followed him as he ducked down the narrow alley, both of them walking too fast for much conversation. 'Whoa!' Quill's arm shot out holding Owen back as an SUV unexpectedly backed into the alley. Yanking Owen into a dark doorway with him, Quill frowned at the vehicle which took it sweet time vacating the alley, long enough for Owen to sense Quill's warmth and nearness. More of that classic intoxicating scent, the harshness of their breathing that much sexier in the close quarters. The charged air around them was made worse with every brush of their arms. "You sure there's nothing on your bucket list?" As the SUV finally moved on, Owen turned to block Quill from an easy exit. 'Nothing I could help with?' 'Not sure,' Quill hissed out of breath which was decidedly not a resounding no. So Owen moved closer. 'I am very open minded and discreet. You could tell me.' 'You're something else,' Quill whispered. But his tone was more awestruck than censuring. 'So I've been told.' Taking a chance, Owen put a hand at his shoulder and was relieved when Quill didn't immediately flinch away or tell him off. 'Come on. Take a chance. Nothing you're curious about?' 'Like what?' Owen's voice with a harsh whisper. 'Mmh.' Owen pretended to think as he leaned in close enough to brush his lips against Quill's neck. Quill was taller but not by so much that Owen had to overly stretch. His skin tasted good, warm, ever so slightly salty. 'This maybe,' he moved to flip Quill's ear lobe with his tongue, 'Or this, so many delicious possibilities.'" And that's the look at kind of what's happening between them when they get started. And you'll have to see the rest. But I loved writing Owen and Quill. They were so much fun, it takes place over a couple of months. So we get to kind of see their progression. It's a little bit of a slow burn, each of the books in the series has been a little more slow burn. But once they get going, there's a lot of heat. And so it was a really fun one for me. And I really enjoyed kind of, whereas "Arctic Wild" had the bigger cast of characters, this is mainly the two of them, dealing with the elements of nature, dealing with each other, dealing with roommates issues. It's kind of the 'Odd Couple' in Alaska. And so it was just a lot of fun. I can't wait for you guys to get to see this in September. Jeff: Have you pre-ordered this yet? Because that forced proximity is so your jam. Will: I have enjoyed each of the books up to this point. But book three hits pretty much everything that I'm looking for in a romance. I mean, listeners, longtime listeners know, forced proximity is my absolute most favorite thing ever. So yes, that reading you just did it's like, whew, I can't wait. Jeff: I think you mentioned that this is a real thing people can do to opt to go snowed-in with a ranger. Annabeth: Yeah, they do. Yeah. So there's volunteer positions all year long with the Alaska state parks. And with the National Parks too, though, those are a little more competitive. But you can go for the summer, you can go for the winter, and they have like little yurts or tiny cabins. Pretty rustic conditions but they're looking for volunteers to basically help the paid rangers out because without the volunteers, they couldn't get nearly as much done as they can. So basically, you become a winter caretaker or a summer caretaker at one of these parks. And you get to help the Ranger but you also get to spend winter in Alaska, with all the snow and a tiny yurt. So stuff like that. And each of the sites has its own housing situation. And so that was some of the research I had to do was figure out, what would the housing situation be like at this particular site, as opposed to other sites? How are they going to get their heat? How are they going to get electric? Do they have access to the internet? All those little questions come up? Jeff: It's fascinating. Would you ever consider doing such a thing? Annabeth: I have small kids. And so sometimes that seems really appealing. Like, "Oh, I could go for three months." And other times, it's like, "No, they'd miss me and I'd miss them and the dog would pine." Jeff: Research trip. Annabeth: I'm going to say my next series is back to Oregon. We're going to be back in Oregon but we're going to be in Central Oregon. And so we are actually taking a research trip as a family towards later in the summer. We're doing a research trip to go into Central Oregon to see some of the places that will be in that series. So I'm excited about that. Jeff: Oh, cool. Not quite the same as snow in a yurt. But, you know, research trip nonetheless. Annabeth: Yeah. Well, I get to bring the kids on that one. So it'll be fun. Jeff: They might enjoy snow in a yurt. I don't know. Annabeth: They would. They would. Yeah. Jeff: You've had a prolific year, even before the "Frozen Hearts" books started coming out. You had new stuff in the "Rainbow Cove" and "Out Of Uniform" series. Are there challenges working across so many series that are so close together in release times? Annabeth: So what I tend to do is I tend to write in blocks. So all three Alaska books were written back to back to back. But in between two of them, I took a little tiny "Rainbow Cove" break. I gave myself five days to write a novella. I was like, "Okay, I'm kind of burned on Alaska, just a little." And so I was like, "Okay, I'm just going to give myself five days because I'm supposed to be writing these books back to back and I'm going to write a "Rainbow Cove" novella. And I did. I wrote 20k in five days. And that became "Lumber Jacked". And obviously editing it and stuff took more than the five days. But I got the basic draft down and then I worked on the edits for that while I went on to Alaska three. And that's how I worked a "Rainbow Cove" in. Because it's not a full length, it's a novella. And then the "Out Of Uniform", that wrapped, actually wrote that last April. So I wrote it April 2018. Then I started Alaska after that. But then it didn't come out until January because that's how publisher schedules work. And so I wrote it as part of Camp NaNoWriMo 2018. It was really fun. Loved writing "Rough Terrain". So it coming out in January was just a joy. But that kind of wrapped up a period of finishing up "Out Of Uniform" and then moving into the Alaska universe. And so I kind of go from universe to universe. I try not to hop back and forth anymore, because I've done that in the past. And I ended up having to reread a lot of my stuff a lot more when I'm going back and forth between series. And so I think the biggest challenge for me has been working in time for "Rainbow Cove" because that one doesn't have publisher deadlines. And so I tend to be overly optimistic with my publisher deadlines, and I'm like, "Oh, I'll get this book done early." And then I'll get another "Rainbow Cove" in. And lately that has not been happening. The books have been going long and complicated. And I love that. I love writing long, I love writing complex books. But it has made it a challenge in terms of working more "Rainbow Cove" in. Jeff: What is going on in "Lumber Jacked", that people who are reading "Rainbow Cove" might want to check out? Annabeth: So that one, like "Rainbow Cove", is set on the Oregon coast, and all the books are. So it has a honest to goodness lumberjack as the hero. He makes a brief appearance in book two but this stands alone. If you haven't read book two, you're fine. And it's just 99 cents and it's also in KU. It's a fun little...it's under 30K because I ended up adding a little bonus epilogue to it. But so it has a lumberjack who is an amateur photographer on the side. He likes to take bondage pictures, and so like rope, like Shibari pictures. Like, there's some really neat artwork done with Shibari. And so he meets this makeup blogger, and the makeup blogger is like, "Maybe I would like to pose for one of these pictures." And so their courtship kind of unfurls from there with photos and lumberjack plaid. And it's a lot of fun. But I really liked the chance to write my makeup blogger hero because there's been so many amazing male makeup bloggers recently, becoming even the face of some major brands and stuff. And so I wanted to show that sort of side of masculinity as well. These guys have embraced more of the makeup loving, glitter loving sides of themselves. And so I wanted to do a hero on that sort of spectrum. And so that was really fun for me to get to do him and contrast him with our big burly, older lumberjack guy. And so it's fun. Jeff: That's cool. And for "Out Of Uniform", is "Rough Terrain" the end of the line for that series? Annabeth: Well, I never say never and I do have more military in Alaska. One of my guys is a former Air Force pilot. And in the 'Heart To Heart' charity anthology coming up this fall - I'll have a marine in that one. So I haven't left military romance completely. But I think "Rough Terrain" kind of brought "Out Of Uniform" full circle in a lot of ways. It felt like book seven, a natural sort of stopping point for this part of the series right now. But I'm not ruling out more SEALs in the future. We'll just have to see what the future brings. There's a lot of things I want to explore and a lot of series I want to do. And so, we'll just have to see. But I think fans that like the "Out Of Uniform" will really like something that's coming from me in 2020, which is going to be smoke jumpers. So I've got the band of brothers again, but they're firefighters. And they're in Central Oregon, like I said. They're in Central Oregon fighting forest fires. And it's going to be really...I'm looking forward to the research and I'm really looking forward to being back with a band of brothers kind of group of friend heroes. And it should be really interesting and fun. Jeff: Is that some of the research you're doing on the Oregon trip this time? Annabeth: Yeah. So we'll be actually going to some Oregon fire stations. We'll look at like both the little towns that they live in. We'll also go to some of the state forest areas there, see some actual forest damage and stuff. I've got some different things planned for us to kind of really...I want to really get my five senses into that area, because I live in Oregon, obviously. But I live more in the valley. And so I'm going more into that Central Oregon terrain, it is way different, like you said. It's way different terrain. And so I want to really immerse myself in that to really get that flavor for readers. Jeff: That's very exciting. You've hinted at some stuff in the future like with "The Smoke Jumpers". Of course, "Arctic Heat" comes out in the fall. Anything else you can tease out in the universe? Fill us with what's coming up. Annabeth: So I have a book coming...so "The Smoke Jumpers" will be coming summer 2020. And in between, "Arctic Heat" and "The Smoke Jumpers", I have my first book with Sourcebooks coming. And it is a YA-NA crossover, little bit lower heat, but a lot of the same fun and energy that a YA-NA...you'd expect in a YA-NA crossover. I think fans who have liked some of the lower heat ones that have been rising up the charts like "Red, White, and Royal Blue", that sort of book, I think they might like this sort of tone. And it's a road trip romance, which I love road trips. Like I just said, I love road trips. And so I'm really excited. It's a road trip romance with gamer guys. They're in college, and they're going to a big gaming convention. Like imagine ComicCon, but it's for a card game that they both play. Like, Magic The Gathering, but I kind of invented a fake card game for them. So they're like these gamer guys who have to make the convention on time to get their chance in the big tournament. And it's going to be a lot of fun. I don't think they've gone public with the title yet. But it is coming in April 2020. And so I can't wait to see the cover they're doing and it's going to be really fun. It's going to be in bookstores, which is...I'm really excited about. So it's going to be in the trade paperback. Jeff: Yeah, we were excited to see...I believe it was the first of the "Frozen Hearts" series that we found in our local Barnes and Noble. Annabeth: I know. I'm so stoked. Readers keep tagging me in pictures in the wild of these books. And it makes me so happy. And readers, if you see the books in the wild, take a picture for me. I do love seeing them, I love...and if you like your local bookstore carrying more LGBTQ fiction, let the bookstore know. Even if you're not buying a book that day, say, "Hey, I'd like to see more fiction like this." Not just mine, but a lot of other authors that are coming into mass market and stuff. The more appetite there is for that, I think the more we'll see that in bookstores and stuff and airport kiosks and stuff. And so I'm excited for that. Jeff: Yeah, it's an exciting time. And it feels like "Red, White, and Royal Blue" may lead some of that too. I know that's not a mass-market book. But the fact that they're getting picked up in Target is pretty exciting. So definitely ask for those books. Annabeth: Yeah. I think the more you see that and my...and Sourcebooks has a lot sort of planned around the release of this road trip romance. That should take it to a broader audience. So I'm really excited to see some of what they've got planned and coming. And so it's been really fun to work on that. And that may end up being a series. We just have to see. Jeff: Cool. I'm thinking on your backlist, is this kind of a first for YA for you? Annabeth: Well, they're college age. And so I've done college age with a high heat level in "Winning Bracket". And then I did college age with a lower heat level in one of my freebies, "First In Line", which is set in the same universe as "Winning Bracket". And so that's a sweeter one, it just has a kiss. The one that I'm talking about is somewhere in between there. There are some love scenes, they're just not quite as graphic. And so it was kind of fun to go back to the college universe and kind of...I love that age of hero and I really enjoyed kind of being in that universe with them and that age for a little bit. And so that was fun. But it's not like YA is typically considered senior in high school and older. So that's why they're calling this kind of a crossover because they are in college but upper YA readers will probably enjoy this. Jeff: Cool. Awesome. I'm excited for that one. Will: Yeah, that sounds... Jeff: I love YA new adult so much. So what's the best way for everyone to keep up with you online? Annabeth: So I'm on Facebook. I have Annabeth's Angels as our Facebook reader group. I welcome everyone into there, whether you've read me or not. If you want to talk about fun books, we welcome people in there. I'm also on Facebook myself. I welcome people to follow me on Facebook. I'm on Twitter and Instagram, little bit less than Facebook. Facebook's kind of my big addiction. But I am on Instagram and Twitter. And I also do playlists for all of my books on Spotify. So if you're on Spotify, you can follow me on Spotify and see kind of the music that's influencing the different books. Jeff: Fantastic. We will link up to all that stuff in the show notes. For sure. Thank