056. I Think I Might Love You by Christina C. Jones with Nicole Falls

Short Description

I Think I Might Love You by Christina C. Jones is the Romcom Novella that will have you laughing out loud and wondering what DOD stands for. Highly irreverent, wholly lovable Nicole Falls is back for part 2 to discuss this romance novel worth reading.

Tags

contemporary romance, romance novel discussion

Show Notes

I Think I Might Love You by Christina C. Jones is the Romcom Novella that will have you laughing out loud and wondering what DOD stands for. Highly irreverent, wholly lovable Nicole Falls is back for part 2 to discuss this romance novel worth reading.

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Show Notes:

Shelf Love:

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• 58 Romance Novellas For A Quick Hit of Hope
• Check out Shelf Love’s updated website including the transcript for this episode
• Bookstore Romance Day - Giveaways! Discounts! | [Q&A with Copper Dog Books co-owner Julie Karaganis](- Bookstore Romance Day - Giveaways! Discounts! | Q&A with Copper Dog Books co-owner Julie Karaganis)
• Shelf Love episodes with transcripts

Guest: Nicole Falls

Twitter | Website | #fallsonlove podcast | Buy Nicole's books - includes KU options

We Discussed:

I Think I Might Love You by Christina C. Jones

Notes:

• Why So Many Novellas, CCJ?

Transcript

[00:00:00]  Andrea Martucci: Hello, and welcome to episode 56 of Shelf Love, the podcast that has fun taking romance novels seriously. Guests lend their expertise to help me explore identity, relationships and romance as a genre. I'm Andrea Martucci host of the Shelf Love podcast. And today I am joined by highly irreverent, wholly lovable Nicole Falls, who is a romance author, podcaster editor, and winner of her third and fifth grade spelling bees. Ooh. You can also listen to Nicole on episode 55, where we shot the shit about imposter syndrome, quarantine romance, and plant bae. It's basically part one of this convo. So, although the episodes can stand alone, they're better together.

On this episode we discuss, I think I might love you by Christina C. Jones. It's a romcom novella that will have you laughing out loud and wondering what D O D stands for. Let's jump in.

Marker [00:00:57]

let's get onto another soap box. This one about, I Think I Might Love You by Christina C. Jones.

Nicole Falls: I  reread this book this morning because I wanted it to be fresh in my brain when we had this conversation.

I think that I've probably said this before and, I know she doesn't listen to podcasts, so she'll never hear this, but I will embarrass her anyway and say that Christina C. Jones is absolutely in my opinion, the best contemporary romance writer in these streets. And if you don't think so, that's sad for you.

I'm going to say that, and then she listens to this podcast and she's like, really

Andrea Martucci: well, there's going to be a transcript too, so she can just read it.

  I'm a newbie to Christina C. Jones. I had to be. introduced to her at some point,  there was a point in the not too distant past where I was like Christina C. Jones? And, was leaving myself open for being reviled on Twitter. But, this is my third behind Equivalent Exchange and Wonder.

Nicole Falls: Okay. excellent.

Andrea Martucci: And they're all very different.

Nicole Falls: Yes, that is what I love about her. I literally so - full disclosure. She's also one of my closest friends. I literally told her this morning, I said, you write every damn thing so you're not really classifiable like, even though I said, she's my favorite contemporary romance writer.

Like that's not really the truth or the whole spectrum of what she writes. She's literally written in every sub genre of romance, I do believe except historical. [00:02:30] Well, actually, no, I take that back because her paranormal is kind of historical as well. So yeah, dude, like she's ridiculous.

Andrea Martucci: And she's written like -

Nicole Falls: Oh, she's like 55, 56 by now. I think.

Andrea Martucci: Gosh, I can't that, I mean, that's enough to give you imposter syndrome, right? I'm going to tie everything back to previous things we've talked about. We'll get plants in at some point.  So this is a, I'm going to call it a rom com novella.

Nicole Falls: It absolutely is.

Andrea Martucci: Okay. It's approximately a quarter of a Duke by Default in length. sorry. That's my, that's my measurement in terms of length.  The main characters are Jacqueline Love because this is part of the Love series.

Nicole Falls: Yep.

Andrea Martucci: I love reading the titles together and then realizing the cleverness.

Nicole Falls: Yes.

Andrea Martucci: I can't remember them now, but if you read the title of, I Think I Might Love You.

