Category Archives: romance novels

IASPR Workshops Announced

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Victoria Janssen

Workshop Summaries for this summer’s International Association for the Study of Popular Romance conference are now available. I’m attending, as an audience member–let me know if you’ll be there, and we can say hi! I’m particularly interested in these papers: … Continue reading →

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Top 3 Reasons I Love Historical Romance

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Victoria Janssen

1. The outfits. Dukes have bigger…coronets of rank. Also, the hats. Men in hats. Women in hats. People these days…not enough hats. Or gloves. There’s something about concealment beneath all those almost fetishistic garments…it makes you wonder what else they’re … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, reading, romance novels | 2 Comments

Betty Neels, Outside of Time

Posted on January 5, 2011 by Victoria Janssen

I am not nearly the connoisseur of Betty Neels’ 134 novels as the gracious hostesses of specialist blog The Uncrushable Jersey Dress. But, having read about a half-dozen of her novels, I now venture to have some general thoughts on … Continue reading →

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Telepathy and Romance

Posted on October 1, 2010 by Victoria Janssen

Telepathy and romance are two great tastes that ought to taste great together. So why is it that, so often, a telepathic heroine or hero–finds true love with the one person whose mind can’t be read?It’s part of a romance … Continue reading →

Posted in romance novels, sf/f, writing craft | 6 Comments

Heroine Doe

Posted on September 30, 2010 by Victoria Janssen

What do you look for in a romance heroine? Or the heroine of a space opera, or of a quest fantasy? What kind of heroine always makes you want to read further?Does she need to be an orphan, or have … Continue reading →

Posted in genre, reading, romance novels | 8 Comments

Types of Masculinity

Posted on September 29, 2010 by Victoria Janssen

What does it mean, to be a man? To be masculine? What does it mean to be a man who is the hero of a romance novel?Romance readers, including me, often talk about “alpha” or “beta” heroes as two generalized … Continue reading →

Posted in genre, romance novels | 2 Comments

How Many Sex Scenes?

Posted on September 22, 2010 by Victoria Janssen

I recently read a contemporay romance and got into a brief discussion about the sex scenes.I’d been perfectly comfortable with the amount of sex that was shown. The story focused on the two characters’ relationship issues and issues that were … Continue reading →

Posted in erotica, reading, romance novels | 13 Comments

IASPR Call for Proposals

Posted on August 18, 2010 by Victoria Janssen

Just in case anyone out there is interested! A Call For Proposals for The Third Annual International Conference on Popular Romance: Can’t Buy Me Love?Sex, Money, Power, and RomanceNew York CityJune 26-28, 2011The International Association for the Study of Popular … Continue reading →

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The Journal of Popular Romance Studies, First issue!

Posted on August 10, 2010 by Victoria Janssen

The Journal of Popular Romance Studies has published its first issue! If only this journal had been around when I was in graduate school…but no, then I never would have gotten around to writing novels.So far, I’ve read A Little … Continue reading →

Posted in genre, reading, romance novels | 2 Comments

Top 5 Marriage of Convenience Novels

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Victoria Janssen

This post was originally written for Monkey Bear Reviews. # My Five Favorite Marriage of Convenience Novels It was really difficult to make this list! The “marriage of convenience” is one of my favorite romance novel plots. I made the … Continue reading →

Posted in reading, romance novels | 4 Comments