Rebel Ever After
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Rebel Ever After\ \ Ella Dawson\ \ • Jul 28
\ \ This Tuesday delivers a big batch of new books. Here is a roundup of romances hitting shelves today that have a Rebel Ever After vibe. Reminder that I haven't read any of these titles yet, so this isn't an official endorsement!\ \ [This isn't an exhaustive list of every romance novel out today. If you are an author with a progressive romance coming out soon, please email brosandprose@gmail.com to get it on my radar!]\ \ Out today 7/28: \ \ Fossil Feud by Maggie North (Dell) — RIVAL PALEONTOLOGISTS! I DO NOT NEED TO SAY MORE.\ \ Pride Comes Before a Fall by Virginia Heath (St. Martin's Griffin) — This Regency heroine writes for a radical newspaper that wants to take down the aristocracy. Must be awkward when she falls in love with a duke! \ \ Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst(Bramble) — Sarah Beth Durst’s fantasy books are so cozy and lovely. This is the third book in her Spellshop universe. I’m in conversation with her about Sea of Charms at Northport Books on August 12th. Come through! \ \ Second First Dates by Gabriella Gamez (Forever) — A new contemporary romance by the author of The Next Big Fling and Kiss Me, Maybe. I’ll buy it just to own that beautiful Leni Kauffman cover.\ \ Wild Goose Chase by Sarah Adler(Berkley) — Two antique dealers have to find and dispose of an illegal taxidermied goose. This line in the marketing copy killed me: “Will the hunt for their felonious fowl lead to true love, or end in ruin?” Bonkers premise, I’m sold. \ \ Maggie and Arthur's Magic Moment by Leslie René (Ace) — Magical university professors have to share an office. Even in fantasy realms, those pesky budget cuts in academia, am I right? \ \ Breakup For Two by E.M. Wilson (Frayed Pages x Wattpad Books) — I’m curious about this imprint spearheaded by breakout Wattpad author Anna Todd. Breakup for Two is pitched for fans of Talia Hibbert, Jackie Lau, and Rachel Lynn Solomon.\ \ New titles missed last week: \ \ How (Not) to Renovate a Haunted House by Jenny L. Howe — I forgot to include this new spooky Summerween YA romance in my last roundup. Jenny is a previous Rebel Ever After guest who writes fantastic fat representation. She just wrote on Instagram about why fat characters are disappearing from YA titles, and her analysis applies to adult romance, too.](https://rebeleverafter.binderybooks.com/item/eDtVX52mtrx47pBiOeKw/)
Radical Romances Published Today, 7/28
8 books
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Rebel Ever After\ \ Ella Dawson\ \ • Jul 27
\ \ In her upcoming sophomore novel Let’s Kiss and Tell, Joss Richard explores sex-positive topics like sex work, vasectomies, and childfree happily-ever-afters. In this episode of Rebel Ever After, we dug into what romance genre conventions are made to be broken, and writing stories that make readers feel seen. Plus! You will not guess what fan fiction Joss wrote as a teenager. She shared how an idea for a Three’s Company fic led to her first novel, It’s Different This Time.\ \ This episode is not appropriate for children, or people who don’t want to bonk radioactive ghouls in the post-nuclear fallout wasteland. If you know you know.\ \ Listen on: \ \
- Apple Podcasts\ \
- Spotify\ \
- Castbox\ \
- Libsyn\ \ \ \ \ You can find Joss on social media at @joss.richard or on her website jossrichard.com. Purchase Joss's books from the Rebel Ever After affiliate bookstore at bit.ly/REAbooks\ \ Rep the podcast with Rebel Ever After MERCH! Browse our new store here: https://rebeleverafter.creator-spring.com/\\ \ Don't forget to rate and review on your favorite podcast app, too!\ \ Theme music created by Dalton Deschain.\ \ Authors and media mentioned this episode: \ \
- Emily Henry\ \
- Ali Hazelwood\ \
- Elissa Sussman\ \
- Kennedy Ryan\ \
- Emily Griffin's Something Borrowed\ \
- Sophie Kinsella's Confessions of a Shopaholic\ \
- Fallout (video game franchise and Amazon Prime show)\ \
- Three's Company\ \
- Mary Poppins\ \
- The Sound of Music\ \
- How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days\ \
- Heroes\ \ \
REA 51: Let's talk about sex, ft. Joss Richard
2 books
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Rebel Ever After\ \ Ella Dawson\ \ • Jul 25
\ \ Hey Rebels! On Tuesday I'm interviewing one of my favorite authors, Alicia Thompson, about her magical new Ireland romance In Every Possible Way. What are you dying to know about her career and her craft? \ \ Submit your questions in the comments by Tuesday morning and I might ask her during the next episode of Rebel Ever After.\ \ You can find all of Alicia's books in the Rebel Ever After affiliate bookstore here. Never Been Shipped is my current favorite, but With Love, From Cold World is a bisexual classic.](https://rebeleverafter.binderybooks.com/item/YFoNT00MY6tJcR16bPtP/)
5 books
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Rebel Ever After\ \ Ella Dawson\ \ • Jul 23
