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Fall Romance Recs

Y. M. Nelson: Hello, Nerdy Romantics. It’s the second day of fall, so of course we have to talk about Fall romance reads, which that is our episode today. We are going to recommend some books that make us think about fall, make us think about maybe even fall holidays like Halloween. And just give us that fall feeling.

Fall or autumn my favorite season, by the way. And

Jen G.: Mine too.

Y. M. Nelson: and of course, I couldn’t talk about fall romances without having Jen on. our recurring guest, Jen romance connoisseur. Have her on the talk about give us some recommendations as well.

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[00:01:05] A Personal Moment: In Memorium – Carla Luna and Twyla Turner

Y. M. Nelson: But before we really get into our show, I want to do a programming and personal note. For this particular episode, I’m actually missing a guest from this. This episode Carla Luna Cullen, as we all know, writes, as Carla Luna.

She has been a recurring guest on Nerdy Romantics Podcast for a few episodes. And she was supposed to be on this episode with us. And

Jen G.: Yeah.

Y. M. Nelson: In the summer, which is a couple of months a couple of months before we planned this episode, she passed away unexpectedly.

We were looking forward to a book in her in her series that she talked

Jen G.: We were,

Y. M. Nelson: episode with her.

Jen G.: Yeah.

Y. M. Nelson: and so, it and that book was supposed to be titled Be Our Ghost. But Carla,

Jen G.: been perfect for today.

Y. M. Nelson: it would’ve been totally perfect for today. And, have, you know, grown to be a fan of hers. I’ve read a few books in her Romancing the Ruins Series, which she talked about on Nerdy Romantics Podcast.

She also has another completed series out there called the Blackwood Cellar series that features destination weddings. And

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: series is also a completed series.

This summer romance author Twyla Turner also passed away, which was only a few months ago as well.

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: she had a very strenuous battle with pancreatic cancer, which she talked about on her Instagram feed.

Jen G.: Yeah.

Y. M. Nelson: so, she, you know, shared with us fans and contemporaries what she was going through there and. A I was not able to get in it on in time, but a few of her contemporary authors did a series basically just a love series for her books out there for,

Jen G.: how wonderful. I didn’t see that.

Y. M. Nelson: it’s, and it’s, it’s on Instagram Kenya Gory Bell, author Kenya Gory Bell. She.

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: Head started that. And so, if you search her feed, you’ll, you’ll see it. Because she did have a hashtag for it, which is escaping my memory right now.

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: but, for Nerdy Romantics Podcast we’ve talked about a couple of her books.

The first book that we talked about of was Rock the Curves, and that episode remains to this day as one of the six top downloaded episodes of the podcast. So,

Jen G.: Oh, that’s great.

Y. M. Nelson: Yeah, we’ve also recommended a couple other books of hers in our “Who Gets an HEA” series.

And if you are of course saying, well, where’s the fall in this Twyla I know has a Beauty and the Beast retelling called Winter’s Beast, which was a very popular one of hers. And she also has a time travel Viking kind of series called Bound Through Time that is completed. So, with Carla Luna and with Twyla Turner, the best way that you can honor both of these wonderful women is by purchasing or getting from the library

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: and reading their books and talking about the wonderfulness of their books.

And with that, there has been a lot of loss this summer, so probably

Jen G.: Yeah,

Y. M. Nelson: here. But

Jen G.: it has been. That was the, yeah, both of them. It came on, came along fast. You know, you see people online or what have you. And then there just sort of not there anymore. And. You know, life can be unexpected sometimes. So, we we are so lucky though to have their words, their stories, you know, the, the work that they did to put joy into the world.

We are so lucky to have that left behind by them and something that we can always kind of go back to and, and hold in our hands and we can, we can reread their stories and just kind of feel connected to them in that way. And that I feel like is just a really beautiful thing that authors give to us.

That’s like the. It’s just such a wonderful element to have as a memory of them. So, I’m so glad that they were both they’re both wonderful writers, wonderful women, and they are truly, truly missed by, by all of us that knew them.

Y. M. Nelson: Very much so. Very much so. And there has been so much loss this summer, maybe that’s a reason to go into fall so that we can move forward. And so, after the intro, let’s talk about fall romances.

This is the Nerdy Romantics Podcast and I’m your host, YM Nelson.

 All right, Jen. I’m so happy to have you here. It has

Jen G.: Oh, I’m so happy to talk to you. I know, I know. It’s been a busy summer for, for both of us. That’s great.

Y. M. Nelson: Jen. Yeah. You know, it’s been an especially busy summer for you. ’cause didn’t you start a podcast? Why don’t you tell us a little bit about what you’ve got going on?

