Ep #116 – LUST & FOUND

“LOVE & SUFGANIYOT”

This week Sarah Jean hosts the podcast with special guest author Felicia Davin as we conclude our December “Coming Home & Second Chance Romance” theme with all of the holiday baking Queer Romance

EP 116 HOST

> SARAH JEAN (she/her) From the woods of Massachusetts, Sarah Jean has been reading queer romance for 12 years. She runs a queer book club called Rainbow Readers of Massachusetts (https://www.facebook.com/rainbowreadersmass/) that celebrates queer lives, joy, and empowerment through genre fiction. When not reading or listening to books Sarah is plotting her queer historical romances, cuddling with her cats, and planning her next adventure. Follow Sarah on Twitter @queer_reader

EP 116 GUESTS

> FELICIA DAVIN (she/her) When not writing and reading fiction, Felicia Davin can be found teaching or translating French. She loves linguistics, singing, and baking. She is bisexual, but not ambidextrous. Originally from much warmer climes, she currently lives in Massachusetts with her partner and their cat. You can follow Felicia on Twitter @FeliciaDavin and on Instagram @FeliciaDavinWrites

EP 116 DISCUSSION

> We don’t spend a lot of time discussing Felicia’s writing this episode, but you can find links to all her books on GoodReads
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14051503.Felicia_Davin

> Title: The Remaking of Corbin Wale
Author: Roan Parrish
Relation to theme: Holiday, coming home
Representation: Queer author, queer MCs, white MCs, Jewish MC
Content Warnings: death, spousal abuse of secondary character, verbal abuse, past death of parental figures/relatives, kink, parental neglect
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39347033-the-remaking-of-corbin-wale

> Sarah also highly recommends the audio for The Remaking of Corbin Wale narrated by Chris Chambers
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41579359-the-remaking-of-corbin-wale

> As Sarah mentions, Sarah Josepha Hale was the woman who campaigned President Abraham Lincoln for the creation of the Thanksgiving holiday, and you can find her episode of the Stuff Missed in History Class (https://twitter.com/MissedinHistory/) podcast here
Link: https://podtail.com/en/podcast/stuff-you-missed-in-history-class/sarah-josepha-hale-godey-s-lady-s-book/

> Sarah and Felicia also briefly discuss Small Change by Roan Parrish which, while not explicitly a holiday romance, does cover Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmastime
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34878010-small-change

> You can download Roan Parrish’s holiday novella A Reluctant Santa for free here
Link: https://storyoriginapp.com/giveaways/9c3063ca-b488-11e9-99d0-3b2ac795e922

> Roan Parrish’s Riven series, which Sarah briefly mentions, can be found here
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/series/234029-riven

> Title: Checked Baggage
Author: Valentine Wheeler
Relation to theme: Holiday, coming home
Representation: Lebanese-American author, Lebansese MC, Lebanese-American MC, queer MCs
Content Warnings: grief
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42401976-checked-baggage

> Felicia mentions An American Fairytale by Adriana Herrera which also features a multicultural Thanksgiving celebration
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43198519-american-fairytale

> Title: Mangos & Mistletoe
Author: Adriana Herrera
Relation to theme: Holiday
Representation: Bi author, Latinx author, queer MCs, Dominican/Latinx MCs
Content Warnings: immigration anxiety, homophobia from family
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48747627-mangos-and-mistletoe

> Sarah highly recommends the queer romantic comedy Big Eden (2000) w/d by Thomas Bezucha which, while not explicitly a holiday movie, does cover Thanksgiving and Christmastime
Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212815/
>> Interview with w/d Thomas Bezucha in honor of the 15th Anniversary of Big Eden
Link: http://www.sgn.org/sgnnews43_42/page22.cfm

> Felicia highly recommends the comedy series Schitt’s Creek (2015-2020) which airs on Pop TV and reruns on Netflix
Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3526078/

> Title: Miss Dominguez’s Christmas Kiss & Other Stories
Author: Lydia San Andres
Relation to theme: Holiday
Representation: Latinx author, Latinx MCs, queer MCs
Content Warnings: none identified please contact us to add
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43561938-miss-dominguez-s-christmas-kiss-and-other-stories

> Title: Highland Haunting: A Halloween Story (The Townsends #3.5)
Author: Lily Maxton
Relation to theme: Holiday
Representation: Queer MCs, white MCs
Content Warnings: murdered ghosts repeating death
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42123002-highland-haunting

> Sarah highly recommends the entire Townsend series by Lily Maxton
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/series/201943-the-townsends

