Slow burn? Smooth voice? Stealing flirty glances in front of a crowd of thousands? Yes, please! And then I'll take an encore. Kate Golden, author of If Not For My Baby, joins us to talk about her new rock star romance and the beauty of falling in love on and off the stage.
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Ep. 14: Latine Love and Rebellion with Liana De La Rosa
In her Luna Sisters series, USA Today bestselling author Liana De La Rosa turns Victorian England on its head infusing it with Mexican history and fierce women who rewrite the rules of love. Liana joins us to talk about how culture, intention, and a little flirtation can shape love and connection.
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Zipless Nominated for a Signal Award!
Help Zipless win a Signal Award! We're finalists in the Conversation Starter category and up for the Listener's Choice Award. Vote by the EOD on Wednedsay, October 8, 2025 at vote.signalaward.com: Search Zipless. Cast your vote. Confirm by email. Or you can also click on this link to go directly to our category to vote: https://tr.ee/VoteForZipless Thank you for supporting our little indie podcast that could. Follow @ziplesspodcast for book recs, author news, and giveaways, or visit ziplesspodcast.com.
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Ep. 13: The Hunting Wives: One-on-One with Author May Cobb
Netflix's summer blockbuster series The Hunting Wives has captivated audiences on screen but its roots are on the page. May Cobb, bestselling author of sultry suspense novels including The Hunting Wives, A Likeable Woman and The Hollywood Assistant, joins us to talk about writing sexy, complicated, and morally questionable women - whether we like them, or not. Description highlights: The Netflix adaptation of The Hunting Wives and what it's like to see her book come to life on screen. Voyeurism, blurred friendships, and bicuriosity as recurring themes in Cobb's work. The controversy around "unlikeable women" in fiction and why Cobb insists on writing flawed, messy heroines. Why infidelity remains one of romance's biggest taboos—and how Cobb resisted editorial pressure to "justify" her characters' choices. Reflections on East Texas, obsession, and the intoxicating danger of "bad for you" relationships. Alongside the interview, listeners hear a dramatic reading from The Hunting Wives, a playful performance experiment with narrator Gideon Frost, and a poignant Dear Allie listener letter about reckless love and lasting devotion. Notable Quotes "I will die on the hill of defending my unlikeable female characters and their messy decisions—because we're all messy." — May Cobb "Sometimes the relationships that light you on fire, even if they burn, are the ones that help you know yourself better." — Allie Martina "We all understand that magnetic draw—that chemistry you can't explain." — Allie Martina Books & Links Mentioned 📚 By May Cobb The Hunting Wives Kindle | Audiobook | Print A Likeable Woman Kindle | Audiobook | Print My Summer Darlings Kindle | Audiobook | Print Big Woods Audiobook 🔖 Recommended by May Till Death Do Us Part by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn Kindle | Audiobook | Print Time-Coded Themes 00:00 – Opening Quote: Erica Jong on feminism, desire, and "bad women." 01:00 – Reading from The Hunting Wives: A charged scene of temptation, infidelity, and longing. 05:00 – Allie's Reflection: Why infidelity is nearly forbidden in romance novels, yet resonates in Cobb's fiction. 06:30 – Interview Begins: Allie and May reminisce about 20+ years of friendship and celebrate the Netflix adaptation. 09:00 – Voyeurism as Theme: From Hitchcock to East Texas backyards. 11:00 – Friendships, intimacy, and bicuriosity: How blurred boundaries fuel Cobb's stories. 15:00 – Lust vs. Motivation: Why women characters shouldn't need an "excuse" to desire. 17:00 – The "Unlikeable Woman" Debate: Cobb defends her messy female characters. 23:00 – Infidelity in Fiction: Publishing pushback and Cobb's resistance to sanitizing her characters. 27:00 – Genre & Marketing: Why Cobb's "sultry suspense" straddles thriller and romance categories. 29:00 – From Victorian literature to now: How repression, erotic tension, and female sexuality evolved on the page. 31:00 – Romance stigma fading: Why genre barriers are breaking down. 33:00 – Book Recs: Till Death Do Us Part by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn. 35:00 – Gideon Frost Performance: Playful riff on "irresistible but toxic" relationships. 38:00 – Dear Allie Letter: Reckless love that turned into 20 years of partnership. 40:00 – Closing & Credits. Guest Bio: May Cobb May Cobb is the award-winning author of sultry suspense thrillers set against the backdrop of East Texas. Her novels, including The Hunting Wives and A Likeable Woman, explore obsession, power dynamics, and the lives of unapologetically flawed women. Cobb's work has been praised for its page-turning suspense, messy characters, and fearless explorations of female desire. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her family and is a frequent contributor to literary discussions about thrillers, women in fiction, and the blurred lines between morality and lust. Follow May Cobb: Website: maycobb.com Instagram: @may_cobb Production Credits Host & Producer: Allie Martina Series Producer: Jill Ruby Special Contributor: Gideon Frost Creative Design: Dana Christopherson How to Support the Show Subscribe to Zipless wherever you listen to podcasts. Leave us a review and tell us what resonated with you. Follow us on Instagram: @ziplesspodcast Visit ziplesspodcast.com for show notes, transcripts, and extras. ✨ Affiliate Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases of books mentioned in this episode (at no additional cost to you). Show notes created by Descript.
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Ep. 12: Cracking the Code of Romance Novels with Jayne Ann Krentz
"The language of romance has a code." Jayne Ann Krentz, who also writes under the pseudonyms Jayne Castle and Amanda Quick, has written over a hundred romance novels - more than 50 of which have been named New York Times bestsellers. Jayne joins us to break down the 'code' of romance novels, their unifying themes, and why these books are so timelessly appealing to women.
A (sometimes spicy) podcast for romance lovers and listeners.
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.
For more information about the show, guests, and forums to share your thoughts, go to ziplesspodcast.com
Zipless is produced by Allie Martina and Jill Ruby.
Listener discretion advised.
New Zealand