By Lori Perkins Juneteenth means more this year than any other year. Much like Pride this year. It really doesn’t matter what nationality or ethnic identity or sexual orientation you have, these are important societal celebrations that we must all participate in if we do believe that all are created equal and entitled to “the pursuit of happiness.” As the author of THE BOOK OF EVERYDAY RESISTANCE, celebrating Juneteenth and Pride is an act of everyday resistance this yea

By Lori Perkins I’ve seen Bruce Springsteen at least seven times (maybe more? At my age, you lose track of time). I always believed that he was best in New Jersey, his native land. But last night at Madison Square Garden surrounded by 20,000 blue voters you could just feel that he was home in a way I’ve never quite felt in the Meadowlands. The concert opened with the Motown Vietnam protest song “War!” followed by “Born in the USA” followed by a powerful jam of his classics.

By Elizabeth Kerri Mahon 2026 has brought us not only a new adaptation of Wuthering Heights , but also, before the end of the year, a new Pride & Prejudice series and a new Sense & Sensibility film. On PBS, there are new adaptations of The Forsyte Saga and The Count of Monte Cristo . A new TV series based on Jane Eyre , starring Aimee Lou Wood, is in development. I know this is all recognizable IP with a built-in audience, but I long for movies/TV films based on lesser

By Lori Perkins As a native New Yorker, I recognize the landscape playwright Alex Lin so often explores—the city as the East Coast’s immigrant mecca, where identity, ambition, and belonging are constantly negotiated. I also come from a long line of intermarried immigrant families and strong women, and I’ve seen firsthand how the promise of the American dream can be both alluring and exclusionary. For many, it reveals itself as a system built on transactional power—historicall

by Lori Perkins I was genuinely excited to see The Wild Party at City Center on Community Night, especially with the promise of a pre-show “wild party” featuring champagne and appetizers. The atmosphere was festive, though the entertainment itself felt a bit uneven—two bawdy musical numbers (one centered on a nightclub assault, which felt jarringly out of step with expectations) alongside two elegant and engaging burlesque performances. Then came the main event. Based on a 1

By Lori Perkins I grew up surrounded by the music of this guy, and yet no one really talks about him now. I knew Billy Preston was a talented and well-respected musician. When Peter Jackson’s Get Back featuring the recording sessions from Let It Be came out in 2023, and I saw him create with the Beatles, I did the proverbial “where is he now?” search. I learned that he was gay, and had died young-ish, so I jumped to the conclusion that hiding his gay self had contributed t

By Karen Essex Some stories refuse to fade. Dracula in Love has followed me for years like a shadow—beautiful, intimate, and a little dangerous. When I first wrote it, I wanted to ask a simple but radical question: what if Mina Harker were not the dutiful Victorian heroine of Bram Stoker’s imagination, but a woman of appetite, agency, and secret power? What if she were the vampire’s equal? Long before “romantasy” became a defined genre, I was drawn to stories that braided hi

By Lori Perkins As many of you know by now, I LOVE Galentine’s Day. What I once thought of it as a made-up holiday from Amy Poehler’s character Leslie Knope on Parks & Recreation is now one of my favorites is now one of my favorite, and cherished, holidays. What’s Galentine’s Day you ask? In the words of Leslie Knope, “Oh, it’s only the best day of the year. Every February 13th, my lady friends and I leave our husbands and boyfriends at home, and we just come and kick it,

By Lori Perkins That headline seems redundant, no? I am preparing for my annual re-watch of the Bill Murray/Andie McDowell classic Groundhog Day, which I started rewatching annually seven years ago. It seems like only yesterday… One of the most amazing things about the movie, for me, is that every time I watch it I see something in it I never saw before. The first time I rewatched it, I was shocked at how I never saw it as a romance. It even has a Happy Ever After (HEA) e

By Elizabeth Kerri Mahon Happy January and welcome new followers! I apologize for my tardiness in posting this month. The past few weeks have been a bit of a nightmare in the US. There have been some bright spots (Figure Skating, the upcoming fourth season of Bridgerton, movies, spending time with friends), but for the most part, every day, I wake up with a sense of dread. I don’t want to be Debbie Downer, so I’m going to share some of the highlights of my trip to Savannah, G

By Lori Perkins As we celebrate this national holiday I wondered about the wedding of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott, because I didn’t recall seeing any of those photos. I know we don’t think of Martin Luther King, Jr. as a romantic, but being the editor of this romance-centric magazine, I realty wanted to know about their early courtship. And it was quite romantic in the 1950’s kind of way. A mutual friend set them up. King was getting his Ph.D. from Boston Theol

By Max Ximenez There are few things more restorative than a chicken dinner; and perhaps one of them might be the vaunted “Stimpak” of the Fallout franchise. For a limited time, both can be found at Dave’s Hot Chicken as part of their promotional packaged combo meal of your choice of ten pieces of Dave’s signature “saucy bites” of fried chicken or a chicken slider sandwich, plus ranch dressing, seasoned fries and a Stimpak toy of your very own! While one might be tempted to us

By Lori Perkins I have been making New Year’s Resolutions for decades, and they are more or less the same – lose weight, exercise more, save more money, make more money, and a list of things I want to do. This doesn’t work. Four years ago I survived a stage 3 cancer battle, and coming out of recovery I realized that what I wanted to do going forward was find more joy, and specially, FIND MY JOY. So I started making New Year’s Propositions – proposals to make my life more joyf

By Lori Perkins I’ve been working in publishing for four decades, so of course, I’m a book lover. But the last thing I want as a present is another book. Or bookmark. Or a mug about a book or my book loving passion. At this ripe old age, I also have no wall space left for posters about books. So what do you get someone like me? I’ve been keeping a journal for over 40 years (yes, since I was a kid), so a lovely 5 x 8 book --lined our unlined (I love the ones from the Metropol

By Lori Perkins I love Beaujolais Nouveau, the new (meaning 2025) French red wine that is held back by French law until the third Thursday of November when they allow us plebs outside France to sample it. This is the newly harvested wine from this year, and is fruitier than the more fermented varieties. To my friends who have never had it, I describe is as Manischewitz but French and without the tannins. Last year’s was not so great, but this year is wonderful! And even