Talking change through the realities of culture and folkways. Ending disparities will do that with self awareness and acceptance of knowing the gifts of community and clan love and awesome talents.
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Reformed Rakes is a historical romance novel podcast steeped in dissipation. Hosted by Beth, Emma, and Chels, this podcast is perfect for every pirate, second son, bluestocking, and viking who wants to hear more about the kissing books we love. We update every other Tuesday.
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We're Courtney and we're Sara and we're Bodice Tipplers, the podcast where we read the romance novels we used to steal off our grandmothers' nightstands (and then we drink about it.) Join us each episode as we examine the good, the bad, and the throbbing of vintage romances.
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Welcome to the 21andsensory Podcast! My name is Emily and I have Sensory Processing Disorder and I’m Autistic. I'm a Graphic Designer, Illustrator and Podcaster in the UK. This podcast is a mixture of me rambling about all things sensory and Autism related and chatting to some super lovely neurodiverse guests from all walks of life. I’ve spoken to some fab Authors, Actors, Influencers, Illustrators, Artists, Comedians, TikTokers, Educators, Activists, Writers, Speakers, Producers, YouTubers, ...
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Fingersmith by Sarah Waters is a Victorian crime novel centered around two young women: Susan Trinder, who grew up in a house of thieves, and Maud Lilly, a lady who is trapped by her uncle in a macabre house called Briar, and compelled to work for him as a secretary. When it was initially published in 2002, Fingersmith made waves for its central le…
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Episode 86: Special Guest, Professor Janet Harbord ('Autism Plays Itself' Video Essay)
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Today I have special guest Professor Janet Harbord on the show. Janet is a professor of film studies at Queen Mary, University of London. Recently she has worked as a principle investigator (alongside Steven Eastwood) on a five year Wellcome Trust funded project called ‘Autism through Cinema’. Autism Through Cinema was a collaborative investigation…
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In this episode, we’re specifically focused on Waterloo, Napoleon’s last stand and a favorite backdrop of historical romance. Waterloo took place June 18, 1815, when Napoleon’s Army of the North was met by the Seventh Coalition, an army composed of Wellington’s English troops, and various German and Dutch units at a small village just outside of Br…
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Published in 2022, A Caribbean Heiress in Paris is the first full-length historical romance from Adriana Herrera. We follow Luz Alana Heith-Benzan, who travels to the Exposition Universelle in Paris to expand her family’s rum trade throughout Europe. It’s there that she meets James Evanstan Sinclair, the Earl of Darnick, a Scottish man who works in…
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Meredith Duran has an unlikely publishing story: at her sister’s encouragement, she submitted her first manuscript, Duke of Shadows, to the Gather.com first chapters contest, and won first prize: Duke of Shadows would be published by Pocket Books. Duran followed up with Bound by Your Touch and Written on Your Skin, two late Victorian novels starrin…
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He's Stephan, a time travelling good Nazi! She's Laura, a woman he will not leave alone! It's Dean Koontz's Lightning, the first of our summer road trip books! To explain the amazing graphic my husband ran up for this - I am almost certain this is Koontz's own Terminator fanfic, predicting Badass T2 Sarah Connor years before that movie came out. If…
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Episode 85: Special Guest, Zara Beth! (Content Creator, Writer, Musician & Disability Advocate)
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On today’s episode I have the lovely Zara Beth as my special guest, she's back on the podcast for a catch-up episode! Zara is an 18 year old content creator, writer, musician and disability advocate from the UK. She shares her experiences as a neurodivergent, queer adult navigating life with neurological disabilities and chronic illness. Zara dedic…
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A Sherry Thomas story is built around one central conflict and then mining as much story from that conflict as possible. In her debut novel Private Arrangements, we follow Gigi and Camden who have the ideal marriage. They live separately and now after ten years Gigi wants a divorce. Camden says he’ll give her one after she gives him an heir. Their …
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He's a bear. Like an actual bear. She's having a midlife crisis. This seems like a pretty extreme response. This is Bear by Marian Engel, which won the Governor General's Award in 1976 and is evidently the most controversial Canadian novel of all time. Sounds like a skills issue to me. You know that joke about how you can build a bridge with your b…
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Last episode, we covered the rise of Janet Dailey, one of romance’s biggest stars in the 1970s and 80s. A secretary turned millionaire, Dailey was one of the genre’s biggest success stories, but her husband’s work as her manager, and his interest in making her the #1 author in the world fueled “Svengali” rumors. If you haven’t already, go back and …
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Episode 84: Special guests: Louise & Fiona from The Wilf Ward Family Trust
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On todays show I have the lovely Louise and Fiona. Both Louise and Fiona work for the Wilf Ward Family Trust - they are part of a wider team of 900 people that support almost 300 individuals with learning disabilities across Yorkshire. It was founded in 1986 by Wilf and Phyllis Ward to give relief to carers through the provision of residential resp…
