First Dates & Soulmates: A Romance Podcast

Meg Casebolt & Nikki McKnight

First Dates & Soulmates is a romance podcast where craft meets culture, hosted by romance author Meg Casebolt and pop culture devotee Nikki McKnight. Expect trope frameworks, feminist film critiques, author interviews, and sometimes ridiculous readalongs.

  1. 3h ago

    Historical Romance Isn't Dead. Publishers Just Aren't Looking for Its Readers (w/ Elizabeth Everett)

    Elizabeth Everett sold her first book at 50. She had only started reading romance in her 40s, after assuming it had nothing to do with her. Then she binged hundreds of historicals, ran out, and wrote her own: a series about women scientists in Victorian England. In this conversation, Elizabeth explains why historical romance can tackle things contemporary romance can't (abortion care, consent, misogyny) and why that may be part of why it struggles with younger readers. We get into BookTok, why traditional publishers keep chasing the same blue-sprayed-edge reprint instead of the backlist authors readers want next, and what happens when you pitch a magic hotel on a whim and your editor says yes. We also talk about: Why readers (and Gen Z TV audiences) are losing patience for flawed characters and stories that don't pick a sideHow romantasy keeps the ball gowns and politics but drops the flush-toilet reality checkWhy cozy doesn't have to mean "no deeper message"The Bridgerton and Heated Rivalry lessons publishers and booksellers missedWhy small press and self-published collaborations may be historical's next chapterElizabeth's Magic and Mischief at the Wayside Hotel, set in our hometown of Rochester, NY Then we close with what we're shipping this week. Elizabeth Everett WebsiteNewsletter (The Rule Breaker's Report on Substack)InstagramGoodreads Elizabeth's books mentioned The Secret Scientists of London (historical) A Lady's Formula for Love (chemist)A Perfect Equation (mathematician)A Love by Design (engineer) The Damsels of Discovery (historical) The Love Remedy (apothecary)A Lady Sparks a Flame The Wayside Hotel (cozy fantasy, set in Rochester, NY) Magic and Mischief at the Wayside Hotel:The Wayside Guide to Baking and Bloodlust, coming in May 2027 Content notes for Elizabeth's books: The Love Remedy includes an off-page sexual assault and a discussion of abortion care. A Lady Sparks a Flame includes a discussion of past self-harm. Get the full show notes. Enjoyed this episode? Also check out our episode about queer Victorian romance with Joanna Lowell! What we're shipping Meg: The Hookup Equation by Roxie Noir (Loveless Brothers series) -- added to our Professor-Student Romance RecsNikki: Hunt Me by Cora Rose and E.M. Lindsey (Murder Hearts #1)Elizabeth: Spirits and Scandals by Ginny B. Moore and The Secrets of Everlight by Julie Hall Mentioned in the episode: Julie Anne Long, Sherry Thomas, Meredith Duran, Joanna Lowell, Adriana Herrera, Mia Manansala, Evie Dunmore, Ali Hazelwood, Swoon Fest (Orlando, January)

    Historical Romance Isn't Dead. Publishers Just Aren't Looking for Its Readers (w/ Elizabeth Everett)

