Episode 34: Bookish rom coms (with Nina Kenwood)

‘Creative yearning alongside romantic yearning is my sweet spot’

Thanks for listening to That Rom Com Pod, recorded on Gadigal land.

Our guest is Nina Kenwood. Nina won the Text Prize for her debut YA novel, It Sounded Better in My Head (2019, Text Publishing), which went on to be published in six languages, was a finalist for the American Library Association’s William C Morris Award, as well as being shortlisted for several Australian awards. Her second book, Unnecessary Drama (2022, Text Publishing), was also a YA novel, and her third novel, The Wedding Forecast (2024, Text Publishing), is Nina’s first book for adults.

Find Nina on Instagram @NinaKenwood or on her website.

OK, here’s episode 34!

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Trending topics

• Gilmore Girls (Seven+, 2000)

• Motherland (Stan, 2017-21)

• Amandaland (Stan, 2025)

• Ghosts (Paramount Plus)

• The Pumpkin Spice Cafe, Laurie Gilmore (2023, HarperCollins)

• The Vampire Diaries (Stan, 2009-2017)

• Jerry Maguire (Stan, 1996)

• Love From Scratch, Amy Hutton (2024, Simon & Schuster)

• Who’s That Girl, Mhairi McFarlane (2015, HarperCollins)

• The Wedding People, Alison Espach (2024, Hachette)

Bookish rom coms

• Yellowface, Rebecca F Kuang (2023, HarperCollins)

• Romantic Comedy, Curtis Sittenfeld (2023, Penguin)

• Things Will Calm Down Soon, Zoe Foster Blake (2024, Allen & Unwin)

• The Book Ninja, Ali Berg & Michelle Kalus (2018, Simon & Schuster)

• The Art of Catching Feelings, Alicia Thompson (2024, Penguin)

• The Other Bridget, Rachael Johns (2024, Penguin)

• Beach Read / Book Lovers / Funny Story, Emily Henry (2020/2022/2024)

• Fangirl, Rainbow Rowell (2013, Pan Macmillan)

• Seven Days in June, Tia Williams (2021, Hachette)

• Bridget Jones’ Diary, Helen Fielding (1997, Pan Macmillan)

• Sex & The City (1998)

• How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days (Stan, 2003)

• Consider Yourself Kissed, Jessica Stanley (2025, Text Publishing)

• All Fours, Miranda July (2024, Allen & Unwin)

• Writers and Lovers, Lily King (2021, Pan Macmillan)

• The Close Up, Pip Drysdale (2024, HarperCollins)

• The Good Sister, Sally Hepworth (2021, Pan Macmillan)

Shelf Love

Nina: An Academic Affair, Jodi McAlister (June 2025, Simon & Schuster)

Clare: Talking At Night, Claire Daverley (2023, Penguin);, An Onslaught Of Light, Natasha Rai (2025, Pantera Press)

Karina: The Woman In The Waves, Camille Booker (2025, Hawkeye Publishing), Three Days in June, Anne Tyler (2025, Penguin)

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More about us:

Clare Fletcher

• Love Match, 2023 & Five Bush Weddings (2022, Penguin)

• Instagram: @ClareFletcherWriter

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Karina May

• That Island Feeling (Dec 31, 2024), Never Ever Forever (2023, Pan Macmillan), Duck a l’Orange for Breakfast (2023, Pan Macmillan)

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That Rom Com Pod is expertly edited by Joshua Broadbent at Marker Creative Co.