The Wayback on Wednesday: Riffs on Political Correctness

originally published in August of 2000

This feature grew out of Laurie Gold’s 1997 review of a 1997 romance, A Well Pleasured Lady by Christina Dodd, and a subsequent column she wrote about it and other issues related to Political Correctness.

A quickie from Judith Ivory/Judy Cuevas – about politically correct writing (August 1997)

A quickie from Patricia Gaffney – about politically correct writing (August 1997)

A quickie from Kathleen Eagle – about fiction versus real life (August 1997)

A quickie from Lisa Kleypas – on forced seduction (August 1997)

A quickie from Jo Beverley – her response to some Quickies (August 1997)

A quickie from Sharon Curtis – on sexuality in romance (September 1997)

Paula Detmer Rigg’s Write Byte on writing taboo subjects (October 1997)

Kathleen Eagle’s Quickie on “Indian” P.C.

By Dabney Grinnan|2021-09-28T14:05:14-04:00September 29th, 2021|Categories: Way Back on Wednesday|Tags: political correctness, Wayback on Wednesday|11 Comments

The Way Back on Wednesday: Alex Markov: Dreamboat or Douchebag?

(originally published on June 3, 2016)

In another of our occasional series in which we discuss the merits – or lack thereof – of fictional heroes and heroines, AAR staffers turn their attention to Alex Markov of Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips.

Kiss An Angel taps into the classic “arranged marriage” trope. The two protagonists, Daisy and Alex, are blackmailed into marriage by a third party: Daisy’s dad. Daisy agrees in order to avert legal trouble and avoid prison. For Alex Markov, this was his year for paying off big debts, first with his deathbed promise to Owen Quest to take the circus out for its last season under the Quest name, and then by agreeing to marry Max’s daughter. In all these years Max had never asked anything of him as repayment for having saved Alex’s life, but when he’d finally gotten around to it, he’d asked for a doozy. […]

By Maggie Boyd|2021-09-09T09:04:41-04:00September 8th, 2021|Categories: Anne AAR, Caroline AAR, Characters, Dabney AAR, Dreamboat or Douchebag, Haley AAR, Heroes, LinnieGayl AAR, Maggie AAR, Mary AAR|Tags: Douchebag or Dreamboat, Kiss an Angel, susan elizabeth phillips, Wayback on Wednesday|32 Comments

2002 All About Romance Reader Awards

originally published on March 1, 2002

To all the winners in our sixth annual reader’s poll, congratulations and continued success! We had more entries this year than in any past year, and given the size and comprehensiveness of the ballot (with 23 positive and 6 negative categories), AAR pollster Shelley Dodge was kept extremely busy throughout the entire month the poll was open. To be a valid ballot, (at least) six categories had to have been filled out. As always, we received a number of bogus ballots (think authors trying to stuff the ballot box – naughty, naughty!), but even so, there were nearly 3,500 valid votes. […]

By Laurie Likes Books|2021-08-05T07:48:19-04:00August 4th, 2021|Categories: Polls|Tags: 2002 poll, AAR Annual Readers Poll, Wayback on Wednesday|8 Comments

The Way Back on Wednesday: A Few Historical Characters I Miss

originally published on March 23, 2009

One of the perennial favorite topics around AAR is the lack of historical accuracy in today’s historical romances.

Still, there is what AAR readers want and then what the rest of the reading world wants – at least according to some publishers. I’m hearing from certain writer friends who are, in turn, hearing it from their publishers that readers these days don’t especially care about historical accuracy – not to mention, of course, the belief that readers only want books set in 19th century England. […]

By Dabney Grinnan|2021-07-13T13:40:39-04:00July 14th, 2021|Categories: Characters, Historicals, Interviews, Sandy AAR, Way Back on Wednesday|Tags: blast from the past, historical accuracy, Historical Personages, lord byron, Wayback on Wednesday|63 Comments

the Wayback on Wednesday: Attractive Men

(originally published on November 28, 2008)

Last week, I talked to two stunningly attractive men. There I was, happily married and all, just talking to them, and came out with my toes tingling and a broad smile on my face because that’s how hot they were. Because this happened within two days, it got me thinking about what made these men so very attractive. One is a colleague, and admittedly he is tall and dark, but he is definitely balding and deals with this by shaving his head. The Jean-Luc Picard look, if you want. So he is passably good-looking, if you like that style, yet what makes him breathtaking is not his looks, but the way he deals with you. His gift is true attention to people.

