Kilts, magic, and bonnie lasses abound this week as Lena and Nadine travel to Scotland via Lana Ferguson’s UNDER LOCH AND KEY. Yes, the Loch Ness Monster is a man in this one, and yes, that is predictably disappointing to us. But hey, at least there’s some fun monster sex!

Talking points include: Is Bush Back?, In Defense of Graveyards, Third Grade Reading Comprehension, and Scottish Dirty Talk.

Thanks, as always, to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Deoxys Beats⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our intro and outro music, "RedLips."

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Holiday magic is in the air this week as Nadine and Lena return to the first author they read for this podcast, Tessa Bailey, and dive into her holiday rom-com WRECK THE HALLS. Were we too harsh on Tessa in episode one? Have our standards been lowered after plumbing the depths of Kindle Unlimited self-pub erotica? Or is this just another off-puttingly overprotective hero and meek one-dimensional heroine for the books?

Talking points include a kink that's not really a kink, codependency red flags, and the Netflix original film HOT FROSTY.

Thanks, as always, to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Deoxys Beats⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our intro and outro music, "RedLips."

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Welcome to Eloraton, NY, where the burgers are always slightly burnt, it rains in the afternoon, and there’s a moody stranger with ~minty green eyes~ ready to charm his way into your heart. This week, Lena and Nadine dove into A NOVEL LOVE STORY by Ashley Poston, where our heroine takes a wrong turn off the highway and ends up in the fictional quirky small town of her favorite romance series. 

Talking points include: straw man literary bros, jail for “good girl,” the argument against a happy-ever-after.

Thanks, as always, to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Deoxys Beats⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our intro and outro music, "RedLips."

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If you’re looking for a book that will really scare you this week, look no further—Opal Reyne’s A SOUL TO KEEP has all kinds of frights up its sleeve, like almost comically poor writing and a heroine who thinks reading is boring. Oh, that’s not the kind of spooky season fright you were looking for? Unfortunately, it’s all we have to offer. That, and a two-foot-long purple monster dick with tentacles. Sorry!

Learn about the elite college students who can’t read in The Atlantic here. Check out some of the (explicit, you’ve been warned) fan art of Orpheus and Reia here.

Thanks, as always, to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Deoxys Beats⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our intro and outro music, "RedLips."

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You do KNOT want to miss our latest episode, where we dive into Ali Hazelwood’s latest best-seller and first foray into paranormal romance, BRIDE. (Don’t worry, everyone—there are still plenty of petite girlboss women in STEM to go around.) This book has it all: cringe one-liners! Evil villain monologues! Sexy blood-drinking! Weird off-putting twin vibes! And for the layperson who has never heard the phrase “omegaverse” before, we brought in Thinking Straight’s first ever guest expert to give you the lowdown.

To see the word “knotting” printed in the hallowed pages of The New York Times, read on. To understand the Karlie Kloss joke Nadine makes towards the end of the episode, go here.

Thanks, as always, to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Deoxys Beats⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our intro and outro music, "RedLips."

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We’re back! We’re 💍 ENGAGED! 💍And we’re diving into the highly requested oeuvre of Emily Henry with People We Meet on Vacation, a friends-to-lovers romance that your favorite friends-to-lovers lesbian couple was probably primed to enjoy. Talking points include: justice for Sarah, I’m not like other grumpy hunks (I wear khakis), and the first known woman to ever successfully get a real job in media because she ran a small blog. 

P.S., Sorry the audio is so janky at certain points — we were gone for so long our recording program updated and reset our presets, so it gets kinda staticky and gross any time we talk too loud or laugh (which we do a lot). We will fix this for the next episode!!!

Thanks, as always, to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Deoxys Beats⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our intro and outro music, "RedLips."

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A dragon without its rider is a tragedy. A rider without their dragon is… a horny 20 year old! Join Lena and Nadine as they unpack the romantasy sensation that took TikTok and the NYT bestseller list by storm.

Talking points include: Tall Dark and Shadow-Wielding, Rebecca Doesn’t Know What a Parapet Is, Fever-Induced Ombre, and a several minute segment nobody asked for on our favorite fanfiction of all time.

Here is the picture of Mr. Burns as an alien that Lena showed to Nadine, and here is Lena’s review of “Ripley” on Netflix.

Thanks, as always, to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Deoxys Beats⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our intro and outro music, "RedLips."

