Episodes

Chanel Cleeton’s latest Cuban historical, The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba, covers the remarkable real-life story of Evangelina, a young Cuban noble woman who became an “overnight celebrity” in a bitter New York circulation war that birthed the world of newspaper tabloid journalism we see today. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and today Chanel talks about the birth of yellow journalism and the role the Cuban War of Independence in the 1890s played in its creation. It’s a colorful story, p...

Karen White is best known as the top selling author of so-called “Grit Lit” – the mysteries with a paranormal twist set in the South, like her Tradd Street series set in Charleston, South Carolina, or family sagas in Georgia. Her latest book, in contrast, The Last Night in London, is, as the title suggests, a departure – the first book she has set outside of the South. Hi there, I’m your host, Jenny Wheeler, and in Binge Reading today Karen talks about why she wants the full gamut of human emot...

Nicola Moriarty’s latest book You Need To Know centers on a family of three brothers, all writers, caught up in a traumatic Christmas Eve road smash. It’s Nicola’s way, perhaps of having a bit of a laugh at herself because she’s from a well-known Australian writing family and has two sisters, Liane and Jackie who are also best-selling authors. Hi there. I’m your host, Jenny Wheeler. And in Binge Reading today, Nicola talks about learning to accept the rough with the smooth, finding her niche i...

Sarah Penner’s debut novel The Lost Apothecary shot to the top of the New York Times best seller lists in its first week, and overnight became one of the most anticipated books of 2021, with everyone from CNN to Oprah giving it favorable mentions. Her lead character, Nella, is a skilled healer who uses poison for dark purposes. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and in Binge Reading today Sarah talks about writing a book that stands out from all the others, how Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic ...

Madeline Martin is a USA Today bestselling author who writes historical fiction and historical romance, usually set anywhere between the 14th century and the Regency period. Her romance is full of adventurous twists and turns, empowered heroines and men who are strong enough to love them. But with her latest book, The Last Bookshop in London, she’s taken a new path into World War II Europe. Hi there, I’m your host, Jenny Wheeler and in today’s Binge Reading episode Madeline talks about the tra...

Agatha Award winning mystery author Katherine Hall Page celebrates a special anniversary with the 25th book in her Agatha Award winning Faith Fairchild Mysteries Series, The Body in the Wake. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and in today’s Binge Reading episode Katherine talks about how a decision to sit down and write a mystery novel while on holiday in France years ago led to a remarkable second career, how the pandemic is affecting her stories, and about the cookbook that won an Agatha...

Kayte Nunn is an international bestselling author of historical fiction whose latest book, The Last Reunion, tells the story of five women buddies who served in the Australian Auxiliary Service in the Second World War in Burma. They meet up at a New Year’s Eve party after decades apart, and a thrilling tale of desire, revenge and courage unfolds. This unit was a ‘forgotten’ women’s unit, attached to the Fourteenth Army, and serving closer to the front than any other women’s unit in the Second W...

Over a writing career spanning more than 30 mysteries and thrillers, Michele Scott has seen both the highs and lows of publishing. She enjoyed “instant success” with her first thriller, Daddy’s Home, after weathering years of rejection letters, and she’s now riding high again with her Wine Lover’s Mystery series, book nine, A Killer Margarita, recently published, set for a future on Netflix. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and in today’s Binge Reading episode Michele talks about staying...

J T Ellison has sold millions of psychological thrillers all round the world in nearly 30 countries. Her latest book, Her Dark Lies, is a Gothic spine chiller featuring international billionaires and a mysterious first wife. Does that sound familiar? It should do because it’s a re-telling of Daphne du Maurier’s classic page-turner, Rebecca. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and in Binge Reading today J.T. talks about writing Her Dark Lies, about the Nashville thriller series with homicide d...

Jill Eileen Smith has made a career out of re-telling the lives of Old Testament women for a contemporary audience, and fifteen or more books later she’s still going strong, a best selling and award winning author with an appreciative following. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and to mark this coming Easter weekend we’re doing something a little different. We talk to Jill about searching the biblical and other secular records to make the women, who were originally little more than shadow...

Olivia Hayfield had a crazy idea in the shower and then she turned it into a blockbuster book. And then she wrote a sequel. Why not, she said, re-tell the story of Henry VIII as a 20th century media mogul? The end result was first, Wife After Wife, the tale of Harry Rose, a Richard Branson style magnate who’s a lot more likeable than Henry VIII but does manage to notch up multiple wives. One reviewer described it as “rich people behaving badly”, and now there’s the sequel. Hi there, I’m your h...

Alexandra Joel’s latest book The Royal Correspondent is one for fans of The Crown TV series – revisiting as it does swinging London in the 60s, seen through the eyes of a young Australian journalist, coming from the wrong side of the tracks, promoted to covering the British royal family. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and in today’s Binge Reading episode Alexandra talks about the scandalous family story – one from her own family – that got her started in fiction, her father’s rags to ric...

