Whoa!mance: Romance, Feminism, and Ourselves

Do you love books? Do you love the vicarious thrill of blind dates? How about we combine those two? And you listen to us unwrap some delicious stranger novels, and delight each other with the contents. Support your local bookstores!

Well, well, well. Guess who got discovered. Mmhm. And guess who continues to be overly optimistic? You got it. And guess who is kind of a classist jerk to their domestic workers? BINGO. You know what, maybe just sit this chapter out. You already know what's up.

We had a blast talking with Megan Mackie, Samara Breger, Melanie Moschella, Tamara Jerée at the first ever Romantasy Fest at Otherworld Theatre. We dished about Romantasy history both public and personal, influences, Romantasy vs. supernatural, comparing fantasy and romance, and the unique process of authoring a romance novel. A note on sound - we recorded the panel using one mic, so the sound isn't what you're used to with our show. It is worth the listen, though!

Uhhhh, so who was going to remind us that Mr. Collins truly blows? Must run in the family…looking straight at you Mr. Bennet. After the Bennett receive a really mean letter from their current cousin/former paramour, their dear father returns home to say he’s taking responsibility for his family. Papa then goes on to earn that letter and top spot as Bad Dad on the Whoa!mance bookshelf. We also talk about conservative faced men.

You're going to want to double KNOT your Easter Bonnet for this one - because BRIDE by ALI HAZELWOOD is likely to blow it clean off. Vampyre, Misery, enters an arranged marriage with Alpha Werewolf, Lowe to protect a tentative truce between their cultures. And then...well, guess. We bet you can guess what happens next. Go ahead. What do you think? C'mon. Don't be shy. We know why you're here. We're right here with ya. Yeah. That's right. Omegaverse-style canid sex. Why do we seek out the bestial in our most human, romantic stories? When does Virginity stop being a social issue and become a personal one? What kind of personal aircraft will be acceptable when the revolution comes?

There seems to be nothing to do except return home after Lydia goes missing. But sometimes, as Lizzie is about to discover, family can be cold comfort in a crisis.

When you call, Whoa!mance answers! A special listener recommended THE SECRET HEART by ERIN SATIE when we asked for weird books. So you KNOW we had to pick it up and lay it down. I guess you could say we felt similarly to Adam, Earl of Bexley, when he first sees Caro Small in her ballet smalls - intrigued and horny! Caro decides to take advantage and improve her circumstances by throwing them both on the assignation-to-wedding pipeline. Sure he's her best friend's better-to-do cousin, and sure he's an entrepreneur (barf) AND secret pugilist-she can deal. But when Caro finds HERSELF kicking her feet and smiling, it all gets complicated in a new way. What's the distinction between bad and unlikeable? How responsible are masc characters for their predilections? Is the general obsession with lady smallness eeking anybody else out? If you have a book you'd like us to discuss, hit yr grls up via our socials or whoamancemail@gmail.com And if you'd like to join us for a LIVE romantasy panel, go to otherworldtheatre.org

Baby sisters ruin everything. Or in this case Lydia's antics seriously harsh the vibe of Pemberly and the folks enjoying the views of the woods, and the views of Darcy's adorable face. Is all hope now as lost as Lydia's virtue? Only time and a few more chapters will tell

Quick Q - How whimsical are the jars you store your herbs in? Doesn't matter. Either way, Isabeau and Morgan are chatting IN CHARMS WAY by LANA HARPER. In the halcyon days of a Great Lakes region summer, Delilah's magically-caused memory loss (read: desperate circumstances) call for turning to blood magic and the help of sexy, gladiator-sandal-sporting, half-fae mercenary Catriona (read: desperate measures). But are their magical adventures mere illusion? Only two ways to find out! Reading the book or listening to this podcast. What can mend a righteous anger? How can romantasy ground a reader for maximum, magical effect? Is a rogue succubus just a tradwife (probably)? Want to join yr girls AND Lana Harper for a discussion of Romantasy? Get your tickets at https://www.otherworldtheatre.org/ for our panel March 23 @ 11am (feat. mimosa, ever heard of her?) Thank GODDESS we like this book, right?

Well Lizzie is back at Pemberly and this time she's joined by a former frenemy: Caroline Bingley. Caroline attempts some pretty petty quips and only hurts herself. We also learn that Darcy thinks Lizzie is one of the handsomest women of his aquaintance! Thank you so much Caroline.