\ \ Hi folks! I'm so excited to help reveal the cover for London Sperry's new rom-com CITY PEOPLE, publishing April 6, 2027 from Penguin Random House. \ \ Rebel Ever After listeners will remember London from our episode last August about her debut romance PASSION PROJECT and her quest to write a self-destructive, grieving baddie who deserves love. We had a wonderfully silly conversation despite the heavy subject matter. \ \ I asked London what the REA community will enjoy about her sophomore novel. She texted me, \ \
" City People deals with the stories that we tell ourselves about who we are, and what it means when you start to question those stories. It’s about change and growth, but mostly, it’s about letting go. It’s also about loving your gramma.\ \ I hope REA listeners enjoy a man who thinks consent, pet names, and being berated by unlikeable female leads are sexy; an intergenerational female-only family; and a woman who wouldn’t know what she’s avoiding if you drew a map for her."\ \ City People is available for pre-order wherever books are sold. You can pick it up from the Rebel Ever After affiliate store here.\ \ About the book \ \ A woman desperate to hold onto her Brooklyn brownstone can’t ignore her chemistry with the one man standing in her way, in this poignant enemies-to-lovers rom-com by the author of Passion Project.\ \ Teddi Cooper, third-generation New Yorker, has breathed city air since the day she was born. Her life is perfectly syncopated with the beautiful, chaotic tempo of Brooklyn, from the moment she steps out the door of the brownstone she shares with her grandmother, to the moment she falls asleep with taxi horns blaring into the frenetic night.\ \ So when Gram announces that she’s selling the brownstone and moving to Florida, the rhythm of Teddi’s life descends into cacophony. How could Gram not see that leaving NYC would be a betrayal of their very identities? If Gram needs a reminder of who she is, Teddi will do anything to show her—including coordinating a reunion show of the Broadway musical that made Gram famous before she gave up life in the spotlight. And to lay the pressure on thick, Teddi even gets Gram’s former co-star Hal Harrison on board.\ \ The show is barely off the ground before Teddi comes head-to-head with Hal’s talent agent Reid Fletcher, who refuses to let Hal partake. Reid is charming, smart-mouthed, and absolutely infuriating, but Teddi knows a thing or two about digging her heels in. As Teddi squares off against Reid over email, in the theater, and even through a heated game of tennis, she’s prompted to wonder if her dogged stubbornness is holding her back. Who would she be if she wasn’t determined to control Gram’s next move, to be a New Yorker at any cost? Is it possible that her identity is larger than the city she’s built her life around? And, most frightening of all, could her new life have room in it for someone else?](https://rebeleverafter.binderybooks.com/item/nyQdC5hCY6gIVdEz387w/)
COVER REVEAL: City People by London Sperry
2 books
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Rebel Ever After\ \ Ella Dawson\ \ • Jul 21
Radical Romances Published Today, 7/21
6 books
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Rebel Ever After\ \ Ella Dawson\ \ • Jul 20
\ \ I've been sitting on this secret for months and I cannot wait for what's coming next. You can listen to my announcement in the Rebel Ever After feed wherever you get your podcasts, or read the transcript below.\ \ Listen on: \ \
- Apple Podcasts\ \
- Spotify\ \
- Castbox\ \
- Libsyn\ \ \ \ \ Transcript \ \ Hi folks. This episode is a little different because I have an exciting announcement to share about the future of Rebel Ever After. \ \ The too long, didn’t listen version is that the publishing company Bindery invited me to join their tastemaker program! While the Rebel Ever After podcast will remain free and distributed wherever you are listening to this episode, the Rebel Ever After community will live on the Bindery social platform for book lovers — and we have the opportunity to start our very own romance imprint with their publishing arm. How does Rebel Ever After, an imprint of Bindery Books, sound to you?\ \ Now for the long version. As a culture critic and a queer author, I believe that the books we write have the power to change minds and help readers envision a better world. Romance in particular has always been a political genre that mirrors and molds societal norms. On a human level, romance novels can show readers what it feels like to thrive with real love, community, and purpose. I can’t think of anything more powerful than who deserves a happily-ever-after, and the many forms that happily-ever-after can take. \ \ For a brief, shining moment in the late 2010s and early 2020s, traditional publishers invested in the queer, diverse, and groundbreaking books that brought a new generation of readers like me to romance. Authors like Casey McQuiston, Jasmine Guillory, Helen Hoang, and Rachel Reid showed people that romance has more to offer them than straight, white, monogamous love stories ending with a marriage proposal and an epilogue baby. Many of those new readers were inspired to write their own romance novels, myself included. I can trace a straight line between books like One Last Stop and Beach Read to my debut romance But How Are You, Really. \ \ So are publishers nurturing this new generation of authors? Or did this industry see diversity as a fad that is no longer in style? \ \ The current progressiveness of publishing is hard to quantify, but the general vibes are bad. When marginalized authors are given book deals, their books are often left dead on arrival without robust marketing investment. Authors who don’t receive the front list treatment are left to fend for themselves, promoting their books on their own with graphics they make on Canva and increasingly desperate email newsletters. They battle social media algorithms that are pay-to-play and hostile to posts that have a whiff of progressive or adult content. Both on the mic and off, I’ve heard from some of my favorite authors that their contracts are not getting renewed.