Welcome to a new episode of Troped Out Podcast! I am Emma C Wells. With me is my partner in crime—EJ Wenstrom. Today we are chatting with adult romance author Brighton Walsh.

USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Brighton Walsh spent a decade as a professional photographer before taking her storytelling in a different direction and reconnecting with her first love—writing. She likes her books how she likes her tea—steamy and satisfying—and adores strong-willed heroines and the protective heroes who fall head over heels for them. Brighton lives in the Midwest with her real life hero of a husband, her two kids—one who’s already taller than her and one who’s catching up too fast—and her dog who thinks she’s a queen. Her boy-filled house is the setting for dirty socks galore, frequent dance parties (okay, so it’s mostly her, by herself, while her children look on in horror), and more laughter than she thought possible.

• Brighton observes she’s overdue to update her bio–now, both her kids are taller than her. And she’s tall herself!
• Em starts us off with our favorite question to ask every author: What are you reading right now?
• It’s the year of the reverse harem! Brighton has already read 160 of them this year. She just started the UNTOUCHABLE series by Heather Long
• Big question from EJ: How many men does it take to make a reverse harem? Brighton says three men or more–two is only a menage.
• Em wonders, is she mostly a contemporary reader or does she branch into paranormal or other subgenres? Brighton reads mostly contemporary.
• Back when Em was trying to get into Pitch Wars, the program did a Q&A tour for the mentors to introduce themselves, and Em remembers Brighton’s answers left an impression…
• One question was about sending your character on adventures, clearly meant for very different kinds of stories. Brighton answered that for her romance books, she guessed the adventures were the weird sex positions! It made Em snort-laugh.
• Em wants to know if anyone watched THE LOST CITY? Brighton has! EJ hasn’t made it yet.
• The casting was perfect, they all agree.
• Brighton notes that a lot of films about the romance genre can diminish it in how it pokes fun, but this one didn’t do that.
• But it still had fun with the tropes–only one hammock, anyone?
• EJ always likes to see how publishing is portrayed in film and tv – did it feel accurate or did they fudge it a little?
• Oh no, they fudged it. Brighton explains how the publisher felt small or boutique, but somehow also had a massive budget for a book launch. It was clearly a Nora Roberts, million-dollar caliber author.
• And then…the publisher comes to save her. All agree an agent is much more likely to come to an author’s rescue in real life.
• Ultimately, EJ says as a fan of YOUNGER she’s comfortable with some inaccurate publishing rep, it can still be a fun story. She endorses.
• Em enjoyed that the villain was after the author heroine because of very, very niche information she’d researched to include in a book–this tracks. Authors know very strange, random stuff.
• Bright says she’s gotten not lazy–ingenious–with her research by asking her social network if they know anyone who’s an expert in an area she needs info for, and it almost always gets her a connection to someone.
• Em wants to know the weirdest thing everyone has researched for a book.
• Brighton once had to research criminal stuff like how chloroform works for her CAPTIVE and EXPOSED duet, where the main characters are criminals.
• Em has had to find out if you can sneak things into a hospital waste incinerator.
• EJ once researched impalement history and methods for a story.
• Brighton also has to research impalement–just a different kind.
• Em sighs–at least it wasn’t cannibalism.
• Speaking of cannibalism, EJ just finished YELLOWJACKETS finally.
• Which led her to reflect on enemies to lovers, which is central to Brighton’s new release, DEFIANT HEART. It’s been really hot lately, and she wonders if it’s on any level an escapism thing, because our world is so polarized these days.
• So let’s talk about Brighton’s book!
• DEFIANT HEART: EJ wants to know, is there cannibalism? Sadly there is not. But someone does get eaten, Brighton says. So there’s that.
• DEFIANT HEART is the first book in the STARLIGHT COVE series. It’s based in Maine with the MacKenzie family, focused on siblings who are trying to save their family’s resort.
• Luna, the heroine of book one, is what Brighton calls a moon goddess–hashtag van life.
• Brady, the hero, is sheriff of Starlight Cove–very controlled, very rigid.
• He’s arrested her many times and this time, it’s getting in the way of an opportunity for the resort. So he must find a way to keep Luna from ruining it.
• EJ says she thought the teaser blurb for the book was genius–it subtly cues to the big tropes found in the book! Enemies to lovers! Sunshine character! Small towns! Handcuffs!
• Brighton assures it is steamy.
• Brighton loves to write opposites attract because it sets a protagonist against the worst possible person for them and then figure out how they can work.
• Em likes best friends to enemies to lovers.
• Best friends to lovers used to be Brighton’s favorite, and she doesn’t know what switched, but she’s transitioned to enemies to lovers. She loves the idea that someone could see you at your worst and still want you anyway. She thinks that’s really reassuring.
• Does she have a favorite? Brighton calls out THE HATING GAME and HOTHEAD. The HOTHEAD transition between the characters is flawless - a great study for authors who want to write this. And also for readers who enjoy a grumpy hot athlete hero.
• Em asks if Brighton knows about Roy Kent?
• Oh heck yes she does.
• For EJ, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE is the enemies to lovers OG. Her other favorite for enemies to lovers is THE CRUEL PRINCE by Holly Black. It’s a YA fantasy with a fae world, and the two leads are so equally matched for wits in a game driven by manipulation and strategy.
• EJ says it took her a long time to come around on enemies to lovers because the enemies dynamic can get so problematic.
• Em agrees and says it can require a little more suspension of disbelief than some other romance tropes. Grumpy and sunshine is her favorite.
• Brighton loves that one too.
• When she jumped into the reverse harem books this year she started with ROYALS OF FORSYTH, which is a bully reserve harem, with trigger warnings galore (readers, check those before reading!)
• But she felt the way the author brought these heroes together was masterful.
• At once point Brighton caught herself taking issue with something the heroine did in retaliation for what they had done to her and was amazed at the way the author had turned everything around.
• Em’s read a lot of romance, but she hasn’t read dark romance.
• Brighton avoided it for a long time too, but feels the...