Time to get cuffed - winter is upon us. Wynter of the Craig is the King of Wintercraig, and also a Weather Mage (guess what kind of weather he controls). Thamsin, a.k.a. Storm is a princess of Summerlea, and also a Weather Mage. They end up together for political reasons, but stay together for both-being-sexy reasons. But when the winds of magical evil and state-based evil converge against them, will they be able to weather the storm??? Where is the line between romance and fantasy? Or fantasy and historicism? What is camp and does it translate to the necessarily warm feelings romance inspires? Do you know how chimneys work? Don your furriest loin cloth, this one is chill in a NOT chill way.

The soil of A Court of Thorns and Roses is rich, and from it bountiful fan theories bloom. At the dusk of reading the most recent installment, A Court of Silver Flames, for the podcast, and at the dawn of Cresecent City 3's release, yr erstwhile grls met to inhale the fragrance of and admire the colorful bloom from just such flowers. Moonbeams, owls, and that Ilyiad musical on TikTok all blossom in this conversation. Morgan even sprouts her own fan theory about the author. Spoilers abound, so make sure your caught up on our ACOTAR series episodes.

SARAH J. MAAS may have tried with A COURT OF SILVER FLAMES, but hasn't written one too long for us yet! Political wunderkind and human-turned-fae-by-mystical-creation-myth-cauldron Nesta is running from her problems in self-destructive ways. So her sister, her sister's mate, and her sister's mate's B-Fri's seclude her a mountain mansion until she can turn that frown upside down. The B-Fri in charge is Cassian, a bat-hunk who knows a thing or two about regret as well as tai chi as well as battle training, but is lacking in Diplomacy. I think you know where this is going. (A five page beej scene). How does the structure of a romance differ from a fantasy? And what are the nuances of both? What's going on with the portrayal of the Illyrians? WHERE IS THE THREESOME??? Shoot us a rude gesture down the bond if you must, just make sure to listen first.

You know that feeling when your crush shows up and you want everything to go just right, and you want everyone in the room to think you're smart and funny? But you can't stop worrying that you're gonna put you're foot in your mouth so you spend the whole time like a ball of anxiety saying not that much at all and feeling really hot and bothered but not in a good way? Yeah no us neither. And not the dauntless Lizzie Bennet either....Are we all just a little bit Mrs. Bennet?

We did it y'all. Lizzie and Darcy meet back up at his place. It's so embarrassing. It was an accident. He was sweaty. She was nervous. His housekeeper is really into giving him compliments. Big feels. Big fiz.

We're adjusting a rearview to take in a (disappointing) spreadsheet and share our objective data and subjective views on the texts and discussions from the Whoa!mance feed in 2023. What are our In/Outs and Resos for the year ahead? How did we live up to our own hopes for 2023? Glenn Howell????

In this chapter Lydia is gone, relative calm returns to Longbourne house and the narrator gets contemplative on the conjugal felicity of Mr and Mrs Bennet or rather the horrific lack apparently. IS this a romance or a buildings roman? You decide, dear reader.

In this chapter Lizzie confronts her dad about Lydia's reckless flirtations and too frivolous behavior. She really tries to get dear ole dadio not to let Lydia go to Brighton. But Pops does not see it Lizzie's way and Lizzie refuses to be more honest about her fears and concerns.

Over the hills and through the woods, to Velaris we go! Feyre and Rhysand are getting ready for their first C̶h̶r̶i̶s̶t̶m̶a̶s̶ WINTER SOLSTICE together. All while reconciling the recent trauma of the War (see episodes 157, 158). What makes a Holiday Special special? How has the messaging around the true meaning of Christmas morphed in our current therapy-speak moment? Do you feel like you've been sufficiently fan serviced today? Join us as we weave the threads of The Star Wars Christmas Special, "It's A Wonderful Life", and Tom Bombadil together to make sense of the Phenom that is The Worst Book In This Series.

Ho! ho! ho no. This eppy, yr grls go whatever the opposite of carolling is about - Christmas Masquerade: A Pride & Prejudice Intimate Variation by Vivien Norville Lizzie and Darcy (who you know...) are spending their first Christmas together and Darcy is BLOWING it. Or wait, Lizzie is blowing it? Honestly, no one is getting blown. When did the public opinion pendulum swing from sweet to spicy? Is self-publishing the field from which we must harvest the bitter oats sown by celebrating ROI and SEO instead of the HEA as Romance's primary virtue? Is it just a conifer? This Christmas, get duped by Capitalism. Again!