This week, we tackle Charolette Stein's When Grumpy Met Sunshine, a listener request that's keeping us honest! We've reviewed this author previously and concluded then that we would like to read her again later. Listeners we did.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine is a romance that pits supposed opposites against each other with mixed results. Mabel is a ghost writer with a predictable penchant for bright clothes, and Alfie is an ex-footballer from the wrong side of the tracks with a wardrobe like Johnny Cash. How couldn't these goofs fall in love or dry hump at a Beyonce concert? From shared bad dads, to some pretty funny social media mishaps we explore how this particular story’s struggle with its own self-consciousness (a trend in current romance) seems to illuminate something brittle. The weight of modern romance expectations? The translation of fanfic into fic fic?

If every trope shines this brightly are we not all blind?

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Please, no need to swoon - it's just us, talking about MEET ME AT THE ANVIL by KATE PRIOR.

Prior isn't just the author's surname, it also describes when we talked about this author re: LOVE, LAUGH, LICH - look it up in the feed where you found this one!

Diane is fine marrying Martin - as long as she has her special drawings and her special horn. That is until it isn't fine after one of her frequent faints (courtesy of staring too long at Martin's ruggedly handsome best man and cousin, Liam) interrupts the ceremony and leads to a perspective-shifting goat encounter. She and Liam hit the road to nowhere, or is it...to forever?

Does centering the body, even the marginalized body, equal objectification? What has romance writing lost in the fronting of author personalities? Why is it so hard to think of weird parts with novellas?

Keep your eye on that goat and your ear on this podcast - they're both wily son-of-a-guns.

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Trigger warnings abound everyone - sexual assault, dubious consent, Biblical characters of Judas and Satan falling in love, child death and miscarriage, suicide. Tread lightly, be gentle with yourself - it's just a podcast.

The Devil is a lie, The Devil is in the details, The Devil is afraid to be vulnerable, The Devil is afraid you can't love him the way he thinks he wants to be loved. The Judas Iscariot (we'll wait while you gather your feelings) and The Devil (yep, horns, tail, etc.) meet in The Ninth Circle of Hell and embark on one of the most complex journeys of mutual self-discovery by way of esoteric billionaire, rakish Duke romance ever committed to pages read by these, your podcast hosts. Along the way, the text dives into a rather comprehensive collection of Bible fan fictions (Dante, Milton, Kabbalah, your most beautiful, tragic Aunt's pet theories...) and creates some of its own.

What does romantasy lose in its fear of scope? What does this novel lose in its embrace of stakes? Is this the future liberals want?

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Morgan and Isabeau are joined by romance author Esme Brett as we discuss In Flight — a romance that took off in the wake of Fifty Shades. In this free wheeling discussion we tackle fanfiction's influence on the genre, the rise of self publishing, and the ethics of depicting BDSM in romance. What are we responsible for? Who are we responsible to? How can we sell more romance novels in New Zealand?

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One last round of eggnog, we're talking "MEET ME IN LOS FELIZ" by KELLY REYNOLDS. Nora accidentally barges in on Bowie peeing and catches feels for the (sort of) Short King. Is king a slur if you're a Brit in LA who inherited a house and tea shop(pe)? Amid the hustle of trying to make it as an actress, Nora makes room for a new love. What makes a novella work? Does normalizing rough sex minimize it? How much are CBD lattes going for in your local area? Pick your exit off the 210 carefully, we're parked in this holiday traffic.

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If Whoa!mance had a nickel for every time we discussed a novel featuring a werewolf who flies personal aircraft, we would have TWO nickels. Thanks for the hypothetical pay raise, COLD HEARTED by HEATHER GUERRE. Grace has to Teach for America her way away from her terrible ex and terribler Chicago. So she makes her way to the small, insular, warm yet secretive community of Longtooth, Alaska. Even thought Grace really sets local boy Caleb's maybe-metaphorical-maybe-literal tail to wagging, he's been burned by City Folk before and he isn't going to be heartbroken again, dang it! When it turns out Grace's ex was worse and more supernatural than just a boring stalker, he's going to have to put his feelings aside...or actually, for some reason, centering them works better? What makes a comfort read comfortable? Is a villain more captivating than the main character a failure in a romance, or just the The Nature of the Beast? Its 10 p.m., do you know how many copies of "Watership Down" are within driving distance of you right now? Turn "Deadliest Catch", we've got something much sexier and equally Alaskan to discuss.

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