Raging Romantics

Let's try this again, shall we? Are vampires being resurrected in romancelandia? Or are they back in the coffin? Come along for classic Jackie + Jen hijinks.

Questions/comments/concerns/recommendations? Email us at [email protected]!

• Fang Fiction by Kate Stayman-London
• One To Watch
• And I Darken by Kiersten White**
• Don't Eat Me Chupacabra! by Kyle Sullivan
• Dracula by Bram Stoker
• Carmila by J Sheridan Le Fanu
• Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty
• Cackle by Rachel Harrison
• So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison
• Lucy Undying by Kiersten White
• A Dowry of Blood by ST Gibson
• Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas
• Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
• Mistress of Lies by KM Enright
• Amish Vampires in Space by Kerry Nietz
• My Roommate is a Vampire by Jenna Levine
• Real Vampires series by Gerry Bartlett
• Dark Ones series by Katie MacAlister
• Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris
• Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon
• Dark Carpathian by Christine Feehan
• House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson
• Beautiful Villain by Rebecca Kenney
• Bride by Ali Hazelwood
• Glimmer Falls series by Sarah Hawley
• Someone to Build a Nest In by John C. Wiswell

Noah Kahan - "If We Were Vampires"

Time to crack open the books and jump back in the day to the smell of autumn leaves and anxiety - that's right, it's collegiate romance time!

• Icebreaker by Hannah Grace (book 1 of the UCMH series)
• Elle Kennedy
• Girl Abroad by Elle Kennedy
• The Hook Up by Kristin Callahan
• Nuts by Alice clayton (not collegiate but Jackie got this author mixed up)
• Letters We Keep by Nisha Sharma
• Gridiron series by Jen Frederick
• Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner

Don't forget to pop on in (virtually) for book club! October we're reading Bride by Ali Hazelwood. You can join us via zoom, the third Thursday of every month at 630pm EST! Questions/comments/concerns? Email us at [email protected].

We have a special treat for you to welcome you back from our hiatus - today we're interviewing booktok phenom, Chelsea Reads! Let's talk all things booktok and make Jen thoroughly confused. Make sure to go check out @Chelseareads on tiktok and @Chelseareads__ on bookstagram!

Questions/Comments/suggestions/recommendations? Email us at [email protected]

Books/authors/things we mention:

• Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon
• Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
• Red Tower books
• The Pairing by Casey McQuiston
• Colleen Hoover
• Forked/Spooned by Ruth Cardello
• Abby Jimenez
• Gena Showalter
• CM Nascosta
• Nora Roberts
• Sophie Lark
• Bloom books
• Brynne Weaver
• The Hollow God by Alec Hutson
• Love at a Funeral and Other Awkward Conversations by Sophie Andrew

**Jen and I mistakenly used "confirmation bias," when discussing screaming into the Tiktok void. We've since learned that the phenomenon Jackie described is actually called the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon or the Frequency Illusion, or, yes, the Red Car Theory.

Check in with what Jen and I read (or didn't read) this summer!

• Bull Moon Rising by Ruby Dixon (out October 15)
• After the Shut Up Ring by Cate C Wells
• Dark Restraint by Katee Robert
• Trail of the Lost by Andrea Lankford
• Beautiful Villain by Rebecca F. Kenney
• Marriage and Masti by Nisha Sharma

Guess who's back...back again...Did you miss us??? We missed you! Let's jump back into things with a fun episode all about this new sphere of romance that's been appearing on our Kindle Algorithms.

Books/Authors we read:

• Forked by Ruth Cardello
• Unhinged by Vera Valentine
• Jack by Layla Fae
• Deviled egg book
• Triceratops and Bottoms by Lola Faust
• Chris Tingle books
• Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon

As always, you can email us at [email protected] with any thoughts/questions/comments/concerns/recommendations. Thanks for coming back to us, and we hope you had an excellent summer!

This June 28th (2024) is the 55th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. In honor of that, here's a re-release of our episode all about queer history, the impact of Stonewall, and queer romance books we love. Featuring friend and fellow librarian, Thomas!

Books we mention:

• Red White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
• The God Box by Alex Sanchez
• The Rainbow trilogy by Alex Sanchez
• City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
• Harry Potter by She Who Shall Not Be Acknowledged
• The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily Danforth
• Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
• They Both Die At the End by Adam Silvera
• Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
• David Levithan
• Tessa Dare
• Float Plan by Trish Doller (prosthetic leg on cover!)
• Titan by Jillian Graves
• Sarah J. Maas
• Book of Gothel by Mary McMyne (Google Lens Cover)
• Something Wild and Wonderful by Anita Kelly
• Too Hot To Handle by Tessa Bailey
• Virginia Heath (the author Jackie couldn't remember but likes the illustrative style)
• Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
• Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall
• Girls and Their Horses by Eliza Jane Brazier
• Dear Prudence by Daniel Laverly
• Marriage, A history by Stephanie Coontz

Sources:

• "Stonewall Riots" (history.com, 2017)
• “Stonewall then and now” (Walsh, 2019)
• “‘Queer, hilarious and full of joy’: the rise of LGBTQ+ romance fiction” (Braidwood, 2022)
• “‘I Just Want Something That’s Gay and Happy’: L.G.B.T.Q. Romance Is Booming” (Harris, 2022)
• “The Rise of Queer ‘New Adult Romance’ Literature,” (Beggs, 2022)
• “I ONLY READ QUEER ROMANCE AND I FEEL GREAT ABOUT IT” (Sackton, 2017)
• “Love is for everyone. Modern romance writers are breaking barriers to show it” (Asmelash, 2023)
• “A Brief History of the Path to Securing LGBTQ Rights” (Davidson, 2022)
• “Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"” (Human Rights Campaign.org)
• “Stonewall at 40: The Voice Articles That Sparked a Final Night of Rioting” (Village voice, 1969, ed. 2009)

Bookstagram Examples

• @Mariannareads
• @lilys.bookcase

Thomas is back, and we're recommending our favorite books to celebrate Pride Month with!