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In 1997, a scandal rocked the world of romance: Janet Dailey, one of the most successful and prolific romance authors of all time, got caught plagiarizing the work of Nora Roberts, one of the other most successful and prolific romance authors of all time. Before the scandal, Janet Dailey was the queen of American romance. Born in small-town Iowa, m…
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His job is Amish! She's an accountant with an ulcer and a bad case of second chance romance! Will they fall back in love? Can she get over that weird beard thing? Find out in Cheryl Reavis' A Crime of the Heart, another of our "five heart romances"! If you're new to this, we're doing episodes on the list of books that Romantic Times reviewer Melind…
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Tom and Sharon Curtis’ most famous work is 1984’s The Windflower published under the pen name Laura London. The Windflower is about a young sheltered woman named Merry who is kidnapped by the pirates on a ship called The Black Joke, and falls in love with her captor, the excruciatingly handsome second-in-command, Devon Crandall. Largely considered …
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Episode 83: Special guest: Charli Clement, Activist, Speaker, Writer & Creator
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On today's episode I have the lovely Charli Clement as my special guest. Charli is an activist, speaker, writer, creator and lived experience expert. They are proudly autistic, ADHD, dyspraxic, and chronically ill, and particularly passionate about discussing the intersections of these conditions. Charli works with the NHS and other organisations a…
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Currently on hiatus from writing historical romance, Mallory has written eleven histroms. Her books often are genre hybrids, with a mystery plot as an undercurrent with the romance. The books are Regencies and edge toward the wallpaper line, with a few historical inaccuracies, almost dollhouse like settings and sometimes some incomprehensible world…
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He's Alex, an Oregon gentleman farmer with a very bad brother! She's Annie, a Deaf woman who's treated like garbage by literally everyone! Welcome to Annie's Song by Catherine Anderson! There are some pretty strong content warnings for this one - it won't surprise you that it's full of ableism, both Original Recipe and Extra Paternalistic, of cours…
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Today we’re going to talk about a sometimes polarizing topic—pregnancy in romance. We think pregnancy poses some interesting narrative questions and conflicts. For historical romance novels, babies and pregnancy bring up questions that aren’t really as much of a contemporary concern like legitimate heirs and who will inherit what estate. What does …
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Today is a very special episode voted on by our Patreon subscribers. A starchy hero is uptight, obsessed with morals and propriety, and often a bit awkward in company. He’s often an aristocrat who puts too much value in his social standing, and doesn’t take enough time to smell the roses. With the help of a love interest, his entire world will be s…
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Episode 82: Special guest: Emily Katy, Blogger, Author and Advocate
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On today's episode I have the lovely Emily Katy on as my special guest, who you might know from social media as @itsemilykaty. Emily was previously on episode 51 of the 21andsensory podcast but I shall of course reintroduce her... Emily is an autistic woman with ADHD and OCD. She is a blogger, author and advocate, and works with neurodivergent chil…
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Today, the Reformed Rakes discuss Think of England by K.J. Charles along with special guest Mel. Set in the early 20th century, the story follows Captain Archie Curtis as he arrives at Sir Hubert’s estate. This isn’t merely a social call, as Archie suspects Sir Hubert of purposely sabotaging weapons sent to British troops during the Boer War. Once …
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Midsummer Moon features what Kinsale calls the “hedgehog humor” of some of her lighter novels and is the origin of that label. Midsummer Moon is goofy! It does in fact feature a hedgehog, along with an aphrodisiac salt, a pre-Alexander Graham Bell invention of a telephone-like device, an inventor heroine named Merlin and a Duke with so many names t…
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Episode 81: Special guest: Rachel Charlton-Dailey (Writer, editor, author & activist)
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On todays episode my special guest is the lovely Rachel Charlton-Dailey. Rachel is an is an award-winning disabled editor, journalist, activist and more recently author! Rachel is a disability rights columnist for The Daily Mirror where she guest edited the series Disabled Britain. Rachel writes mainly about disability and women’s rights and her wo…
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This is our first intentional entry in a little project we're doing - friend of the podcast Steve Ammidown posted this fascinating spread with a list of all the books Melinda Helfer, a Romantic Times editor, awarded five hearts in a review. Sixteen books out of ten thousand! Well, it turns out we'd already done two of them - Lightning that Lingers …
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The Bow Street Runners, like Newgate Prison, are one of those setting markers that tells historical romance readers “oh we’re in a historical romance in London, probably in pre-Victorian.” A few different authors have written whole series centered on Runners as heroes—Lisa Kleypas, Kate Bateman, Jillian Eaton, and they pop up in quite a few differe…
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The Silver Devil was published by Jacqui Bianchi, under the pen name of Teresa Denys, in 1978. We’ve talked before about bodice rippers with a cult reputation, and The Silver Devil, set in the “opulence and intrigue” of Renaissance Italy, is perhaps the moodiest, bloodiest, most devilish bodice ripper of them all. Denys only published two books: 19…
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Episode 80: Special guest: My sister is back for a catch-up!