\ \ In the wake of the second election of Donald Trump, as well as the disappointing sales of my first book, I launched this podcast. In my grief and rage, I wanted to talk to other romance authors about what gave them the strength to keep writing as the country and our sphere of the publishing industry lurched backward. Because it is undeniable that we are in the middle of a regressive, conservative swing in culture, and romance is not exempt from that. From book bans at the state and federal level that target underrepresented authors, to corporations and algorithms that prioritize straight, white, and cis voices, it is hard for a progressive author to break through and reach their readers. \ \ Everyone knows that publishing is a broken system that pushes out underrepresented voices and fresh, bold stories. It does a real disservice to all of those new romance readers who want to read these books but aren’t finding them through the usual discovery channels, if they are published at all. \ \ Helping authors reach their readers quickly became a central goal of Rebel Ever After. I love talking to authors about the themes they explore on the page, how the regressive swing in the United States has impacted their careers, and what they want to see change within the romance genre. We dig deep into what readers adore about their books, from queer self discovery to the logistics of ghost-fucking.\ \ I started this podcast alone using GarageBand and a microphone I stole from an ex. And it has grown into a wonderful community of romance lovers who share my values and hopes for the genre. I am honored but I’m also not surprised! Authors and readers crave deeper conversations about the books we love and the storytelling trends we swim in. We want respect for the romance genre, and together, we are building a community rooted in that shared goal.\ \ That brings me back to my big two-part announcement: 1) Rebel Ever After is moving to Bindery — a home for book clubs and bookish tastemakers. 2) If we grow a membership on Bindery, we might be able to start a Rebel Ever After publishing imprint. As a community, we could publish the diverse, queer, progressive romance novels of our dreams. \ \ If you’re not familiar with Bindery, it’s a publishing company founded by industry veterans Matt Kaye and Meghan Harvey in 2023. Essentially, they partner with community leaders, or “tastemakers,” in the book world to create digital book clubs and launch small publishing imprints. Bindery saw the genuine love that influencers have for literature, and the power of our online communities to champion underserved voices. \ \ To put it simply, Bindery’s model gives creators the opportunity to acquire and publish books with their communities in mind, and Bindery manages the production, distribution, marketing, and publicity of those titles. Bindery is a new name in the industry, but it has already published best-selling novels, GoodReads Choice Awards winners, and Indie Next Picks. They distribute to Barnes & Noble and other big players, as well as indie bookstores and libraries around the world. On a recent trip to Europe, I saw Bindery titles for sale in London and Paris. I think Bindery is here to stay, and I am thrilled that they are pioneering a new publishing model that leans into how book discovery has changed. \ \ Now if you’ve read my work, you may know I am a big skeptic of startups. I am not inclined to trust industry disrupters or predatory tech bros who parachute into industries they don’t understand to eke out a profit. Romance specifically is vulnerable to outsiders wanting to capitalize on its profitability without investing in its community or quality storytelling. That being said, traditional publishing is in need of an overhaul, and no one company or indie press or zine maker or indie author can fix it alone. \ \ So I watched Bindery’s development over the years with curiosity and some suspicion. I sniffed around for gossip and looked at how they treat their authors. When my friend Nina Haines started her imprint Sapph-Lit, I had a front-row seat as she acquired and then published Kim Narby’s stunning debut novel Saturn Returning. It’s a propulsive and messy novel about friendship and love among queer women, and I am so happy it is out in the world re-traumatizing millennial readers.\ \ Two years later, I can say that Bindery has won me over. I am impressed by the diversity of their authors, most of whom are debuts, some of whom were unagented; the freshness and transparency of their publishing model; and their commitment to fostering community among readers alongside the rise of micro-influencers. \ \ Most importantly, the books Bindery has published so far are good. Genuinely very good. Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove was one of my favorite books of 2025, and I couldn’t put down their gorgeous re-release of _This Is Not a Test_by Courtney Summers. In May I was the conversation partner for the aforementioned Saturn Returning by Kim Narby. Bindery is publishing wildly talented new and diverse authors who have been overlooked by the Big Five, and we are all better for it.\ \ But you know what their catalogue is lacking so far? A dedicated romance imprint that shares its vision of a more diverse and equitable world of books. That’s why they invited me to become a Bindery tastemaker. If the Rebel Ever After community creates a home on Bindery, that imprint is on the table. \ \ Up until now I’ve asked folks to support the podcast on Patreon. I basically retrofitted my existing Patreon to include Rebel Ever After content, and frankly it hasn’t worked as a monetization strategy. Because Rebel Ever After is not just a podcast — it’s a community, and this community needs its own space separate from my personal writing. \ \ What Bindery offers is a platform created for reader communities like ours. With the move to Bindery, listeners can play more of a role in the curation of the show. I also want to host events where members can meet their favorite authors during virtual Q&As and salons. I want to share writing by authors about their creative processes, publishing journeys, historical research, and thoughts on the genre. And I want to springboard diverse, queer, rebellious romance novels into the world — as a podcast, as a community, and hopefully as an imprint.\ \ If you want to see what that looks like, you can go to rebeleverafter.binderybooks.com right now. My hope is that we will build up a big comment culture where we can discuss new episodes and what folks are currently reading. Subscribers will also get access to the Rebel Ever After Discord server, which is my favorite corner of the internet. \ \ To celebrate launching on Bindery, I’m throwing a big virtual party on August 26th at 8pm eastern. I will be joined by Erin Baldwin, Laura Piper Lee, and Adib Khorram. There will be games. There will be a rowdy group chat. There might even be sneak peaks at upcoming books by your favorite authors. And this event will be FREE for all Rebel Ever After Bindery members. \ \ So how do you join? You can create an account on Bindery right now for free. You will receive all the essential updates about Rebel Ever After, like new episodes, event announcements, and book recommendations from me. Or you can subscribe starting at $5 a month and become an official Rebel. Rebels will get exclusive content like virtual readings and discussions with REA authors, essays and opinion pieces, maybe some cover reveals and excerpts from new titles. And more to listen to and watch. \ \ This is a hard time to budget $5/month, and if a Bindery membership isn’t affordable for you right now, that is totally okay. I hope you will sign up as a free member. The main feed of the podcast will also remain free and accessible wherever you like to listen. \ \ That being said, I need to show Bindery that Rebel Ever After means business as a community in order for us to get our own imprint. If listeners show up and subscribe, we will be able to bring more swoony, progressive romances into the world, on shelves and ereaders, in libraries and brick and mortar bookstores.\ \ That’s why I’m setting a goal of 100 Rebel subscribers by the end of September. \ \ It’s a big goal, but I know we can hit it. Because romance readers love this genre. We are voracious and organized and determined to champion the love stories that we believe in. \ \ I’ll be honest: becoming a publisher was never a dream of mine because I could not imagine a world where that was possible. \ \ But the world is changing, and I want to read romance novels that push the boundaries of what a happily-ever-after looks like. From marrying your best friend for health insurance and then falling in love with him, like in Marisa Kanter’s Friends With Benefits. Or opening a cocktail bar with your polycule and queer friends as investors, like in TJ Alexander’s Triple Sec. \ \ I want to read beloved romance tropes made fresh and new when starring BIPOC characters, like The King’s Pregnancy Proposition by LaQuette and Love Is a War Song by Danica Nava. \ \ I want to publish authors who reach for joy and justice, escapism and resistance. And I know you do too. So let’s fuckin’ do it. \ \ I need to thank every person who has listened to an episode of the Rebel Ever After podcast. I need to thank every author who has given me their time and wisdom and art. I need to thank everyone who has left a review or recommended the show to a friend or shared a quote on Instagram. I am so grateful for this community of readers and authors and listeners, and I cannot wait to start this next chapter of Rebel Ever After. I hope I’ll see you on Bindery soon.\ \ Thank you for listening, and stay safe out there.](https://rebeleverafter.binderybooks.com/item/D4rNvZGKBPGFjJkhvEj7/)
Let's start a romance publishing imprint!