you so much for hanging out with us. We wish you the best of luck with everything you've got coming out later this year and into 2020. Annabeth: Thank you. Book Reviews Here's the text of this week's book reviews: Something Like Gravity by Amber Smith. Reviewed by Jeff. This was the summer book I didn’t know I was looking for. Not only is it set during the summer, but--in the best way possible--it moves like a lazy summer, filled with all the best things. It’s hard to explain that aspect of it, but it’s one of the things I loved about this book with the feel that with everything else that happens there was the vibe of the lazy summer. Something Like Gravity opens as summer break from school begins. Chris has just arrived at his Aunt Isobel’s where he’ll stay as he tries to reset after being assaulted the year before as he came out as transgender. Meanwhile, Maia, who lives across the field, is still reeling from the death of her older sister. Over the course of the summer, Chris and Maia find comfort and love with each other, reveal their secrets and are able to heal--although it’s far from easy. The meet cute for Chris and Maia is nearly fatal and sets the tone for how their early relationship works--rather adversarial. Chris goes out for a drive with the car that he gets to use for the summer and he practically runs over Maia, who was stopped on her bicycle in the middle of the road. The two hardly speaking in the aftermath but after that gravity starts to pull them together. In the hands of a lesser writer, building a story of first love set amongst loss and trauma would likely be a disaster. Amber, however, crafts a story that I had a hard time putting down because I wanted to see how things would go--both the cringy difficult moments as well as the super sweet ones. I enjoyed both Maia and Chris’s journeys. Maia’s loss of her sister looms large over her family--Maia, her parents and even the family dog haven’t figured out the way forward. Maia tries to learn more about here sister by looking through all of the photographs and the places in them. Carrying her sister’s camera nearly constantly has many in the small town thinking that she’s trying to become her sister. It’s even something she lets Chris believe--that she is a photographer and has been taking pictures even though the camera has no film. Chris’s family is also under stress. His coming out didn’t go well. Not only was he assaulted, but his mom hasn’t adjusted well and his dad seems to be overcompensating for that. He’s come to Aunt Isobel’s to figure out what he wants to do for the next school year, to give his parents time and to find himself--including getting back to running which he enjoyed so much before the attack. He also has to decide what he wants to share with Maia. Chris and Maia have a lot of internal dialogue and it works so well. There’s a lot for them to work out for themselves and it’s some of the most powerful parts of the book. Some of the lazy summer vibe plays into the romance between Chris and Maia. Amber writes their falling for each other in such a wonderful way. There’s a perfect build up as they learn more about each other--at the same time it’s complicated by big secrets. The moments of meltdown and tremendous emotional stregnth provide significant growth moments for them. The way Amber resolves all plots--Chris and Maia’s relationship as well as between them and their parents--were so well done. I loved the meaningful talks the teens had with their parents over the span of a few days. There was much to handle and, like the rest of the story, the pacing was perfect. Chris and Maia end up in a good place too as they prepare for another year of school. I’d love to see more of these two and how their story continues. Arctic Wild by Annabeth Albert. Reviewed by Will. Buttoned up east coast lawyer Ruben is forced to take a vacation by himself in the wilds of Alaska. Needless to say, the prospect doesn’t thrill him, until he meets Toby, his handsome bush pilot tour guide. Toby has dealt with tough customers like Ruben before, and soon enough they’re enjoying each other’s company while exploring Alaska – until an unexpected storm sends their plane crashing into the remote wilderness. After they’re rescued, Toby needs time to heal from his injuries. Rueben comes up with the plan that he’ll stay in Alaska for the summer, rent a house for himself and his teenage daughter and have Toby stay with them. Ruben can care for Toby, while Toby can come up with activities than Rueben can use to reconnect with his daughter, Amelia. Amelia is no cutesy romance novel kid, she’s realistically surly and constantly annoyed by her dad – but she gradually begins to enjoy her vacation, just as her dad is enjoying all the time spent with Toby. Love is definitely in the air for our two heroes, but both are unwilling to admit that it’s more than just a fling – primarily because they’re both stubborn in their own ways, as well as an unending number of outside obstacles to their happily ever after. Both of them have complicated family and work situations to deal with. After weeks of nighttime cuddles and furtive blowjobs, Toby’s injuries are finally healed enough that he and Ruben can sleep together, it’s magical – and then, as it must in all romance novels, the black moment arrives. A serious issue with Toby’s dad forces him to take a look at his obligations – he wants happiness with Ruben and Amelia, but that doesn’t seem possible. It takes some serious soul searching until Toby finally realizes that he can’t let a misguided sense of pride keep him from accepting help when needed. By the same token, Ruben can’t swoop in and solve everyone’s problems with his money and influence. As with the previous book in this series, the author takes the time to let the story breathe – giving the characters time to know and like one another, before falling in love with each other. This extra time spent on the story also gives readers a chance to know and understand the unique and complicated situation our heroes find themselves in, primarily concerning their obligations to their respective families. Annabeth Albert has written yet another winner with Arctic Wild, giving us a terrific romance featuring two dynamic and interesting heroes that readers are sure to root for.

Jeff opens the show talking about the work he's doing on the manuscript for the Hat Trick re-release. New patron Lucy is welcomed. The guys talk about Tales of the City on Netflix and the new season of Pose on FX. Will reviews Anticipating Disaster by Silvia Violet while Jeff reviews Prince of Killers (Fog City #1) by Layla Reyne. Jeff interviews Layla Reyne about the new Fog City series as well as how it felt wrapping up the Trouble Brewing series earlier this year. They also talk about Layla's RITA nominated book, Relay, and the upcoming fall release, Dine with Me. Complete shownotes for episode 193 along with a transcript of the interview are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. Interview Transcript – Layla Reyne This transcript was made possible by our community on Patreon. You can get information on how to join them at patreon.com/biggayfictionpodcast. Jeff: Welcome Layla back to the podcast. It’s great to have you here. Layla: Thank you for having me back. Jeff: I had to have you back to talk about this new series, “Prince Of Killers,” as listeners will have heard right before this interview, blew my mind to pieces and back. Layla: That’s what I wanna hear. Jeff: Tell everybody what this new series is and in particular what they have to look forward to in “Prince Of Killers.” Layla: Sure. So the series is “Fog City.” It’s set here in San Francisco. It’s a new romance suspense series. You don’t need to have read any of my series before that. I won’t say that there aren’t some Easter eggs for those that have, because we are all existing in the same place and time. But, this is a little different because this is following a family of assassins. So in books one to three of the “Fog City” trilogy, starting with “Prince of killers,” you’ve got Hawes Madigan, who runs a cold storage business by day, a very successful family kind of business in the city. And then by night, the families, they’re assassins. And he and his two siblings, Helena and Holt, are kind of the triumvirate that is currently the heir apparent. He’s the heir apparent and they kind of all run it together. His grandfather is ailing and so that’s kind of the setup and fairly successfully he is making some changes in the organization. And so in comes…in the first scene, which is actually set at one of my favorite restaurants in the city, Gary Danko, walks Dante Perry who kind of has this strut about him, you know, long hair, looks like a rock God. But he’s carrying a gun, which he immediately notices, Hawes does, and Perry tells him, “There is someone trying to kill you.” And Hawes kind of laughs it off to start with because, dude, he runs an organization of assassins. That’s what they’re paid for. But then as Hawes and the family come to learn, it does look like someone is trying to stage a palace coup, so to speak. And so “Prince Of Killers” involves sort of the first stages of that and them trying to figure out who it is. And Dante has his own motivations as well. You know, he is trying to find the killer of someone who was close to him and Hawes doesn’t want him to find out who that is either. So I will leave it at that without spoiling too much. Jeff: Let’s talk about the elephant in the room a little bit, and that is the fact that while you have left, for example, the books of the Whiskeyverse on some subtle cliff hangers, this one’s bigger than normal for you. Layla: Yeah, I’m not hiding anything, guys. This one’s got a cliffhanger. I wouldn’t say anyone’s life is in jeopardy, but it’s definitely a cliffhanger. I have made no bones about that “The Usual Suspect” is one of my favorite movies. So hello. And, you know, I grew up in TV land and so I love cliffhangers and I kind of embrace it with this. And, you know, the good thing is the plan is for all the books to be out this year. All the covers are done. By the time this airs, book two will be in the hands of editors and I should be working on book three by then. So, they will all come this year and it’s in the blurb. So you know, everybody, fair warning. I’m not trying to hide it here. So… Jeff: Yeah. And I love how you make the analogy to TV because I would put the cliffhanger that you did on the level of like the mid-season break. Not quite the end of season break, but that mid-season, it’s Christmastime, we’re gonna go away for a while and we’ll have a big thing when we come back. Layla: That’s right. It’s the end of November sweeps. Jeff: Exactly. Layla: That’s where we’re at, not gonna lie. And then book two picks up right where it ended and goes on in there. Jeff: Yeah. Which I’m super looking forward to. Layla: I’m writing. It’s been a…It’s fun and, you know, I can’t…yeah, I can’t spoil anything. Jeff: Yeah. Don’t say anything else. I don’t wanna know. I don’t want the listeners to know. Layla: Okay. Okay. Jeff: What was the inspiration for “Fog City” overall? Because since you’ve gone with this family of assassins, it’s certainly different from what we’re used to in the Whiskeyverse where you’ve got all the, you know, FBI agents and other kinds of, you know, law enforcement as your main characters. Layla: So ironically, I was wandering through Wander Aguiar’s photography website looking for covers for a different project and I saw this picture of what will be the book three cover. And I had to know what the hell is their story. I mean it just jumped at me and I was like, I have to know the story. And then one of my good writer friends, Allison Temple said, “You can’t buy the pictures until you have a story.” She’s like, “Do not spend the money.” So by the end of the weekend, I had the story. I had all three of them and then I was like, “Okay, so let me piece together the three covers.” And so that’s kind of how it, in its original, came about, you know, thinking about doing it. So art really did inspire art in this case because the photos were just amazing. I wanted to branch out and do a little bit of something different. There have been hints of the people in the gray area, you know, Jamie, good guy, but some of that hacking is not exactly on the up and up. Mel, I think we saw go more and more, you know, in her bounty hunter business and be a little bit more flexible once she left the FBI. And so kind of going from there and wanting to play more in that gray area and having read books too, L.J. Hayward’s “Death And The Devil” series, in particular, you know, it’s fun and it’s to some extent pretty liberating. I don’t think it was…it wasn’t harder. There are less rules. Right? I don’t have to check the FBI’s hierarchy chart every day to make sure I’m naming someone the right position. So in that regard, it’s actually been a bit easier. Jeff: Your shades of gray is 100% right because it’s not a spoiler to say that Hawes, not only did he have the legit business on the side, but he’s even trying to modify the ways that the family does the assassin business to make it, I guess, less bad maybe. Layla: Yeah. So, there’s an event that happened three years ago that kind of drives a lot of the series and when you read you’ll find out what that is and to the extent it drives Hawes’ three rules, which are in the blurb, which is no indiscriminate killing, no collateral damage, and no unvetted targets. So, if they’re not…He is turning the organization away from kind of the killing machine that his grandfather, Papa Cal, was. And his parents were very methodical, very efficient, not a whole lot of emotion in it. And so, he’s trying to find the balance between those two of it being, you know, I don’t wanna say the killer with a heart of gold, but he is a killer with a conscience. And so he doesn’t even like the moniker Prince of Killers and what that stands and how it came about, which you’ll read about in the book as well. So, he’s definitely a great character. And then when you look at the broader picture of everyone in the series, Holt is, you know, this…he has a kid and he is, first and foremost, a father, right? And he is a hacker and he, because of where he’s at in his life, has pulled back to being kind of the digital assassin of the bunch. And then Helena, who is the sister, who is my typical female complete badass, love her, she works for…she does a criminal defense work in her day job where she is actually working for people who are wrongfully accused. And so there’s some shades of gray in her as well. And then even one of the other side characters is the chief of police who has an interesting relationship with the Madigans and he knows that there is some benefit to what they do and you’re gonna find out there’s some backstory with him as well as to where he is. So, there’s a reference to him in…If you’ve read “Trouble Brewing,” there’s a reference to him in “Noble Hops.” It’s the same chief, for those who are watching, that read that. So… Jeff: That was one of the Easter eggs that I missed. Because you and I have talked