Every genre has both good and bad books in it (including the genre generally known as 'Literature' - if anyone ever tries to make me read The Leopard again, or, God help me, anything by Patrick White, well, I'm not sure what I'll do, but it won't involve reading)... and it seems a pity to dismiss any genre without ever reading an example of it. In fact, if you enjoy any films in the 'romantic comedy' genre, I can promise you there are romance novels you would enjoy too (some of which are even written by professors of English Literature, as it happens).
As it happens, none of the novels listed in this quiz are favourites of mine. The only ones on the list which I have read are by Julia Quinn, who can write far better things than the three chosen here (How to Catch an Heiress and How to Marry a Marquis are both extremely funny, for example, though I admit to a desire to smack the hero of the former). But I don't think Loretta Chase is even capable of writing a bad book; Eloisa James is fabulous and actually gets her historical attitudes right; Anne Gracie is fabulous *and* Australian, and let's not forget that Hugo-winners Connie Willis and Lois McMaster Bujold have dabbled delightfully in romance on occasion.
And if you think I'm unduly kind in my criticisms (and I freely admit I read romances when I want to be entertained without thinking too much), I do recommend Smart Bitches, Trashy Books - their reviews of novels (and covers) are witty, merciless, and dead-on. And hysterically funny, especially when skewering clichés.
Sorry to respond to your one-liner with such a screed, but as a proud reader and occasional writer of romance, I could not let it stand unanswered.
no subject
As it happens, none of the novels listed in this quiz are favourites of mine. The only ones on the list which I have read are by Julia Quinn, who can write far better things than the three chosen here (How to Catch an Heiress and How to Marry a Marquis are both extremely funny, for example, though I admit to a desire to smack the hero of the former). But I don't think Loretta Chase is even capable of writing a bad book; Eloisa James is fabulous and actually gets her historical attitudes right; Anne Gracie is fabulous *and* Australian, and let's not forget that Hugo-winners Connie Willis and Lois McMaster Bujold have dabbled delightfully in romance on occasion.
And if you think I'm unduly kind in my criticisms (and I freely admit I read romances when I want to be entertained without thinking too much), I do recommend Smart Bitches, Trashy Books - their reviews of novels (and covers) are witty, merciless, and dead-on. And hysterically funny, especially when skewering clichés.
Sorry to respond to your one-liner with such a screed, but as a proud reader and occasional writer of romance, I could not let it stand unanswered.
Catherine