Posts in Traditional Episode
160: 2 HAVE 2 HOLD - To Have And To Hold By Patricia Gaffney
160: 2 HAVE 2 HOLD - To Have And To Hold By Patricia Gaffney

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???

Traditional EpisodeWhoa!mance Podcast
159: Why Hockey? - "The Deal" By Elle Kennedy
159: Why Hockey? - "The Deal" By Elle Kennedy

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.

Traditional EpisodeWhoa!mance Podcast
158: Come for the Wings, Stay for the Ruin - "A Court Of Wings And Ruin" By Sarah J. Maas Part 2
158: Come for the Wings, Stay for the Ruin - "A Court Of Wings And Ruin" By Sarah J. Maas Part 2

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.

Traditional EpisodeWhoa!mance Podcast
157: DADDY WAR BOOKS - "A Court Of Wings And Ruin" By Sarah J. Maas Part 1
157: DADDY WAR BOOKS - "A Court Of Wings And Ruin" By Sarah J. Maas Part 1

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'.

Traditional EpisodeWhoa!mance Podcast
156: Crypto Nepo Baby - The Astronaut and the Star by Jen Comfort
156: Crypto Nepo Baby - The Astronaut and the Star by Jen Comfort

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!

Traditional EpisodeWhoa!mance Podcast
Dreaming of Who? Whoa!mance + Shelf Love on Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas - Whoa!nus
Dreaming of Who? Whoa!mance + Shelf Love on Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas - Whoa!nus

Can we get vulnerable for a bit? Hope so, because we did.

Along with Jodie Slaughter and Andrea of Shelf Love Podcast, we come together - not unlike a certain Derek and Sarah - to reflect of what DREAMING OF YOU by LISA KLEYPAS. has to say about feminine identity, romance readers, and, as ever, ourselves.

Why Derek Craven and why not Joyce?

Why does Romance seek the approval of systems that do not serve it and indeed don’t even get it?

Are we not all always already overidentifying with main characters?

Does DoY have problems or is it all cunning craftwork?

Be sure to listen to the separate Whoa!mance and Shelf Love discussions before diving into the meta-ness and meta-mess of this text.

Traditional EpisodeWhoa!mance Podcast