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[00:06:59] Jen’s new podcast and Bootcamp

Jen G.: I did start a podcast. You’re so sweet for asking me about that. So, my podcast is called The Books Business and Mindset Podcast. This is a podcast for authors and I talk about craft, I talk about editing. I talk about. The challenges of productivity and when you are trying to be an author alongside a day job and all the other responsibilities that we have as adult humans.

And I also talk a lot about how to care for your creativity. There’s there’s a lot of stress in life. There’s a lot of stress in the world, and all of that can really impact. Authors. So, I’ve, I’ve tried to make my podcast something that is kind of meets authors where you are and provide some nuggets of, of good information to sort of help you out in this, in this journey.

So, I hope you guys will go give it a listen and subscribe and that would be great. Yeah, books, business and podcast excuse me, books, business and Mindset by Jen Gray. Be so thanks guys.

Y. M. Nelson: And it is wherever we can get podcasts.

Jen G.: Yes. I think it’s on all the podcast catchers out there.

Y. M. Nelson: All right, great. Sounds good. And do you have anything else going on? I believe you have a, don’t you have a boot camp going on right now as well? Or

Jen G.: do have a bootcamp. No, we are halfway through the bootcamp. So, this is, we are in, as we are recording, we are in week four of six. Weeks. Yeah, I run a six-week coaching intensive for authors a couple of times a year. The next one will be in January of 2026, but folks can follow me on my newsletter. You can get that information@jentheeditor.com and i, in that newsletter I send out information about about marketing and mindset for authors.

And but the six-week bootcamp is, this is a space for authors who are very, want to get more serious about their business. We have focus time to really dive into some of the, the key elements of business. And we spend a couple weeks on craft. We spend and we just spent a lot of time kind of supporting each other.

There’s group coaching and one-on-one coaching throughout the six weeks. So, there’s lots of opportunities to ask questions, to get insight, and to to pick the goals that you personally wanna work on. So so yeah, so it’s been a really fantastic thing. I’ve been doing this for two years. I have I’ve done it five different times.

This is number six. This is my sixth cohort of authors. And man, they’re just a great group. I’ve had, I have folks who are working on their very first book, folks that are, that are 20 books into this, into this career. And, you know, folks are gonna have questions and challenges and at every single stage of this career, you know, it’s not an easy one to, to be successful at.

So, it’s been really fantastic to be able to help a lot of different kinds of authors. So.

Y. M. Nelson: Oh, great. and of course we have always have authors on listening to the podcast, but now this section is definitely for readers who authors are readers to, but definitely for readers, we are talking fall romance recommendations. And Jen, you know that I am going to ask you what do you have out there in the coffer that you can recommend to our listeners today?

’cause you know, I’m gonna be writing some stuff down as well, so.

Jen G.: Oh my gosh. Hide your wallets. I have.

Y. M. Nelson: it.

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[00:10:39] Blood Bond by Elle Beauregard

Jen G.: I have some really fantastic books for you guys to, to talk about today. So, I think we’ll start with we’re gonna start with vampires. This is spooky scary season and it is the perfect time to sit with some vampires and Elle Beauregard has a series called The Bloodline Saga, and the first book is called Blood Bond.

This is a two-book series. And we have vampires in sort of this alternate universe of that are, that are, you know, kind of they are known like they, people know that there are vampires in this world, but they are, they consider themselves like a separate society, if you will. Blood Bond is a second chance Romance.

So, these kids knew each other when they were young and they were kind of friends. But then life happens. Our, our hero is whisked away to a different world, and our heroine is left in this very strange place, meaning. She doesn’t know it, she doesn’t realize it, but we find out that she has been living in a cult her whole life, and she is able to escape from that cult.

And and that’s really where the story just takes off. So, there’s so there’s an escape. There are vampires, there’s a second chance romance. There are a wonderful cast of characters. There’s a lot of action and adventure in this book, and it just makes for a really fantastic read. And book two is also out.

Like I said, this is a two-book series right now. There might be more in the future, but right now there are two books in this series and the second book picks up. A few years later. So not all of the characters come back, but you got a couple characters that are gonna come back and it’s gonna be great.

So yeah, so I highly recommend Elle Beauregard. She is just one of those people that can write kind of some, some dark and angsty and and, and really like really get you like into a world. So, love reading Elle Beauregard. Yeah.

Y. M. Nelson: And angsty.

Jen G.: Yeah. So good stuff. Lots of good stuff in that series.

Y. M. Nelson: Is that heat level? Is that a spicy?

Jen G.: And no, it’s a fairly low heat level.

