Shows
Shelf Love: Romance Novel DiscourseFeudal Fantasy: Devil's BrideImpale yourself on your fate: marrying the Devil can be heaven. Semilore Sobande shares her all-time favorite romance, "Devil's Bride" by Stephanie Laurens. This book has it all: Honoria Prudence Anstruther-Weatherby, a heroine who balances strength and vulnerability, and a hero who might just be Batman in disguise and has a similarly ridiculous name. Discover how this historical romance stands out with its compelling characters, feudal fantasies, and unexpectedly humorous plot twists, all while reimagining the dynamics of power and partnership in the Cynster family saga.Guest: Semilore Sobandehttps://english.brown.edu/people/semilore-sobande2025-05-201h 38
Shelf Love: Romance Novel DiscourseCold Hearted by Heather GuerreDo 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...2024-06-1050 min
Shelf Love: Romance Novel DiscourseCovering Romance: John Ennis's Art & Thoughts on FandomIn 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 CriticizerWebsite | Twitter | Instagram
Shelf...2024-02-1239 min
Shelf Love: Romance Novel DiscourseErotic Romance: A Gentleman in the Streets by Alisha RaiThe 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: Andrea@shelflovepodcast.comGuest: Dame Jodie Slaughter, Shelf Love’s Kink CorrespondentWebsite | Twitter | Instagram
Shelf Love:NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTubeEmail: Andrea@shelflovepodcast.com2023-10-1752 min
Shelf Love: Romance Novel DiscourseRomance isn’t for everyoneThe fabulous foursome (Morgan & Isabeau from Whoa!mance, Dame Jodie Slaughter, Andrea Martucci from Shelf Love) get meta textual as we reflect on our meta podcasting project on Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas. What’s this episode about? Take a guess from this collection of possible episode titles:Panopticon Alert: Meta Reflections on Dreaming of YouThe Internet Killed RomanceWhoa! That’s Some Weird RomanceOur Current Romance PanopticonAlienating Persons in RomanceLove Us or Hate UsHere We Are Now, Offend UsDid you enjoy this podcast?Be sure to listen to episode 140 and 141 before diving into the meta-ness and meta...2023-06-151h 21
Whoa!mance: Romance, Feminism, and OurselvesWhoa-llab w/ Shelf Love Part 1 - 140. Dreaming of You: Justice for JoyceThis episode we embark on a Duologoy, a duet of sorts with Shelf Love. In an attempt to highlight the manifold approaches one can have to a single text, we are each, discretely, discussing DREAMING OF YOU by Lisa Kleypas. We have not listened to one another's discussions prior to recording/editing our own episodes, so there might be cross-over, but that will be as interesting as the unique points we each explore. Because, as our Vice President so aptly observed, who doesn't love Venn Diagrams?Shelf Love is kicking things off, and the next round is on us.__________________________________________________________Let’s...2023-05-181h 12
Whoa!mance: Romance and OurselvesWhoa-llab w/ Shelf Love Part 1 - 140. Dreaming of You: Justice for JoyceThis episode we embark on a Duologoy, a duet of sorts with Shelf Love. In an attempt to highlight the manifold approaches one can have to a single text, we are each, discretely, discussing DREAMING OF YOU by Lisa Kleypas. We have not listened to one another's discussions prior to recording/editing our own episodes, so there might be cross-over, but that will be as interesting as the unique points we each explore. Because, as our Vice President so aptly observed, who doesn't love Venn Diagrams? Shelf Love is kicking things off, and the next round is on us. __________________________________________________________ Let’s...2023-05-181h 12
Shelf Love: Romance Novel DiscourseDreaming of You: Justice for JoyceLet’s talk about Joyce Ashby from Lisa Kleypas's novel Dreaming of You. We delve into the dichotomous portrayal of Joyce as an irredeemable villainess alongside her foil, the redeemable “hero” Derek Craven. We explore the parallel themes of violence, possessiveness, and animalistic sexuality resulting in problematically differing fates and treatment by the text. Belched from the underworld, Defender of Bisexual Villainesses Dame Jodie Slaughter joins Shelf Love in this special cross-over project with Whoa!mance - watch for the next episode, in which Morgan and Isabeau share their conversation about Dreaming of You.Shelf Love:NEW! S...2023-05-181h 12
