Thinking Straight Lena Wilson and Nadine Santoro

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."

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Creative Commons / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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."

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Creative Commons / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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."

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Creative Commons / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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."

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Creative Commons / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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."

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Creative Commons / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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."

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Creative Commons / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)