Whew. That was a long title to type out. Anyway, am excited about this as it comes from one of my two favorite Smart Bitches, so it should prove to be an hilarious read while also defending the genre we know and love.
I became fans of Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan earlier this summer when a friend recommended their book Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches’ Guide to Romance Novels. It highlights the best and the worst of the genre, its evolution from bodice rippers, common tropes and clichés, and much much more (like the actual location of the hymen!), all delivered with wit and style.
Coming out soon is a solo project by Sarah – Everything I Know about Love I Learned from Romance Novels.
Since I haven’t read it yet, I’ll cheat and use the product description:
Take a dashing hero with a heart of gold and a mullet of awesome. Add a heroine with a bustle and the will to kick major butt. Then include enough contrivances to keep them fighting while getting them alone and possibly without key pieces of clothing, and what do you have? A romance novel. What else? Enough lessons about life, love, and everything in between to help you with your own happily-ever-after.
Lessons like…
Romance means believing you are worthy of a happy ending
Learning to tell the prince from the frog
Real-life romance is still alive and kicking
No matter how bad it is, at least you haven’t been kidnapped by a Scottish duke (probably)
Straight from the heart of influential romance blogger Sarah Wendell, this inventive gift book provides the best wisdom about love that the romance genre has to offer. Laced with signature witty commentary and peppered with thoughts from bestselling romance authors (Nora Roberts, Jennifer Crusie, Debbie Macomber, Eloisa James, Robyn Carr, and lots more) and avid readers, these pages will reveal what every romance reader already knows: while romances are certainly steamy, they have more to offer than just a sexy hero. In fact, they might have more to say about love than we give them credit for.