> Sarah recommends the Diversion series by Eden Winters which, while not explicitly a holiday romance, does have a recurring Christmas theme including a special Christmas cactus
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/series/97074-diversion

> Sarah says the Diversion audio books narrated by Darcy Stark are excellent
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42394564-diversion

> Title: Winter Oranges
Author: Marie Sexton
Relation to theme: Holiday
Representation: Queer MCs, white MCs
Content Warnings: paparazzi harassment, possible ableist language
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26117781-winter-oranges

> Sarah recommends the Tyack & Frayne series by Harper Fox which is a romantic suspense series tied to the pagan holidays
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/series/117076-tyack-frayne

> Title: Ben’s Bakery & the Hanukkah Miracle
Author: Penelope Peters
Relation to theme: Holiday
Representation: Jewish MCs, queer MCs, white MCs
Content warnings: inter-religious conflict between mcs, past death of a parent, past skating accident and trauma, mention of a panic attack, descriptions of blood, diet talk, sex
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42108069-ben-s-bakery-and-the-hanukkah-miracle

> Title: Handmade Holidays
Author: Nathan Burgione
Relation to theme: Holiday
Representation: Queer author, queer MCs
Content Warnings: family abuse, kicking out of queer teens, partner abuse, controlling partner, fat phobia, racism, femme hatred, transmisogyny, cheating
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36492203-handmade-holidays

> Sarah and Felicia also mention Nathan Burgione’s new holiday novella Faux Ho Ho which is available now but hadn’t been released at the time of recording
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48747601-faux-ho-ho

> Felicia mentions Sophie Fournier series by her friend K.R. Collins which is about the first woman to join a professional hockey league in Canada and involves the team celebrating Thanksgiving together
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/series/257799-sophie-fournier

> Sarah Jean’s Holiday Romance TBR:

Christmas Inn Maine by Chelsea Cameron
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48911730-christmas-inn-maine

Stocking Stuffers by Erin McCellan
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48385513-stocking-stuffers

Hometown Christmas by Garrett Leigh
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48840400-hometown-christmas

Hearts Alight by Elliot Cooper
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33002417-hearts-alight

Eight Nights in December (formerly Eight Nights) by Keira Andrew
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36694202-eight-nights-in-december

Kiss me at Kwanaza by L.L. Bucknor
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23462695-kiss-me-at-kwanzaa

Faux Ho Ho by Nathan Burgoine
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48747601-faux-ho-ho

Eitans Chord by Shira Glassman
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28120407-eitan-s-chord

The Generous Princess by Shira Glassman (included in the Tales from the Perach anthology)
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32181882-tales-from-perach

Aviva and the Aliens by Shira Glassman (included in the Tales from the Perach anthology)
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32181882-tales-from-perach

Eighty Kinky Nights by Xan West
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48665659-eight-kinky-nights

Their Troublesome Crush by Xan West
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43321639-their-troublesome-crush

> Felicia briefly mentions loving Knit One, Girl Two by Shira Glassman
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34732711-knit-one-girl-two

> Sarah Jean’s podcast shout-outs:

>> Love and Luck Podcast, an epistolary romance told through voicemails, CWs: homophobia, gay bashing, PTSD, family abandonment, homelessness
Link: https://www.loveandluckpodcast.com/

>> Caravan Podcast, a paranormal romance set near the Grand Canyon, CWs: paranormal violence
Link: https://www.whisperforge.org/caravan/

>> Kaleidotrope Pod, a queer romantic comedy podcast set on a slightly magical college campus and playing around with romance tropes, CWs: unknown, please contact us to add
Link: http://kaleidotropepodcast.com/

> Best of 2019

>> Felicia

>>> Prince on Paper by Alyssa Cole
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38622940-a-prince-on-paper

>>> Gilded Cage by K.J. Charles (previously discussed in ep #113)
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46368222-gilded-cage

>>> Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martin (NOTE: not a romance)
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37794149-a-memory-called-empire

>> Sarah

>>> In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan (previously discussed in ep #104)
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31944679-in-other-lands

>>> Diversion series by Eden Winters (discussed earlier in this episode)
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42394564-diversion

>>> Charity Case by Malacandrax
Link: https://charitycasecomic.com/

> Again, we don’t spend a lot of time discussing Felicia’s writing this episode, but you can find links to all her books on GoodReads
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14051503.Felicia_Davin

> Which #QueerRomance favorites of yours did we miss? Let us know on Twitter or Instagram @RomBkPod

Happy Reading!

EP 116 MUSIC CREDIT
Music: “Lift Off” by Jahzzar
From the Free Music Archive
CC BY-SA 3.0