Willow ’s Comments (group member since Jun 15, 2011)

Willow ’s comments from the Bodice Ripper Readers Anonymous group.

Cphe wrote: "Looks good - thanks I downloaded it Willow."

I've read that it's a lot like These Old Shades. :D

Here's another freebie


http://www.amazon.com/Noble-Satyr-Geo...

Cat The Debaucherous wrote: "Me too. I watched "The Man in Grey." because of your post, Willow."

Oh cool, did you like it? It has a shocking ending. lol

Kerrie wrote: "I see James Mason! *fangirls*"

Yes, I'm definitely a JM fangirl! :DDD

Hey Cat, I know you're a Timothy Dalton fan. Have you seen Penny Dreadful? It was actually quite good. Eva Green is great.

It's been a long time since I've seen The Beguiled, but I remember thinking at the time that it was very disturbing. It kind of bothered me, like The Collector did.

No man is a stud for raping a woman whose body decided to ease the transition to minimize damages.

I agree with you, Mermarie, 100%.

I've never looked at BR forced seduction though as being about real rape. I look at them as fantasy books that were popular for women in the seventies, because they felt guilty about having sex. The girl can't be guilty (or slutty) if the guy forces her into it. I think society used to really tear down women for liking sex. In fact, there's still a lot of slut shamming.

Of course, I don't want to sound pompous. Please don't get me wrong. I think a lot of people read BRs for different reasons, whether it be the wtf factor or their love of historical adventure. But I suspect that the original underlining fantasy comes from that desire to have guiltless sex.

I think a historical fiction book becomes a BR when it has two things, forced seduction/rape and the hero is also a villain. I know that sounds simple, but for me that’s the main difference. This is why I consider The Demon Lover by Victoria Holt a BR, even though it's pretty tame (at least by Rosemary Rogers standards). lol

Nancy Friday wrote a book back in the seventies discussing woman’s sexual fantasies called My Secret Garden. In her study, she found that many women fantasized about being forced into sex (not necessarily always rape). She hypothesized that this may be due to the ‘good girl’ image that still lingered from the Victorian period that demanded that women did not enjoy sex. A woman who is forced into sex isn’t being wanton. She can’t be held responsible for what is happening to her. In other words, she can’t be blamed for having the big O. Her orgasm is all the man's fault because he is forcing her into it. The heroine is still a good girl, even though she's no longer a virgin.

Of course, things have changed since the seventies and eighties. Women aren’t as concerned about being a good girl. So when Nancy Friday did her study again in the 1990s with Women on Top, she found this fantasy wasn’t quite as popular as it used to be. That’s also when BRs started to lose their popularity. I think a lot of women today are sort of bewildered by BRs because of this. Women don't have the same guilt about sex.

But then again, maybe they do. I think remnants of this guiltless, 'good girl' fantasy still pops up in YA and New Adult books. Maybe it's because young women are uncomfortable about sex Unfortunately, most of the books today are not as well written or plotted out as the classic BRs. Really good authors used to write BRs like Victoria Holt. I think some writers now want to capture the same fantasy, but they're afraid to go too far, or they go the other way, making it very dark and grim like Captive in the Dark.

I agree there should be a category for historical romance. It's amazing that it's not there.

Yay! Now Amethyst I didn't have. :D

So I run over to grab The Mackinnon's Bride, only to be told I already have it. That's kind of sad that I don't know what's in my Kindle black hole. :/

Sorry about that, Sandi. Yeah, I was real irritated too when I first got my Kindle. Fortunately I found out about Calbre and was able to transfer everything over. Of course, that was quite a while ago. My Kindle is pretty old.

Sandi, you might have to download Calibre. It's free and it will convert your files to Kindle for you. You may have to watch some of the tutorials to figure out how to use it.

I get all swoony for James Mason too. You can actually watch The Man in Grey on Youtube. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUXxPK...

I read the book, A Dark and Splendid Passion which the movie is based off of, but I didn't like it as well as the movie.

Karla (Mossy Love Grotto) wrote: "Of course! LOL Well, I'll get around to it someday. I mean, it's only been out since the late 90s, right? :P The main reason I want to see it is Jonathan Pryce. Love that guy. :D

Totally OT: Holly..."

If you love Jonathan Pryce, you'll have to watch Brazil.

Thanks, Misfit. What a great site.

I have to laugh about the poster for Your Erroneous Zones. I remember my mom thought Dr. Wayne was so creepy looking, she took a black magic marker and scribbled out his face. That way she wouldn't have to look at him while she was reading.

Regan wrote: "Willowfaerie: you are so right. For the Speas books I will review on my blog in the next few weeks, I'll be showing both covers. I do not like the new ones as they suggest the "light fluff" histori..."

Yes, there's just so much emotion in the Tom Hall covers. I get all swept up just looking at them. These new headless covers are just so blah, as if the stories themselves are headless.

[image error]

A cover with a fan. :)

E!!!

Karla (Mossy Love Grotto) wrote: "I still like some of the network shows, like Hawaii Five-O, but I heard that one is in danger of getting cancelled because even though it's very popular, it's not popular with that cherished 18 to ..."

That's so nuts too, because that demographic usually does not have the big money. It's older people who buy expensive cars.