Nicole Falls: I Think I Might Want You, I Think I Might Need You.

Andrea Martucci: Yes. So love, want, need, like I was like, Oh, that's great. So Jacqueline Love and Kaden, and I don't really remember names, so.

Nicole Falls: Davenport?

Andrea Martucci: You have a good memory.

Nicole Falls: I read it today, so,

Andrea Martucci: so it's fresh. So. I don't think it's spoilerish to say how they met.

Nicole Falls: No,

Andrea Martucci: because it happens immediately.

Nicole Falls: So Kaden and Jac me because Jac gets into a situation, in her domicile and she leaves and goes to her sister's place, or at least she thinks she's going to her sister's place.

And so she uses her key to get in and discovers that her sister is no longer living there. It is a man who has sublet her sister's space, that her sister told her about. But apparently she doesn't listen very well, which shout out to Jac because I, you know, relate.

Andrea Martucci: Also she was very inebriated at the time.

Nicole Falls: Yes, she was.

She was inebriated and upset. Two things that are automatically going to take you out of your right mental state. And so their first meeting is definitely contentious. Someone may or may not got punched.

and the name Dicky McStranger Balls happens, which is quite honestly one of the funniest things that I have read in a book ever.

Andrea Martucci: A lot of really great Dick descriptions.

Nicole Falls: Yes. Yeah. I believe. He's described as having a blue metal Dick in the Dicklympics.

Andrea Martucci: Yes, yes,

Nicole Falls: yes. Yeah.

Andrea Martucci: Right, so they have  [00:05:00] this immediately contentious meeting and then just kind of keep finding themselves put in each other's paths.

And, Jacqueline is trying - the archetypes of the characters are Jacqueline is trying to actually shake off the bad girl history. She's she's had some trouble in the past and she's really trying to turn over a new leaf and like finish college and she's running her small business, it's an ice cream shop called the Dreamery and, Kaden is shaking off being, I guess, a womanizer like his father was, but his, his father's death has him reevaluating if that's how he wants to continue on.

Nicole Falls: Yeah. So the Loves are actually the cousins of siblings in another series Christina has. So the Wright brothers came like through two or three years before the Loves?

And so the Wrights, the three brothers are, Jason, Justin, and Joey. That's right. And then the Love sisters are their cousins or whatever.

And what I loved about how she did like the sort of weaving in, of the, you know, the family relationship is that she brought those siblings from that previous.

Series into this new series, but also lined it up with like sibling age order.

She sort of pairs the brothers from the Wright series with their, counterparts, so to speak with their cousins from the Love series. So , the youngest Wright brother makes an appearance in the youngest Love sister's book, the middle brother, the middle sister, the oldest brother, the oldest sister, which I thought was just really cool. Cause you know, obviously people write series in which they link characters all the time or whatever, but I just thought that the way that she did it, like you can tell that she took thought into trying to figure out how I'm  putting this family together and how it's going to make sense and how everything is cobbled together. So I could really talk for hours about,

Andrea Martucci: okay. this reminds me of the question. I think you were talking about, the, what was it like the, the football player project you guys had, where there were like character, was it football? What am I thinking of?

Nicole Falls: I don't know. Cause so Alex, I have basketball series and then Christina and Love Belvin have a football series. I do know that in Christina and Love's books, there are characters who end up being like, who are mentioned from their other series in their Connecticut King's books as well.

Andrea Martucci: Connecticut [00:07:30] Kings that's what I was thinking of. And I remember, when Fumi B was on and we were talking about Equivalent Exchange, I was like, how do they keep track? Do they have a spreadsheet like of all these things? And I feel like Christina C. Jones, she has to have a spreadsheet to keep track of this stuff.

Nicole Falls: You know, I actually don't know she has a spreadsheet, but her brain is so like ridiculously brilliant that it probably just is all cataloged up there and she can just pull it at will.

Andrea Martucci: How dare.

Nicole Falls: The audacity, the audacity. And then too, I think it helps  when you're doing like a collaboration with someone and you've read their work.

And you can find a way to organically like put their characters into your stuff where it works.

Andrea Martucci: Right.

Nicole Falls: Like in a way that makes sense. Right.

Andrea Martucci: I think that's like so fun.  It's like, they're real, like the way that real people just kind of come in and out of other people's lives, you know?

Nicole Falls: Yeah.

