We return to myths for the same reason we reread favorite romances. Recognition lets us lean in, surprise keeps us turning the page. Retellings hand us a map we think we know, then redraw the borders around desire, power, and consequence. In romantic fantasy, that remix does something especially electric. It takes stories built on sacrifice and spectacle, then asks how love survives inside those pressures, and what it looks like when agency is no longer a luxury but the point. This wave of mythic romance is not simply Greek pantheons in modern clothes. It is a global refit, a shift in gaze and ethics. Authors are placing familiar archetypes in fresh settings, centering characters who were once sidelined, and writing intimacy with clarity about consent. The effect is a chorus rather than a single voice. These books speak to one another across eras and cultures, and the conversation is about who gets to choose, who gets to live, and who gets to love out loud. Why retellings work in romance The promise of a known spine makes space for deeper character work. When readers already understand the stakes, the story can spend its time on how two people meet…

Book Title: TWO’S A CHARM Character Name: Bonnie Chalmers / Effie Chalmers How would you describe your family or your childhood?Bonnie: Pretty great! Friends, sleepovers, pranking Effie – what a blast! And Mom was my hero. Still is.Effie: Like a big hug. Our mom was the best – she was everything to us, and made everything special. We grew up in the ramshackle house that Bonnie and I still live in, and every room is filled with memories of board games, arts and crafts, and baking. It’s been hard this past year, but we’re doing our best to heal. What was your greatest talent?Bonnie: Just one? Um, I’m a people person. Like, really a people person. And I look good in anything. Also magic.Effie: Being able to find any book in the library just like that. Also magic. Significant other?Bonnie: Oh, I don’t do relationships. Even though…no, not going there.Effie: My best friend Tess, who’s always been there for me. Although…maybe I have my eye on someone. Biggest challenge in relationships?Bonnie: Ugh, relationships. They’re so overrated, don’t you think? Besides, I’m plenty busy renovating the Silver Slipper and making sure my posse of BFFs behave themselves. Oh, unless you mean…

What is the title of your latest release?HOW THE STORY GOES What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Whit Longacre is an author of mystery novels and the widower of a famous children’s fantasy novelist, Helen Albright Longacre. Merritt Pryor is a down-on-her-luck MFA dropout whose horrible ex has just published a novel that is almost certainly about her. She also happens to be a superfan of the late Helen’s series, the completion of which has been left to Whit. Finishing the final book in the series feels like an impossible task for Whit, so he and Merritt come up with a plan to tackle the book together—until a buried secret about Helen’s final wishes raises questions about the work they’ve done and the tender, inescapable partnership they’ve forged along the way. I hope it’s a long elevator. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I think if you’re writing a book that is at least partially about grief and loss, and you don’t want it to feel like a slog, then you have to offer your reader (and yourself!) some warmth and joy. I mean, Whit has already lost his wife; we don’t need to…

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-Reader Match,” where we introduce you to authors you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Sarah Loudin Thomas! Writes: I write Appalachian historical fiction, building stories around little known tidbits of history. While my novels aren’t usually categorized as romance, there’s almost always a romantic thread. THESE EMPTY PLACES includes TWO second-chance romances. One for a husband and wife who must rediscover their love after losing everything in the stock market crash and the second for a more “mature” character who’s unexpectedly wooed by a younger man. That one was SUCH fun to write! About: I’m an Appalachian mountain girl who loves writing stories inspired by real events. I’m an old soul who prefers my great-grandmother’s quilts and my great aunt’s paintings to anything new I can buy. In my free time you’ll find me thrifting for other people’s sentimental knick-knacks. I’m bonkers for dogs and have stopped writing to go outside because I spot a pup going past my window. My husband won’t let me have more than one. Which is wise but disappointing. My dog is named…

Excerpt from THE SUPPER CLUB SAINTS by Claire Swinarski: Hilary and Nathan had been divorced for four years. The first few times she’d had to meet him at the Kwik Trip parking lot to hand off Fiona, Wyatt, and Levi, she’d felt like she was going to throw up. But now, it was just another task on her never-ending to-do list two Saturdays a month. It was strange, the things you could get used to. Nathan had to take Breathalyzers on his phone before Hilary dropped off the kids. On his phone—it felt like something out of a video game, the little app the court made him download. But it worked. Hilary usually didn’t even ask to see them anymore. He’d been sober for a couple of years, at this point. And as complicated as it made her feel, the boys were always overjoyed to go to his house. Fiona, on the other hand, usually did what she was doing that particular Saturday afternoon.that particular Saturday afternoon. “You’re going to have fun,” Hilary reminded her sniffling daughter. “You’re going to have something cheesy and delicious that comes in a take-out bag for dinner, and then you’re going to play Mario…

