Episodes
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Year of the Unicorn by Andre Norton is a 1965 fantasy novel with subtle romantic elements. How does this vintage novel featuring outsider characters compare with today’s romantasy? Romance reader Kassi joins Shelf Love to discuss Gillan’s journey of identity, empowerment, and agency as she embarks on an adventure: arranged marriage with a were Rider. Would you give up your power for a beautiful fantasy? It’s very demure, very mindful — this oldie is a goodie, although there are no unicorns.
Discussed: Year of the Unicorn by Andre Norton (1965)
Guest: Kassi
Shelf Love:
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Ever wondered why Regencies became all the rage? Or how historical romances shape and sanitize our perceptions of history? This episode delves into how Regency romances displace inconvenient historical truths. A critical look at older 'problematic' romances like Jennifer Blake's 'Fierce Eden' reveals the complexities of characters and settings, challenging the current sanitized romantic fantasies. This audio essay touches upon how modern Regency romance often overlooks deeper societal issues for the comfort of readers, questioning if this trend truly makes the genre better or just more palatable.
Read the original Substack essay here: https://shelflovepodcast.substack.com/p/colonizing-history-historical-romance
Shelf Love:
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Episodes manquant?
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Some call it Romantasy, some call it Dragon Corn (except replace the C with a P). Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros is hotter than dragon’s breath, and so of course we have to see if we can figure out why it’s so popular. Sarah Skilton joins me to discuss “love triangles,” indescribable pain that we would actually like described, War College, and how…hot…Xaden…is. Also, is Fourth Wing enjoyable for people with romance or fantasy genre competence? Listen…or die.
Discussed: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Guest: Sarah Skilton
Website: www.sarahskilton.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skiltongram/
Hollywood Ending by Tash Skilton: https://bookshop.org/p/books/hollywood-ending-tash-skilton/15806212?ean=9781496730671
Shelf Love:
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Ever wondered how "The Hating Game" fares in a classroom setting? Dr. Diana Filar is back to discuss her experiences teaching The Hating Game book and film in a class about popular genre fiction. We discuss the challenges of translating romance novels into films, how stereotypes of genres are formed and challenged, and what it's like introducing non-genre readers to romance. Learn about Dr. Filar's approach to incorporating popular genre fiction like romance, horror, and suspense into her curriculum, how class conversations resembled a Battle of the Sexes as they explored texts that engaged with gender in different ways, and why it’s so hard to both adapt romance and teach romance novels as a genre in the classroom.
Class texts also included Gone Girl, Arrival, and The Exorcist.
Guest: Dr. Diana Filar
Website | Twitter
Listen to Dr. Diana Filar on the #1 most-downloaded episode of Shelf Love:
092. I've Got No Roots: White Immigrant Assimilation & (Romance) Adaptation
Shelf Love:
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Do you love scent marking, some healthy jealousy, and a beautiful and believable mix of internal and external romance in your paranormal werewolf romance? Get your parka and bundle up for "Cold Hearted" by Heather Guerre, the first book in the Tooth and Claw series, in discussion with foremost vampire defender, Dame Jodie Slaughter. We explore werewolves, vampires, Alaska as a transporting setting, depression, Andrea’s soft vulnerable belly, and found family and community, highlighting the book’s atmospheric setting and rich character development. The conversation delves into the unique elements of limited third-person narrative, the dynamics of jealousy, and the beauty of slow-burn romance.
Guest: Dame Jodie Slaughter, Shelf Love’s Vampire Defender
Website | Twitter | Instagram
To learn more about Dame Jodie Slaughter, follow her on Instagram @jodie_slaughter and on Twitter @jodieslaughter. Check out her books, including "Play to Win" and "Bet on It," and keep an eye out for her upcoming sapphic romance, "Ready to Score."
Shelf Love:
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“What is a greater expression of love than eating someone else or wanting to consume and have that person in a way that no one else can have?” Dr. Nicola Welsh-Burke joins to delve into the intriguing topic of cannibalism in romance novels. We explore the intersection of food, eating, and sexuality, discuss the metaphorical use of cannibalism in literature, and examine the societal taboos and fascinations with the concept. The conversation touches upon various themes such as erotic vampirism, werewolf lore, incorrect eating, and how these elements are used to explore deeper human desires and fears.
Media Mentioned/Discussed:
Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis KlauseTooth and Claw series by Heather GuerreWhere the Wild Things Are by Maurice SendakHannibal (TV show)A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. SummersFresh (film) Twilight (books/film)Betwixt the Sheets PodcastKinky History PodcastSex historian Esme Louise JamesGuest: Dr. Nicola Welsh-Burke
Dr. Welsh-Burke is an academic and lecturer at Western Sydney University in Sydney, Australia. She’s an early-stage researcher in folklore and fairy tales and the romance genre, and her PhD was on contemporary YA supernatural romance, retellings of little red riding hood from the 21st century.
