Summary:

In episode 19 of Backstage with the Book Babes, we interview hockey romance author, Ruby Rana. She writes romcoms featuring driven women, the hockey players who fall for them, and super fun meet disasters.

Ruby shares with us all about her Ottawa Regents series including the comedy, the spice, and the reason she chose Ottawa as the home for her fictional hockey team. Even though Ruby is not Canadian, she has family there and has visited many of the locations she mentions in her books, but she has a special love for Ottawa.

She shares with us how the difficulties of bringing physical comedy elements into book form, but how a lot of the inspiration comes from her own life. We even get to hear true story that led to a scene in one of her books.

Some of her favorite tropes to write that are included in most of her books include found family and forced proximity. And she tells us how her own found family in real life is just as important as her fictional found families. Although she also enjoys flipping tropes in her books, such as a reverse age gap.

We talk a lot about the many hats us indie authors wear and how important it is to be able to pivot when something isn’t working or a new strategy becomes more important. And also how it can be useful to hire help for some of your admin tasks when you’re able to.

Ruby’s dream is to get her books on a list in a magazine. This would be the ultimate sign of making it for her. Anyone in magazine publishing listening out there?

And her question for readers is: What is the one thing that draws you to a book? Is it a cute cover, the title, the tropes, or the blurb? Let us know in the comments, or post it on The Book Babes Instagram post.

It was fantastic getting to know Ruby.

We hope you enjoy the show, and if you do, leave us a review on Spotify, Apple, YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Music by Christopher Tallon

If you listen and it brings you joy, make sure to leave a review or help support the podcast through Buy Me A Coffee.

Help Support the podcast:

Buy Alby a tea: https://buymeacoffee.com/albyblake

Buy Nikki a tea: buymeacoffee.com/nikkijewell

About Our Guest:

Ruby Rana is an elder millennial who writes spicy, funny, and heartfelt romance about sassy brown girls. She excels in sending messages where autocorrect is adamant in embarrassing her.

When she's not battling typos, you can find her explaining Midwestern slang to her East Coast-raised husband, being used as a jungle gym by her young children, or really leaning into her plant mom-era.

Here’s where you can find Ruby:

All links

Instagram

Threads

Facebook

Ottawa Regents on Amazon

Keep Up With The Book Babes:

Social Media: Backstagewiththebookbabes

Email: backstagewiththebookbabes@gmail.com

Links & Guest Author Applications: linktr.ee/backstagewiththebookbabes

Find Alby Blake & Her Unique Sports Romance Books:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/author_alby_blake/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@alby_blake

Website: www.lovelunapress.com

Find Nikki Jewell & Her Spicy Contemporary Romance:

Social Media: @nikkijewell_books

Website: authornikkijewell.com

Event Links: ://linktr.ee/nikkijewellbooks

In episode 18 of Backstage with the Book Babes, we interview contemporary romance author, JD Harbor. He writes cruise ship based romances that are humorous, heartfelt, and character driven.

JD tells us all about his love of cruising, and shares how he met his wife on a singles cruise. These experiences inspired him to write romance novels where the characters meet on a cruise ship and carry their relationship back to the real world.

His current books are all connected as part of the Romantisea Serenades series. The first two books feature a unique dual POV perspective with the first book, Scarlet Wave telling the story from the female main character’s POV and the second book, Golden Shores, telling the same love story from the male main characters POV.

The mystical cruise host matchmaker of the series, Maude, was inspired by the real life cruise host who helped JD connect with his wife. And he tells us about how he was able to reconnect with her later on to share their story and her part in his books.

He tells us about the very unique experience of traveling on board the LoveLit cruise with a small group of readers and other authors. We learn all about the deeper connections he was able to form with readers during this five day adventure.

And what skills has JD learned to support his writing? He’s become an amateur mixologist learning how to mix all kinds of fun drinks. His wife really appreciates this skill.

JD’s dream is to have a contract with a cruise line to stock his books. Any cruise ship operators listening out there?

