Whoa!mance

Join us for the what lies the wake of Darcy's thrilling bombshells. While Jane Austen doesn't invent headhopping she does a bang up job of walking us through Lizzie's reaction to Darcy's screed of a letter.Is this what growing up feels like? Who can say? Us. Us can say. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Saddle up the Equimare and/or gas up the Autoduck - this week yr grls pass through the veil of HART AND MERCY by MEGAN BANNEN.Marshall Hart sends a letter looking for a friend into the aether (which is not the strangest thing to do in the strange land of this book) and it lands on the desk of his nemesis - Undertaker Mercy. She also needs an anonymous friend, turns out. Does reading fantasy romance juice your empathy or is it just so much more escapism? What makes a retelling worthwhile? When was the last time you lusted after a blond?You'll want to check your box for this one, because we're sending it straight to your heart. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wherein Darcy unburdens himself in an epistle to the girl who won't have him. He's fine--thanks for asking! It's only 8am and he's only been lurking in the park waiting for Lizzie to chance by for a little over an hour. He's fine!What makes a manic pixie dream girl? How did Jane Austen know about them? And what makes declaring yourself punk rock? If anything? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

That a creaky stair or a creaky bed? Only one way to find out! Time to bust open the doors on "Jinxed" by Torri Heat.Savannah thinks she's gotten the deal of a lifetime when she buys an abandoned house to open a thrift store. And, indeed, she gets far more than knick-knacks. She gets three hunky...well, not ghosts. But like, frozen-in-time-via-a-curse fellas? I guess you would say? Can these three radically different dudes from different historic eras put their differences aside so they can gang make-love-to Savannah? AND break the curse? Sure hope so..Can a book be conscientious and lean on stereotypes for storytelling? What would a "porn book" be and does it matter? Don't you want your boyfriends to kiss?This one may not be spooky, but it certainly has some twists. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

And here it is friends--the moment you've been waiting for--THE PROPOSAL! Darcy unburdens his heart, and offers it trembling and vulnerable with 10,000 a year. He also insults the ever living daylights out of our gal Liz, and she is having none of it. No heart, not money, no ego NO THANK YOU.Mr. Darcy did totally f.ck this up--but did Ms Austen leave him room to wiggle off his own hoisted petard? Listen and find out Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hoist up your bosoms, fill your tankards, and line up for facepaint - this week yr grls are travelling back in time to a general idea of "old" for WELL MET by Jen DeLuca.Simon is an uptight, high school English Teacher by day, and a sexy, flirty pirate by a different time of day. Emily is just trying to be a cool aunt (and make more, if not The Most, of her time in this small town) when she signs up to be a wench in his school's booster club/Renn Fest. Are sparks flying or is it just so many exploding splinters from the joust.Are romance novels influenced by Hallmark movies, or vise versa? What is the utility of an inoffensive book? What does it mean to be a grieving younger sib? Who, indeed, is Sub(aru)ing who?We've got plenty of digressions - our trip to the Bristol Renaissance Faire, "Pirates of the Carribean", etc. But don't worry, it all leads back to the book in the end. HUZZAH! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ever find yourself on a country ramble when the object of your ire and distain just happens to also ramble your way? No? Just us? Why is Darcy always around? Why is he asking pertinent and insightful questions? Why is his hot cousin talking about things he can't have? Is it all for Lizzie? Who knows dear reader--but we're about to find out! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nobody move! There's blood on the floor. And yr grls can't find their hearts. Thanks to whispered romance classic- "To Have and To Hold" by Patricia Gaffney.Sebastian has everyone's fave romance hero first name and a brand new estate in an idyllic country town. Total snoozefest, but then most things are to Sebby. That is, until a captivating former-con with (gasp) SHORT hair named Rachel captures his fancy AND his rather horrid whimsy. Will these two be one another's reckoning in a good way or a bad way?Are historical romances actually written about three times - the setting, the publication year, and the time it is read in? How can a text deconstruct while bolstering conservative sexual politic? CAN "the help" consent??? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You know how sometimes you build a narrative around someone you maybe like, and then they totally mess it up for you? We're not saying that Lizzie is a bit of a small town girl or that Darcy is a city boy--but we are saying that Darcy got some cold reality and it bites. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In light of the recent events around romance and it's fave sport, hockey, including our eppy on THE DEAL, we're rereleasing our discussion of the iconic stick slapper - PUCKED>Last time, yr girls explored the subversive quaintness of Amish romance in our inaugural Entrop[e]y episode. This week, Morgan and Isabeau are back in the game for our first installment on SPORTS romance with Pucked, by Helena Hunting. Here we find Violet, the step-sister of a successful hockey player, linking up with the impossibly hung team captain, Alex, for a night of passionate goal making. But when Alex starts to pursue Violet, her status among the other players, including her sexually possessive step-brother, takes a bender. What kind of relationship, if any, do yr girls have with hockey? When does a gesture become too grand? And did we mention how buck-fucking-wild this book is? We’re running this zamboni straight through yr five hole for this one y’all, so lace up. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is Lizzy a hedging sarcastic wit punching up at her social better while he (meaning Mr. Darcy himself) is meeting her in earnest and vulnerability? Is she just trying to be funny in front of Darcy's hot cousin? Hard to tell, but we try to suss it out for you--because we care. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is that a hockey stick in your pocket or is your weiner just like super big and bent at the very end? Let's find out while discussing TikTok sensation "THE DEAL" by ELLE KENNEDY!Garrett needs help figuring out how different philosophers would justify genocide so he can pass his midterm and remain the beloved captain of his small liberal arts/Ivy-adjacent/D-1 unverisity's hockey team. Enter singer/songwriter/skinny-big-boobs Hannah. She's got an "A" in the class and a deal to strike. Tutoring for mutual orgasms so she can be ready for primetime with her quarterbackin' crush. What's a little sexual healing between friends, right?? Don't let the weird jokes about popular culture fool you, this book packs some high stakes trauma.Why is the US University a Utopia in romance fiction? Was 2015 in general politically unaware? Why hockey?We get timely and historical in this one, suit up and tune in. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Happy Belated Birthday Jane Austen--nobody does it better. We're still at Rosings waiting on what Mr. Darcy's gonna do when he finally appears. Join us as we discuss the deification of characters and what happens when we flatten the narrative. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We aren't going to leave these takes flappin' in the wind - join us as we land the conversation with part 2 of our discussion on A COURT OF WINGS AND RUIN by Maas.What makes a "good" war text? How can we talk about gender and race in a fantasy-world divorced from our social reality? Or can popular fiction even effectively imagine such a world? Can you still get horny in a "Li-berry"?Spoiler alert: This one split the judges on Whoa v. No. Tune in and decide where you land Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

