# A Debut Romance Set at the US Open You Need to Read | The Open Era by Edward Schmit Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873/a-debut-romance-set-at-the-us-open-you-need-to-read-the-open-era-by-edward-schmit Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873/a-debut-romance-set-at-the-us-open-you-need-to-read-the-open-era-by-edward-schmit.md Podcast: [What to Read Next — Book Recommendations for Romance, Thrillers & Escape Reads](https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873) Published: 2026-06-01T10:00:00+00:00 Episode link: http://www.whattoreadnextblog.com Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/25614e23-a0e6-4e06-a54c-f588ac77207d.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873/episodes/a-debut-romance-set-at-the-us-open-you-need-to-read-the-open-era-by-edward-schmit Duration seconds: 1561 ## Resource This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. What happens when the first openly gay man competes in a Grand Slam — and falls for his opponent across the net? Debut author Eddie Schmit joins the show to talk about The Open Era , his queer tennis romance that's equal parts heart-racing competition and sweet slow-burn love story. Eddie shares how a mental health journey led him to tennis, how tennis led him to a book deal with Penguin Random House, and why the US Open — right in his Queens backyard — became the perfect backdrop for a story about identity, anxiety, and falling in love at exactly the wrong time. We also dig into his reading list: the Andre Agassi memoir that gripped him from page one, a practical mental health survival guide, a quirky queer literary novel about a mountain lion in the LA hills, and a cozy paranormal romance that reads like a warm hug. 📚 Books Mentioned The Open Era by Edward Schmit — Buy on Amazon | Queer Romance / Sports Romance | Audio ✅ Open by Andre Agassi — Buy on Amazon | Memoir / Sports Nonfiction | Audio ✅ Where to Start by Mental Health America, illus. Gemma Carrell — Buy on Amazon | Nonfiction / Mental Health | Young Adult crossover; also available in Spanish The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey — Buy on Amazon | Nonfiction / Sports Psychology | 50th Anniversary Edition | Audio ✅ Dearly Departed by Chip Pons — Buy on Amazon | Queer Paranormal Romance / Mythology Romance Open Throat by Henry Hoke — Buy on Amazon | Queer Literary Fiction | Short / great for gifting | Audio ✅ ⏱️ Timestamps [00:00] Welcome & introducing Eddie Schmit [00:30] Eddie's background: acting, PR, and New York City life [02:00] Finding tennis as a mental health tool [04:30] How tennis becam… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873/episodes/a-debut-romance-set-at-the-us-open-you-need-to-read-the-open-era-by-edward-schmit/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873/a-debut-romance-set-at-the-us-open-you-need-to-read-the-open-era-by-edward-schmit.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.