About First Encounter—A Historical Romance Podcast
First Encounter is a podcast exploring both the foundations, and the future, of Historical Romance. Hosted by Andie James, Historical Romance author and enthusiast.
There will be two episodes per month:
Second Wednesday of each month: These episodes are an interview with an Indie Historical Romance author discussing topics related to the genre, and hopefully helping you discover a new author to love!
Fourth Wednesday of each month: These episodes are a deep dive in to a Historical Romance 'classic' Andie has never read. Andie will discuss the book with a fellow Historical Romance enthusiast who knows and loves the book.
S1 E18—The Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran with Melissa (@aduchessinside)
I had such a great time chatting with Melissa this week about my first Meredith Duran, THE DUKE OF SHADOWS!
In this book deep dive for September, we are talking about the bold choice to not only set this book in India, but also in the midst of the Sepoy Rebellion in 1857. We appreciated the way Duran condemns colonialism while still presenting the violence on both sides of the conflict, and the brilliant way she set up both of our characters to be able to deal with this traumatic event.
And as always, we talk about what makes historical romance so great and why we love this genre so much!
Follow Melissa on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/aduchessinside/) (@aduchessinside)
Learn more about Meredith Duran (https://www.meredithduran.com/) and her books
And support the podcast on Patreon (link below) to get my upcoming novella, STAY HERE FOREVER (https://www.andiejamesauthor.com/all-books#stay-here-forever) —out 10/2/2026
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First Encounter is a podcast exploring both the foundations, and the future, of Historical Romance. Hosted by Andie James, Historical Romance enthusiast and author.
Support First Encounter:
Patreon (https://patreon.com/first_encounter_hr_pod?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink)
Follow First Encounter:
Website (https://www.andiejamesauthor.com/firstencounterpod)
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/first_encounter_hr_pod/)
Follow Andie James:
Website (https://www.andiejamesauthor.com/)
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/andiejamesauthor/)
Logo designed by Books and Moods (https://www.booksandmoods.com/)
Theme Music by TheJayMan (https://depositphotos.com/music-track/positive-successful-cinematic-vibes-used-movie-soundtrack-764901870.html)
9 Sept 2026
S1 E17—Interracial Historical Romance with Addy Du Lac
I had a fantastic time this week chatting with historical romance author Addy Du Lac about the books in her Troublemakers Trilogy. I absolutely loved these books—they are incredibly romantic with bold heroines and swoony heros and are a great blend of more modern approaches to representation in histrom along with an old school feel of dramatic plot points, and proper villains!
We discuss the need for more inclusive representation within the genre and Addy’s particular focus on Interracial Romance, and why we need to support BIPOC and authors from minoritized communities with our actions, not just our words.
Learn more about Addy and her fabulous romances on her website (https://www.addydulacauthor.net/)
Join Addy as she talks with Authors of Color in the Tea Salon (https://www.youtube.com/@TheTeaSalon)
Learn more about Swoons Fest (https://www.swoonsfest.com/)—the historical romance focused event of your dreams!
First Encounter is a podcast exploring both the foundations, and the future, of Historical Romance. Hosted by Andie James, Historical Romance enthusiast and author.
Support First Encounter:
Patreon (https://patreon.com/first_encounter_hr_pod?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink)
Follow First Encounter:
Website (https://www.andiejamesauthor.com/firstencounterpod)
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/first_encounter_hr_pod/)
Follow Andie James:
Website (https://www.andiejamesauthor.com/)
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/andiejamesauthor/)
Logo designed by Books and Moods (https://www.booksandmoods.com/)
Theme Music by TheJayMan (https://depositphotos.com/music-track/positive-successful-cinematic-vibes-used-movie-soundtrack-764901870.html)
2 Sept 2026
Bonus Episode—A Match Made in Autumn
Today’s show brings together all of the authors participating in the A Match Made in Autumn collaborative series, being released in Fall 2026. A series of eight novellas by Indie historical romance authors, all the stories center characters finding themselves with a second chance at finding love, and all are set in Autumn!
I’ve loved collaborating with these ladies and I can’t wait for all of you to read their stories! You can find more information about the series here (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H72JXDV1) (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H72JXDV1 (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H72JXDV1)), and the first novella releases September 11, 2026!
Learn more about the authors participating in the series and find their other novels:
Sylvie Sinclair (https://www.sylviesinclair.com/)
Bianca White (https://biancawhitewrites.com/)
Ally Hudson (https://www.allyhudson.com/)
Andie James (https://www.andiejamesauthor.com/)
Misty Urban (https://mistyurban.com/)
Kelsey Swanson (https://authorkelseyswanson.my.canva.site/#page-2)
Laura Linn (https://lauralinn.com/)
Ava Bond (https://avabond.co.uk/)
First Encounter is a podcast exploring both the foundations, and the future, of Historical Romance. Hosted by Andie James, Historical Romance enthusiast and author.
Support First Encounter:
Patreon (https://patreon.com/first_encounter_hr_pod?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink)
Follow First Encounter:
Website (https://www.andiejamesauthor.com/firstencounterpod)
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/first_encounter_hr_pod/)
Follow Andie James:
Website (https://www.andiejamesauthor.com/)
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/andiejamesauthor/)
Logo designed by Books and Moods (https://www.booksandmoods.com/)
Theme Music by TheJayMan (https://depositphotos.com/music-track/positive-successful-cinematic-vibes-used-movie-soundtrack-764901870.html)
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
5 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
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