“Somewhere in Time” is a preeminent romantic movie, one that predictably makes lists when romance readers are asked for recommendations. But it doesn’t show up on most of the easily-accessed top 50 or 100 movies of all time lists on the net. I looked in vain. Various Julia Roberts comedies and Hugh Grant comedies and  … Read more

Okay, I admit it, I used to have a major crush on Harrison Ford. I loved Carrie Fisher in the first Star Wars when she was being totally sarcastic to Han Solo. I related to her intelligence and sharp wit. But I absolutely adored Harrison Ford as Han Solo being a smartass back at her  … Read more

We just don’t see that kind of romance anymore, do we? The ones with 36-year-old heroes and 17-year-old heroines? (Okay, maybe we still do in historical romances. It’s been a long time since I read any, so let me know.) I remember that as the age difference in Dr. Syn, The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh,  … Read more

The romantic tale of Tristan and Isolde dates to the 11th century and exists in many versions. The basic situation is that aged King Mark sends his nephew, Sir Tristan, to fetch the king’s bride, Princess Isolde. And on the ship back to Mark’s kingdom, the two young people fall in love and become lovers.  … Read more

In many romances, the heroine is torn between two loyalties. She initially identifies closely with her family. She sees the hero as an interloper. She sides with her wastrel brother or manipulative father, for instance, even when he’s doing things that impact her life negatively. Like selling her to the hero in marriage to wipe  … Read more

Romances reflect the state of our society. Not very long ago, we used to think that a man proved his love by showing jealousy of his girlfriend or wife. He loved her so much he wanted her all for himself, and so on. That was common in an era of men who were strong and  … Read more

Carmen is not a good girl heroine. Carmen freely chooses and dumps lovers. Carmen dies. The wages of sex is death. Well, at least that’s the way it always used to go. Carmen, the antiheroine of a 19th century French novel by Prosper Mérimée, was such a bad girl that for the famous opera of  … Read more

Virtually next door, that is. We list Smartbitchestrashybooks.com as a link on our sidebar, and I hope you have gone visiting sometime. It’s a fun site with lots of snark about silly covers and sillier romances. And there is plenty of thoughtful debate about romance, from people who ought to know because they write it  … Read more

Most of us struggled through reading a few examples of classic 19th century English literature when we were teenagers. Not because we wanted to, but because they were required for school. For some, that was the magic introduction to Jane Eyre, or Pride and Prejudice, or Rudyard Kipling’s Kim. A world of romance, comedy of  … Read more

Today we mark the passing of a remarkable romance writer, Phyllis A. Whitney, at age 104. Ms. Whitney had a long and distinguished writing career, finally retiring when she was in her nineties. This included being named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 1988. Had there been an organization devoted to  … Read more