Marker [00:08:24]

  Andrea Martucci: Did you know that Shelf Love has an email newsletter? Get episode extras, like book recommendations from guests, additional editorializing on topics discussed on the podcast, automatic entry into giveaways, heads up on opportunities to participate in the podcast, plus, I share links that further, the discourse. This episode's extra is a book recommendation from Nicole.

You can sign up on shelflovepodcast.com or via the link in the show notes.   

Marker [00:08:53]

So I mentioned, this is a romcom, the banter and the humor in this is. It's hilarious,

Nicole Falls: like nonstop laughs. Like I said, I reread it this morning and I was going through it and I was like, these jokes, man. Like I was mad about the jokes because I'm like these are so funny and I, I, where did you come up with this stuff? Like, how did this happen? Like, I'm just thinking about, for example, the cat, like -

Andrea Martucci: Miss Thing?

Nicole Falls: Yeah, Miss Thing, that Jac finds. So like the fact that she made a pop culture joke with, you know, the cat sounded like Whitney from A Different World saying "Dwayne Dwayne!". So then that's how she morphs into calling this cat and Miss Thing, because the Dwayne's mama called Whitney Miss Thing. So like, like stuff like that, where it's like these intricate jokes where you get it on the surface.

But also if you have like a deeper depth of knowledge, like it's just like, okay, I can get the brilliance of this cause it's layered. Like I laughed through that entire damn book. Like I just remember the ice cream incident?

Andrea Martucci: Yes. Oh my gosh.

Nicole Falls: After the mix up. And I was literally like sitting [00:10:00] here reading crying laughing, like this is ridiculous.

Andrea Martucci: Kaden is a lactose intolerant.

Nicole Falls: Yes.

Andrea Martucci: So. I highlighted again, lots of fantastic dick jokes, but there's just  lots of playing with language in dialogue even. I think she's talking to her friends and Oh God, somebody is saying like Dick on Demand, NetDicks, Dickazon Prime, she explained

Nicole Falls: Oh yeah, that's after  she asked Kaden, like, how did they get to the point that they were now? Cause they were so comfortable like coming over and hooking up with one another. And she's like, how can you get here?

Andrea Martucci: Yes. I still want to know how the hell we got here to DOD. And he's like DOD? Dick on Demand, NetDicks, Dickazon prime. Duh. Oh my God, it's so good. Like they are unrealistically witty - how dare they be that witty with each other?

Nicole Falls: Yes. Yeah. The banter between the two of them it's at its best when like before they even crossed the line. So like when we were initially going back and forth and he calls her like a homeless lady with a record or whatever, you know, he's just like, like going in on her.

And it shouldn't be funny, but it is because they have sort of like affable nature where even though you can tell that they don't like each other, that is not rooted in like something bad, you know?

Andrea Martucci: Yeah. well, cause they definitely have that, like "friends with benefits, we'll just get the sex out of our systems, but we don't actually want to have a relationship with each other" thing.

Nicole Falls: Yup.

Andrea Martucci: But they do enjoy each other, even when they're being antagonistic.

Nicole Falls: Yes. Which is sort of how it happens in real life. You know? Like I just think about like, One of my exes, for sure. I did not like him as a person, like before we dated, we actually worked together and I was like, I'm not a fan of this dude, like in any way, shape or form.

But sometimes there comes that point in time and whatever the inciting incident is, where you start to see this person in a different light. For them it was, you know, him coming over to check on the cat. The actual animal and not, you know, the other cat,

Andrea Martucci: Her cat. The cat, not her cat.

Nicole Falls: Right. And then,  that evolved into something more, but you brought up the fact of, you know, Kaden sort of overcoming not being like his dad, which I thought that was a pretty like heavy topic.

Right. You would think like, for something as light as a romcom, like something like that wouldn't come [00:12:30] up. But even the way that she handled that, like the finesse with which she explained the type of person his dad was and how that sort of. Played into  his whole thing and how he straddled the fence with it a bit.

Cause at first he is like, I'm just like my dad, you know, I don't care about who I'm screwing and when I'm doing it and who cares that it's leading to problems as long as I'm satisfied in the end. But then, you know, seeing his father ended up the way his father ended up and being like, okay, is this really what I want for my life?

