Power, Passion, & Politics Panel: Writers talk Romance with Kennedy Elsey [07/10/25]

Join us at Lovestruck Books on Thursday, July 10 from 6–8 PM for the Power, Passion, and the Politics of Romance Panel—a smart, spicy, and unfiltered panel about the politics woven into romance novels. Beloved authors Nikki Payne, Jess Hardy, Kate Canterbary, and Namrata Patel will dive into how love stories tackle (or sidestep) big themes like identity, power, and representation. The conversation will be moderated by the ever-charming Kennedy Elsey of Mix 104.1, so expect laughs, truth bombs, and maybe a few swoons. Stick around after for a book signing and the chance to meet the authors. It’s going to be a night full of heart, heat, and honesty—don’t miss it!

TICKETS

Your ticket includes a book—Pick your favorite from the list below and be sure to select that ticket at Eventbrite checkout!

Come As You Are: A Gen X Romance (Bluebird Basin Book 1) by Jess K. Hardy
The Candid Life of Meena Dave by Namrata Patel
In a Jam by Kate Canterbary
Pride and Protest by Nikki Payne

Tickets are limited, so grab yours soon! If the event sells out, you can join the waitlist. Should any spots open up, you’ll have 24 hours to register before we offer them to the next person.

EVENT DETAILS

5:30 PM: Doors Open – Get settled in and ready for the discussion!
6:00 PM: Discussion Begins – Kennedy and the authors will dive into the politics of Romance reads.
6:45 PM: Q&A Session – Your chance to ask the authors anything!
7:00 PM: Signatures, Snapping Pics, and Salutations – Meet the Authors, get your book signed, and snap a photo!
8:00 PM: Event Wraps Up – Thanks for joining us!

SIGNINGThe authors will sign any books purchased through Lovestruck, as well as one title of theirs brought from home. Have your cameras ready—you’re welcome to snap a photo during the signing!

ACCESSIBILITY

Check-in will take place at our front entrance on Brattle Street. If you have any accessibility needs, you're welcome to use our side entrance (located on the right side of the building), which is wheelchair accessible and has a ramp.

Guests who would benefit from priority seating or any additional assistance are encouraged to reach out in advance — just email us at [email protected]. We're more than happy to make arrangements to ensure you feel comfortable and supported.

We’re always learning and looking for ways to make our events more accessible. If you have suggestions or feedback, we’d love to hear from you!

ABOUT KENNEDY ELSEY

Kennedy Elsey talks for a living on Mix 104.1’s Karson & Kennedy — always curious, always bringing the energy. She’s a mental health warrior who lives for road trips, arcade games, and rocking out to her ’80s soundtrack. Books and shoes? Never enough. Elvis is her copilot, and she’s a die-hard Cubs fan. Kennedy’s fun, real, and ready to steer this conversation on the politics of romance with her signature warmth and wit.

ABOUT JESS K. HARDY

Jess K. Hardy is an award-winning, bestselling author of cozy contemporary and scifi/fantasy romance. Jess writes about characters at any age, but especially over 40, finding second chances, proving that life, and love, only get better with time. When not crafting funny, heartfelt, emotionally rich romances, Jess can be found hiking, camping, skiing, dancing in her kitchen, or on Instagram at @JessKHardy_Author. New to Jess’s work? Start with Come As You Are for an introduction to her signature blend of heart, hope,heat, and happily-ever-afters.

ABOUT COME AS YOU ARE

He'll win her heart one mixtape at a time.

46-year-old Ashley Cooke will do just about anything to save her struggling ski hill. When she hires the men from a local sober living home for the season to cut costs, even she thinks she's gone too far. With her credit cards maxed, her cheating ex-husband intent on buying the mountain out from under her, and record-breaking snow in the forecast, she can't afford to be distracted by the six-foot-tall bearded and tattooed sober living home owner moving onto her mountain.

53-year-old recovering addict and ex-grunge rocker Matthew Madigan has devoted every minute of the last decade to the men residing at his sober living home. When he meets tightly wound and adorably flustered Ashley, desires he's put on the back burner for years start to simmer. Immune to his infamous albeit rusty charm, Ashley presents a challenge he can't resist. When she offers to give him skiing lessons in exchange for his help training her St. Bernard rescue dog, he jumps at the chance to ride next to her on the chairlift despite his debilitating fear of heights.

During bunny hill shenanigans, chairlift confessions, and steamy cabin serenades, Madigan teaches Ashley that a person's past doesn't define them, and Ashley shows Madigan that the men he helps aren't the only people who deserve a second chance. When sabotage threatens both the men and the mountain, Ashley and Madigan will have to decide if they're only having a winter fling, or if the mountain isn't the only thing worth fighting for.