about the Easter eggs and there was some that I caught it and some was like, “Dang it.” Layla: So that’s one of…he’s the new chief, you know, that’s a little bit more flexible in the way things are done. And so everybody…and then Dante is also, you know, playing in his shades of gray as a PI and how far he’s willing to go and what he’s doing personally and professionally. Like where’s that line for him? Jeff: Helena is the one that I found the most interesting in her shades of gray because here’s an officer of the court who occasionally does some, you know, very illegal things, which isn’t to say that, you know, all lawyers are, you know, on the right side of the law. But for her, it seemed like really… Layla: Right. And she makes a line about balancing out her karma, right? That’s kind of how she approaches it to some extent of, you know, part of what they’re doing and why he…particularly Helena and Hawes are so well aligned like that, you know, Hawes wants the contracts of the people the law can’t reach or that escape the law, you know, who get around it, let’s just say, because of who they know or who they pay. And that’s kind of who their targets…that’s the targets he wants. People that have, you know, skirted justice for nefarious reasons. And her day job is the people who justice has wrongfully done. And so they kind of work hand in hand and her feeling on it plays to both of her careers. Jeff: You mentioned in this book you had less rules, so like, you’re not looking upon the FBI flow chart and things. Were there challenges to coming at these characters who had these shades of gray or was it…”free for all” is a little bit much, but certainly more freeing I guess. Layla: Yeah, certainly challenges. Though, I mean, you still have to balance the fact that, “Hey, they’re killing people.” Right? And how you balance that with their conscience, with the people around them, particularly Kane, who was the police chief, has a lot to deal with and going on kind of. So yeah, I mean it is definitely there. There were different challenges for me, I kind of liked it because I got to go a little bit more, even though it’s a shorter book than usual, I think going into their heads more than I typically would because there’s a lot more internal conflict – while still having tons of external conflict. I felt like there was more internal conflict about what they’re actually doing than, you know, being an FBI agent and knowing you’re on the right side of the law. So this was more…they had to kind of walk that line, particularly Hawes. Jeff: One of the things I like most about the book that is…in a lot of ways, it’s separate from the romance and it’s separate from the suspense element a lot is the family unit. And it’s a recurring theme, at least in the books that I’ve read of yours from, you know, Irish And Whiskey and their families. And then what we see of the families in “Trouble Brewing” of the main characters. And here I really feel like maybe it’s because we’re so much closer to the family that we really, even in the shorter book, get a lot about Hawes and Holt and Helena and their interaction with each other. What was your plan as you like populated this family and the characters that you wanted to put on the page? Layla: So, it kind of, I would say, came about organically to an extent. The first scene I wrote like that weekend when I saw the pictures, I wrote it and then I posted it in my little reader group’s like, “I hate you.” And in that first scene, actually there’s a reference to the siblings, but you actually don’t see them, but then they pop up. And part of it too was I had already found their pictures as well. I kind of knew who they all were, but, I also knew who we needed to do X, Y, and Z from a plot standpoint. I also didn’t want Hawes to be an island to himself. Right? And to some extent, giving the life that he lives. And, you know, the two aspects of his life, that family is gonna be the only…like they can’t really let anyone else get close. Right? And so, they’re so tight with the family. That’s the only people they trust. And so, that’s, I think, particularly why, you know, that’s who he debriefs with. That’s who they’re planning with and everything because that’s kind of it. And then, sort of, you have in that expanded family, you also have Holt’s wife, Amilia, and you have the grandmother, Papa Cal’s wife, and like that’s the tight-knit crew. And it has been that way for that family for three generations. And that’s kind of what you find out is that, this is what they do. And because of that, they have to keep it close to the vest and the families who they trust. Jeff: But even through that, you’ve got Helena pushing on Hawes to make the connection to find somebody. Which I love because even as all hell’s breaking loose, it’s like think about doing that because you could have what Holt has. Layla: Yeah. They both…you know, Holt’s happily married with a kid. And I think for both, for Hawes and Helena, you know, that’s the ideal. Their parents were happily married, right? Papa Cal and Rose were. So you can have happiness, right, in this. You just have to find the person who accepts it and where’s that line? And Dante is someone who could be that person, right? He comes in and he seems to know what they do. He seems to be okay with it. And it’s got a hint of insta-lust for sure. Like they’re immediately attracted to each other, but it’s not until later where Hawes kind of starts to think, “Huh, here’s this person who maybe gets it and is okay with it,” the way that Holt and Amelia ended up working out. And Amelia is part of the group, she actually has her own specialty with pressure points and being kind of a perfect Trojan horse for the group because she’s not as out there as the rest of the Madigans are with the business. So yeah. So, he starts to see that. And Helena is kind of also walking a thin line of, “I wanna be happy, but do we know who this dude is?” Right. “Hey, Buddy. Okay, go have fun. But be careful.” So, he’s trying to be the rational one in that scenario. Jeff: So, we know that this is a trilogy. How far does “Fog City” go overall? Do you have a grand plan? Layla: I do, I do. Hawes and Dante will have a trilogy. So they’re the main characters through books one to three. And then Helena will have a book and then there’s another fifth book, but I’m not gonna say who that is because that’ll spoil things. But everybody will get their HEAs by the end of it. I’m looking at five and then I’ve got some ideas for spin-offs and I may already have some cover photos bought for them. I would say I like building big verses, right? I mean, I grew up…I mean my intro to really reading a lot of romances, Kristen Ashley, and I love that big verse concept. And so I like building them too. Jeff: And if you, you know, put it back on TV, I mean, you look at things like the Arrowverse and all of its characters or all of the Chicago shows on NBC, you can have all of your one big, huge comboverse. Layla: Yeah. No, and that’s kind of like that. I grew up in all that too. I was a TV person first. I come from that world where it is all intertwined like that. I like doing that. I like cameos and seeing characters and it’s fun. And you know, Mel runs everything, just remember that. That’s all you need to know. Jeff: Even if the characters don’t know that, she’s really in charge. Layla: Everything. Yeah. Jeff: Now, we gotta give you a congrats too because in the midst of you getting this ready, it was announced you’re a finalist for the Romance Writers of America RITA Award, for the book, “Relay.” Layla: Yes. Yes. Jeff: Which is awesome. For those who don’t know, tell us what “Relay” is about. Layla: “Relay” is book one and the “Changing Lanes” duology, which is “Relay” and “Medley.” So, two books. The duology follows the four men who are on the U.S. men’s medley relay team, swim team. And so, the first book, “Relay,” which was nominated, is about Alex Cantu and Dane Ellis, who had a little summer love affair at a training camp 10 years ago and didn’t go well because Dane is the son of an evangelical minister and very closeted. And so he ends up on the same Olympic team with Alex, who is the team captain, who’s worked his tail off basically to get where he’s at and he is…you know, it’s enemies to lovers to start. Obviously, there’s a lot of friction there from what happened in the past. And then they end up on the relay team together, have to work together. And so then you’ve got a bit of a second chance love story. That’s what it rolls into. And so you see up through the first two legs of training camp and Olympic training in the first book. So you see the two domestic sites. And then in the second book, “Medley,” which follows the other two characters, Boss and Jacob, that’s a mentor-mentee. A little bit of an age gap, like 26 to 19, I think. And Jacob’s this lovely like pirate-quoting cinnamon roll. I love him. He’s so much fun. And two bi characters. Jeff: Pirate-quoting cinnamon roll? Layla: Yeah, he’s a cinnamon roll character, like, he’s a total dork. Jeff: I love that description of him. Layla: And so, then you see international training in the Olympics in that book. So they go hand in hand. And I’m really…you know, there are definite problems with the RITA awards has been brought up with getting better representation. I am happy this book got through. Alex is a character of color. And, you know, when I wrote this, I wanted to say, you know, “This is the U.S. Olympic team, a representation that I would like to see,” right, that’s diverse in sexuality and race and, you know, I’m glad that it did get to the finalists because that’s at least out there. Jeff: And again, congrats for that. That’s cool. I’ll have to go pick that up now because I have not picked up your sports books and I’m certainly like a sports romance lover anyway, so… Layla: One of my good friends was a competitive swimmer up through college and so I talked to him a lot and then one of my other friends swam up through high school and then a little bit in college too. So, it was something different, you know, and I think it was right about the Olympics time where we started talking about that idea and then it just rolled. Jeff: As I mentioned, there was some research involved there too, just to know what the training program was like and where it happened. Layla: And then some of it was my own, like, but too, they go to Vienna for training and I studied abroad there. And I’ve kinda always wanted to put it in a book. And so that was a lot of fun – everywhere there is somewhere that I went and even the fight that happens up in the wine country kind of happened to a friend. And so it was interesting like to see kind of, it was a different source of the fight, but you know, I was traipsing through this little village in the middle of the night going, “Where’d you go?” Jeff: That’s awesome. Drawing from real life events. You’ve got a bit of a con schedule going on this year. You’re headed to BLC so you’ll be at the first incarnation of Book Lovers Con in New Orleans, but you’re also making your very first trip to GayRomLit this year. Layla: I know, I can’t wait. It’s finally back out here, relatively close to us on the West Coast. I’m so looking forward to that. You know, I loved…I’ve been to an RW International and then I went to RT last year and I love the reader interaction like that. I like that part of it so much. And so that’s why I’m going back to Book Lovers Con to get more of that, but then I really want to go to GRL because those are particularly our readers, right, and my favorite authors, so I can’t, you know, wait to meet some folks. See folks that I met last year, meet others, and then like… two of my closest writing friends I’ve never met in person, they’re both going to be there. So I can’t wait for that. Jeff: So name drop a little bit. Who are these people you’re meeting in person for the first time? Layla: Well, what’s cool at Book Lovers Con is that I’ll get to meet Annabeth Albert, who’s been a sprint partner, publishes with the same…with Carina Press too. So that’ll be awesome. But then, yeah, at GRL, it’ll be Erin McLellan, who you actually reviewed “Clean Break,” and Allison Temple. So we’re looking forward to that. Jeff: Very cool. Now, of course, “Fog City” continues through this year. I know you’ve got at least one other book sneaking it’s way out there. What else is coming up this year? Layla: So there’ll be the three “Fog City” books and then “Dine With Me” comes out in September and it’s very different from everything else. So, well, I guess not, you know, if you read my books, and even in “Fog City,” there’s food, there’re restaurants because I am a complete and total foodie. And so “Dine With Me” is kind of my love letter to restaurants that I’ve loved, to food experiences that I’ve loved. And it follows Miller Sykes who is an award-winning chef who gets a diagnosis, a medical diagnosis, and basically if he gets treatment, he will lose his sense of taste. It’s a high likelihood that the treatment and surgery will compromise the sense of taste. And as a chef, dude, how? Like even as a foodie, you know, God, I can’t imagine and I can’t even…as a chef, wow. And so rather than get treatment, he decides to go on the last tour of his favorite meals. And it’s not just high end, you know, it’s dive bars and, you know, there are high-end restaurants also all across the spectrum for everything a different place offers. And that’s partially my experiences too, everywhere there is based on somewhere I’ve been. And then Clancy Rhodes who is the financial backer for this effort is kind of along for the ride. He’s a total foodie, experiencing it, and how he starts to piece together what’s going on and also starts to realize they have a lot in common. Despite, you know, a bit of an age gap and coming from different places in different worlds, they are both kinda facing these great expectations and how to handle that. And he has to convince him that, you know, life is more than just your taste buds, right, and that love’s worth it. And so it’s the book of my heart. It’s been in my head for years. I’ve sat on the first chapter since 2015, 2016 it was on the initial list of blurbs I gave my agent, and we finally found a place to make it happen. So I’m super excited about it. Jeff: That’s awesome because it’s always good to get the book of your heart out there. Layla: Yes. Yeah. Like I said, it’s different. You know, there is a ticking clock aspect to it given the diagnosis and what’s going on but, there’s not a car chase, which is unusual. But it’s a much more internal book and a lot of food gushing. So, you know, I generally say have snacks and tissues, just FYI. Jeff: That’s not really a bad thing for any book to have the snacks and the tissues nearby. Layla: You’ll really need it. So, I’m excited. That comes out September 16 and that’ll be from Carina, that one will. Jeff: Cool. And I have to ask before we wrap up, how was it to wrap up the Whiskeyverse for now – as “Trouble Brewing” wrapped up earlier this year? Layla: Yeah. I mean, good. Right. I like where everybody got to. I loved writing that last