Shelf Love: Romance Novel Discourse

Aug 26 2024 164 ep. 53 mins 149
Shelf Love: Romance Novel Discourse Podcast artwork

Shelf Love is about romance novels and how they reflect, explore, challenge, and shape desire. Host Andrea Martucci invites experts from a variety of perspectives to critically engaging with romance novels. Listen for discussions of individual books, genre discourse, and scholarly topics.

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Year of the Unicorn: Old School Romantasy

Aug 26 2024 66 mins  
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 powe

Colonizing History: Historical Romance

Jul 22 2024 30 mins  
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 rom

Romantasy & Fourth Wing with Sarah Skilton

Jul 15 2024 73 mins  
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, i

Romance Adaptations & Genre Perceptions: Teaching The Hating Game

Jun 23 2024 60 mins  
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

Cold Hearted by Heather Guerre

Jun 09 2024 50 mins  
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 tran

Consuming Desires: Cannibalism and Hunger in Romance

Jun 02 2024 50 mins  
“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 soci

Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Apr 24 2024 64 mins  
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 t

Evolution of Romance Novel Cover Design

Apr 11 2024 67 mins  
How do romance novel covers reflect our time, reading habits, and identity? Sarah Rutherford, romance reader and Associate Professor of Design at Cleveland State University discusses the evolution of cover design, from the clinch covers of the past to the contemporary trends of illustrated covers, and how these changes reflect wider shifts in aesthetics, market trends, technology,

Harlequin Kiss & Collecting Category Romance on Categorically Romance Podcast

Feb 18 2024 61 mins  
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

Covering Romance: John Ennis's Art & Thoughts on Fandom

Feb 11 2024 39 mins  
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 purcha