Perfect for fans of L.B. Dunbar and Kate Canterbary, Come As You Are is a later in life, small town, rockstar romance with lots of heat and even more heart!

ABOUT NAMRATA PATEL

Meet Namrata Patel, a best-selling Indian-American author who calls Boston home! Her writing dives headfirst into the fascinating world of diaspora and dual-cultural identity, exploring the powerful connections we forge within our families, both the ones we're born into and the ones we choose. Having lived in countries around the world, Namrata brings a global perspective to her relatable and aspirational characters. Get ready to meet heroines who range from quietly determined to fiercely independent, and heroes who are undeniably swoon-worthy (with just the right touch of flaw!).

Namrata's work has been featured in Writer's Digest, Christian Science Monitor, as well as other literary publications. Her debut novel, The Candid Life of Meena Dave, was celebrated as a longlist nominee for The Center for Fiction's Best First Novel Prize. Namrata's other novels, The Scent of a Garden and The Curious Secrets of Yesterday, are available now, and her next book Your Next Life is Now will be hitting shelves November 2025.

ABOUT THE CANDID LIFE OF MEENA DAVE

A woman embarks on an unexpected journey into her past in an engrossing novel about identity, family secrets, and rediscovering the need to belong.

Meena Dave is a photojournalist and a nomad. She has no family, no permanent address, and no long-term attachments, preferring to observe the world at a distance through the lens of her camera. But Meena’s solitary life is turned upside down when she unexpectedly inherits an apartment in a Victorian brownstone in historic Back Bay, Boston.

Though Meena’s impulse is to sell it and keep moving, she decides to use her journalistic instinct to follow the story that landed her in the home of a stranger. It’s a mystery that comes with a series of hidden clues, a trio of meddling Indian aunties, and a handsome next-door neighbor. For Meena it’s a chance for newfound friendships, community, and culture she never thought possible. And a window into her past she never expected.

Now as everything unknown to Meena comes into focus, she must reconcile who she wants to be with who she really is.

ABOUT KATE CANTERBARY

USA Today Bestseller Kate Canterbary writes smart, steamy contemporary romances loaded with heat, heart, and happy ever afters. Kate lives on the New England coast with her husband and daughter.

ABOUT IN A JAM

When Shay Zucconi’s step-grandmother died, she left Shay a tulip farm—under two conditions.

First, Shay has to move home to the small town of Friendship, Rhode Island. Second—and most problematic since her fiancé just called off the wedding—Shay must be married within one year.

Marriage is the last thing in the world Shay wants but she’ll do anything to save the only real home she’s ever known.

Noah Barden loved Shay Zucconi back in high school. Not that he ever told her. He was too shy, too awkward, too painfully uncool to ask out the beautiful, popular girl.

A lifetime later, Noah is a single dad to his niece and has his hands full running the family business. That old crush is the farthest thing from his mind.

Until Shay returns to their hometown.

ABOUT NIKKI PAYNE

Jane Austen's Sassy Black Friend

Nikki Payne is an anthropologist who can. not. turn. it. off.

I love to force my characters into new environments and new cultures and in finding love, they change the way they see the world. Church, cemeteries and romance novels are still the most segregated places in America. My romances, inspired by the classics, turn expectations on their head. It's cultural commentary, for the hopeless romantic.

ABOUT PRIDE AND PROTEST

A woman goes head-to-head with the CEO of a corporation threatening to destroy her neighborhood in this fresh and modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice by debut author Nikki Payne.

Liza B.—the only DJ who gives a jam—wants to take her neighborhood back from the soulless property developer dropping unaffordable condos on every street corner in DC. But her planned protest at a corporate event takes a turn after she mistakes the smoldering-hot CEO for the waitstaff. When they go toe-to-toe, the sparks fly—but her impossible-to-ignore family thwarts her every move. Liza wants Dorsey Fitzgerald out of her hood, but she’ll settle for getting him out of her head.

At first, Dorsey writes off Liza Bennett as more interested in performing outrage than acting on it. As the adopted Filipino son of a wealthy white family, he’s always felt a bit out of place and knows a fraud when he sees one. But when Liza’s protest results in a viral meme, their lives are turned upside down, and Dorsey comes to realize this irresistible revolutionary is the most real woman he’s ever met.

Lovestruck Books is a Romance Bookstore in Cambridge, MA. Visit our website to sign up for our newsletter and be the first to know about opening events and other news.event

PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO

Your presence at the Lovestruck Books event acknowledges that you have been informed of the potential to be documented as part of a video or photo release, and that you grant permission for your likeness to be included in publication of any footage.

Power, Passion, & Politics Panel: Writers talk Romance with Kennedy Elsey

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