Jodi McAlister

"Strange and terrible things begin to happen to four teenagers - all born on the same Valentine's Day. One of these teenagers is the Valentine- a Seelie fairy changeling swapped for a human child at its birth. The Unseelie have come to kill the Valentine - except they don't know who it is. Pearl shares a birthday with Finn Blacklin. She's known him all her life and disliked every second of it. Now Pearl and Finn must work together to protect themselves from the sinister forces that are seeking them out. But there's one more problem- the explosive chemistry between them . . ."

Valentine

A hilarious and heart-warming romantic comedy that examines how the unlikeliest of loves can bloom in – well, the most likely of places. Perfect for fans of The Hating Game and The Spanish Love Deception. When Cece James agrees to be cast as a ‘Juliet’ on the next season of the hit television show Marry Me Juliet, it’s certainly not for the right reasons. She’s knee deep in debt and desperate for the associated paycheck. The last thing on her mind is the hunky ‘Romeo’ waiting for her at the end of the gravel driveway. But Dylan Jayasinghe Mellor isn’t your usual fame-hungry TV star. An Olympic gold medallist with calloused hands, kind eyes and a propensity for panic attacks, it turns out he’s not here for the right reasons either. As spokesperson for a men’s mental health foundation, and the franchise’s first non-white male lead, Dylan’s got a charity to plug and something to prove. When Cece gets eliminated on the first night, it seems like her and Dylan’s awkward first meeting will be their last conversation. But a global pandemic sees the TV set thrown into lockdown, and suddenly Cece and Dylan get a little more time together than they’d expected. Will love bloom when the cameras stop rolling?

Here for the Right Reasons

Pearl Linford is stuck. Her best friend won't talk to her. The internet thinks she is a murderer. And she's waiting for the right moment to forgive Finn Blacklin, but it never seems to come. On top of this, Unseelie fairies have infiltrated her town, and they've unleashed a new horror - a bunch of wild, uncontrollable, angry supernatural hunters, who've made Finn number one on their hit list. And you know what? That's a lot for one seventeen-year-old girl to handle. No wonder Pearl is so full of rage all the time. A rage that might be drawing the attention of some very dangerous people.

Ironheart

The third thrilling book in Jodi McAlister's page-turning Valentine series. Things that happen sometimes when your boyfriend is a magical fairy prince- he gets kidnapped by his older brother and whisked away to fulfil his destiny in their magical fairy kingdom. But Pearl Linford is not having that. It's time for a rescue mission. Pearl told Finn she was coming to get him and she's not going to let anyone in her way. But will Finn want to be saved? And should she have listened to all those people who told her he wasn't worth saving?

Misrule

When you sign up to a dating show, you’re supposed to fall in love with the male lead, not another contestant … A delightful romantic comedy with ALL the feels by one of Australia’s leading romance experts. Mandie Mitchell will do anything to get over her toxic ex. Even sign up to the polarising reality dating show, Marry Me Juliet. But with her self-esteem in tatters, she’s not sure she’s brave enough to actually go on the show until she forms a friendship with Dylan Gilchrist at the auditions that gives her the push she needs. Dylan is everything Mandie is not – tough, strong, and totally unafraid to speak her mind. Unfortunately, she also looks set to win, as she soon becomes the clear favourite of the Romeo, who also happens to share the same name. It’s annoying, really, just how perfect the Dylans seem for each other... Mandie’s jealous. But it’s not because she wants to win the show. It’s because in her effort to get over her ex, she’s gone and fallen right back in love… with the wrong Dylan.

Can I Steal You for a Second?

Galentine

Amy Burge

Offers a dedicated and detailed theorization and genre study of the "bonkbuster," a phenomenally popular genre of women's fiction in the late 20th century.

