BookTrib is proud to present to our readers the Nerdy Romantics Podcast.
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 an 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 episode, Y. M. Nelson and Nerdy Romantics guests Marcie, Staci, Dana, and new guest Mary recommend their favorite romance reads featuring marginalized main characters.
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Welcome to Nerdy Romantics! In this episode, we feature romance novels by Olivia Dade, Sierra Simone, Twyla Turner, Iris Bolling and Kenya Wright. These are just a few of the many books featuring marginalized main characters.
While we recommend these books, we also discuss two trending topics in publishing: trigger warnings and finding the representation we crave. Going on this journey has been a very eye-opening experience for most of my guest hosts and me. Here we share some of the reasons why.
LISTEN TO THE EPISODE HERE
RELATED POSTS
Nerdy Romantics Podcast: Ep 19 – Who Gets an HEA? – LGBTQIA+ Romance Recs
Nerdy Romantics Podcast: Ep 16 – Who Gets an HEA? – Differently-Abled Romance Recs
Nerdy Romantics Podcast: Ep 13 – Who Gets an HEA? – Black Love Rocks
Misadventures of a Curvy Girl (Misadventures multi-author series) by Sierra Simone
Freelance photographer Ireland Mills is headed out to a Kansas country farm to take photos for a Chamber of Commerce campaign. She meets farm owner Caleb Carpenter, and there are instant sparks. And though Ireland has accepted her plus size, she’s worried that he doesn’t. But when they get trapped at the farm in a storm and roommate Ben comes home to help, Ireland finds out there’s a lot more to the roommates than just farm living and casual attraction.
In this episode: Listen to find out in what ways this book surprised Y. M.
Spoiler Alert (Spoiler Alert Series) by Olivia Dade
Enter the world of fan fiction with online besties @UnapologeticLaviniaStan (April) and @BookAeneusWouldNever, who write fanfiction for a popular fantasy show. When plus-sized April decides to post a pic of herself in Lavinia cosplay, she gets a lot of online hate. But she also garners a date from the lead actor of the show Marcus Rupp. Secretly he also writes fan fiction … as @BookAeneusWouldNever. From hidden identities to real-life struggles with fame, body shaming and dyslexia, Marcus and April work to pursue a relationship.
Trigger warnings: body shaming
In this episode: Hear how Spoiler Alert started Mary on a crusade for books with positive fat representation.
An International Affair (Lassiter Wedding Series) by Iris Bolling
An International Affair spins off from the Lassiter Family Series with the wedding of Luke Lassiter and Sasha Coles. When dysfunctional families with a lot of outgoing personalities come together for a grand wedding, more than a few hijinks ensue. The soon-to-be-wedded couple must devise a plan to get through the wedding with the family’s limbs and their sanities intact, all while keeping their love as the focus.
In this episode: If you liked the movie Monster-in-Law, you’ll love this book. Marcie tells us why.
Redemption by Kenya Wright
Independently Published
In Ms. Wright’s book description: “This is a slow-burn romance about two broken people with one goal — to survive.” Female main character Ebony is fighting to get away from her abusive husband by packing up her and her kids and driving off in the middle of a snowstorm. When she crashes on former mob boss Yoshiro’s property, Yoshiro, Ebony and the kids are trapped at his house during the storm. Though Yoshiro can handle fighting off an abusive husband, he’s having a hard time handling his growing feelings for Ebony, who’s basically shut herself off from all men.
Trigger warnings: murder, racism, body gore, violence against children, domestic violence. Content warnings: graphic sex scenes, sexual illustrations.
In this episode: Find out why this book lead us into a whole discussion on trigger warnings.
His Muse by Twyla Turner
Independently Published
When Etienne first sees Taryn, he’s smitten. Taryn isn’t. Or at least she isn’t letting herself feel smitten because he’s 20 years younger than she is, and she doesn’t want to get her heart broken again. It doesn’t help that her daughter Kari is only a few years younger and jealous of their relationship.
In this episode: Learn why Staci recs this one as a great example of a May-December romance.
