tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post2233735287566234759..comments2024-03-28T03:06:23.447-04:00Comments on Romance Novels for Feminists: Early Edith Layton and Male-Inflected RomanceJackie C. Hornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04146684628443152376noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-48403368650675593832017-02-22T15:24:26.605-05:002017-02-22T15:24:26.605-05:00Have you ever got around To Wed a Stranger? I am m...Have you ever got around To Wed a Stranger? I am midway through The Duke's Wager and I know I will want to read more Layton... looking for recommendations! I did read nearly all Balogh!! :)Claudianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-84515630115594064192016-09-19T18:02:32.597-04:002016-09-19T18:02:32.597-04:00I read FALSE ANGEL after you mentioned that it was...I read FALSE ANGEL after you mentioned that it was your fav, Willaful (the one Layton I had read before I started this Layton reading tear). I didn't enjoy it all that much, though. A bit from my Goodreads review: This is one where I felt as if I was meant to laugh at Nell [the heroine] and not always in a kind-spirited manner. And the characterization of Annabelle [the "other woman"] was pretty ugly (enough, already, with describing her "small sharp breasts"!)<br /><br />I did enjoy these more than that one, especially LORD OF DISHONOR, THE ABANDONED BRIDE, and THE DUKE'S WAGER. Looking forward to TO WED A STRANGER.<br /><br />I found Layton's depiction of homosexuality an interesting sub-thread in several of these early books, which seemed pretty unusual for a Signet Regency.<br /><br />What do you think Bujold and Kelly have in common?Jackie C. Hornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04146684628443152376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-41733155627102382682016-09-19T17:57:58.850-04:002016-09-19T17:57:58.850-04:00Thanks, anonymous, for stopping by and sharing you...Thanks, anonymous, for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. I actually did enjoy THE DUKE'S WAGER, in large part because the two male protagonists vying for the heroine were actual rakes. I get tired of all the pseudo-rakes who populate regency-era romances...<br /><br />Will have to check out THE GOOD FIGHTJackie C. Hornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04146684628443152376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-61662710994501638992016-09-18T02:02:44.319-04:002016-09-18T02:02:44.319-04:00My favorite Laytons are _False Angel_ and _To Wed ...My favorite Laytons are _False Angel_ and _To Wed a Stranger_. Both have complex and interesting heroines, which might have something to do with it.<br /><br />Carla Kelly is another who spends a great deal of time in her heroes heads. In fact I realized recently that if Lois McMaster Bujold wrote historical romance, it would read a great deal like Carla Kelly.willafulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17201963128584310884noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-630346294397505634.post-38582934157601983192016-09-16T21:11:07.925-04:002016-09-16T21:11:07.925-04:00I found The Duke's Wager really interesting an...I found The Duke's Wager really interesting and unusual, as a romance. I didn't exactly "enjoy" it (the men were actual rakes, not the good-natured young men of basically decent morals who happen to employ a mistress who often show up in Regencies with that label) but the prose was so good, and it felt so real and honest. <br /><br />I very much enjoy a male POV in a romance, but very often I feel that I am reading a female fantasy of a male POV (which of course I am... but I don't want to notice it!) instead of actually reading a man's thoughts. <br /><br />I recently read the Juliana Keyes book "The Good Fight", which is entirely from the POV of the hero. I thought it pretty closely captured what as least feels like a male POV. (It was also unusual in that the hero was more commitment-oriented than the heroine, who was sort of strange and unlikable in ways I hadn't seen in romance before.) Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com