Trigger Warnings Book Club

The question as old as time…are vampires and werewolves monster romance, or is it straight paranormal? We bring in a subject matter expert to give the official ruling.

B.L. Brown (Britta) writes across three worlds:

— the sapphic monster romance of Camp Cryptid
— the witchy urban fantasy of Witch of the Demesne
— and Beer Hall Brides, a cozy fairy-tale romance set at a magical Oktoberfest where every beer hall gets its own love story, built on folklore creatures from the German Alps

We also get into the "what if" engine behind monster romance (but seriously, how does the anatomy of a faun work?), why you should meticulously plan your red herrings but let the romance surprise you, and the one-bed trope that was just supposed to be a joke and turned into one of her favorite scenes.

Plus…romance is NOT FLUFF! The bodily autonomy thread running through Ice Planet Barbarians. The student debt and sex-work conversation buried in Morning Glory Milking Farm. Why Unhinged — yup, that Unhinged, the one about a sentient doorknob — is a genuinely smart Greek myth allegory.

Britta also gives three pieces of advice for new writers, including tossing out the term "aspiring."

Make sure to stay to the end, where Holly and CJ react to Sarah J. Maas wiping her Instagram to announce her upcoming Valkyrie Cycle books, A Court of Splintered Harmony and A Court of Forgotten Melody. We have some hot takes about the vibes.

Andrew was on vacation. The hosts noticed. Be prepared.

CURRENTLY READING

Holly — Our Immortal Hearts (Lara Buckheit)
CJ — Kiss of the Basilisk (Lindsay Straube), our next book club pick
Britta — The Moon Raven (Grace Draven), Mr. and Mrs. X

ALSO MENTIONED

Unhinged · Stiff · PS I Hate You · Ice Planet Barbarians · Morning Glory Milking Farm · Emily Antoinette's minotaur romance · Cleo Evans· Krista Luna's orc series · Crescent City

TROPES: monster romance, paranormal romance, sapphic, grumpy/sunshine, second chance, enemies to lovers, only one bed, "my wife” , fated mates

SPICE: High in the books, frank in the conversation

CONTENT WARNINGS: Explicit language; open discussion of sex, spice, and monster anatomy; discussion of sex work; brief mention of grief and cancer (PS I Hate You)

FIND B.L. BROWN

Website — https://brittawritesthings.com/
Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/brittawritesthings
TikTok — https://www.tiktok.com/@brittawritesthings

Britta keeps content warnings for all of her books on her website. Newsletter signup is in her Instagram bio.

Catch her in person at Spellbound in the Valley (New York) in late October.

BUY THE BOOKS

Ritual Income (Witch of the Demesne) — https://books2read.com/ritualincome
Faun Over Me (Camp Cryptid) — https://books2read.com/faunoverme
Shady Depths (A Witches of C.R.O.W. Novella) — https://books2read.com/shadydepths

Britta's ask, and ours: request indie books at your library. Authors can't get themselves stocked — readers can.

Currently reading something great? Leave us a comment wherever you're listening — especially if it's a monster romance.

If you've been with us a while, a rating is the one thing that puts this show in front of people like you.

Instagram: @trigger.warnings.bookclub

Holly is running the NYC Marathon in November to support The Book Fairies! Consider giving a donation:
https://give.thebookfairies.org/fundraiser/7126101

Welcome back to Trigger Warnings Book Club! We are switching it up this week; Holly and Andrew scandalized Caitlyn by telling her all about Morning Glory Milking Farm. It is safe to say we have never read anything quite like it.
Follow us on instagram :⁠ ⁠⁠@trigger.warnings.bookclub ⁠⁠⁠

Subscribe to our Youtube channel:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@TriggerWarningsBookClub⁠⁠⁠

Want to be a guest on the podcast? Fill out our interest form:⁠ ⁠⁠https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScCT-Xqb8kexY97qp2JL5TRoUYBadHl3IPjqqRVSpb_dnHIgA/viewform?usp=header⁠⁠ 