scene in “Trouble Brewing” and “Noble Hops.” You know, it was just kind of a nice – everybody’s where they should be. Right. I was glad to give everybody their happily ever after there. I did see some things, which are in the pipeline. And so, things may happen in the future depending on time and whatnot. But I’m excited for it and I’m glad Nick and Cam and Mel and Danny and Aiden and Jamie all got their happy. They definitely deserved it. Jeff: Yeah. Yes, they did. They worked for it. Layla: They worked for it. Jeff: Yeah. It was such a satisfying read. If anybody hasn’t picked those books up, they need to for sure. Layla: Thank you. Jeff: So what is the best way for folks to keep up with you online so they can keep track of all the “Fog City” releases and the upcoming “Dine With Me” and everything else? Layla: Yeah, so probably my Facebook group, Layla’s Lushes is where I’m at the most. And you can find a link to that on my Facebook page too, which is just Layla Reyne. So, that’s me on pretty much all the platforms on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. I’m on Instagram a fair bit. There’s a lot of food and my pugs there, so just FYI. I would say the reader group and the newsletter too, which is on my website, there’s a banner, so it’s laylareyne.com and you can follow and find it there. Jeff: Yup. We will link to all that in the show notes along with all the books. The reader group is the place to be because it’s where you find out about like, oh, the first chapter of “Fog City” well before anybody else does. Layla: Yeah. I kind of like…I have a hard time sitting on stuff. I ran one of the big “X-Files” spoiler sites back in the day, so if that tells you anything, I’m a bit of a spoiler junkie and have a tendency to spoil things though, just FYI. Jeff: Yeah. Everybody should go join up with that if you’re into Layla’s books in any shape, form, or fashion. Layla: Yes. Jeff: All right. Well, Layla, it’s been so good talking to you. Thank you so much for the great read that is “Prince of Killers” and I look forward to keeping track of “Fog City” as the year progresses. Layla: Excellent. Thank you so much for having me again. It’s been fun. Book Reviews Here’s the text of this week’s book reviews: Anticipating Disaster by Silvia Violet. Reviewed by Will Nice-guy Oliver enjoys his quiet bookish life – so he’s less than thrilled to be attending a family reunion at a ski resort. He braves the frigid temperatures and disapproving attitudes of his extended family to please his grandmother, who he adores. Irresistibly sexy bisexual outdoorsman David is in town to help his friend mend a broken heart. While his bestie distracts himself with a pair of slope bunnies, David sets his sights on klutzy Oliver, offering to give him private ski lessons. Flirtation leads to friendship and to David accompanying Oliver to some of the planned reunion activities. When certain family members mock Oliver’s nerdish tendencies, David fiercely defends him. Can’t they see how smart and sweet and kind he is? To give Oliver a vacation from his relatives, David takes Oliver to Anticipation, the picture-perfect mountain town that he calls home. The more time that our heroes spend together, the more they think this might just be the real deal. The problem is that neither one of them does casual relationships. David has his life in Anticipation and Oliver has his life back in Florida with his grandmother. A long-distance arrangement doesn’t seem particularly practical and they sadly part ways. Oliver returns to his real life and, after some time apart from David, he realizes (with some help from grandma) that his quiet existence might be more about hiding from life than truly living it. He decides that David is well-worth the risk and heads back to Anticipation to start a new adventurous chapter in his life story. I really enjoyed Anticipating Disaster. The author takes some familiar character types and story tropes and crafts a really compelling story, while at the same time giving the romance her own twist. The set-up might be pure category romance, but let’s be real, this is a Silvia Violet book, so you know that the heat level is going to be cranked up to 11. Oliver has a penchant for lacy undergarments and, over the course of the story, David discovers he likes cute guys with a penchant for lacy undergarments – like, A LOT. Also, in the bedroom, David has a talent for turning some particularly filthy turns-of phrase. So the time our that heroes spend together do not disappoint – these aren’t the kinds of sex scenes you’ll skim over. This book is the first in a series with the quaint town of Anticipation serving as the backdrop for future installments. A few side characters are introduced in Anticipating Disaster and I look forward to the new romances that will unfold in upcoming books. Prince of Killers (Fog City #1) by Layla Reyne. Reviewed by Jeff. Anyone who’s been listening to the show over the past year knows that I’ve fallen hard for romantic suspense, and in particular the stories that Layla Reyne writes. As soon as I offered the chance to read an advanced copy of Prince of Killers I jumped on it and devoured it in just a few days. Not only is the suspense tight but the budding romance had great sizzle. I’ve never read romantic suspense where someone in law enforcement wasn’t at least one, if not both, of the central characters in the love story. In this book, our main character is on the flipside of the law as the leader of a family of assassins. This provided an interesting twist and I loved the ride. The titular prince of killers is Hawes Madigan who has recently come into leading his family’s business because his grandfather is on his deathbed. One evening, just before a job, Hawes gets information that someone inside the organization is looking to take him out and possibly targeting others inside his family. The bombshell is dropped by the mysterious Dante Perry. The news of betrayal from the inside throws Hawes for a loop. He figured some associates might take issue with the new rules he’s put into place, which include no indiscriminate killing, no collateral damage and no unvetted targets. He introduces these rules because of past incidents that haunt him. The introduction of the Madigan family and how they approach their line of work fascinated me as much as the suspense of the internal sabotage and the romance that blooms between Hawes and Dante. Hawes has a twin sister, Helena, and younger brother, Holt who has a wife and baby daughter. Holt’s the tech wizard for the organization and Helena has another career as an attorney helping those who are wrongfully accused. Hawes’s life revolves solely around the family businesses–both the legit refrigeration business and the not-so-legit assassin game. The interplay of the family members as they try to sort out the traitor in their midst while dealing with their dying grandfather is so sharply written. There’s barely time for them to process any one thing that happens and yet the do make time to support and care for one another. Helena even pushes Hawes toward Dante as a potential partner because she wants her brother to have someone. Hawes taking the leap to trust and fall for Dante is one of things I love most about the book as he finds the strength to overcome the fear of putting his family at risk. Even though Holt has made a family for himself and his parents and grandparents had a successful family life, Hawes feels that he needs to be cautious since he’s the family leader now. Dante also goes out of his way to get Hawes and the family to trust him with not only their brother’s heart but aspects of the business as well. Hawes using Dante as his rock as the plot against the family unfolds, exposed his vulnerabilities perfectly. Meanwhile, the bombs that dropped in the final quarter of this book were ones I hadn’t seen coming and got my heart thumping. This is book one of a trilogy and as was the case with Layla’s other books I can’t wait to see where she takes this story. Similar to the Irish and Whiskey and Trouble Brewing trilogies, the Hawes and Dante’s story doesn’t fully wrap up at the end of the book. Of particular note, Prince of Killers ends with a significant cliffhanger. I don’t mind cliffhangers but if you are averse to that kind of ending you might want to wait until book two’s out so you won’t be waiting long to see what happens next. For me Layla’s redefined what a family of assassins looks like with this book. Fog City kicks off with some mind-blowing twists and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Jeff opens the show talking about the work he’s doing on a holiday short story. They also remind everyone about the LA Times Festival of Books happening April 13 and 14 on the USC Campus and the authors expected to attend from Dreamspinner Press and Interlude Press. Jeff & Will talk about the series finale of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Books reviewed this week include Arctic Sun by Annabeth Albert and Paternity Case by Gregory Ashe. Lisa joins Jeff to recommend four speculative fiction books: The Mortal Sleep by Gregory Ashe, Prince of Air and Darkness by M.A. Grant, All Souls Near & Nigh by Hailey Turner and Not Dead Yet by Jen Burke. Complete shownotes for episode 183 are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. Book Reviews Here’s the text of this week’s book reviews: Arctic Sun by Annabeth Albert. Reviewed by Will While his uncle is recuperating from minor surgery, Alaskan bush pilot Griffin is tasked with taking a tour group into the wilds of Alaska. One of the group is River, former male model-turned inspirational travel writer, who’s gathering material for his next book. There’s an immediate attraction and chemistry between them and over the course of the week, as they spend more time together, they fall for one another. One of the many things that drew me into Arctic Sun, is that Griff and River are two interesting, compelling, genuinely dimensional characters, with actual lives. And by that, I mean that they’re not just cardboard cut-outs going through the motions, playing out a standard romantic plotline. They’ve both faced challenges in the past, overcome them, and – through emotionally intelligent conversations — work to figure out how they can move forward together. After the tour is over, they make plans to meet in Vancouver. River is going to be hanging out with some old friends from his modeling days, and Griff’s visit is a kind of “real world” road test to see if their relationship can work. It’s, of course, a total disaster. The old friends bring out triggering scenarios for both Griff and River. Their true “Real World” was the connection they shared in the wilds of Alaska, not fancy date night restaurants or going to exclusive clubs. The problem is that they’re using relationship criteria from their screwed-up pasts to judge their current situation. They realize this far too late and break things off. They each take some time apart and do some soul searching, River about his family history and public persona and how it relates to his work, and Griff about how he interacts with the outside world and family’s tour business. Griff makes his way to L.A. for the premiere of the film based on River’s book. The things they each want and need out of life are actually more aligned than they first realized. They can live, love and work surrounded by the nature that gives each of them so much joy. Paternity Case by Gregory Ashe. Reviewed by Jeff. I’ve continued to work my way through Gregory Ashe’s Hazard & Somerset Mystery series. Gregory’s way with mystery thrillers along with possibly the slowest burn romance ever keep drawing me back. After dealing with a Clue-like mystery taking place over Thanksgiving in Transposition, the action now moves to Christmastime. An interesting turn of events, one that I believe only Gregory could concoct, finds Emery Hazard and John-Henry Somerset on a double date as the book opens. Readers of the series know this just cannot end well as Hazard, his boyfriend Nico, Sommers and his estranged wife Cora attempt to have a meal together. Saying the scene is uncomfortable is an understatement and it’s the perfect scene to begin the story. The mystery in Paternity Case revolves around an incident that occurs at the Somerset family home. Sommers’s father calls him away from dinner to help with the problem. When Hazard and Sommers arrive, they discover a quite high, naked Santa causing issues and before they can sort out why, a teenage girl is dead, Sommers’s father is shot multiple times and the Santa is killed after being taken into custody. Nothing is ever what it seems in a Hazard and Somerset book and the reason and motive for the shootings is disturbing and extraordinary. Gregory has concocted his most twisted mystery of the series and shines an even brighter spotlight on the shady goings on in the Wahredua good old boy network. I’m always stunned at how Gregory reveals the whodunit and this one continually blew my mind. We know from previous books that Sommers and Hazard have complicated pasts, together and separately. Significant details are finally laid out in this book. We find out why Hazard had to leave St. Louis, which honestly wasn’t as shocking as I expected…but it doesn’t mean that those in power in Wahredua don’t try to capitalize on it. Learning more of what happened to the boys in high school upset me. More about Sommers’s senior year came to light and the feelings Sommers has about Hazard continue to have a major impact on his future choices. Many authors would dump this information out much earlier, but the parsing that Gregory’s done over the three books made it more impactful. It’s like a traffic accident–uncomfortable to witness and yet you can’t look away. It’s expert writing that keeps you glued to the page to see what gets revealed next and guessing what the far reaching implications will be. There are some sublime side characters in this book and I have to give a particular shout out to Sommer’s mother, Grace Elaine. She’s every bit a southern matriarch who you do not want to cross–sugary sweet in one moment and ready to claw your eyes out in the next. The cat and mouse game she plays with Hazard is equal parts highly entertaining and disturbing. She goes to great lengths to protect her son, her family and what she believes is right all while being a terrible person at heart. She made me shudder as I knew people just like her from growing up in the south. Back to the mystery, it’s impossible to easily talk about it without revealing too much. Suffice to say of the three books so far, this mystery has been the most disturbing because of the ramifications for the teenage characters involved–not only the girl who is killed but two of her friends who are swept up in the drama. Anyone who is potentially triggered by abusive parents, child abuse, and similar issues would be advised to proceed cautiously with this book. Of course, I’m ready to read more from Gregory. I have no doubt that things that were planted in this book will matter even more in what follows. I can’t wait to see where it all leads to ultimately.

