Ep #126 – LUST & FOUND

“AIN’T NO SUCH THING (AS UNLIKEABLE)”

This week Meka and Melinda, aka Melinka, host the podcast joined by guest Funmi and continue our discussion of “unlikeable” MCs

EP 126 HOSTS

> MEKA WHITE (she/her) is the voice behind BookAbility.me where she writes about her adventures in reading romance and being visually impaired. Meka loves pushing books and can’t wait to share her favorites with you. When she’s not reading, Meka also enjoys singing and exploring the Pacific Northwest with her guide dog, Treble. You can follow Meka on Twitter @Mektastic

> MELINDA UTENDORF (she/her) was that child reading Baby-Sitters Club and Sweet Valley High books with a flashlight until 2 a.m. and checking out stacks of books from the library every week. After getting sick of ‘important’ books in her English degree classes, she turned to romance and HEAs and hasn’t looked back since. Melinda spends her time doing puzzles, listening to podcasts, and helping as admin for @RomanceSparksJoy. When she’s not busy with all of that, she’s a freelance editor or talking about books as @MelindaEdits

EP 126 GUEST

FUNMI (sher/her) is a romance blogger and bookstagrammer with a focus on Black romance. You can follow her on Twitter @FunmiReadsHEAs or on Instagram @when_funmi_met_romance

EP 126 DISCUSSION

NOTE: This episode includes some salty language and innuendo

> “Melinka” is Meka and Melinda’s cute portmanteau

> Title: Night Hawk

Author: Beverly Jenkins

Relation to theme: Female MC Maggie

Representation: Black author, Black-Indigenous MC, Black-Scottish MC

Content Warnings: racism, past death of parents, poverty, attempted sexual assault, wrongful imprisonment, corruption, prostitution

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12182154-night-hawk

> Title: Love Unsolicited

Author: Alexandra Warren

Relation to theme: Female MC Joella

Representation: Black author, black MCs

Content Warnings: tough upbringing, theft

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48892940-love-unsolicited

> Title: Destiny’s Surrender (Destiny #2)

Author: Beverly Jenkins

Relation to theme: Female MC Billie

Representation: Black author, black MCs

Content Warnings: prostitution, secret baby, marriage of convenience

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17331377-destiny-s-surrender

> Title: Vivid (Greyson Family #1)

Author: Beverly Jenkins

Relation to theme: Female MC Vivid

Representation: Black author, black MCs

Content Warnings: sexism, racism, divorce

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1371130.Vivid

> Funmi mentions a historical romance she recently read by Lydia San Andres

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14227149.Lydia_San_Andres

> Producer Sarah crashes the podcast to respond to Meka’s request for more inclusive World War II romance with a plug for Kaia Danielle’s upcoming novel Soldier Girls due from William Morrow in 2021 about the 6888th Postal Battalion. You can follow Kaia on Twitter and Instagram @KaiaWrites or visit her website

Link: https://www.kaiawrites.com/

> Title: Writing Her In (Plot Twist #1)

Author: Holley Trent

Relation to theme: Female MC Stacia

Representation: Black author

Content Warnings: polyamorous, past cult upbringing, lying by omission

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43198682-writing-her-in

> Title: Shards of Hope (Psy-Changeling #14)

Author: Nalini Singh

Relation to theme: Female MC Zaira

Representation: Asian author

Content Warnings: child abuse, abduction, torture, suicide, violence

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17159943-shards-of-hope

NOTE: This book was also discussed in ep #125

> Title: The Weight of the Stars

Author: K. Ancrum

Relation to theme: Female MCs Ryann & Alexandria

Representation: Author of color, bisexual author, queer MCs, injured MC

Content Warnings: teasing, school violence, accident (broken arm), absent parent

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36952571-the-weight-of-the-stars

> Here’s a great interview with author K. Ancrum from LGBTQ reads

Link: https://lgbtqreads.com/2019/03/06/new-release-spotlight-the-weight-of-the-stars-by-k-ancrum/

> Title: Goddess With a Blade

Author: Lauren Dane

Relation to theme: Female MC Rowan

Representation: White author

Content Warnings: paranormal violence

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11374438-goddess-with-a-blade

> Title: Breathless (Old West #2)

Author: Beverly Jenkins

Relation to theme: Female MC Portia

Representation: Black author, black MCs

Content Warnings: sexism, racism, threat of violence, off-page death, kidnapping

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30166205-breathless

> Melinka’s monthly romance blogger shout-out goes to Essie from Love, Essie who writes and chats about inclusive romance. You can follow Essie on Twitter @molessie or on Instagram @essiemv or follow the link to the blog and podcast below

Link: https://essieslovecorner.wordpress.com/

Link: https://anchor.fm/esthermv

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

Happy Reading!

EP 126 MUSIC CREDIT

Music: “Lift Off” by Jahzzar

From the Free Music Archive

CC BY-SA 3.0