If you had asked me if I’d ever willingly read a literary analysis of any specific genre of literature, I would have yelled a very loud, “NO!” I hate that crap. Really, I get these terrible flashbacks to all that required reading of excruciatingly dull authors in school. If the next question was would I actually enjoying the experience, I would have laughed my ass off ! Well, I did laugh my ass off (unfortunately not literally) with Beyond Heaving Bosoms, so I guess the joke’s on me.
Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan are known in the romance community as The Smart Bitches and run one of the most popular romance book blogs on the internet. This funny and insightful analysis of one of the most popular genres in fiction is such a good read that I can unequivocally recommend it even for those who would normally loathe such books. It’s obvious the writers love the genre and mostly they poke hilarious fun at the many shortcomings of the generic heroes and heroines – and plots. The chapter on Choose Your Own Man Titty is a howl. The paranormal one had me in complete fits – though it did avoid the mandatory group sex. (I kept think of Bianca d’Arc’s Lords of the Were and so many more.) They didn’t do futuristic, which is kind of a shame. Sex in space can get pretty kinky. (more…)
