On this whoa!nus listen along as Morgan and Isabeau engage with Time magazine's 50 Best Romance Novels to Read right now (August 2024). You can hear in real time (haha) as Isabeau is faced with the dubious metrics of 'acclaim and social impact'. What books did the list get right? What books did they miss? We cover it all and share our opinions on what Romancelandia really needs. As always come to your own conclusions--just maybe don't make it a listicle.

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Over one frenzied month Morgan read all five of Emily Henry's original adult romance novels. Along the way, she lost herself. She turns to Isabeau to help her trace her way back, though the work and the public and personal reception.

What differentiates a romance novel from everything else? And what can we learn from a breakthrough star?

Assumptions are challenged. Late capital is contoured. The word "prophylactic" is uttered.

Featuring special guest appearance by a piece of loose leaf notebook paper with a completely normal matrix of EH novels!

This one is quite different from our usual stuff, but maybe you will still like it (almost unlike Emily Henry novels in every way).

Isabeau references Love the One You're With and Baby Proof by Emily Giffin.

The Substack post Morgan references is, in fact, a poorly remembered comments thread on this piece.

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Join fan fav and beloved friend of the pod Andrea Martucci from podcast Shelflove as we discuss 2024's 'Your Monster' a love story about female rage and personal growth. This discussion spans personal taste, romance conventions as adapted by other mediums, and of course that great white way: Broadway. As we've said before horror and romance share a wet middle in the venn diagram of genres, but what happens when they're part of the same narrative arc? Hot takes and divergent opinions make pod friends forever

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We were in the books in 2024 and now 2024 is in the books. Hardest and softest no!s and whoa!s, the places we visited the most in literature, what we did great at and where we came up short. All that and more as we look back on the year that was...2024.

Ellie from the Butt Out Baby Podcast had the best idea. For all of us to watch Carol (2015) directed by Todd Haynes and then talk about it. Therese gets a funny feeling when she first sees the glamorous Carol, and it isn't just because its Christmastime. But it is the 1950s, and Carol is going through a divorce, and is a devoted mother, and is at least a decade older and a gajillion dollars richer, and it's Christmas! What is it they about the course of true love? Do age gaps matter? Does Christmas matter? And what even happened with that ending! Be sure to tune into this romance-centered discussion of Carol. And, by the way, I like your hat...

When the dog days of summer start barking, the cubes start clinking. Yr grls are revisiting their ICE WINE project, a time to interrogate texts published by and for a previous generation. This round, we're pouring (over ice, of course): A DANGEROUS MAN by ROSEMARY ROGERS HEAVEN KNOWS by ELAINE COFFMAN FEVER RISING by MAGGIE FERGUSON But Whoa!mance needs your help choosing between THE DRAGON AND THE JEWEL by VIRGINIA HENLEY or THE FALCON AND THE SWORD by PATRICIA WARNER so be sure to vote on our Instagram or email whoamancemail@gmail.com It is Ice Wine Season - do you know where your Newt Gingrich is?