Illicit Liaisons

Jenna Harte

The good, the bad, and the naughty of romance fiction.

  1. Oct 20

    Illicit Liaisons: Bookish Discussions with Romance Author Natalina Reis

    This week, we talk with author Natalina Reis about Blind Date with a Book, scams targeting authors, her new and upcoming release, and more. Natalina usually has two or three books going at the same time. She might be reading a physical copy of a romantasy, listening to a rom-com during her commute, and carrying an e-reader with her just in case. That of course explains why you’ll find such a variety of romance subgenres under her name. She loves writing all kinds of rebels and outcasts into her stories, and she always roots for the underdog. She speaks five languages (six, if you count sarcasm), unwisely keeps adding books to her towering TBR pile, and doesn’t believe in a life without coffee. She could easily live on bananas and lobster (probably not at the same time), and she has an irrational love for technology, puzzles, and crochet. When she’s not writing, reading, or crocheting a chicken (don’t ask), you’ll find her watching British mysteries or Chinese period fantasy shows. Natalina's Website https://natalinareis.com/ Natalina's Amazon page https://link.amazon/B08I3usbh Natalina's Instagram https://www.instagram.com/reisnatalina Natalina's Facebook https://www.facebook.com/authornatalinareis/ MENTIONED ON THE SHOW Stinky Sardines & Roses by Natlina Reis https://link.amazon/B00dFOVPq TENDER & TEMPTING TALES Tender and Tempting Tales Substack: Subscribe and get a FREE story! https://tenderandtemptingtales.substack.com/ Tender and Tempting Tales on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/tendertemptingtales/ Tender and Tempting Tales ARC Team https://booksprout.co/reviewer/team/56782/tender-and-tempting-tales Calls for Submissions https://tenderandtemptingtales.substack.com/p/write-for-tender-and-tempting-tales ILLICIT LIAISONS PRODUCED & HOSTED BY Tara Leederman Substack https://taleederman.substack.com/ Jenna Harte https://jennaharte.com/ Outline and Show Notes: T.A. Leederman Editing: Jenna Harte

  2. Oct 13

    Illicit Liaisons: Romance and Mystery with author Lizzy Hartwell

    This week, we talk with author Lizzy Hartwell about cliffhangers, writing what you know, and her upcoming new release and advent romance on Substack. Lizzy Hartwell writes witty, warm romance about competent women who've spent years doing everything right and are finally ready to do something deliciously wrong. A former NASA employee married to a test pilot (for real), she knows a thing or two about smart women in dangerous situations—and the men brave enough to love them. When she's not crafting page-turners, she's reading in sweatpants with her Instant Pot doing the heavy lifting. She lives in Southern California and is a recovering children's book author who finally let her characters kiss. Lizzy's Substack https://substack.com/@lizzyhartwellauthor Lizzy's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lizzyhartwellauthor/ MENTIONED ON THE SHOW The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon https://link.amazon/B0cfXMqUG Not Another Love Song Julie Soto https://link.amazon/B079RogFg Naked in Death by J.D. Robb https://link.amazon/B0gqmWwqv Cordials Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold https://link.amazon/B0ihqT3sj The LOVE Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood https://link.amazon/B0eiWpgUp The LOVE Hypothesis TV show https://link.amazon/B01gLUH03 The Deal by Elle Kennedy https://link.amazon/B048wYlAG Off Campus (The Deal) https://link.amazon/A02JrltGo Tommy & Tuppence by Agatha Christie https://link.amazon/A0gdwWfGU Partners in Crime (Tommy & Tuppence) (1980s TV) https://link.amazon/A0aRQyHQn Tommy & Tuppence (new show) https://link.amazon/A0gdwWfGU TENDER & TEMPTING TALES Tender and Tempting Tales Substack: Subscribe and get a FREE story! https://tenderandtemptingtales.substack.com/ Tender and Tempting Tales on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tendertemptingtales/ Tender and Tempting Tales ARC Team: https://booksprout.co/reviewer/team/56782/tender-and-tempting-tales Calls for Submissions: https://tenderandtemptingtales.substack.com/p/write-for-tender-and-tempting-tales ILLICIT LIAISONS PRODUCED & HOSTED BY Tara Leederman Substack: https://taleederman.substack.com/ Jenna Harte: https://jennaharte.com/ Outline and Show Notes: T.A. Leederman Editing: Jenna Harte