Y. M. Nelson: Okay.

Jen G.: This is a, this is a fairly low not zero, not a zero-heat level, but it is a low, this one’s a low heat level. So, okay.

Y. M. Nelson: Cool.

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[00:13:16] You Can Make Me by R. L. Merrill

Jen G.: So, we’re gonna go in a little bit of a different direction here and we’re gonna stay in the paranormal world, but we are gonna go into paranormal romantic mystery.

Now You Can Make Me by RL Merrill as part of the Carnival of Mysteries series. And this is a series that, that just barely dips its toe almost into horror. This is a little bit more on the scarier side. The villain is a lot more evil than what we normally see in in a romance novel. But if, if that’s your, if that’s your catnip man, this is the place you wanna be.

This, there is so much action. There’s so much world building that is happening in this book. So, the Carnival of Mysteries is actually, there’s a shared world. So, there’s a lot of books in the Carnival of Mystery series. The You Can Make Me book by RL Merrill is kind of picks up a little bit where her previous books that she has three books in that series.

So, it’s time travel and that what has happened is that. A, a person was the victim of a serial killer like 40 years ago. Well, that person didn’t quite die. They got picked up by the Carnival of Mysteries, which is like a carnival that sort of travels in the ether space, if you will. And time doesn’t really exist in the same way there, but it’s a place where, where spirits and souls.

People are, are collected as, and they are, they are healed. And so, when someone is kind of gotten to a place where they are ready to leave, they are allowed to leave the the Carnival of Mysteries and they come back to our world. But when they come back to our world in this situation, it’s like I can’t remember, 30 years, maybe 40 years later.

So, the world is very different, but here they are and and now we are like diving into a whole, oh my gosh, what has happened? And this is this is haunting. It is beautiful. It is people that are trying to find out they’re looking for killers. They’re looking for a villain who wants to control time.

They are. And, and through it all. There’s a little bit of romance. This is a male, male romance and and it’s just so beautifully done. So, I really hope that you guys will dive into the Carnival of Mysteries. And like I said, if this is your jam, if this is, you know, you like that tone, you like that. You wanna be just a little bit scared and you wanna have a really, really good, you know, meaty story to hang onto.

RL Merrill has three books in that series, but the Carnival of Mysteries has there’s a number of authors that write in that world, so you can get lots of different versions of the Carnival of Mysteries out there to, and just binge I think somewhere it’s something like 15 or 20 books.

Like you can really, yeah, you can really spend some time in that world. I believe that they are all, or most of them are available on KU.

Y. M. Nelson: Okay.

Jen G.: So, so that’s an, an option if you just, if you just really wanna binge the whole series during this spooky, creepy season, I really feel like, you know, it gets, we hit, we hit first day of fall.

I am ready for, I was at Trader Joe’s and I have bought, I bought the maple popcorn,

Y. M. Nelson: Yes.

Jen G.: bought the, I bought the pumpkin cranberry crackers, like I am. I am in it. I’m ready.

Y. M. Nelson: Yes.

Jen G.: And yeah, so just a little bit of scary. I’m not, I don’t do, I don’t do. Real, super, super scary. But I really love our o’ Merrill book, so I think you guys will, I think you guys will enjoy that.

Y. M. Nelson: Yeah.

Jen G.: a little bit of heat, not, not tons of heat. This is a very low heat book,

Y. M. Nelson: Okay.

Jen G.: but but

Y. M. Nelson: I,

Jen G.: you’ll get, you get all the feels in a different way.

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[00:17:26] Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma

Y. M. Nelson: I know you have more to recommend, but one of mine, which we’re going to end up doing a podcast episode about it ’cause I’ve got a few guests hosts reading it that I wanna recommend, it kind of goes in the same vein that your other two that your two books have go in.

And that is the book is called Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma.

Jen G.: Ooh.

Y. M. Nelson: That that’s a, you know, it’s a, it’s been out there for a little while and it is a bestselling book. So, this is probably one that people already know about, but if you don’t know about it or if you’re thinking that it’s just a vampire book, it’s not just a vampire book. It’s dark academia, fantasy, romance. So. It’s vampires, it’s also vampires with that dark academia kind of thing. You know,

Jen G.: yes.

Y. M. Nelson: the university’s called Uxley University, and we’re learning some things, and then some stuff happens along the way. So, without telling.

Jen G.: Yeah, it does.

Y. M. Nelson: Yeah, without telling too, too much about this one because we are going to do a whole podcast episode about this one.

Jen G.: Oh.

Y. M. Nelson: and I would like to know what you know, my guest hosts who are also reading this one think as well. But this one definitely is enemies to lovers.