Twitter
Shelf Love:
NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTubeEmail: [email protected] -
If you’ve always wanted to hear about a romance that takes place within a traveling circus and features a telepathic tiger, hang onto your trapeze bar: Emma from the Substack Restorative Romance and the Reformed Rakes podcast is here to talk about Susan Elizabeth Phillips' “Kiss an Angel,” a contemporary romance that feels like a historical and features an arranged marriage that leads to circus life. In a highly contentious conversation between rival podcasters, the one thing we can agree on the importance of conflict and character flaws in creating a compelling story.
Discussed: Kiss and Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Guest: Emma, a law librarian and writer at Restorative Romance on Substack, and a member of Reformed Rakes.
Substack | Reformed Rakes Website
Shelf Love:
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Guest: Sarah Rutherford, a romance reader and Associate Professor of Design at Cleveland State University
@sarahatschool on Instagram
Highlights:
The evolution of romance novel covers from the 1980s to the contemporary post-digital age.The significant role of design elements such as typography, color, and imagery in conveying the genre and themes of romance novels.The impact of digital publishing on cover designs, including the preference for stock photography and simplified imagery.How cover designs serve as a branding tool for books and how they contribute to personal branding for readers and collectors.Sarah shares anecdotes about identifying and collecting romance novels based on their covers, highlighting the emotional and aesthetic appeal of cover art.Shelf Love:
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I was a guest on The Categorically Romance Podcast to discuss my category romance collecting addiction, reading some books from Kiss a short-lived Harlequin line from the early 20 teens, and how not being allowed to read romance as a teen actually made me more obsessed with reading romance. Hope you enjoy this episode and I definitely recommend that you check out the Categorically Romance Podcast if you're not already listening.
We read The One that Got Away by Kelly Hunter (Kiss #1) and If You Can't Stand the Heat by Joss Wood.
Learn more about The Categorically Romance Podcast: https://linktr.ee/TheCategoricallyRomancePodcast
Shelf Love:
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In this episode, host Andrea Martucci embarks on a journey with Dame Jodie Slaughter to the Covering Romance exhibition. The event showcases romance novel cover art by award-winning artist, John Ennis. Interviews with John Ennis and other attendees, including author Nisha Sharma, romance fan Mary Lynne Nielsen, and Fin, owner of Wolf and Kron books, a genre bookstore. Andrea purchases several pieces of cover art and reflects with Jodie on the cultural significance of fandom and passion for the genre.
Fellow Traveler: Dame Jodie Slaughter, International Fandom Criticizer
Website | Twitter | Instagram
Shelf Love:
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An exploration of prison planet romances with Megan Erickson. We discuss Guardian by Emmy Chandler and how it explores issues of consent, agency, and morality through an extreme version of the forced proximity trope. Are these brutal dystopians actually hopeful explorations of humanity and love?
Shelf Love:
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Romancelandia Holiday Fairies 2023!
Romancelandia Holiday Fairies is a mutual aid effort for the romance novel reader community to support anyone in the community who could use a little material help with purchasing gifts for themselves, or loved ones this holiday season. Learn more:
bit.ly/holidayfairies
shelflovepodcast.com/holiday-fairies
Shelf Love:
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Is shame productive? This question guides part 2 of a Whoa!mance/Shelf Love convo about A Lady of the West by Linda Howard as we discuss the paradox of enjoying highly problematic books.
We interrogate our feelings of shame, enjoyment, and the importance of critically dissecting the pleasures derived from reading, no matter how uncomfortable it may feel.
Look at your society, look at your life! Along with me and Whoa!mance, in this crossover episode.
Shelf Love:
NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTubeEmail: [email protected]Guests: Whoa!mance (Morgan and Isabeau)
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Website | Listen on any podcast app!
Listen to part 1 of this episode: episode 150 Shelf Love
Morgan & Isabeau joined me in episode 076 to discuss Strange Love by Ann Aguirre
and
Episode 089 to Problematize Romance
and
108 She-Devil (1989): Who's Entitled To Be Selfish in Love & Life? (Whoa!mance spectacular)
Shelf Love:
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I humbly asked Morgan and Isabeau to help me understand why A Lady of the West by Linda Howard had a chokehold on my young romance-reading imagination, and they delivered. We discuss how this book has rules for good (white) women, and explores Manifest Destiny, settler colonialism, sexuality, violence, violent sexuality, and being a desirable (white) woman.
