Whoa!mance

The Bachelor but with a Phoenix and a Thunderbird catching feels in the South China Sea? This could actually be the most dramatic season yet.Mythical creature shifter and Regional-alpha Xi Sing is so immediately smitten with The Shifter Bachelor lovetestant Monday, he threatens to make bad TV. Little does the viewing audience know she's running from a witch-hunter right onto their screens. This week, yr girls are knockin' on Heaven's Door discussing "Bachelor in Paradise" by Shai August, Along the way, they reflect on the history of Bachelor Nation by looking at a multicultural shifter-take with plenty of political intrigue, character studies, and loose endsIs reality television just another repository for our collective id? Are bouillon-stealing gargoyles worse than a guy selecting a Neil Lane engagement ring for the wrong reasons? Can the sum of parts be greater than the whole?One thing is for sure - Chris Harrison could never.Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network Hosted on Acast. See acast.com

Category Is: Kissing Cousins Pygmalion CotillionAnswer: “The Prodigal Spinster” by Joan OverfieledQuestion: What is relations wanting to make relations after a “makeover” (actually just proper nutrition) thanks to a Puppet Master/Aunt who makes them think it was the work of their Cool Jock Friend and their Bumbling Too-Masc-To-Live Pal?This week, Morgan and Isabeau don their most fabulous orange formalwear for the exciting conclusion of the first round of their “Category Is” series, discussing a motherf*#!ing Golden Heart Winner from 1988.Are Pygmalions for the boyzzzz? Can a family member be a liminal space? If you walk down the stairs and not a single Adam’s apple bobs, does it even count?Kiss me beneath the milky twilight, this episode is about to lead you out on the moonlit floor. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Category Is: Regency in shades of avocado, mulberry and ochre Answer: “The Golden Songbird” by Sheila WalshQuestion: What is the wager calling everyone’s bluff until she ends up a Marchioness after some gun play, a cock fight, and a really bad trip?This week, Morgan and Isabeau are joined by a Dark Passenger for their “Category Is” series, discussing a not-plagiarizing-Georgette-Heyer Regency from 1975.Are the seventies the True Sixties? Was Woodiwiss even a radical? Are disco balls just big mirrors?Cards on the table, we’re all in. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Category Is: English Rose seeks personified Daddy IssueAnswer: “Tangled Threads” by Susanne McCarthyQuestion: What is pretending to be the wife of the brother who raised you and ending up deflowered by the father of your brother’s child bride and everyone looks the same and all the villains are immigrants?This week, Morgan and Isabeau follow their “Category Is” series down the recently expanded British motorway system of 1991.Can a contemporary romance be a “bodice ripper”? Has anyone traced the Thatcher Feminism to Boris Johnson Misogynist pipeline? What’s a Tory? And can anyone stop the urban sprawl of the West Midlands?Heat up the pan, this is the Full English, innit?Special note: there was some funny editing issue around the 11 minute mark which should now be corrected. Thank you for your patience!Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Back at it again with the Shelf Love co-release! Isabeau and Morgan had a great time chatting with Andrea Martucci about what it means to problematize and what it means to fetishize. Especially when it comes to (what else?) Romance! Psyched to share this eppy of Shelf Love in our feed. Don’t forget your copy of Das Kapital—or the whips and giant cartoon fox head for that matter. This conversation is a hot commodity.Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Network Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Category Is: Posthumously Published Triangular CaperAnswer: “How Can The Heart Forgot” by: Emilie LoringQuestion: What if Nancy Drew never left the suburbs and was also in love with sister’s fiancee? This week, Morgan and Isabeau kick off our “Category Is” series with plenty of zip and dash all the way from 1961. How does it feel to find out you’re on a political treadmill next to Donna Reed? Does depth of story require depth of character? Does choice feminism still count if the choice is a wool suit or a ball gown? Who IS going to the Country Club dance?Button that dress that sets off your eyes to the neck. The weather for this triple wedding is bitingly cold.Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Answer: Announcing an exploration into the oft overlooked but undeniably pervasive works known as Category Romance.Answer, but in the form of a question: What is the topic of this week's Whoa!nus?Yr girls Isabeau & Morgan are excited to share their big summer plans: CATEGORY IS. Each week a new Category Romance (from Isabeau’s own random box of romance) published in a different post-war-pre-low-rise-jeans decade.Monthly Doubles on the board, category is: Category Is.This week’s episode of Whoa!mance is brought to you by An Earl, The Girl and a Toddler by Vanessa Riley. Available now from Kensington Books.Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the wedding day draws closer, Jane is taking stock of her new identity: that of the amorphous Mrs. Rochester. This week, Jane revisits the now lightning scared chestnut tree, reveals to have been befallen by a series of disquieting dreams, and confronts an incredulous Mr. Rochester directly when her nightmares trip-trap into her waking life. Is it cold feet, Grace Pool, or something far more sinister?Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a night of tumultuous emotions, Jane is now set to marry Mr. Rochester. This week, Mrs. Fairax gives our heroine some unsolicited relationship advice, Jane’s happiness wanes at the idea of a lavish future, and everyone is on edge as Jane navigates retaining her sexual purity. Red flags abound. Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sometimes being a “family man” is less playing catch and more swinging. This week on Whoa!mance, Morgan and Isabeau dish on Briana Cole’s melodramatic romantic suspense The Marriage Pass. Dr. Dorian Graham just wants to be a good husband—or at least a better husband than he was a boyfriend. When his prim and proper wife, Shantae, offers to make his life easier with a one-night-only freebie, Dorian complicates things by cashing in his Get-Out-Of-Monogamy Free card with his own sister-in-law, the very very sexy and intense Raegan. But exactly who is weaving the tangled web here becomes less and less clear. Why does it feel so good being bad? Is blood always thicker than bubble bath water? Is your body image ever entirely your own? And can you ever really know a person when they’re a woman and you don’t really see women as people? Give that amber liquid another swirl in the rocks glass ‘cause this one burns all the way down.Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privac