Jeff & Will talk about their upcoming trip to the 2019 LA Times Festival of Books. They also discuss two series they’ve been watching: Comedy Central’s The Other Two and Freeform’s Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Books reviewed this week include Kim Fielding’s The Spy’s Love Song, Ari McKay’s Take Two and Erin McLellan’s Clean Break. Jeff interviews Erin McLellan about Clean Break, the second book in her Farm College series, and about why it’s important for her to tell stories based in her home state of Oklahoma. They also talk about her Love Life series, what got her started writing, her author influences and the TV she likes to binge watch. Complete shownotes for episode 182 are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. -------- Here’s the text of Jeff’s book reviews: The Spy’s Love Song by Kim FieldingRock star and secret agent on a mission to a foreign country to topple a dictator all wrapped up in a Dreamspun Desires package. That combination pushed all of my romantic suspense buttons and I had no choice but to pick up this book. And I loved it every bit as much as I thought I would. I was in tropey goodness heaven with the rock star thing, a bodyguard vibe plus lovers on the run and some occasional forced proximity. Jaxon Powers is a jaded rock star who’s at the end of a long tour. After waking up in a hotel room barely remembering what happened the night before, he might also be ready for a change in lifestyle. He gets a lot more than he bargained for when his manager brings him to a meeting with the State Department. It seems the dictator that runs the small country of Vasnytsia is a fan and wants Jaxon to perform a private concert as well as a large outdoor one for a worker’s festival. The U.S. wants Jaxon to do this because it’s a chance to improve US relations with the Russia-supported dictator. The only person going with Jaxon on the trip is secret agent Reid Stanfill. Besides keeping Jaxon safe, Reid’s got an agenda that has global ramifications. I fell in love with this book right from the beginning. Kim plays with expectations from the beginning. While Jaxon appears to be the spoiled rock star we quickly find that’s not what he wants to be. He’s a small town boy, doing what he loves to do but he wants more substance to the way he’s living. The trip to Vasnytsia does exactly that as his world view gets a complete makeover. Not only does Jaxon end up traveling without the entourage he’s used to, as Reid’s mission goes sideways the two end up on the run. Reid’s mission is to try to destabilize the country and force elections and that makes him an enemy of the state. Despite his fear, Jaxon won’t leave Reid to fend for himself. Jaxon knows his celebrity can protect both of them and he sticks by Reid even as Reid tries to force the star to safety. Through all of the crazy events that could result in either of them dying, Jaxon and Reid manage to start a romance. Reid tries to keep it from beginning since they’re in a country where homosexuality is illegal but they give in to their passions. That’s just the beginning as they share stories about their pasts, which only endears them more to each other. The mix between the romance and suspense is perfect, giving our guys time to fall in love even while things around them go crazy. I liked that Kim avoided the usual Dreamspun scenario of having alternating points of view. Everything in the story is Jaxon, which works perfectly so we don’t know Reid’s mission or anything else too early. It makes for a very snappy read going on the roller coaster that Jaxon experiences. Kim brings Vasnytsia to life through its people. It starts with the guides taking Jaxon around the country, giving him peek behind the propaganda. As he meets fans who must covertly speak to him as it wouldn’t be proper for anyone to talk with the American he begins to understand why Reid’s mission is so important. Ultimately it’s these people who shelter Reid and Jaxon and help complete his mission–with a particularly awesome assist from Jaxon. Drew Bacca does a great job on the audiobook, including having to sing a couple of Jaxon’s songs. This is the first book in the “Stars From Peril” series that Kim has in the Dreamspun line. The second book, Redesigning Landry Bishop, comes out in May and I’m already looking forward to it.  -------- Clean Break by Erin McLellanI almost didn’t pick this book up because I couldn’t imagine reading a book that included the characters taking care of Madagascar hissing cockroaches. I’m not a fan of bugs and the trigger warning page discusses more about the bugs than anything else. However, I’m glad I listened to the re-assurances I wouldn’t be creeped out because this is a terrific book–and the bugs really are a non-thing. This book, the second in Erin’s “Farm College” series, throws together Connor Blume and Travis Bedford–two guys who very much don’t like each other in the aftermath of an awkward, failed hookup. As their final college term begins, Connor and Travis are taking Entomology 101 and because the professor likes students to sit alphabetically, they’re next to each other and end up becoming class partners. Their dislike for each other radiates from them during that first class. Connor’s OCD and anxiety flare up just being near the guy, who he’s still wildly attracted to and wants to have a real discussion with. Travis has the attraction too but carries the anger from their previous hookup. It only gets worse as they get the assignment that they’ll be caring for Madagascar hissing cockroaches for the semester or that they’ll have to answer discussion questions together. It doesn’t take long for the sparks of dislike to turn into sparks of desire and they end up spending time after class in a storage closet making out. Neither of them is particularly happy that they’re giving in to their desires, which makes the scenes cuter and hotter. Travis wants the fussy farmer and Connor very much wants the stand-offish English major. Even as their make out sessions start to cool their hatred, they realize they’re constrained by time. At graduation, Connor is set to take over management of his parent’s farm, even though he doesn’t necessarily want that. Meanwhile, Travis can’t wait to get out of the small town for his legal aid internship and then on to law school. The guys have their futures mapped out and there’s no space for the other. That doesn’t stop them from getting emotionally entangled. Erin does a terrific job of bringing these two together. As they move their hookups to the bedroom, Travis discovers he likes Connor’s controlling side and gives himself over to it. Connor though never takes advantage, making sure that he’s always got Travis’s consent and that Travis enjoys himself. That continues as Travis reveals he’d like to be spanked. Both guys discover this is exactly what they need. Beyond the sex though, their efforts to not get too attached aren’t helped by their post-sex talks. Travis usually wants Connor to tell him a story and it’s here that he opens up bit by bit about his anxiety, his OCD and his pre-determined future. There’s so much going on for him, as a reader I wanted to wrap him in a hug and do whatever I could to ease the load he carried. Travis talks a lot too and over time we learn what makes him so driven–it turns out he lost one of his dreams due to an accident and he doesn’t want to let anything or anyone cost him this one. Just a she was great at bringing them together, Erin tears the guys apart just as expertly. It’s a tough go as Connor and Travis force themselves apart as graduation nears. Erin does a number on the characters as they emotionally hurt themselves and each other as they keep to their plans. Both guys want to talk to the other so badly and yet they’ve promised not too. For Connor, this is particularly bad for his OCD. Of course, this is a romance, so all must end happy. Thankfully how Erin gets the guys back together his as satisfying as everything she did earlier in the book. There is a way for them to be together–it just takes time for them to get there. -------- Interview Transcript - Erin McLellan Jeff: Welcome, Erin, to the podcast. Erin: Hi. Thanks for having me. Jeff: Very excited to have you here. You’re a new-to-me author and I just finished reading “Clean Break,” which I have to tell you, I adored so much. I’m reviewing it right before we get into the interview segment I’ll have reviewed it to kinda tell everybody about it. Erin: Yay, thank you. Jeff: It is the second book in your “Farm College” Series. So before we dive into “Clean Break,” tell us more about what the “Farm College” Series is about. Erin: Okay. So it’s just two books so far like you said and they are set in a fictional college in Western Oklahoma. And I would say kind of the overarching themes are… Since they’re college stories, they’re new adult that’s kind of coming of age and self-discovery, finding your authentic self, finding a home is kind of a big one. I think that’s kind of important at that age. You’ve moved out of your parent’s house or wherever you grew up for a lot of people and kinda figuring out what is home, what is family, that kind of thing. So those types of themes are kind of follow both books. They’re both kind of angsty to be honest though “Controlled Burn,” more so than “Clean Break” actually. Jeff: Oh, my goodness. Erin: So be prepared. But, yeah, and I think in terms of… The setting is really important to me at least as the author and those books is important to me. I’m from Oklahoma. I live in Alaska now, but I’m from Oklahoma. And it’s important to me to write stories that are set in Oklahoma that have, you know, LGBTQIA+ characters in Oklahoma. And I know as somebody that reads a lot of romance, I don’t see that very often. I don’t see romance set there or it might be… I have seen it where it’s, you know, characters that are like, escaping Oklahoma which certainly is the case for a lot of people, but it’s also the case that people live and love, and make their lives there. And I kinda wanna show that. Jeff: Does a farm college like this exist in Oklahoma? Is it based on a real place? Erin: No. Kind of I guess. A lot of the kind of small details mirror Oklahoma State which was my alma mater for undergrad, but Oklahoma State is so much bigger than the college that I created. So Farm College is kind of a smaller college in Western Oklahoma that I’ve created, but in terms of being, you know, having a strong agriculture program, but also kind of having this liberal arts situation that’s going on and a pretty vibrant LGBTQIA community, I’ve kind of made most of that up. So… Jeff: And I agree that we don’t see, I mean, besides books set in Oklahoma, really the more rural settings kinda, it’s always escaping from those places. And I like that you kind of built a place as if this is what you’d like to see even if it doesn’t quite exist there now. Erin: Right. And I think it’s kind of funny when I started writing “Controlled Burn.” It was pre-2016, right? And I kind of had this, you know, I kind of had this idea that it’s getting better, right? It’s looking up for lots of communities and I’m not sure if that’s necessarily the case anymore. I hope it will be and I hope it is eventually. But, you know, there’s good and bad, I think, about places like Oklahoma and Kansas, and Texas. And, you know, Oklahoma is really special to me. It’s really important to me. Kansas is the same, but there’s also problems and, you know, I wanna kinda write those stories. And I also, thinking about Oklahoma or Texas probably more so, a lot of the romances that I’ve read that are set there are like, ranch, you know, the cowboys, the farmers which there is kind of a farmer in “Clean Break.” But there’s a lot of people that live in Oklahoma and in Texas, in Kansas that aren’t cowboys. So I wanted to tell that story too. Jeff: Right. And you really hinted that a little bit with some of the dialogue between Travis and Connor in “Clean Break” too as they kind of talk about the difference between cowboy and more the farmer type that Connor and his family are. Erin: Right. Jeff: And so, as we kinda move this direction, tell us what “Clean break” is about and kind of who Travis and Connor are. Erin: Right. So “Clean Break” is about Travis and Connor. Travis is…he’s the best friend in “Controlled Burn.” So if you read “Controlled Burn,” you see quite a bit of him. He’s an English major. He’s from Houston, Texas, very ambitious. He’s got these kind of life plans and nothing’s gonna slow him down, right? He wants to go to law school. He’s got an internship after for the summer. He’s planning to move to Saint Louis eventually to work at this legal aid charity. He has this very, you know, set goals and he’s also kind of a unique, quirky, funny character to me. And then you have Connor who comes in and I don’t know if I would say at the beginning of the book, it’s more like pre-book before the book happens, they have a little bit of a failed hookup in a lot of ways. Some misunderstandings and so, they don’t like each other very much. And then in the first chapter, they get paired together as class partners in a class. And Connor is a farm boy. He’s kind of a townie, right? He’s from Elkville