Tit Talk: Rated R - Beyond the 5-Star Rating System

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06/22/22 • 67 min

Boobies & Noobies: A Romance Review Podcast

Summary: Today's Tit Talk topic is "Rated R: Beyond the 5-Star Rating System". Why have we become so accustomed to rating books on a scale of 1-5 stars? Today's panelists have two things in common: their love for the romance genre and the fact that they rate their romances in unique and different ways.
Tit Talk is a monthly panel discussion between the folks who write romance and the readers who love them. Join Kelly every month as she moderates a discussion - with a new topic each time - amongst readers, bloggers, podcasters, authors and more!
Tit Talk takes place the second Saturday of every month at 10 am PST/1 pm EST. These panels will be recorded LIVE on YouTube and released later in the month as podcast episodes.
Watch: Watch the full episode with video HERE on YouTube.
Panelists:
Emily Rath (Author): Instagram, Tiktok
Bridget & Shani (Co-Hosts of Romance at a Glance Podcast): Instagram, Tiktok
Kara (Bookstagrammer): Twitter
Links:
Follow Boobies & Noobies on Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook @boobiespodcast, on TikTok @b00biespodcast, and check out our blog, merch, and more on our brand new Boobies & Noobies website.
👉 Support the podcast on Patreon for as little as $1/month. 👈
*Boobies & Noobies is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to on Frolic's website.

Previous Episode

Penelope's Paths

*This episode is brought to you by Kensington’s newest title, Unstable by Alexandra Ivy.
The Novel: Penelope's Paths (What If... #1)
The Author: Isabelle Peterson
The Guest: Rosemary Watson, Host of Curated Conversations
The Synopsis: Is there only one path to a Happily Ever After? Is one choice, or path, better than another?
After a humiliating divorce, Penelope Pierce is about to try her luck in the dating world for the first time in years. Luckily, she has her two best friends to help her face the singles scene.
Laura, single and loving life, wants to bring Penelope to the club scene. Drink. Dance. Have fun. Nothing serious. Her married friend, Shannon, on the other hand, wants to set Penelope up with a guy from her husband's legal firm insisting he's “perfect” for Penelope.
Should Penelope go on the blind date? Or hit the clubs?
It’s up to YOU, the reader.
If you choose for Penelope to go on the blind date... When handsome, confident, British William makes a risqué and daring request, does Penelope rise to the challenge? Or does she retreat? And then what?
Or, If things get hot and heavy at the dance club with the full-lipped, floppy-haired musician, Mitch, will Penelope lean into her desires? Or does she run and not look back! And when she encounters a curious noise in the night...then what?
You, the reader, will make Penelope's choices, and you will determine which kind of risks Penelope takes and what kinds of romances Penelope gets. Your choices will bring about a wide range of favorite romance tropes and adventures. Most are happy endings, however - as in life - things don't always work out.
But one of the best parts about Penelope's Paths... When you get to the end, you can go back, make different choices, and enjoy an entirely different story.
1 heroine... 9 potential heroes... 10 unique endings.
Show Notes:
- Sponsored ad for Demon Hunting with a Southern Sheriff by Lexi George (00:00:05 - 00:01:14)
- Keep up to date with our announcements about Tit Talk and Slick Summer Nights...
- Introducing Rosemary Watson, host of Curated Conversations and founder of Artisan Creative & Media Agency
- Shoutout to a previous podcast guest (and the almighty hype woman) Heidi B.
- Taking the "old school" Choose Your Own Adventure novel and giving it a romance-spin
- Romance, the ever-evolving genre
- Today's read, Penelope's Paths - a "choose your own romance" novel (00:14:53)
- A throwback to our Live Show read of My Lady's Choosing (another "choose your own romance" novel)
- A brief - and somewhat unconventional - synopsis for today's read (00:23:10)
- Give your panties to a stranger? How about your partner?
- Exploring a few paths Rosemary and I chose... oh, the variety!!
- Pubic hair... in multiple stories
- A shift from the traditional CYOA point of view (00:38:30)
- The map of possible outcomes, courtesy of the author
- Showcasing a different side of LGBTQ+ male characters
- So many different possibilities for future books!
- A few steamy sexcerpts (00:48:53)
- Reading romance for the full escape vs. reading for heightened (and better) versions of reality
- When did pancakes become sexy? (00:55:45)
- A solid recommendation for "noobie" romance readers
- Heart, Humor, & Heat Ratings (00:59:44)
- A few words about returning books vs. returning books WITH Kindle Unlimited
- Judging a book (or wine) by the cover/label
Books & Other Media Mentioned:
- A few childhood favorites: Nancy Drew and The Boxcar Children
- The new Batman movie, "The Batman" (that's way too long)
- The "Schitt's Creek" analogy for pansexuality
- Ruthless Creatures by J.T. Geissinger
Links:
Follow Boobies & Noobies on Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook @boobiespodcast, on TikTok @b00biespodcast, and check out our blog, merch, and more on our brand new Boobies & Noobies website.
👉 Support the podcast on Patreon for as little as $1/month. 👈
*Boobies & Noobies is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to on Frolic's website.

Next Episode

Love Unexpected

The Novel: Love Unexpected (Some Kind of Love #2)
The Author: Jenny Proctor
The Guest: Lyndi Macke, Co-Host of Hello Out There
The Synopsis: A famous boss. A secret identity. And a hilarious road trip to love.
Yes. Yes, Rosie does have a crush on Isaac, her YouTube-famous boss.
Does she ever talk to him? Absolutely not. Crippling social anxiety can do that.
But Rosie is nothing if not tenacious. Ignoring her friends’ advice to just talk to him already (Nope, that’s way too hard), she instead opts to pursue a virtual relationship with Isaac using a secret identity.
The plan is genius. Online, Rosie has social skills she’d never dream of having in person. She’s possibly even cool. If Isaac can just get to know her, he’ll see how amazing she is.
But then a spontaneous road trip throws Rosie and Isaac together, and their virtual and in-person lives collide. (Eleven hundred miles in a seventy’s era VW hatchback? What could possibly go wrong?)
Much to Rosie’s surprise, she doesn’t constantly humiliate herself. Conversation is easy, and their chemistry? It’s pretty much off the charts.
But every road trip is bound to hit a speed bump or two.
Will Rosie’s secret identity be the thing that brings them together? Or the thing that tears them apart?
Show Notes:
- Words matter... stop calling it "clean" romance
- Hidden coding and allegories in Twilight
- Hello Out There, an improvised podcast (00:08:45)
- Introducing today's read, Love Unexpected (00:12:44)
- A brief discussion of blurb-writing
- "Chick Lit" during the "Sex and the City" era (circa 2002-2006)
- The not-so-brief synopsis for this slightly-stalker-ish romance (00:22:34)
- When you know the book just isn't for you...
- Books written AFTER their time
- The Marty Stu
- A few positives: How social anxiety impacts all facets of life (including dating), a diverse cast, and an incredibly powerful support system
- And a whole bunch of negatives...
- The very anti-climatic third act (00:49:50)
- When the hero is basically a robot...
- The best friends are the ones you tell you when you're doing something wrong
- Heart, Humor, & Heat Ratings (01:13:10)
- When your family is also your friend group... and co-workers...
- What this book COULD'VE been
- Is there hope for the camera man in Book #3?
Links:
Follow Boobies & Noobies on Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook @boobiespodcast, on TikTok @b00biespodcast, and check out our blog, merch, and more on our brand new Boobies & Noobies website.
👉 Support the podcast on Patreon for as little as $1/month. 👈
*Boobies & Noobies is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to on Frolic's website.