We had so much fun talking with JD. Enjoy the show.

Music by Christopher Tallon

Help Support the podcast:If you listen and it brings you joy, make sure to leave a review or help support the podcast through Buy Me A Coffee.

Buy Alby a tea: https://buymeacoffee.com/albyblake

Buy Nikki a tea: buymeacoffee.com/nikkijewell

About Our Guest:

JD writes contemporary romance that feels like a true escape, set in sun filled destinations where connection comes easily and emotions run deep. His stories focus on slow burn chemistry, found family, and characters who discover love when they least expect it. Expect sharp banter, heartfelt moments, and relationships that feel earned from the first spark to the final page.

Here’s where you can find JD:

linktr.ee/jdharbor,

jdharbor.com,

instagram.com/jdharbor

Keep Up With The Book Babes:

Social Media: Backstagewiththebookbabes

Email: backstagewiththebookbabes@gmail.com

Links & Guest Author Applications: linktr.ee/backstagewiththebookbabes

Find Alby Blake & Her Unique Sports Romance Books:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/author_alby_blake/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@alby_blake

Website: www.lovelunapress.com

Find Nikki Jewell & Her Spicy Contemporary Romance:

Social Media: @nikkijewell_books

Website: authornikkijewell.com
Event Links: ://linktr.ee/nikkijewellbooks

Summary:

In episode 17 of Backstage with the Book Babes, we interview contemporary romance author, Monique Fisher. She writes spicy but cosy romcoms featuring lovable characters. These include her Richardson siblings trilogy and the Decadence series.

We chat about the reasons behind Monique choosing to write romcoms including her love of 90s romcom movies like Pretty Woman and Boomerang. Her background in theater has also been a big influence on her writing career. She has tried her hand at various writing mediums, but really found her love with romance novels. She calls her books low angst, cozy romcoms, and believes the world needs this sort of fiction.

Monique also talked about the opposing sides of life as an author. The stress of balancing a job with her family and her writing. But on the other side, the joys of creating fictional worlds. She particularly loves writing in series, so readers can follow the Easter Eggs as they read through.

Revisions are one of her favorite parts of the writing process. She likens them to rehearsals from her theater days. And she loves to analyze sentences, dialogue and character arcs in order to make her books the best they can be.

One of Monique’s other endeavors has been to create an amazing community of black romance authors. Not only does she collaborate with black cover designers, beta readers, and sensitivity readers, she also connects and uplifts other black authors. She tells us about how she created an online community of black women authors and all about their weekly video meetups.

Monique’s question for readers is, will you buy my books and tell your friends to as well.

What a fascinating conversation.

Music by Christopher Tallon

If you listen and it brings you joy, make sure to leave a review or help support the podcast through Buy Me A Coffee.

Help Support the podcast:

Buy Alby a tea: https://buymeacoffee.com/albyblake

Buy Nikki a tea: buymeacoffee.com/nikkijewell

About Our Guest:

Monique Fisher is a theatre and comic book geek who always has her hands glued to the keyboard conjuring up happily ever afters. She writes modern, fun, real-life romances set in cities and small towns featuring a diverse cast of big-hearted, lovable characters. She has written and released nine books including seven which serve as the introduction to her MRCU (Mo’s Rom-Com Universe). She lives in Los Angeles with her two boys Michael and Alexander. Her dream is to write full time without the aid of a

nine to five. Fingers crossed!

