The Tightrope: An Introduction

Bonkers Romance

Welcome to our introductory episode! Get to know a little bit about your hosts, Jenny Nordbak and Melody Carlisle, and learn what Bonkers Romance is all about!

We discuss what “bonkers” means to each of us since it’s something we’ve been asking guests.

• Jenny: It’s the brave decisions authors have made when they chose not to play it safe.
• Mel: It’s those books that make you wonder, “is this even allowed??” with absolute glee.

Why we started Bonkers Romance and what we hope to accomplish with it:

• Celebrate those brave choices authors have made and pulled off
• To choose joy
• To encourage readers to come down the rabbit hole with us

The format of each episode:

• We recap a bonkers book chosen by the guest to exemplify what they consider bonkers
• One of the hosts in each episode hasn’t read the book to make it more accessible for readers who may not have read the book yet.
• Along the way, we’ll have tangents, book recs, funny stories, and more!
• The last episode of every month will only be for our Temple members, but a free preview will be available publicly!

We’re eager to build a community and are excited to hear input, suggestions, book recs, guest recs, and bonkers descriptions in books you stumble upon! You can find us on social media or use the form on our website. We’re particularly looking for bonkers book recs that are inclusive, with a focus on queer rep and books written by authors from marginalized groups.

What is The Temple of Defiant Joy?

We’ve created a members page that functions similarly to Patreon, but gives us more control and flexibility. On there, we have bonus episodes, temple-only episodes, video of our regular episodes, bonus author interviews, Bonkers Romance Book Club, and more! We want it to feel like your community, so if you have ideas, we’d love to hear them! You can check it out HERE!

What is Bonkers Romance Book Club?

All members of The Temple at the Joy Bringer tier or higher will be part of the BRBC, our monthly digital book box subscription. Each month, members will receive two ebooks we’ve handpicked for the community. They’ll usually be advanced copies before the books are even available to the public! Check it out HERE!

Our upcoming episode list is available now on our social platforms, so come follow us on Instagram or Twitter—or join our new Facebook group!

Episode 2: Spider Shibari with Sierra Simone is available now, so don’t miss it!

Support for this episode provided by:

THE TEMPLE OF DEFIANT JOY! Join us in The Temple for bonus episodes, video of our public episodes, access to the Bonkers Romance Book Club, and much more! Membership at the Joy Bringer Tier or higher includes advanced copies of our September BRBC books: Mama’s Boy by Avery Flynn and His Leading Lady by Jenny Nordbak!

Mentioned in this episode:

September in the Temple!

- This month we're back with Katee regaling us with more Fertile in My Ex-Boyfriend’s Dungeon (and we discover an actual hard limit for Katee!), and Hannah Whitten is going to stop by to give us all her best spooky season recs. - In Book Club news, everyone in the Joy Bringer and Celebrant tiers can download their ebooks of MY WICKED PRINCE by Molly O’Keefe and the entire audiobook collection of COURT OF THE VAMPIRE QUEEN by Katee Robert! - And finally, Joy Bringers and Celebrants can check out all the digital art we’ve created for the Temple! It’s all on one convenient page waiting for you.

Temple of Defiant Joy

Pirates are waiting for you!

Six brand new bonkers pirate books you can read THIS MONTH from Katee Robert, CM Nascosta, Naima Simone, Andie J. Christopher, Jenny Nordbak, and Nina Saxena! Plus, foiled special editions with sprayed edges, gorgeous art, and so much more! Don't miss it!

Dangerous Tides!