Jen G.: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: they really are enemies to begin with.

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: character, Kidan is she- and actually there’s a mystery as

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: going on there.

So that’s

Jen G.: Ooh.

Y. M. Nelson: you know, when I, when you were talking about RL Merrill’s books, I was also thinking Hmm, you know, mystery element there.

So, when we come into it, Kidan’s sister June

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: missing, and so she’s trying to find her sister and she believes that her sister was actually taken by a vampire, but she doesn’t actually know how to find these vampires.

She doesn’t know where the vampires are. She doesn’t know, if June is even still alive. And so, as she goes and

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: to find these vampires, she’s uncovering, this whole university where vampires and humans maybe also have a little bit of magic going on with them.

Jen G.: Maybe,

Y. M. Nelson: Maybe,

Jen G.: maybe

Y. M. Nelson: there may

Jen G.: Uhhuh. Uhhuh.

Y. M. Nelson: other things going on there. They are together in this particular world, and the vampires and the humans have, let’s say, an intimate relationship.

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: we just gonna keep it there.

Jen G.: We’re gonna leave it there. We’re gonna leave it there.

Y. M. Nelson: leave it there, but.

Jen G.: We’re not giving away

Y. M. Nelson: Yeah. Yeah, we, we, we not gonna give away too much.

But I do wanna say, you know, if this is on your TBR and you’ve been wanting to read it, I suggest reading it before our podcast episode comes out because, we gonna spoil everything. So, I’m trying not to spoil anything here. But I wanted to bring that one out.

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[00:21:05] Honorable Mention: Blood Moon by Brittany S. Lewis

Y. M. Nelson: And, one is just an honorable mention. It’s not one that I have read yet. It is on my TBR,

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: it is an honorable mention because as of this recording, it is number one on the New York Times Young Adult hard cover fiction list.

Jen G.: Oh.

Y. M. Nelson: And it is called Blood Moon. It is by Brittany S. Lewis, which this is also a vampire kind of thing going on here, right? This is number one in a series, I believe. She said there’s a trilogy. It’s a trilogy.

But Blood Moon, the reason why this is on my TBR is because I have been following Brittany Lewis on Threads.

And the impetus for this book, said, was that she wanted to kind of rewrite the way that that, a certain character in The Vampire Diaries was treated. And I totally

Jen G.: following her. I was just looking her up.

Y. M. Nelson: Yes. Yes. Right.

Jen G.: Yes.

Y. M. Nelson: I

Jen G.: Oh my God, I’m so excited about this book! Yes.

Y. M. Nelson: I’m just like, I have to have this one on my TBR and because we’re talking about fall romances right now, to bring this one up, even though I haven’t read it. But it’s on my TBR and it’s burning a hole in my TBR,

Jen G.: Oh my God.

Y. M. Nelson: because. I, I just, I have to read it and I feel a, a lot of the same things that she says that she felt

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: That, caused her to write this particular book.

Jen G.: my gosh, yes.

Y. M. Nelson: I’m, I’m ready for it. I’m ready for

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: Now. On the rest on my list are kind of in the cozy section. Jen, what else do you have on your list?

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[00:23:10] Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca

Jen G.: Oh my gosh. We’re heading cozy too.

Y. M. Nelson: Okay.

Jen G.: are going straight into cozy, so.

Y. M. Nelson: So, Jen, tell us what else is on your list.

Jen G.: Okay. So, I have a couple of cozy books that, one of ’em is like, is, is really a romance and the other one is hinting at romance, probably later in the series. So. The first one I’m gonna tell you about is Haunted Ever After. This is a book by Jen DeLuca. She is a delightful writer.

She also has a series that takes place at a, at the Renaissance Fair. The first book in that series is called Well Met really fun time.

So, this is a newer series that she’s just started. I think book two is coming out soon. But Haunted Ever After is about a town in Florida a Boneyard Key. And so, our intrepid heroine was trying to buy a house in Orlando and the prices were just, you know, out of this world.

Crazy. And she was like, okay, you know what? I bet I could work remote. I bet I could live at the beach. Commute in on those days when I have to be in the office. That’s reasonable. And I’m going to go live at the beach ’cause I can buy a house there. And she finds this fantastic house that is so inexpensive, it’s so great.

So, and then she finds out that the town is kind of cute. They’ve got like a ghost tour that goes on and there’s just something. But there is definitely a little something weird about her house. Something is weird and eventually she realizes her house is haunted, like not a little bit haunted, but like super haunted

Y. M. Nelson: Oh man.

Jen G.: and, and of course she is doubting.