Shelf Love: Romance Novel DiscourseWhen Your Lover Rips Your Father’s Heart OutDame Jodie Slaughter, Feather Fetish Understander, and I recently discussed how The Savage and The Swan speaks the unspoken, what a winged wolf looks like, and whether this book is a metaphor for toxic masculinity and healing generational trauma. This summary below was written by AI using my episode transcript:The Savage and the Swan by Ella Fields is a groundbreaking work of Enemies to Lover literature that combines elements of dark fairytale retellings, a possessive anti-hero, and spicy fae romance. The story follows Opal, a princess in a kingdom at war with its neighboring kingdom, Vordane...2023-02-081h 13
Shelf Love: Romance Novel DiscourseAnais Nin, writer of “Female Erotica”?We need to talk about Anais Nin and her erotic short story collection Delta of Venus. Did Anais Nin write "female erotica"? Is there such a thing? Have Things™️ changed much since 1941? Noted smut writer Dame Jodie Slaughter is Shelf Love's international smut history correspondent. She schools us on the long history of smut, French people, Choice Feminism, why she doesn't believe in the female gaze, how her work is contributing to the demise of "our value system," and more! We unpack Anais's assertion that "women are more apt to fuse sex with emotion, with love" via Dr. Jodi McAl...2023-01-171h 10
Shelf Love: Romance Novel DiscourseSwan Song: If You're Listening to This In the Future, We'll Be DeadSwan Song (2021) is a movie that forces us to confront the "After" part of Happily Ever After. Shelf Love's Sad Media Correspondent, Dame Jodie Slaughter, is here to discuss lax security at cloning facilities, the ethics of cloning, the aesthetics of the future: pretty much anything that allows us to avoid the banal truth about our own mortality.Content Note: discussion of death and mortality.-Discussed: Swan Song (2021)Guest: Dame Jodie Slaughter, Shelf Love’s Sad Media CorrespondentWebsite | Twitter | InstagramCheck out Fair Fight Action! Th...2022-03-221h 07
Shelf Love: Romance Novel DiscourseRomance-Friendly Bookstores with Copper Dog Books (everything about the supply chain you've never thought to ask)Romance-Friendly Bookstores with Copper Dog Books (and everything about the supply chain you've never thought to ask)!Copper Dog Books is an independently-owned, genre-inclusive bookstore in Beverly, MA and co-owners Julie Karaganis & Meg Wasmer join Shelf Love to share the joys, challenges, and future possibilities for romance in brick and mortar bookstores. Guests: Copper Dog Books: co-owners Julie Karaganis & Meg WasmerTwitter | Instagram | Website Shelf Love:Join the Conversation on Discord: https://www.patreon.com/ShelfLoveSign up for the email newsletter list | Website | Patreon | Twitter | Instagram ...2022-02-221h 02
Shelf Love: Romance Novel DiscourseNormal People: Hopeful Post-Love MillennialsNormal People by Sally Rooney (and the Hulu adaptation) is a love story that may or may not be a romance novel, a story that might be hopeful even if it’s bleak, but who could say if it represents all millennials, who live in a post-love, post-Tumblr society? Shelf Love’s Youth Culture Media Correspondent Dame Jodie Slaughter helps me decipher what Normal People has to say about love, romance, marriage, and millennials, all through our lens as romance novel readers.-Thanks to the contributors to this episode:Instagram friends: @charlotteevaah @boysandmonsters @dbab...2022-01-111h 21
Shelf Love: Romance Novel Discourse095. Demon Enemies to Lovers: Games with Jodie Slaughter, Live from Copper Dog BooksRomance Author Jodie Slaughter joins Shelf Love Live from Copper Dog Books in Beverly, Massachusetts. Can Jodie identify excerpts from her own books? What's her favorite trope and why is it Only One Bed? We play games and share romance recommendations, answer live Q&A from the audience, are ogled by passing firefighters, question if capitalism is the real nemesis in classic rom-coms, and more.Recorded August 11, 2021 in a livestream. Watch the enhanced & edited video recording on YouTube!Part 1: https://youtu.be/Una6yJPyVf0Part 2: https://youtu.be/txultz7mqB8Buy...2021-08-3153 min
Shelf Love: Romance Novel Discourse094. Romance Adaptations: The Curious Case of Julia Quinn's BridgertonWho profits from "diverse" romance adaptations? Are white authors making room for creators from marginalized backgrounds to tell their stories? What's lost in translation to screen?Listener questions inspire me to dig into how romance novels differ from romances adapted for the screen. Then, I examine the curious case of Julia Quinn's Bridgerton adaptation, sharing statements she's made on whom she could imagine (not) getting a happily ever after in historicals and a never-before-heard interview with Kianna Alexander recounting a panel from 2017.-Show Notes:Shelf Love:Sign up for...2021-08-1744 min