Check out our website where you can listen to the latest episodes, check out our TBR for the month and play the daily WROMANCEL:
⁠⁠⁠https://triggerwarningsbookclub.com⁠⁠⁠

Donate to Holly's NYC Marathon Fundraiser for Book Fairies:
⁠⁠https://give.thebookfairies.org/fundraiser/7126101⁠

Music credit: "Jardins du Luxembourg" by Jahzzar⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jahzzar/contact⁠⁠

Welcome back to Trigger Warnings Book Club! This week we had the pleasure of chatting with C.R. Lee, an author of both contemporary and fantasy romance (and quite possibly our most hilarious guest yet)! We covered topics such as the differences between writing in the contemporary vs fantasy romance genres, how indie books really set trends in publishing, her experiences self publishing, and of course some of her favorite tropes! If you are a fan of football romance or fantasy romances that are dark in theme but still have an MMC who worships his FMC you should check out the Never U series or the Kingdoms of Light and Shadows trilogy.

check out her website: crleewrites.com
Connect with C.R. Lee on social media: https://www.facebook.com/groups/crleesbanginbookshttps://www.instagram.com/authorcrlee/
https://www.tiktok.com/@authorcrlee
Book 1 of Never U Series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSNTVGTV
Book 1 of Kingdoms of Light and Shadow trilogy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D2Y81PSB

Follow us on instagram :⁠ ⁠⁠@trigger.warnings.bookclub ⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to our Youtube channel:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@TriggerWarningsBookClub⁠⁠⁠

Want to be a guest on the podcast? Fill out our interest form:⁠ ⁠⁠https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScCT-Xqb8kexY97qp2JL5TRoUYBadHl3IPjqqRVSpb_dnHIgA/viewform?usp=header⁠⁠ 

Check out our website where you can listen to the latest episodes, check out our TBR for the month and play the daily WROMANCEL:
⁠⁠⁠https://triggerwarningsbookclub.com⁠⁠⁠

Donate to Holly's NYC Marathon Fundraiser for Book Fairies:
⁠⁠https://give.thebookfairies.org/fundraiser/7126101⁠

Music credit: "Jardins du Luxembourg" by Jahzzar⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jahzzar/contact⁠⁠

Welcome back to Trigger Warnings Book Club! This week we discuss our July 2026 book club pick: The Dark Lord's Guide to Dating (and Other War Crimes) by Tiffany Hunt. None of us had previously read from this author so we had a great time with this discussion! Andrew will certainly never think about shadows in quite the same way again.
Follow us on instagram : ⁠⁠@trigger.warnings.bookclub ⁠⁠

Subscribe to our Youtube channel: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@TriggerWarningsBookClub⁠⁠

Want to be a guest on the podcast? Fill out our interest form: ⁠⁠https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScCT-Xqb8kexY97qp2JL5TRoUYBadHl3IPjqqRVSpb_dnHIgA/viewform?usp=header⁠ 

Check out our website where you can listen to the latest episodes, check out our TBR for the month and play the daily WROMANCEL:
⁠⁠https://triggerwarningsbookclub.com⁠⁠

Donate to Holly's NYC Marathon Fundraiser for Book Fairies:
⁠https://give.thebookfairies.org/fundraiser/7126101

Music credit: "Jardins du Luxembourg" by Jahzzar ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jahzzar/contact⁠

This week CJ and Holly share a few books they think you should add to your summer reading list! There's a little something for everyone- romance, mystery, fantasy etc. Let us know what we should read this summer.
Follow us on instagram : ⁠@trigger.warnings.bookclub ⁠
Subscribe to our Youtube channel: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@TriggerWarningsBookClub⁠
Check out our website where you can listen to the latest episodes, check out our TBR for the month and play the daily WROMANCEL:
⁠https://triggerwarningsbookclub.com⁠

Donate to Holly's NYC Marathon Fundraiser for Book Fairies:
https://give.thebookfairies.org/fundraiser/7126101