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Rebel Ever After\ \ Ella Dawson\ \ • Jul 18
\ \ Hello darling rebels. I just got back from two weeks in the UK and Paris, and I am still speaking in bastardized French like that "girl who makes her vacation her entire personality" meme genre. Bonjour merci tres bien!!\ \ I saved two books to read on my trip because they are destination romances: The Paris Match by Kate Clayborn and In Every Possible Way by Alicia Thompson. Kate and Alicia are gorgeous, meticulous writers who fold prose like laminated buttery croissants. Their 2026 releases are career highlights that show off their dedication to craft, to knee-weakening chemistry, and to subtle progressive edge.\ \ In Every Possible Way by Alicia Thompson \ \ My travels took me to the United Kingdom first, where I visited family in West Sussex. Ireland is distinctly not the UK, but I was able to pretend I was in Dublin with the help of Alicia Thompson's new novel and many, many Irish pubs.\ \ I'm a big fan of Alicia's work. Her romances are full of heart, cleverness and aching sexual tension. In Every Possible Way is more tender and magical than her other titles — it's a multi-day, wandering adventure through Ireland following a birthday wish gone wrong. The conversations between Jess and Eamonn channel the soul-baring unlikeliness of the Before trilogy. I recommend it for folks who enjoy a soft, thoughtful dose of magical realism and folklore in their contemporary fiction.\ \ The book is told from the first person POV of Jess, who wakes up in a field in Ireland without a phone, passport, or any clue how she got there from a parking lot in Florida. Luckily for her, she is adopted by a calm and generous love interest, car mechanic Eamonn. Our hero has been alone for a long time, still processing the death of his mother during his incarceration for car theft and arson. This is the first time I've read a contemporary romance about a formerly incarcerated hero where his criminality wasn't eroticized or trope-ified; Thompson writes about Eamonn's past with care and intention.\ \ In Every Possible Way is also one of very few contemporary romance novels published post-Dobbs that discusses abortion. Jess shares her story of terminating a pregnancy during college with Eamonn as they get to know each other. It is not a traumatic memory, and she talks about it as a sliding-doors moment where her life could have been completely different. It is a good example of abortion-positive storytelling that avoids shame or stereotype.\ \ I am interviewing Thompson soon for Rebel Ever After and I look forward to asking her how she approached including abortion as a small part of Jess's backstory. If you have any questions for her about In Every Possible Way, or her other romance novels Love in the Time of Serial Killers, With Love, from Cold World, The Art of Catching Feelings, and Never Been Shipped, drop them in the comments.\ \ The Paris Match by Kate Clayborn \ \ I'd only read one book by Kate Clayborn before now: her 2019 romance Love Lettering. It's a beautiful story about a hand-lettering artist who loves old signs that other people fail to notice in New York City. Clayborn has a gift for enriching familiar settings with fresh texture and life. Her newest romance, The Paris Match, fully embodies that strength.\ \ Up until now I've avoided reading romances set in Paris because, to be honest, it always felt like an on-the-nose cliché to me. The American idea of Paris has been commodified and packaged, from Eiffel tower pajama sets to Carrie Bradshaw weeping on the Pont des Arts pedestrian bridge. Don't get me started on Emily In Paris.\ \ But! Thanks to my public school education (shoutout Madame Thomas, you scared the bejesus out of me), I speak passable French, at least enough to ask if I can get some more milk in my coffee. I always wanted to visit Paris, less for the Paris! of it all, more because France is the only non-English speaking country I had a shot at navigating. \ \ After a week in the UK, I took the Eurostar from London directly to Paris, where I met up with my boyfriend. The Paris Match was the perfect read to prepare me for my first experience of the city. With deep affection, Clayborn illustrates the uninterrupted beauty, history, and joy of Paris.\ \ Our heroine Layla flies in for her former sister-in-law's wedding two years after her own divorce. She has been dreading the trip, and her unease increases when the bride has second thoughts. Layla is forced to work with the best man, Griffin, to get the wedding back on track, but Griffin wants to be there even less than she does. He lives with intense nerve damage and trauma from a tragic house fire, and his constant physical pain is misread by those around him as rude unkindness. Layla and Griffin connect over their outsider status and explore Paris on their own terms, getting to know one another at street cafes and in art museums, over delicious food and delicate perfume. \ \ As for its themes, content warning for a backstory spoiler! We learn over the course of the novel that a key reason Layla's first marriage ended is that she never wanted children, and her ex-husband changed his mind about parenthood. After years of subtle pressure to give in to his desire to have kids, Layla opted for divorce (good for you, girl). Layla does not regret her decision, but she is still hurt by the lack of respect shown for her deeply held conviction not to become a mother.\ \ Heroines who do not want children are slowly becoming more common in contemporary romance, but it is rare for their choice to be explored in depth. The Paris Match affirms Layla's desire to remain childfree while depicting the impact it has on relationships and how society treats her. As a woman in my thirties who does not want children, I saw myself in Layla and her breakup with Jamie, as well as her anxiety that Griffin will be disappointed in her if they build a life together without becoming parents.\ \ Clayborn weaves interior reflection with exterior beauty to create a lush reading experience. The Paris Match is almost as good as visiting Paris. Considering the city's current heatwave, I might recommend the book over the city itself.\ \ Upgrade for $5 or login](https://rebeleverafter.binderybooks.com/item/DsMgHgLIZFUAmuXh8jpN/)
Two perfect romance novels set in Europe
2 books
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Rebel Ever After\ \ Ella Dawson\ \ • Jul 15
Shoutout to indie authors and small presses!
Just a reminder that indie authors and small presses are the best, and I’m so hype to see more people bringing books into the world on their own terms.