And we've caught the bulk of them at like turning points. Kaden was a bit further into this turning point where we caught him. But Jac was definitely at the beginning of hers, you know, she's balancing running the Dreamery, finishing up her degree, just trying to get her life sorted in general  and then to have this thing thrown in with this guy, it's just like, okay, a lot is happening here?

Andrea Martucci: Yeah, and I think what's interesting is that prior to this actual point, they're both turning in - you can't see my hands. They're turning in such a way where maybe  three years prior to this, they might have had a fling where he's just dating - I forget what he called his type, but it was.

Nicole Falls: Oh, what did he say? He said like thick women with, I don't want to say bad attitudes, but he said

Andrea Martucci: It was something about an attitude,

Nicole Falls: Mouthy, thick women. I can't remember what it was. let's see if I can find it really quickly in my Kindle app.

Here we go. Pretty ass thick women with bold personalities and attitude problems. That's it.

Andrea Martucci: Right. and that definitely describes her. If they had met prior to her  evolution or, you know, the decision that she made, that she was going to kind of shirk this off, they would have had a really great time, but they would not have lasted, but then they both kind of,

Nicole Falls: yeah.

Andrea Martucci: flipped where he was looking for like a longer term, less chaotic relationship. And she was also trying to shake off a bit of her former lifestyle. But, but I think that gets to something really interesting that he said, he said something about like, well, you don't have to limit your colors. You are who you are and I'm really attracted to that.

Yeah. Okay. Maybe don't get, the cops called on you anymore.

But, you don't have to like fundamentally change who you are.

Nicole Falls: Yeah. Because this whole thing was because when she explained why she was trying to change, every reason that she gave was sort of external and not [00:15:00] really internal.

So she's saying, you know, I'm trying to make sure that I am a person that my parents can be proud of. And he's like, you are that person already and you shouldn't have to necessarily change how you move through life on the daily because you think that that's not enough or it's too much. He's like, no, don't dim your light or anyone like be who you are, but just be cognizant of essentially how your actions bring consequences. Which a lot of times, men don't allow women to really be their full selves, in this genre and in real life, or at least they don't explicitly say so, you know what I  mean?

Andrea Martucci: Sorry. Did you say that they don't explicitly say so?

Nicole Falls: Yeah.

Andrea Martucci: Yeah. right.  I think the patriarchy enables a lot of men who feel threatened by anyone with desires that are different from theirs expressing those desires. And then they are also enabled through the power structures of the patriarchy,  it enables that imbalance of power where a man being threatened by a woman's just different identity than his, be like, no, you can't be like that.  It's complicated, but yes, I think that, I will always a hundred percent love a book where they are at the peeing with the bathroom door open stage, completely see who the other is and celebrate it and love it. There's no Rose colored glasses, right? It's not like, I don't know who you are, but I like you. They know exactly who they are and they love it.

Nicole Falls: Yup. They know exactly who the other person is and exactly what they're getting into.

And it's like the risk have already been calculated and I've decided that you're worth it.

Andrea Martucci: And I think that maybe that was part of his - cause I think early on he was like, Oh, I should not mess with her. Like I know she is very much my style, but I shouldn't. And I think in addition to him  learning  what she is striving for,  he's also very true to his own needs and being like, I don't want like the Stepford wife version either. Like, it's like, yes, I want a stable relationship. I don't want to be going through  different, dangerous girls, I don't know how to explain it. Like it's like safe danger.

Nicole Falls: Yeah. So he wants what he wants. Like he wants that quote unquote volatile woman, but he doesn't want that volatile nature to sort of drive how the relationship progresses, I [00:17:30] guess.  In this book, so Jac's juxtaposed against the woman that his aunt wants him to be with who's essentially like Jack and Jill, you know, quote unquote raised. Right. Good girl. Never gotten any trouble, yada, yada, yada. But it's just, that's just never been the type that he's been into. And it's so interesting when like in books, when we see this, when, you know, a parent or  a parent like figure in the book has this idea of who their child should be with and the reasons why they should be with that person.

Cause they almost always just don't make sense or end up coming down to just for appearances sake. And so  I always love, you know, them bucking the trend and being like, "actually, this is not what I want or need, and you're just going to have to get over it." But what was crazy with this one was that added layer of how Jac and his aunt knew each other.

And  that big reveal or whatever. Cause I didn't like before I didn't see it, you know, sometimes you can see those things coming and so it's like, Oh, okay, clearly there's going to be something here, but  reading it again  now I saw the bread crumbs that she laid for us to realize, you know, that this person was this person.