which is the city that’s it’s set in. He’s expected to take over the family farm and so, he’s got this, you know, he kind of his future plans are set, right? He doesn’t have a say over them and he’s… I have a big soft spot in my heart for him. He’s got anxiety, he has OCD. I really wanted to kind of write against the archetype of the like, lackadaisical cowboy or even like, the kind of the hard cowboy or, you know, that kind of archetype that I had in my head. I wanted to write a sensitive farm boy who’s in therapy and, you know, it doesn’t really match some of the people or the characters that I have seen written that way. And kind of the main issue between them, first is that they don’t like each other, but they’re attracted to each other, right? But the kind of the main two things that I wanted to do with the book is I wanted to write a complex authentic characters that are really well-rounded and hopefully, I accomplish that. And then the other thing that I really wanted to do was kind of write to people that are heading towards their future which is graduation and then, you know, the future beyond. And then their futures don’t mesh. There’s not really a way to come together at the end of graduation. They’re moving in different directions and I think that’s a really universal thing for people in college that are dating and dating seriously… do you compromise your future for somebody else? Do you change it? How do you make it work? So those are kind of the two things that I really wanted to hit on and of course, there’s, you know, there’s some kink that happens in the book and kind of self-discovery with that especially on Connors’ part. So there’s a lot going on, but those two things. The characterization and the conflict there with their futures not meshing are the two things I really wanted to hit. Jeff: And I think you did them both, I mean, really well. This book has so much going on in it and yet it never…the story also never gets way down either with the weight of everything that’s kind of moving around here. Erin: Thank you. Jeff: And really, you started them off as enemies who sort of move to friends to sort of get to lovers. Erin: Right. Jeff: Just that progression was so fun to watch unfold as they both pick at each other and then also help each other grow at the same time. It’s like, they lift each other up and kinda tear each other down at the same time. Erin: Right. And I hope that that is realistic. I think people… Because in a lot of ways they are kind of mean to each other at certain points and people can be mean to each other in real life. Especially, they’re not very old, you know, they’re 21, 22. So they kinda make stupid mistakes sometimes and say things that can be hurtful and then have to figure out how to make it better. Jeff: And I think with Connor too, you talked about writing against the archetypes and just having kinda the anxiety plus the OCD. And being, you know, a young gay man in that setting really just sets up so much for him in that situation. Erin: Right. Yeah. He has a lot going on. He’s bi actually and… Jeff: Right. I’m sorry. You’re right. Yes. Erin: And so, kind of a lot. I mean, it’s just a lot and I think it’s a lot for him to kind of deal with all at the same time. Jeff: What was your research on the mental health side of it to kind of figure out what traits to weave into his personality? Erin: So I did a lot of research and I had some readers too that read it for me. One of the main things that I really looked at was kind of the myths especially with OCD, kind of the myths surrounding OCD. I think a lot of people think it’s just, you know, a cleanliness thing or even an organizational thing where they, you know, people with OCD have an impulse to organize or clean. And that’s not really how it presents for a lot of people. A lot people have intrusive thoughts which he has or, you know, they have checking where he checks the expiration dates on food and he can’t kind of stop doing that even though he knows he shouldn’t be doing it, and it’s not healthy for him to do. And so, I did a lot of research about the myths and the different ways that it presents for people and kind of the hardships that it causes them. And I also really wanted to make sure that I kind of made it clear. It’s something that he’ll always deal with, right? It’s not going away and so, it’s really… I did a lot of research on how to manage it, how, you know, how to kind of continue life dealing with a mental health problem like that. Jeff: Yeah. I just… So often I wanted to just give him a hug when he was starting to lapse into it. It’s like, “Oh, I’m so sorry this is happening.” What you did through the black moments and I don’t wanna give spoilers for folks who, you know, need to read the book. But what you did to the black moments for both Connor and Travis as they dealt with their emotions and for Connor how those emotions kinda manifest themselves in his OCD was really just, I really liked seeing two young adults kinda come to grapple with all of that. Erin: Yeah. And I think it’s pretty normal when you’re more stressed, right? Or when there’s more and more stress for, you know, the OCD to kind of build on itself. The same with anxiety like, whenever I am really stressed about my anxiety, it’s gonna be worse about small things, you know, you can kind of blow them out of proportion. I know I do that and so, I was kind of trying to show that how it’s like as things got more stressful for him with graduation moving and with kind of this relationship with Travis, that’s not going away he wants it to go. It does kind of snowball for him and it kinda snowballs for Travis too just in different ways because he doesn’t, you know, he doesn’t have anxiety or OCD of course, but, you know, he struggles just kind of the same way. Jeff: Yeah. When you were talking about with this books about you left out one of its major points. Erin: The bugs? Jeff: That is the inclusion of the the hissing cockroaches. Where did that idea even come from? Erin: So I knew I wanted to put them in a class together and I wanted them to be class partners. But Travis is an English major and Connor is agriculture sciences, agribusiness major. And so, I knew it had to be like a gen ed class for at least one of them. And so, I really started thinking about the gen ed class that I had taken as an English major whenever I was an undergrad trying to figure out what class would make sense. And then I realized that I actually had taken an ag class that was Entomology 101. And I loved it, I, you know, I held like, tarantulas and I held millipedes. And I could see myself being that like, weird bug girl a little bit. I just loved it. And so, that’s kinda how I decided to put them in an entomology class. And it’s funny because, I mean, I do think that college is one of those times to take the weird class and do the weird thing. And so, I think it kind of made sense there and I also felt like, I gave a degree of what kind of humor and lightness I thought it would to the story. But I realize now that a lot of readers maybe don’t like bugs. So it’s something that’s like a little distracting to some people. When I had took the entomology class, we had an assignment where we had that exact assignment with the Madagascar hissing cockroaches where we had to take them home and observe them. And so, you know, for an entire semester, I had a Madagascar hissing cockroach in my dorm room with me. I never took it out of its box. I like, you know, I fed it, like, carrots through the little hole that it couldn’t get out and so, that would be fun to put that in the story. And I can tell you for the readers, the cockroaches do not escape ever. They never… There’s no, like, unexpected cockroach scenes. I promise. Jeff: Yeah. And I can vouch for that. There are no unexpected scenes and in fact, I had to check… I had to ask about that before I took the book to read and I’m like, “Bugs, I don’t know about that.” Erin: I know. I have put it in the trigger warnings for the book and on my website, it really does lay out kinda scene by scene where they’re at and kind of the degree that they’re on the page. And they’re not on the page that much. Jeff: No, they’re not and I never got squirmy reading it either because I really don’t like bugs. But I was totally fine with how this turned out. So… Erin: Yeah. I know. I don’t know why it hadn’t occurred to me that it would gross people out. At that point it was too late when it, like, finally hit me. I was like, “Well, I can’t do anything about it.” But I kind of thought that they were funny. Jeff: Well, I think it really fits with the whole ag culture of the college that of course, they’re gonna end up with bugs or whatever and have to learn about them. So it all meshed in together and like you said, there’s no point where they’re escaping or, you know, being gross. They’re just kind of there. Erin: Right. And students… Jeff: I like to, you know, those classes sometimes you take in high school where you’re having to take care of the doll for a week or whatever. And in this case you’re hanging out with a cockroach. So… Erin: Right. It’s kinda like a little pet for them for this semester. Jeff: So is there more plan for the Farm College Series? Erin: I have not kind of set plans. I do want to write a story for Alex. He’s in both books. He’s not in “Controlled Burn” for very much though his part is kind of important in “Controlled Burn.” He’s a friend of Connor’s really in “Clean Break” and I do wanna give him a story and I will. I’ll probably start writing that soon. Kind of be on that. I don’t know how much more I’ll write in the Farm College Series though I do wanna do a spin off that’s kind of several years in the future. So they’re not really in college anymore and I want to do an F/F romance for Desie and Lena. So I would start there for them. Jeff: Yay. Yeah. I would totally read that book because one of the things you did in “Clean Break” and I’m sure you established it back in “Controlled Burn” too, was just the tight community of friends that Travis and Connor both have, and even, like, the strong family presence of Connor’s family and how they support him. So it would be great to see more of all of that. Erin: Yeah. So… Yeah. And I definitely… I think I did a little bit more successfully in “Clean Break” for sure where they have very supportive families and they do have kind of a big wide friend group. And so, yeah, I’m glad that you like that, but I do want to do the F/F romance for Lena and Desie kind of. But Lena is quite young in this book. She’s 20 and so, I wanna give her a little bit of time to grow up, I guess. Jeff: Yeah. That’s cool. Now, you’ve got another series out there called “Love Life.” And tell us a little bit about what goes on in that series? Erin: Sure. So that’s also, they’re both male/male romances. Set in Oklahoma, Eastern Oklahoma for the first book, “Life on Pause.” They’re kind of small town romances there. The first one is about a guy that works at a homestead kind of prairie museum. They’re kind of common in Oklahoma where the people that work there have to dress in like, historical costumes of the time. So he works at that type of museum and then he is paired with a high school choir teacher. And it’s kind of them trying to fall in love and figure out how their relationship will work. It’s definitely kind of lighter in tone than the farm college series, but it’s still a little angsty. The second book in the series, “Life of Bliss,” is more novella link that’s a little short and it’s very tropey. It’s kind of two people that don’t like each other very much, but are fooling around kind of behind their friends’ backs. They agree to be fake boyfriends for a family wedding in Arkansas and Arkansas kind of, well, it has this… Historically in the area, it was the only state that didn’t have a waiting period for marriage licenses. Now, most of the states don’t, but back in the day, you know, they made you like, test for syphilis and all kind of stuffs. But extended the marriage license period. So Arkansas is kind of the place where people go for their shotgun weddings historically. So this is going back quite away, but in this book they go to a wedding in Arkansas, they get drunk at the wedding and basically, end up getting married themselves. It’s set in Eureka Springs, Arkansas for the wedding part and I don’t know if anybody would be familiar with that. But you can get married practically anywhere in Eureka Springs. It’s kind of an economy there. So it’s quite easy to get married and that’s what happens. So it’s kind of fake dating to accidental marriage. Jeff: Fake dating to accidental marriage. I like… Those are favorite tropes right there. Erin: Yeah. It’s a fun one, I think. Jeff: So what is your writing origin story? You’ve got these four books out. How did all this start? Erin: Well, I was a creative writing English major in undergrad, but then I ended up going to grad school for library and information studies. And I was a public librarian. And I had… I kind of had a lot of big changes in my life. I just graduated grad school. I just got married, I just moved away from home like, all of these big changes. I had a full time job for the first time and I