Romance Novels

[Ladybug]

Nov 19, 2005 15:13:53 GMT -4 chonies said:

I haven't but her name keeps coming up--is there a good title to start with?

I like her Spindle Cove series, especially A Week to Be Wicked. Her Girl Meets Duke series is hit or miss, but I really liked The Duchess Deal.

[roseland]

Dec 19, 2019 12:47:56 GMT -4 Ladybug said:

Nov 19, 2005 15:13:53 GMT -4 chonies said:

I haven't but her name keeps coming up--is there a good title to start with?

I like her Spindle Cove series, especially A Week to Be Wicked. Her Girl Meets Duke series is hit or miss, but I really liked The Duchess Deal.

I also like Tessa Dare a lot. One of my favorites is Any Duchess Will Do. It’s part of the Spindle Cove series but can absolutely be read as a stand-alone book.

[ratscabies]

I have nothing useful to add to the convo, but it popped up in my phone app stating “...Spindle Cove series...” under the topic, and I just thought to myself, “That seems a bit on the nose for a series of ‘romance’ novels.”

You know, what with their preoccupation with stories of exploring someone’s “cove” with one’s “spindle”....

I’ll show myself out now.

[chonies]

Thanks so much for the recommendations, everyone—there was a lot of time in the car plus plenty of sustained silent reading, so I got through The Wallflower Wager and The Duchess Deal, and am well into Any Duchess Will Do, and I’ve really enjoyed them all.

Question: since I haven’t read much in Regency-era stuff, how common is the motif of a wealthy duke/gentleman grievously wounded in the Peninsular wars who can only be healed by true love’s touch? I don’t mind it but since I’ve stumbled into two over the last fortnight, I wonder if I just got a slightly imbalanced sample.

[Deleted]

There's a ton! I believe Mary Balogh has a whole series based on that premise, chonies. Iirc "the survivors" series.

[Deleted]

OMG yes, it's practically a subgenre of the Regency-set romances.

I've never understood the series (because they always are) about He-Man Woman Haters Clubs. I ways want to point out that the whole society and heroe's position in it is based on getting married and procreating. There is no way a bunch of men are seriously going to decide never to get married and let their inheritance go hang and to heck with the money, family, property, workers, and title.

Has anyone been following the story with Courtney Milan being banned from the Romance Writers of America for an ethics violation? Long story short, an author re-issued a historical romance that had a character that was half Chinese/half white and Courtney who is half Chinese, pointed out some problematic portrayals of Chinese culture and the author took offense. Around the same time, someone working in publishing was discovered to be a fan of ICE detention policies among other things and people questioned whether her previous job as a romance book buyer for Borders allowed her to negatively affect POC author book placement.

THEN the day before Christmas, the RWA Ethics Committee handed down the ban. The ethics complaint was filed by an author turned publisher who worked with at least one of the people referenced above. They basically said Courtney accused them of being racist, and used social media to bully authors and caused them to be doxxed and lose book contracts.

The Ethics Committee handed down a 1 year suspension from RWA and a lifetime ban on holding any office. Once the news got out, the shit hit the fan. An author who actually sits on the Ethics committee said that a second secret committee was convened because the real committee has too many people who worked with Courtney and no one knows who was on the secret committee. Authors, board members, and committee members started to resign, the current President resigned, then the incoming president, Damon Suede, has some hinky stuff in his past and present, related to books, and Courtney said his husband was DMing her.

It has been a mess. Smart Bitches has a write up, and Alyssa Cole is the easiest place to start on Twitter, and Claire Ryan's blog has info too.

[chonies]

Holy shit. I'd only heard about Courtney Milan's complaint and the subsequent banning, and I read about it through Alyssa Cole's social media. Thanks for the fuller picture, weekender.

[Deleted]

Dec 28, 2019 23:40:12 GMT -4 chonies said:

Holy shit. I'd only heard about Courtney Milan's complaint and the subsequent banning, and I read about it through Alyssa Cole's social media. Thanks for the fuller picture, weekender.

@romancingnope has a Twitter thread that has a good recap!

[magazinewhore]

Has anyone been following the story with Courtney Milan being banned from the Romance Writers of America for an ethics violation?

.

I've been following it (I self publish regency romance). Milan is one of my favorites, so I'm with her. But, damn, RWA just flamed out in real time. Just wow.

[Libelle]

Dec 29, 2019 9:50:37 GMT -4 @livingfortheweeken said:

Dec 28, 2019 23:40:12 GMT -4 chonies said:

Holy shit. I'd only heard about Courtney Milan's complaint and the subsequent banning, and I read about it through Alyssa Cole's social media. Thanks for the fuller picture, weekender.

@romancingnope has a Twitter thread that has a good recap!

Here's a link to the thread: Link

Another good one is Claire Ryan's timeline on her site: The Implosion of the RWA

I've spent the last few days following this and just... boggling at all the stuff that's happening and coming out. Truly, this is a wank for the ages.