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Straddle up, romance aficionados and pop culture buffs—your journey through the Wild West of love just got a sizzling upgrade! We are excited to take you as we go West on our inaugural season of Unbound: "How the West Was Won." 

You're in for a treat, as we explore the Western as genre and delve into the iconic films and romance novels that have shaped our sense of the frontier. But hold onto your hats, because we're not just rehashing old legends—we're breaking new ground with Beverly Jenkins' legendary romances and shining a light on LGBTQ+ stories that boldly stake their claim on the great unknown.

 Get ready to ride through the twists and turns of love as we honor literary icon Beverly Jenkins and her remarkable novels "Topaz" and "Forbidden," which weave a tapestry of historical richness and romantic defiance. As we traverse the dusty trails of the West, we won't shy away from the vibrant LGBTQ+ narratives that redefine cowboy tales, tipping our hats to Rebecca Weatherspoon, Sarah Black, and the poignant "Brokeback Mountain." And the journey doesn't end there—our trailblazing adventure celebrates Latine characters and the cultural influence of vaqueros, as we spotlight the contributions of Mexican cinema and its icons. So grab a spot around the campfire and take a listen, because these pages of romance literature are ablaze with stories you won't want to miss. 

And hey, we write books too!

 Nikki’s latest is Sex, Lies and Sensibility a retelling of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility that Jodi Picoult calls “The smartest Austen updates I’ve read in ages…”

 Adriana is in her Belle Epoque Paris era and her latest An Island Princess Starts a Scandal is a delicious sapphic romp set in the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris. 

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Can't get enough of Nikki Payne? Check out her website at:
https://www.nikkipaynebooks.com/

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https://adrianaherreraromance.com/

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Website: https://www.unboundpod.com/

Episode Transcript

Adriana Herrera (00:01):
Hello and welcome to the introductory
episode of Unbound, the podcastthat explores the intersection
of pop culture and the steamyworld of romance literature.
Join us as we celebrate thevoices and stories often left in
the shadows and unravel thethreads of joy, passion and
heartache that keep us comingback to the page and the screen.

(00:23):
I'm Adrena Herreraera and Iwrite hot romance books.

Nikki Payne (00:27):
And I'm Nikki Payne , and I write romance books
based on the books you wereforced to read in the ninth
grade.
Welcome y'all to Unbound, apodcast where we dive deep into
the unexplored terrains ofromance subgenres through a
BIPOC lens.
We're unearthing stories andintertwining them with the
broader cultural context oftheir time.
Each series focuses on aspecific subgenre and we unravel

(00:49):
its nuances and its evolution.
Our inaugural series y'all howthe West Was Won.
It's a journey through therugged yet romantic world of
cowboy romance.
Yeehaw, thank you.
Thank you, it was high time wegot a yeehaw.
Here's what's in store forepisode one of how the West Was
Won.
This episode is going to focuson the two Wests that we've

(01:12):
constructed the historical andthe mythic one and their
influence on romance novels.
We're going to discuss thecreation of the frontier myth
and its romanticization inAmerican culture.
We're going to talk about theWestern as a genre and how its

(01:33):
themes are the perfect landscapefor romance.
We're going to talk abouticonic media like Bonanza Little
House on the Prairie.
If anyone's ever been babysatby their granny, they know these
stories and how they reflectthese myths of the West.
We're also going to dive intosome complex themes in Western
romance such as man againstnature and the savage trope.
We're going to analyze a lot ofmedia iconic 1970s pop culture
media films like Two Mules forSister Sarah and Blazing Saddles

(01:55):
and Buck and the Preacher, andhow they also intersect with the
blaxploitation film era.
It's all connected, y'allTinfoil hats, western tinfoil
hats on.