#authorsofig #authorslife #romanceauthor #indieauthor #debutauthor
6 books
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Rebel Ever After\ \ Ella Dawson\ \ • Jun 29
\ \ This week my guest is queer rom-com author Amy Spalding. Her new sapphic romance IN HER SPOTLIGHT is about Tess Gardner, the closeted star of a superhero film franchise who finds out the director of her next play is her super hot ex-girlfriend. We talked about how Amy wrote all of the competing power dynamics of a fling backstage in post-Me Too theater. Plus, writing a villain I wanted to punch through the page, and misogyny’s ripple effects on set and on stage.\ \ Follow Amy on social media @thatames and subscribe to her newsletter at amyspalding.substack.com\ \ Listen on: \ \
- Apple Podcasts\ \
- Spotify\ \
- Castbox\ \
- Libsyn\ \ \
REA Ep. 49: Hollywood romance post-#MeToo w. Amy Spalding
4 books
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Rebel Ever After\ \ Ella Dawson\ \ • Jun 17
[Hello comrades! It's time for another accountability post of what I'm reading and have up next on my TBR pile. In a few weeks I'm traveling to Europe to visit family (and maybe get some impulsive tattoos?? Stay tuned!), so I'm figuring out what I want to read on my flights/train rides/etc. I also smashed through a bunch of books in the last few weeks for podcast guest research, some of which were real home runs. \ \ Here's what I've got on the docket:\ \
- It's Different This Time by Joss Richard\ \
- In Every Possible Way by Alicia Thompson \ \
- The Paris Match by Kate Clayborn (I will be in Paris for a few days, so this is a perfect pick)\ \
- By The Bootstraps by Alexa Martin\ \ \ And here's what I've read recently that I loved:\ \
- Let's Kiss and Tell by Joss Richard (eARC)— It's so refreshing to read a contemporary romance novel about characters who enjoy sex and have it often (and not necessarily with each other)!\ \
- Whiteout by Andrea Anders — This was a reread because I was in the mood for a "we have to cuddle for warmth" scene. It's arguably the best romantic suspense I've ever read. A surly scientist and a hot chef working at a remote research station in Antarctica are on the run across the ice from mercenaries because PLOT REASONS. \ \
- She Haunts Me Still by De Elizabeth (ARC) — Dark academia paranormal bisexual love triangle starring ghosts, vampires and theater kids!! A wild ride I couldn't put down.\ \
- The Last Page by Katie Holt — Finally a rom-com for anyone who fantasizes about getting married in the rare books room at The Strand.\ \ \ What are you reading this month?](https://rebeleverafter.binderybooks.com/item/oncw2hTEEO80Gvm6hffx/)
8 books
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Rebel Ever After\ \ Ella Dawson\ \ • Jun 15
\ \ This episode my guest is Emma R. Alban, the author of queer historical romances Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend; You’re The Problem, It’s Yo u; and Like In Love With You. Her first contemporary paranormal romance Happily Ever Afterlife hits shelves this September. We talked about writing pop-forward historical romances for Gen Z readers, how fan fiction influenced her as an author, and the logistics of sapphic ghost f*cking. Happy pride month everyone!\ \ Follow Emma on Instagram, Threads and TikTok at @eraofemma, or on her website www.emmaralban.com\\ \ Listen on: \ \
- Apple Podcasts\ \
- Spotify\ \
- Castbox\ \
- Libsyn\ \ \ \ \ P.S. I hung out with Laura Piper Lee (left) and Emma (right) at LoveLitCon back in February. Emma and I talked about the omegaverse by a fire pit with such enthusiasm that a hotel guest near us got up and left. His loss!! I'm so glad I got to chat with Emma on the mic so that all of you could experience her wisdom and silliness.\ \
REA Ep. 48: The queer HEA and ghost-f*cking with Emma R. Alban
4 books
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Rebel Ever After\ \ Ella Dawson\ \ • Jun 8
the happily-ever-after is for EVERYONE.
Rebel Ever After\ \ Ella Dawson\ \ • Jun 3
\ \ As a survivor of intimate partner violence, I love to read romance novels about survivors finding love and safety as they recover from abuse. While their lives are not defined by past trauma, their trauma does inform how they experience intimacy, trust and pleasure. Romance novels that show compassion for survivors and depict them as heroes and heroines taking charge of their lives do important work to de-stigmatize conversations about domestic violence. Through storytelling, they put a human face on the psychological process of recovery and healing, as well as what toxic and dangerous relationships can look like.\ \ Romance genre conventions promise readers that no matter the dark subject matter explored — and no matter the pain the characters endure — everything will be okay. These books send a powerful message that no one deserves to be abused, and that survivors of abuse deserve happy endings with respectful, empathetic, and swoon-worthy partners.\ \ No Ordinary Love by Myah Ariel \ \ Pop superstar Ella Simone is in the middle of a contentious legal battle with her unfaithful and emotionally abusive husband. The last thing she needs is bad press, but after a wardrobe malfunction at an awards show, she and baseball player Miles Westbrook make headlines with their scorching chemistry. This a beautiful celebrity romance about the many forms abuse can take, and learning to open yourself up to love again after having your trust broken.\ \ I had the opportunity to interview Myah Ariel about the book on my podcast, Rebel Ever After. She said, “When you're in a relationship, you might think, ‘I'm not being hit, I'm not being pushed, so this isn’t abuse.’ But I think it's important to realize that abuse has levels, it has shades, it has colors, and it comes in many of them. Just because you've not been bruised or battered does not mean that you haven't been abused.”