War! UH! Good gosh y'all! What is it good for? 699 pages! SAY IT AGAIN! That's right, we're back in Prythy-town to discuss the third (and obviously originally meant to be final) book in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series - A COURT OF WINGS AND RUIN by Sarah J. Maas.Feyre and Rhysand and their found family (plus Feyre's two kidney donors a.k.a. sisters) do a lot of stuff. They spy, they murder, they go through the arduous process of setting an executive-level meeting, they smooch, they knock boots, and they WAR, goodness how they war! All in the name of saving Prythian and the humans who happen to be there. Are these books more reliably a fantasy or a romance series? Are these books even reliable to each other? What is laid bare by how you consume the text (Graphic Audio, anyone???) ? And what order do you think the Inner Circle sits in for a massage train?Send a vulgar gesture down the bond and settle in, we're cruisin' for a Hybern bruisin'. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Almost half way there y'all and in this chapter we meet the infamous Mrs. De Bourg. She's got opinions, she was once handsome, and remains really rich. Lizzie thinks of jokes that will tickle Wickam and tries real hard not to think about a certain other you-know-who Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chapter 28 opens with a physical journey and closes with an emotional one for yr grls. Once Lizzy's quips were uncomplicated in their high humor, now tho, they hit different. Is it us? Is it Lizzy? Is it the 200ish years between us? Listen and you decide Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode we return to space! Or rather the Arizona mock-up of space - with THE ASTRONAUT AND THE STAR by JEN COMFORT.Reggie is a mean astronaut who wants to go the moon and Jon is a nice star who wants to win an Oscar. Maybe they can help each other become successful even moreso than their parents did? Or maybe they can fall in love? Or maybe those things aren't mutually exclusive?What makes a contempo-romcom a bestseller? When is off-branding a conspiracy theory in romance problematic? Are you turned on by "having a loud cum"?Tune in and blast-off! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yr grls are taking time this weekend to cough up the worst air in the history of Chicago to make room for cool, clear PBR. So we have enough time for "1776" AND "Independence Day", we are re-releasing this Star-Spangled oldie, but Yankee-Doodle Dandy goodie.We dish on American Revolution meets Ye Olde Show Biz romance MISTRESS FIREBRAND by DONNA THORLAND. Along the way we talk about French Letters and French Kisses...excuse us. FREEDOM Letters and FREEDOM Kisses.Stuck in traffic due to the NASCAR racetrack in downtown Chicago? Why not make it a double-feature and check out Isabeau's interview with the author as well - in this very feed! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have you heard April is the cruelest month? Wrong--it's February and boy does Lizzie Bennet know it! Without her best bud, without her best sis, without the sun what is Lizzie but a collection of misanthropic observations? Too harsh--you be the judge in this zippy little chapter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.