Hi friends,

Hope you had a great weekend. I have some exciting news: I’m writing a book!

ROMANCELANDIA will document how romance became the defining genre of the 2020s, influencing not just bestseller lists but Hollywood and Wall Street. I’m excited to introduce the world to the vibrant community of authors, readers and influencers, and document romance’s current dominance as well as its long history as the country’s top-selling genre.

It seems fitting that this announcement comes almost exactly five years after I hit send on my first edition of this newsletter. I’m so grateful for the community we’ve built here and for the opportunity to write this book.

And, now, what to read if …

You Binged “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives”

Everyone is Lying to You by Jo Piazza

The third season Hulu’s “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” which follows prominent MomTok influencers, premiered last week. The stars of the show make their (well-paid) livings posting about their picture-perfect lives, filled with spotless homes, well-behaved children and lavish, home-cooked meals. It is, in the words of Washington Post columnist Monica Hesse, “the perfect prosperity-gospel, purity-culture, Project 2025 distillation of femininity in the current bull market era of evangelical America.”

It’s also the perfect companion to Everyone is Lying to You, Jo Piazza’s delicious #TradWife thriller. Struggling journalist Lizzie is shocked to receive an Instagram DM from Rebecca Sommers, the it “traditional life” Instagram influencer, who abruptly ended their close friendship fifteen years earlier. Rebecca offers to give Lizzie a career-defining interview at an upcoming influencer conference, but the day after they reunite Rebecca goes missing and her handsome husband is found brutally murdered.

Scared that Rebecca — and her children — could be in danger, Lizzie begins poking around and learns about the unfiltered lives of Rebecca and her fellow influencers. Following down the rabbit hole, the journalist learns her former friend hadn’t changed as much as she once thought and that the smoke-and-mirrors world of influencing hides dangerous secrets.

Everyone is Lying to You is frothy, fun and thought provoking. It combines the twists of a thriller — including one that caused me to gasp out loud and text a friend who had already read it — with sharp criticism on our current obsession with #TradWives. Clear your calendar when you start this one.

You Watch the Dog Show Every Thanksgiving

Dogland by Tommy Tomlinson

This