Baby batter up! This week on Whoa!mance Isabeau and Morgan chew gum in the dugout of "Fix Her Up" by Tessa Bailey. Former baseball superstar Travis returns to his charming home village sore from more than a career-ending shoulder injury. When a new opportunity comes knocking, he teams up with his friend's kid sister for a mutually beneficial (aren't they always?) fake relationship. Thankfully, her "baby" status in her family isn't an impediment to his affections. Why don't more characters in fiction just, you know, meet? Are we all slowly boiling in the waters of incest-adjacency? Is cognitive dissonance in the boudoir any less dissonant? It's 11:00pm. Do you know where your Baby Girl is? Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network.

Whoa!mance: Romance, Feminism, and Ourselves

Episode 114: A Tyranny Of Endearment - Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey

Risky Business eat your heart out. This week on Whoa!mance, Morgan and Isabeau visit NEW YAWK but better in “One Last Stop” by Casey McQuiston. August is still putting the “new” New York City when she meets timeless punk hottie Jane on the Q. When she discovers just HOW timeless, our gal Auggie puts her hereditary gumshoe skills, and chosen family slash roomies, to use is breaking Jane free from the amber of the MTA. Is freaky the new vanilla? Does greater visibility equal meaningful progress? Did people like “Red, White & Royal Blue”? Stand clear of the sliding doors, this episode is about to disembark. Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network.

Episode 113: Railed - One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

Romancelandia’s own Gathering of the Juggalos - Jane Austen Fetival - wrapped up this last week in Louisville! PlusJASNA’s Annual General Meeting will be hosted in our home of Chicago this year. Not to mention TWO imminent film adaptations of Persuasion? To celebrate all this and more we’re re-releasing our episode on Persuasion by Jane Austen. --- We did it y’all; we’ve been through the now, the then, the if only, and the as if; it’s been a month dedicated to yr grrl Jane; a celebration of her influence, and an inquiry into the resonance of her scope. But we would be remiss not to guide it all towards the inevitable confluence of meeting the indelible force herself; the matron of Romancelandia; the true essence of all things that send your heart and situation aflutter: it’s Persuasion by Jane Austen. For you, by you; thank you now and always. Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network

RE!Mance Episode 44: The OG (JANEuary #5) - Persuasion by Jane Austen

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 ends Is 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

Episode 112: Almost Paradise - Bachelor in Paradise by Shai August

Category Is: Kissing Cousins Pygmalion Cotillion Answer: “The Prodigal Spinster” by Joan Overfieled Question: 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.

Episode 111: The Category is….An Aunt Is An Ocean - The Prodigal Spinster by Joan Overfieled

Category Is: Regency in shades of avocado, mulberry and ochre Answer: “The Golden Songbird” by Sheila Walsh Question: 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.

Episode 110: The Category is....Easy Riders, Golden Songbirds - The Golden Songbird by Sheila Wash

Category Is: English Rose seeks personified Daddy Issue Answer: “Tangled Threads” by Susanne McCarthy Question: 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

Episode 109: The Category is....Thatcher? I Hardly Know Her! - Tangled Threads by Susanne McCarthy

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

Episode 108: Problematizing Romance w/Shelf Love

Category Is: Posthumously Published Triangular Caper Answer: “How Can The Heart Forgot” by: Emilie Loring Question: 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.

Episode 107: The Category is....My Sister's Mister - How Can The Heart Forget? by Emilie Loring

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

Whoa!Nus: The Category Is.....

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.

Jane Eyre Read Along - Chapter Twenty-Five

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.

Jane Eyre Read Along - Chapter Twenty-Four

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.

Episode 106: A Sticky Wicket The Marriage Pass

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.

Jane Eyre Read Along - Chapter Twenty-Three

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

Re!mance: Flowers From the Storm by Laura Kinsale FEATURING MELONIE JOHNSON!

Podcast by Whoa!mance: Romance, Feminism, and Ourselves

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Whoa!mance: Romance, Feminism, and Ourselves

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