To connect with Monique, you can find her here:

HOME | Monique Fisher

IG/Threads: @moniquefisherauthor

Tik Tok: monique.fisherauthor

Substack: moniquefisher

Keep Up With The Book Babes:

Social Media: Backstagewiththebookbabes

Email: backstagewiththebookbabes@gmail.com

Links & Guest Author Applications: linktr.ee/backstagewiththebookbabes

Find Alby Blake & Her Unique Sports Romance Books:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/author_alby_blake/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@alby_blake

Website: www.lovelunapress.com

Find Nikki Jewell & Her Spicy Contemporary Romance:

Social Media: @nikkijewell_books

Website: authornikkijewell.com

Event Links: ://linktr.ee/nikkijewellbooks

Summary:

In this episode of Backstage with the Book Babes, we interview Canadian romance author, Cortney Murchie. She writes in a variety of contemporary romance subgenres, but her current published works include the Unmatched series, where she gets to dig into her personal experiences with online dating and share the chaos. If you’ve got any online dating horror stories, she’d be happy to hear about them.

We get into the varying spice levels of her books including Sleigh Your Name, her self-professed Smutty Christmas Romance book. This includes some research into candy cane toys and questionable uses of tinsel.

We learn about some of the staples of her writing process including snacks and trashy reality TV shows. We also discuss her poetry books and her failed foray into using a typewriter to create typewritten poetry. Apparently it’s a lot more work than a regular computer keyboard.

She tells us about her experience making audiobooks with her narrator Casey Montgomery, and the editing services she offers other authors.

Book Babe Nikki initially met Cortney at the Romance, Eh? Event in Edmonton, Alberta, so we reminisce a little about that and hear about her first signing events.

If you love a little chaos, a lot of heart and similar vibes to the book babes, you’ll love this episode.

If you listen and it brings you joy, make sure to leave a review or help support the podcast through Buy Me A Coffee.

Music by Christopher Tallon

Help Support the podcast:

Buy Alby a tea: https://buymeacoffee.com/albyblake

Buy Nikki a tea: buymeacoffee.com/nikkijewell

About Our Guest:

Influenced by her wild imagination and life experiences, Cortney loves to explore the depths of emotion and the unconventional.

When she isn’t lost in her writing, you can find her nose buried in a good book, watching hockey or spending time with her favourite people—her twins.

Cortney pours her heart and soul into every piece she creates and has been writing from a very young age. She likes to take her readers on a journey through shadows and light and reflects on the complexity of human nature and the beauty you can find in the darkness.

To connect with Cortney Murchie, follow her on social media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coocachoo

Her books can be found on Amazon ( https://www.amazon.ca/stores/Cortney-Murchie/author/B0DFYXCSXD?ref=ap_rdr&shoppingPortalEnabled=true ), at Under The Covers and Grismby Books, with more coming soon. And can be purchased directly from her.

Keep Up With The Book Babes:

Social Media: Backstagewiththebookbabes

Email: backstagewiththebookbabes@gmail.com

Links & Guest Author Applications: linktr.ee/backstagewiththebookbabes

Find Alby Blake & Her Unique Sports Romance Books:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/author_alby_blake/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@alby_blake

Website: www.lovelunapress.com

Find Nikki Jewell & Her Spicy Contemporary Romance:

Social Media: @nikkijewell_books

Website: authornikkijewell.com

Event Links: ://linktr.ee/nikkijewellbooks

Summary:

In this episode of Backstage With The Book Babes we have a very interesting chat with Madeline Nixon. Madeline is a Canadian Contemporary Romance Author who writes in a variety of subgenres and spice levels.

She started her publishing career writing ghost stories but moved on to explore her love of the romance genre. She’s also taken her interest in the paranormal to to add in some mystery and ghost hunting threads to some of her new romance books.

We talk about manifesting and scheming to make your author dreams come true.

And Madeline tells us what it’s like writing with a group of authors to create themed anthologies and a shared author series.

We chat about the Rose City Romance Conference in Windsor, ON where we’ll get to see each other. And Madeline catches us up on other events she’ll be attending in 2026.

Madeline’s question for listeners is: What do you want to see more of on authors’ social media accounts. Do you want a peek behind the scenes of author life, pictures, videos, or something else? What is it that keeps you engaged? You can answer in the comments on our YouTube channel or on our social media accounts.