  3. Oct 7

    Illicit Liaisons: Starlit & Spellbound with Suzy Langevin & Lynne Solisse

    This week, we continue celebrating the release of Starlit & Spellbound, our first fall anthology featuring 10 spellbinding romances with witches, ghosts, fated mates, enemies-to-lovers, forbidden love, curses, fate & more! We're chatting with Suzy Langevin and Lynne Solisse about audiobook narration, red-flag characters, New Adult/later-in-life romance, and more! Suzy Langevine: Suzy Langevin loves love, even though she forgot how to say it in Latin when she was a contestant on Jeopardy! And she channels that love into writing happily-ever-afters where people are loved because of, not in spite of, the things they see as their flaws. She is the winner of the 2024 RWA Golden Heart Award for her novel The Plus-One Pact, and her short fiction has been featured in several anthologies and magazines. Suzy lives and writes in central Massachusetts, and does, in fact, run on Dunkin'. For information on available titles and upcoming releases, visit Suzy's Website: https://www.suzylangevin.com/ Suzy's Instagram https://www.instagram.com/suzylangevinwrites/ Lynne Solisse: Writing found Lynne Solisse later in life, and never let go. She writes romance that doesn’t flinch, centering on women who are fierce, loyal, and unafraid to demand more out of life. Women who want to reclaim passion on their own terms. Whether contemporary, fantasy, or even proving that love can still burn bright in a gritty post-apocalyptic world, her stories are raw but sweet, fun and emotionally charged, threaded with just enough tension to keep your heart racing. She lives in the Southern US with her three boys and two spoiled cats, and believes it’s never too late for a second chance. Or a plot twist. Lynne's Website: https://lynnesolisse.com/ Lynne's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lynne_solisse BOOKS MENTIONED ON THE SHOW Starlit & Spellbound https://link.amazon/B05WqBMrH Misbehaving at Cactus Lanes by Patricia Santos Marcantonio (later in life romcom) https://link.amazon/B06FA7nV1 Learning Curves by Rachel Lacey https://link.amazon/B09eSAhLj Falling Into Fiction by Victorine E. Leiske https://link.amazon/B06DxwNsK The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore https://link.amazon/B07lpTedp Crew of Hunters Series by Heather Graham https://link.amazon/B0jljO2EA The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer https://link.amazon/B04f98I11 Black Dagger Brotherhood Series by J.R. Ward https://link.amazon/B0jljO2EA TENDER & TEMPTING TALES Tender and Tempting Tales Substack: Subscribe and get a FREE story! https://tenderandtemptingtales.substack.com/ Tender and Tempting Tales on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tendertemptingtales/ Tender and Tempting Tales ARC Team: https://booksprout.co/reviewer/team/56782/tender-and-tempting-tales Calls for Submissions: https://tenderandtemptingtales.substack.com/p/write-for-tender-and-tempting-tales ILLICIT LIAISONS PRODUCED & HOSTED BY Tara Leederman Substack: https://taleederman.substack.com/ Jenna Harte: https://jennaharte.com/ Outline and Show Notes: T.A. Leederman Editing: Jenna Harte

