Shelf Love Podcast
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shelflove.bsky.social
Shelf Love Podcast
@shelflove.bsky.social
1.3K followers 180 following 330 posts
A podcast & Substack about romance novels, and how they reflect, explore, challenge, and shape desire. Host: Andrea Martucci (she/her) #romancebks #romancereader

https://linktr.ee/shelflovepodcast
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shelflove.bsky.social
How has Lisa Kleypas ret-conned her characters for modern readers, or the idea of what modern readers want? Tehyah Carver shares revisions made to Kleypas's Wallflower series and the project of rehabilitating villains like Sebastian St. Vincent. #romancebks
shelflovepodcast.com/episodes/sea...
October 14, 2025 at 5:05 PM
shelflove.bsky.social
Me, whenever I see someone claiming romance novels in general are rotting brains/suspect/a problem/addictive because of the (too much) sex:
#Romancebks

shelflovepodcast.substack.com/p/why-did-li...
As somebody who has been reading romance for a long time and has read a lot of older romance: the sex isn’t the problem. The problem is people’s concept of sex. It’s people’s concepts of women, of what we should find pleasurable. Stop trying to rehabilitate the texts: rehabilitate the society we live in.
October 13, 2025 at 11:27 PM
shelflove.bsky.social
Have you dominated your desires into submission yet & figured out how to only fantasize about the things that align with your values? Me neither.

Join me & Jodie Slaughter as we discuss navigating romance community in the personal panopticon of late-stage capitalism.

#romancebks #romancereader
September 24, 2025 at 7:45 PM
shelflove.bsky.social
Romance novels are booming in 2025! …Or are they? 🤔 #romancelandia

Dive into my deep (and slightly obsessive) look at why today's romance "boom" might just be a whimper compared to decades past. Data, nostalgia, and a sprinkle of snark await: read now!

open.substack.com/pub/shelflov...
May 30, 2025 at 7:43 PM
shelflove.bsky.social
Whoo boy I always forget to add #romancelandia #romancebks #boston #bookishboston (I'm guessing on the local hashtags...)

See above! Ready to Score launch in the Boston area, in Cambridge, MA!

Dame Jodie Slaughter + me + Lovestruck Books = a very good time for you!
May 27, 2025 at 6:52 PM
shelflove.bsky.social
Thrilled to launch Dame Jodie Slaughter's latest book, Ready to Score, with a spicy, scintillating, sporty (?!?!) conversation at @lovestruckbooks.bsky.social on Monday June 9, 2025 at 7pm.

Grab your ticket now: it includes Ready to Score!: lovestruck-jodie-slaughter.eventbrite.com?aff=Andrea
May 27, 2025 at 6:48 PM
shelflove.bsky.social
We need to talk about #BookTok (and #bookstagram and you know... all of it).

When tech companies own romance reader data, is that good for books? Read the full post on Substack.

open.substack.com/pub/shelflov...

#romancebks #romancelandia
February 9, 2025 at 9:06 PM
shelflove.bsky.social
…but it’s not the original cover. I should really go find the original Temptation edition…
Book cover of the adventure by Jane and Krantz. 1990s era looking cover with blue foil waves and a red compass with green mountains in the background.
January 28, 2025 at 2:26 AM
shelflove.bsky.social
There’s a myth that romance novels fund the rest of the publishing industry. It is more accurate to say that bestsellers fund the rest of the industry, and a few authors writing romance find themselves among those bestselling authors.

substack.com/@shelflovepo...
Text screenshot: “These two market categories (celebrity books and repeat bestsellers from the backlist) make up the entirety of the publishing industry and even fund their vanity project: publishing all the rest of the books we think about when we think about book publishing (which make no money at all and typically sell less than 1,000 copies).” From: Elle Griffin article called No one buys books
January 26, 2025 at 10:01 PM
shelflove.bsky.social
Just got some romance recs from Reddit and because I’m a giant nerd who just catalogued my book hoard— I mean, book collection, I searched in LibraryThing and quickly determined I owned both books and could pull them off the shelf immediately. Instant gratification!! The 1st: Surrender, Amanda Quick
January 18, 2025 at 3:53 AM
shelflove.bsky.social
Tonight my daughter sat w/ me to choose gifts from Romancelandia Holiday Fairy wishlists. She even used some of her own money to add to our family gift-buying fund.

