Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide To Romance Novels (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
Hello, my name is Seonaid and I am a romance fiction fan. I have been ever since I was a teenager and found a stack of Mills and Boons in my aunt's cupboard, and voraciously read my way through them. This was indeed the love that dared not speak its name, for fear of being mocked as a 'chick lit' reader by the heroic and superior dick lit readers. No more! If your Wang is not mighty and lovin', and your Hoo-Hoo lacks magic, then keep your opinions to yourselves, for we romance lovers do not care.I love this book, which covers important topics such as the history of the modern romance novel, the heroes and heroines who populate them, and the convoluted plot lines they must suffer under. From the ever popular cross-dressing pirates of mistaken identity plots, through romantic suspense novels to the more recent double-schlonged heroes of contemporary paranormal romance (seriously, I must add Morgan Hawke's Fallen Star to my wish list), the Smart Bitches touch upon many fascinating topics, not least of which is who does the reader identify with? Naturally, most people would assume the heroine is the main focus of the reader relationship with the novel, but more current research shows that many female readers actually identify with the hero, comfortably assuming his alpha mantle of dominance as they read. Maybe readers, like characters in erotic fiction, are able to comfortably move between partners without batting an eye, or a heroic wang.You may sneer, but romance fiction in America alone, accounted for $1.37 billion worth of sales in one year, and an estimated 64.6 million Americans (many of them highly educated, professional women) read at least one book from the genre. That's a huge amount by anyone's standards, and it would be fair to posit that it is the romance genre that keeps the rest of the publishing industry afloat, not to mention the art industry – some (large) publishers will spend thousands of dollars on the cover art, and both artists and models are instantly recognisable to their millions of fans. There's money to be made in them thar hills.Personally speaking, I would have liked to see a far greater analysis of some of the more well known novels, but och well – I'll just have to re-read them and do it myself.Recommended for anyone who likes their endings happy, with a bit of extra sauce. I wanted to love this book, but reading it was like going on a bizarre road trip. At the beginning of a section or chapter, the main idea was so strong that it was like being told, "OK let's get in the car and go to Dallas!" Then several pages later I'd stop and think, "Wait, what? How did we end up in Seattle?" The road trip was entertaining, but I never knew where I was going or why.I was interested in reading a funny treatise on a genre I love, but the book is rambly and sometimes dissolves into incoherence. Despite the section headers, their ideas are disorganized and repetitive. Also, way too much of the book was devoted to the games (nearly a third!). The choose-your-own-adventure was entertaining, but I could've done without the board game, the mad libs, and the maze game. I would've preferred actual content. And seriously, no book list?? Given all the titles they mention, it would've been really helpful to have a reading list at the end!If you can get past the rambling, then it's worth it to read. There are some interesting points in here, and it's nice to see a discussion of the genre that's not from 1998.
What do You think about Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide To Romance Novels (2009)?
I thought this might be a fun book to read but it just wasn't for me.
—kay
Pretty funny. I kind of want to try reading romance novels now.
—Zac