Women's Popular Reading in the Long 1980s

The Bonkbuster

The Love Hypothesis meets The Hating Game in a new standalone rom-com from New York Times acclaimed author and romance academic Jodi McAlister. Sadie Shaw and Jonah Fisher have known each other for fifteen years – and they’ve disliked each other for every one of them. It started with a minor altercation in an undergrad literature class, but as their academic careers developed, so did the intensity of their arguments. By the time they graduate with their doctorates, they’re embroiled in a full-on rivalry. So when a position comes up that Sadie and Jonah are both perfect for, their ongoing enmity explodes into a red-hot competition. But as Sadie fights to secure her future, she realises there might be a way for both of them to get their dream job. There's just one catch –they'll have to get married first. When things get personal, though, Sadie will have to keep her eye on the prize. A fake marriage isn't worth jeopardising her real career over, is it?

An Academic Affair

‘Ticked all my romcom boxes. A super smart rivals to lovers, which was tender, sexy, snarky and full of big feelings’ SARRA MANNING, author of London, With Love The Love Hypothesis meets The Hating Game in a new standalone romcom from New York Times acclaimed author and romance academic Jodi McAlister. From rivals in the classroom. . . to partners in real life? Sadie Shaw and Jonah Fisher have known each other for fifteen years – and they’ve disliked each other for every one of them. It started with a minor altercation in an undergrad literature class, but as their academic careers developed, so did the intensity of their arguments. By the time they graduate with their doctorates, they’re embroiled in a full-on rivalry. So when a position comes up that Sadie and Jonah are both perfect for, their ongoing enmity explodes into a red-hot competition. But as Sadie fights to secure her future, she realises there might be a way for both of them to get their dream job. There's just one catch – they'll have to get married first. When things get personal, though, Sadie will have to keep her eye on the prize. A fake marriage isn't worth jeopardising her real career over, is it? Tropes: Enemies to lovers Marriage of convenience One Bed He falls first Readers are OBSSESSED with An Academic Affair! 'GIVE IT THE BOOKER PRIZE!!!!!!!!! THE MILES FRANKLIN!!!!!! THE STELLA!!!!!!!! I BELIEVE IN LOVE AGAIN!! … This actually filled my lungs up with joy until I felt like they'd burst' ????? ‘A fantastic read! I loved the enemies/academic rivals-to-lovers setup – Sadie and Jonah are EVERYTHING! This also had marriage of convenience and it was heartfelt, and their banter, THEIR BANTER! Yes please’ ????? 'From the first sentence I was hooked. The sparkling and witty dialogue to the chemistry between Jonah and Sadie kept me up til '3am to finish because I couldn't put it down’ ????? 'Wow, wow wow!! This is my absolute favourite romcom of the year! An Academic Affair is such cute, funny, heartstring-tugger of a book' ????? ‘I absolutely adored An Academic Affair …Sadie and Jonah's chemistry was palpable … I couldn’t get enough of them as a couple. I’m already thinking about rereading it – it’s the kind of story that sticks with you!’ ?????

a rivals to lovers workplace romance heating up the classroom

"Two English professors enter a fake marriage in order to secure partner hire, but soon realize their feelings for each other aren't as fake as they'd once thought"--

A Novel

Can I Steal You for a Second?.

She’s the reality TV villain everyone will love to hate. He’s the producer tasked with making it happen. What could go wrong? A hilarious, heartfelt rom-com for fans of The Unhoneymooners. ‘A full-on villain romance, with all the lying, scheming and blazingly tumultuous sex you could hope for.’ New York Times Reality TV producer Murray O’Connell is the showrunner for reality dating show Marry Me, Juliet, and that means he’s the boss: he controls the cast, the crew and the story. Until Lily Fireball turns up. Lily is everything viewers love to watch: she’s feisty, dramatic, and never backs down from a fight. Her villain narrative should be easy to pull off, but Murray keeps getting in her way. Because before she was Lily Fireball, she was Lily Ong – Murray's best friend, and he's determined to stop her blowing up her life on television. As the season unfolds, Lily and Murray go head to head. Lily just wants to have some fun with her role, and Murray just wants to film the show he planned. Why won't she listen to him? And why can't Murray focus on the job, instead of the woman he thought was just a friend? ‘The best friends to lovers book I've read in a long while, maybe ever … A perfect finale to the bingeworthy Marry Me, Juliet series.’ Karina May, author of Duck à l'Orange for Breakfast and Never Ever Forever