Button up your white high-necked blouse and gallop on a virile stallion into the wild west with Whoa!mance, in this crossover episode.
Shelf Love:
NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTubeEmail: [email protected]Guests: Whoa!mance (Morgan and Isabeau)
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Website | Listen on any podcast app!
Morgan & Isabeau joined me in episode 076 to discuss Strange Love by Ann Aguirreand
Episode 089 to Problematize Romanceand
108 She-Devil (1989): Who's Entitled To Be Selfish in Love & Life? (Whoa!mance spectacular)Shelf Love:
NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTubeEmail: [email protected] -
The difference between erotic romance and romance is all about feelings, in particular, where you feel them. Shelf Love’s Kink Correspondent, Dame Jodie Slaughter, joins the podcast to discuss A Gentleman in the Streets by Alisha Rai. Only enter if you consensually dare.
Shelf Love:
NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTubeEmail: [email protected]Guest: Dame Jodie Slaughter, Shelf Love’s Kink Correspondent
Website | Twitter | Instagram
Shelf Love:
NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTubeEmail: [email protected] -
Bisexuality in romance with writer and reviewer Ellie Mae MacGregor (@bisexual_booknerd). When it comes to romance, a genre that explores romantic and sexual desires, what does “good” bisexual representation look like? How can books with or without bisexual representation create worlds that feel safe for bisexual readers?
Shelf Love:
NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTubeEmail: [email protected]Guest: Ellie Mae MacGregor
Instagram @bisexual_booknerd
Shelf Love:
NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTubeEmail: [email protected] -
I own 91 Candlelight Ecstasy Romances, so it was high time I read one... then I read another 13 for good measure. In December, 1980, Vivian Stephens launched a new line of contemporary category romance at Dell called Candlelight Ecstasy. The line pushed the envelope when it came to sex and sensuality on the page. But how sexy are they and how do these books hold up in 2023?
Shelf Love:
NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTubeEmail: [email protected]Shelf Love:
NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTubeEmail: [email protected] -
Mistress of Mellyn by Virginia Holt is often hailed as responsible for kicking off a boom of modern gothics in the mid-20th century. In this crossover with Reformed Rakes, we ask: is this a gothic first and a romance second? Is our plucky main character in love with the man of the house, or just the house? How does Mistress explore transgression of boundaries, gender, eight-year-olds, and heroines “ahead of their time”?
Shelf Love:
NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTubeEmail: [email protected]Discussed: The Mistress of Mellyn (1960) by Virginia Holt
Guest: Reformed Rakes
Website | Emma | Beth | Chels
Shelf Love:
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What makes a heroine in romance, a genre invested in exploring how can women be happy in culture? Is the genre a place where heroines create integrated identities that reject binaries of what society tells them to be? Dr. Jayashree Kamble discusses her latest book on romance scholarship, Creating Identity: The Popular Romance Heroine's Journey to Selfhood and Self-Presentation. Shelf Love listeners can use “UShelfLove” to get 35% off the book at Indiana University Press, from now until November 2, 2023.
Shelf Love:
NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTubeEmail: [email protected]Guest: Dr. Jayashree Kamble
Creating Identity: The Popular Romance Heroine's Journey to Selfhood and Self-Presentation
https://iupress.org/9780253065704/creating-identity/
Shelf Love Discount code: use “UShelflove” for 35% between September 15, 2023 and November 2, 2023.
Jayashree on Humanities Commons: https://hcommons.org/members/kamble/
Jayashree’s upcoming New York City book launch events:
9/24/23 - https://www.therippedbodicela.com/brooklyn-events9/22/23 - https://aaari.info/23-09-22kamble/Learn more about the International Association for the Study of Popular Romance at IASPR.org and the open access journal where you can find tons of romance scholarship: JPRStudies.org
Shelf Love:
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Four romance reading friends embark on a romance history reading project, based on a BookRiot list, and in this episode, two of them — Leigh Kramer and Hannah Hearts romance — have Flames on the Sides of their Face when talking about the Flame and The Flower by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss. To keep things interesting, we talk less about the book itself and more about questions of reader reception and the relationship between the 1972 text and the romance texts that followed. Have we come a long way, baby, or are we still wallowing in the same whirlpool of sludgey emotions?
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Shelf Love:
NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTubeEmail: [email protected]Discussed: The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
The BookRiot list that inspired the project: https://bookriot.com/most-influential-romance-novels/
Guests:
Leigh Kramer
Website | Instagram
Hannah Hearts Romance
Instagram | Goodreads
Shelf Love:
NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTubeEmail: [email protected] - Montre plus