  4. Sep 29

    Illicit Liaisons: Witchy Romance with Mara Heath & Jenna Harte/Eva LeClerc

    This week, we continue celebrating the release of Starlit & Spellbound, our first fall anthology featuring 10 spellbinding romances with witches, ghosts, fated mates, enemies-to-lovers, forbidden love, curses, fate & more! We're chatting with Mara Heath and Jenna Harte/Eva LeClerc about love triangles, witchy romance, and more. Mara Heath is the author of the new-adult paranormal romance “Out of Bounds” in Starlit and Spellbound, as well as the author of her contemporary fantasy romance novels Harnessed in Gold and Caged in Silver. Mara's Website https://maraheathauthor.com/ Mara on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/maraheathauthor/ Mara on Substack https://maraheathauthor.substack.com/ Jenna Harte wrote the paranormal rom-com “Quantum Entanglement” for Starlit & Spellbound. She's also the author of the Southern Heat contemporary romance series and the sexy Valentine Mysteries. Jenna's Website https://jennaharte.com/ Jenna on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jennaharteauthor/ Eva LeClerc is Jenna's alter ego, author of the paranormal romance, “A Love Stronger Than Fate" in Starlit & Spellbound. She writes the Southern Gothic paranormal romance series, Oathmarked, set in New Orleans. Eva's Website https://evaleclerc.com Eva on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/evaleclercauthor/ Eva on Substack https://evaleclercauthor.substack.com/ MENTIONED ON THE SHOW Starlit & Spellbound https://link.amazon/B05WqBMrH Echoes in Ashmere by Ann Isaacs https://link.amazon/B04f98I11 The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer https://link.amazon/B04f98I11 Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead https://link.amazon/B05yI8Mca Succubus Blues (Georgina Kincaid Series) by Richelle Mead https://link.amazon/B0eRfMwrN TENDER & TEMPTING TALES Tender and Tempting Tales Substack: Subscribe and get a FREE story! https://tenderandtemptingtales.substack.com/ Tender and Tempting Tales on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tendertemptingtales/ Tender and Tempting Tales ARC Team: https://booksprout.co/reviewer/team/56782/tender-and-tempting-tales Calls for Submissions: https://tenderandtemptingtales.substack.com/p/write-for-tender-and-tempting-tales ILLICIT LIAISONS PRODUCED & HOSTED BY Tara Leederman Substack: https://taleederman.substack.com/ Jenna Harte: https://jennaharte.com/ Outline and Show Notes: T.A. Leederman Editing: Jenna Harte

  5. Sep 22

    Illicit Liaisons: Starlit & Spellbound with Urna Semper and T.A. Leederman

    This week, we continue celebrating the release of Starlit & Spellbound, our first fall anthology featuring 10 spellbinding romances with witches, ghosts, fated mates, enemies-to-lovers, forbidden love, curses, fate & more! We're chatting with two of the authors in Starlit & Spellbound, T.A. Leederman and Urna Semper, about bookish drama, their stories in Starlit & Spellbound, and more. Urna Semper is a romance author from Argoshaan, known for her books depicting passionate tales of forbidden love between clones and born-humans. Born to a family of scriveners, her breakthrough came with Olava: Fallen into Bondage, followed by Kyrie: Betrayed into Bondage, and Kingdom of Maids. Her most recent projects, The Pearl Crucible and Where All Past Years Are, are available on Amazon.  Urna's Substack https://urnasemper.substack.com/ Urna's Instagram https://www.instagram.com/urnasemperauthor/ T.A. Leederman is a PhD in English Literature and a sci-fi, sci-fi romance, and urban fantasy author based out of Los Angeles, California. She is Lore Lead and central fiction writer for Starship Valkyrie, a science-fiction crisis-simulator game and science-fiction world based out of Los Angeles, which she runs alongside her partner at LA gaming conventions like Strategicon and LFG Con. Her first independent Starship Valkyrie collection, Contact Unknown, is available on Amazon and from her in person at events and conventions. Tara's Substack https://taleederman.substack.com/ Tara's Instagram https://www.instagram.com/author_taleederman/ MENTIONED ON THE SHOW Starlit & Spellbound https://link.amazon/B05WqBMrH Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher https://link.amazon/B0fCSdGGj Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold  https://link.amazon/B0iedkYTz Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold https://link.amazon/B040UN4D6 The Chanur Saga by C.J. Cherryh https://link.amazon/B0907HIJf Merchanter’s Luck by C.J. Cherryh https://link.amazon/B01qpHq49 In Death series by J.D. Robb https://link.amazon/B0jcEXSXg TENDER & TEMPTING TALES Tender and Tempting Tales Substack: Subscribe and get a FREE story! https://tenderandtemptingtales.substack.com/ Tender and Tempting Tales on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tendertemptingtales/ Tender and Tempting Tales ARC Team: https://booksprout.co/reviewer/team/56782/tender-and-tempting-tales Calls for Submissions: https://tenderandtemptingtales.substack.com/p/write-for-tender-and-tempting-tales ILLICIT LIAISONS PRODUCED & HOSTED BY Tara Leederman Substack: https://taleederman.substack.com/ Jenna Harte: https://jennaharte.com/ Outline and Show Notes: T.A. Leederman Editing: Jenna Harte