Music by Christopher Tallon

Help Support the podcast:

Buy Nikki a tea: buymeacoffee.com/nikkijewell

Buy Alby a tea: https://buymeacoffee.com/albyblake

About Our Guest:Madeline Nixon has been a dog walker, a nanny, a baker, a shoe saleswoman, a chocolatier, and an editor, but the title she’s most fond of is author. She writes books with swoony romance and spooky ghost stories. Sometimes, she publishes a combination of the two. She is also included in three romance anthologies. When she’s not writing, you can find her hunting ghosts, planning elaborate theme parties, and baking new recipes. She lives in a suburb outside of Toronto.

To connect with Madeline Nixon, follow her on social media:

https://madelinenixon.com

Social media: @markedwithanm

Keep Up With The Book Babes:

Social Media: Backstagewiththebookbabes

Email: backstagewiththebookbabes@gmail.com

Links & Guest Author Applications: linktr.ee/backstagewiththebookbabes

Find Alby Blake & Her Unique Sports Romance Books:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/author_alby_blake/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@alby_blake

Website: www.lovelunapress.com

Find Nikki Jewell & Her Spicy Contemporary Romance:

Social Media: @nikkijewell_books

Website: authornikkijewell.com

Event Links: ://linktr.ee/nikkijewellbooks

Summary:

Join The Book Babes as we chat with Romantasy and Sci Fi Romance author Catie O’Neill about her writing journey and process. We talk to her about her love of writing interest genre mashups. As an engineer, she loves writing STEM FMCs in her Sci Fi Romances and other strong female characters in her Romantasy books. She tells us about designing her own covers, and her connection with an incredible artist who creates gorgeous sprayed edges for her. She tells us about the very different MMCs in her why choose Romantasy series and which character is the most like her.

Catie’s question for listeners is: “Which type of MMC do you prefer? The morally grey bad boy or the kind considerate green flag character? Drop your answer in the comments or visit The Book Babes’ social media to answer there.

Support The Book Babes:

https://buymeacoffee.com/nikkijewell

https://buymeacoffee.com/albyblake

Music by Christopher Tallon

About Our Guest:

Growing up in upstate New York, I rarely saw females in STEM fields. While earning my B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, I was often the only woman in the room. Those experiences now fuel my stories, featuring fierce female protagonists who aren't afraid to prove their worth in male-dominated spaces. Because let's face it—we've all had that moment when someone assumed we were the secretary instead of the engineer in charge.

When I'm not building worlds or crunching numbers in my infamous spreadsheets (yes, I'm that kind of organized), you'll find me hiking with my beloved Corgi, Kieran (named after the FBAA character—fellow book lovers, you know who I mean!). My other passions include experimental cooking (my crispy smashed potatoes are legendary) and tending to my vegetable garden.

To connect with Catie, follow her on social media:Website: https://catie1024.wixsite.com/catieoneillauthor

Insta & Tiktok: @catiereadsandwrites

Books: Amazon.com: Catie O'Neill: books, biography, latest update

Keep Up With The Book Babes:

Social Media: Backstagewiththebookbabes

Email: backstagewiththebookbabes@gmail.com

Links & Guest Author Applications: linktr.ee/backstagewiththebookbabes

Find Alby Blake & Her Unique Sports Romance Books:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/author_alby_blake/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@alby_blake

Website: www.lovelunapress.com

Find Nikki Jewell & Her Spicy Sports Romance:

Social Media: @nikkijewell_books

Website: authornikkijewell.com
Event Links: ://linktr.ee/nikkijewellbooks

Summary:

In this episode The Book Babes chat with spicy contemporary romance author Kate Smoak. She also happens to be the founder and organizer of the fantastic Canadian book signing event Rose City Romance.

We talked with Kate about her extra spicy romance books and how she likes to subvert tropes and expectations. Things got a little spicy when we dug into her search history. But we also chatted about her nerves over her first ever book signing event. And how her experiences at signings led to her decision to organize her own romance event in Windsor, Ontario.