\ [Content warning: Ella's abuser is a character on-page and litigation abuse is continuous.]\ \ Love and Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe \ \ Hallie Barrett is still reeling from her breakup with an abusive coworker at a Buzzfeed-like media company when she's tasked with producing a viral new web series. She teams up with cryptid expert Hayden Hargrove to host a show about the unexplained, and sparks fly as they investigate the Moth Man, Area 51 and other classic conspiracy theories. But will their show perform better than her narcissistic ex's?\ \ Mallory Marlowe and I talked about abusive workplaces and where she found inspiration for Hallie's growth on Rebel Ever After. She said, "I wanted to take those feelings that I had on my own journey of rediscovering my worth and rediscovering that I was smart, that I was valuable, that I should have been a valued team member. I'm a valued person. You don't realize how deep it gets into your psyche until you're taking a step back and starting to heal. I wanted to channel a lot of that pain that I felt into healing for Hallie."\ [Content warning: Hallie's abuser is a character on-page and continues to emotionally abuse her at work and online.]\ \ Pas de Don't by Chloe Angyal \ \ Ballet dancer Heather Hayes is at the peak of her career when she learns her fiancé Jack has been cheating on her with another woman in the company. To get away from him, she moves across the world to dance with the Australian National Ballet. The ANB has a strict no-dating policy for its dancers, but her tour guide Marcus is hard to resist... and the perfect foil for her ex. Chloe Angyal writes with compassion about the slow, insidious nature of emotional abuse and how patriarchal institutions protect abusers.\ \ A Delicate Seduction by Regina Kammer \ \ Percival Wood, the Marquess of Norrington, reunites with his old friend Bertram Atherley, the Viscount Ravensburgh, for a Grand Tour of Europe after the death of his controlling partner. This lovely queer historical romance focuses on Percival as he finds joy and understanding now that he is free from abuse, while he still navigates the lingering effects of trauma.\ \ The Duchess Takes a Husband by Harper St. George \ \ After the death of her abusive husband, Camille, the Duchess of Hereford, wants to experience sexual pleasure and reclaim her sense of self. She turns to Jacob Thorne, the illegitimate son of an earl and a co-owner of an infamous private club. Jacob is the perfect partner for a recovering survivor: he is patient, generous, and wildly sexy. This Gilded Age historical romance is one of my personal favorites.\ \ On Rebel Ever After, Harper St. George shared her experience writing the book with me. She said, "It wasn't a book I was looking forward to writing for emotional reasons, but I knew I needed to write her story. It was sort of healing to write it. I'm glad that it landed so well. When I go to reader events, people will come up to me and tell me that that book really meant a lot to them on their own healing journey. It's great to get feedback that it landed, because that's what I want my books to do. They can get awards or star reviews or whatever, but for me, what really hits me and resonates with me is when people tell me, 'Oh, that really helped me at a time when I needed it.'"\ \ Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert \ \ In this wildly popular contemporary rom-com, Chloe Brown is in a rut due to living with a chronic illness. She creates a list of adventures to have and recruits handyman Redford ‘Red’ Morgan to help her break out of her shell. Meanwhile, Red is slowly healing from a past relationship with an abusive ex-girlfriend. The two learn to meet each other's needs even as they butt heads. It's a sweet pleasure to watch them open up to new experiences and love.\ \ But How Are You, Really by Ella Dawson \ \ BONUS! My own romance novel is about a survivor of emotional abuse who thinks she's healed from her traumatic relationship in college... only to come face to face with the past at her college reunion. I worked hard to represent PTSD and how abuse makes survivors skittish about asking for help and trusting new partners.\ \ If you or someone you know is experiencing intimate partner violence, you are not alone. The National Domestic Violence Hotline can anonymously offer you support and resources here . \ \ Please know that no one deserves to be abused, whether that abuse is emotional, financial, physical or digital. You can read my essays about abuse and trauma recovery here.](https://rebeleverafter.binderybooks.com/item/jlREMtpUes0Qq1IAoXT2/)
6 Romance Novels About Domestic Violence & Abuse Survivors
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Rebel Ever After\ \ Ella Dawson\ \ • Jun 1
[Happy pride month, everyone! Last year I featured only queer authors on Rebel Ever After during June. This year... every author on the podcast so far has written a queer romance novel or several! Funny how that happens when your goal is to feature progressive voices in the genre who don't receive as much publishing support as their peers.\ \ There is a flood of phenomenal queer romances coming to shelves in the next few months. Here are some upcoming books written by previous REA guests that you should support. Pre-orders make a huge difference, from helping an author reach best-seller lists to signaling to their publisher that it's worth investing more in marketing and promotion. If you can't pre-order at this time, consider adding the book on GoodReads, requesting that your local library stock the book, or simply sharing this post with a friend. \ \ Cheers queers, and happy reading!\ \