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Ready, set, bake! Lena and Nadine read their first baking romance of the podcast for this episode, and it’s a little… undercooked. Tune in for matcha tiramisu, conversations about representation and diversity in the romance world and beyond, and a shocking revelation about Lena’s late-night audiobook listening habits.

The movie set in Clearwater, FL that Lena talks about at the end is “Suncoast” (Lena’s review here). We highly recommend it to anyone who wants to reminisce about Clearwater and/or cry very hard.

Thanks, as always, to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Deoxys Beats⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our intro and outro music, "RedLips."

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Good day, lords and ladies… in this episode, Lena and Nadine dive into their first true historical romance novel of the pod, complete with a classic bodice-ripper style cover, high-class Victorian English slang, and an unsurprising but still disappointing dearth of respect for women. 

Could a steamboat cross the Atlantic Ocean in six days in 1863? Could a woman ever possibly get away with sporting a pixie cut as a Victorian duchess? And what is a hoyden, anyway? Apologies to the historical romance buffs out there, but we are way out of our depth.

The trans Pride & Prejudice retelling Nadine mentioned is Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa.

Thanks, as always, to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Deoxys Beats⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our intro and outro music, "RedLips."

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Things get a little spoooooky as Lena and Nadine discuss A Lady of Rooksgrave Manor, a gothic Victorian monsterf*cker romance! (Or, maybe it’s just straight up erotica. You decide!)

Ever look at a guy and think, “Man, I wish he had some fur or, like, a super weird penis”? If yes, you’ll be 100% ready for this discussion! Everyone else, strap in for some very explicit sex talk, some mildly spicy feminist takes, and our most insatiable protagonist yet.

A few of the things mentioned in this podcast:

• Here’s an article in The Atlantic that details the myth of vibrator-as-hysteria-cure.

• Check out Nadine's snail-mail newsletter, ⁠The Doorway⁠!

Thanks, as always, to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Deoxys Beats⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our intro and outro music, "RedLips."

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Ho ho ho! Merry January 21st! Lena and Nadine read A Princess for Christmas like a week too late to begin with, and then Lena got COVID and everything got annoying but we're back now.

Ever wished Hallmark movies had more dirty talk? Love yourself some good Bronx people? Have you read no less than eight of the Princess Diaries books? This read just might be for you!

A few of the things mentioned in this podcast:

• Shout out to Dierdre, who recommended this book! Follow her podcast, Books on the Brain!
• Here's Brian Rosenthal's Pulitzer-winning reporting on the harrowing world of taxi medallion ownership.
• If you want another homosexual's perspective on Hallmark movies, check out the work of film critic Alonso Duralde!
• The very dramatic lesbian audiobook Lena goes way too deep on at the end of the pod is For Her Consideration by Amy Spalding.
• Check out Nadine's snail-mail newsletter, The Doorway!

Thanks, as always, to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Deoxys Beats⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our intro and outro music, "RedLips."

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Uuuuuuugh. On this episode, Lena and Nadine read one of the Goodreads Choice Award nominees for Best Romance of 2023. That book is "Wildfire" by Hannah Grace, a 400-page cautionary tale about the hubris of the publishing industry and the dangers of skipping English class.

Are we being too harsh? What do you think of the TikTok-popular-glorified-Wattpad-fic-to-Big-Five-Publisher pipeline? Let us know in the Q&A section or by dropping us a line at thinkingstraightpod@gmail.com!

Thanks, as always, to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Deoxys Beats⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our intro and outro music, "RedLips."

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As a heads up, we discuss sexual violence in this episode.

Today on the pod, Lena and Nadine go toe to toe with a misogynistic priest who almost minored in Women's Studies, Catholic implements are used in ways they never should be used, and Lena gets just plain mad. Was Sierra Simone possessed by a misogynistic ghost or should the romance community get a little more down with critical thinking? You be the judge.

Some sources for stuff we talk about:

• Here is a blog post that explains arousal non-concordance fairly well, although seriously, you should pick up a copy of Come as You Are by Emily Nagoski
• Here is an article about the neurological impact of porn
• Here is the essay "Film Bodies" that Lena talks about towards the end of the episode

Thanks, as always, to ⁠⁠⁠⁠Deoxys Beats⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our intro and outro music, "RedLips."

