Really Riveted By Romance

No, Really.

[dungeons-and-darlings-deactivat]

Reading my first romance novel for grad school and oh my god I’m so into it

[rivetedbyromance]

[filmforfancy]

[dandiliiontea-deactivated202105]

@romancingthebookworm

[romancingthebookworm-deactivate]

Hey. Hey there. Why do you have to call me out like that?

[rivetedbyromance]

Oh my hell, is it normal to feel undressed right now?

[rivetedbyromance]

So I started a new book today, and when I say “new”, I of course mean “new to me.” And y’all, it is DELIGHTFUL.

Not only is the heroine, Lizzie Paxton, a grade a sass and basically my new role model, but every single encounter between her and the hero so far has got me swooning, whether they touch or not. Essex has taken flirtatious banter to a new level for me, and it’s seriously giving me all the blushes.

So if you’re looking for something new to you to read too, and you haven’t discovered Elizabeth Essex yet, please, PLEASE read this book with me. I need to know if I’m the only one so incredibly attracted to the two main characters’ dialogue, or if the author made some sort of deal with a crossroads demon to hook all of her readers so completely.

Until you join me, I’ll just be over here fanning myself.

[halfhardtorock]

I hate when men smirk and gloat and say shit like “Women are attracted to powerful men,” like that negates any feminist impulse, like they think that at the heart of all women is this little, mincing girl that wants to be dominated.

I just roll my eyes because, dude. If you ever read the second half of any fucking harlequin novel ever, and saw how the hero always ends up blubbering on his knees and saying shit like “I can’t live without you! You unman me!” you’d realize that being attracted to powerful men is just the first part of a two-step plan.

The second step is to completely fucking annihilate him.

[halfhardtorock]

Apparently this is the most important thing I’ll ever say.

[msfehrwight]

*clears throat* Allow me to quote Jayne Ann Krentz: “In the romance novels … the woman always wins. With courage, intelligence, and gentleness she brings the most dangerous creature on earth, the human male, to his knees. More than that, she forces him to acknowledge her power as a woman.” (“Introduction” from Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women: Romance Writers on the Appeal of Romance.) The romance hero may start as a total alphahole, but by the end of the novel, as stated above, HE HAS TO CHANGE. He needs to become respectful and treat the heroine as an equal partner, otherwise it won’t work. This is why Elizabeth Bennet refuses Mr Darcy the first time but accepts him later. This is what so many people miss. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for this post.

[whatareyoureallyafraidof]

It’s NaNoWriMo! Good luck!

[mariaslozak]

The next installment in Alyssa Cole’s ‘Reluctant Royals’ series has a fake engagement plot with a wallflower heroine :-) In A Prince On Paper, the bad boy, red-headed hero is not named Harry but he is a prince from what sounds like a small principality in mainland Europe. (The cover architecture and the names blend Central, Western, and Northern European cultures.) I haven’t read A Duke By Default yet, but I have the impression both characters appeared in that book?

“Nya Jerami fled Thesolo for the glitz and glamour of NYC but discovered that her Prince Charming only exists in her virtual dating games. When Nya returns home for a royal wedding, she accidentally finds herself up close and personal—in bed—with the real-life celebrity prince who she loves to hate.

For Johan von Braustein, the red-headed step-prince of Liechtienbourg, acting as paparazzi bait is a ruse that protects his brother—the heir to the throne—and his own heart. When a royal referendum threatens his brother’s future, a fake engagement is the perfect way to keep the cameras on him.

Nya and Johan both have good reasons to avoid love, but as desires are laid bare behind palace doors, they must decide if their fake romance will lead to a happily-ever-after.”

[rivetedbyromance]

I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS ONE!!!

[respectingromance]

There’s No Shame In Reading Romance Novels

I have earned my literary bona fides, writes Megan Rubiner Zinn, but they don’t make me love romances any less.

“I’ll never forget the class discussion. It oozed with classism and misogyny, even in room full of women.

“The conversation went like this: Women who read romance novels are poorly educated, working class, likely stay at home mothers. They read romances to escape the emptiness and drudgery of their lives. At best, romance novels give them unrealistic expectations of love and marriage that will destroy their happiness. At worst, romance novels keep them from throwing off the shackles of the patriarchy.”

Everyone thinks they’re being original when they bash romance novels and the women who like them, but they’re just parroting the same old shit.

[rivetedbyromance]

When you’re rereading something you don’t remember writing, and it moves you to laughter and/or tears. Is there a better feeling?

[thebooklrandtheduke]

Is anyone else a member of the “Ed Sheeran’s ‘A Team’ Plays Every Time My Bluetooth Connects to the Radio” club? Asking for a friend…

[rivetedbyromance]

Honestly, I could go for this just to get a break from ‘Aaron Burr, Sir.’

[shrikeseams]

Trope Survey

Hello internet!  I have to do a survey for a class assignment, and I thought it would be fun to look at romance tropes! I’m looking at romance in novels, movies, TV, fanfiction, and whatever other forms of media I haven’t thought of! So if you like love stories, I’m asking for your input!  If you have 5-10 minutes to spare, you can take my survey at bit.ly/2IQp3kY . 

If you have questions, please send me an ask. If anyone else is interested I’ll share the results here when I’m done, too!

[respectingromance]

I took this to test it before sharing. It’s respectful and short if you’d like to help a student.

[thebooklrandtheduke]

Done!!!!! I can’t wait to hear the results

[rivetedbyromance]

Can I rage for a second? I’m reading A Duke By Default by Alyssa Cole, and it has been a truly great book. Legitimate love. BUT.

TAVISH IS AN IDIOT AND IM NOT SURE IVE EVER WANTED TO MURDER A CHARACTER MORE AND THERE HAD BETTER BE AN EXTREMELY CONVINCING APOLOGY AND GROVELING IN HIS FUTURE OR HE WILL FOREVER BE MY LEAST FAVORITE OF ALL THE FICTIONAL DUKES IVE EVER MET!

Thank you for your time and attention.

—an enraged housewife avoiding her responsibilities

[silverhawk]

stoic and grumpy character: [constantly refers to their significant other as ‘my love’ or ‘darling’ or any other sweet nickname]

me every time: 

[all-the-kissing-books]

Let it be noted here and now that I positively ADORE it when the hero doesn’t speak English as his first language and has a moment when he is so overcome with emotion/love/lust that he starts rattling off sweet things in his native language. It kills me EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

[rivetedbyromance]

Behold, the sexiest thing I’ve ever read in a romance novel! A Princess in Theory, by Alyssa Cole.

[rivetedbyromance]

If you haven’t started A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole, yet... You’re missing out.

[romancingthebookworm-deactivate]

Hnnnnnbhffhffghh

Someone call IXII - I need to report a vicious murder.

Of my peace of mind.

Friends, I have read a LOT of romances. Hundreds. And, thus, hundreds of sex scenes. But I hereby declare myself deceased. Because Piers just melted my brain in what may be one of the hottest scenes I’ve read in an age. That scene in the guardhouse? Oh yeah.

I think it’s the dynamic that makes it SO my sort of scene? Maybe it wouldn’t work as well for every reader. But I am a dead woman for sure.

James always does this to me. Her heroes frequently have these little power play moments that just – unf.

I can’t go on. Leave me here to die.

(When Beauty Tamed the Beast -James)

[dandiliiontea-deactivated202105]

I put in my outline that the hero was going to spend much of the duration of the flight whispering filth in heroines ear.

Apparently past me forgot that I do not know how to Do dirty talk.