Now is a great time to give to others if you're able to do so!

#romancebks #romancelandia

shelflovepodcast.com/holiday-fair...
December 20, 2024 at 12:41 AM
shelflove.bsky.social
Please help spread the word about Romancelandia Holiday Fairies, a mutual aid effort for the romance community!

Graphics and promo copy can be found here: shelflovepodcast.com/holiday-fair...
December 6, 2024 at 4:46 AM
shelflove.bsky.social
In 2024, #Romancelandia Holiday Fairies is dedicated to the memory of Melinda Utendorf, beloved member of the romance community.

Melinda was known by friends as a legendary gift-giver. She was a proud supporter of RHF & also benefited from others' generosity.

shelflovepodcast.com/holiday-fair...
Romancelandia Holiday Fairies: Dedicated to the Memory of Romancelandia Community Member Melinda Utendorf. April 13, 1982-January 10, 2024. Image of smiling white woman with short blond hair and thick framed glasses standing in front of the ocean and a beautiful sunset. Melinda Utendorf was a beloved member of the romance reader community and a supporter of Holiday Fairies. In her last year, when she needed the support, she was a wishlist recipient herself. This year, we dedicate Romancelandia Holiday Fairies to Melinda. January 1, 2024 Hi Andrea, I just wanted to reach out now that the holidays are over and let you know how amazing the romancelandia wish list made mine. I signed up when I was in the hospital, and my stay kept getting extended, and when I was released I came home to a few items from my wish list and it was exactly what I needed. The coloring books and puzzles I received have been sanity saving for me the last few weeks. Truly, my mental health was so much improved by all of this, I can't even express it properly. So thank you and thanks to anyone who was involved. Melinda Find a gift list to support, or submit your wishlist: bit.ly/holidayfairies
November 19, 2024 at 2:14 AM
shelflove.bsky.social
#Romancelandia Holiday Fairies is back for its 5th year!

Give the gift of mutual aid in the romance community.

Submit YOUR wishlist NOW or sign up for to get notifications once wishlists are added:

shelflovepodcast.com/holiday-fair...

Please help spread the word! #romancebks
Image of two hands reaching out to each other. Text on blue background: Romancelandia Holiday Fairies. Give the gift of mutual aid in the romance community. Find a gift list to support, or submit your wishlist: bit.ly/holidayfairies Gift Giving Period: November 17 through December 31. 5 Years: Romancelandia Holiday Fairies is a mutual aid effort for the "Romancelandia" romance novel reader community to support anyone in the community who could use help with purchasing gifts for themselves or loved ones in the holiday season. The annual event launched in 2020 and is organized by Andrea Martucci / Shelf Love.
November 17, 2024 at 6:32 PM
shelflove.bsky.social
Is teaching a romance adaptation the same as teaching a romance novel?
How do non-lit students engage with popular fiction in the classroom?

Dr. Diana Filar is back to discuss teaching "The Hating Game" by Sally Thorne. #romancebks #romancelandia

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/r...
Shelf Love: Next episode we discuss: The Hating Game by Sally Thorne. Image of a still from the movie with the two main characters looking at each other in an elevator. Image of the book cover of The Hating Game - two professionally-dressed white people looking at each other on a cartoon cover. Quote: "I wanted to teach a class [focused on popular fiction] so students will maybe consider reading more in the future. Because I just think so many people don't after they leave college. I want them to have that option wedged in the back of their mind somewhere." -Dr. Diana Filar. Episode 159. Romance Adaptations & Genre perceptions - teaching The Hating Game.
June 24, 2024 at 1:54 PM
shelflove.bsky.social
New Podcast episode:
Cold Hearted by Heather Guerre discussion with @JodieSlaughter is live!

Listen now on your fave podcast ep, or read the transcript on the Shelf Love website: linktr.ee/shelflovepod...

#romancebks #romancelandia #podcast
June 10, 2024 at 6:15 PM
shelflove.bsky.social
I think we should let go of the idea that characters in romance novels should be likable.