Allison Pataki has made it her specialty to discover the relatively unknown women of history whose lives changed the course of empires, whose names have largely been forgotten. Women like Désirée Clary, the first love of Napoleon’s life. She might have ended up as Empress if he hadn’t met Josephine, but she went on to found a famous royal house which still exists today. In The Queen’s Fortune, Allison’s latest book, she tells us the story of this fascinating historical figure. Hi there, I’m y...

A Women’s History Month Special: Lauren Willig’s latest book, A Summer Country, is an epic family saga simmering with secrets, set in 19th century Barbados. It’s quite a departure from her World War I and II historical fiction and the Napoleonic era “Pink Carnation” mysteries that are so popular. But Lauren – author of more than 30 award-winning bestselling books – says being adaptable is a key if you want to have a long-standing career as an author. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and ...

Rachael Treasure is one of Australia’s most popular authors of women’s fiction, credited with sparking a whole new sub-genre of rural fiction with her groundbreaking romance, Jillaroo, a book that opened the flood gates for dozens more authors and readers of rural romance and country fiction to follow. In her latest book, White Horses, nearly 20 years later, Rachael continues to smash conventions, blending her vision for a vital and thriving Australian agricultural sector with a young woman’s m...

Roselle Lim’s first fabulist-romcom, called Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune, was picked up for TV and it looks like the second, just out, Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop, could well find its way to the small screen as well. That’s wonderful success for a writer early in her career, but Roselle put in a dedicated apprenticeship to achieve her “overnight success”. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and in today’s Binge Reading podcast Roselle talks about what it took to strike succ...

Attorney turned mystery writer Robert McCaw credits an ability to reinvent himself for his successful transition from a defender of justice to a storyteller with a fascination for how our past sins affect the way we behave now. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and in today’s Binge Reading episode Robert talks about the enduring love affair he’s had with Hawaii that led to his Koa Kane detective series and how a New York attorney transitioned into a new career as a mystery writer. Six thi...

Di Morrissey is the out and out Queen of Australian popular fiction, with 3.5 million books sold and her latest, 28th novel – Before the Storm – recently debuting at number 1. She’s published one of her page-turners every October for 28 of the last 29 years, but she’s so much more than Australia’s top novelist. She’s a dedicated local newspaper editor and a committed environmentalist who in 2019 was awarded Australia’s top honor, made a Member of the Order of Australia for services to literatur...

Hello everyone and Happy Christmas! I’m Jenny Wheeler, the host of the Joys of Binge Reading, and this is our last episode for 2020… As we did last year, we’re taking a break in January to refresh and renew ourselves. As many of you know, I’m in New Zealand, and as a country we pretty much shut down post Christmas and head for the beaches and forest – which we call bush….It’s like a whole nation goes on holiday together… I’m going to be spending time relaxing in my little 1975 Sprite Major ca...

Jan Moran is a USA Today best-selling author with a slew of 20th century standalone historicals as well as several women’s contemporary fiction series to her credit. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and in today’s Binge Reading episode Jan talks about how she moved from being a successful beauty care entrepreneur to full-time novelist and why she loves to write strong, independent characters who are striving to build lives that make a difference. Support Binge Reading on Patreon for as l...

Leeanna Morgan is a USA Today best-selling author of Montana sweet romance, with over a million downloads of her books and a following on BookBub of more than 53,000. This former librarian runs her highly successful – and lucrative – book business from her peaceful home in Wellington, New Zealand. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today on The Joys of Binge Reading Leeanna talks about what’s possible in this new world of indie publishing, global reach and the struggle with an internatio...

Mimi Matthews has enjoyed best-selling success in Victorian fiction and non-fiction, with romances that ask thoughtful social questions as well as entertain. And her playful animal tales in The Pug Who Bit Napoleon, a not-so-romantic interaction that took place on his wedding night, is one of dozens of amusing animal stories from the 18th and 19th centuries Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and today Mimi talks about her latest book, Gentleman Jim, a rollicking romantic Regency, and tells ...

Rhys Bowen’s books sell in the millions around the world. She enjoys popular and critical acclaim for both her Royal Spyness mysteries and her bestselling historical fiction. But she says it’s the surprising, heart-warming feedback she gets from her readers that means the most to her. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and today Rhys talks about the unexpected rewards of being a top international author – the stories she hears of how her books have helped readers through the loneliness of p...

Joanna Rees writes sweeping romantic adventures that combine mystery, romance and glamorous international settings. There’s a hint of Jackie Collins or Shirley Conran in her heroines, girls like Vita, the heroine of her A Stitch In Time historical fiction series. The second book in the series, The Hidden Wife, is a story of creativity and courage, living in the turbulent and freeing times of 1920s Paris and London and then 1929 Hollywood coming up next. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, a...