Women get all these *crazy ideas* like wanting respect from their partner, asking for what they want or even worse – good sex. GASP! We want a guaranteed HEA – Happily Ever After. And we all know – no woman gets that! Am I right?
Every other genre is allowed to be predictable and men are allowed to indulge in unrealistic porn or Adam Sandler movies but the billion dollar romance industry is warping delicate female minds.
Anyway – forget the rant and watch just Love Between the Covers! A documentary about the romance genre that respects it’s subject. No sneering, no passive aggressive snickering.
Love Between the Covers shows how empowering the romance genre has been for women of all walks of life. It shows how it has helped people through horrific tragedies, has given a voice to the voiceless (Beverly Jenkins writing African American historical romance, Len Barot – Les-fic for example), and as Jennifer Crusie puts it – “You can have sex without dying horribly”.
The doc covers a lot of familiar terrain with all the big romance authors. You can’t have a romance documentary without Eloisa James and Nora Robert but it does include a wide array of authors, including indie and self pub.
What it does best though, is show the sense of community- the special relationship between romance authors and readers. They consider themselves friends and family and romance readers naturally find each other, and they tend to pay it forward to help the next group. It even shows how fans have turned their hobby into a profession promoting their favorite authors.
It probably won't convert skeptics but if you're looking to celebrate the romance genre without getting made fun of - here you go!
Find it:
Romance rocks!
ReplyDeleteYasssss
DeleteI hadn't heard of this one - thanks for sharing. It sounds really good. I love various romance novels, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that!
ReplyDeleteI saw a few authors talking about it last year. I'm glad I took the time to look it up because it was a really refreshing take on the genre.
DeleteI've heard about this from a few authors!!
ReplyDeleteIt's so good!
DeleteI love love LOVE this Karen! It comes with such a stigma doesn't it, oh romance books, you're one of THOSE readers. I think people see them still as 'your mother's romance books' and we all know that's not the case at all. It's about women being able to do whatever the hell they want. I think it's why I prefer women authors in general too. I like a side of romance with all genres, that's why is a lucrative industry. Going to check out their website. Thanks so much for sharing Karen <3
ReplyDeleteI used to be embarrassed too but who cares!
DeleteEvery genre has their duds but there are a lot of fun, smart romances out there. And it's such a supportive community.
You really should watch it! It's the first time I've seen it looked at this way. Even articles andsegments that are trying to do a positive piece somehow insult the readers/writers but this didn't.
I loved this documentary and even made my hubs watch it with me. Whenever I've read romance in the past, I've kept pretty quiet about it, but I'm much more open about it now. With all of the grim news and grim atmosphere currently, some of my non-romance reading friends have even been more willing to give it a try, especially when they find out that it usually always includes an HEA or at least an HFN.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing wrong with HEA's or HFN's and I don't know why people look down on them. Getting to that point is hard! And it's not like everyone lives miserable lives all the time - HEA's are real.
DeleteI'm glad you and your hubby enjoyed it too!
Karen it’s fantastic, thanks so much for putting it on my radar! Romance is the best!
ReplyDeleteAgreed! I hope you like it.
DeleteI am totally going to watch this! I hate the attitude of dismissal towards romance, and I hid my love for historical romance because I used to get teased for it (I was heavily into Johanna Lindsey my Freshman year of high school) and it made me quit reading romance for awhile. Part of the thing that makes me love book blogging so much was because I finally felt I wasn't alone in my love for certain genres, and now I'm happily reading whatever the hell I want.
ReplyDeleteI didn't start reading romance until about 6-7 years ago. I get a lot of passive aggressive responses. Like - oh that's fun but I like to read *real* books or one I got recently in regards to YA - but I like good writing. F#&*$(*!% asshole!
Deleteah yes, I've seen this around a few times now.
ReplyDeleteoh I really love this documentary and I like the relationship that romance authors and readers have with each other. And its good that they created this, because it shows what romance really does for its readers. It can be trying having everyone think so many negative things about it.
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