Romance/Erotica

I thought this would be good spot for romance and erotica fans (both vanilla and non vanilla) to talk about favourite books, authors, subgenres etc. Being an anonymous forum this is easier than discussing stuff in public, especially if you're into some of odder or less socially acceptable taboos.

Have at it!

I've only read three romance books in my life (two mediocre, one amazing), but I am absolutely open to suggestions.

It's odd; I like romances, but only as long as the romance is kept at a minimal level in the narration. I like the character-study part that tells me why they would love each other, and looking at the troubles of keeping up a relationship, but not when I'm told "They love each other! She admires him! She's the most beautiful!"

In part it's show-don't-tell and my liking of subtlety. But it's also that open displays of affection embarrass me.

I'm also put off by rigid gender roles, which are common even in the more sophisticated romance novels.

Stories don't tell us monsters exist; we knew that already. They show us that monsters can be trademarked and milked for years.

If you don't mind frequent, sometimes weird sex femme domme romance might be your thing though you'd really have to dig through to find something that's more than porn. There are authors who use the lifestyle for character study purposes though just not many. Id stay away from from domestic discipline stuff tho. Very tight on the gender roles for the most part. Most of the good character study stuff I've found is from gay romance authors. I guess they feel they have validate their characters more. Theres a really sweet story about a couple who start dating after a night club shooting (not Pulse but it's mentioned more tha. Once) and they have to work through PTSD together.

Pseudo, what was the book you liked. I can reccommend you stuff based on that if you want.

edited 15th Oct '17 1:44:02 PM by Sisi

I'm not really into romance novels, but Outlander is on my read list (didn't get to it yet). Mostly because it's fused with Historical Fiction and Time Travel novels. Also, George RR Martin is a huge fan of it (and vise versa, Diana Gabaldon is a ASOIAF fan).

Spiral out, keep going.

I always like a book that blends genres, usually with the romance being secondary (I can do straight romance but as soon as you drop in another genre in my interest usually goes to the other genre - magic keeps me going more than kisses XD)

One particularly good series I like is the William Monk Novels. They are primarily historical mystery but there's a very slow burn romance for the first 10 or so books until the protagonists get married. I also really love this series because it's primarily a middle class to working class Victorian setting so its not all snotty rich folk in top hats and crenolin. The title character is Thames River Police (it take him a while to get there though. Another good thing is that the characters' live don't stagnate. Careers change, people get married, divorced, hired, fired, die and adopt orphans) and his wife is a former Crimean War nurse who runs a clinic for prostitutes and the poor. They have a strong relationship and are devoted to each other and their adopted son. While actual romance has kinda taken a backseat tp the mysteries, it's still there, primarily with one of the side characters, a barrister who suffered though a marriage that went really really bad only to fall in love with a married woman.

Anywho great series, as long as you're not bothered by that fact that the author is a convicted murderer. Seriously.

Hey, I love those books! Occasional melodrama and plot holes (and the murderer thing) aside, I really like when historical fiction chooses not to focus on just the well-off people in a society, and I always end up learning something about the era. And yeah, the romance subplot is lovely.

The romance novel I really liked was Persuasion; I have some of Austen's other books but haven't really gotten into them yet.

edited 17th Oct '17 8:37:57 PM by Pseudopartition

Persuasion was good (call me sacreligious but I prefer the BBC film) But I'm more of a Emma and Knightly fan. They've been together since Emma was a baby and clearly have a very strong bond long before marriage comes into consideration. I like that.

It's good to find another Monk fan. I tried the first couple of books in the Pitt series but Charlotte and Thomas just weren't as interesting to me as William and Hester were. I'm reading the newest Monk right now actually Not sure about the xenophobia plotline yet, but the PTSD stuff is spot on, especially with how Hester has never really been able to talk about all the shit she saw as a nurse with William in any of the other books. The readers have some idea thanks to the 3rd person omniscient POV, but Monk doesn't really, aside from that one time they witnessed the Battle of the Bull first hand.