  6. Sep 15

    Illicit Liaisons: Starlit & Spellbound with Marissa Marinello and Miranda Tamrakar

    This week, we celebrate the release of Starlit & Spellbound, our first fall anthology, featuring 10 spellbinding romances with witches, ghosts, fated mates, enemies-to-lovers, forbidden love, curses, fate & more! We're chatting with two of the authors in Starlit & Spellbound, Marissa Marinello and Miranda Tamrakar, about bookish drama, their stories in Starlit & Spellbound, and more. Marissa Marinello is a SoCal native who writes urban, high fantasy, and cozy-romantasy. A TTRPG nerd who grew up on Tolkien, musical theater & comics, she's always been inspired by finding the fantastical in the mundane and building amazing worlds to tell rich stories in. Much of her work is inspired by real life moments that spark something more. Her work can be found in several anthologies, and she is an active participant in fandom and her writing group in Southern California.    Marissa's Website https://marissamarinello.com/ Marissa's Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mmarinello_author Miranda Tamrakar was raised in SoCal on a steady diet of books and musicals. She finds joy in creating worlds that chase the same sense of sweeping romance and wonder, sometimes with dragons and sometimes with spies, but always telling a tale of how the right people can change a life. She is inspired by looking at relationships in real life and asking herself, "what if?" When she's not writing, she is winning at cards, losing at elaborate board games, or finding inspiration out in the wild with her husband and two daughters, all of whom are delightfully weird. Miranda's Instagram https://www.instagram.com/miranda_writes_author/ MENTIONED ON THE SHOW Starlit & Spellbound https://link.amazon/B05WqBMrH The Hearth Witch's Guide to Spite & Spellwork by Kiri Callaghan https://link.amazon/B0iT4rGD2 Boneyard Key Series by Jen DeLuca https://link.amazon/B031ZMgJm Midnight Bayou by Nora Roberts https://link.amazon/B02taL129 Midnight Bayou Movie https://link.amazon/B04PLYt5S Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries by Charlaine Harris https://link.amazon/B02qbcg5M Write with Harte Preptober/Writevember Challenge https://writewithharte.com/preptober-writevember-2026/ TENDER & TEMPTING TALES Tender and Tempting Tales Substack: Subscribe and get a FREE story! https://tenderandtemptingtales.substack.com/ Tender and Tempting Tales on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tendertemptingtales/ Tender and Tempting Tales ARC Team: https://booksprout.co/reviewer/team/56782/tender-and-tempting-tales Calls for Submissions: https://tenderandtemptingtales.substack.com/p/write-for-tender-and-tempting-tales ILLICIT LIAISONS PRODUCED & HOSTED BY Tara Leederman Substack: https://taleederman.substack.com/ Jenna Harte: https://jennaharte.com/ Outline and Show Notes: T.A. Leederman Editing: Jenna Harte

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The good, the bad, and the naughty of romance fiction.