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We last had a chat (a recorded chat - I speak to her outside the pod!) on Episode 35 in April 2021...but she’s back again for a catch-up…it’s my sister! Our previous chat here in case you missed it! We chat about: - Her life since 2021 and her career moves - The training and studying she has already done and what she hasn’t had the opportunity to d…
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He's Pierce, a hot guy with a secret (and it's not that he's part of the military industrial complex, he's proud of that part!) She's Alicia, a widowed mother of two who works in a romance novel boutique! Welcome to Send No Flowers by Sandra Brown - if you'd like to listen to our previous book by her way back in Episode 36, which believe you me is …
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Episode 79: A huge 2023 round-up with Emily!
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Grab a hot drink and a snack because it's time for a huge 2023 catch-up episode with Emily! Things I cover: Podcast guests I've had on this year - a recap My podcaster Spotify wrapped stats! Q&A segment - answered questions from my Instagram stories A life update Books I've read this yearThings I mentioned: Lego succulent: https://www.lego.com/en-g…
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Ben's Bakery and the Hannukah Miracle by Penelope Peters
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He's Ben, a cinnamon roll who bakes cinnamon rolls! He's Adam, a hockey coach and a pain in the ass! It's our annual modern gay Hannukah book - chag sameach, y'all! This year we read Ben's Bakery and the Hannukah Miracle by Penelope Peters. This one does have some serious religious gatekeeping - we mention it because it is really upsetting because …
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We’re finishing our journey through Patricia Gaffney’s Wyckerley trilogy. Published in 1996, the final installment in the trilogy, Forever & Ever, is an enemies-to-lovers class difference romance between Connor Pendarvis, a man who goes undercover in copper and tin mines to expose shoddy working conditions, and Sophie Deene, the young and beautiful…
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This is our second episode in our trilogy on Patricia Gaffney’s Wyckerley series. Published in September 1995, To Have & to Hold is the story of Sebastian Verlaine, the new Viscount D’Aubrey and Rachel Wade, an outsider to Wyckerley. Rachel, until very recently, had been incarcerated for ten years for killing her abusive husband. Sebastian and Rach…
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He's Tagg, a Christmas-obsessed single dad! She's Leslie, a woman immobilized by a broken leg who cannot escape the holiday despite driving several states away and telling everybody she would prefer not to! He would probably be okay except that he's always "smirking" or "mocking" or whatevering his dialogue at her! For some reason his hair is very …
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Episode 78: Special Guest, Courn Ahn (Illustrator and Designer, @candy.courn)
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Today I have the wonderful Courn Ahn on as my special guest. Courn is a Queer Autistic Korean-American Illustrator and Designer. Their work depicts social justice, antiracism, and all things activism and they have over 5 years experience in the creative industry. You may know Courn through @candy.courn on TikTok and Instagram with their wonderful s…
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The first of the Wyckerley trilogy, To Love & To Cherish came out on January 1, 1995. To borrow the subtitle from Middlemarch, it’s a study in provincial life. Set in 1854 in the fictional village of Wyckerley is alive with Dickensian characters and glimpses of heroes yet to star in their own books. Patricia Gaffney has said the favorite among her …
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Till the End of Time by Suzanne Elizabeth
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He's Scott, the dumbest fighter pilot to ever be trusted with a top secret time travel experiment! She's Rachel, a Civil War spy who has somehow never worn a corset! It's Till the End of Time, a 1994 time travel romance by Suzanne Elizabeth that has twenty whole reviews on Goodreads! This is a silly book, so there isn't much to warn you about excep…
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If you were to ask someone in the 20th century what a romance novelist looked like, they’d likely have visions of pink chiffon, bright blue eyeshadow, false eyelashes, and excessive costume jewelry thanks to one woman: Barbara Cartland, who was dubbed by the Romantic Times as the “Queen of Romance.” Cartland was larger than life, but like most outs…
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Happy Halloween! He's Clare, a baron with a very expensive contractor's bill and a suspicious number of black armbands in his wardrobe. She's Lucy, a sheltered seventeen year old girl with a big inheritance and absolutely no friends anywhere. What a great combination! It's Greygallows by Barbara Michaels, who is also Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Me…