  2. Oct 28

    Breaking the Curse Trope: Beauty and the Beast, ACOTAR, The Ex Hex & Romantasy

    Why are romance readers (and publishers) obsessed with curses? Meg and Nikki trace curse-breaking romance from Beauty and the Beast and other fairy-tale retellings through A Court of Thorns and Roses and The Ex Hex, as well as exploring curses within cozy fantasy, witchy romance, and modern romantasy. Along the way, Meg breaks curse stories into three-and-a-half major types and introduces a seven-step curse-breaking framework: the origin wound, the rule, the false solution, escalation, the loophole, the sacrifice, and the break. Get the full show notes Listen to our last episode on Practical Magic 2 What we coverThe three-and-a-half major types of curse stories: fairy-tale curses, generational curses, bodily-autonomy curses, and supernatural bargainsWhy curse plots naturally create urgency and a ticking clockThe seven beats of a curse-breaking romanceHow Practical Magic 2, Beauty and the Beast, and ACOTAR fit that structureWhy The Ex Hex turns the traditional curse plot into a cozy small-town rom-comThe path from fairy-tale retellings and YA fantasy to modern romantasyWhy curse-breaking has split into two particularly useful modern modes: epic romantasy quests and community-centered cozy fantasyHow curse stories have shifted from passive cursed heroines to women who investigate, gather allies, claim power, and actively break the conditionWhy breaking the curse isn’t necessarily enough to convince us the couple has an HEA Pasted markdown Pasted markdown Books mentionedPractical Magic / Practical Magic 2Beauty by Robin McKinleyBeauty and the BeastHeart’s Blood by Juliet MarillierEntreat Me by Grace DravenA Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. MaasThe Ex Hex by Erin SterlingThe Bird and the Sword by Amy HarmonThe Heartstone Curse by Jasmine GonzalezSpellcast by Sophie JordanThe Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. SchwabTake My Body by K.A. MerikanWicked Villains by Katee RobertGrave Situation by Louisa MastersAxe Backwards by May Archer

    Breaking the Curse Trope: Beauty and the Beast, ACOTAR, The Ex Hex & Romantasy

  3. Oct 21

    Practical Magic 2 Review: 5 Signs Your Romance Curse Is Cursed

    Spoiler warning: we spoil the entire movie. Practical Magic 2 is here, and Nikki and Meg have a lot of feelings about it. Meg saw it with three girlfriends (a certified First Dates & Soulmates date: tickets, popcorn, margaritas after). Nikki has script-level complaints but still had a great time. Together they break down this adaptation of Alice Hoffman's The Book of Magic, the last book in the Owens sisters series, and ask the question at the heart of every curse-breaking romance: is your romance curse cursed? Sally's second husband Gary has died, and to protect her daughters Kylie and Antonia, she casts a spell that wipes their memories of magic. When Aunt Jet dies, Kylie's boyfriend Gideon lands in a coma right after she says "I love you," and the family heads to England to break the curse for good. Spoiler: it takes a sacrifice, and Nikki and Meg have thoughts about whose. "Love is the reason for, evidence of, and the only way out of a curse." — NikkiGet the full show notes Listen to our episode about the original Practical Magic (1998) Five signs your romance curse is cursedThe curse breaks too easily. The first movie "broke" the curse, the sequel reveals it never did, and then it's handled again in about a minute and a half of screen time. Where's the portent?You think you can outrun a generational curse. Sally wipes the girls' memories and goes back to repressing her own magic. Meg and Nikki compare notes with A Discovery of Witches, Charmed, Frozen, and Encanto. Ignorance as protection never works, and keeping your daughters in the dark is worse than the curse.A curse should change the person who carries it. Sally runs the same arc twice (love, loss, reject magic) and ends up in the same place. Nikki brings up Groundhog Day as the counterexample: same loop, but the character actually changes.Everybody falls in love too fast. "I waited a long time for you" implies fate, but the film never shows it. Where's the build-up for Sally and Ian, or Kylie and Gideon? And does the curse know you're in love before you say it out loud?Sisterhood is the real counter spell. The first film was a love story between Sally and Gillian. This one sidelines Antonia (Maisie Williams) to a hospital room and underuses Nicole Kidman. Meg and Nikki pitch a better version where Franny mentors Antonia and all three women are in the room. Curse-breaking tropes and stories referencedPractical Magic (1998) and Practical Magic 2Beautiful Creatures (sacrifice)Once Upon a Time ("magic always comes with a price")Wonder Woman 1984, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, and Beauty and the BeastA Discovery of Witches, Charmed, Frozen, Encanto (blocking a curse backfires)Brave, Maleficent, and Shrek (love breaks the curse, and often it's a mother, sister, or finding your true self)Groundhog Day (the same arc, but with real change)The Skeleton Key (a curse only works if you believe in it) "Generational curses don't stop just because you're like, 'Well, I don't want it to.'" — MegAlternate endings Nikki and Meg pitchedThe sacrifice is a witch of the Owens line who dies in service of the curse (the villain Tom, a failed offshoot of the family)Ian knowingly falls in love with Sally, walking into the curse with eyes wide open, which makes honesty the thing that breaks itSally dreams of Ian the way she conjured Gary, so "I waited a long time for you" actually pays offPractical Magic 3: the curse isn't broken, and Sally becomes a serial killer chased by the FBI What they're shippingMeg: Furious on Hulu, a dark, twisty thriller with serial killer / FBI agent Killing Eve energy. Content note: it deals heavily with child trafficking and sexual abuse. Not a rom-com.Nikki: The Planetary Systems Preservation Committee Decided We Needed a Nanny by Jennifer Cody, a funny alien-nanny romance where Earth is saved by a galactic government that assigns every human a nanny. Best lines from the movie (according to Nikki)Gillian to Sally: "You're a sentient cucumber with an attitude."Ian: "We're all pallbearers of our ancestors' pain. We didn't do it, but we have to carry it." "Practical Magic 2 really said, 'How about a body in the river instead?'" — NikkiUp nextNext week we continue Spooky Scary Bookie Month with a deep dive into the cursed romance trope. If you liked "Is Your Romance Curse Cursed?", come back for more. Support the showRate, review, and subscribe on Spotify and Apple Podcasts (comments on Spotify are very welcome)Follow us @firstdatesandsoulmates on most platformsSubscribe on YouTube to see our faces, Nikki's Lego collection, and Meg's excellent bangs and red lipstickSponsor the show to share your new book release with our SoulmatesBook recommendation lists and trope deep dives are on firstdatesandsoulmates.com

