While Kathleen is on maternity leave with her baby boy August, Amy and Georgia chat their recent reads: the ‘Maple Hills’ series by New York Times Best Selling Author, Hannah Grace. The Lovers talk about the social media hype that anticipated the release of ‘Icebreaker’, how Hannah Grace’s writing remind Georgia of her days reading Harry Styles AU fanfiction, and the spice levels we’re seeing in these mega popular romances.

While her most recent release ‘The Other Bridget’ flies of the shelves, best-selling author Rachael Johns chats to Georgia and Amy about the author life. The Lovers find out about Rachael’s experiences studying creative writing at a tertiary education, as well as her approach to the first drafts of her novels. Also, Rachael gives us a peak into her most recent reads (including one of the Love on Campus team’s most anticipated releases for 2024).

Amy and Georgia were lucky enough to chat to best-selling author Tate James about her most recent (re)release ‘Hate’. James chats to the Lovers about the origin of her idea for the ‘Madison Kate’ series and gives insight into the trad versus indie publishing venues.

Taking some time off over the summer? The Love on Campus team are talking about the books they think would be perfect as a vacation read. From the big, thick books that take time and effort to get through to the books perfect for beach reading, the Lovers have you covered for recs to enjoy during your break. 

The Love on Campus team didn’t want to leave you hanging over the holiday period, and so they’re hopping back into your headphones with their ‘Footnote’ episodes: addendums to their regular content. Kathleen, Amy and Georgia discuss the holiday-themed romance books we think are perfect to curl up with (or lounge in the sun with) over the next few weeks, as well as the books they hope are waiting for them under their Christmas trees.

A merry little bookclub! Sarah Morgenthaler’s ‘Mistletoe and Mr. Right’ ticks all the (northern hemisphere) Christmas romance boxes: a small town, a snowy climate and an on-the-loose moose. Georgia, Kathleen and Amy ponder the potential girlboss-isms of the protagonist (on Georgia’s request), consider how dreamy Rick is as a love interest, and how ideas of femininities and masculinities are presented in the novel. 

Do you like your romance love interests ooey-gooey and soft as a cinnamon roll? The Lovers are discussing the complexity of the cinnamon roll character, asking: how soft and sweet do we expect them to be? What’s the difference between a sunshine and a cinnamon roll? And is a cinnamon roll the perfect sweet treat to accompany Amy, Georgia and/or Kathleen’s cup of tea?

Deck the Halls! Hannukah Sameach! Happy Diwali! It’s holiday season on the Love on Campus pod, and we’re delving into Kathleen’s research area: Christmas Romance. The Lovers discuss what defines a Christmas romance, its similarities to other religious holidays, and the Christmas movies that they just HAVE to watch each year. Happy Holidays from the Love on Campus team.

While all Regis Elements are created equal, there’s something particularly special about The Meeting. Think Harry meeting Sally before driving to New York; think Darcy slagging off Elizabeth at the ball; think Joe and Kathleen and how they seem to meet about three times over. Kathleen, Georgia and Amy talk about what they want from a meet-cute (or meet-ugly, or meet-awkward), how the re-meeting seems to be a big trope in romance novels, and how the meeting moment seems to have the most flexibility of all romance moments. P.S: Kathleen is calling in from home with baby August, a new addition to the Love on Campus faculty!

This week, the Lovers are back in book club! Amy, Kathleen and Georgia are reading Talia Hibbert’s Get a Life, Chloe Brown, and have so. Many. Thoughts. How does it represent and discuss class differences? Are the sex scenes maybe a little out of character? How does the third person point of view work with each character? We try to answer our own questions, but we can’t promise anything.

This week, three self-identifying sunshines are talking about a forever popular trope: Grumpy x Sunshine. Georgia, Amy, and Kathleen discuss how gender norms inform the trope, wonder if the female-sunshine character might be veering into Manic Pixie Dream Girl territory, and give you an exhaustive list of Grumpy x Sunshine couples in TV and film.

