Book Boyfriends: If They were Real, We’d Dump Them – Fiction Fest 2026
by Lauren
Host- Starlin, owner of Bad Girl Books
Rachael Chadwick- Dark Romance author
Sophie Jo- YA/Romcom author
If you’ve been part of the Booktok/Bookstagram movement this past year, it won’t be a coincidence if you’ve come across the Fiction Fest community. What started out as a few bookish girls with a dream, it has now turned into a hit sensation. I have been privileged enough to watch this idea grow from a tiny seed (it was literally an online survey) into a full-scale event that hosted over a thousand guests, including myself, who came to meet and greet their favourite authors and hang out in one of the most well-put-together events I have ever seen, and that’s saying something having crewed multiple events with the makers of London Film and Comic Con!
Indie and trad authors were in attendance for this one-day event on the 11th April at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. Fiction Fest 2026 was just the beginning, so I thought I would do what I do best and document it in some way, knowing that it will be one of the top book events on my calendar each year for the forseeable!
While getting my copy of “How not to raise the dead” by Rachael Chadwick, she told me about a small Q+A panel she was doing that afternoon, and this is how I ended up in a room with about 50 other eager listeners in a talk entitled: “Book Boyfriends- if they were real, we’d dump them”.
Starlin, owner of Bad Girl Books (who I must admit I was also very excited to meet as she herself is an absolute badass book babe) posed a series of questions to two authors, though not quite on the same scale as other authors were doing down the hall in the auditorium with mics and screens. This was far more intimate, more personal, so of course I was in the front row.
I learned that Sophie Jo was a trad published author who writes mainly about YA with rom com flair, whereas Rachael Chadwick is an indie author and leans towards the dark and macabre- just my cup of tea!
Both briefly explained a bit about the MMC’s they write about and the personality traits/flaws they love to explore- “heartfelt, brooding and introverted” were among the descriptors from Sophie, whereas Rachael explained how her MMC’s were usually “sarcastic, awful and traumatized”. A delicious juxtaposition!
It was incredible to hear two very distinct authors talk about tropes, fears, and what may happen if they met their characters in real life. They quickly established how Sophie’s books aimed to spark potential relationship warnings, and how she has written about topics that could resonate with a reader to give them signs of potential red flags such as coercive control and gaslighting. However, Rachael explained what she write can be a form of healing in some instances, even if they are fantasy-based and there’s a demon popping up through the veil to aid a damsel in distress.
Although differences in themes apply to these talented writers, they could both agree that all book boyfriends aren’t perfect, and that the reader needs to believe in a depth of character, even ones that are morally grey or pitch black. Without a single redeeming quality, would we honestly see them as a book boyfriend?
Starlin then posed a poignant question, “which trope that exists in a book do you think would not stand a chance if it actually happened in real life?”
Sophie proposed how the timeless classic of ‘enemies to lovers’ would not work in a real-life scenario as well. Going from the extreme as knife to throat to lover, and how she couldn’t go through with that.
Rachael went with stalking, and mused that hacking her ring doorbell would not be taken in any light other than creepy in her eyes.
Starlin wrapped the talk up by discussing something which I think is so important for readers, especially new readers or people who are just starting to dip their toes into the romance side of writing. It isn’t always clearly explained in romance books that content may not be suitable for younger readers or that themes may be potentially triggering. This is why Swoonstack is going to be looking at this and creating a platform that enables readers to filter out what they don’t want to appear on their TBR list, and even aid in teaching new readers about what a trope or a trigger is.
As the Book realm expands month-to month and we are now exploring how self-published authors are changing the narrative, changing the way in which we can access reading materials even, I know I am enjoying every minute of it. I want to thank Fiction Fest for hosting such brilliant panels, speakers, authors and vendors all under one roof!