    Practical Magic 2 Review: 5 Signs Your Romance Curse Is Cursed

  4. Oct 14

    Wolfsong: The Himbo Alpha, 5/5 Angst, and Angry Grudges

    Following last week's werewolf archetype deep dive, Meg and Nikki pick a readalong book to test the framework against — deliberately skipping the genre's most obvious picks (no Nalini Singh, no Kresley Cole) in favor of a queer werewolf romance. They land on Wolfsong, the first book in TJ Klune's Green Creek series. Spoiler warning: this episode discusses the full plot of Wolfsong in detail. In this episode: Why Ox's limited, "non-observant" POV does so much of the genre's work for itScenting, explained two ways: pack/family-marker scent vs. involuntary attraction signalThe stone wolf, the "asking for Ox's hand" scene, and the cringiest 30 pages in the bookWhy TJ Klune sidesteps the age-gap problem by keeping Ox in the darkWhat happens to found family when Joe, Carter, Kelly, and Gordo leave Green Creek for three yearsWhy Ox becomes an alpha despite having no wolf bloodline at all — and why the book never explains itMapping Wolfsong onto last week's archetype framework: Cursed Creature, Alpha, Fated Mate, and PackWhat gay romance gains — not just loses — by stripping procreation out of the werewolf templateA big announcement: the new firstdatesandsoulmates.com, with dedicated trope and book-review pages Story Summary (Spoiler-Free) Ox Matheson is a human teenager in the small Oregon town of Green Creek, still reeling from his father's abandonment, when the Bennett family moves in next door — and turns out to be a family of werewolves. Ox is drawn into their world first through friendship, then through a bond with the youngest son, Joe, destined to lead the pack one day. As Ox grows from an awkward, self-doubting kid into someone the pack relies on, the story follows found family, loyalty, and the cost of protecting the people you love. It's the first of four Green Creek novels, plus two novella-length companion pieces, each shifting POV to a different pack member. Content Warning Discussed on the episode: violence, off-page torture, parental death, and abandonment as a throughline theme. Both hosts flag this as an emotionally heavy read — "This is a five out of five. This is a, um, render." — on their angst scale. "If Joe had never left, then Ox would never have taken a leadership role. He would've just been the consort to the alpha." — Meg"I love that all of these things are seeded so we, again, as the reader, are being given signals... trust in your audience enough that they will understand the hints you are dropping." — Nikki"This particular book is very subversive in that it chooses a human character and elevates them to a higher status than most werewolves who are born werewolves." — Meg"I liked how it was not just fixed immediately by the fact that Joe is back... Shouldn't have left. F**k you." — Nikki, on Ox's (correctly) prolonged anger at Joe Books & Media Mentioned Wolfsong and the rest of the Green Creek series — TJ KluneThe House in the Cerulean Sea — TJ Klune (referenced for contrast in tone and career context)Bride — Ali Hazelwood (referenced re: fated-mate "romance literacy")Star Wars sequel trilogy (referenced re: bloodline vs. chosen destiny) Where We've Discussed This Last week's werewolf archetype deep dive (direct follow-up)Referenced: the show's "himbo" episode (Ox's characterization) What We're Shipping This Week Meg: the newly rebuilt firstdatesandsoulmates.com — dedicated pages for the werewolf archetype framework, the werewolf recommendation list, and ongoing book-specific review pages like the Wolfsong oneNikki: Painted in Wildflowers by Emmy Sanders (Darling Brothers series, book 4)