• The Guncle by Stephen Rowley
• The Boyfriend Subscription by Steven Salvatore
• The Pairing by Casey Mcquiston
• A Lesson in Thorns by Sierra Simone
• Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
• How to Become the Dark Lord or Die Trying by Django Wexler

Bonus mentions

• Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
• Waiting for the Flood by Alexis Hall

Would it be a RR episode without us having technical issues? One of our mics decided to die right as we started recording, so bear with us on this one folks. IT WILL BE FIXED WHEN WE COME BACK IN AUGUST.

And on that note - our hiatus stretches from July-August 23rd. WE WILL BE BACK AFTER THAT. We hope you have a splendiferous summer filled with so many beautiful romance books. Keep reading, and keep raging!

Want to talk with us in the meantime? Email us at [email protected]!

Books we mention:

• AJ Tremble (Hold Me?) - can't find this anywhere online. If anyone knows it, reach out!
• Ace by Angela Chen
• Boink by Mary Roach
• Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
• Flame & The Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss
• Becky Chambers
• Role Playing by Cathy Yardley
• The Romantic Agenda by Clare Kann
• Tea for Two by CM Nascosta
• The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
• and Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood
• Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks
• Two Rogues Make a Right by Cat Sebastian
• Cybernetic Tea Shoppe
• Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Other episodes to listen to;

• Noble Blood
• #49 Elinor Glyn

Sources:

• The Kinsey Scale
• "Asexual Romance in an Allosexual World: How Ace-Spectrum Characters (and Authors) Create Space for Romantic Love" (Carter, 2020)
• "Asexual Romance Readers Are Finally Getting Their Happily Ever Afters" (Herman, 2021)
• The Asexual Visibility and Education Network; FAQ
• "Ace Books 4: Ace & Books – still more books with ace rep" (K-Specks, 2024)
• "Why Women in Asia Are Having Fewer Babies" (Rajvanshi, 2024)

CONTENT WARNING: drugs and drug trafficking, violence, violence against women, gang and outlaw culture, and murder.

Now paging Charlie Hunnam...Charlie are you there? We need someone to take us on a motorcycle ride! On this episode we explore the history of motorcycles, motorcycle riders, and the original outlaw motorcycle gang (aka, the OMG!). Questions/comments/concerns/recommendations? Email us at: [email protected]

Pics:

• Reitwagon
• Motorcycle ad
• Orient Motor Pacer
• Motodome
• Johnnie drinking coke
• Johnnie the pig
• Knucklehead
• Varsity riders club
• Hollister Riot

Books/authors we mention

• Tillie Cole
• Joanna Wylde
• Devil's Game by Joanna Wylde
• Reaper's Property by Joanna Wylde
• Tm Frazier
• Kristin Ashley
• Christine Feehan
• Cate C Wells
• Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver
• The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball
• When the Moon Hatched by Sarah Parker

Sources

• "Bonds of Brotherhood: The Origin and Growth of Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs" (Hamilton, 2002)
• "Outlaw Motorcycle Club" (Wikipedia)
• "The Rough History of Biker Cuts" (Muzquiz, 2020)
• "Cut-off" (wikipedia)
• "Hollister Riot" (wikipedia)
• "American Masculinity After World War II" (national ww2 museum, 2021)
• "Counterculture as a Gendered Post-War Legacy: The Latent Case of Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs" (Hatta, 2020)
• "Motorcycle Club Culture: Embracing the Brotherhood & Exploring the Rich History" (Leather Face Gear, 2023)
• Commodification and Popular Imagery of the Biker in American Culture (Austin, 2010)
• A Brief History of the Motorcycle (Bellis, 2019)
• A Brief History of Motorcycles" (Windy City Motorcycle Company, 2023)
• "Motorcycle" (wikipedia)
• "History of Motorcycles in the United States" (Indian Motorcycle of Austin, 2022)
• THE MOTORDROME - BOARD TRACK MOTORCYCLE RACING (Panhead Jim, 2012)
• "Not Just a Knucklehead: The 1936 Model EL" (Harley Davidson Museum)
• "A Century of Motorcycling | The 1930s (Motorcyclist Staff, 2012)"
• "Davidson: There’s a Reason It’s Called a Hog "(Wells, 2024) - note that this website might not work correctly.
• "THE MOST RECOGNIZED PHOTO IN HARLEY-DAVIDSON® HISTORY: RAY, JOHNNIE AND THE HOG LEGACY" (Harley-Davidson, 2020)
• HARLEY-DAVIDSON MOTORCYCLES (Online Museum.net, 2020)
• "Choppers" (wikipedia)
• What is it about choppers? (quora)
• What are some criticisms of Sons of Anarchy regarding its portrayal of biker culture? (quora)
• Longing and Belonging: Toward a Cultural History of Gay Motorcycle Clubs in the US (gurman, 2019)

What sort of books do you, you lovely listeners, binge read? Jackie has been bingeing cowboys.

Yeah, no one's surprised.

She recommends:

• Chestnut Springs series by Elsie Silver
• Wild Love/Rose Hill series by Elsie Silver
• Gold Rush Ranch by Elsie Silver
• The Edens by Devney Perry
• The aesthetic on pinterest that made Jackie read it
• Texas Rodeo by Kari Lynn Dell
• Shelter in Place by Nora Roberts