A friend of mine recently sent me an article entitled Why Bestselling Romance Author Colleen Hoover Is Receiving Backlash. In it, the author writes: I know what some people might be thinking: It’s fiction, it’s not meant to be real or unproblematic; it caters to fantasies. But the problem with that is that fiction, especially fiction…
In a recent discussion about Barbara Cartland, several readers bemoaned her incessantly giving her heroines heart shaped faces and small hands. The latter feature is, I’ve since noticed, quite common in older historical romances–how many scenes have we all encountered where her tiny fingers couldn’t reach around a hero’s heavy shaft. (rolls eyes) But,…
A trope, according to Merriam-Webster, is a common or overused theme or device : CLICHÉ. I’m going to ignore the overused part of this today and focus on common themes in, of course, romance. Masterclass, in its earnest article on how to write a romance novel, offers nine common tropes: 1. Love Triangle (Court of Thorns and Roses,…
I’ve had a rather heated set of exchanges with my best friend Ann recently about our differing perspectives on why we read. She reads primarily to learn; I, to be entertained. She tells me “Oh, you should really pick up such and such a book about the failure of the medical system in our inner…
Today’s ask is a suggestion from BeckyK. She suggested we ask about body positivity— Do you enjoy books with plus size heroes/heroines? Which books/authors get it right? Which don’t? (This is a topic that elicits strong emotions from some–I ask that you respond to this post with compassion as well as honesty.) And I’d note…
The Academy Awards–yawn–are this Sunday. I have seen just one of the films nominated for Best Picture and hardly any of the other films whose sets, actors, songs, and special effects have led to their nominations. (I do love, the next day, looking at the outfits!) It will shock absolutely no one that not a…
I have followed with fascination the uproar around the revised versions of Roald Dahl’s books. NPR has a great summary of what has happened. They write: New editions of legendary works by British author Roald Dahl are being edited to remove words that could be deemed offensive to some readers, according to the late writer’s…
My book club–the fun one–met last night and discussed Verity. It was not much loved. Many called out, in particular, the sex scenes. The words crass, vulgar, and filler were mentioned. This group, with a few exceptions, doesn’t read romance and several people opined that sex scenes make a book worse rather than better. I…
Later this year, AAR will ask readers to choose their 100 Top Romances as we’ve done many times over the decades. What does that mean? Are these the best romances ever written? Readers’ personal favorites? A representation of all the genre has to offer? Romances everyone should read? A series of comments by Jenna got…
Today’s ask is a suggestion from AAR reader BeckyK. (It’s a great one!) How has romance changed since you first started reading it? What changes do you feel are for the better or worse? I love this question. I’ve been reading romance intently for the past twelve years. From my perspective romance has changed for…
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