Read more:
shelflovepodcast.substack.com/p/unlikable-...

#romancebks
Text quote: "We may hate how unlikable characters act throughout a story — that’s the point. It’s the equivalent of discovering a body in the study with a knife in their chest announcing that there’s a murderer roaming the house. We take note of the problem that needs to be solved and eagerly look for clues that they’re changing."
May 12, 2024 at 11:52 PM
shelflove.bsky.social
I like it.
January 31, 2024 at 2:39 AM
shelflove.bsky.social
Here's a juicy line graph.

#romancelandia #romancebks @jprstudies.bsky.social
Line Chart labeled: romance sales relative to US GDP
January 22, 2024 at 2:16 AM
shelflove.bsky.social
Buy a gift for a fellow romance novel reader who needs help this season. Find all the wishlists and more information.

Romancelandia Holiday Fairies in a mutual aid effort for the romance reader community.

shelflovepodcast.com/holiday-fair...
Buy a gift for a fellow romance novel reader who needs help this season. Find all the wishlists and more information. Learn more: bit.ly/holidayfairies Romancelandia Holiday Fairies 2023
December 16, 2023 at 5:09 PM
shelflove.bsky.social
Romancelandia Holiday Fairies 2023 is OPEN for wishlists, for the 4th year!

Submit a wishlist and/or sign up to receive updates about this mutual aid effort for the romance reading community:

shelflovepodcast.com/holiday-fair...

📣 Please share to spread the word! 📣
#romancebks #romancelandia
Image of fairy wand and text: Romancelandia Holiday Fairies. Request - Submit a Wishlist. bit.ly/holidayfairies
November 23, 2023 at 3:08 AM
shelflove.bsky.social
And now the only Superrromance with a literal Angel in it is mine! Muwuhaha haha
#romancebks

Thanks to @lanna.bsky.social for bringing this to my attention.
Picture of a book: Harlequin Superromance Spellbound by Ruth Alana Smith
October 28, 2023 at 7:51 PM
shelflove.bsky.social
Rereading Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase and noting how much she conveys to the reader here: Virgil is a misogynist bigot. Even as the text conveys a problematic idea (re: inferiority of Egyptian civilization), the text deftly shows that our heroine and the author don’t agree & find this ignorant.
“Claiming to have her best interests at heart, Virgil Pembroke forbade her studying Egyptian writing. He said that even male scholars familiar with Arabic, Coptic, Greek, Persian, and Hebrew had no hope of deciphering it in her lifetime. This he deemed no great loss: Egyptian civilization being primitive—greatly inferior to that of classical Greece—decipherment would contribute little to the store of human knowledge.” — Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase https://a.co/eqXoY6D
October 23, 2023 at 10:39 PM
shelflove.bsky.social
Transcript:
Transcript: shelflovepodcast.com/episodes/sea...

Also I tweaked my episode cover to better capture the sweeping drama:
Episode 147 Shelf Love. Text is on top of a dramatic cloudy sky in a sweeping dramatic font: The Agony and the Candlelight Ecstasy
October 3, 2023 at 12:43 PM
shelflove.bsky.social
Romance Adaptations: Show Your Feelings:

By thinking thru romance film adaptations, we make legible our generic expectations for romance novels themselves, tied to the distinct and predictable pleasures offered by the experience & format.
#romancebks

shelflovepodcast.substack.com/p/romance-ad...
Showing vs. Telling Feelings In her book Making Meaning in Popular Romance Fiction,7 Jayashree Kamblé uses adaptations to illuminate what distinguishes a romance novel. Kamblé’s analysis illustrates the differences between the formats of novel and film and how that impacts the consumer's experience of the romance. Kamblé’s thesis can be summarized as: Romance novels: tell events and show thoughts and feelings Romance films: show events and tell thoughts and feelings While a novel may thus contain a description that forces readers to exclude some of the items in their mental storehouse of visuals, it leaves the final image to them. Movies can not replicate this novel trait of flexibility in adopting various narrative styles and moods in the same way. (page 7) The example that she uses to illustrate this point is Nora Roberts’s 2001 book Midnight Bayou, which was adapted into a 2009 Lifetime made-for-TV movie.
September 30, 2023 at 11:06 PM