Love is love. But sometimes your first love makes your heart beat fastest. Ashley Herring Blake joins us to talk about her latest book Dream On, Ramona Riley; first dates, first kisses, and how the most romantic stories are born when lovers are true to themselves.

Whether it's through words or wands, falling in love and sharing the burdens of life with someone you love and trust is a power we all wish to possess. Romantasy author LJ Andrews joins us to talk about how the fight for romance - spoken or otherwise - is always magic.

A great romance novel knows how to deliver the fantasy of a perfect relationship and the reality of one. Author Xio Axlerod joins us to talk about how she balances dreamy boyfriends with the gritty reality of what makes relationships work.

Dark themed romances can take readers through some pretty hairy situations, but the scariest scenes involve affairs of the heart. Authors Jennifer Hartmann and Chelley St Clair, two experts at breaking your heart and putting it back together, join us to talk about how the best dark romances can balance scaring us to death with a really good cry.

Whether we're getting cozy with a paperback or escaping with an audiobook, we love all types of romance novels. In our first interview in front of a live audience, Allie and fellow romance novel narrators Samantha Brentmoor, Gideon Frost, and Robert Hatchet break down the art of romance narration at the most iconic romance bookstore in town.

Want Zipless in person? We're recording our show live at The Ripped Bodice in Brooklyn, NY on Friday, Feb. 28 at 7:00pm.

Guests include romance novel narrators Gideon Frost, Samantha Brentmoor, and Robert Hatchet.

Go to ziplesspodcast.com or therippedbodice.com/events for ticket info!

Grumpy hot shots? Charming playboys? Lovable cinnamon rolls? Book boyfriends come in all shapes and sizes, and discovering the traits we like in our leading characters may help us find out which ones we like in real life. Stephanie Archer, a rom-com queen and author of hot, funny romances including the spicy hockey series "Vancouver Storm" joins us to talk about how the search for 'your person' is at the heart of all of her books.

Readers may not be ready to blurt out their fantasies in public, but they're obviously eating this stuff up in private. Why do romantic fantasies feel so right and the way we talk about them feel so wrong? Best selling author Sierra Simone joins us to talk about breaking taboo in every way possible, and why readers love it so much.