Adriana Herrera (02:06):
I just have to give a shout out to Shirley
MacLaine and Clint Eastwoodbecause that movie Two Meals for
a Sister Share I watched thatthing dubbed in Spanish and it
still hit.
Okay, come on, come on, I can't, all right.
So for our episode number two,we're going to do a deep dive
into the inimitable oeuvre ofthe one, the only, beverly

(02:31):
Jenkins.
Episode two will be BeverlyJenkins rewriting the West and
we're going to have discussionsabout two of her most iconic
books, topaz and Forbidden,which are two of our favorites I
think of Ryan Fontaine at leastonce a week, and we will
discuss Jenkins' use of realhistorical figures and events in

(02:55):
her work and her subversion andmasterful employment of the
themes of the Western.

Nikki Payne (03:02):
Episode three y'all .
We're on some gay shit Queeringthe West, lgbtq plus stories of
the Western.
Episode three y'all.
We're on some gay shit Queeringthe West, lgbtq plus stories of
the frontier.
We discuss why the Western is,was and always will be pretty
damn gay.
So some of the things we'regoing to discuss is the
historical presence of queernessin the Western and the impact
of intentional LGBTQ plusrepresentation in the genre.

(03:24):
We're shouting out specificworks that highlight these
narratives, like RebeccaWeatherspoon's stories of Black
gay cowboys and Sarah Black'sMarathon Cowboys.
From Brokeback Mountain to AmoDovar's upcoming Strange Way of
Life.
We'll touch upon some Westernsthat were gay and didn't even
know it.
I'm looking at you, rio Bravo.

Adriana Herrera (03:43):
The fringe, the chaps, the very, very tight
Levi jeans.
Come on, it's been gay, it'sbeen real gay.
They knew what they're doing.
Yeah, for episode four, we'regoing to a part of the West that
was actually Mexico.
So we're going to do Vaqueros,Sabrina, Sol and Beyond.
So we're going to talk aboutrepresentation of Latina

(04:05):
characters in Western romance,the undeniable influence of
Mexican culture in the Western,the West, West Mexico, and the
rich and prolific presence ofvaqueros in Mexican film and
telenovelas featuring icons likePedro Infante, Maria Felix and
Dolores del Rio, who were actorswho were actually able to cross

(04:26):
over to Hollywood in the 50sand 60s.
We are going to do an analysisof Sabrina Soto's portrayal of
Mexican-American cowboys in herRancho Lindo series and we will
briefly discuss one film inparticular Salt of the Earth
from 1954, which perfectlycaptures the undeniable
connections of Mexican life andthe American West.

Nikki Payne (04:45):
Oh, this media.
We're going to be movie buddies.
In episode five, we're talkingabout modern cowboys.
Cowboys today do they exist?
Are they real?
Our discussion points we'regoing to talk about how authors
like Mia Hopkins and RebelCarter have updated the cowboy
narrative.
We're going to talk about therelevance of these modern cowboy
stories in the currentlandscape of Western romance.

Adriana Herrera (05:08):
And, along with our serial episodes, every
season of Unbound will havetopical and superstitial
episodes discussing broaderissues in the romance genre.
Some of the topics for thisseason include an episode
dedicated to Beyoncé'srenaissance, the album the tour,
our many feelings about it.
An episode where we talk orsqueal about Queen Charlotte,

(05:30):
farmer George and why that lovedeclaration reset the culture,
cleared our skin and lowered ourinterest rates.
We'll talk about politics andromance, the do's and don'ts of
being a Black or Brown hero in aromance, and so much more.
So please join us, bike weeklyon Unbound and be part of our
conversation.

Nikki Payne (05:50):
Now it's time for your part.
Your thoughts and stories arethe lifeblood of this
exploration, so we invite you toengage with us, share your
insights, your favorite momentsand the romance narratives that
have touched your life.
Find us on all major podcastplatforms and follow us on
TikTok, YouTube and Instagramfor updates and behind the
scenes content.
We'll have a reading list, alistening list and a watching

(06:14):
list for you to follow alongwith us as we go west, but this
time nobody's catching dysentery.
And don't forget to tune in forour very first episode, where
we'll really get into sex in theWest, Was it?

Adriana Herrera (06:27):
dusty Sandy or the chap still on, I'm into it.

Nikki Payne (06:32):
Until next time.
Keep your hearts unbound.