Shelf Love: Romance Novel Discourse

Laura Sawyer joins me to discuss the life and work of her mother, Elaine Gignilliat, whose approximately 350 oil paintings helped define the visual language of historical romance in the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s.

We talk about Elaine’s unconventional life and career, her transition from fashion illustration to romance covers, and the extraordinary research and craft that went into paintings designed to tell a story, create desire, and sell a book. We also dig into the hierarchy between “fine art” and illustration, the cultural devaluation of art associated with women and romance, and what gets lost when these large, detailed paintings are reduced to paperback size.

Laura also shares her plans for preserving and reintroducing her mother’s work, beginning with Holding the Moment, an exhibition of Elaine Gignilliat’s original paintings at Lovestruck Books & Café in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We consider why these paintings may resonate differently now—in an era of digital publishing and generative AI—and what it means to recover a largely overlooked piece of romance’s visual history.

Guest: Laura Sawyer

• The Art of Elaine Gignilliat
• Holding the Moment: The Romance Cover Art of Elaine Gignilliat
• The Art of Elaine Gignilliat on Instagram
• Lovestruck Books & Café in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Shelf Love:

• NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
• Email: [email protected]

Jayne Ann Krentz looks back on nearly five decades in romance—from the rise of American sexy contemporary romance and editing Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women to futuristic romantic suspense, fated mates, cover trends, audiobooks, and the genre’s enduring cultural function. She explains why writers must know their core story, why old fantasies migrate rather than vanish, and why popular fiction remains essential in unstable times. Jayne Ann Krentz’s latest book is Enter the Nightmare, part of the Harmony series.

Explore Jayne’s books and sign up for updates at https://jayneannkrentz.com/

Her latest novel, Enter the Nightmare, written as Jayne Castle, is available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook: https://jayneannkrentz.com/book/enter-the-nightmare/ 

Shelf Love:

• NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
• Email: [email protected]

Dame Jodie Slaughter is back to discuss Sought by Evangeline Anderson, a sci-fi alien romance from the Brides of the Kindred series featuring twin alien heroes, fated mates, dubiously consensual erotic worldbuilding, and a surprisingly useful framework for understanding what different readers seek from romance.

Rather than treating Sought as simply good, bad, hot, weird, or problematic, we use it as a case study in readerly fantasy: why do some romance novels need to name coercion explicitly, while others use worldbuilding to make coercion feel erotic or safe? And what happens when a book’s fantasy is legible but fundamentally not yours?

We talk about dubious consent, consensual non-consent, body betrayal, alien biology, plus-size desirability fantasies, “safe” dangerous men, competence porn, monster/self-cest logic, paranormal romance, sexy animals, and why Andrea wants everyone to stop talking and negotiate better while Jodie is perfectly willing to be carried away by the right kind of chaos.

This is an episode about Sought, but it is also an episode about reader reception: not whether a fantasy is objectively good or bad, but what emotional problem it solves.

--

Discussed: Sought by Evangeline Anderson

Guest: Dame Jodie Slaughter, Shelf Love’s Director of Digital Publishing

Website | Instagram

Shelf Love:

• NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
• Email: [email protected]

Get the scoop on Julia Quinn's new venture straight from the source: JQ Editions is a subscription book box dedicated to curating historical romance to help new readers discover a love for the subgenre. Julia shares insights about the inspiration behind this project, her curation process, and the challenges facing historical romance in the market today. 

--

Guest: Julia Quinn

JQ Editions Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1361360798/jq-editions-julia-quinns-curated-romance-book-box?

JQ Editions website: https://jqeditions.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jqeditions/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JQEditions

Shelf Love:

• NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
• Email: [email protected]

Fangirl Jeanne, fanfic elder, is back to revisit the fan fiction formerly known as “Manacled,” now traditionally published as “Alchemised” by SenLinYu. Three years after our initial discussion about Manacled in episodes 116 and 117, we delve into the transformation of this Harry Potter/”Dramione” (aka Draco-Hermione) + Handmaid’s Tale fanfic into a commercially-published romantasy novel. What happens to subtext when you remove the context of the text? What are the ethics of profiting from fanfic? What’s the harm in supporting derivative works of a prolific anti-Trans activist?

File off those serial numbers and sit back and relax an absolute descent into madness as we try to figure out what the heck went on here.

To counteract some of the harm of discussing this book, Jeanne suggests supporting trans charities such as the Good Law Project and the Trevor Project.

