My guest this week is Laura Piper Lee, the author of Hannah Tate, Beyond Repair and Zoe Brennan First Crush, which comes out Tuesday January 21. We talked about putting the comedy back in romantic comedy, the intense power of your first crush, why we need more casually queer characters, and the subversiveness of the single mom as a romantic hero.

Follow Laura on Instagram @laurapiperlee, and order her books from the Bros & Prose affiliate store here.

Please rate, review, and subscribe to Rebel Ever After on your favorite podcast app! Support the show by becoming a patron at patreon.com/brosandprose starting at $3/month. Make sure you sign up on desktop or in a web browser instead of the Patreon iOS app, where Apple tacks on an extra 30% free because they are greedy.

You can follow me (Ella) on Threads, Instagram and BlueSky @brosandprose for updates about the show and other romance/political shenanigans. My second-chance college reunion romance But How Are You, Really is available here.

My guest this week on Rebel Ever After is Jessica P. Pryde! She is a contributing editor at Book Riot and the co-host of their biweekly romance podcast, When In Romance. In 2022, Jessica edited the essay anthology Black Love Matters: Real Talk on Romance, Being Seen, and Happily Ever Afters. Most recently, her short story “Why Won’t you Die?” was published in Someplace Generous: An Inclusive Romance Anthology.

In this episode you’ll hear our conversation about Black Romance as an art form of joy and rebellion. We also dug into the barriers Black authors still face in traditional publishing and why more folks are turning to indie and self-publishing. And yes, we did touch on the Bridgerton of it all, and why traditionally published interracial romances are typically about a white man paired with a woman of color.

Follow Jessica on Instagram and BlueSky, and listen to her podcast When In Romance here.

Please support REBEL EVER AFTER by joining the Patreon at patreon.com/brosandprose, and by giving us 5 stars on your favorite podcast app!

You can follow Ella on Threads, Instagram and BlueSky at @brosandprose for updates about the show and other romance takes. Her queer millennial second-chance romance But How Are You, Really is available wherever books are sold.

My guest this week is Nellie Wilson, a teacher and historian who is the author of romance novels including Curated, Corporate Mandated Holiday Romance, and Steel My Heart: An Appalachian Romance. Her fiction is proudly anti-capitalist, and we talked about the need for romance novels about folks who don't live in Stars Hollow or Hollywood. If you hate JD Vance, you’ll love this episode.

Other topics discussed include: reader reactions to HEAs that don’t include monogamy, marriage or parenthood; writing neurodivergent characters; why the best “eat the rich” romances are historicals; Ella’s love/hate relationship with Cinderella stories; why we need more female rakes; Nellie’s defense of third act breakups; calling HR on boss/subordinate romances; and are characters allowed to grow anymore?

Follow Nellie on Instagram at @woahnelliewrites, and buy her books on Amazon here. [Yes, we hate Jeff Bezos, but Nellie is self-published and this is the best way to make sure she gets paid].

Support REBEL EVER AFTER by joining the Patreon at patreon.com/brosandprose, and by giving us 5 stars on your favorite podcast app!

You can follow Ella on Threads, Instagram and BlueSky at @brosandprose for updates about the show and other romance takes. My queer millennial second-chance romance But How Are You, Really is available at bit.ly/buthowareyoureallynovel