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A runaway bride with influencer energy shows up at a vampire’s castle, and somehow the garlic is only the beginning. We’re leaning all the way into spooky season with a modern monster romance that’s campy, spicy, and weirdly sweet: Your Coffin Or Mine by Jacklyn Hyde, the start of the Monster Bay series. If you love grumpy sunshine, fated mates, and a paranormal romance that actually wants you to laugh, this one gives you plenty to chew on.

We also catch up on romance book news, including Kimberly Lemming’s chaotic-funny Mead Mishap series updates and Ali Hazelwood’s sequel announcement tied to The Love Hypothesis. That spins into a real talk moment about book-to-screen adaptations, what gets lost in translation, and why rereading a book right before a movie can totally change your expectations.

Then we zoom out to the romance community itself: the RARE Romance And Reader Events controversy and why threats, inclusivity, and power dynamics matter when reader events are supposed to feel welcoming. From there, it’s pure fandom survival mode, from Dragonkind “Threshing Day” game stories to the absolute hunger games of Monster Rotica ticket queues.

Come hang with us for vampire rom-com banter, pacing debates, consent concerns, audiobook camp, and our final answer to the only question that matters: is this a kissing book? If you enjoy the conversation, subscribe, share the episode with a romance-reading friend, and leave a review so more monster romance fans can find us.

Links from the News Segment and Show:

• Kimberly Lemmings announced 2 new Mead Mishap books
  • Book four in the series, summer 2027, That Time I Got Drunk and Was Bitten by a Snake Man
  • Book five coming in 2028
  • Instagram Link
• Ali Hazelwood wrote a sequel to The Love Hypothesis
  • The Two Body Problem releases February 2027
  • Already optioned for film
  • Instagram Link
• RARE London hubbub
  • Romance and reader events in turmoil
  • Instagram Link

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