{"podcast":{"title":"What to Read Next — Book Recommendations for Romance, Thrillers & Escape Reads","slug":"what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873","podcast_index_feed_id":9873,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/whattoreadnext/","website_url":"http://www.whattoreadnextblog.com","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/f7acd6df-7bd5-4b9f-bdcd-cc1c6c790629/4osSDj37v6rAcBIBBysi07ET.png","author":"Laura R Yamin","episode_count":928,"summary":"You know you want to read. You just don't know what. What to Read Next is the podcast for readers who love romance, thrillers, and women's fiction — and spend more time staring at their TBR than actually reading it. I'm Laura, and twice a week I bring you book recommendations built around one thing: how you actually feel right now. Not what's new. Not what's trending. The right book for this exact mood, this exact moment, this exact week of your life. Some weeks that means asking an author what they read for joy — not what they wrote, but what they reach for when they need to escape. Their answer is always your next discovery. Some weeks it means me telling you exactly what I read, what stayed with me, what I DNF'd at 40% and why, and which one I'd press into your hands right now if we were having coffee. Romance across every subgenre. Psychological thrillers. Beach reads with actual substance. Women's fiction that makes you feel seen. The books that give you the escape you came for — and a few that'll quietly change how you see things too. New episodes every Monday and Wednesday. The Reading Receipt — my weekly reading log — drops every Thursday on Substack. Start anywhere. The r…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-30T20:17:08.396085+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873"},"episode":{"title":"Game Set Match: The Tennis Romance You Need to Read with Jennifer Iacopelli","slug":"game-set-match-the-tennis-romance-you-need-to-read-with-jennifer-iacopelli","published_at":"2026-06-03T10:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873/game-set-match-the-tennis-romance-you-need-to-read-with-jennifer-iacopelli","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873","url":"http://www.whattoreadnextblog.com","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/5bb1b2a4-ed76-489b-a4f0-e01e2c39b037.mp3","summary":"This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. If you've been sleeping on sports romance, this episode is your wake-up call. Tennis romance is officially having its moment in publishing — and the author who was writing it a decade before anyone else is finally getting her flowers. In this episode, Laura chats with Jennifer Iacopelli, author of Game Set Match and its sequel Wild Card — new adult tennis romances newly re-released through Little Brown's Requited imprint after Jennifer's YA novel Finding Her Edge was adapted into a Netflix series. They dig into Jennifer's 15-year publishing journey, the ensemble cast storytelling structure of the Game Set Match series, the road from canceled Olympics to Netflix, and why tennis provides the perfect natural force-proximity setup for romance. Plus, Jennifer shares her top sports romance recs (including a few you can grab right now) and a YA F1 romance that's coming in 2027 that you'll want to add to your TBR immediately. Perfect for fans of Challengers , sports romance, and anyone who loves a resilience arc — in fiction and in real life. 📚 Books Mentioned Game Set Match by Jennifer Iacopelli — Buy on Amazon | New Adult Romance / Sports Romance / Tennis | KU ✅ (backlist) | Audio ✅ (check availability) Wild Card by Jennifer Iacopelli — Buy on Amazon | New Adult Romance / Sports Romance / Tennis | (sequel to Game Set Match; releasing June 2026) Finding Her Edge by Jennifer Iacopelli — Buy on Amazon | YA Romance / Sports Fiction / Olympic Figure Skating | Now a Netflix series ✅ Break the Fall by Jennifer Iacopelli — Buy on Amazon | YA Romance / Sports Fiction / Olympic Gymnastics | Audio ✅ (check availability) Thirty Love by Tom Vellner — Buy on Amazon | Adult Romance / Spor…","meta_description":"This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. If you've been sleeping on sports romance, this epi…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1908,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873/episodes/game-set-match-the-tennis-romance-you-need-to-read-with-jennifer-iacopelli/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873/game-set-match-the-tennis-romance-you-need-to-read-with-jennifer-iacopelli.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}