Sounds Like A Cult The Cult of Romance Novels
Feb 10, 2026
Alexa Martin, a USA Today bestselling romance author, chats about romance fandom and tropes. She talks about how tropes act as gateway drugs, the intense community language that binds readers, and why romance can feel cult-like yet empowering. Short, spicy, and full of fan culture moments.
01:10:38
Basilisk Shifter Read Shocked The Host
- Iman describes reading a basilisk shifter erotica with extreme sexual rituals and inventive sex devices.
- She recounts explicit scenes including split tongues and a 24-hour orgy to illustrate genre extremes.
Two Rules Define Romance Novels
- A romance novel requires the central love story to focus on the couple and end with a happily ever after.
- Iman Hariri-Kia emphasizes these two core tenets as the genre's defining rules.
Why Romance Lingo Exists
- Romance communities developed a dense slang (HEA, FMC, MMC, DNF, spice meter) that builds in-group identity.
- Iman Hariri-Kia links this lingo to faster, shorthand communication across passionate readers.
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Intro
00:00 • 3min
Why romance feels cultish
02:56 • 2min
Iman's background and romance credentials
05:07 • 2min
Defining a romance novel
06:39 • 5min
Romance history and the bodice ripper era
11:42 • 3min
Romance lingo and reading tools
14:50 • 2min
Insider language builds community
16:38 • 3min
How romance reading became cult-like
19:10 • 2min
Review culture and Goodreads toxicity
20:57 • 2min
From reader to author: Iman's experience
22:52 • 2min
Parasocial bonds and reader power
25:11 • 3min
Why romance is politically important
27:50 • 5min
Romance Fyre Fests and cons gone wrong
32:41 • 3min
Ad break
35:23 • 1min
Cultural value and potential harms
36:35 • 4min
Diversity problems in publishing
40:27 • 3min
Heated Rivalry and queer romance visibility
43:29 • 5min
Introducing guest Alexa Martin
48:53 • 17sec
Ad break
49:10 • 48sec
Alexa's origin: reader to writer
49:58 • 1min
Ad break
51:01 • 2min
Tropes as gateway drugs
52:44 • 2min
Authors' care for readers and power dynamics
55:05 • 4min
Financial costs and fandom commitments
59:04 • 3min
Parallels between romance fans and Swifties
01:02:04 • 3min
Rapid-fire game: tropes and Omegaverse
01:05:25 • 4min
Where the cult ranks: Live Your Life
01:08:59 • 3min
Outro
01:11:44 • 50sec
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Clutch your pearls and cancel your plans, because this week Sounds Like A Cult is getting spicy. We’re welcoming our brand new co-host Iman Hariri-Kia (@imanharirikia), romance author, cultural critic, and certified defender of the genre, to break down The Cult of Romance Novels. We're joined by romance author Alexa Martin (@alexambooks) to talk about romance novels as sex education for women, the intense sense of community among readers, and why the genre is so often dismissed despite being wildly popular. Plus, we get into beloved tropes, Heated Rivalry, and how Alexa might have accidentally predicted the Travis Kelce/Taylor Swift era. Is romance harmless hopecore, or a full-blown belief system? Plus, what that snake tongue do?
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