This week, I & M tackle the multi-decade family saga slash love story “The Ties That Bind” by Brenda Jackson. When Rand meets Jenna at a college party in 1965, they kick off a romance (or twelve) that overcomes the ravages of time, distance, the Vietnam War, the fight for Civil Rights, classism, colorism, and a woman named Angela.

Is there such a thing as bad girl, or are they all just drawn that way? Is a villain’s relatability a form of carbon dating? Speaking of dating, does anyone date outside their family anymore in these books or are we just sensitive?

Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network.

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Baby batter up!

This week on Whoa!mance Isabeau and Morgan chew gum in the dugout of "Fix Her Up" by Tessa Bailey.

Former baseball superstar Travis returns to his charming home village sore from more than a career-ending shoulder injury. When a new opportunity comes knocking, he teams up with his friend's kid sister for a mutually beneficial (aren't they always?) fake relationship. Thankfully, her "baby" status in her family isn't an impediment to his affections.

Why don't more characters in fiction just, you know, meet? Are we all slowly boiling in the waters of incest-adjacency? Is cognitive dissonance in the boudoir any less dissonant?

It's 11:00pm. Do you know where your Baby Girl is?

Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network.

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Risky Business eat your heart out. This week on Whoa!mance, Morgan and Isabeau visit NEW YAWK but better in “One Last Stop” by Casey McQuiston. August is still putting the “new” New York City when she meets timeless punk hottie Jane on the Q. When she discovers just HOW timeless, our gal Auggie puts her hereditary gumshoe skills, and chosen family slash roomies, to use is breaking Jane free from the amber of the MTA.

Is freaky the new vanilla? Does greater visibility equal meaningful progress? Did people like “Red, White & Royal Blue”?

Stand clear of the sliding doors, this episode is about to disembark.

Whoa!mance is a part of the Frolic Podcast Network.

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The Bachelor but with a Phoenix and a Thunderbird catching feels in the South China Sea? This could actually be the most dramatic season yet.

Mythical creature shifter and Regional-alpha Xi Sing is so immediately smitten with The Shifter Bachelor lovetestant Monday, he threatens to make bad TV. Little does the viewing audience know she's running from a witch-hunter right onto their screens.

This week, yr girls are knockin' on Heaven's Door discussing "Bachelor in Paradise" by Shai August. Along the way, they reflect on the history of Bachelor Nation by looking at a multicultural shifter-take with plenty of political intrigue, character studies, and loose ends

Is reality television just another repository for our collective id? Are bouillon-stealing gargoyles worse than a guy selecting a Neil Lane engagement ring for the wrong reasons? Can the sum of parts be greater than the whole?

One thing is for sure - Chris Harrison could never.

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Category Is: Kissing Cousins Pygmalion Cotillion

Answer: “The Prodigal Spinster” by Joan Overfieled

Question: What is relations wanting to make relations after a “makeover” (actually just proper nutrition) thanks to a Puppet Master/Aunt who makes them think it was the work of their Cool Jock Friend and their Bumbling Too-Masc-To-Live Pal?

This week, Morgan and Isabeau don their most fabulous orange formalwear for the exciting conclusion of the first round of their “Category Is” series, discussing a motherf*#!ing Golden Heart Winner from 1988.

Are Pygmalions for the boyzzzz? Can a family member be a liminal space? If you walk down the stairs and not a single Adam’s apple bobs, does it even count?

Kiss me beneath the milky twilight, this episode is about to lead you out on the moonlit floor.

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Category Is: Regency in shades of avocado, mulberry and ochre

Answer: “The Golden Songbird” by Sheila Walsh

Question: What is the wager calling everyone’s bluff until she ends up a Marchioness after some gun play, a cock fight, and a really bad trip?

This week, Morgan and Isabeau are joined by a Dark Passenger for their “Category Is” series, discussing a not-plagiarizing-Georgette-Heyer Regency from 1975.

Are the seventies the True Sixties? Was Woodiwiss even a radical? Are disco balls just big mirrors?

Cards on the table, we’re all in.

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