Which was your favourite Monk novel? I have a soft spot for Sins of the Wolf since that's the first time Monk and Hester kiss. Also Hester's on trial for murder so there's a ton of excitement

That's fine, 'cause it's better! No complaints here.

Yeah, there's not even a trope page (I've noticed that the literature pages aren't that comprehensive, I keep meaning to take a weekend and add some/flesh some out, but no idea when I'd have the time or energy for it). I've read three of the Pitt books, and I keep meaning to go back but I never really gotten into them either. Plus I was a true crime nerd as a kid and the Jack the Ripper book goes with the whole "it was the royal family plot," which is almost definitely not what actually happened. I'm a couple of books behind on the Monk books, but the new one sounds really interesting, especially your description of it.

I'm not sure if I've decided on a favourite, but I really liked The Silent Cry and The Shifting Tide. I don't usually go in for 'angsty and desperate circumstances' (which both have), but there's some good character stuff and they both end on kind of a hopeful note. Plus one is the last appearance of Evan and the other sends off Callandra, and I miss those characters.

edited 22nd Oct '17 7:05:11 AM by Pseudopartition

I find that femdom stuff is often bound to gender roles in subtler ways. I like Haiyore Nyarko San because it reverses the dynamic found in Takahashi's mangas and their many imitators, and in many ways it's the oby who ends up with a sort of dominatrix role.

Romances I have liked:

How to Fall in Love A social worker pulls a stranger back from suicide and decides to coax him back to living, but in time realises she is forming an unhealthy co-dependent relationship for both. I liked it except when the narration was going on about how handsome he is.

Final Fantasy VIII Joyless Squall and cheerful Rinoa have a slow relationship that builds into the game's themes. They would work as contrasting characters even without the romantic angle.

Inspector McLevy McLevy has a difficult working relationship with the brothel madam Joan, that intersects feelings, necessities and politics. They are unusually old, at least in their forties It remains (bright and underlined) subtext, which I was thankful for.

Seishun Otome Banchou A manga that turns shoujo clichés on their heads, starting with a heroine who everyone calls ugly and scary (though really she's drawn very plainly, rather like a background extra in other mangas). While I like the intention, I have to say the author has more ambition than skill.

Jellyfish Princess It plays with gender stereotypes very inventively, it makes everyone look vulnerable at times, but most remarkably it uses a love triangle to highlight the difference between two men and how they view women and not just to force in drama.

I'll just add in: Say I Love You (on Crunchyroll) had good things going for it, but the romance fell flat, though not for the usual reasons. The tsundere girl felt very real, and obviously based on the author. Beside her the boy seemed like an amalgation of shallow wish-fulfilment with no growth, no conflict and no reason to love her (seriously, he is in love before he knows anything about her). They felt badly mismatched in an extra-diegetic sense.

edited 26th Oct '17 4:42:37 AM by Reymma

Stories don't tell us monsters exist; we knew that already. They show us that monsters can be trademarked and milked for years.

Gone With The Wind was very good.

But talking about erotica, as an Anne Rice fan, been thinking about trying her Beauty series, especially since she released a fourth book pretty recently without me realizing it.

As for anime/manga romances....dunno if i have any favorites really.

I've heard the beauty series is basically 50 Shades by someone who actually knows how to write (duh) and what BDSM actually is. Personally it seems more bound to the pain and humiliation aspect than I tend to enjoy. I prefer the more consensual playful type pf BDSM. Though I have indulged in some lighter capture fantasy type stuff.

Yeah me and my girlfriend are both into the BDSM scene and she read the first book and liked it. I'm rather partial to the humiliation aspect myself so the book sounds like it's my speed.

Have you read Emily Tilton? She writes BDSM erotica with a strong bent towards humiliation and discipline. I'd also recommend Carolyn Faulkner, but just be careful with her since she's written some really dark shit. Like forced breeding and sex slave stuff.

There's a writer named Elena Nix, who has several short works available on Amazon. Ranges from more romantic erotica to dom-sub stuff. She has one that's pretty intense, called Passion or Prey that is very good, but hard to categorize. She's really good.