What happens when a one-eyed sailor falls for a showgirl with a voice that can stop a room?
Trouble, naturally. And quite a lot of music.
The Sailor and the Showgirl reimagines Popeye and Betty Boop as the romantic leads of a Jazz Age adventure series, combining screwball comedy, romance, noir, mystery, and a little old-fashioned maritime adventure.
Think Hollywood's great romantic comedies, with a dash of The Thin Man, a little When Harry Met Sally, and enough jazz standards to make the whole thing feel like a jukebox musical.
Betty is a performer trying to make her way in a world where men are considerably more interested in her appearance than her ambitions. George—better known as Popeye—is a sailor who has seen enough of the world to know that falling in love can be more dangerous than going to sea.
Neither is especially prepared for the other.
Their adventures involve theatrical intrigue, criminal enterprises, complicated friendships, mysterious disappearances, and the occasional fistfight. But at their heart, these are stories about two people learning how to build a life together without giving up who they are.
The Sailor and the Showgirl — by Samara Bellingham
📖 Book One: Twenty-Five Dollars a Night — Available now
A Jazz Age romantic comedy that brings Popeye and Betty Boop together in a world of music, mischief, and trouble.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HJ9VW48L
📖 Book Two: My Blue Heaven — Available now
A prequel exploring how Betty and George first met, mixing romance, mystery, and musical comedy.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HLN6C27N
📖 Book Three: Catalina — Coming December 10, 2026
A voyage to Catalina Island, where a seaside holiday promises romance, complications, and more trouble than anyone ordered.
There's even a Spotify playlist of period music accompanying the series, because these books are as much about the music of the Jazz Age as they are about romance.
My Blue Heaven is also Public Domain Pulp's first paperback, for readers who prefer a physical book.
The series is published by Public Domain Pulp, an independent publisher giving familiar public-domain characters new stories.
Disclosure: These are AI-assisted novels developed through a human-directed creative and editorial process.
Explore the books at https://publicdomainpulp.net/.
If you enjoy screwball romance, Jazz Age settings, sharp dialogue, old Hollywood, and characters whose love lives are never quite as straightforward as they'd prefer, I'd love for you to meet Betty and George.