When In Romance

Jess and Trisha talk about Harlequin and AI and then do a dive deep into fan fiction, discussing the who/what/where/why and some of the current discourse in the romance fanfic world.

News

Here’s the “Why is Harlequin making weird AI movies?” piece by Maris Kreizman we talked about [Literary Hub]

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Books Discussed

The Catch by Leonor Soliz

Mayhem and the Mortal by Shanora Williams

Enemies to Lovers by Alisha Rai

The Idea of You by Robinne Lee

Enemies to Lovers by Aster Glenn Gray

The Winston Brothers series (starting with Truth or Beard) by Penny Reid

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

Plus! Some bonus HR fic recs from Jess and Trisha:

Jess: 

"Please Leave a Message" by Ravenesta

"It’s Too Close for Comfort" by theoneiam2277

"Influential" by 409_conflict

"The heart is hard to translate" by catknives

Trisha:

The Secret Society of Stick Handlers collection by gurlsrool

"Hoya" by GingerBaggins

"Mistakes Have Been Made" by Ugly Green Jacket
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Jess and Trisha talk about what they’ve been reading and then get into Book Club with Futbolista by Jonny Garza Villa and sports romance broadly.

News

No news this week because it’s a Book Club week!

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Books Discussed

The Starter Ex by Mia Sosa

Back and Forth From New York by alphalupi

Futbolista by Jonny Garza Villa

Please Don’t Go by E. Salvador

Out On the Ice series by Kelly Farmer

His Convenient Husband by Robin Covington

Summer Official by Rebekah Weatherspoon

The Playbook series (starting with Intercepted) by Alexa Martin

Shoot Your Shot by Lexi LaFleur Brown

Flagrant by Alexandria House

The Long Game by Elena Armas

Rookie Mistake by Anna Zabo and LA Witt
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Jess and Trisha discuss the end of Harlequin’s category romance line and offer some category romance recs (some of which are delightfully bananas).

Hooray for Book Club in 2026! Read Futbolista by Jonny Garza Villa with us - send us your thoughts before we record on March 25 (episode goes live March 30)!

Get a bit of category romance background from Love In Panels and author Therese Beharrie.

Books Discussed:

Silver & Blood by Jessie Mihalik

The Brightest Blaze by Kelly Farmer

Futbolista by Jonny Garza Villa

The Lights on Knockbridge Lane by Roan Parrish 

Compromised into a Scandalous Marriage by Lydia San Andres

Bane (and others!) by Brenda Jackson

Daring to Fall For the Prince by Heba Helmy

Backcountry Cover-Up by Denise N. Wheatley

Pregnesia by Carla Cassidy

Road Trip Rivalry by Mona Shroff

Her Fake Wedding Date in Sicily by Jenny Lane

The Duke’s Sister and I by Emma-Claire Sunday

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Jess and Trisha talk about a new option for indie authors and talk about some of their favorite independently-published romances.

News

Hooray for Book Club in 2026! Read Futbolista by Jonny Garza Villa with us - send us your thoughts before we record on March 25 (ep goes live March 30)!

Learn more about the Draft2Digital and Bookshop.org partnership.

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Books Discussed

10,000 Hours with a Rich Menace by Jahquel J

What If…I Love You by Yvonne Marie

The Taming of Jessi Rose by Beverly Jenkins

Futbolista by Jonny Garza Villa

Written on Ice by Smardline S.

Craving Flight by Tamsen Parker

Now You See Him by Nina Saxena

Meegan by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Expanded Roster by Aimee Rivkin

The Probability of Us by Elizabeth-Jade Taylor

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Jess and Trisha talk (very enthusiastically) about Book Riot’s list of the best romance novels of the century so far.

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News:

Hooray for Book Club in 2026! Read Futbolista by Jonny Garza Villa with us - send us your thoughts before we record on March 25 (episode goes live March 30)!

Find Sarah Wendell’s discussion with Julia Quinn on the SBTB podcast here.

And of course, please enjoy Book Riot’s list of The Best Romance Books of the Century So Far as much as Jess and Trisha do.

Books Discussed:

Hearts on the Fly by Toni Shiloh

Two’s Better by Viano Oniomoh

The Long Game by Rachel Reid

Futbolista by Jonny Garza Villa

And all of the other books discussed can be found in one convenient place!

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