Bookish: Wuthering Heights/People We Meet on Vacation
Send a text I survived a bad winter storm that knocked out my heat and electricity for almost a week, so it's good to be back! Speaking of drama, Wuthering Heights is one of my favorite books of all time, so I've been following the crazy anticipation for the Emerald Fennell film adaptation of the story that just opened this weekend. Adapting beloved classic stories for the screen isn't easy – filmmakers will never manage to perfectly interpret the story for every fan of the so…
Frenemies: Heated Rivalry/Plus One
Send us a text I'm back from a long break and what a phenomenal show and movie to come back to. I've certainly had a lot of experience with frenemies in my life, and participated in perplexing, frustrating romances where I bickered, bantered and got annoyed regularly, yet couldn't stay away. These stories embody that frenemies to lovers trope perfectly, so if you crave delayed gratification, casual betrayals and slow burning, combustible intimacy that fixes it all in your roma…
Outer Limits Love: Love Me
Send us a text I don't often read or watch sci-fi stories, but add in a romance and I'm there. I have a specific kink for stories about human-robot love, android love, any kind of machinery that takes on human characteristics and can hug. Forbidden Planet is my jam, I, Robot and RoboCop freak me out a bit, but movies that ask questions about our essential humanity by transferring our ideal characteristics – and our flaws and romantic blunders – onto machines are some of my favorite…
Quick Take: Nobody Wants This S2
Send us a text (Life continues to kick my behind, so I'll be releasing episodes every few weeks or so through the rest of the year. Follow me on your favorite podcast app so you don't miss a thing. As always, thanks for listening!) Season 2 of Nobody Wants This was just released on Netflix, and it's different show runners, but equally heartwarming, sexy, touching and hilarious – if not more so. I'm only a third of the way through the latest season, but had to pop in and s…
Gold-Plated Romance: Gold Diggers of 1933/Pretty Woman/Materialists
Send us a text (Had a great time on my road trip, got back – and I've been sick ever since. This year has been one endless struggle bus ride, and there's room for more, so hop on :) Materialists seems to be a polarizing movie that isn't quite a romcom, isn't quite a straight up romantic drama, while ending happily, making it one of the most interesting hybrid stories I've seen in a while. Dakota Johnson is incredible as Lucy, a smart but cynical matchmaker who treats…
Romance Replay: Love + Taylor Swift
Send us a text (I'm going on another road trip with my sweetie, traveling parts of historic Route 66, so I'll see you towards the end of the month!) Taylor Swift just announced her fairytale engagement (which was obvious after they appeared on that recent New Heights podcast episode — have two people ever looked more in love?!) so it seemed like the perfect time to replay the episode I recorded a while back with one of my favorite guests and fellow fangirl Mariah, examining our par…
Goodbye Love: And Just Like That/Bridget Jones Mad About the Boy
Send us a text This is the year that we're saying goodbye (for now?) to some beloved big and small screen friends. Call it parasocial, call it learning through art, but tuning into these characters and their fictional ups and downs made me feel like I belonged to their charmed worlds in New York City and London, and lives full of fabulous fashion, awesome apartments, cool jobs, chosen family, hot romances — and plenty of drama. I truly feel sad saying goodbye, and I think these flawed y…
Hearts Revealed: The Last Showgirl/Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her
Send us a text I found these poignant movies on a search for something else, and couldn't take my eyes off either one — they are stunners. Lyrical direction and pacing, spare soundtracks and understated, nuanced performances float gentle light layers of meaning into every scene in each of these stories. They're soulful, profound at times, revealing the struggles and authentic moments of connection in these women's lives. https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com Pamela Ande…
How Much Is Too Much
Send us a text I've been thinking for a long time about the gendered sociocultural accusation of "too much" that's often directed towards women's behavior, especially how they love and connect to others, and how often this theme appears in romantic stories. This episode is the first in a little series I have planned, talking about female characters in romances who are shamed for being "too much," especially in costume dramas and 19th century romantic novel …
Secret Desire: Babygirl/The Duke of Burgundy
Send us a text (I'm taking a short break in the next couple of weeks for a road trip with my sweetie. I'll be back soon!) My journey from a strict religious upbringing to discovering I'm mildly kinky in the right settings, and with the right partner, was quite the revelation. These fascinating, complex stories explore women also discovering their secret desires, vulnerabilities and sexual thrills through consensual BDSM kink. The movies are sometimes titillating, sometimes rom…