Jeanne also recommends several books by trans authors or featuring trans characters:

• Reforged by Seth Haddon
• Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
• Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White
• A Lady for the Duke by Alexis Hall

Andrea recommended:

• A Gentleman’s Gentleman by TJ Alexander

Guest: Fangirl Jeanne

Website | BlueSky | Threads

Topics:

• 00:25 Revisiting Manacled: Three Years Later 
• 01:33 The Rise of Fan Fiction in the TikTok Era 
• 03:21 From Fan Fiction to Published Novels 
• 08:11 The Ethics of Consuming Fan Fiction 
• 21:48 Highlighting Trans Charities and Authors 
• 26:55 The Transformation of Manacled to Alchemised 
• 38:31 Alchemised: A Romantasy Review 
• 51:41 The Resonance Dilemma 
• 52:40 Lazy Worldbuilding 
• 52:57 Info Dumps and Pacing Issues 
• 54:21 Immigrant Labor and Alchemy 
• 54:41 Confusing Technology and Setting 
• 56:01 The Good Guy Government 
• 01:00:22 Character Backstories and Relationships 
• 01:10:00 Romantasy and Market Trends 
• 01:11:52 Critique of Alchemised 
• 01:13:55 Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Shelf Love:

• NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
• Email: [email protected]

Have you read Lisa Kleypas's neogothic duology: Devil in Winter and It Happened One Autumn? Tehyah Carver shares her provocative claims about Kleypas’s Wallflower series, including how St. Vincent is a gothic heroine. We also discuss the revisions the author made to the texts around 2021, theories on why the changes were made, and how we feel about them.

What differentiates a villain from an interesting character in romance and how have contemporary romance readers' expectations evolved and what are the broader implications of rewriting problematic elements in historical romance fiction?

• 00:00 Tehyah’s Romance Credentials
• 03:57 Lisa Kleypas's Novels
• 07:07 The Magic of Stony Cross Park
• 11:23 Romance Genre and Reader Response
• 18:26 Neogothic Romance and Social Anxieties
• 23:52 Revisions in Romance Novels
• 51:18 What kind of dog is Sebastian St. Vincent?
• 51:55 Sebastian's Villainous Nature and Reader Perspectives
• 53:47 Gothic Elements in Devil in Winter
• 55:48 Sebastian as a Gothic Heroine
• 57:44 Cam's Role and Racial Elements
• 01:06:42 Sebastian's Masculinity and Gender Roles
• 01:15:01 Revisions and Reader Perceptions
• 01:27:01 Don’t be Boring: Concluding Thoughts on Romance

Guest: Tehyah Carver

• PhD student at Teachers College Columbia University, “real” romance fan and legit scholar
  • Instagram | PhD Profile

Discussed:

• Lisa Kleypas Wallflower series: Devil in Winter & It Happened One Autumn: Neogothic Duology, plus Secrets of a Summer Night
• Routledge Research Companion to Popular Romance Fiction (2021): Edited By Jayashree Kamblé, Eric Murphy Selinger, Hsu-Ming Teo
  • Chapter 4: Gothic Romance by Angela Toscano

Shelf Love:

• NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
• Email: [email protected]

Are readers of dark romance or bodice rippers more morbidly curious than those who read sweet romcoms? Is the allure of horror and scary romance similar. Dr. Coltan Scrivner joins Shelf Love to discuss his new book, “Morbidly Curious,” and its insights on why people are drawn to scary media. The conversation delves into how understanding morbid curiosity can provide new perspectives on romance readers, the stereotypes surrounding both horror and romance fans, and the psychological underpinnings of consuming these genres. Dr. Scrivner shares his research on formidability dynamics within horror, how horror media impacts its audience, and the surprising therapeutic benefits they may offer.

Guest: Dr. Coltan Scrivner

Website | Substack | Book

Shelf Love:

• NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
• Email: [email protected]

Listen...or don't.

Shelf Love:

• NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
• Email: [email protected]

Impale 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 Sobande

https://english.brown.edu/people/semilore-sobande

Learn more about the Ready to Score release event with Dame Jodie Slaughter and Shelf Love host Andrea Martucci on Monday June 9, 2025 at 7pm at Lovestruck Books in Cambridge, MA: https://lovestruck-Jodie-Slaughter.eventbrite.com/?aff=Andrea

Shelf Love:

• NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
• Email: [email protected]

Morgan and Isabeau from the Whoa!mance podcast join to discuss the 2024 film “Your Monster.” We discuss how the movie explores female rage and personal discovery, drawing parallels with romance novel conventions. We are divided in our opinions: did the film succeed in merging romance and horror? The conversation highlights how individual experiences and tastes shape reception of the film, making for an engaging discussion on the intersection of romance, rage, and narrative structure.

-

Guests: Whoa!mance (Morgan and Isabeau)

Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Website | Listen on any podcast app!

Morgan & Isabeau joined me in episode 076 to discuss Strange Love by Ann Aguirre

and

Episode 089 to Problematize Romance

and

108 She-Devil (1989): Who's Entitled To Be Selfish in Love & Life? (Whoa!mance spectacular)

Shelf Love:

• NEW! Substack for original writing and stuff | Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
• Email: [email protected]