So, you get dual POV in this one, learning about Kate’s own books and inspiration as well as her event planner side.

Both the Book Babes are attending the signing in its second year, so we had a great time talking about the event.

Music by Christopher Tallon

About Our Guest:

Kate Smoak is a Canadian spicy contemporary romance author, event owner/organizer, and unapologetic book lover. She loves to write broken heroines and subverting expectations. As founder of the Rose City Romance, she loves to bring readers and authors together to share in the love of falling in love with a good book. When not writing her next love story or planning an event, you’ll find her cheering on other indie authors & creators, and reminding everyone that romance readers are the best!

Here’s where you can find Kate & The Rose City Romance Conference:Books: https://www.amazon.ca/stores/Kate-Smoak/author/B0CKPW9W9L?ref=ap_rdr&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

Author: www.katesmoak.ca

All the Kate Smoak links: bio.site/katesmoak

Author Socials: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Threads @katesmoakwrites

Event Site: www.rosecityromance.ca

Event Tickets: https://rosecityromance2026.eventbrite.ca

Event Socials: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Threads @rosecityromance

Keep Up With The Book Babes:

Social Media: Backstagewiththebookbabes

Email: backstagewiththebookbabes@gmail.com

Links & Guest Author Applications: linktr.ee/backstagewiththebookbabes

Find Alby Blake & Her Unique Sports Romance Books:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/author_alby_blake/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@alby_blake

Website: www.lovelunapress.com

Find Nikki Jewell & Her Spicy Sports & Contemporary Romance:

Social Media: @nikkijewell_books

Website: authornikkijewell.com

Event Links: ://linktr.ee/nikkijewellbooks

Summary:

In this episode The Book Babes have a chat with the fantastic Canadian romance author, Hannah Brixton. She writes small town romance with neurodivergency, and mental health representation. We had an amazing chat with Hannah where we discussed everything from research into ocean themed toys to the constant exhaustion of an ADHD brain. We talked a lot about managing life and writing, and trying to get better at celebrating our book launches.

Hannah shared her story of how a real life landscaping project inspired her first book, and how her fictional small town evolved around this. She also shared her pride in being a Canadian author and evolving to embrace this in future projects.

Hannah is an artist and shared her process of creating her own book covers. Turns out since we filmed this with her, she’s starting creating premade book covers for other authors.

She told us about her recent foray into live events and the enjoyment she finds connecting with readers.

We also dug pretty deep into preventing burnout and not stretching ourselves too thin.

Overall, it was a great conversation with funny moments, real moments, and great connections.

Hannahs Question for Listeners: Do you have an interest in more stories set in Canada?

Music by Christopher Tallon

About Our Guest:

Hannah Brixton is a contemporary romance author who lives with her husband, three children, and two cats on beautiful Vancouver Island. A self-proclaimed word nerd, Hannah has a long-standing love of language. She loves writing neurodivergent characters and hopes to normalize mental health struggles through her writing. Her books are steamy romantic comedies with more serious topics woven throughout—romantic dramedies, perhaps—always filled with heart, spice, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

Here’s where you can find Hannah:

https://www.hannahbrixton.com/

https://www.instagram.com/hannah.brixton

https://www.tiktok.com/@hannah.brixton.author

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/41609459.Hannah_Brixton

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Hannah-Brixton/author/B0CHDN9YDV

Keep Up With The Book Babes:

Social Media: Backstagewiththebookbabes

Email: backstagewiththebookbabes@gmail.com

Links & Guest Author Applications: linktr.ee/backstagewiththebookbabes

Find Nikki Jewell & Her Spicy Sports & Contemporary Romance:

Social Media: @nikkijewell_books

Website: ⁠authornikkijewell.com⁠

Event Links: ⁠://linktr.ee/nikkijewellbooks⁠

Find Alby Blake & Her Unique Sports Romance Books:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/author_alby_blake/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@alby_blake

Website: www.lovelunapress.com