Romance on the Rocks

Send us Fan Mail July's Summer Lovin' theme kicks off with two forced proximity romances that transport Nicole and Meghan from the shores of Door County, Wisconsin, to the rolling hills of Tuscany. First up, Meghan reviews The Other Room by Katherine Hastings . Jo has spent years avoiding her former best friend, Matt, after he broke her trust. But when Matt suddenly finds himself without...

Send us Fan Mail Lumberjacks, lobster fishermen and dirty wood jokes take center stage as Nicole and Meghan continue June's Great Outdoors theme with two romances proving love can flourish in even the most remote corners of the map. First up, Nicole reviews The Catch by Amy Lea . What begins as a disastrous work trip to Nova Scotia quickly spirals into a fake engagement with a local fisherman...

Send us Fan Mail June's "Great Outdoors" theme is officially underway and the bookish biddies are heading into the mountains with two romances delivering adventure, emotional depth and some surprisingly thoughtful conversations about mental health. Meghan reviews Highest Point by Kels and Denise Stone , a grumpy sunshine romance set in Alaska featuring a struggling ballet dancer, a...

Send us Fan Mail In Season 3 Episode 11: Meg’s Got a Mother of a Book, the bookish biddies wrap up their “Mothers of Romance” month with two wildly different historical romances — one delightful Scottish murder mystery romance and one rage-inducing classic that sparks one of the most passionate discussions in Romance on the Rocks history.  Nicole reviews The Bride by Julie Garwood , a 1989 histori...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, the bookish biddies climb into a Wisconsin hotel bed to tackle the “Mothers of Romance” — the legendary romance authors who paved the way for the genre we know today.  Nicole read Until You by Judith McNaught and Meghan suffered through The Dawn of Love by Dame Barbara Cartland , leading to a LOT of questions about rich aristocrats, manipulative men, unnecessary l...

Send us Fan Mail We’re wrapping up our April Pick a Number month with two very different reads and some very honest opinions about what worked, what didn’t and what we’re willing to forgive when the vibes are vibing. Nicole dives into A Fate of Onyx & Ivory   by O’Junea Brown , a 2024 romantasy featuring a fierce heroine, a magical kingdom called Solaris, and a fae king who may or may not be w...

Send us Fan Mail Wine in a paper cup. A break-in “just to pee.” And somehow … a dead body in a closet. Welcome to this episode’s chaos. Meghan kicks things off with Savannah Blues by Mary Kay Andrews — a Southern, antique-filled, mystery-heavy read that may or may not qualify as a romance (jury’s still out). We dive into estate sale strategy, messy divorces, rich people behaving badly, and how one...

Send us Fan Mail Bakery heat meets alien heart in this delightful episode of Romance on the Rocks . Nicole dives into Tart by Lauren Dane , a 2012 contemporary why-choose romance that serves up a habanero-level throuple between bakery owner Juliet Lamprey, steady farm boy Gideon Carter and longtime best friend Cal Whaley. When Cal makes an aggressive play for Jules just as her relationship with Gi...

Send us Fan Mail Bonus Episode: We Tried to Get Drunk. We’re Just Too Professional. Two Wisconsin bookish biddies set out to record their “drunkest episode ever.” What happened instead? Competitive drinking stamina, chaotic games and way too much honesty. This bonus episode skips the book review and goes full chaos mode: 🍸 Co-Host Compatibility Challenge – We test how well we really know each oth...

Send us Fan Mail In this week’s episode of Romance on the Rocks, w e’re pairing Odd Girl Out by Ann Bannon with Savor It by Tarah DeWitt , mixing brambles and beer while we dig into jealousy, growth and the kind of love that forces you to choose who you want to be. First, we head back to 1957. Odd Girl Out follows college freshman Laura as she falls for magnetic upperclassman Beth in a relationshi...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when a rugby surprise pregnancy rom-com collides with a lapsed Catholic love story? Season 3 Episode 5 of Romance on the Rocks dives headfirst into two contemporary romances that blend real-world complexity with serious heat. Nicole Danielle reviews Every Version of You by Sloan Spencer , a sports romance in the Rugby Lovers series that delivers friends to lovers, sur...

Send us Fan Mail It’s tequila. It’s pergolas. It’s slow burns and snark. On this episode of Romance on the Rocks , Nicole Danielle and Meghan Leigh dive into two contemporary romantic comedies while attempting to keep their cocktails (and themselves) upright. Meghan read is It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey . It's a grumpy-sunshine, small-town romance where an LA party girl lands in a Wa...