Shelf Love: Romance Novel Discourse093. Ice Ice (Planet) Baby: Barbarian's HopeIce Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon: it may be a Tik-Tok sensation now, but over a year ago it was a podcast sensation. Dani Lacey invited me as a guest on her podcast, Ice Planet Podcast, to discuss Barbarian's Hope, a second chance romance between two very tall blue humanoid-ish aliens with horns whose love life is controlled by a parasite. This is an edited version of that episode.CW: loss of a child, grief, depression.Show Notes:NEWS:Dame Jodie Slaughter River Boat Cruise & Virtual Event with Copper Dog Books! (August 10 & 11, 2021...2021-08-0359 min
Shelf Love: Romance Novel Discourse092. I've Got No Roots: White Immigrant Assimilation & (Romance) AdaptationHow is whiteness & assimilation assumed in the "land of opportunity" narrative & myth of American immigrants? We explore: how names indicate our roots, white privilege, feelings of cultural loss, our own immigrant experiences, plus we talk about Christina Laurens' Roomies novel & upcoming film adaptation.NEWS:Dame Jodie Slaughter River Boat Cruise & Virtual Event with Copper Dog Books! (August 10 & 11, 2021)I launched a Patreon!Watch my PCA Presentation about Romance Reader Stereotypes!Support Honor Black Birth!Show Notes:Shelf Love:Sign up for the email newsletter list | Website | Patreon | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Email: Andrea@shelflovepodcast...2021-07-2755 min
Shelf Love: Romance Novel Discourse091. Guilty Pleasures with Dr. Arielle Zibrak"Guilty pleasures," or is the guilt what we find pleasurable? This is the question Dr. Arielle Zibrak asks in her book, Avidly Reads Guilty Pleasures (NYU Press). Arielle joins me to explore just some of the thought-provoking arguments made in her book and coach me on letting myself enjoy imperfect media. It's not a book about romance novels (although they're discussed), but the topic is highly relevant for any media that is coded as "femme," especially stories about love.NEWS:Dame Jodie Slaughter River Boat Cruise & Virtual Event with Copper Dog Books! (August 10 & 11, 2021)I launched a...2021-07-201h 01
Shelf Love: Romance Novel Discourse090. Taboo Lite: Joyless Hags Book ClubA touch of taboo...the Joyless Hags (Katrina Jackson & Tasha L. Harrison) reunite to dissect Seducing My Guardian by Katee Robert. We ask "What is this book trying to do?" When a book opens a door, does it have to close a window somewhere?! Also some news!-NEWS:Dame Jodie Slaughter River Boat Cruise & Virtual Event with Copper Dog Books! (August 10 & 11, 2021)River Boat Cruise - Essex, MA - Tues. August 10, 2021Virtual Event - Wed. August 11, 2021I launched a Patreon!Watch my PCA Presentation about Romance Reader Stereotypes!2021-07-131h 08
Shelf Love: Romance Novel Discourse087. Clutch Your Pearls & Think of New England"Safe sex" in romance novels with Dame Jodie Slaughter, part 2. We'll finish discussing the research published in 2000 about if reading romance impacts condom usage, and then I'll share some Twitter poll results from the community about condom usage in the last contemporary romance they read, as well as some results on where folks learned information about safe sex - what's your guess on how many were impacted by media including romance novels?Jodie and I brainstorm some ways to incorporate less commonly covered aspects of safe sex and sexual health in romance novels. Plus, how do WASPs...2021-04-2746 min
Shelf Love: Romance Novel Discourse086. Sex Education & Romance Novels: Not Medical Advice (with Dame Jodie Slaughter)Dame Jodie Slaughter joins me to talk about sex education, the messages about safe sex in romance novels, the symbolic nature of sexual choices in romance, and discussion of research on these topics.Show Notes:Shelf Love:Sign up for the email newsletter list | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Email: Andrea@shelflovepodcast.com15 Romance Novel Audiobooks that Combine Swoony Words with Great PerformancesCheck out Shelf Love’s updated website including the transcript for this episodeShelf Love episodes with transcriptsGuest: Jodie SlaughterTwitter | Instagram | Check out Jodie's BooksResearch discussed:...2021-04-2045 min
Shelf Love: Romance Novel Discourse085. Reflections on 2020 Listener Favorite Episodes, 2021 PlansI reflect on listener favorite episodes from 2020, share what I'll be speaking more of in 2021, and say thank you to the Holiday Fairies! (Originally recorded in January when 2021 was still fresh.)Show Notes:Shelf Love:Sign up for the email newsletter list | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Email: Andrea@shelflovepodcast.comCheck out Shelf Love’s updated website including the transcript for this episodeShelf Love episodes with transcriptsListener Favorite Episodes from 2020 (Popular Vote - i.e. downloads)052. The Modern Romance Canon064. Women in Pants: Unpacking Problematic Faves041. The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang wi...2021-04-1334 min
