Author Talk: Lynne Golodner & Paulette Stout, Passion & Purpose in Romance Novels March 1, 2026

In this Author Talk, hosted by award-winning novelist Lynne Golodner in conversation with romance novelist Paulette Stout, we explore what defines a romance novel, the typical plotlines and character transformations of romance books, and how our particular books take the typical romance structure and go deeper into important issues like homophobia, body image and body size, antisemitism, infidelity, family and social pressures, ancestral legacy and more. Lynne examines whether her books actually qualify as romance (they don't, only Cave of Secrets, her second novel, could be considered a romance), and Paulette discusses her journey writing romantic stories that tackle big issues. Both authors share why and when they've employed sensitivity readers to review their manuscripts, and what reader response has been to the issues they've included in their stories. They recommend other authors who are also including big topics in their novels, including LISA PEERS, author of Motor City Love Song and Love at 350 Degrees; RACHEL REID, author of The Long Game and the Game Changer series of gay hockey romance novels that became the HBO hit series Heated Rivalry; HEIDI SHERTOK, the Orthodox Jewish romance novelist who talks about infertility and racism in her books; KENNEDY RYAN, author of the Skyland Series, which explores depression, grief and neurodivergence; DANIELLE ALLEN, author of Curvy Girl Summer which looks at weight, body size and fat phobia; and REBECCA YARROS, an author who explores grief, loss, war and parental abandonment. The conversation also looks at trends in romance novels and what readers are asking for these days, they discuss limits on topics that can be included in romance (Lynne doesn't believe in limits), and they discuss their next projects and give away books to two lucky winners. Upcoming Author Talks... Lynne Golodner with Heidi Shertok on April 12 about Jewish characters and sex in fiction https://lynnegolodner.com/event/jewis... Lynne Golodner with Sarah Ansbacher on April 26 about fact in fiction, writing about real life https://lynnegolodner.com/event/fact-... See all upcoming events at https://lynnegolodner.com/events-cale... Learn about Paulette Stout at https://paulettestout.com