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We try to get the real romantasy experience with a niche KU title, A Kiss of Iron by Clare Sager. Nadine hates the lack of detail, Lena is glad not to have to deal with lore, Kat (our heroine) is a deeply ambiguous trama queen, and Bastian (our hero) is such a gentleman we never even see his throbbing member. Throw in some sabrecats and you've got a very robust discussion about the nature of this particular subgenre, fat representation, and what on earth a Fae even is.

The sequel to A Kiss of Iron, A Touch of Poison, is out now, and Lena is very unironically going to read it. If you're interested in Kat's pirate sister, here is info on that quadrilogy.

Thanks, as always, to ⁠⁠⁠Deoxys Beats⁠⁠⁠ for our intro and outro music, "RedLips."

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Gird your loins for another surprise weekday episode, a.k.a. EPISODE 8, where Lena and Nadine...actually...really like???? The book???? For the first time???? What is HAPPENING?!

If you thought the book that would get us would be poorly-plotted Hades x Persephone smut, that makes one of us!

Thanks, as always, to ⁠⁠Deoxys Beats⁠⁠ for our intro and outro music, "RedLips."

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Thanks for your patience as Lena battled two colds, the New York Film Festival, and a demanding part-time job to get you EPISODE 7, where we encounter a completely unforeseen phenomenon. Also featured in this episode: Lena and Nadine's Therapy Corner; the word "frottage," mispronounced; puppy snores.

⁠Here⁠ is the TikTok we cited by Kristen Granata.

Thanks, as always, to ⁠Deoxys Beats⁠ for our intro and outro music, "RedLips."

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ALSO IT'S NADINE'S BIRTHDAY EVERYBODY SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

FYI! This episode discusses infertility. If that's a sensitive topic for you, you may want to skip, even though the discussion is mostly lighthearted.

On our latest safari, we encounter yet another Cool Girl, Lena is actually moved to read a straight romance in her free time (!), and our upstairs neighbor's A/C unit will not stop dripping onto ours and making a goddamn ruckus. If you like explicit talk about menstruation and lots of digressions, then have we got an episode for you!

Here is the viral TikTok starring Abby Jimenez's real-life dog, Stuntman Mike.

Thanks, as always, to ⁠Deoxys Beats⁠ for our intro and outro music, "RedLips."

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Thanks for joining us for this (slightly late — sorry!) episode about Pucked, a hockey romance that is light on both hockey and romance but heavy on creative nicknames for genitalia. We laugh out of joy instead of nervousness in this one, so definitely an upgrade!

Here is the Jia Tolentino essay Lena talks about in the beginning, and here is the article Nadine cites when talking about the BookTok vs. Kraken beef. This is the video Lena is pulling her spooky summer reading recs from.

Thanks, as always, to ⁠Deoxys Beats⁠ for our intro and outro music, "RedLips."

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If you want to skip some serious talk about dating violence, including stalking and sexual abuse, that discussion takes place from 32:22-1:03:22.

Twisted Love is absolutely a book, we absolutely read it, and now, we are absolutely terrified for the female population! Join us for a deeply researched, at times harrowing discussion of our most bonkers book yet, which features a "romance" between a delusional 22-year-old woman and the man hell-bent on abusing — sorry, wooing — her. The book also features weird toddler flashbacks, a lot of Krav Maga, and dubcon sex in an apple orchard, but we genuinely don't have time to get into all that. Hope you enjoy some little-known facts about human sexuality and domestic violence instead.

The books cited in this episode were Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski and Why Does He Do That? Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men by Lundy Bancroft. Here is the Guardian article Lena mentioned about sexual strangulation.

Thanks, as always, to ⁠Deoxys Beats⁠ for our intro and outro music, "RedLips."

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If the publishing industry was a dinosaur,
Colleen Hoover was a meteor shower.
If the girlies who love basic-ass fiction were a house in Kansas,
she was an u n s t o p p a b l e tornado.
We had,
believe it or not,
a borderline-pleasant time
reading one of her books.

On this glorious day, we're talking about Ugly Love by the internet sensation Colleen Hoover. Come for the anticipated cringe, stay for the nuanced discussion about poetry and finding the clitoris.

The YouTube video we reference throughout is this one. (For what it's worth, we were not fans and didn't watch the whole thing.)

Here's the Ugly Love teaser trailer and that feverish bonus chapter.

Thanks, as always, to Deoxys Beats for our intro and outro music, "RedLips."

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