Our girl is barely back at Thornfield Hall, and already the weather is looking stormy. This week, Jane catches a whiff of her super hot boss while walking alone in the garden, Mr. Rochester offers Jane a pity job for when he marries that old try hard Blanche Ingram, and briefly, Jane ponders life alone. But we all know what can happen when it rains.Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dusting off a classic discussion of a classic this week! Taking it all the way back when we shared a microphone with the author of "Getting Hot With The Scot" and the upcoming "Too Good To Be Real" Melonie Johnson***It’s a Whoa!mance double whammy this week y’all! Not only are Morgan and Isabeau joined by the brilliant and talented Melonie Johnson, but we’re getting a guided tour of Melonie’s all time favorite romance novel: Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale. Imagine if Flowers for Algernon and A Beautiful Mind were study buddies with benefits, with the bulk of the sadness exchanged for more divide and multiply. Additional ingredients include: dukes, quakers, and at the lord’s behest, openings. Plus, we get the scoop on Melonie’s upcoming trio of novels from the source herself. Summer 2K19 can’t come soon enough.Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Mrs. Reed safely in the ground, Jane prepares to leave Gateshead hall. This week, Eliza and Georgiana make plans for their futures, Jane receives a letter from Mrs. Fairfax that reeks of Mr. Rochester’s pending marriage, and, once again, Jane collides with an unexpected traveller on her way to Thornfield Hall. Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The real deal. The genuine article. There’s a certain je ne sais quoi to bonafide authenticity. But oftentimes a good knockoff does just fine. This week on Whoa!mance, Morgan and Isabeau investigate a scandal rocking the Parisian artworld in Susan Sackett’s 1993 adventure romance, Reckless. Delia Hampton just wants to be a good daughter, and when her father is blackmailed for his prodigious abilities as an art forger, our heroine decides to lay her body on the line. Enter Chase Sutton, a private investigator and gifted sexual awakener, who vows to protect Delia at all costs: even if it means putting her in certain danger. How do we rebuild trust after the mask slips? How soon is too soon when there’s wine involved? Who cares if it’s fake if it works right? Because ultimately, true value is something we made up. Just like everything else.Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the early morning exodus of Mr. Mason still lingering over Thornfield Hall, it’s Jane’s turn to receive an untimely visitor. This week, troubling revelations surface about John Reed, Jane returns to Gateshead Hall under dour circumstances, and Mrs. Reed is awful until the bitter end.Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We all lie. We soften hard truths and blur certain edges. Even those goody goodys who avoid harsh words and cracks in the sidewalk still let an ol’ fibber loose now and again. But what about a masquerade? Or a false portrayal - deployed perhaps to keep a low profile? This week on Whoa!mance, Morgan and Isabeau explore the pitfalls of well-meaning subterfuge in Amanda Quick’s 1993 historical, Deception. When the brilliant and scattered Olympia Wingfield agrees to translate an old diary for Jared Ryder, a handsome and extremely competent pirate, our heroine never predicted this swashbuckler would also offer to educate her three young nephews. Now, with this swarthy pirate-cum-tutor in the mix, and her housekeeping needs increasingly met, Olympia sets to work decoding the diary. But when Jared is spotted out and about in London, it seems our dexterous hero holds more titles than just tutor and pirate. It’s blouses and eyepatches this week y’all, or get ready to walk the plank.This week’s episode of Whoa!mance is

Can’t a girl just get some sleep? This week, Thornfield Hall is awoken in the night by sounds of struggle, Mr. Rochester runs defense to cover up prior transgressions, and Jane gets drafted to play doctor. Nothing a little old timey drugs and discretion can’t put to bed. Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Game of Thrones may have faded behind the penumbra of popular culture, but there will always be ardent believers keeping the fires burning. This week on Whoa!mance, Morgan and Isabeau lurk on fanfiction message boards with one such crowd in Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade. When Marcus Caster-Rupp, heartthrob TV star of a GOT-esque show, asks regular person and superfan April Whittier out after her plus-size cosplay goes viral, the whole fandom erupts in excitement. But as Marcus and April break greater swaths of ice, Marcus realizes this is far from their first meeting: in the fan-fiction universe, they’re old, if anonymous, friends. How do we resolve schisms between adaptations and source material? What is proper fanfic etiquette? Is this the real life, or is this just fantasy? We may be discussing fiction about fanfiction this week, but please don’t flame us y'all.Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s something fishy about this party crashing fortune teller. This week, Jane confronts the unknown to ascertain her fate, an unveiling of hearts and identities leads to greater intrigue, and Mr. Rochester gets cancelled (again). But the question remains: who is this Mr. Mason fellow?Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the party rages on, Thornfield Hall is electric with elites and lowly alike. This week, Jane spies an advantage in her battle for Mr. Rochester’s affections, a game of charades becomes a whole fucking thing, and mysterious travellers keep trickling in. Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.