By Lynn Spencer|2021-07-07T15:04:00-04:00July 7th, 2021|Categories: Characters, Heroes, Rike AAR|Tags: Blog Blast from the Past, Wayback on Wednesday|29 Comments

the Way Back on Wednesday: Family Ties

(originally published on September 24, 2010)

Judging by what I see on shelves, romance readers love seeing everyone in a family falling over each other to get married. Just about every subgenre seems to have more than its fair share of series about brothers and sisters finding love. I enjoy a good story world, but I have to admit to puzzling over why so many series had to be about sets of siblings. Perhaps it’s because in real life, very few siblings I know fell in love and married one right after the other. Don’t get wrong; I don’t DISLIKE family series. I just never understood the overwhelming popularity. […]

By Lynn Spencer|2021-06-08T18:21:33-04:00June 9th, 2021|Categories: Characters, Lynn AAR, Romance reading|Tags: brothers, families, siblings, sisters, Wayback on Wednesday|30 Comments

The Wayback on Wednesday: All About Romance Celebrates PRIDE 2018

LBGTQ+ PRIDE is celebrated in many countries throughout the world in June, and here at AAR, we’re doing our bit to celebrate the idea that Love is Love is Love and that romance is for everyone by choosing our favourite queer fiction and queer romances. We could all have chosen more than one (or two!), but these are the ones that have stuck with us over time and to which we return again and again.

What are your favourites? We’re always ready to be switched onto new books and new authors, so jump into the comments and let us know!

Anne:

The Last Herald-Mage trilogy by Mercedes Lackey

This wasn’t the first time I encountered a gay protagonist, but I’m including it because many readers have admitted it changed their lives. LGBTQ+ […]

By Caz Owens|2021-06-01T17:53:55-04:00June 2nd, 2021|Categories: Anne Marble, BJ Jansen, Caroline AAR, Caz AAR, EmAAR, Kristen D, Lisa F, Maria Rose, Queer romance, Romance, Romance reading, Shannon AAR|Tags: Pride Month, Queer Romance, Wayback on Wednesday|19 Comments

A Quickie with Kay Mussell

originally published in November, 1997

Kay Mussell is a scholar at American University. She is a long-time reader of my column, but first came to my attention when I read Jayne Ann Krentz’s Dangerous Men & Adventurous Women, which is a series of essays written by romance novelists about the genre. It is an excellent book and if you haven’t read it, I suggest you do so – it was reissued in paperback by Harper last year. […]

By Laurie Likes Books|2021-05-12T07:21:16-04:00May 12th, 2021|Categories: Way Back on Wednesday|Tags: feminism, Kay Mussell, Wayback on Wednesday|14 Comments

the Way Back on Wednesday: The 2001 All About Romance Reader Awards

originally published March 1, 2001

(many of the links in this post have been lost to history)

To all the winners in our fifth annual readers’ poll, congratulations and continued success! With nearly 30 categories polled, the AAR Reader Awards ballot is quite comprehensive; readers must study the ballot and be prepared with details on titles, characters, and definitions in order to participate. Turnout far exceeded expectations for the 22 positive and 6 negative categories polled. […]

By Dabney Grinnan|2021-04-13T19:00:26-04:00April 14th, 2021|Categories: Way Back on Wednesday|Tags: Wayback on Wednesday|5 Comments

The Wayback on Wednesday: The Harem

(originally published in 2002)

The Harem

by Ellen Micheletti

Simply defined, a harem is the area in a household where the women of the family live. But in romantic imagination, it is so much more. For many years movies, books and paintings have romanticized the harem. What a life. You ate delicious food, wore silken clothing, lived in beautiful surroundings and made passionate love to a handsome Sultan at night. […]

By Dabney Grinnan|2021-04-07T18:24:12-04:00April 7th, 2021|Categories: Way Back on Wednesday|Tags: harem, Wayback on Wednesday|7 Comments

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