Whoa!mance

As many of you know, JOHANNAuary has fallen under a somber hue. With the news of Johanna Lindsey’s passing, this month’s project will take on a retrospective, celebratory stance that we hope will dovetail nicely with our usual bouillabaisse of critical and irreverent commentary. So, without further ado, JOHANNAuary commences with a real keeper, Defy Not The Heart by the indomitable Johanna Lindsey. Set back in the 1100’s, we meet Reina, armorclad and defending her stronghold from the mercenary Ranulf, sent to kidnap her into a forced marriage by the loathsome Lord Rothwell. But their chemistry proves greater than any amount of gold, and our hero must learn how to please a woman a fraction of his colossal size. It’s a stunning work by an artist in full command of her creative palette. Let your hair down and put the cat outside for this medieval romp. Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network.

Who’s the hottest of Santa’s reindeer? We posed this question to you, our dear listeners, and you replied with Vixen. So in the spirit of the season, yr girls Morgan and Isabeau took a trip to the North Pole to spend a little time with the deer/man himself, in Vixen’s Fated Mate, Book 4 of R. E. Butler’s Arctic Shifters Series. There’s a lot to unpack with this novella: Santa as a quasi-authoritarian leader, a Tom Clancy-esque crew of male shifters pulling Santa’s sleigh, a rigid caste system that excludes equal rights for elves, all sugar dusted with yuletide erotica that never cracks a smile. Polish up your favorite harness for this seasonal tale of fated mates, and make sure to invite any strange yet gorgeous men into your home this holiday season because you never know, they just might be a reindeer. Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network. This week's episode is sponsored by Audible--from romance to newscasts and everything in between Audible has got it all--go to www.audible.com/whoa or tex

Last year, yr girls Morgan and Isabeau spent the month of January, excuse me, JANEuary, celebrating all things Jane Austen. This year, get ready for another deep dive into a high priestess of the romance genre, because JOHANNAuary is coming. Every week this January, yr girls Morgan and Isabeau will be exploring a different novel by the indomitable Johanna Lindsey, a lioness in her field, and an ever enduring force in the minds of your beloved hosts. It’s gonna be big y’all! Tune in for the preview, and get ready for a full month of JOHANNA.

Abigail McKenzie felt like an outcast in her one train stop town. Yet when two men are wounded in the same train robbery, she agrees to take them in: David, the model of a gentleman, and Jesse, hot-tempered and alluring, vie for Abigail’s affections. But as she nurses them both back to health, intimacy and proximity push our heroine to explore her sensual side, and the true identities of her patients reveal a rich history beyond their injuries. This week, Morgan and Isabeau take a listener recommendation and fall in love with Hummingbird by LaVyrle Spencer. It’s got it all: gunfights, soup straws, moustaches, and above all, feet. Dust off a nice pair of something tall for this little ditty. Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network. This week's episode is sponsored by Audible--from romance to newscasts and everything in between Audible has got it all--go to www.audible.com/whoa or text WHOA to 500-500 for your free trial. This week's episode is sponsored by LOLA - a modern approach to feminine car

For this Boner, Isabeau guides Morgan through the waters of fated mates, blood scenarios, and the requisite comfort/suffocation of inevitably. What is the difference between fate and destiny? Does the trope of love at first sight still sparkle through the lens of affect theory? Is male “passion” just camouflage for latent male aggression? Bring your own beret for this one y’all and start perfecting those french inhales, this may be our most philosophical Boner to date. Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network

Folie Hamilton thought nothing of corresponding with her husband’s cousin, Lt. Robert Cambourne, deployed across the world in the interests of the East India Company, on behalf of the English Crown. But when love creeps into their epistles, no distance or arrangement is beyond collapse. This week, Morgan and Isabeau swoon over My Sweet Folly by Laura Kinsale, a tale of passion, conspiracy, and unbalance depicting an England on the brink of turmoil. How should historicals reflect past atrocities? What makes good allyship? What does it mean to stay informed, and how do we enact change? Remember: sexy books can still pose serious questions. Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network This week's episode is sponsored by Audible--from romance to newscasts and everything in between Audible has got it all--go to www.audible.com/whoa or text WHOA to 500-500 for your free trial This week's episode is sponsored by LOLA - a modern approach to feminine care. LOLA is a female-founded company offering a line of

Are we at a point in history where our passions have become our capital? And what are the repercussions, if any, that sometimes it might be totally worth it? For this lil’ Boner, Morgan and Isabeau explore how WebToon is contributing to the romance ecosystem, do a little self reflecting, and politely ask for more WebToon coins PLEASE. Whoa!mance is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts

Lucy Muchelney is in a rut. But when she’s commissioned to translate a celebrated astronomy text by the deceased husband of Countess Catherine St. Day, her professional demeanor is eclipsed by desire. This week, Morgan and Isabeau turn their sights to 2019’s Great Big Romance Read The Lady’s Guide To Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite, a dovetail of caste and scholarly love set in post-Napoleonic Regency England. Why the Regency period? What responsibility should the present have in depicting the past? And is our refusal to hold the past accountable inviting a cultural retrograde? Keep your eyes peeled toward the cosmos for this one y’all. Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network This week's episode is sponsored by Audible--from romance to newscasts and everything in between Audible has got it all--go to www.audible.com/whoa or text WHOA to 500-500 for your free trial

Long before Twilight, and 26 years before Ol’ Abe Stoker had visions of Dracula, there was another drinker lurking in the annals of western lit. This week, Morgan and Isabeau explore the classic gothic vampire novella Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, a prototype for the prolific genre. Set in a shloss in the forests of Styria, Laura, our heroine, describes her lonely childhood through epistles and recounts the arrival of a peculiar stranger, the alluring and abhorrent Carmilla, as if conjured from a dream. But the novel’s languor is underpinned with anxiety as desire mixes with consumption, and questions of Carmilla’s origin prove all too familiar. It’s a sensual nightmare that revels in the repression of the Victorian Age, and may help explain our continued obsession. Whoa!mance is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts

One could say this is a boner about blow jobs. But blow jobs are about so much more than just blow jobs. This is a boner about power. A boner about tropes. A boner dissecting the misnomer of a “right” penis. It’s a boner about what we do with boners, and why what we do with boners does and does not matter.

