Whoa!mance

Ever wonder what yr girls Morgan and Isabeau are like when they’re not behind the mic? Or what their high school experiences were like? Or the ins and outs of how they feel about this or that aspect of romancelandia? We asked you, our beloved listeners, to submit questions via our various social platforms, and thankfully, you asked back. This week, Morgan and Isabeau answer your questions in an exclusive, no holds bar, tell-all, exposé. For this Boner, we’re letting it all hang out.This week’s episode of Whoa!mance is sponsored by Native. Did you know that many conventional deodorants contain aluminum, which forms a plug in your sweat glands to keep you from sweating? Yikes! Native’s deodorant is made without aluminum so you can feel better about what you’re putting on your body. Native comes in a wide variety of options for men, women and even teens! They also offer an unscented option and a baking soda free formula for those with sensitivities. For 20% off your first purchase, visit nativedeodorant.com and

If you caught a whiff of death, how would you restructure your life to make the most of its remainder? Chloe Brown’s penchant for computers, coupled with the chronic pain of fibromyalgia, has left her with a formidable bucket list. But it took a near-miss with a speeding car to get her busy living. This week, Morgan and Isabeau check off some to-do’s with Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert. Our heroine, Chloe, grabs life by the horn in the shape of Redford ‘Red’ Morgan, the tattooed painter and building superintendent who’s equal parts bad boy and soft serve. But Red is weary of his new socialite bombshell, as Chloe’s trust-fund lifestyle is a little too close to his old flame that left him feeling burned. Will class divisions suppress their passion? Will Chloe’s social aires keep her stratified above the brooding Red? How do twee aesthetics make you feel? Don’t be fooled by the cover on this one y’all, it’s a real scorcher.Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.c

This unprecedented time of crisis and distancing has us thinking a lot about bad feelings. For yr girls, this means topics in Romance that are typically a no go on the show: secret babies, sports, and the armed forces. This week, Morgan and Isabeau raise this lil Boner to ask you, our beloved listeners, to share your favorite novels that feature one of these topics. What’s the cutoff age for a secret baby? Can for-profit military action be sexy? What’s your favorite ball in the bedroom? Send us your favorite recommendations and go wash your damn hands!This week’s episode of Whoa!mance is sponsored by Native. Did you know that many conventional deodorants contain aluminum, which forms a plug in your sweat glands to keep you from sweating? Yikes! Native’s deodorant is made without aluminum so you can feel better about what you’re putting on your body. Native comes in a wide variety of options for men, women and even teens! They also offer an unscented option and a baking soda free formula for those with sensit

What’s a dealbreaker for you? What’s something that, no matter how many luxurious nights and sumptuous meals, would continue to nag at the corners of your mind? Write it down. This week, Morgan and Isabeau get in touch with their teen angst for this YA retelling of One Thousand and One Nights, The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh. For this rendition, the Caliph of Khorasan has taken to marrying virgins, and killing them off the morning after consummation. Enter our heroine, Shahrzad, who volunteers to marry the Caliph and spare the fate of a friend bound for a grisly end. Bent on revenge, Shahrzad ensnares the Caliph with spellbinding tales that keep her alive night after night, as her passion for blood turns into an unexpected adoration. Now go back to your dealbreaker. Was it murder? Was it practicing blood magic? Was it books that kind of, maybe, somewhat, remind us of our month-long foray into sheik romance? For those that wrote down something innocuous like “snoring” or something vain like “they can’t

We love Romance. But sometimes having all your stories feature muscular, taciturn, bodice-ripping, secret baby/royalty/wealth and/or spouse-having heroes is too much excitement in this chaotic world. Sometimes you just want a story that’s relatable. This week, Morgan and Isabeau tread the bureaucratic waters of non-profit management where Rayanne (heroine) and Henry (hero) are tasked with saving the Crooked Rock Urban Indian Center in its eleventh hour. Will they be able to overcome their mutual attraction to save Crooked Rock? Will they get the necessary funding? Can nepotism be sexy? Brush up on Own Voices and get your 501-c3s in order for this one y’all.Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We wanted to take a moment to pop this lil boner and organize our thinking on Own Voices. What do we mean when we say Own Voices? It’s when the author, artist, filmmaker, producer, etc. is a member of the community they are representing in a given medium. This week, Morgan and Isabeau discuss the societal barriers within mainstream [white] culture that can keep Own Voices stories marginalized, and how to be a good ally without succumbing to the pitfalls of tokenism. Plus, a few gardening tips from our registered green thumb, Morgan.Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re celebrating our cotton anniversary this year at Whoa!mance, and what better way to wax nostalgic about marital bliss than to pretend to do it all over again. This week, yr girls Morgan and Isabeau are joined by producer Nick to unpack The Unhoneymooners by the writing duo Christina Lauren. This contemporary enemies to lovers features Olive, the perpetually unlucky twin sister of the soon-to-be-married Ami, who’s loathed to spend her sister’s special day with her worst nightmare, Ethan, who happens to be the brother and best man of Ami’s future husband, Dane. But when a seafood buffet spares only Olive and Ethan from an explosive fate, they are tasked to redeem the all-inclusive honeymoon package waiting under Ami’s name, the only catch is they have to play the part of newlyweds. Hilarity ensues as Olive and Ethan overcome their own misplaced hatred, and we settle into the long business of marriage.Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informa

