BookTrib is proud to present to our readers the Nerdy Romantics Podcast, currently airing its “Who Gets an HEA” miniseries.
Romance and women’s fiction author Y. M. Nelson discusses the nerdy — superheroes, sci-fi and fantasy, and nerdy pop culture; and the romantic — romance novels, romantic movies, and romance tropes she loves. From reviews of books, TV and movies, to interviews with authors, see who does which romance and nerdy pop culture tropes the best.
“Who Gets a HEA” is a Nerdy Romantics Podcast miniseries that showcases romances with marginalized heroes and heroines. Much mainstream romance consists of twenty- or thirty-something, physically fit or modelesque white characters finding love. Sometimes there are stereotypical images of people of color, differently-abled or LGBTQIA+ characters. Most of the time, these groups don’t get much representation at all. In this series, Nerdy Romantics features books that get it right (and talk about some that make a good effort).
In this week’s episode, Y.M. and guest hosts Dana, Jen, Staci talk about disabled representation in the romance genre. Scroll down to listen to the episode, but first, check out these highlights.
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A Match Made in Spain by Rochelle Merrill
Cecilia, a deaf ASL high school teacher, is asked to substitute a class on a trip to Spain at the worst time possible — right after she’s finalized her divorce. She’s not in the mood to meet someone new. Of course, that’s when she’s seated beside Felipe, a handsome Spanish man who attempts to charm the socks off her all the way from California to Spain.
In this episode: Jen talks about teenage interference and why we need an escape with this sweet romance.
Photo: © Eric Kieu
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Book 1 of this series finds us with Stella Lane, a math genius and a little bit rich because of it, but she’s bad at dating and sex, partially because she has Asperger’s syndrome (now recognized as Autism Spectrum Disorder), which keeps others from relating to her. She hires escort Michael Phan and creates a lesson plan to help her become good at sex. What forms instead may be much more permanent than a one-night stand.
In this episode: Y. M. tells us what she learned while reading.
Beast by Pepper Pace (Estill County Mountain Man, Book 1)
Christopher and Ashleigh are a twisted and complicated version of Beauty and the Beast in this romance inspired by the famous fairy tale. Christopher had a bilateral cleft palate and skull formation issues as a child that his family couldn’t afford to fix properly. As a result, his face is deformed and scarred, keeping potential love interests from getting to know the wonderfully kind and nice guy he is. Ashleigh is all about looks: making sure to keep her clothes, hair and makeup on point at all times, but because she’s plus-sized and has low self-esteem, she can’t seem to keep a man. When her last breakup leads her to the gym, she meets Christopher.
In this episode: Dana and Y. M. are all about this differently-abled hero. But is it just the model on the cover they love?
*Trigger Warnings: racial slurs and epithets, gay slurs, scenes of purging (eating disorders)
Photo credit: Ed Chappell UK
The hosts went full-on lovefest with some of Talia Hibbert’s selections, as she frequently has differently-abled main characters in her novels.
A Girl Like Her and That Kind of Guy by Talia Hibbert (The Ravenswood Series, Books 1 and 3)
Rae, an older woman with facial scarring meets womanizer (and latent demisexual) Zach in That Kind of Guy, the third book of this small-town romance series. There are all kinds of issues separately and together between these two, which is why you just have to read it to see what happens. Meanwhile, in A Girl Like Her, Ruth Kabbah, self-proclaimed town Jezebel (that was sarcasm if you didn’t hear it), is an autistic comic book creator who can’t seem to shake her neighbor Evan Miller, ex-Army and current Blacksmith. The one big wrinkle in all of this? He works at the local steel mill where Ruth’s ex is the manager and “heir to the throne.”
In this episode: Staci and Y. M. discuss how the books are related and why these characters feel like real people.
*Trigger warning: flashbacks of verbal abuse
Act Your Age, Eve Brown (The Brown Sisters, Book 3)
When Eve Brown literally runs into Jacob Wayne (autistic) with her car, she’s just quit her umpteenth job and is desperately looking for another to meet her mother’s imposed six-week deadline, or else she’ll be cut off. She ends up working for Jacob at his Bed & Breakfast (much to Jacob’s chagrin), where these two enemies-destined-to-be-lovers duke it out and learn things about themselves through each other.
In this episode: Jen and Y. M. laugh about Eve and Jacob’s antics while praising their representations as autistic main characters (especially since it is Autism Awareness Month).
LISTEN TO THE EPISODE HERE
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