Spill the Smut

Two assassins walk into a small town in Wyoming…  Meredith Trapp and I get into the real origin story behind her writing life, including how journaling, reading, and storytelling became an escape during hard seasons. From there, we dig into what romance does best: the promise of a happily ever after, the relief of knowing the landing will be soft, and the joy of letting a book brighten your day. M...

You can feel it when a romance book gets squeezed into a movie runtime: the big moments are there, the chemistry is there, and yet the tiny choices change everything. We’re digging into The Love Hypothesis as both a rom-com film and a romance novel, comparing what hits harder on screen, what lands better on the page, and why your “watch first vs read first” order can totally reshape the experience...

Magic is illegal, speakeasies are thriving, and the person tasked with enforcing the ban just walked into the wrong club. I sit down with historical romance author and librarian Martha Waters to celebrate Spellstruck, her fantasy romance set in an alternate 1920s London where potions and powders still carry real power even if the government says they should not exist. We talk through the heart of...

FAB IS BACK!! Fall flips a switch in our brains and we’re not fighting it. One minute we’re talking cinnamon buns, pumpkin runs, and cider mill traditions, and the next we’re building a fall reading list that goes from cozy small-town comfort to full gothic dread. If you’ve been hunting for fall book recommendations that actually match the season, we’re naming the titles and the exact vibes they d...

We are living proof that timing can get weird fast: two best friends, pregnant at the same time, with due dates only four days apart. Once we say it out loud, the conversation turns into the kind of catch-up you actually want when life is changing in real time. We talk about trying to conceive, the emotional whiplash of “it happened” after months of thinking and waiting, and why having a friend wh...

A romance can be a love story and a locked door at the same time. I sit down with USA Today bestselling author Veronica Lancet to unpack why her gothic romance and dark fantasy books don’t rush to explain themselves, and why that slow drip of answers is exactly what makes readers binge. From the fever-dream immersion of Fairydale to the moody, genre-blending pull of her newest release Sinister, Ve...

We are days away from Italy, and the timing is perfect because we are also in a totally different place with social media than we were a year ago. We talk about how easy it is for Bookstagram and Booktok to turn reading into a performance, what it feels like to post just to keep up, and why posting less can bring the fun back. If you have ever felt guilty for not finishing books fast enough or not...

What happens when a beloved coming-of-age warrior story collides with a dystopian future that feels a little too plausible? I sit down with author Dakota Monroe, whose fantasy romance and dystopian romance novels have built a fiercely loyal readership, to talk about the creative spark behind Daughters of Ash and the emotional craft that makes her characters hit so hard. Starting with Dakota’s path...

Your favorite online identity can turn into a job faster than you think and that’s when the pressure creeps in. Lauren is back, and we get honest about what happens when book content, client work, and constant availability start to blur together. She walks us through her rebrand from LBCReads Author Services to Love On The Line Literary Services, why separating personal and professional accounts m...

A romance adaptation can survive a lot of changes, but it cannot survive forgetting why readers fell in love in the first place. Olivia and I discuss unpacking the Amazon MGM series Every Year After and why it left us frustrated as fans of Carly Fortune’s Every Summer After. From the title change to the way the timeline is presented, we talk through the choices that made the story feel less like a...

Joined by Lex, the creator behind Fully Booked Babe and the project manager at The Nerd Fam, to pull back the curtain on what modern book marketing actually looks like when you are supporting indie authors and trad authors in real time. We talk through how The Nerd Fam runs campaigns with a small but mighty three-person team, what goes into monthly catalogs and early reader programs, and why beaut...

I’m joined by my longtime co-host and twin flame Fabienne, once known online as The Page Pilgrim, for a real talk about Bookstagram burnout, creator pressure, and what happens when reading stops feeling like a hobby and starts feeling like homework. We trace the arc from cozy COVID-era book photos and passionate reviews to the grind of posting, chasing engagement, and trying to keep up with endles...

A romantasy author explains how stories become meaningful... A phoenix hatches in a college dorm and nothing stays normal. We’re joined by fantasy romance author Margarita Artista, creator of The Phoenix Keeper, to talk about how an urban fantasy romance can deliver the swoon while still carrying a serious punch of meaning.  From there, we zoom out into craft and publishing. Margarita breaks down...