A sizzling frenemies-to-lovers rom-com

Not Here to Make Friends

When you sign up to a dating show, you're supposed to fall in love with the male lead, not another contestant ... A delightful romantic comedy with ALL the feels by one of Australia's leading romance experts. Mandie Mitchell will do anything to get over her toxic ex. Even sign up to the polarising reality dating show, Marry Me Juliet. But with her self-esteem in tatters, she's not sure she's brave enough to actually go on the show until she forms a friendship with Dylan Gilchrist at the auditions that gives her the push she needs. Dylan is everything Mandie is not - tough, strong, and totally unafraid to speak her mind. Unfortunately, she also looks set to win, as she soon becomes the clear favourite of the Romeo, who also happens to share the same name. It's annoying, really, just how perfect the Dylans seem for each other... Mandie's jealous. But it's not because she wants to win the show. It's because in her effort to get over her ex, she's gone and fallen right back in love... with the wrong Dylan.

Claire Parnell

Andrea Anne Trinidad

The romance publishing landscape in the Philippines is vast and complex, characterised by entangled industrial players, diverse kinds of texts, and siloed audiences. This Element maps the large, multilayered, and highly productive sector of the Filipino publishing industry. It explores the distinct genre histories of romance fiction in this territory and the social, political and technological contexts that have shaped its development. It also examines the close connections between romance publishing and other media sectors alongside unique reception practices. It takes as a central case study the Filipino romance self-publishing collective #RomanceClass, analysing how they navigate this complex local landscape as well as the broader international marketplace. The majority of scholarship on romance fiction exclusively focuses on the Anglo-American industry. By focusing here on the Philippines, the authors hope to disrupt this phenomenon, and to contribute to a more decentred, rhizomatic approach to understanding this genre world.

Publishing Romance Fiction in the Philippines

Libby Lawrence is good at pretending, but she can't seem to drop the facade, even with her best friend. After snagging her dream role in a theatre production, things only get more complicated as Libby must decide who she is, and who she wants.

Libby Lawrence is Good at Pretending

The term 'new adult' was coined in 2009 by St Martin's Press, when they sought submissions for a contest for 'fiction similar to YA that can be published and marketed as adult – a sort of 'older YA' or 'new adult'.' However, the literary category that later emerged bore less resemblance to young adult fiction and instead became a sub-genre of another major popular genre: romance. This Element uses new adult fiction as a case study to explore how genres develop in the twenty-first-century literary marketplace. It traces new adult's evolution through three key stages in order to demonstrate the fluidity that characterises contemporary genres. It argues for greater consideration of paratextual factors in studies of genre. Using a genre worlds approach, it contends that in order to productively examine genre, we must consider industrial and social factors as well as texts.

New Adult Fiction

This book is a study of female virginity loss and its representations in popular Anglophone literatures. It explores dominant cultural narratives around what makes a “good” female virginity loss experience by examining two key forms of popular literature: autobiographical virginity loss stories and popular romance fiction. In particular, this book focuses on how female sexual desire and romantic love have become entangled in the contemporary cultural imagination, leading to the emergence of a dominant paradigm which dictates that for women, sexual desire and love are and should be intrinsically linked together: something which has greatly affected cultural scripts for virginity loss. This book examines the ways in which this paradigm has been negotiated, upheld, subverted, and resisted in depictions of virginity loss in popular literatures, unpacking the romanticisation of the idea of “the right one” and “the right time”.

Jodi McAlister

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