103 | A Study in Sparkling with Romance Pop Culture Expert, Jodi McAlister

Val, Lisa, and Courtney welcome romance scholar and author Dr. Jodie McAllister to discuss her upcoming novel A Study in Sparkling. The conversation covers how embarrassment, secrecy, and trust shape Fiona and Satoshi’s relationship, plus the research behind the novel’s wine world. Jodie also shares how her academic work and fiction writing inform each other, and why love in romance is as much about intimacy and effort as it is about passion.

Key topics

In this episode, Jodie McAllister explains the academic roots of her romance expertise, including her PhD research on female virginity loss and narratives of love in popular culture.

The hosts discuss A Study in Sparkling as a deeply emotional contemporary romance centered on Fiona, whose husband leaves her for a secret second family.

Jodie shares that the novel’s core emotional engine is embarrassment, not just betrayal, and how Fiona’s humiliation affects her ability to date again.

Satoshi’s arc is explored in depth, including his insecurity about not being taken seriously, his drive to prove himself as a sommelier, and his people pleasing tendencies.

The book’s central tension comes from how Fiona and Satoshi navigate secrecy, public judgment, and their fear of being hurt or humiliated again.

Jodie explains why Satoshi already knowing Fiona’s children was necessary to make the romance believable within the book’s five month timeline.

Lex, Fiona’s eldest child, and Satoshi’s queer connection with them are highlighted as an important part of building trust and emotional safety.

The hosts praise the realism of the parenting, betrayal, and emotional recovery threads, especially Fiona’s accountability and growth.

Jodie breaks down her wine research, including studying at Melbourne Wine School and completing Wine and Spirit Education Trust levels, to better write Satoshi’s world.

She describes wine as a storytelling medium, which inspired the chapter tasting notes and the sensory detail throughout the novel.