    Wolfsong: The Himbo Alpha, 5/5 Angst, and Angry Grudges

  5. Oct 7

    The Alpha, the Beast, and the Big Bad Wolf: Breaking Down Werewolf Romance

    Kicking off spooky October, Meg and Nikki tackle the second installment in their paranormal-archetype series (following last year's vampire deep dive). Nikki mapped werewolf and wolf-shifter romance onto three central archetypes — the Cursed Creature, the Big Bad Wolf, and the Alpha — plus two structural tropes that cut across all of them: Fated Mate and Pack/Found Family. Along the way: why werewolves keep winning the genre's search-volume war against vampires, the true (and very messy) origin story of the Omegaverse, and why "alpha" reads as a red flag in real life but a fantasy on the page. In this episode: The three core werewolf archetypes and what each one represents psychologicallyWhy L. David Mech's "alpha wolf" research is scientifically bunk — and romance ran with it anywayVampires vs. werewolves: hot/cold, family/solitude, and why the two species always seem to hate each otherThe Omegaverse's real origin (a 2010 Supernatural real-person kink-meme prompt)Google Trends data on werewolf vs. vampire search volume since 2004What's coming next week: a queer werewolf readalong of Wolfsong by TJ Klune Deep dive on our website: Get the full show notes Read the werewolf archetype Get our full list of 25+ werewolf romance books "The real alpha is a family man. Romance got that part right by accident." — Nikki"Why does alpha read as hot in romance, but is the ultimate red flag in real life?" — Nikki"The wolf is basically a very large, very hot dog... cuddly little werewolf becomes something that will protect us and sleep at the foot of our bed with extra benefits." — Meg, paraphrasing Nikki's research"It's the internet. Everybody's got a laptop with access to LiveJournal, to Fanfic.net... that also made a big difference in the speed at which this was adopted." — MegBooks & Media MentionedBitten — Kelley ArmstrongMoon Called — Patricia Briggs (Mercy Thompson series)Slave to Sensation / Kiss of Snow — Nalini SinghA Hunger Like No Other — Kresley ColeThe Tyrant Alpha's Rejected Mate — Kate C. WellsEnchanted (Hopeless Bless series, book 4) — Lark TaylorThe Kincaid Pack series — Kiki ClarkThe Wolf Man (1941, 2025), An American Werewolf in London, Ginger Snaps, Teen Wolf (MTV), Twilight, Underworld / Rise of the Lycans, True BloodHarry Potter (Remus Lupin), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Oz)Referenced: the show's prior vampire-archetype episode; the show's episode with "Dr. Fandom" Katie Freund on fandom's role in modern romance Where We've Discussed This Vampire archetype deep diveTwilight / Warm Bodies: YA paranormal film study episodeIce Planet Barbarians / alien romance episode What We're Shipping This Week Meg: The Tyrant Alpha's Rejected Mate by Kate C. Wells — a rejected-mate story that subverts the fated-bond consent problem by literally letting the heroine have the bond magically removedNikki: Enchanted by Lark Taylor (Hopeless Bless series, book 4) — angel/seraphim romance, heavy angst, terminal illness and healing-powers premise

