Zipless

Women have been reading and writing about romance for centuries. But what was once considered a scandalous and secretive pastime, the romance novel has now burst proudly onto the open market. In fact, romance novels account for nearly a quarter of all adult print fiction sold in the United States.

And with more and more women listening to romance books, it also matters how these books sound.

Hosted by Allie Martina, a professional romance novel narrator, Zipless explores how the language of romance is shaped by writers and narrators, and asks what is it about forbidden love, age gaps, love triangles, friends to lovers, and steamy sex scenes that women find so timelessly appealing. Do romance novels offer windows into the lives women want, or mirror the lives they already have? Can narration, depth of a male voice, or cadence in artistic performance affect a romantic scene? When it comes to the language of love, can the romance novel finally take words long considered shameful and flip them into words of empowerment?

In interviews with bestselling romance authors including Evie Dunmore, Sara Cate, Sierra Simone, Stephanie Archer, Xio Axelrod, and more, Zipless explores how romance novels change and reflect women’s lives on and off the page.

And in one-of-a-kind cameos appearances, professional actor and romance novel narrator Gideon Frost joins Allie in exploring how performance, delivery, and the language of romance can impact the hearts and minds of an audience.

Listener discretion advised.

A sample selection of episodes is below. For the full podcast library, click here,

What is it about forbidden love, age gaps, love triangles, friends to lovers, and steamy sex scenes that women find so timelessly appealing? Do romance novels offer windows into the lives women want, or mirror the lives they already have? With more and more women listening to romance audiobooks, how does narration, depth of a male voice, or cadence in artistic performance affect a romantic scene? And when it comes to the language of love, can the romance novel finally take words long considered shameful and flip them into words of empowerment?

Introducing… Zipless (Official Trailer)

Strong, Sexy, and… Submissive?

From pillow talk to praise kinks, romance novels have the power to uncover women's deepest desires and bring them to life in the pages of a book. Allie Martina explores the stories and sounds of taboo, forbidden romances, and independent women from across a century of writing, and tops it all off with an interview with best-selling author Sara Cate. Listener discretion advised.

Fantasies and F-bombs

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.

Reach Out and Read

Everyday Shakespeare