Thunderhead * by Douglas Preston and Lee Child (from the Nora Kelly Series)
*The books above are linked to Bookshop.org. I will receive a small commission for each purchase when using these links. (This does not affect what you pay.)
Other authors and books mentioned on this episode:
I’ve been thinking a lot the past few weeks about brand awareness, engagement, and what it means to really connect with people about a topic we all love–in this case, books, specifically love stories.
It’s caused me to re-think some of the things I’m doing to connect with you, and it’s shown me that I may need to clarify some of the stuff surrounding my brand and well … me. Read on for answers to your two (three, really) biggest questions below.
I love writing love stories.😍🥰😘 I have since I was twelve. Some of them have an HEA (romance) and some of them don’t (WF). Writing is my passion, and I will probably always have an idea notebook or a story in progress. But it’s only been a few years since I decided to start my author career and publish said stories. And that’s where The Owen & Makayla Series came from.
As I continue this journey of putting my stuff out there, I realize there are a lot of paths, steps, and considerations I must figure out before I can get that “great American novel” to you. While I’ve been writing forrrevverrrr 😲, I’ve just decided to let people see what I’ve been writing, and I want you to see the best side of it possible. Right now, my debut novel manuscript is in a contest, and I’m waiting for the outcome. That outcome will determine how I put that book out, and how fast some of the next books come out afterwards.
During the time I’ve been waiting and writing,✏ I’ve also found other ways to put content out there and to talk about topics that I love with all of you that are also waiting for my next story to come out.💨 (Plus, I’m reading and enjoying other stories, and I want you to know about those, too!)
That is where all of the Nerdy Romantics “stuff” came from. 🧐
3 (okay and yes, 4). What’s Nerdy Romantics (#nerdyromantics), and what’s all this stuff with it?
Nerdy Romantics is what I’ve named my fan group.
If you’re a fan of my work, you’ll love: romance, romantic comedies for sure. In most of my stories, my characters also love nerd pop culture: Star Trek, superheroes and comics, Star Wars, fantasy. They may be gamers in their spare time or into 80s TV. They may even go gaga over a heist movie or the Terminator franchise. Think of them like the guys from The Big Bang Theory. All of them were big nerds who wanted love (even Sheldon after a while). And I’m like that, too.
I get why you may not really know that. Owen & Makayla are romance, pure and simple. They aren’t into anything “nerdy” and I didn’t set the story in a sci-fi or fantasy world. They do watch all 3 Matrix movies (more on that in my podcast), but they debate over it for a few minutes before they … well, lets just say they think about other things. So that’s why I’m changing my free book offer to a story that makes more sense to those just joining our awesome club! I am writing it right now and hope to have it out in November. Stay tuned.
And yes, if you’re a current newsletter subscriber you can get this story FREE, too.
Okay cool. So why all this other nerdy romantic stuff? Because I like talking to you! ❤💛❤💛❤I like providing content on the stuff we both love: romance novels, nerd pop culture, reading books. And I want you to feel comfortable engaging at whatever level you want to. HOWEVER, each Nerdy Romantics “thing” provides different content. So if you want it all you have to be there for all of it!
🎙🎤🎧NR Podcast--reviews, chats, commentary that will only be provided there.
NR Newsletter –3 things I’m nerding out over 🧨and most book giveaways that aren’t anywhere else. (Just because you follow my blog doesn’t mean you are a newsletter subscriber. If you are a newsletter subscriber, you get both. And you can do that here.)
Social media—My Instagram is mostly stories and posts you’ll only see there. 📷Many posts have bits of stories I’m working on. Twitter Fridays–not reposted anywhere else (at least not by me). 🤬🤪
Facebook Group (superfans)—private group and not reposted. 😍😍😍😍Also the place where I ask a lot of questions while writing and bounce new podcast show ideas. (It’s where I came up with the name). 🤔My guest hosts for my book chats are Facebook Group members.
🎉🎊So there you have it. A life update in a nutshell. And if you didn’t read it, there’s a summary below. BOTTOM LINE: I love that you’re here; books are coming soon (oh so many books); and now you know what Nerdy Romantics means and why it’s “all over the place.” 📖
TL;DR
I love writing love stories
I am writing more of them as you read this
I’d love to hear your feedback on them when they come out
Nerdy Romantics is my fan group
Nerdy Romantics love romance and nerd pop culture. (Think Big Bang Theory)
I provide Nerdy Romantics fans with a lot of free content in a lot of places
And biggest news of all: I’m working on a new short story that will show the essence of what Nerdy Romantics is all about. And yes, it will be FREE to newsletter subscribers.
On episode 9 of the Nerdy Romantics Podcast, author Y. M. Nelson talks impressions, points out Easter Eggs, and generally nerds out about the new Matrix movie, The Matrix Resurrections (Warner Brothers, 2021). This is only from seeing the trailer, not reading or watching any commentary. Not even looking at the IMDB page for the movie.
Do you plan to see the movie? Tweet or post on Instagram using #nerdyromanticspodcast. You can also comment on my IG post about this episode. Twitter: @ymnelson1 Instagram: @authorymnelson
Nerdy Romantics Newsletters feature 3 things I’m “nerding out” over, and the NR News is full of book reviews, recommendations, show notes from my always entertaining podcast, Nerdy Romantics Podcast, and fun.
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On episode eight of the Nerdy Romantics Podcast, author Y. M. Nelson will read her first indie published short story, “Twenty-Four Hours of Freedom.” This is part 1 of the “Owen & Makayla Trilogy.”
In this episode:
I list the songs on the playlist for the story
I read the story (in its entirety)
I talk about how I came up with it
I address the most common feedback I get about the trilogy
Books Mentioned During the Episode
“Twenty-Four Hours of Freedom” is available for free at most eBook retailers. You can find them here.
Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon (or your eBookseller’s platform). Reviews help you by easily connecting you with books you may like, and they help the author be exposed to new readers.
Playlist for the Owen & Makayla Trilogy on Spotify
On episode seven, Y. M. Nelson and Nerdy Romantics Marcie, Dana, and Staci talk about a new TV series on Netflix called The One. The series is based off the novel by John Marrs. We look at both the nerdy and the romantic sides of this series, which combines both of those elements plus a mysterious-death mystery that helps unfold the story behind the main characters.
In this episode, we talk about:
How did we start watching this show, anyway?
What we thought about the science
What we thought about the relationships
Would we watch again?
Our star rating
Neither Nerdy Romantics Podcast nor its guests are affiliated with Netflix, the show The One, or any of their affiliated companies or partners.
Damaged Goods* by Talia Hibbert (from the Ravenswood series)
Crooked River *by Douglas Preston and Lee Child (from the Special Agent Pendergast series)
*The books above are linked to Bookshop.org. I will receive a small commission for each purchase when using these links. (This does not affect what you pay.)
Other authors and books mentioned on this episode:
You Could Do Damage Too by K. C. Mills (from the You Could Do Damage series) (This is a direct link to the book on Amazon. I am not an Amazon affiliate)
While Dana and Staci represent themselves here, they are also permanent guests on the L-5 podcast on YouTube. Check them out!
Loved this one! (and loved the audio version too!)
This book is delicious. Well, not the actual book, but all the food mentioned had my mouth watering.
And the story was delightfully cute and funny. It’s just the right combination of food and fun for a novel.
Premise: Reena Manji hates her job. She’d rather be nurturing sourdough starters (that she’s named) and cooking than doing finance. Not to mention entertaining her parents’ meddling in her love life. Enter Nadim–an Indian Captain America with a British accent. Nice … until Reena finds out her father’s arranged for them to be married.
What I loved: I got a view of East African-Indian culture with this novel, and it made me appreciate how connected we all are, and we don’t even realize it. The cultural descriptions and experiences were unique to these set of characters, so I didn’t get that “this is how East Africans are” or “this is how Muslims are (or aren’t in this case)” kind of feeling, but I was learning about a culture that I barely knew.
The cooking show contest scenes were AH-MAZ-ING! I am not really a fan of reality TV competitions, but I would totally watch this play out. All the purely fun and romantic stuff seems to come out in these scenes for me.
I also managed to get the audiobook, and I listened to part of it. The uplifting music, the narrators, it was an experience that made the words even more fun and cute! it was all wrapped up in this feel-good bow. Next is for this to be a Netflix movie.
What I sort of Liked: The meddling parents that want to get her married already were hilarious! Especially near the end when family secrets are revealed. What I did not appreciate was the father’s motivation for getting her together with Nadim. That made me so angry! (But I’m pretty sure I was supposed to be). I wish Reena would have been more angry, though.
The heat level. I didn’t really research the heat level or even know what it was before reading. Sometimes I do because I specifically want a steamy romance. This one is sweet-steamy I guess is the best description. There’s heavy making out on page and language, but the sex is closed door. I usually find that as a let down. Here, it works, because everything else is so sweet and fun and cute. Also, Heron has just enough of the steamy making out that you don’t miss the unseen sex.
Overall: This one was a deliciously wonderful read. Okay, beyond hungry right now. Gotta end this and eat something.
Did you like Accidentally Engaged? Agree with this review? Let me know in the comments.
The review below is for Bryce the first book in Nana Malone’s 6-book series. Check out the rest of my reviews for each of these on Goodreads (link after the Bryce review) if for nothing but to see the .gifs I chose for each book! 😁😉
It’s only been what… Oh, 8 months since I listened to this audiobook! High time I actually get to a review on this! A little different than most of my reviews, I’ll talk about the series on all of these then drop a small bit about what stood out from each one in each book’s review section.
THE SERIES The Player Series The series itself is a sports romance series and follows a wealthy family full of athletes in different sports. Each of the kids (5 boys and a girl) finds love in the 6-book series by Nana Malone. This reminded me a lot of Jaci Burton‘s Play-By-Play series, but with the generational athlete and wealth of its prominent family added. Entertaining series that I binged on in audiobook form.
Audiobook experience This was my second foray into audiobooks, specifically in romance audiobooks (check out my first one in this podcast episode). Sebastian York and Traci Odom are dual narrating these as this series has dual H/h POVs. As a fan of Christian Fox’s, I didn’t think I would like Sebastian York, but that low gravelly voice of his is made for steamy and erotic romance! Traci was good. However, when she did voice a few male dialogue parts, she sounded comical. Some said she sounded too old for the female MCs. I think they both sound too old. But they were good voicing the story. It didn’t take away from the plot at all. Plus who cares? Of course, these are steamy/erotic romances, so NSFW listening (or in the carpool or kid drop-off lane).
THE BOOK Bryce Speaking of age, Bryce is the oldest of the siblings. This is probably why I liked this book more than some of the others in the series. As someone who’s old enough to be a few of these kids’ mother, the younger the MCs, the less I identify with them or what they’re going through. And each one of these books has these characters going through something.
Bryce is suffering from a potential career-ending injury. Tami is dealing with a dream of a tennis career put aside to deal with her mother’s illness. These two go through some struggles to make it to or back to success and to be together.
While I may not be scrambling to listen to these again, they are entertaining, sexy and they have full plots. However, listening to these would be my preferred method of consuming them 😉
Check out the rest of my reviews on each of the Player Series books HERE
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Nerdy Romantics Newsletters feature 3 things I’m “nerding out” over, and the NR News is full of book reviews, recommendations, show notes from my always entertaining podcast, Nerdy Romantics Podcast, and fun.
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