The romance bookshop that feels like home. We sit down with Amanda Anderson, the owner of The Last Chapter Bookshop in Chicago, to talk about what it truly looks like to build a modern independent bookstore that’s equal parts retail, event venue, and community home for romance readers. Amanda shares her path from corporate sports business to entrepreneurship, why she started The Last Chapter Books...

A confident heroine refuses to take up less space. A dark romance heroine who’s plus-size, confident, and fully aware of her worth should not be a rarity. Author Lila Herron, whose book Any Means Necessary delivers sharp banter, undeniable tension, and a heroine who refuses to dim her light for anyone. We go behind the scenes on publishing and platform strategy. Lila breaks down how teasing an unw...

Anonymous peer review, professional grudges, and a conference that could make or break your career aren’t the usual ingredients for a swoony romance, which is exactly why this conversation works. We’re joined by neuroscientist and debut author Hannah Brohm to unpack how real academic life shaped Love and Other Brain Experiments, a STEM romance that pairs sharp humor with the very real instability...

A book goes viral on TikTok and the author isn’t even on TikTok. That’s where our chat with dark and paranormal romance author KL Hill begins, with the adrenaline of waking up to huge KDP page reads, the weird psychology of monthly dashboard resets, and how reader-driven hype can change your week before you’ve had coffee.  From there, we get into the real story behind her debut Coded In Control an...

Ever wondered how a late-night creative outlet can turn into a full-fledged fantasy trilogy? We sit down with Alecia B. Kirby—tourism marketing pro by day, author by night—to trace the unlikely path from a tough season in life to the release of A Crown In Shadows, a medieval fantasy charged with political intrigue, a framed-for-murder twist, and the kind of grumpy-sunshine pull that keeps pages tu...

A dream, a superhero, and a kiss that can kill—Karina Halle joins me for a wildly honest, high‑energy conversation about Vanguard and the creative path that brought it roaring to life.  From process to publishing, Karina is disarmingly practical. She writes in sprints, outlines lightly, sees scenes like movies, and lets characters bend the plan. We talk hybrid publishing and non‑competes, why she’...

MY FIRST SOLO EPISODE I saw LarryReads do a beginning of the year tag on her BookTube and I thought you know what, let me try that on the podcast. HERE WE ARE! my first solo episode where I answer all the questions Larry had for her tag. And I hope you all love it and if you don't please don't tell me, just lie to me and say you love it. Is there someone you are dying for me to interview...

MEET US AT THE COTTAGE!! Spoilers for both the show and book I brought Genesis back for us to talk about all things Heated Rivalry!! A hockey romance that actually trusts intimacy to carry the story? That’s the magic we dig into as we break down Heated Rivalry—from the viral cottage vibes to the quiet beats that make every look feel loaded. We talk about how a show that starts hot becomes somethin...

We swear we're not buying more books... After December! Goals that actually stick rarely start with spreadsheets—they start with a feeling. We as in Olivia and I decided our feeling for 2026 is consistency, and it changed everything about how we read, buy, and share books. From a simple 45‑minute daily target to a color‑coded year‑in‑pixels page, we map a routine that protects mental health,...

SPOILER FILLED!! I AM BACK WITH MY ROOMIE AKA HUBBY!! A glossy thriller can hold your breath and still leave you wanting more, and that’s exactly where our take on The Housemaid lands. We walked into the theater from different angles—one of us with the book’s twists stored in the back of our mind, the other meeting the story cold—and still found ourselves circling the same questions: did the “too...

I sit down with Canadian author Nova Adams to unpack how a “quick” holiday novella turned into an 80,000-word small-town slow burn that balances cozy cheer with real emotional stakes. Nova shares the origin story behind The Crush of Christmas Past—written to brighten a friend’s darkest season—and how found family, age gap dynamics, and a grumpy-sunshine pairing come together without glossing over...

Slutty Little Glasses A ghost of Christmas past with memory magic, a cinnamon-roll bodyguard, and a door knocker with opinions—Cass Geller brings the holidays to life in a way that’s equal parts tender, funny, and haunting. I sit down with Cass to unpack Mary & Brite, her urban fantasy romance set in present-day London with a secret world of Spirits Incorporated, where grief becomes a characte...