This Valentine’s Day, QBD Books is ready to fall in love at first listen with the launch of Romance Club, a brand-new podcast celebrating the art of love stories.
Hosted by Amy Matthews, an award-winning author and associate professor in Creative Writing at Flinders University, the podcast will dive deep into the world of romance fiction, featuring insightful conversations with some of Australia’s biggest names in the romance genre.
Associate Professor Matthews is renowned for her contributions to literature. Author of ‘Someone Else’s Bucket List’ and ‘Best, First and Last’, her novels have been published internationally and translated into multiple languages.
Australian-born romance literature is on the rise, and Associate Professor Matthews is ready to delve into emerging authors and releases of the many sub-genres from romantasy to romantic comedies.
“Romance is one of the most widely read and beloved genres in the world, yet it hasn’t always received the recognition it deserves in Australia,” Associate Professor Matthews explained. “I’m proud to be hosting QBD Books’ Romance Club podcast, creating a space to celebrate the incredible talent in romance writing and to connect with the readers who adore these stories.
“The world can be so unstable and frightening, but romance brings comfort to people. Especially in an age where dating is mainly an online occurrence. These stories of chemistry and meeting in real life are somewhat fantasy to the readers and teach us plenty of life lessons along the way.”
The launch of Romance Club is in response to the genre’s meteoric rise since 2020. Romance fiction continues to set hearts (and sales charts) aflame at QBD Books, with a dramatic spike in 2022 and popularity showing no signs of cooling down.
“We’ve seen our customers fall hard for these books, so we wanted to create a dedicated podcast celebrating the genre, where readers can connect with the brilliant minds behind their favourite love stories. We are hoping Romance Club will play matchmatcher between readers and their next great love story,” explained Nick Croydon, CEO of QBD Books.
QBD Books Romance Club, set to launch on 7 March with episodes released fortnightly, promises to be the go-to source for behind-the-scenes insights and bookish discussions for both lifelong romance readers and newcomers, featuring engaging conversations with bestselling authors exploring the craft, inspiration, and impact of romance writing.
Episodes will be available from 7 March on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
