[romancepodden]

Only one of these pimped letters is an actual Russian letter. (Technically, the initial P is also a Cyrillic R, but you know.)

Spanish, Greek and a cedilla-ed G are not Russian. Also backwards Rs (pronounced 'ya', btw) and all sorts of fakey Weird and Foreign lettering, like faux-sanskrit, are just dang LAZY design. Stop it. You can make those visual signals some other way.

This has been your Russian rage of the day, we now return you to your regularly scheduled broadcast.

(Also, wouldn’t that dotted O mean that the second word of the title is pronounced FFFFFFFF?)

[romancepodden]

The Romance Novelist's Guide to Hot Consent

The #MeToo movement has sparked a reckoning about power, sex, and consent that has already reached deep into the entertainment industry, inspiring conversations about how to build better a popular culture. Perhaps the most frustrating attitude that this has flushed out of the underbrush is that consent can’t be sexy, or that heightened concerns about it will somehow kill flirting. I was curious to hear the perspective of a group of women who probably spend more time thinking about hot and sexy consent than almost anybody else on the planet: romance novelists.

[romancingthebookworm-deactivate]

Here's How Not to Critique Romance Novels

The first thing you need to understand about critiquing the romance genre is that its writers and readers don’t need you, have no reason to trust you, and aren’t shy about calling out people they think have gotten it wrong. This is something The New York Times—as well as other outlets considering coverage—should contemplate.

I was hoping that Kelly Faircloth would take a stab at rebutting Gottleib’s piece and I am SO happy. 

[romancepodden]

Author Alisha Rai Discusses Writing Romance Novels in a Very Rough Year

Working at a job that requires near-constant attention to the news in 2017, pretty much all that’s keeping my head screwed on straight is routinely sitting down and racing through a romance novel or two. Or five.

[romancepodden]

Episode 39: Julia Quinn and the exclamation points

We managed to sit down with the wonderful Julia Quinn in a somewhat crowded lobby to talk about her favorite things to write and read, to trope or not to trope, and what punctuation is most romance…

IT’S ON LIKE BRIDGERTON!!!

[romancepodden]

Virgin heroes and why I love them

I’ve made no secret of my appreciation for virgin romance novel heroes on this blog and I have no intention of that ever changing. But, you might wonder what it is I love about the virgin hero and therefore I’m going to beat you to your question and simply offer you a bunch of reasons completely unprompted. Now, I don’t have anything against experienced heroes - I appreciate sluttiness wherever I can get it - but virgin heroes just provide a freshness that you don’t see much in romancelandia. It forces the author to deal with our conceptions of what makes a man, what masculinity is and, more importantly, what it can be.  It usually involves a sexually experienced heroine (which I also love) and it sort of follows naturally for the hero to be more fleshed out and realized as a person when he can’t use his sexual prowess as a crutch. The author also needs to find other solutions to the heros feelings other than “maybe if I fuck her these feelings I can’t name will go away?” You still get the “this is a brand new and exciting experience” BUT we get to experience it through this person’s POV but without all the baggage of the last millennia of controlling women’s sexuality. So - neat! It also (usually) makes the woman lead the dance between the sheets, which is also something you don’t see every day if you mostly read historicals (like yours truly). It’s not about dominance, it’s about guidance and taking the lead and more often than not - that sexy communication.  The author is forced to seek out another source for the hero’s confidence  and it’s always exciting to see where the author draws that from. It’s also fun how sexual inexperience can stump the heroine and force her (and us as readers) to question our own ideas of what masculinity is, what our own biases are and so on.  And this is why I love virgin heroes.

[thebooklrandtheduke]

I read my first virgin hero book a few weeks ago, and let me tell you what, it hit all the right feels. Thank you for posting this!

[romancepodden]

[devanitely]

truth

(@romancingthebookworm)

[romancepodden]

[wuts-le-username]

As I read along a romance book I noticed: all romance books I’ve read have supported the woman being small and curvy while the men are huge and practically dwarf them. Where are the books with short guys and tall girls? Need to see me some of that.

[respectingromance]

I can’t think of a single one. I’ve read some where the heights match, I’ve definitely read romance novels with tall women, but I can’t think of a single one where the hero is shorter than the heroine. 

Anyone else?

[bookwyrmshoard]

As a short woman myself, I have always had a really hard time picturing a relationship with a shorter man… probably because I’ve almost never met any. But obviously that’s not the case for tall women. There is, of course, a strong cultural bias toward pairing women with men taller than themselves, but there are real-life exceptions, so you would think there would be exceptions in fiction, too. 

[romancepodden]

There absolutely is a cultural bias of the men being taller - both in romance as a genre and society as a whole - and I can attest to that first hand, being 6,1". (My partner is 6,0″ and I call him “Shawty” sometimes in a T-Pain voice)  And I do feel super bummed that this idea that the man has to be bigger is so pervasive. Coming from a family of amazon women (all my closest female relatives are my height or slightly shorter) I know how deeply rooted this idea is and how intertwined it is with the idea of women not taking up much space. I can relate to plus sized heroines in that way as they often deal with the expectaion of “smallness” too. But there is something special in seeing yourself in media and I do have a Goodreads bookshelf with tall heroines (the hero being shorter isn’t a guarantee, so I just list the heroines that are tall) and SBTB did a rec league recently on the subject, check that out too! There are some recs on this old post too! 