What a month y’all. This was a veritable roller coaster of emotions as yr girls Morgan and Isabeau took stock of Johanna Lindsey’s legacy and work, and sussed out how to feel about the harsher realities depicted in her novels. This week, our last installment of JOHANNAuary, features a viking novel of your choosing: Fires of Winter, Book 1 in the Haardrad Family Saga Series. Published in 1980, it’s not without its difficulties, but just as this novel has Lady Brenna, a headstrong and agential heroine, even roses have their merits. Held captive by the strikingly dangerous Garrick Haardrad, Lady Brenna witnesses the subjugation of her people as she is held in relative, if hostile, comfort. It's a problematic tale of passion guaranteed to melt your permafrost. A special thanks to all those who threw their support behind their favorite viking - you’re the real heroes.Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network.This week's episode is sponsored by LOLA - a modern approach to feminine care. LOLA is a female-fo

As the ghost of JOHANNAuary continues to plague this humble project, we are reminded here at Whoa!mance of the importance of friends when doing battle with distraught paranormals. Yr girls Morgan and Isabeau are joined this week by Erin, the Veteran of Learning the Tropes, for a gracious re-recording to once again discuss Brave The Wild Wind, Book 1 of Johanna Lindsey’s Wyoming series. We meet our heroine, Jessie Blair, as her family is torn asunder by the quick anger of her father. This prologue of violence is a mark of frontier life, and a distinguishing characteristic of our hero, Chase Summers, who, along with a litany of other details, combine to make this a difficult read from the moral high ground of our current moment. But what’s a western without a little grit? What’s a boot without a spur? This one’s for all you cowpokes and horse girls.Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00h00m00s: message received via interplanetary communications systems re: distress signals circa terrestrial surface Kystran [] > [] terrestrial being i.e. “heroine” identified Tedra De Arr: class known: warrior re: terrestrial being i.e. “hero” Challen Ly-San-Ter: class known: bronzed_barbarian [] > [] unclear if distress product of misery/ecstasy; unclear as to issues of consent re: sexbots; unclear re: whoa/no spectral alignment; requires discussion [] > [] re: terrestrial beings i.e. "yr girls" Morgan: class known: Whoa!mance and Isabeau: class known: Whoa!mance [] > [] joined this week by terrestrial being i.e. "special guest" writer/critic Esme Brett: class known: FeministRomance [] re: celebrating life/works re: terrestrial being i.e. "subject" Johanna Lindsey: class known: lioness. [] >>>> [] end transmissionWhoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network.This week's episode is sponsored by LOLA - a modern approach to feminine care. LOLA is a female-founded company offering a line of organic cotton

It's another beautiful JOHANNAuary day, and yr girls Morgan and Isabeau are embarking on a farcical romp on the high seas. This week, Gentle Rogue, the third installment of Lindsey's Malory-Anderson Family Saga series, a sultry comedy worthy of the great Bard himself. The novel centers on Georgina Anderson, who, fed up with England, disguises herself as a cabin boy to secure safe transport back to America. But unbeknownst to our heroine, the ship's captain, ex-pirate James Malory, is aware of Georgia's ploy, and takes great pleasure in trying to reveal her true identity, and hopefully spark the passion they both feel churning within. Make ready your sea legs for this one you scalawags.Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 text WH

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 care. LOL

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 NetworkThis 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 trialThis week's episode is sponsored by LOLA - a modern approach to feminine care. LOLA is a female-founded company offering a line of organ

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 NetworkThis 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.