[ SECRET POST #3288 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3288 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 044 secrets from Secret Submission Post #470.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

01. http://i.imgur.com/AsvxkNZ.png

[feotakahari]

I just want some equality. I hate the dynamic where the female perspective character stands around and watches while her male love interest saves the day, like Holmes and Watson with more (canonical) fucking.

[(Anonymous)]

I think it's the way romance and romantic endings are always treated as a requirement and the only way to tell a story about a woman, rather than one good option out of many good options, is the issue. Not romance in itself.

[(Anonymous)]

Wait... the internet's dismissive of readers of shippy fic? I've always thought it was the opposite, with the exception of a few fandoms.

[(Anonymous)]

Ehhh. I do kinda roll my eyes at people who ONLY read romance novels, same as I do at people who only read shipfic or smut, but even if I don't get the appeal I got no problem with the genre as a whole.

my main issue is...'good' romance novels? I know Sturgeon's Law holds everywhere, but mein gott I haven't had luck with any of the romance novels I've tried. Maybe someone can rec some.

[ninety6tears]

I would love to read more romance if it were easier to find good stuff. Or just that right mix of trashy and quality.

[philstar22]

I'm of the opinion that romance books and films are at the same level as mindless blockbusters. There is rarely any substance, but I don't think they are worse and the fact that action movies are seen as better than romance does say a lot about society sees traditionally feminine things. Especially given that the same sexist tropes are usually in both types.

That being said, I personally don't like straight romance. I like erotica books, but I'm in it for the sex. And I prefer my romantic storylines to be either smutty or to be a side storyline during an action plot. I'm just not personally interested in romance.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, they rock, but I also want a well-written book - or at least one that doesn't make me want to throw it against the wall - with characters I find interesting and likable.

It's hard to look at romance as a genre that is generally open to those things.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm not a huge fan of the genre myself but I have a lot of friends who are, and friends who write romance novels. The genre gets a bad rep because there is SO much crap out there and you have to search harder for the good ones.

[(Anonymous)]

Your image there, I assume it's a header from a website or community for romance readers... seems to indicate that you, the romance reading community, are aware that your books have a reputation for being bad. "Trashy books", "none of the bullshit". And you felt the need to point out that you like "good" romance novels. I mean... you're surprised people mock romance readers?

[(Anonymous)]

I feel like I'd enjoy reading romance books if I could find some where the love interest and the dynamic between the two characters appealed to me. But I get the impression they tend to have a lot of tropes I hate: the "they fight all the time, it must be love!" thing, damsels in distress, abuse-is-love, forced marriage/marriage of convenience, etc.

I'm also not interested in alpha males, hypermasculine muscular dudes, rogues/rakes/any 18th-century bad boy types, arrogant snarky guys, emotionally screwed up billionaires, BDSM doms, or pretty much any male love interest I've ever seen when looking at those kind of books.

If someone can recommend some that don't have those tropes, I might try them out.

[nightscale]

Not a lot of straight-up romance novels(or movies) appeal to me much because I typically like my romance as a side-plot among some action, but I don't think they're worthless trash either.

[(Anonymous)]

I write romance novels. I used to think I hated the genre but it's actually certain tropes that I can't stand. That and that some of the more prominent books soak up a lot of real life misogyny. That's less prominent in M/M romance but not to the extent I'd like - there are a lot of exploitative stereotyping books that have a very icky "this man is the woman and that's why he bottoms" vibe.

But it's the same as any other genre. Wading through a lot of crap or things that just aren't to my taste to find the good stuff.

[(Anonymous)]

Funnily enough, but when I try reading them, I always get the uncanny sense I'm basically reading shippy fanfic. Same kind of tropes, same kind of pacing... but at least with the fanfic the heavy lifting of worldbuilding and characterization has already been done, so I can sit back and enjoy the pairing I like. Romance novels also mean having to learn/develop worlds and characters on top of that, and it just flops for me.

[(Anonymous)]

I love good romance novels, but there's a lot of really not good ones out there. I read other stuff, but sometimes I just really want a sweet and sugary book with some drama and a happily ever after. Sadly, a lot of times I'll be reading a romance novel, stumble across a trope I hate, and it sours the book so much that I can't enjoy the happily ever after.