She is like, no, like that can’t be it. Clearly that’s not it. Come to find out her house is not the only one haunted, but the spirit that’s at her house does not like her. And so, we have a problem. The other ghosts that are in the that are in town, they are much more friendly and. And when I tell you that there’s a lot of quirky characters, we have a lot of quirky ghosts.

There’s a lot of things that are happening here, and it’s just a really good time a really comfy read. There’s some, some wonderful walks on the beach. There’s also ghost on the beach, but he’s, he’s not scary.

So highly recommend this book especially for anybody who has who has been challenged in trying to buy a house and thinks, oh gosh, I think I’ll just buy this house by the beach.

That, for unknown reasons, is so low in price

Y. M. Nelson: Oh boy.

Jen G.: and it might be haunted. You never know.

Y. M. Nelson: Oh boy. That’s something else.

Jen G.: So, it’s, so, it was fun. That’s a, it’s a fun book. It’s a fun book. It’s well told, keeps moving, and like I said, just a, a lovely cast character. So, I definitely recommend a Jen DeLuca.

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[00:26:18] Witchful Thinking by Celestine Martin

Y. M. Nelson: Cool. Yeah, so my, kinda in the same vein, what

Jen G.: Yeah.

Y. M. Nelson: here, has some say, has some similar themes. This book is called Wishful Thinking. It’s by Celestine Martin, and it is part of a, right now three book series.

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: Although I’m thinking maybe it might be four, but again, I haven’t read book two and three yet.

So, there’s one character that I’m thinking deserves a whole book, but I don’t know. So, we’re just gonna say it’s a three-book series right now.

Jen G.: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: this one is kind of the same thing in the fact that, our male main character his parents actually bought him a house and

Jen G.: Must be nice.

Y. M. Nelson: Right, exactly. It’s gotta be nice, gifted him a house. So gifted him a house, I should say. So, he still has to pay

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: mortgage but he is a merman, so he doesn’t really wanna stick around. He’s not that kind that sticks around. You know,

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: don’t, don’t always stick around on land. They wanna be in

Jen G.: There’s a whole big ocean to explore, obviously. Yes.

Y. M. Nelson: Exactly, and

Jen G.: is, yeah. This is a vacation house.

Y. M. Nelson: And you know, so there’s that same kind of theme there. But this book, actually I would say the main character of this book is our female main character, lucy Caraway and she is a witch. So

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: to the Jersey Shore. So, you got the Florida Coast here, and this is the Jersey Shore, but this is not the Jersey Shore that you think you know. Freya Grove. This

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: Grove on the Jersey Shore is a very magical town. It is

Jen G.: Love.

Y. M. Nelson: are witches, there are merfolk. There are vampires.

Jen G.: We love this

Y. M. Nelson: gnomes that do all kinds of foolishness.

Jen G.: love.

Y. M. Nelson: I mean, there are all kinds of magical folk and they just hang out. Like, it’s all good. So, I’m loving this, the normalization of all the magic folk all over the place.

It’s just, it, it is great. It’s, so cute. So, you have to go in with that realization that

Jen G.: Exactly.

Y. M. Nelson: is a magical place. And so, Lucy is, has been there forever, and Alex Alex and his family moved there when they were in high school.

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: You know. They were in high school for sophomore, junior, senior year.

After senior year graduation. Alex said, I’ve got to go and there’s a lot

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: water here. I’ve got to got to explore. So, this is a second chance romance. And the thing with Lucy is that because Lucy’s just still been there forever, she feels like there’s no excitement in her life. So

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: and her two sisters and her cousin Ursula, they’ve all got a little something going on in their lives right now. So, they all

Jen G.: Yeah.

Y. M. Nelson: they wanna cast a spell. And they cast

Jen G.: All right,

Y. M. Nelson: they cast a wish spell like, I wish, blah, blah, blah. So, this is a pretty powerful spell.

Jen G.: Great.

Y. M. Nelson: Lucy wishes for excitement in her life

Jen G.: Oh no,

Y. M. Nelson: Exactly, exactly.

Jen G.: dangerous.

Y. M. Nelson: Very

Jen G.: sounds dangerous.

Y. M. Nelson: Very dangerous. So instead of some of the more mundane things that she said she was going to put into the, you know, how at reunions the keeping up with our high school classmates kind of thing. You know how you have to put that little paragraph together?

Jen G.: Sure.

Y. M. Nelson: paragraph. Instead of having the regular stuff in it, she just made a paragraph that had a bunch of exciting and wild things like, you know, baking. Yeah, like baking croquembouche, which. If you look that up, you’ll see that that’s a very hard dessert to make

Jen G.: I do know what that, I watch a lot of British Baking Show.