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Episode 77: Special Guest, Georgia Holliday (Writer, Poet, Content Creator)
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On today's episode my special guest is the lovely Georgia Holliday. Georgia describes herself as an ADHD & autistic writer, poet and lifelong student of words. Her work explores feminism, neurodivergence, chronic illness and the glorious messiness of life. Georgia is also an English Lit & Creative Writing student, a wife, dog mum, content creator a…
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Welcome to our fourth (!) annual AnneRiceoween extravaganza featuring The Vampire Armand! We skipped Memnoch the Devil because we just did not want to read it, but don't worry, this book makes us find out what happened in it anyway! As usual, this episode features Friend of the Podcast Dr. Claire Mischker, weird audio (we had to change our remote r…
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What is an 'unforgivable act'? This week, the rakes explore one heroine's egregious behavior, and the lengths she'll go to to make things right. Peckham's The Earl I Ruined is a Georgian historical romance that's full of surprises: kisses in a wig closet, devastating reveals, and the fresh scent of a pining hero. Join us, sinners! It's bound to be …
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Indigo by Beverly Jenkins follows Hester Wyatt, a conductor on the Michigan Underground Railroad. Hester’s hands are marked by indigo, a remnant from her days as an enslaved person on an indigo plantation. When she hides the notorious Black Daniel as he recovers from injuries, he challenges her. Hester finds the man aggravating and attractive in eq…
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Episode 76, A September catch-up with Emily!
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Grab a hot drink and a snack because it's time for a catch-up episode with Emily! Links to things I mentioned: Durham University research project: https://sensorystreet.uk/2023/08/25/new-durham-university-impact-funding/ Keren's podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NjpJ34V6WLb4hUhQgwXqy?si=3d619eac11b34e77 Neurospicey Podcast Instagram: https://…
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In Mistress of Mellyn, widower Connan TreMellyn hires Martha Leigh on as the governess to his eight-year-old daughter Alvean. Like many a governess before her, Martha finds mystery and murder at the Mount Mellyn estate. As she comes to know Connan she develops feelings for him but as the governess occupies the space where she’s not a servant but sh…
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He's Vanyel, the whiniest teenager ever chosen for a top government position by a horse! He's Tylendel, doomed twin and bad decision maker! Forget it, Jake, it's Valdemar! This is the first in Mercedes Lackey's Last Herald Mage trilogy, Magic's Pawn - it is not a romance novel, there is no happy ending, there are only tears. The tears are, in fact,…
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Gaywyck was published by Avon in 1980. Set on the Long Island estate of the wealthy Gaylord family in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Gaywyck charts an inter-generational terror born of abuse, madness, and unrequited love. We follow the protagonist Robbie as he arrives at the estate as the librarian. Like most gothic romances of …
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Episode 75: Special Guest, my friend Alice (Speech & Language Therapy Student)
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On today's episode I have special guest, Alice. Alice is 25, autistic and studying speech and language therapy. I've known Alice for quite a while now - we both knew each other growing up and we were both late-diagnosed as Autistic so this should be an interesting chat! Links to things Alice mentioned: Purple Ella's Discord: https://direct.me/purpl…
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The Rakes read the second book in the Lotus Palace series, The Jade Temptress by Jeannie Lin. Set during the Tang Dynasty in China in Chang’an, the capital, the series touches back to the Lotus Palace, a school and home for courtesans. Mingyu is one of the most sought-after courtesans, and she crosses paths with the constable Wu Kaifeng after her p…
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She's Merry, a naïve teenager who mostly sits around waiting for something to happen. He's Devon, the evil pirate who kidnaps her mostly by accident. It's the War of 1812! Laura London is actually Tom and Sharon Curtis; we previously did a Loveswept by them that was a lot of fun, Lightning That Lingers. Check it out! We've been sleeping on this boo…
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What exactly do the Reformed Rakes read when they don’t read historical romance? Okay, so half these books are historicals, BUT we recommended to each other what we want the other rake to read. Chels and Beth finally got Emma to read contemporary romance. Emma wanted Beth to try Mary Balogh again and Camille from Someone to Hold is important to bot…
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