had… I was living in Houston, Texas and I had this horrible commute. It was like, an hour and a half each way and… Jeff: Yeah. that’s pretty horrible. Erin: I think most people that have been in Houston know what I’m talking about. And I had all this time to kind of think and I basically on my commute started plotting a book. And some of it came from, I missed kind of the creative outlet writing research papers and stuff like that from school. And so, yeah, that’s kind of how I started writing as I plotted this book on my commute and then finally, I decided that I was gonna sit down and write it. And that book was “Controlled Burn.” Jeff: That’s an awesome story. Erin: Thank you. Jeff: What led you into putting this creativity towards M/M romance amongst all of the genres that were possible? Erin: Yeah. Some of it I think is that I was reading a lot of it at that time, I kind of got into M/M romance I guess if we’re going further back by reading Suzanne Brockmann, right? So she has the “Troubleshooters” series and that has Jules Cassidy who’s the gay FBI agent, right? He’s got that kind of the secondary romance through several books and then the primary thorugh a novella. And then whenever I was in grad school, I kind of didn’t have time to read for pleasure very much. So I wasn’t reading very much and then I took a class about reader’s advisory that we had to read like, the books from the best books of the year for “Publishers Weekly” and “Kirkus,” and stuff. And I just kind of… I can’t remember what year it was, but I grabbed kind of a random book off the romance list and it ended up being “Brothers of the Wild North Sea” by Harper Fox and I didn’t really realize that it was a male/male romance. So I just kinda grabbed it and started reading, and then it became quite clear, you know, very early on what it was. And it’s a beautiful book. Harper Fox is, you know, is a beautiful writer. Everything that she writes is really awesome and so, I kind of gobbled up everything that she had written and then it kind of hit me at that time. There has to be other writers that are doing this and, you know, they weren’t the books that were in the libraries. They weren’t in my libraries. So I kind of started searching them out and, you know, read a lot of K.A. Mitchell and Z.A. Maxfield, and some of those authors at that time that were the most prolific. And I was just very excited because I felt like there are all these authors that I had never heard of that I didn’t know about and they were all really, really good. And they were writing, you know, stories that kind of the themes were very important to me. And so, then when I write finally, eventually, decided to sit down and write a book. I think probably the main thing for me is that I wanted to write characters who are LGBTQIA in Oklahoma and it just happened to be that the first book that kind of came to mind, and that I plotted fully was an M/M romance in “Controlled Burn.” So that’s definitely how I got started. Jeff: That’s very cool and some great authors there to get you introduced to the genre as well. Who do you count as your author influences? Erin: Well, definitely, you know, my gateways were Suzanne Brockmann into romance in general and then Harper Fox. Kind of on a wider scale, I really like Alisha Rai. She kind of, she writes the heroines that are the type of parents that I just love. They are raunchy and rowdy, and wonderful. I would say also Annabeth Albert in terms of contemporary romance. Alexis Hall, I think kind of teaches or his books are like a master class on first person point of view if you look at “For Real” or “Glitterland.” And so, I really, really like his books too. Jeff: Now, your bio mentions that you like binge worthy TV shows. So of course, we have to know what are you binging these days or have binged recently that you would recommend? Erin: So my husband and I have been rewatching “Game of Thrones” of course, because the last season was about to come out. So when you binge that show, you just kind of realize how many awful things happened back to back to back because the first time we watched it, we didn’t binge it. We are watching it week to week, but when you’re binge watching that it’s like, “Oh, my God. That’s so awful, these things that keep happening.” Other than that, I really like… I like true crime, but I’m not watching any kind of true crime right now. And I like comedies. So I’ve watched “Schitt’s Creek” recently which I love, “The Good Place,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “One Day at a Time,” all these sitcoms that I think are really good, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” because I love musicals is really good. And then I also watch a lot of like, reality TV. So I like, like, “Tiny House Hunters,” and “Instant Hotel,” and “Project Runway,” shows kind of like that. Jeff: Very cool. Yeah. Some good stuff on there. Erin: You can tell me I watch a lot of TV. Jeff: “The Good Place” is a particular favorite. Erin: Yeah. It’s so smart. It’s so different than like, yeah, it’s very, very unique. So this is a great list for everybody who’s looking for something to binge the spring right here. So what’s coming up next for you in your release plans? Jeff: So I don’t have anything kind of set in stone. I’m not very good at planning. [I”m working on one about] tornado chasers or storm chasers. That’s a male/male romance that I have on submission right now to a publisher that I’m hoping will pick it up. If they don’t, then, you know, it’ll keep going out and hopefully somebody else will want it. I’m currently writing a book about a rec league softball team and I want this to be really, really tropey and kind of fun and light. The first one is using kind of the one bed trope. So I hope that that would be a lot of fun. I’ll write Alex’s story pretty soon and then I have a book that I wrote. But I’m hoping to put out at Christmas, it’s called “Stocking Stuffers.” And it’s a M/F romance with a bi heroine who sell sex toys. You know, like the Tupperware parties, but it’s like the, you know, the sex toy Tupperware parties kind of. And so, she works for a company kinda is the marketing person for a company like that and she’s hosting one of those parties, get snowed in, you know, with a big red bag of toys basically. Jeff: Yeah. That’s like an interesting forced proximity story. Erin: yeah. So it was a lot of fun to write. Jeff: And I’m very interested in the storm chasers one too because I’m kind of a weather geek at heart. So you kind of got me on that one. Erin: It was a lot of fun to write. Growing up in Oklahoma, you know, tornadoes are such a kind of a constant really. I mean, my parents have lost a house in tornado. I know lots of people that have lost houses in tornado. It’s so common. It’s just kind of a part of your life especially if you’re from Central Oklahoma like me and so, it’s… Yeah. It was a really fun one to write because you are just kind of entrenched in bad weather in Oklahoma in the spring all the time. So… Jeff: Very cool. And how can readers keep up with you online to keep track of all these projects? Erin: So I have a Facebook group called Erin McLellan’s Meet Cute. That’s a good one if you kind of… I do giveaways and book recs, and stuff. On Twitter my handle is @emclellanwrites and I’m on Twitter pretty often. On Instagram it’s @erinmclellanwrites and on Instagram, I would say it’s about 70% Alaska stuff like, every moves that I’ve ever seen and then 30% books. Unless there’s a book released and then it flips. But it’s a lot of Alaska if you follow me on Instagram. And then my newsletter which you can get too on my website or through any of the social media too. You would be able to kind of find the link to my newsletter and that’s probably the best way if you just want like, to know about new releases or sales, or things like that without having to kind of trudge through Twitter. Jeff: Well, fantastic. Well, I thank you so much for coming to talk to us about “Clean Break” and wish you all the success on that one and the upcoming releases as well. Erin: Thank you so much. It was so fun.

First off, LGBT romance authors nominated for 2019 RITA Awards are congratulated, including Layla Reyne, Amy Lane, Suzanne Brockmann, Melanie Hansen and Aurora Rey. New patron Angela is welcomed. Jeff discusses his second visit to Broadway’s Dear Evan Hansen as well as seeing an immersive production of Bare: A Pop Opera. Rather than review books this week, the guys talk about titles they are looking forward to this spring: Arctic Sun by Annabeth Albert, LOL by Lucy Lennox and Molly Maddox, Under His Protection by LaQuette, Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, American Fairytale by Adriana Herrera and Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee, Jeff also calls out the start of a new series from Layla Reyne that he’s looking forward to but can’t discuss. Brandilyn stops by to recommend the audiobook of Badlands by Morgan Brice and talks about some old favorites from Rhys Ford, Jordan L. Hawk and Ethan Stone. Complete shownotes for episode 181 are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. Jeff's Musical Reviews Here’s the text of Jeff’s reviews of the shows he saw in New York: While I was in New York this past week, I caught two musicals that have the common theme of teenagers looking for a connection to each other, finding their voice and being able to live as their authentic selves. I started off with a return trip to Dear Evan Hansen. We originally reviewed our trip to see the original Broadway cast back in episode 91 in July 2017. I went back this week because I wanted to see the current Evan, sixteen-year-old Andrew Barth Feldman. Andrew won the 2018 National High School Musical Theater Award and was invited to audition for the role. Within a few weeks, he was cast. Before this, Evan’s were in their mid-20s because the role is difficult to sing and requires skills to manage the emotional arc. Andrew blew me away. I watched some clips of other roles he’s posted on his YouTube channel and a pretty good idea he could sing the right range for the show. His vocal performance though was through the roof. In the early songs, he had amazing vocal breaks that conveyed Evan’s anxiety and timidness and as he felt more emboldened by the story he waved the vocals got more confident. By the time he hit “You Will Be Found” at the end of the first act he was a different person, only to come crashing down again for “Words Fail,” which is the show’s 11 o’clock show stopper. The acting too was spot on, at times looking like he wanted to shatter into a million pieces to escape. In the moment where his mom talks to him about what he’d done, he’s pressed so much into the corner of the couch, you know he wants to be eaten by the furniture. It’ll be interesting to see how he continues to grow into the role. He was in week seven when I saw him. The producers are giving him time and training to handle the rigors of a Broadway schedule–currently, he’s playing five out of eight shows a week. Beyond Evan, I look forward to what Andrew’s future roles will be because I suspect he’ll be rocking Broadway for many years to come. The next night I went to see Bare: A Pop Opera for its first performance. I’ve been a fan of this show since the mid-2000s when I saw some clips of it’s off-Broadway run and eventually got its studio cast recording. Through March 31, the show is being presented as a site-aware production in the St. John’s Lutheran Chruch on Christopher Street as part of the church’s theater season that pays tribute to the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. I’m going to give you the synopsis the production wrote as it sums the show up perfectly: Bare, a pop/rock opera, follows a group of students at a Catholic boarding school as they grapple with their sexuality, identity, and the future. As the group attempts to put up a production of Romeo and Juliet, tensions flare, self-doubt creeps in and God’s path blurs. The students’ journeys ring with the sounds of youthful repression and revolt. With an exhilarating sung-through pop score, bare is a provocative and honest look at the dangers of baring your soul, and the consequences of continuing to hide. Peter and Jason are the core of the show. They’re best friends, roommates and lovers. Jason, however, can’t embrace that he’s gay–pressure from his parents to be perfect, pressure to follow Catholic doctrine, pressure to conform consume him and yet he can’t deny that he loves Peter. On the other side, Peter is tired of hiding and wants to be open about their relationship. Jacob Entenman and Jared Hopper were stunning as Peter and Jason. From their first song that introduces their relationship to the more difficult, emotionally charged songs were their relationship fractures I was all in with them. Jacob in particular with “Ever After” and “The Role of A Lifetime” were stunning and the two coming together for the title song ripped my heart out. Other standouts here included Noni Celine as Sister Chantelle. She knows what’s up with Peter and tells him that “God Don’t Make No Trash.” She also comes to Peter when he’s in a drunken stupor … he sees her as the Virgin Mary. Noni brought the house