Y. M. Nelson: Oh, so,

Jen G.: I watch a lot of the British break off. I know exactly what a croquembouche is.

Y. M. Nelson: Right. Exactly. Exactly. You

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: so, I mean, she’s doing that. She is, you know she says she is running races. She is also, you know, doing interior design work

Jen G.: gosh.

Y. M. Nelson: you know, and,

Jen G.: Oh, Lordy.

Y. M. Nelson: her soulmate, right? So

Jen G.: Yeah. I see. Yeah.

Y. M. Nelson: that’s where Alex, our Merman comes in because he has this house, and the house just happens to be across the street from her house.

And so, with this house, because he’s, gotta be out there in the ocean, he wants to sell this house.

Jen G.: Sure.

Y. M. Nelson: he enlists her to help him with the interior design to sell this house.

Jen G.: Oh no.

Y. M. Nelson: He also makes a wish,

Jen G.: no.

Y. M. Nelson: not in this wish spell, but he

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: a wish on his own that he gets another chance with Lucy.

Jen G.: Ah.

Y. M. Nelson: So, you know, there are a lot of things that happen between this point and happily ever after, but there is a happily ever after here.

This one is spicy.

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: to say medium spice. We have at least two open door scenes here, so I will venture that the other two books in the series, book two is called Kiss and Spell. Book three is called Deja Brew.

And yeah, I mean, come on, fall

Jen G.: love these titles.

Y. M. Nelson: Oh,

Jen G.: Oh, come on. Oh, I’m with you. I’m with you. You know what that is?

I, I love this trend in cozy, paranormal romance, cozy paranormal mystery books. Like, give me all the puns, all of the puns.

Y. M. Nelson: Exactly.

Jen G.: Yeah,

Y. M. Nelson: they’re so cute. They have cute covers. They’re just, they just, it just called to me, it just

Jen G.: I’m with you. Yeah.

Y. M. Nelson: Yes, definitely recommend.

I’m gonna say I recommend the whole series even though I haven’t read the whole series

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: one was so good.

Jen G.: There you go.

Y. M. Nelson: the whole series. So, you know. That is my,

Jen G.: I’m so with you.

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[00:33:40] There’s Pumpkin About You by Athena Carstairs

Y. M. Nelson: My paranormal kind of cozy. But then I also have like a human, we’ll say a human fall cozy one as well. What, what a, do you have anything else for us, Jan?

Jen G.: I do, I have a cozy mystery series that also has quite a number of books. And there are the beginnings of a romance in it. So, it’s really fun. So, I do have it’s more mystery than it is cozy romance, but there’s romantic elements for sure. So.

Y. M. Nelson: Good to know.

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: For mine mine is called There’s Pumpkin About You.

Jen G.: Okay.

Y. M. Nelson: Like, there’s something about you, There’s Pumpkin About You.

Jen G.: Right.

The puns.

Y. M. Nelson: Yes,

Jen G.: for the puns.

Y. M. Nelson: It’s by Athena Carstairs, And this follows Wren who is a party planner. She- basically, she’s just kind of gone off the deep end here. She

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: a day job, and she had a side hustle as a party planner, but the

Jen G.: Okay.

Y. M. Nelson: as the party planner was making a lot more money and taking up a lot more time.

So, she decided to jump off the deep end, and she is going to be a party planner full time. Unfortunately, she’s kind of in a small town, so at this point she needs one, big event to help introduce her to, know

Jen G.: Uhhuh.

Y. M. Nelson: the folks around her. so that one event is her cousin’s birthday party.

Jen G.: Okay.

Y. M. Nelson: be a big bash. She has found out that there’s this wonderful pumpkin farm that has a barn that is a perfect venue for this 30th birthday party.

Jen G.: Heck yeah.

Y. M. Nelson: So, she’s like, I am going out to meet the owners of this pumpkin farm. It has been passed down through I think, three generations and.

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: So, she is reading up about this pumpkin farm online and there are three brothers now who are kind of taking the reins from the dad, for the next generation of pumpkin farm owners. One of them’s named August. And in all of his pictures, he does not seem very happy to be there.

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: obviously this is a grumpy sunshine romance.

Jen G.: Yay.

Y. M. Nelson: a, he’s a little bit grumpy. But also, what I like about this is there’s representation. He is on the spectrum. So, he is functional on the spectrum. The spectrum is, as the author Athena has said, the spectrum is a big spectrum. So, there are

Jen G.: Of course.

Y. M. Nelson: the spectrum that may not be functional.

The this character of August, he is functional. It might be kind of like a double take, like. Are you on the spectrum or are you just a grumpy guy, kind of thing. So, she says that in her

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: note, just to let everybody know kind

Jen G.: Yeah. That’s great.