9 Queer Romances to Pre-order for Pride!
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Rebel Ever After\ \ Ella Dawson\ \ • May 28
I wrote the most booable commencement speaker of all time
congrats to the class of 2026!! I wrote the most booable villain/commencement speaker of all time in my debut college reunion romance BUT HOW ARE YOU, REALLY available now from @duttonbooks 🎓🎓🎓
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Rebel Ever After\ \ Ella Dawson\ \ • May 25
\ \ On this episode of Rebel Ever After, my guest is romance cover illustrator Leni Kauffman. She is the creator of iconic covers like Hannah Grace’s Icebreaker, as well as covers for books by Olivia Dade, Ashley Herring Blake, Emma R. Alban, and many more. I guarantee that you have some of Leni’s work on your bookshelf or Kindle. \ \ We talked about how she started working in the romance genre, what the process of cover design looks like, whether or not she reads the books she illustrates, and many more questions you've always wanted to ask a cover designer. We also talked about our mutual loathing of AI and how it is impacting visual artists. \ \ Follow Leni on Instagram @lenikauffman or go to her website www.lenikauffman.com\\ \ Listen on: \ \
- Apple Podcasts\ \
- Spotify\ \
- Castbox\ \
- Libsyn\ \ \
REA Ep. 48: Leni Kauffman's iconic romance novel cover art
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Rebel Ever After\ \ Ella Dawson\ \ • May 20
Is POT SHOT the best rom-com of 2026?
She’s here!! My leading contender for the best rom-com of 2026: @laurapiperlee’s POT SHOT. I’ve already waxed poetic about how beautiful, silly and meaningful this book is on Rebel Ever After, but in case you haven’t already heard… This is the chronic illness/rivals-to-lovers/hometown small business drama/men groveling in tiny shorts masterpiece you have been waiting for.
No one writes comedy like Laura Piper Lee. Period. I will fight you on this.
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Rebel Ever After\ \ Ella Dawson\ \ • May 19
\ \ Not every amazing book gets blessed by the TikTok algorithm. These hidden gems by Rebel Ever After guests deserve more love. After reading, make sure to listen to their authors on the podcast! \ \ Single Player by Tara Tai. I read over a hundred romance novels in 2025 and Single Player stood out as a groundbreaking on-ramp to the genre for folks who never saw themselves in its pages. Yes, there's queer and nonbinary Asian-American representation, which is worth celebrating on its own. But I recommend this book all the time to nerds: gamers, cosplayers, tabletop RPG (role-playing game) devotees, and anime fans. There is much more overlap between romance fans and lifelong gamers than publishers and game developers realize, mostly because of antiquated ideas about gender and genre. Many gamers live for romancing NPCs (non-playable characters) and making their Sims whoo-hoo. Single Player delves into what it's like to write romantic storylines for video games by featuring a workplace romance about characters who do exactly that. \ \ Friends With Benefits by Marisa Kanter. The day I stop screaming about this book is the day I am dead. Two childhood best friends get married for health insurance and housing!!! How did this book not exist until 2025!!! Oh my god!!!!!!! It's hard to find a well-executed marriage-of-convenience romance in the contemporary sub-genre, and Kanter found the perfect premise to explore the inherently political underpinnings of marriage as an institution. Plus abandonment issues, what commitment really means, and a sexy, sweet central relationship. If you have ever considered marrying your best friend because you are disabled and they have union insurance, and married couples somehow qualify for more apartments, here you go!\ \ No Ordinary Love by Myah Ariel. I am not a big celebrity romance reader, but Ariel brings the sub-genre down to earth with compelling characters and workplace issues. Pop star Ella Simone is determined to take back her career in the wake of her shitty ex-husband's coercive control. The last thing she needs is a splashy relationship in the tabloids with Miles Westbrook, a playboy baseball player who is down bad for her. No Ordinary Love is a swoony angsty sexy read worthy of its title inspired by Sade. It's also a thoughtful, layered depiction of litigation abuse and falling in love after intimate partner violence. Ariel's prose is gorgeous like a soulful R&B track on vinyl.](https://rebeleverafter.binderybooks.com/item/1PHAl3RNwjHGgnqg6Pp9/)
3 Underrated Romance Novels to Read This Summer
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Rebel Ever After\ \ Ella Dawson\ \ • May 14
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Rebel Ever After\ \ Ella Dawson\ \ • May 14
REA Ep. 47: Stoner rom-coms & Laura Piper Lee's POT SHOT
RETURNING CHAMPION @laurapiperlee IS BACK ON REBEL EVER AFTER!
We talked about all things #PotShot: what inspired her to write about a woman living with Crohn's Disease who opens a dispensary in her hometown, happily-ever-afters that include chronic illness, and why the world needs more stoner rom-coms!!
Listen in the Rebel Ever After feed wherever you get your podcasts. Or subscribe on Patreon for free updates about new episodes at patreon.com/brosandprose
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