Harlequin romance

[blue_lotus13]

I'll confess, I like to look at Harlequins when I'm in a bookstore. I've only read one, and the writing was of such poor quality that I've never read another. However, it's the themes in Harlequins that interest me. I first developed this interest when I worked in a bookstore and began to notice the covers of the Harlequins.

There were several themes that cropped up frequently:

1. Romance with a cowboy or Texan, or on a ranch
2. Romance with a sheik
3. Romance with a bad boy
4. Woman gets pregnant by one man, then falls in love/ marries another (This series was known by some title such as "Little surprise" or "little miracle" etc.)
5. Single mom falls in love with man (who of course adores her child)

I have to ask myself why these themes are popular. Do a lot of women fantasize about sheiks or cowboys? (I certainly don't) Do women, especially "fallen women with children" want to be rescued by a white knight with a hefty chequing account?

*It should also be noted that university educated women read the most Harlequins.

Comments

[linaerys.livejournal.com]

It should also be noted that university educated women read the most Harlequins.

That's scary.

[brdgt.livejournal.com]

There's a really good article/book about that (who reads romance novels) - I had to read it in Grad School... now I must find it...

[kickarse.livejournal.com]

I'm really obsessed with romance novels and their themes as well, also "from a distance". Sometimes I try to read them because they're hilarious, but they're TOO bad! The Harlequin bad boy is often an international playboy/art patron/heir, or at least he was in my Grandma's old 60's/70's Harlequins. (I wish my mom still had those, the cover art was so glam and mod!)

When I was thinking about doing a zine on wolves, I found a creepy sub-genre of werewolf romances. AhoooooOOooooo!

[kumquatmay]

when i worked in romance novels, we used to call the series romances "baby cowboy and brides"

[kumquatmay]

also, most of the authors are extremely well educated as well. in historicals, we got a lot of PhD candidates and some history professors writing.

[dandelion5.livejournal.com]

My grandma had a ton of those books! LOL It was great when I was about 12 and realized it was porn. ;)

You *really* need to read an essay that Florence King wrote about the formula for writing a harlequin romance! :) LOL It's hysterical- how her editors refused to let her inject any historical information whatsoever in her historical harlequin. :) It's in "The Florence King Reader." ILL it if you have to from the library. :)

[blue-lotus.livejournal.com]

We have the Florence King reader in our main library, I'll be checking that out.