So You Want to Read a Romance?

Fated Mates Podcast

Fated Mates is a romance novel podcast that I co-host with author Sarah MacLean. 

Weekly episodes include romance novel read-alongs and discussions of the work of the genre, highlighting the romance novel as a powerful tool in fighting patriarchy…with absolutely no kink shaming.

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You can buy Fated Mates swag in the JenReadsRomance shop right here.

Romance Book Clubs

If you're in Chicago and you're interested in talking about romance in real life, join one of my romance book clubs. They are hosted every other month at two stores,  57th Street Books in the Hyde Park neighborhood, and Love's Sweet Arrow in the south suburb of Tinley Park. 

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Join us! 

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Upcoming Meetings​​

• On February 4th at 57th Street Books, we'll be discussing Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas. 

• On March 14th at Love's Sweet Arrow, we'll be discussing Every Last Breath by Juno Rushdan. 

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Previous Romance 57 Book Club Selections

• Tempest by Beverly Jenkins (May 2018 - historical)

• A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole (July 2018 - PNR) 

• A Duke by Default by Alyssa Cole (September 2018 - Contemporary)

• Pride by Ibi Zoboi (December 2018 - YA)

• Band Sinister by KJ Charles (Feb 2019 - Historical) 

• The Fixer by Helenkay Dimon (April 2019 - Romantic Suspense)

• The Takeover Effect by Nisha Sharma (June 2019 - Contemporary Romance)

• The Bride Test by Helen Hoang (Aug 2019 - Contemporary Romance)

• The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite (Oct 2019 - Historical Romance)

• The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams (Dec 2019 - Contemporary Romance)
   

Previous Love's Sweet Arrow Book Club Selections

• ​Once Upon a Bad Boy by Melonie Johnson (July 2019)

• The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite (Sept 2019)

• The Unleashing by Shelley Laurenston (Nov 2019)

• One and Only by Jenny Holiday (January 2020)

• Every Last Breath by Juno Rushdan (March 2020)

And more...

Kirkus Romance Correspondent

I write essays and interviews about romance for Kirkus, and you can find a link to my work here. 

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USA Today Bestsellers AirTable

I'm tracking all the USA Today Romance bestsellers in a database.

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Reviews

I've written tons of reviews, but here are links to reviews for books featured on this site (alphabetical by title): 

• A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole

• A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole

• Hamilton's Battalion by Rose Lerner, Courtney Milan, and Alyssa Cole

• My Lady's Lover by Nicola Davidson

• Take the Lead by Alexis Daria

• Thirsty by Mia Hopkins

Who Did it Better...
I've also written a series of very silly blog posts ranking romances with similar settings/tropes. 

• Who Did it Better in the Library? 

• Who Did it Better on Thanksgiving?

• Who Did it Better in an Elevator? 

• Who Did it Better on a Horse?

• Who Did it Better on a Pool Table?

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Essays

Here are some essays I've written about various romance-related topics:

• Here's a post about my romance buying strategy and how much I'm willing to spend on books.

• I wrote about romance book covers, and what happens when old books are packaged with new covers.

• Here's a review of the first romance I ever read, which ended up being about sexual harassment in the workplace then and now.

• I wrote about miscarriages in both historical and contemporary romances, wondering how authors deal with this complicated, wrenching topic. 

• I wrote about how to talk to your kids about sex for the Smart Bitches.

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Guest appearances

• I was a guest on The Wicked Wallflowers Club podcast, talking about representation in romance. And then I was on again talking about what I'd been reading lately. 

• I was a guest on the Heaving Bosoms podcast. Melody and I talked about one of my favorite novellas, Cinnamon Blade by Shira Glassman. 

• I talked about book covers on the Hot and Bothered Podcast. 

• WBWP Workshop Slides

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