Y. M. Nelson: yeah, I mean I, I like that she does that, but I also like that she

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: representation there.

I mean, you

Jen G.: Oh my gosh.

Y. M. Nelson: amp, the

Jen G.: This is one of the things that I absolutely love about romance genre, about romance’s, authors, and about is that is that we, we know that everybody deserves a love story. And so being able to represent all kinds of different walks of life, all kinds of different people, all kinds of different backgrounds, all kinds of different things.

Has is a really fantastic way to to just kind of amplify that story. You know, just amplify that there, you know, everybody gets, everybody gets a love story. And my daughter is my daughter is autistic. She is she’s definitely on the spectrum. She is a. She is a teacher. She is she does all kinds of wonderful things.

So, there are lots of different ways that people live their lives on the spectrum, and I’m thrilled, thrilled, thrilled to see that type of representation in this book. So, super excited.

Y. M. Nelson: Yeah. I, I am, too., I’m very excited about that. Well, as you know from being on this podcast for like ever, I feel like we need representation. Everybody needs to feel like they are loved, they are desired, they are adored. And

Jen G.: Yeah.

Y. M. Nelson: that in a romance novel that, I mean, that’s where it should be at least, should be done.

Jen G.: I am here for it.

Y. M. Nelson: At

Jen G.: I’m here for it. Absolutely.

Y. M. Nelson: done in

Jen G.: Everybody gets a romance.

Y. M. Nelson: Yes, it should be done in real life as well, but at, at least in a romance ’cause that’s what romance is all about in my

Jen G.: Heck yeah. Heck yeah.

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[00:39:01] Eat. Pray, Hex by Tara Lush (Cozy Mystery)

Y. M. Nelson: but yeah. Jen, we do have a little time left so we can divert a little bit to cozy mystery, I mean books are books. us

Jen G.: yeah. And you know what? And I really think that, I really think that, that your listeners are gonna enjoy this one. Okay. This, I had to, I had to pull up the, the log line for this one. So, this book is called Eat, Pray, Hex. It is part of the Crescent Moon Mystery series by Tara Lush.

And lemme just read this to you,

“Paranormal and perimenopausal. Amelia’s got double trouble.

When a hot flash prone cookie shop owner Amelia inherits a spooky Florida Inn, she plans to sell it fast, but the place is haunted by an unsolved murder, and her dead aunt tasks her with using her newfound psychic powers to crack the case.”

What is it about Florida and these haunted houses?

Y. M. Nelson: Spooky.

Jen G.: I don’t know what it is, but I absolutely love it.

I love it so much. So so yeah, so we have an older heroine, which I am here for. She is a cookie baker, which I am here for, but but more importantly, she has inherited this inn, and there is a mystery about this ghost who is causing trouble, and she’s trying to get the place fixed up.

She’s got, high expectations for getting the, you know, she wants to sell it. She wants to, to not be, in business. But, you know, once she gets to town, she finds out that there are some really great people that live here. She finds the local crystal shop that has a wonderful wonderful lady that’s there who was friends with her aunt.

There’s a lot of charm about this town and. There is this one guy who’s like super cute and academic and is very interested in history. Yeah.

So, like I said, this is not, this is not like a, a romance. Romance where we’ve got, we have a clearly, like a, a great relationship kind of getting going here.

But this, there’s definitely some hints that these two are, they’re making eyes at each other. They’re making eyes at each other.

So, this is a cozy mystery series, and I told you at the beginning. Hide your wallets. This series already has six books.

Y. M. Nelson: Oh

Jen G.: There are already six books in this series,

Y. M. Nelson: Wow.

Jen G.: So go have a look and see if you guys are into this.

But there’s, yeah, there’s all kinds of great stuff and a wonderful group of characters. I’ve already started on book two. They have the most charming covers. Just love those little covers. So, so yeah, so this is a great series for people to dive into. I highly recommend thoroughly enjoying it.

There’s a couple different you know, great series that are out there that are, that are cozy.

If that’s your, if that’s your vibe. You can go with something that’s a little scarier if that’s your vibe. And that’s what I really love about that’s what I love about reading. It can be whatever I need it to be. So, yeah.

Y. M. Nelson: And you know, with mystery, yes, but even with romance, that’s really whatever I need it to be.

Jen G.: Anything I need it to be

Y. M. Nelson: I need it to be.

Jen G.: exactly anything I need.

Y. M. Nelson: It is such a huge genre and that’s why we can talk about it and talk about all these books.

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: now we’re about to be broke, so thanks Jen. Oh gosh.

