It's been quite the sojourn y’all. This week marks the third and final in our triptych on sheik romance, a series that we hope has never ceased to surprise and horrify. A familiar pattern continued in Hired: The Sheikh’s Secretary Mistress by Lucy Monroe, a text in full cultural retrograde as the title is quick to suggest, where Morgan and Isabeau were once again exposed to a veritable galaxy of stereotypes and erasures; a true fireworks display of unfortunate narrative decisions fit for an ending we thought would never come. And the worst part is this one’s not even super old. Who needs a drink.
Last week, yr girls Morgan and Isabeau took a trip to the Big Apple to speak on a panel for the Golden Network as part of the Romance Writers of America’s annual conference. After much networking and mingling, there was so much to unpack. Is Romance inherently feminist, or should we demand more? Is pleasure, in and of itself, enough of a political statement? What is patriarchy, and how and with what do we smash it? Sometimes searching for answers y'all just leads to better questions.
Ok. A lot of trigger warnings y’all; we’re talking about rape, human trafficking, colonial occupation, castration, and handsy nuns. But plz know yr Whoa!mance crew would never let you go in alone. This week, Morgan and Isabeau continue to hold Sheik romance accountable with a truly breathtaking example of what-the-fuckery: Savage Sands by Christina Nicholson. It’s a rolling blackout of unchecked sexuality and degradation, a narrative so carpet-bombed by the male id it’s almost as if it were written by a man...
Back in the center ring, as promised, for the first of many sheik downs. To kick things off, Morgan and Isabeau crack the OG model for so-called “desert romance”, E. M. Hull’s 1919 novel The Sheik; and like any good origin story, it’s fraught with power and contradiction. Can a novel with such a damaging socio-political cache be redeemed by the resonant impact it has on the evolution of genre and reader interest? Or is it time we go cold turkey on this particular blend of hand-rolled erotica? We’re in this for the long haul y’all so make sure you layer up: it gets pretty cold at night.
If you’ve been around this whole mess long enough you know we love kicking up some dust. So that’s why we felt it was high time one of the elephants in this here circus gets called the fuck out. Clowns and jokers can take a hike for this next couple y’all; round these parts there’s no wishing our way out.
Here at Whoa!mance, we believe wet dreams are always better with a buddy. That’s why this week, Morgan and Isabeau took a trip to the 206 to hang out with bored pharmaceutical employees Vanessa and Altan, as they explored their sexual tension in a shared hallucinatory dreamspace. But what began as a flirtation spiraled into addiction for Vanessa as her drug induced sexcoma proved a too temping balm for the anxiety caused by her husband Pete and the aftershocks of her traumatic past. It’s a true mind fucking y’all.