    The Alpha, the Beast, and the Big Bad Wolf: Breaking Down Werewolf Romance

  6. Sep 30

    The Love Hypothesis Movie: Believe Olive! But Also? Fire Tom.

    Meg and Nikki come back from a summer hiatus to dig into the film adaptation of Ali Hazelwood's The Love Hypothesis, starring Lili Reinhart as Olive and Tom Bateman as Dr. Adam Carlson. Both hosts loved it as a movie (Nikki: 9/10) while grading it more critically as an adaptation (Nikki: 8/10) — faithful through roughly the first half, then increasingly divergent in the back third, especially around the Tom subplot and how the story resolves it. Spoiler warning: this episode discusses the full plot of both the book and the film adaptation in detail. In this episode: What the adaptation gets right: Olive's competence-under-nerves characterization, the negotiation scene, keeping the "fake dating" trope named on-pageWhy cutting Adam's book-only decision that he's been quietly in love with Olive since the bathroom scene changes his arcThe missing Holden subplot, and how much narrative work a best-friend character was doing to humanize AdamCasting notes on Lili Reinhart, Tom Bateman, and Rachel Marsh as AnhThe FAKING IT framework's Agreement stage, and how well the negotiation-scene structure maps onto itWhy the film's choice to remove the audio evidence of Tom's misconduct weakens the third act — and why "believe her" isn't the same as "there will be consequences"What's coming next: October's paranormal spooky season kicks off with werewolves and wolf-shifters Story Summary (Spoiler-Free)The film adaptation of Ali Hazelwood's The Love Hypothesis follows Olive, a PhD student at Stanford, who fake-dates standoffish professor Dr. Adam Carlson to convince her best friend Anh that she's moved on and isn't standing in the way of Anh dating Olive's ex. What starts as a mutually beneficial arrangement — negotiated, timelined, and initially very stiff — slowly becomes real, complicated by lab politics, a predatory colleague, and two people who are both much better at hiding their feelings than showing them. "It wasn't arrogance, it was just a fact. Arrogance would require a level of pride... but it wasn't. It was competence, not arrogance." — Meg, on Adam Carlson"What is it about Adam that Olive likes? Yes, he's gorgeous. Yes, he's helpful. Yes, he's kind of funny in a snarky way. But what about him as a human makes her go, 'I do actually wanna spend time with him'?" — Nikki"We live in the real world where we know nothing will f*****g happen to Tom... We need evidence. We need irrefutable evidence." — Nikki, on the film's choice to remove the audio recording of Tom's misconduct"The solution was in the source material, and that's where it fell apart." — MegBooks & Media ReferencedThe Love Hypothesis — Ali Hazelwood (the book this film adapts)Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998, referenced for comparison)Riverdale (Lili Reinhart's prior work)The Island — Briar Prescott (Meg's ship of the week)Tracking Wolf — Lucy Lennox, Maid Marian Legacy book 4 (Nikki's ship of the week) Where We've Discussed ThisOur original Love Hypothesis book episodeFull book review: The Love Hypothesis — book reviewThe FAKING IT FrameworkOur favorite Fake Dating Romance Books What We're Shipping This WeekMeg: The Island by Briar Prescott (read from Nikki's earlier recommendation) — childhood-best-friends-to-lovers, bi awakening, stranded-on-a-desert-island survival romanceNikki: Tracking Wolf by Lucy Lennox (Maid Marian Legacy book 4) — dad's-best-friend age-gap romance with a road-trip chase Media we mentioned: "Newfoundland is an Island" video: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTyfMutnK/

    The Love Hypothesis Movie: Believe Olive! But Also? Fire Tom.