The big question on the Lovers’ lips this week: is Bucket List romance a subgenre, or a trope? And if it is, in fact, a subgenre, why aren’t there more novels in this space? Amy acts as expert on this topic, thanks to her new rom-sad Someone Else’s Bucket List, as well as probing Georgia and Kathleen about what’s on their own bucket lists. Warning: you may fall in love with us this episode as we veer slightly off track and answer some of The New York Times’s ‘36 Questions That Lead to Love’, baring all to our listeners.

This week’s Regis Element is a big one: Society Defined. Kathleen, Georgia, and Amy break down what Regis means, exactly, by defining societies in romance novels, and talk about how this is different in historical and modern settings. Watch out, because the Lovers can’t help but spoil the entirety of the Bridgerton TV series (and even some of the books) while they try and deduce why the question of society is so important in the romance novel.

In this month’s book club, the Lovers dive into one of their most anticipated reads for 2023: Emily Henry’s Happy Place. Amy, Kathleen, and Georgia let you know what their happy places are, fancast the Happy Place movie, and delve into the generational experiences of love represented in romance novels.

This week, the Lovers delve into a romance-favourite trope: the Fake Relationship. Georgia, Amy, and Kathleen discuss the different types of fake relationship we see in romances (from I-Can’t-Go-Home-For-Christmas-Single to We-Can-Help-Each-Other’s-Careers) and go for a deep dive into some iconic 90s Rom Coms. Oh, and apparently Harry Styles isn’t good enough for Georgia. You’ll have to listen to find out why.

Kathleen, Georgia, and Amy are sitting back and relaxing into this week’s episode as they discuss the forever escapist subgenre of Vacation Romance. The Lovers define the subgenre, discuss its fantastical and immersive qualities, and the industry trends (from beach holidays to cottage core escape). And of course, this episode serves as nothing less than eternal praise of the Vacation Romance queen: Emily Henry.

The Lovers are back breaking down one of Pamela Regis’s essential elements of romance: the Point of Ritual Death (PORD, for short). Amy, Kathleen, and Georgia discuss the PORD’s writerly impact (Georgia hates writing it; Amy thinks it’s easy as), a lovely Babushka doll metaphor pops up to explain the importance of the PORD, and Amy and Kathleen defend Pride and Prejudice’s Lydia to Georgia, and Wickham is unanimously hated upon

It’s our first book club week! This week the Lovers do a deep dive on Ali Hazelwood’s Love on the Brain, revisiting happy endings, aca-romance, and enemies to lovers as they swoon and squabble and do what academics do best: talk.

Kathleen, Amy and Georgia get swept away with everyone’s fav romance trope: enemies to lovers. This week the Lovers are seduced by the scholarship of Hsu-Ming Teo, flirt with film romance, have a black moment over whether rivals to lovers and enemies to lovers are the same trope or not, and discover (to Amy’s enduring horror) that Georgia has never seen The Empire Strikes Back (Han and Leia forevs).

Georgia, Kathleen and Amy discuss the popular subgenre of academic romance. The Lovers define the subgenre, unpack specific types of aca-romance, touch on dark academia, worry over defining academic versus college romance, and talk power dynamics, feminism, and desire.

Romance is defined by its (happy, melty, swoony) endings. This week Amy, Kathleen and Georgia consider one of Pamela Regis’s essential elements of romance: the ending. Who doesn’t want a happy ever after, or at least a happy for now? Why is romance ridiculed for its lack of realism? Does it lack realism? The Lovers consider different feminist perspectives on romance endings, unpacking both its complications and its charms. We also announce our first month’s book club book: Ali Hazelwood’s Love on the Brain.

Well, hello. Welcome to Love on Campus! If you love all things romance and want to hear about romance fiction, scholarship, and writing, this is the pod for you. Join Amy, Kathleen and Georgia this season as they dive into Pamela Regis’s eight essential elements of romance, applying the elements to subgenres, tropes and some of the best romance books out there.

A Gen X, a Millennial and a Gen Z walk into a recording studio... Join Dr Amy Matthews, Kathleen Stanley, and Georgia Nicholls, three romance readers, writers, and scholars from three different generational perspectives, to talk all things popular romance. Subscribe now and be ready for episode 1 on Tuesday August 7, 2024. We'd love to hear your feedback too. Jump onto your favourite podcast app and leave a review!