I have to be honest — when I put out the casting call for people with interesting jobs, I wasn't expecting anything quite like this. Alexandra Sunshine is a senior editor at Kensington Books and, as she describes herself, is the number one romantic editor in the U.S. right now — meaning she has acquired more projects in the romantic genre than anyone else in the country. And yes, "romantasy" means exactly what you think it means: fantasy worlds, magical creatures, swords and crowns... and a lot of very explicit sex.
In this conversation, Alex takes me on a full tour of the spicy book world — from the BookTok explosion that completely disrupted publishing, to the sub-genres you didn't know existed (shifter romance, omegaverse, dark romance, "why choose"... we get into all of it). We talk about why women are devouring these books right now, what it says about female sexuality and modern relationships, and why the "touch her and die" trope is basically the ultimate female fantasy. We also get into the surprisingly funny realities of her job: copy editors fact-checking whether a sex position is physically possible, boardroom conversations about explicit content, and the "chili pepper scale" that her sales team ultimately rejected.
We also ended up having a really honest conversation about my own book (the psychological thriller I'm currently working on), and Alex gave some genuinely great advice for anyone who's been sitting on a story idea and hasn't started yet.
Follow Alex: https://www.instagram.com/Alexhsunshine/
Follow Kensington Books: https://www.instagram.com/kensingtonbooks/
Alex's Book Recommendations
Rain of Shadows and Endings by Melissa Roehrich: https://amzn.to/4cZJg6A
Chasing the Wild by Elliott Rose: https://amzn.to/4d5ZcEe
Chasing the Ring by Lauren Rowe: https://amzn.to/4cQZIY7
Chasing the Rush by Lauren Rowe: https://amzn.to/4tMkwWB
Sponsors:
Ogee: Thanks to today's sponsor, Ogee: A higher standard for beauty. Go to ogee.com/LUCIE and use code LUCIE to get 20% off certified organic makeup that performs like luxury.
Quince: Go to quince.com/realstuff for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.
Magnetic Me: New customers get 15% off sitewide at magneticme.com
Rhoback: Use code "REALSTUFF" on Rhoback.com for a generous 20% off your first order through the end of this week.
Nanit: The Nanit Smart Baby Monitor System is 20% off for Mother's Day. Use code LUCIEFINK at nanit.com to get the 20% off plus a free travel case.
Spindrift: Use code LUCIE at DrinkSpindrift.com for 15% off your next order of Spindrift.
Watch this episode in video form on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjmevEcbh5h5FEX0pazPEtN86t7eb2OgX
To apply to be a guest on the show, visit luciefink.com/apply and send us your story.
I also want to extend a special thank you to East Love for the show's theme song, Rolling Stone.
Follow the show on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealstuffpod
Find Lucie here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luciebfink/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@luciebfink
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/luciebfink
Website: https://luciefink.com/
Subscribe to my free newsletter "The Lucie List" here: https://thelucielist.beehiiv.com/subscribe
Executive Producer: Cloud10
Produced by Dear Media.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