  7. Sep 23

    [Re-release] The Love Hypothesis Movie is Here! Let's Talk About the Book First

    We're pulling this one out of the vault because the movie's almost here — The Love Hypothesis hits Prime Video on September 23, with Lili Reinhart as Olive and Tom Bateman as Adam. Consider this your reread assignment before the adaptation drops. In this episode of First Dates and Soulmates, Nikki and Meg dive into The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood—a fan-favorite academic rom-com that sparked an entire wave of STEM heroines. Click play on this week’s episode to hear: Why Olive is a chronic overthinker and why Adam is a misunderstood grump (who totally has a soft side)How this book walks the line between swoony slow-burn and sexy payoffThe balance of realistic vs. wildly fictional about academiaThe Title IX runner that starts as a joke and becomes the whole emotional throughlineWhy we're both so glad this book stayed in Olive's POV only — and what it would've lost with a dual-POV structureThe recording that saves Olive from her worst moment in the book (f*ck Tom)The 12 stages of physical intimacy framework, and how this book uses it to build a slow burnWhy Olive's demisexuality lands as specific and earned, not just a labelThe Deep End easter egg — yes, Dr. Adam Carlsen and Dr. Olive Smith show up in Ali Hazelwood's 2025 release too And if you loved the fake dating premise & you're looking for more like The Love Hypothesis, check out our 20+ favorite fake relationship books and our list of professional-student romances that don't feel gross. Books & Media We Mention * The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood * Deep End by Ali Hazelwood * Reacher (tv show) * To Love a Psycho series by CF White (Dream a Little Dream, Kiss me Honey Honey) * The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang * The 12 stages of sexual intimacy Follow the show: Instagram https://www.instagram.com/firstdatesandsoulmates/ TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@firstdatesandsoulmates YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FirstDatesSoulmates Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe!

  8. Sep 16

    [Re-release] Fake Dating Trope: The 8 Stages That Make Us Believe It's Real

    Strap in. We’re going deep. This week on First Dates & Soulmates, it’s a trope episode! And we’re dissecting every glorious and absurd nuance of fake dating. Nikki may think this trope is the Chardonnay of romance (she’ll drink it if you serve it), while Meg is out here creating full frameworks while waiting in line at Disneyland. In This Episode: * Why so many fake dating books fall apart if the initial premise isn’t strong * Why romantic vulnerability matters more than jellybeans * The difference between fake dating for good vs fake dating for damage control * The role of the designated extroverted friend and why we all need one * When fake dating turns into real cheerleading, and why that’s hot This episode developed the FAKING IT Framework — First Dates & Soulmates' analytical guide to fake dating romance, built around the eight structural elements every fake dating story needs. Meg loves a third-act breakup. Nikki wants to be your fake date and your designated hype woman. Leave a review, comment on Substack, tell us your favourite fake dating books, or ask Nikki to be your designated fake fiance so you can get that promotion! View the full show notes at: https://firstdatesandsoulmates.com/episode/fake-dating-trope Get our full list of our top 20 favorite fake dating romance books! Fake Dating Movies: * How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days * The Proposal * 10 Things I Hate About You * The Bachelor (Chris O’Donnell movie) * Purple Hearts * The Firm * Sleepless in Seattle * Bridgerton * Sex and the City * Just Go With It Follow the show on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/firstdatesandsoulmates/ Follow the show on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@firstdatesandsoulmates Follow the show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FirstDatesSoulmates Order Meg’s debut novel, Peppermint Bark, No Bite (affiliate link) Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe!

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4.9
out of 5
7 Ratings

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First Dates & Soulmates is a romance podcast where craft meets culture, hosted by romance author Meg Casebolt and pop culture devotee Nikki McKnight. Expect trope frameworks, feminist film critiques, author interviews, and sometimes ridiculous readalongs.

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