Shelf Love: Romance Novel Discourse080. I Now Pronounce You Colonialism, Capitalism, & White SupremacyHave you ever wondered when Shelf Love would finally cover the unholy marriage of Colonialism, Imperialism, Capitalism, and White Supremacy? Dr. Margo Hendricks drops in to explain why you can't talk about just one because they're inextricably linked. Yes, this is still a romance novel podcast!-Show Notes:Shelf Love:Sign up for the email newsletter list | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Email: Andrea@shelflovepodcast.comCheck out Shelf Love’s updated website including the transcript for this episodeShelf Love episodes with transcriptsGuest: Dr. Margo HendricksWebsite | Twitter...2021-03-091h 12
Shelf Love: Romance Novel Discourse078. Romance Curious: Bridgerton So Hashtag Diverse (with Jodie Slaughter, part 2)Will Bridgerton inspire romance curiosity for a new generation? Jodie Slaughter became a romance reader by way of Twilight and Twilight fanfiction. When newbies take their first clumsy steps into romancelandia, will they be welcomed with the benefit of the doubt or shunned for arriving at the HEA gates too late?Part 2 - listen to episode 77 for part 1.Show Notes:Don't miss part 1, 077. Twilight Fan Fiction: Climbing into a Can of Worms with Jodie Slaughter (part 1)Shelf Love:Sign up for the email newsletter list | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Email...2021-01-3038 min
Shelf Love: Romance Novel Discourse077. Twilight Fan Fiction: Climbing into a Can of Worms with Jodie Slaughter (part 1)Twilight. Fan fiction. Bridgerton. Hashtag diversity. Plus countless cans of worms that we don't want to get into, yet nonetheless crank open. Dame Jodie Slaughter and I go on a journey to uncover gateways into romance, and why it's so hard to even identify that the thing people love in other media is the romance! Show Notes:Shelf Love:Sign up for the email newsletter list | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Email: Andrea@shelflovepodcast.com15 Romance Novel Audiobooks that Combine Swoony Words with Great PerformancesCheck out Shelf Love’s updated website including the transcript for thi...2021-01-2343 min
Shelf Love: Romance Novel Discourse061. Alphaholes with Jodie Slaughter: Unpacking Problematic FavesDame Jodie Slaughter bares her belly in the first of the our explorations of problematic favorite tropes. We unpack the alphahole in popular romance fiction - why does Jodie love it? Why do readers love it? And why is it problematic when it recurs in the romance genre?-Show Notes:Guest: Jodie SlaughterTwitter | Instagram | Check out Jodie's BooksShelf Love:Sign up for the email newsletter list | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Email: Andrea@shelflovepodcast.com58 Romance Novellas For A Quick Hit of HopeCheck out Shelf Love’s...2020-09-1930 min
Shelf Love: Romance Novel Discourse050. Romance Myths Busted Part 2 with Tamara Lush, Charish Reid, Megan Erickson, Rosie DananPart 2! Romance novel authors and readers bust just some of the myths and misunderstandings about romance novels. Are romance novels easy to write, vapid, mommy porn? Um, no. If you’ve ever heard this podcast, definitely no. But listen on for responses from Tamara Lush, Charish Reid, Megan Erickson, and Rosie Danan. -Shelf Love:Sign up for the email newsletter list | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Email: Andrea@shelflovepodcast.com58 Romance Novellas For A Quick Hit of Hope15 Romance Novel Audiobooks that Combine Swoony Words with Great PerformancesCheck out Shelf Love’s updated website inclu...2020-07-0729 min
Shelf Love: Romance Novel Discourse031. White Whiskey Bargain by Jodie Slaughter with Charish ReidShelf Love:Sign up for the email newsletter listWebsiteTwitterInstagramEmail: Andrea@shelflovepodcast.comSign up for the Shelf Love newsletter for bonus content!Guest Host: Charish ReidInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/charishreidauthor/Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorCharishWebsite: https://charishreid.com/We Read White Whiskey Bargain by Jodie Slaughterhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48137517-white-whiskey-bargain?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=D7NSbYj3yN&rank=1Charish’s Influences:Katrina JacksonRebekah WeatherspoonTessa Dare (Smart girls learning how to kiss for the first time)Books/MediaTalk Sw...2020-03-241h 11