Jen G.: You are so welcome.

Y. M. Nelson: But, but we’re, but we’re gonna be happy while we’re broke too. Yes,

Jen G.: yeah. You know what? It’s gonna be great. It’s gonna be great. Yep. I, Hey, I did recommend a book that’s in KU, so that whole series, a Carnival of Mysteries that’s in KU. Yeah.

And don’t forget to use your libraries. Go and use your libraries. There’s tons stuff available through your library app if that’s your deal. Library in person if that’s your deal. The Libby app, I use that all the time. Audio books. Big fan, so,

Y. M. Nelson: yes.

Jen G.: So,

Y. M. Nelson: I, I’m with you big fan, Libby Hoopla. These back behind me here, for those who can’t see the, I’m pointing to my books. They are all in the library. And you can request them print or eBook. Witchful Thinking, and I’m assuming her other two books, as well.

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: Immortal Dark is in the library.

So, a lot of these books, even though we’re laughing about, you know, we’re about to be broke, a lot of these books are also in the library and you may want to read them at the library, and then you may decide you wanna buy them. So, there’s that as well.

Jen G.: Hey, like I said, if it’s got a great cover, maybe I need it on my shelf. I mean, sometimes. Sometimes you get drawn in by the cover.

Although I have to admit, I very much prefer eBooks because if we’re being honest, I like a big font. I really want, I really want to have a big font when I’m reading, and it just yeah.

So, I am mo most more likely to have an eBook or an audiobook, but,

Y. M. Nelson: Yeah.

Jen G.: but. Whatever it takes. I’m doing a ton of driving this week. I got a seven-hour drive tomorrow and you better believe I’ve got the audio books loaded, all set to go.

Y. M. Nelson: I love it. I

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: it. All audio books, yes, they are reading! And actually, with Immortal Dark I, I’m finding that listening to the audio book while I’m actually looking at it and reading, it is also a good thing too. I

Jen G.: Oh.

Y. M. Nelson: I dunno how many people do this but listening and reading at the same time, it’s helping me kind of get into it.

Jen G.: Yeah.

Y. M. Nelson: with books like Immortal Dark and another book that I read for the podcast, Children of Blood and Bone. When I can’t see in my mind what the word is, sometimes I want to actually see it on paper,

Jen G.: Sure. Yeah.

Y. M. Nelson: to hear it in my mind as well, right? So, I want the audio book, but I also wanna see it.

Jen G.: Yeah.

Y. M. Nelson: and you know, when you have, you know, words like Uxley University and Susanyos, I wanna see it, and I wanna

Jen G.: I need to see it. Yeah. I’m with you. I’m with you.

Y. M. Nelson: I want all of it. I wanna see it and I wanna hear it. I wanna,

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Get the full immersive experience. That’s what I’m thinking.

Y. M. Nelson: Exactly.

Jen G.: just need a full immersion. Full immersion reading is what we’re all about, so

Y. M. Nelson: Yeah.

Jen G.: I love that for you.

Y. M. Nelson: yes. And so, with that, Jan, I love you being on here. I love having

Jen G.: love being here. Oh my God, it’s the best. Are you kidding me? Love this.

Y. M. Nelson: This is great and now my TBR is just a little bit longer, as I’m

Jen G.: Yes.

Y. M. Nelson: audiences out there. All of

Jen G.: Oh my God.

Y. M. Nelson: sure, y’all’s TBR is now just a little bit longer

Jen G.: Yeah.

Y. M. Nelson: So, Jen, you know, I gotta have you back. We are going to definitely do a ho another holiday one.

Jen G.: Beautiful.

Y. M. Nelson: Holiday as in winter holidays

Jen G.: Mm-hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: if

Jen G.: I’m in.

Y. M. Nelson: or, or summer if you’re in the, if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere.

I don’t know, whatever. So, you know,

Jen G.: Love it.

Y. M. Nelson: you back. Well, you know, we gotta have you back anytime we talk about books, so

Jen G.: Oh my God, anytime. I love coming back here, so

Y. M. Nelson: thank

Jen G.: wait. All right, my dear.

Y. M. Nelson: Hi. Isn’t it great when you find awesome reads like the ones on this episode? If you liked getting these book recs and want more, then subscribe to Nerdy Romantics newsletter@ymnelson.com back slash subscribe. Nerdy Romantics newsletter not only has nerdy and romantic wrecks, but sneak peeks and exclusives of my spicy, nerdy romances and love stories.

I love talking about sci-fi superheroes, fantasy, and romance books, movies, and shows with my friends. So, share this podcast with your nerdy, romantic friends. Thanks for listening and for watching.

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