[romancepodden]

The ton when our unwed regency heroine breaks a minor ridiculous rule of etiquette

[diehard-fangirl]

So, I've never really read romance novels. Kdramas became a bit of guilty pleasure for me and I feel like there is a lot of overlap there. So I have come to you for recommendations. I like historical fiction, mysteries, and trope subversion. I don't want anything toooooo smutty, but some realism injected into the romance is appreciated. Help a (newbie) sister out!

Firstly, hon, thank you so much for trusting my opinion enough to ask for recommendations as a newbie! Ain’t no such thing as a guilty pleasure, so Imma hook you up, sweetie! Now keeping in mind that no recommendation is a 100% guarantee, simply because each reader has different tastes. Also the mystery element makes it a bit hard, because I don’t seem to gravitate towards such books. BUT! I got you six to start with.

 An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole. 

This book is the first that came to mind and it hits ALL four of your requests (mystery, history, trope subversion, realistic romance). It is an Americana Civil War historical about a white Northern spy posing as a Southern soldier and a free black woman spy posing as a slave in the South. The romance is phenomenal, the characters are next level, and the subject matter is treated realistically without being emotional torture to get through. Since there have always been interracial couples since the beginning of love, their HEA is also realistic and believable. 

Married by Morning by Lisa Kleypas  

Regency England historical with a heroine who is the hired paid companion to the hero’s rich sisters. Bickering OTP, an on-the-run heroine with a secret, and a sudden kiss that results in a smexy bargain. 

No Good Duke Goes Unpunished by Sarah MacLean

Regency England. He’s the “Murderous Duke” because he killed his wife 12 years ago…Except he didn’t. Or, he thinks he didn’t because he has no memory of the night in question. Til his dead wife reappears and is begging for his help. Her secrets and why she ran away and what REALLY happened all pop off as feels and horny pants are a thing.

The Lotus Palace by Jeannie Lin

Set in China during the Tang Dynasty, maidservant heroine and rich playboy titled hero are thrown together to solve a deadly mystery. Because of her status, all she could ever be to the hero is his concubine, BUT WILL LOVE CONCUR ALL? (Spoiler alert; it does.)

Duke of Midnight by Elizabeth Hoyt

Regency England. Hero saw his parents murdered before his eyes Batman style as a kid. By day he’s does his politics job in parliament, by night he roams the slums of England dressed as “The Ghost of St Giles” searching for the murderer and meeting out justice. One night he rescues the heroine from bad guys, and she blackmails him over his real identity for his help.

The Temptation of Your Touch by Teresa Medeiros 

Housekeeper heroine is on the hunt for something in the spooky mansion she services. There’s a ghost…UNTIL THERE IS? ISN’T? WHO KNOWS IT’S A MYSTERY! The mansion’s lord has never come by, UNTIL HE DOES! There are secrets and a gothic setting and so much atmosphere!

Since I could only find 6 solid recommendations, I’m going to post this live so that if any of my Romance Squad got suggestions that fit this criteria, PLEASE REBLOG WITH THEM! Ain’t no such thing as too many recommendations, LOL.

[thebooklrandtheduke]

YESSSSS YESSSSS YESSSSSSS On Alyssa Cole!

Also, may I add When A Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare? A girl writes letters to an imaginary beau for years and years only to be surprised when he literally shows up at her door. It’s a fun (and funny) romance and my instant-recommend for new romance readers

[romancepodden]

Mr Impossible and Last night’s scandal by Loretta Chase are both delightful, historical romps with most of your requirements!

[romancepodden]

If writing “trashy” romance novels is so easy and so damn lucrative - why doesn’t everyone do it?

[all-the-kissing-books]

#could it be because it’s actually work#just like any other kind of writing#could it?#could it be because writing is actually fucking hard?#and a skill#and a damn craft#romance novels#books#romance writers

[romancepodden]

As a fairly new member of the romance community (I’ve only been reading romance novels for about three years) that fact that people complain about romance novels being formulaic - which is a correct statement - they are, is a bit baffling to me. There’s a sorts of “paint by numbers”-dismissal of romance novels (other formulaic genres are ignored for some reason. Wonder why that is…) But they don’t seem to consider just how difficult it must be to work within that rigid framework? Like, romance is LITTERED with unspoken rules.  As a reader without much talent for writing, I’m surprised constantly of the skill it takes to take a bunch of well worn tropes and make them feel brand new. And consuming a lot of romance novels, I also know how many that can’t do that. And what makes a great romance novel stand out from a so-so romance novel - what sets them apart - it almost seems like witchcraft to me, in the sense that I don’t know how it’s done, that I don’t understand how a small change can affect the outsome so much OR how intent plays into it. I’m only there to admire (or be underwhelmed) by the results.  I mean, I know that 90% of the dismissal and belittling of romance novels are done by people who haven’t actually taken the time to get a grasp of them. I just wish that they would. 

[mfred]

Auto-buy

If the review says “nice book except for the cursing and explicit sex.”

[romancepodden]

If writing “trashy” romance novels is so easy and so damn lucrative - why doesn’t everyone do it?

[romancepodden]

Why romance novels using first person narratives can be hard to swallow

[romancepodden]

When our unmarried regency heroine is discovered conversing with a single man sans chaperone AND without having been properly introduced

[romancepodden]

When someone talks about romance novels like it’s not made up of the same things as other, “real”, books

[romancepodden]

When the hero and virginal heroine finally get naked and she sees the hero’s penis for the first time