Why bears? What is it about our ursine cousins that prompts such a curious and violent fascination? This week, Morgan and Isabeau turn these questions over anew with the graphic novel My Boyfriend Is a Bear by Pamela Ribon, illustrated by Cat Farris. What does pop culture’s fetishization of bears say about our sexual proclivities? Are bears just apolitical lumberjacks? And what right do we have to anthropomorphize animals in the first place? If Bear by Marian Engel proved too on the nose for its deftness at delineating sexual/power imbalances, cuddle up with this little teddy and start working on that winter belly.

What are the rules of modern dating? For many this is an ethical or existential question, but for app developer Rhiannon Hunter, providing the correct answer could be the financial HEA of a lifetime. This week, Morgan and Isabeau tackle The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai, and put some overlooked institutional ducks in a row. Questions arise as to what a feminist dating app should look like; who, if anyone, does the NFL care about; and what your brand choice of mayonnaise says about your experience of heartbreak when used to fuck up the paint on an ex-lover’s car. Clear your schedules and lint roll a power suit for this one y’all.

There’s a lot to be excited about with this one y’all. Not only is there now a bookshop in Tinley Park, IL dedicated exclusively to the genre, but Love’s Sweet Arrow: A Romance Bookstore was kind enough to host the inaugural live recording of Whoa!mance. A special thank you to all those who came through and contributed to the conversation on Gorgeous by Motzie Dapul, a selection from Start Here: Short Stories of First Encounters edited by Ronald S. Lim and Brigitte Bautista. Yr girls Morgan and Isabeau discuss bullies to lovers, the craft of brevity, and crowdsource the parameters of a sweet romance. All live, because that’s showbiz baby.

This one's for all you toons creeping in on Fabio's turf. Morgan and Isabeau discuss trends in cover art, the ethics of disguising a novel’s heat, and the politics of reading a good ol’ fashioned clinch on the bus. So don’t bother covering up this boner, because we’re letting it all hang out.

Have you ever despised someone so much you wet your desk chair? Or been so blinded by hate that you popped a boner? Of course you have. We all have. That’s what makes the Hating Game by Sally Throne so relatable, because a good romp is always the best way to relieve some tension. This week, Morgan and Isabeau track Lucy and Joshua, rival administrative assistants for two newly merged publishing houses, as they journey from enemies to workplace competitors to full on PnV horndoggies, all set in a cramped disco ball of an office. Despite the cutesy cover, it’s an HR disaster.

Shake the sand out of your corset and get ready for a cockney romp. This week, Morgan and Isabeau return to Judith Ivory to examine her 1999 novel The Proposition, where linguist and social etiquette coach Edwina is tasked to shape hunk of marble and rat catcher extraordinaire Mick into a right modern gentleman. If Beast didn’t quite tickle your ambergris, this reverse pygmalion will have you feeling it in your pants. This might be an all time favorite y’all.

Do you like gaming hells? Bad dudes who become good dudes and heroines who find their voices? US TOO!!! In this week's episode Morgan and Isabeau tackle a peculiar faultline in Romancelandia--is "The Devil in Winter" really worth the hype and love it receives? Really? Listen and find out where Isabeau and Morgan land on the critical question. Part of our Lisa Kleypas series. Listeners be warned there is discussion of attempted assault.

It's been quite the sojourn y’all. This week marks the third and final in our triptych on sheik romance, a series that we hope has never ceased to surprise and horrify. A familiar pattern continued in Hired: The Sheikh’s Secretary Mistress by Lucy Monroe, a text in full cultural retrograde as the title is quick to suggest, where Morgan and Isabeau were once again exposed to a veritable galaxy of stereotypes and erasures; a true fireworks display of unfortunate narrative decisions fit for an ending we thought would never come. And the worst part is this one’s not even super old. Who needs a drink.

Last week, yr girls Morgan and Isabeau took a trip to the Big Apple to speak on a panel for the Golden Network as part of the Romance Writers of America’s annual conference. After much networking and mingling, there was so much to unpack. Is Romance inherently feminist, or should we demand more? Is pleasure, in and of itself, enough of a political statement? What is patriarchy, and how and with what do we smash it? Sometimes searching for answers y'all just leads to better questions.

Ok. A lot of trigger warnings y’all; we’re talking about rape, human trafficking, colonial occupation, castration, and handsy nuns. But plz know yr Whoa!mance crew would never let you go in alone. This week, Morgan and Isabeau continue to hold Sheik romance accountable with a truly breathtaking example of what-the-fuckery: Savage Sands by Christina Nicholson. It’s a rolling blackout of unchecked sexuality and degradation, a narrative so carpet-bombed by the male id it’s almost as if it were written by a man...