But also if you're just reading it for the first time, you're like, Oh. Oh, that lady that doesn't like her, Oh, that's his aunt. OK, That's another thing they have to overcome.

Andrea Martucci: Right. And I love, he never had an issue.  He maybe wasn't as forceful initially, but he never had an issue kind of telling it like it was, you know, to his family members.

I very much dislike people who are spineless when it comes to their families, who for like 90% of a story cannot stand up to somebody and then like, Oh, their big revelation is that they need to like protect their partner. I'm like, no,

Nicole Falls: like bro that should have happened 40% ago. Like what is happening?

Andrea Martucci: Yeah. Like, Oh, okay. You realized in that situation, you should have done more like, you know, and, and I really loved the way there was this, I'm going to call it a misunderstanding and how he handled a situation  along those lines, where he was a hundred percent defending her, but he was also taking care of Jac and she misinterpreted what was happening and thought that he wasn't defending her honor, I guess, or like, you know, their relationship or whatever, her [00:20:00] worthiness and  I thought it was really beautiful and I loved it very immediately led to this discussion about him being like, okay,  I am hearing what you are saying,  how can I support you in a situation like this while also understanding that first and foremost, I'm looking out for you.

Nicole Falls: Yeah. Yeah. Like Kaden was kind of like annoyingly perfect in that way, you know? And I think it just, I think it's annoyingly perfect because he had the years on her. I think there's like a five or six year age difference between the two of them. We moved a little bit more life

Andrea Martucci: I think it was eight or nine.

Nicole Falls: Yeah. he's lived more life, there's a slight age difference between them and with that mid twenties to early thirties jump there's a chasm like of the experiences that one has between those  time periods .

So, when I say like, he's annoyingly perfect. It's just that he's lived a little more life. So he knows the things to say and how to react and how to move forward and how not to get caught up in the dumb shit, for lack of a better phrasing, that could impede their forward progress. So. Like even when they had, you know, their misunderstanding, like when he comes to her, it's not necessarily  like hat in hand  mea culpa, like, but it's also like, Hey, I realize what happened here,  this is what we need to do to correct it.

This is where we stand now. How do you feel about it?

Andrea Martucci: Yeah, I love a good mature relationship conversation. That's my catnip. This book like made me happy, you know, and I, you were speaking to this earlier, when you were talking about Chekhov's judge. Chekhov's  judge is an Easter egg for listeners. If you haven't read this book. This book made me really happy.  It was like everything tied up so satisfactorily, like it was lean and effective and kind of just like laugh out loud funny and a ride. And I just enjoyed it so much.

Nicole Falls: It worked on all levels. Like there was nothing when you get to the end of it, there is nothing that leaves you wanting. Which is a commentary. I see a lot about novellas of people, you know, they talk about the length and they say, Oh, but I wanted to see X, Y, Z one, two, three.

Okay. That just means that the job was done correctly. Right. Cause that [00:22:30] means, honestly, you can see X, Y, Z one, two, three, happening. That doesn't necessarily mean that the book needed to go there with it, particularly with these two, like I think where it ended was sort of like that perfect moment where you know that this is book one of a series so these people aren't going to appear tangentially again at some point, so you're gonna see them. And now, when you see them, it's just like a peek back. "Oh, my friends, what are they up to now?" As opposed to it needing to be that much more. Like it was a satisfactory bite in and of itself

Andrea Martucci: As somebody who doesn't have as much time for reading as I would like, I really appreciate novellas because I feel accomplished, you know, I have my GoodReads reading goal of a hundred books a year. And yeah, if I was reading a hundred Duke by Defaults, you know, it wouldn't happen. Let me just tell you, I mean, that's a long book.  when I'm reading little bits here and there throughout the day. Like I'm doing bath time and I'm sitting on the toilet, like, you know, with the seat down, reading a little bit here and then like reading a little bit while  the water is boiling to make pasta or something.  I really appreciate that a story like this I can dip in and out of and like actually finish in a realistic period of time.

Nicole Falls: Yeah.

Andrea Martucci: There are definitely books that I'm like, this should have been shorter. I have never read a book and been like, this should have been longer.