down with “911 Emergency” where she told Peter in no uncertain terms that he needed to come out to his mother. Jessie Rae Jordan as Ivy nailed the role of bad girl who didn’t want to be a bad girl. Her “All Grown Up” as she reveals exactly what happened the night Jason and her spent together was amazing. Beth Ann Stripling as Jason’s sister Nadia was tremendous in her portrayal of a young woman grappling with many issues at home and school. We backed this Kickstarter even though we weren’t going to get to see it. It turned out I was able to be in the city and I was ecstatic to get to see the show for the first time. It exceeded every expectation and if I could’ve been in the city longer, I’d have gone back to see it again. It runs through March 30 and you can get information at BareInTheChurch.com Spring Book Recommendations Here are the blurbs we read on the show for the books we’re excited about: Arctic Sun by Annabeth Albert (Releases April 1) Everything’s bigger in Alaska, especially the HEAs. Annabeth Albert kicks off the brand-new Frozen Hearts series with Arctic Sun, an opposites-attract romance between a rugged outdoorsman and a smoking hot former male model. He’s built a quiet life for himself in Alaska. But it doesn’t stand a chance against the unrelenting pull of a man who’s everything he shouldn’t want. Ex-military mountain man Griffin Barrett likes his solitude. It keeps him from falling back into old habits. Bad habits. He’s fought too hard for his sobriety to lose control now. However, his gig as a wildlife guide presents a new kind of temptation in superhot supermodel River Vale. Nothing the Alaskan wilderness has to offer has ever called to Griffin so badly. And that can only lead to trouble… River has his own methods for coping. Chasing adventure means always moving forward. Nobody’s ever made him want to stand still—until Griffin. The rugged bush pilot is the very best kind of distraction, but the emotions he stirs up in River feel anything but casual, and he’s in no position to stay put. With temptation lurking in close quarters, keeping even a shred of distance is a challenge neither’s willing to meet. And the closer Griffin gets to River, the easier it is to ignore every last reason he should run.  LOL by Lucy Lennox and Molly Maddox (Releases April 2) Scotty: When a gorgeous cop comes racing out of a building on 5th Avenue, hops in your horse-drawn carriage, and screams, “Go!” You go. You don’t stop and ask for paperwork. Or a badge. Or an explanation of who you’re chasing. You simply follow his shouted orders and try not to kill anyone in the process. At least, that’s what I did when it happened to me. But then it turns out that the “cop” is none other than Roman Burke, Hollywood’s hottest star, and our little joy ride gets me fired. Now I’m broke, my horse has been evicted from her barn, and I’ve got nowhere to turn. Roman: When you accidentally hijack a Central Park carriage trying to escape the paparazzi, get pulled over by the police, and your crisis manager insists you lay low for a while, you nod your head and go. And when the cute carriage driver shows up on your front step, horse in tow, blaming you for losing his job, you agree to fix it. Even if that means hauling both him and his horse along with you on your Vermont getaway. At least that’s what I did when it happened to me. Unfortunately, trouble seems to stick to the sexy carriage driver like hot syrup on a hotter waffle, making my Vermont retreat anything but quiet. Now the carriage driver is in my bed, unexpected guests are crawling out of the woodwork, and the paparazzi is on my tail. With chaos and scandal swarming around me, suddenly, it isn’t just my career on the line. It’s my heart. Under His Protection by LaQuette (Releases April 16) They can escape their enemies, but not the desire between them. Prosecutor Camden Warren is on the fast track to professional nirvana. With his charm, his sharp legal mind, and his father as chief judge in the highest court in NY, he can’t fail. Nothing can derail his rise to the top… until an attempt on his life forces him to accept the help of a man he walked out on five years ago. Wounded in the line of duty, Lieutenant Elijah Stephenson wants to ride his new desk job until retirement—not take a glorified babysitting gig with more risk than it’s worth… especially not protecting the entitled lawyer who disappeared after the best sex of their lives. The threat against Camden’s life is real, but their passion for each other might prove the greatest danger they’ve yet to face. Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (Releases May 14) What happens when America’s First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales? When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius—his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There’s only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse. Heads of family, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instragramable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations and begs the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be? And how can we learn to let our true colors shine through? Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue proves: true love isn’t always diplomatic.  American Fairytale by Adriana Herrera (Releases May 20) Fairy-tale endings don’t just happen; they have to be fought for. New York City social worker Camilo Santiago Briggs grew up surrounded by survivors who taught him to never rely on anything you didn’t earn yourself. He’s always dreamed of his own happily-ever-after, but he lives in the real world. Men who seem too good to be true…usually are. And Milo never ever mixes business with pleasure…until the mysterious man he had an unforgettable hookup with turns out to be the wealthy donor behind his agency’s new, next-level funding. Thomas Hughes built a billion-dollar business from nothing: he knows what he wants and isn’t shy about going after it. When the enthralling stranger who blew his mind at a black-tie gala reappears, Tom’s more than ready to be his Prince Charming. Showering Milo with the very best of everything is how Tom shows his affection. Trouble is, Milo’s not interested in any of it. The only thing Milo wants is Tom. Fairy-tale endings take work as well as love. For Milo, that means learning to let someone take care of him, for a change. And for Tom, it’s figuring out that real love is the one thing you can’t buy. Not Your Backup by C.B. Lee  (Releases June 4) Emma Robledo has a few more responsibilities that the usual high school senior, but then again, she and her friends have left school to lead a fractured Resistance movement against a corrupt Heroes League of Heroes. Emma is the only member of a supercharged team without powers, she isnt always taken seriously. A natural leader, Emma is determined to win this battle, and when thats done, get back to school. As the Resistance moves to challenge the League, Emma realizes where her place is in this fight: at the front.

The show kicks off with the guys wishing everyone a Happy New Year. Jeff talks about the nomination that Schooled (Codename: Winger #2) received in the Goodreads M/M Members' Choice Best of 2018 awards. Christmas movies are quickly discussed as Jeff & Will wrote about their favorites in blog posts this week. The Kennedy Center Honors, featuring Adam Lambert making Cher cry, is also called out. The review section kicks off with the Netflix film Dumplin'. Will reviews Peppermint Spiced Omega by Susi Hawke and Better Not Pout by Annabeth Albert. Jeff reviews Game Changer by Rachel Reid. The reading of 2018 is recapped, including a look at trends and favorites for Jeff & Will. There's also a peek into their plans for 2019. Complete shownotes for episode 169 are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com.

Jeff announces that Tracker Hacker (Codename: Winger #1)is now available on audio. Terri Beth is welcomed as a new patron. Will reviews The Northstar by Elle Keaton and Designer Holiday by Ari McKay. Jay from Joyfully Jay drops by to discuss the updated Holiday Favorites List as well as some of her classic favorites by Heidi Cullinan, Charlie Cochet and Roan Parrish. She also looks at some 2018 stories by Annabeth Albert, N.R. Walker, Jordan L. Hawk, Kim Fielding and RJ Scott. Jay also previews her Annual Favorites list, which includes Whisper by Tal Bauer and Oz by Lily Morton. Jeff interviews Tere Michaels about the upcoming release of Forever & Ever, the final book in the Faith, Love and Devotion series. They also discuss what got her started in m/m romance, her writing process as well as her teaching and work with Book Lovers Convention. Tere is also a Coastal Magic Convention featured author and she talks about what she loves about Coastal Magic and why listeners should attend. Complete shownotes for episode 167 are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com.

Jeff & Will kick off the show with news about Codename: Winger #3, their second Dreamspun Desire and early reviews for The Hockey Player's Heart. Eli is congratulated for winning the Happy Holiday Paperback Giveaway. Jay from Joyfully Jay discusses best of 2017 books, holiday stories (including ones with a Hanukkah setting) as well as new titles she's been reading. Jeff reviews A Day Makes by Mary Calmes while Will reviews Wild Trail by A.M. Arthur, Desperately Seeking Santa by Eli Easton and Finding Home by Garett Groves. Jeff & Will interview Annabeth Albert. She has the scoop on her latest book, Wheels Up, as well as what's happening in her other series. Plus she talks about her author inspirations, the first gay romances she read and what's coming in 2018. Complete show notes for episode 115 are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com.

Community losses, authors' prom-OH-NO, and recent posts on the blog. I also talk about books from Annabeth Albert, Jennifer McQuiston, and Tiffany Reisz.

Jeff and Will kick off the 100th episode with champagne and a reflection on the podcast milestone as well as the announcement that they are giving away a Dreamspinner Press $100 gift card to celebrate, courtesy of Dreamspinner Press. They also toast their 20th marriage anniversary, which comes up on September 7. Jeff updates on the progress he's making boosting his word count using Dragon Dictation for transcriptions. Will reviews the books Owning It by Devon McCormack and Riley Hart and Off Base by Annabeth Albert. Jeff also discusses K.C. Wells's Out of the Shadows. Jeff interviews best-selling author Andrew Grey. They start off talking about Andrew receiving the RWA Centennial Award this year for publishing 100 books as well as his new book, Never Let You Go, which comes out this week. Andrew also talks about how he got started writing, where he gets his ideas and how he keeps up his writing pace. Complete shownotes for episode 100, plus the chance to win the Dreamspinner Press gift card, are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com.

Jeff kicks off the show with the news that Tracker Hacker, the first book in the Codename: Winger series officially goes on pre-sale Monday, July 17 ahead of its October 17 release date. New Patron Heather is thanked. Christina Pilz chats with Jeff as part of the 2017 GRL Blog Tour. She talks about her series of historical m/m romances and offers up a giveaway. Will reviews All In by Ava Drake. The guys also let people know that the new Dreamspun Beyond series is now taking subscription orders on the Dreamspinner site. Jeff reviews the audiobook of Marshall Thornton's Femme, which is performed by Joel Leslie, as well as the ebook of TJ Klune's Olive Juice. Jeff & Will discuss the screenings they attended while in L.A. First up, the Broadway revival of Falsettos followed by the OutFest presentations of Something Like Summer and EastSiders Season 3: Go West. Joyfully Jay recommends books by Avon Gale & Roan Parrish, Tal Bauer, KJ Charles and Annabeth Albert and tells of the SPECTR tour she took in Charleston. Complete shownotes for episode 93 are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com.

Jeff & Will are both under the weather, but power through for this week's episode! Jeff offers some updates from his writing week. The guys discuss other podcasts that have recapped the RT Booklovers Convention and recommend  people check out episodes from Smart Podcast, Trashy Books and Kobo Writing Life Podcast. Katie is congratulated for winning the signed Cheesecake Boys coloring pages. Mary and Shannon are welcomed as new patrons. The Sweet Summer Fun Paperback Giveaway gets underway. Will reviews Served Hot by Annabeth Albert. The guys talk about the cancellation of The Real O'Neals along with other TV shows they are watching--Nate & Jeremiah by Design and Team Ninja Warrior. Jeff also talks about the string of musicals that have been announced for network TV, including Jesus Christ Superstar on NBC as well as A Christmas Story and Rent on Fox. Then Will discusses the movies he watched this week-- Esteros, The Way He Looks and Akron. Complete shownotes for episode 84, and the Rafflecopter for the chance to enter the Sweet Summer Fun Paperback Giveaway, are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com.