Book Title: PAYBACKCharacter Name: Ayse How would you describe your family or your childhood?My father and I emigrated from Istanbul when I was 4. We’ve lived in the same West Hollywood ever since. Sounds cramped. That’s so American to need a whole wing to yourself. We have 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. That’s more than enough. Plus our apartment is on the 3rd floor, at the exact height of the jacaranda flowers, so it feels like a treehouse. If you link to my address though, I will sue you. How do you pronounce your name?EYE-sha. Significant other?I prefer to have a few situationships. Who has time for a relationship? An interrogation where you end up naked? Oof. No. Biggest challenge in relationships?People say I am secretive. I have no idea where they got that idea because I definitely didn’t tell them anything. Do you have any enemies?Maybe. Depends on who you ask. How do you feel about the place where you are now? Is there something you are particularly attached to, or particularly repelled by, in this place?Well, I am in jail with a bunch of hysterical idiots, so I would say I feel extreme levels of murderous irritation. Do…

AUGUST LANE is country music in book form. The book is divided into sections of a song (verse, chorus, bridge, etc.). It incorporates common themes of the genre, such as regret, small towns, going home, and second chances. It’s also written in the characters’ voices and shaped by their take on the world. The songs below are just a small sample of the music that helped me bring August and Luke to life. “Snowden’s Jig” by the Carolina Chocolate Drops Instrumental This is the first track on my playlist and on the Carolina Chocolate Drops’ Genuine Negro Jig album. That album was the first time I’d ever listened to music by a Black bluegrass band. I love that it’s technically a jig, the type of song we usually associate with lively parties and dancing, but has a somber, soulful tone that gives it gravitas. It makes me think about how the romance genre, typically associated with light escapism, can also have depth and weight. There’s so much culture and history in this simple track, and it does a beautiful job of evoking the book’s mood. “Sorrys Don’t Work No More” by Brittney Spencer Favorite Line: You still look at me…

What is the title of your latest release? MOONLIGHT MURDER What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Kausar Khan returns with a case that might break her – eighteen years after his tragic death, Kausar is determined to find out what really happened, the night she lost her youngest son Ali, and silence her suspicions and questions once and for all.  How did you decide where your book was going to take place? My novels are usually set in the Golden Crescent neighbourhood. This fictional neighbourhood is inspired by Scarborough, located in the east end of the Greater Toronto Area, and one of the most diverse and interesting areas of the country. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? I’ve always said I want to be Kausar Khan when I grow up, so yes, pretty sure she would be an excellent hang. What are three words that describe your hero? Tenacious, Compassionate, Intelligent. What’s something you learned while writing this book? Writing a mystery is like constructing an elaborate puzzle box and magician trick all rolled in one! Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I always wait until I’m…

As you may know, my love of history has been peeking out from the shadows lately. A good historical mystery will intrigue me, a great one, will hook me. I’m by no means an expert on the history of crime solving, but I am fascinated by how we’ve come to be where we are today.  That being said, I can’t imagine what it would be like to have two hundred years of humanity’s progress pass by in the blink of an eye, and find myself in middle of a murder scene where I could potentially be the suspect in foreign world that was strange yet familiar at the same time. Today’s author, Amelia Blackwell, did and she wrote a brilliant book doing just that!  Kym: Welcome to the Cozy Corner, Amelia and congrats on your debut novel!Amelia: Thank you for hosting me on Cozy Corner. It’s an honor to be here. Kym: When I read the blurb for A CRIME THROUGH TIME, I had to read it. What helped you develop the idea of having her transport to the future instead of someone more knowledgeable in criminal investigations traveling back in time to solve a murder? Amelia: This is a brilliant…

What is the title of your latest release? IMMERSIONS What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? IMMERSIONS is about a young woman who is convinced something went horribly wrong in her older sister’s marriage. When her sister’s ex-husband comes back to town, she seeks him out, trying to find answers—and ends up getting pulled into a dangerous, thrilling intimacy with him. How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I tend to write about New York, because that’s where I live. But I always knew that partway through the book, there would be a shift to someplace remote. About ten years ago, I did a residency on Fishers Island, and the weird specificity of that place really haunted me. So when I imagined a place where my hero and heroine would be isolated, that island came to mind. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? Yes, definitely. Frances is young, but she’s perceptive. If we were in school together, I’d like to hang out with her after a big party and get her take on everyone.  What are three words that describe your hero? Naive, gifted, sensitive. What’s something you learned while…