Nicole Falls: The only time that I've ever read a book where I said, this should have been longer is when I'm being a greedy reader and I just want more because I love those people that much, or I'm just like, I would read them, reading the newspaper to each other daily and reciting the phone book,  but it's never a real deal want, it's just a. Oh, I wish there was just a bit more, you know, it was more of a, like a pie in the sky thing, but I'm never one to tell, like, someone like this book wasn't long enough. How dare you?

Andrea Martucci: You mean, you're not gonna send an angry email to Christina C. Jones about how she should write full-length things instead of novellas.

Nicole Falls: I mean, I might, you know, just because I love to troll my friends.

Andrea Martucci: I am alluding to a blog post she wrote in which she mentioned that some people have done that, I guess  like why are you writing so many novellas?

Nicole Falls: Yeah, that's insane to me. I think that we've come to a period in time where  art is being taken for granted. And we are in the era of binge [00:25:00] everything. So binge watching, binge listening, binge reading, wherein people just devour, novellas. And they're like, well, where is the next  one? Like, when is the next one coming? And it is one of my biggest peeves, particularly because I know that people work hard to create a thing. No matter how long or short it is. And you're doing that creator a disservice by just swiping through really quickly  Oh, so you can say you read it first. Like that does nothing.

Honestly, for me, when I'm reading, like a lot of the things that I remember and retain and hold on to, aren't always the big moments in the plot or whatever. You know, it's not always the rising action or the conclusion or whatever. Like it's little small stupid things that happen over the course of the narrative that I'm like, Oh, that was cute.

Like just its and pieces. And so I think that people miss a lot of those things. And then when they get to the end of, you know, a shorter work, they're saying, Oh, all of this stuff was missing, but it's like, was all of that stuff missing or were you in such a rush to get through it, to meet a GoodReads goal that you missed?

Andrea Martucci: I feel like, kind of shamed here now, but yeah,

Nicole Falls: I know it wasn't directed toward you or whatever. Cause I used to be a huge, like have to meet with the reach my GoodReads goal person, but I also read a lot faster than the average bear. But yeah,  just observing  readers from being connected with them on social media, like how they blast through these books.

And I'm like, yo,  maybe don't take a day to read a book. Like, it's great that you are that passionate about it. It's great that, you know, you have that fervor and you want to get through it, but also like, sit with it and relax and enjoy, and like, let yourself be immersed in that world. Like, I'm just thinking about something like, Wonder for example. If you power read that book and just like, Oh, I got to get through it.

You missed so much, so many little things that led up to all of the big things that happened. You know? Just pay attention to the quiet moments, man. Cause they mean something.

Andrea Martucci: Do you know, I want to talk about Wonder at some point in more detail because I read it at the beginning of the pandemic.

Nicole Falls: Ooh.

And

Andrea Martucci: people were like, Why did you do that? And I was like, [00:27:30] that is actually the best time for me to read it because there was like all of this, I'm going to call it political commentary. You could, you could call it like social commentary. There was all of this stuff in there that I think meant a lot more just because of like what we're living through and yeah.

Yeah, man, you do not want to blow past that stuff while reading that book.

Nicole Falls: You don't like it's the, you can't like you, you are not getting all of it, if you blow past all of that stuff. And like particularly in that book too, cause it's a reimagining of Alice in Wonderland. And so the devil is in the details of that book.

Like it's not just on its head, a girl named Alison, you know what I mean? Like, there are so many other  small details of bits and pieces of, shit. Who wrote Alice in Wonderland?

Andrea Martucci: Lewis Carroll.

Nicole Falls: Lewis Carroll's, you know, original characters that she chopped and screwed into this new version in Wonder. And it's just like, why would you power through that?  I don't know,

Andrea Martucci: like, why are you reading? Like why

Nicole Falls: If I could read slower, I would. I cannot make my brain read slower, which is very sad to me. But I mean, also I still catch those, those moments. Like I still catch the little things and I'm a big rereader too, so like, I'll go back and like, you know, look at things again or whatever.

But if you're just reading for the sake of collecting books, like Pokemon cards, you know what I mean? Like, what's your point? I was always of the mind that reading should be a diversion that takes you away from the world in which you're living, and allows an escape for however much time you have just to immerse yourself in this other world.

And then you get back to the world that you live in.  And I just, I don't know, I'm just not really a big fan of the speed read, binge read, blow through books to prove that you are this awesome bookish person and you read a lot, like the average adult does not even read 12 books a year. So like, if you read more than 12, sis you're already like killing it.