[(Anonymous)]

I love this website. I hit it up for the failing grades and the couldn't finish this shit books. I be needing a laugh sometimes.

[alwaysbeenasmiler]

I love a good romance novel; historical is my fave and I have a few authors that I absolutely adore and who actually build a good story. If you want a really good spy historical series that is feminist-friendly, try the Pink Carnation series by Lauren Willig and of course my staples of Julia Quinn and Jo Beverly (I love a good Historical Regency).

[(Anonymous)]

All I do online anymore is Pinterest, Fandomsecrets and read manga online. It's so boring.

[(Anonymous)]

The site itself (Smart Bitches) can be pretty amusing, but I haven't liked any of their recs.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah I live and breathe for good romance stories. :) I haven't read a good book in a while and would love recommendations!

But I get my fix from movies and tv. And Fandom shipping. I also think that people try too hard to look for negative things where there really aren't any.

[ceebeegee]

I used to devour historical romance novels, and periodically reread my favorites. I have some guilty pleasure authors--Rosemary Rogers's classic Sweet Savage Love is a favorite (although SO FUCKED UP, so very very '70s), and Jennifer Blake's older stuff. (She is actually an excellent author, quite poetic, although she has a real thing for imprisoning her heroines.) And I like old school Jude Deveraux's stuff like the Velvet series, which is surprisingly quite overtly feminist.

For a truly guilty pleasure I always liked Shirlee Busbee--she's not a great writer but she did write some awesome sex scenes!

[(Anonymous)]

I translate romance novels for a living.

I hate them *so fucking much.* 99% of them are unforgivably sexist, not to mention the chick always has to have a baby at some point, be it midway through the novel or at the very end. I'm so fucking sick about reading about baby drama.

Plus the guy is always rich or a doctor or a race car driver or some shit and she's just some secretary. I have never, ever read a romance novel where the woman is higher status than the man. It's always about his status and money and wealth and she just seduces him by being a good mother or having a "plucky personality" or some other bullshit.

I literally only do this because it's the most stable job in the world when it comes to literary translation. Romance novels are a huge global industry and the demand for them is high. I'd like to do legitimate literature, but I don't really have the experience or the connections for that.

I have gone out of my way to find some good, trope-busting stuff to make me hate romance a little less. Cara-McKenna is good. She really doesn't cleave to gender stereotypes, which I like. But I feel like the vast majority of romance novels are just absolutely fucking offensive. I've only recently been able to start letting the rage roll off my back and just think of it as words on a page and not dwell too deeply on the content. My editor is sick of hearing my whining, anyway, haha.

[(Anonymous)]

I disagree!

[(Anonymous)]

Nope. Genre Romance is fucking stupid.

And the reason Genre Romance is fucking stupid is because it's all the exact same goddamn story, every single book, just with different names and descriptions.

I know this because when I was desperate enough for money once, I looked up the guidelines for Harlequin ( https://harlequin.submittable.com/submit ). There is an actual formula that every book must follow, tropes that all of them must use. If you're wondering why Genre Romance is such utter shit, it's because the publisher will not accept anything else. They got a brand to sell, and that brand is formulaic, sexist crap.

[(Anonymous)]

For me, threads like this prove something I've always thought. A lot more people would like romance if there was more variety.

As it is, people who like the BDSM and bad boy tropes, or the current thing, stepbrother romance (ew), or the billionaire stuff, they know they can find it. They look for it, buy it, read it, and support the industry. Which then gives them more.

But the people who want something different have gotten the message loud and clear YOU DON'T COUNT, so they stop looking and decide romance just isn't for them. And so there's no market. Or rather, the readers who want to read something else, and the writers who want to write it, aren't connecting in a meaningful way to allow the market to exist in a measurable way.

OTOH, if what you like ever does become popular? There will be a LOT of crap churned out to make money off it, and you'll still have to search hard to look for something that's actually a good read. But it will be there, if you keep looking.

I don't blame writers who write to market, or to fill the tropes that are making money. But as a reader, I don't want to read something that's just paint by numbers and not really written from the heart.

I think the answer is to keep looking even when you don't think there's anything out there, so that when someday there is, you can support it and enjoy it. I think I'll go check Amazon for some non-alpha male romance now.