Editorial longreads about Romance novels.
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Waiting for the Flood by Alexis Hall
Introductory note: So many thanks to Alexis Hall for asking for my family’s pierogi recipe to be included at the end of the novella Chasing the Light, Part II of Waiting for the Flood! WFTF is one of my fave AJH books ever, I was honoured to contribute to it in this small way, and…
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The Politics of Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue
Spoilers ahead for the entire novel. There are brief mentions of being outed against one’s will and a sexual abuse plotline. Casey McQuiston’s 2019 novel Red, White & Royal Blue is obviously not meant to be a serious commentary on the current political state of affairs in the U.S.A. It is over-the-top outlandish wish-fulfillment for…
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Dissecting a Dragon: Laura Kinsale’s For My Lady’s Heart
This book pulled off the near-impossible: making me fall in love with a couple who are not forthcoming with their emotions. Ruck and Melanthe struggle to communicate with each other for the entirety of the novel. They are not tender-hearted, and their relationship is characterized by lust and uncertainty. Right until the end, it seems…
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The Sex Life of Saint Augustine: Spiritual Ecstasy and Sierra Simone’s Priest
This is more of an heretical sermon on the novel than anything else! Beware of spoilers for the entire book. This essay starts off as a review of Priest, discusses an historical example of sexuality and salvation in Augustine’s confessions, contrasts that with the idea of sex as spiritual transcendence in the novel (along with…
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