Andrea Martucci: Yeah.

Nicole Falls: I don't know. I feel like all of this man, all of this like goes hand in hand, you know, binge culture and the way that people are hypercritical of art across all spectrums, not even just saying books, I'm not even just saying that because I'm a writer. But,  the rush to finish and the [00:30:00] rush to be the first to find something wrong are two things that have been emerging in media for the past, maybe like five years or so that I'm just not a big fan of at all.

Andrea Martucci: Yeah. And I never even understood why people would want to collect Pokemon cards.

Nicole Falls: Got to catch 'em all.

Andrea Martucci: I know, but I was like, why? Like why, what do you do with them? Why I don't, why? Why are we doing this? I was never fun to play with. Let's just be honest there .  I'm like, Oh, you find joy in that. Why? let's plumb the depths of your desires.

Nicole Falls: Break it down.

Andrea Martucci: Yeah. Let's parse this.   

Marker [00:30:40]

So, was there anything else you wanted to talk about with I Think I Might Love You?

Nicole Falls: That entire series man though. I feel like I'm always a fan when people do something unexpected at unexpected times. And, that series, like the Love sisters, like they came out back to back to back, which is typically not a thing she does.

And I can't remember what they came after, but I feel like they came after something that was more heavy. And I'm just like, get you a fave that can do both, right. She can write something with  meat and depth and all of this, like angst and stuff, but then she can turn around and give you like the light and fluffy rom-com thing too and it's effortless either way. It's a good read either way,  you're involved in it either way. So yeah the Love sister series is like, high, high, on my list of CCJ faves .

Andrea Martucci: It was, yeah, it was really good. And now God, I'm going to have to like keep cracking away at this a hundred books this year. And maybe some of these novellas will be in there. I honestly, I am glad Christina C. Jones wrote all these novellas because then I can read more Christina C. Jones, it fits my schedule.

Thank you so much for coming on today. How can listeners find you online? What's a book of yours that they should check out slash what are other things going on with you that people should check out?

Nicole Falls: Okay. I'm I'm on Facebook as author Nicole Falls. I'm on Twitter and Instagram as underscore Nicole Falls. And I, am behaving and doing my work correctly. I'm allowed to be on Twitter, but when I'm not, I'm not. So currently I'm on hiatus from Twitter soon to be back, maybe in August, who knows. And, let's see, what else?

What do I have going on? I don't know. I fake have a podcast. It's called #fallsonlove. There are a lot of episodes waiting there, but there have not been any new episodes in like a month or two. Just because I'm [00:32:30] trying to figure out what I'm doing with the podcast now. So it initially started out as an interview series of Black indie romance writers.

And then I got to a point where, not where I ran out of authors, cause that just won't happen. But I like to be acquainted with the work of an author. I don't like to just bring people on that I have not read. I do have a couple of episodes where that happened and it's evident.

And so I don't like that. And so I'm now working on figuring out how to diversify the content and not just have it be interview based. So I've done a couple episodes, here and there, just about things that have come up either in the community or just on my heart and spirit and minds to be called.

So I've done that. so that can be found everywhere. It's on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Anchor, all those good places. and I think that's, that's it. That's all I do.

Andrea Martucci: That's all.

Nicole Falls: Yeah, just, just fifty eleven things. Just not too much.

  Andrea Martucci: Thanks for listening to episode 56 and thanks to Nicole for joining me. All the links to find Nicole online are in the show notes, which are also available on shelflovepodcast.com along with a transcript for the episode. All the transcripts are available on the episode pages, just keep scrolling.

I'm going to take at least a week off to rest and recharge. Season one of Shelf Love launched on September 17th, 2019 and 11 months later this is my 58th episode. This is a one-woman production team. So I think I'm due for a little break. But never fear. Season two plans are well underway and it's going to kick off with conversations with three romance scholars: Hsu-Ming Teo, Jayashree Kamble, and Eric Selinger. They're also the editors of the recently-released Routledge research, companion to popular romance fiction.

In the meantime, I'd be grateful if you checked out any episodes from season one that you missed and rated and reviewed the podcast on Apple podcasts. I love to hear your thoughts on the show and it helps other romance nerds find the podcast.

Thanks for joining me today. If you have any thoughts on the show, I'd love for you to reach out to me. You can send an email to [email protected]. Black lives matter. Stay safe, stay mad and keep reading romance.