Rebel Ever After

In this week's episode I interview my friends Lydia Wang and Annabel Paulsen, the writing duo behind the sapphic Bachelor-inspired rom-com HERE FOR THE WRONG REASONS. We talked about reality television romance novels, the toxic polyamory of dating competition shows, and how compulsory heterosexuality hurts us all. Then we had a gossip about GoodReads review culture and the unfair burden readers pl...

My guest this week is Laura Piper Lee, the author of Hannah Tate, Beyond Repair and Zoe Brennan First Crush, which comes out Tuesday January 21. We talked about putting the comedy back in romantic comedy, the intense power of your first crush, why we need more casually queer characters, and the subversiveness of the single mom as a romantic hero.  Follow Laura on Instagram @laurapiperlee , and ord...

My guest this week on Rebel Ever After is Jessica P. Pryde! She is a contributing editor at Book Riot and the co-host of their biweekly romance podcast, When In Romance . In 2022, Jessica edited the essay anthology Black Love Matters: Real Talk on Romance, Being Seen, and Happily Ever Afters . Most recently, her short story "Why Won't you Die?" was published in Someplace Generous: An Inclusive Rom...

My guest this week is Nellie Wilson, a teacher and historian who is the author of romance novels including Curated, Corporate Mandated Holiday Romance, and Steel My Heart: An Appalachian Romance . Her fiction is proudly anti-capitalist, and we talked about the need for romance novels about folks who don't live in Stars Hollow or Hollywood. If you hate JD Vance, you'll love this episode. Other topi...

It turns out I owe Blake Lively, and all of you, an apology. In this quick episode, I go over the allegations against Justin Baldoni and the smear campaign he orchestrated of his It Ends With Us co-star. You can read my essay about how I fell for the smear campaign and the specific allegations against Baldoni and his co-producer Jamey Heath here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/i-fell-for-act-118745...

My guest this week is the effervescently funny Danica Nava, author of The Truth According to Ember , and the forthcoming Love Is a War Song , hitting bookstores in July 2025. Ember and Danuwoa's story is the first traditionally published romance novel by a Native author!  We talked about the woeful history of Native representation in pop culture and how little has changed (I'm looking at you, Tayl...

This week my guest is Jenny L. Howe, the author of The Makeup Test, On The Plus Side , and How to Get a Life In Ten Dates , which comes out this Tuesday December 10th. She's also the author of the forthcoming YA romance, Love at Full Tilt .  Topics discussed in this episode include: why every man in romance has the body of Chris Hemsworth, how romance often celebrates toxic masculinity, the fatpho...

My guest this week is Shelly Jay Shore, the author of the best-selling novel Rules For Ghosting . We talked about writing escapism versus resistance in romance, and the role of authors and artists in fighting the Trump administration. We also discussed how romance creates a safe way for readers to engage in hard emotional topics like mourning and death, and why we want to see more abortion stories...

In this episode, I interview Erin Baldwin about her debut novel Wish You Weren't Here,  a sapphic YA romance about two girls who can't stand each other but are forced to share a cabin at beloved summer camp Fogridge. We talk about writing the enemies-to-lovers trope for a young audience, accurately representing Gen Z teenagehood, and what Erin wishes she didn't have to cut from her final draft.  P...

During the innocent week before the 2024 election, I chatted with Becca Grischow about her debut novel I'LL GET BACK TO YOU , a sapphic Thanksgiving rom-com published by Penguin Books. We discussed Becca's career as a ghostwriter and what it's like to finally claim authorship of a book she wrote, including the downsides of being a queer author on TikTok. Plus the importance of writing broke, queer...

As we face down a second Trump Presidency, we need the escapism of a good romance novel more than ever. But romance isn't a fluffy distraction from politics — from its first transgressive pages, the romance genre centered the needs, desires and ambitions of women. Now more than ever, we need romances that envision a world where everyone can live their happily ever after.  Fight fascism, form commu...