Send us Fan Mail If a book hooks the world but fumbles consent, can it still be called a great romance? We pour a drink and dive straight into the tension between cultural phenomena and reader well-being, starting with Fifty Shades of Grey and its legacy of billionaire control dressed up as care. We unpack why rules about sleep and snacks aren’t romantic, how a contract can miss the point of infor...

Send us Fan Mail Street corn nachos, a cucumber margarita the size of a goldfish bowl, and enough romance novels to take us from cozy bookshops to briny underwater kingdoms. Season two wrapped up with everything we love:  the reads that made us swoon, the ones that shocked us, and the moments that had us snort-laughing into our drinks. We talk about the couples that stayed with us, from board-game...

Send us Fan Mail Pop the cork with us as we open season three and get real about how a half-joking idea turned into a ritual that changed our reading lives. We trace our path from sneaking dog-eared paperbacks to championing today’s expansive romance universe, and we talk about what happened when we let romance back in — more joy at home, a revived writing habit, and a community that feels like a...

Send us Fan Mail Candy Cane Cocktails in hand, we dive into two very different holiday romances and come up for air with laughter, side-eye and a few hard truths. First up: Good Spirits by B.K. Borison , a contemporary paranormal charmer where a Ghost of Christmas Past lands in a modern woman’s living room and promptly breaks every rule — starting with her heart. We dig into the banter that actual...

Send us Fan Mail Holiday romance should feel like stepping into a warm kitchen: familiar, fragrant and a little bit daring. We open with two cocktails that embody that spirit — a risky Latke Sour with potato syrup and egg white, and a bright cranberry cosmo sweetened with local honey. Then we dive into two Hanukkah-centered love stories that test how much flavor, heat and heart a seasonal read can...

Send us Fan Mail A hockey crush in 8th grade and a lifelong love of the game set A.C. Wonderland on an unexpected path: slow-burn romances that feel as tense and electric as a tied third period. We pull up a chair with A.C. to talk about her books One Shot and Summer Shot , why golden retriever male leads deserve their flowers, and how to write intimacy that actually moves the story forward. If yo...

Send us Fan Mail The ice is cold but these love stories are blazin'. We’re pouring drinks, pulling on jerseys and diving into two hockey romances that deliver big feelings, bigger chemistry and the kind of character growth that lingers after the final buzzer. First up:  One Shot by A.C. Wonderland . It's a slow-burn college romance where a PR hopeful and the youngest team captain in prog...

Send us Fan Mail Let’s end spooky season with a clink:  a neon-blue zombie cocktail meets a cozy Oktoberfest beer as we close our creature feature month and dig into two wildly different monster romances. First up, Zombie Moon by Lori Devoti drops us into "Brain Alley", Wisconsin, where a werewolf zombie-hunter and a mystery woman collide over brain bait and secrets. We unpack the moral...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when a debt-crushed millennial takes a job at a "milking farm" and a runaway stumbles into the arms of a golden-sapped tree man who can sew, garden and cook? We pour a drink (okay, a few), roll up our sleeves, and unpack two monster romances that are equal parts spicy, sweet and unexpectedly practical. From fictional Cambric Creek to a swamp sanctuary outsid...

Send us Fan Mail Do monsters make the perfect mate? We kick off with our signature cocktails — Buttersquatch whiskey for a Sasquatch fling and a citrus-spiked Werewolf’s Call — then dive into two paranormal romances that couldn’t be more different in pace, tone, and payoff. First up:  a 97-page sprint where a half-banshee heroine bolts from an arranged marriage straight into the path of a half-Sas...

Send us Fan Mail A forgotten summer, a hungry garden, and a winged legend with a soft spot for small kindnesses. Our creature-feature month kicks off with two romances that trade jump scares for emotional stakes.  We start in Yarrow, Kentucky, where three generations of Haywood witches tend a shadow garden that grows on sorrow and fuels a rival distillery’s enchanted bourbon. When the town collect...

Send us Fan Mail Something remarkable is happening in Milwaukee — a renaissance of dedicated romance bookstores creating vital community spaces where readers connect over shared literary passions. As we celebrate our one-year podcast anniversary, we're thrilled to spotlight two visionary women transforming the local literary landscape. Meet Natasha Meyer from The Well Red Damsel , who transit...

Send us Fan Mail Fall in love with small-town romance as Nicole and Meghan exchange books perfectly tailored to each other's interests in this delightful end-of-summer reading episode. Their thoughtful book exchange showcases the power of friendship through literature, with Nicole receiving a hairstylist-centered romance and Meghan diving into a story featuring baseball and thrifting. Nicole...