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Jason Reynolds Tackles Romance, Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein Heat Up Netflix, Courtney Milan’s New Book Idea, and More!

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Liberty Hardy

Senior Contributing Editor

Liberty Hardy is an unrepentant velocireader, writer, bitey mad lady, and tattoo canvas. Turn-ons include books, books and books. Her favorite exclamation is “Holy cats!” Liberty reads more than should be legal, sleeps very little, frequently writes on her belly with Sharpie markers, and when she dies, she’s leaving her body to library science. Until then, she lives with her three cats, Millay, Farrokh, and Zevon, in Maine. She is also right behind you. Just kidding! She’s too busy reading. Twitter: @MissLiberty

Hello, love lovers! Today we’re going to talk about an office romance with Brett Goldstein and Jennifer Lopez, watch Jason Reynolds talk about writing his first love story, listen to Courtney Milan’s wild new idea for a book, and more!

Does My Face Look Like It’s In the Mood for Office Romance?

Brett Goldstein, who starred as Roy Kent in Ted Lasso and is also one of its writers, is turning his sights on romance. He is co-writing Office Romance for Netflix, which he will also appear in, and he will be joined by Jennifer Lopez, who has already had two big hits for the streaming giant. I can’t wait to see these two on-screen together! I wonder if Brett will wear black dark heather charcoal.

“Being a Romantic Requires an Unbelievable Amount of Courage and Resilience.”

I Did Something Bad cover

Pyae Moe Thet War, author of the debut romantic adventure I Did Something Bad, wrote a guest essay for The Nerd Daily about searching for a romance novel kind of romance. Why settle for anything less than what makes your heart beat when you read about it in books? “But I knew I didn’t want to be partnered for the sake of being partnered, because that’s not what my favorite fictional heroines did. Instead, I desired someone who made me as giddy as I was when I read my favorite romance novels. Decades of reading about women who experienced a transcendent, joyous love confirmed to me that that was what I wanted for myself, too.” (Me, I’m a Gen-Xer who grew up watching Singles and thought if you found someone who said “gesundheit” or “bless you” when you sneezed, you had hit the jackpot.)

Three Hundred and Eight Seconds on Twenty-Four Seconds from Now…

twenty four seconds from now book cover

Award-winning author Jason Reynolds appeared on CBS Mornings to talk about writing his first young adult romance novel. Twenty-Four Seconds from Now… is about a young man who is getting ready for his first sexual experience with his long-term girlfriend. The novel looks back on moments in time leading up to it, in increments of twenty-four.

Reynolds also shared the story of when his mother told him about the birds and the bees. “She sat me down at a Ruby Tuesday, and I was eating chicken wings… I thought I was going to choke to death.”

Don’t Get Them Wet

The always-amazing author Courtney Milan has written so many different kinds of romance novels. Contemporary romance, historical romance, queer romance, romances with sapphic elderly ladies. The list goes on. And now sock gremlins. Milan recently told Smart Podcast, Trashy Books that she’s been working on a romantasy novella about a sock gremlin, who is made of chaos. In this story, gremlins have been used to cause ruin, which leads to them being almost eradicated, so now this particular gremlin settles for turning socks to lint at the laundromat. I don’t know where the romance comes in, but perhaps it happens when lost socks are reunited with their match.

Real Women Have Curves Writer Josefina López has a New Movie in the Works

Yelyna De León will star in and direct 20 Pounds to Happiness, about a full-figured Latina in a “Real Women Have Curves” support group who meets the man of her dreams and must decide if she wants to sacrifice herself and the support of her friends for a man. This will be the directorial feature film debut for De León. Other actors joining her in the movie will be Carlo Mendez, Riley Shanahan, Christiana Leucas, Soledad St. Hilaire, Iyari Limon, Rafael Sigler, and Tricia Cruz.