Romance readers and writers will find this collection of essays by some of the most popular romance novelists writing today unique and fascinating. For the first time, these authors explain why romance is so popular, reveal why they write in this genre, explore the unheralded benefits of reading and writing romances and much more.
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"Readable, fascinating looks into the fiction read by real women in the real world."-Augusta Wynde, Whole Earth Review "This book will interest feminist literary and media critics as primary source material for their efforts to understand the impact of the romance genre... It demonstrates eloquently that thinking about the contemporary state of culture goes on beyond the ivory tower and that it is cohesive and compelling."-Janice Radway "Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women has attracted unprecedented attention... The book will be found useful by feminist and media critics. It will certainly change their perception of the genre as well."-San Francisco Review of Books "The romance writers in Krentz's book are themselves a cross-section of educated women-geologists, lawyers, historians, librarians-who are now among the few hundred people in the United States who make a living writing books. They also battle for women's voices and values."-Women's Review of Books "Krentz and her 18 collaborators, all best-selling romance writers, unleash a veritable arsenal of pro-romance arguments: that romances are a subversive feminist art form. That romances, far from degrading women, actually celebrate and empower women, since they always emerge triumphant over men in the requisite happy ending. That romances are the modern-day inheritor of the heroic tradition in storytelling."-Seattle Post-Intelligencer
About the Author
Jayne Ann Krentz (Amanda Quick, Jayne Castle, Stephanie James) has written and published more than fifty series romances for several publishers including Harlequin, Silhouette, and Dell. Currently she writes contemporary romances for Pocket Books under her own name and historical romances for Bantam under the pen name Amanda Quick. Several of her contemporary and historical titles, including Scandal, Rendezvous, Sweet Fortune, and Perfect Partners, appeared on the New York Times bestseller list.
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According to a variety of sources, romances account for a straggering 35 to 40 percent of all mass market paperback sales. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
According to a variety of sources, romances account for a straggering 35 to 40 percent of all mass market paperback sales. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I came across this book shortly after discovering Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick. Through a collection of generally well written essays, I found that I wasn't alone in my enjoyment of the genre, nor alone in my reasons. I also had a whole new list of aliases, and other authors to look up! And I gained new respect for Ms. Krentz literary ability. Even friends who don't read romances, enjoyed this book of essays.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.4 out of 5 stars
14 reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
repetive, but occaisional good points
16 May 2003
By M. Cookson
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
There were a few points discussed in this book that I had never really thought about before and appreciated reading about. For instance, I liked Laura Kinsale's essay "The Androgynous Reader: Point of View in the Romance". She argued that the reader of a romance novel doesn't neccessarily identify only with the heroine, but also with the hero, maybe even moreso with the hero. It made me reconsider why I was so unhappy with the books that never explained the hero's point of view very well. The essays in this book cover a lot of things, like virginal heroines and alpha males, and the "happily ever after" ending that's so important for romances. At least a couple of the writers made comparisons between the mystery genre and the romance genre, something that I thought was interesting. I didn't always agree with what the essays were saying, but, for the most part, I enjoyed reading them.
That said, it seemed that there wasn't a great deal of communication between the various authors in this book. If there had been, there would, hopefully, have been less repetition of ideas. There's a great deal of overlap between the essays, and the mystery vs. romance bit is only one example - most essays talk about the alpha male, the ways that romance writers were once asked to change their writing and how those changes would've hurt the genre, the type of feminism in romance, etc. Im just glad that the book was short, and a relatively quick read, or the repetition would've been much more aggravating than it was. Also, I'm not entirely sure that this book would reach the sort of audience that the introduction mentioned: people with biases against the romance genre. I was once a part of that group, and I don't think I would have picked up this book - it took reading a really good romance, recommended to me by a friend, to change my mind about romance.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A thoughtful look at the romance genre.
29 May 2001
By mirope
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a great collection of scholarly essays by well-known romance authors about the genre. Any serious romance fan will find this a fascinting read. I was continually impressed by the profound insights in this book. Not only is it a compelling response to the many unenlightened critics of the genre, but it is also a thoughtful consideration of how romance novels reflect the changing face of women's issues in this country. I particularly enjoyed the article by Susan Elizabeth Phillips called "The Romance and the Empowerment of Women." Also, Laura Kinsale's article about how readers respond to the point of view of the narrative was fascinating. This should be mandatory reading for all romance editors.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting...
22 Aug 2002
By L. Ponder
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I found this book very interesting reading. From each author, I gained new insight into why I like to read romance, and why it's written the way it is. Many of us readers do like the "alpha" hero, or even as in Anne Stuart's words--the vampire hero. Why the authors like them, write about them, and entertains us with these heroes, fascinates me. To read about the balance the adventurous heroine needs, entertains me. And, I love Laura Kinsale's place-holder heroine, her writing on point of view, as well as Jayne Krentz's defense of the genre, in general. Excellent book, worth reading and keeping.
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4.4 out of 5 stars
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