Georgette Heyer is widely considered to be the pioneer of the Regency romance. From 1921 to 1972, Heyer published thirty-seven […]
Conditions Are Favorable—For Love!
Tara Staley’s 2013 novel Conditions Are Favorable brings romance to the windswept sand bar of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, positing […]
Becoming Rodin’s Lover: Camille Claudel and Mental Illness
“Why have there been no great women artists?” feminist art historian Linda Nochlin asked in her 1971 essay of the […]
World War II Romance Takes Flight: With Every Letter by Sarah Sundin
A confession: I am a fairly new romance reader. I only picked up my first true romance novel about a […]
“Stories in Plain View”: Cat Sebastian’s Revolutionary Queer Historical Romances
It’s no secret that I love romance novels. At its best, the genre challenges traditional narratives by offering emotional and […]
Amor Vincit Omnia
On June 23, 2016, I flew to London with my husband after a research trip in Germany. There were storms […]
The Gender Politics of the “Sexy Chef” in Romance Literature
After finishing my master’s degree in Gastronomy in July 2013, I gave myself an academic reading palate cleanser.1 I devoured […]
Hijabophobia: An Unseen but Entirely Visible Force
In August 2017, a burqa-clad woman stepped into the chambers of the Australian parliament and sat down. To the individuals […]
A Curious New Woman: Veronica Speedwell
It is June 1887, and London is preparing to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, marking the 50th year of her […]
A Very Lost Cause Love Affair; or, Is It Possible to Write a Good Civil War Romance?
Ask anyone who knows me, and they’ll tell you: I love romance novels. Seriously — after signing up sort of […]
