Dear readers of corrupt.org, if you've had a look at my bio*, then you'll know that I love romance novels:

"Two basic elements comprise every romance novel: a central love story and an emotionally-satisfying and optimistic ending."

You may not be intimately familiar with the genre (hopefully not also unfortunately still using the term "bodice-rippers". It's not only scientists that need to keep their terminology current but I've even seen students and teachers of English Literature have their total knowledge of the genre amount to this archaic term). One question you might be asking is, well, why? Why do I love them and, moreover, why am I revealing this to you?

Romance novels are unabashedly written by (mostly) women for (mostly) women. They are incredibly diverse. In fact, for every current section of genre fiction, there's a romance subgenre or two reflecting it. The sources of tension and conflicts within the novels pushing the narrative can be external, internal or both. The protagonists' worries can range from saving the universe to meeting the in-laws. There's romantic suspense, historical, contemporary, steampunk, sci-fi, paranormal, fantasy and urban fantasy to name but a few. The level of sexual content can range from outright erotic romance (which sells very well in the ebook business, by publishers such as Samhain or Ellora's Cave) to effectively absent (in inspirational romance, which is religiously themed, or in sweet romance, which is the term for a romance low on the heat level). Due to the sheer volume of romance novels published, the writing can range from brilliant to atrocious.

This massive demand for these novels also allows the unique format of series or category romance wherein cheap and fairly short titles are put out on shelves, usually for a limited amount of time (about a month, I do believe). The most famous of these is Harlequin publishing; you can sample some of their books here for free in pdf and ebook format (note the diversity of their category romances: Blaze (where the spice level is up), historicals, suspense, paranormal and even one of their NASCAR-themed ones. Someone please explain to my England-dwelling self, why the NASCAR? In any case: series romances have formed the impression of the genre to a lot of people, which I have talked about before but it is like forming an impression of chocolate having only M&Ms available to you. You haven't tried anything else, especially the Ferrerro Rochers or the Godiva chocolates.

Seeing as how there is so much ground to cover, how can I even begin to explain to you what draws me to it, and even what draws women to it and what it can say about the female psyche?

What better way to explore the genre then by reviewing 'Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels' as my first official review on corrupt.org. If you can't already tell by the title, those smart gals at smartbitchestrashybooks.com who are bloggers-turned-authors have a unique sense of humour (their love of the Internet, including some memes, really shows in the book). They're also razor sharp academics and have an appreciation of the camp that borders on adolescent. It makes for some hilarious reading in their book. The book is filled with:

• swearing. A lot of creative swearing. Holy guacamole on a toasted tortilla bread, I am not kidding with you. Do not let the kiddies near the book if you don't want them going around yelling 'holy cuntmonkeys'.
• euphemisms that are deliberately overblown for high comedic effect, managing to exceed some used in romance novels themselves. That is no mean feat, let me tell you.
• merciless parody of the genre.
• piercing analysis and exploration of the genre.
• fun little games ranging from Choose Your Own Adventure type stuff (well, Choose Your Own Mantitty) to an in-book boardgame.

What I found really important about their examination (yes, there was examination in between all the hilarity) was their indirect exploration of the female psyche. They explored how romance has changed: diversity and sexual expression in the genre is a relatively recent phenomenon, precipitated by historical events such as the sexual revolution. You can extrapolate from this the good, the bad and the ugly about the recent changes that have set into society, which have by many theories centred around women, their views and their rights. Romance novels are the barometer by which female-centred thinking and issues are measured and mirrored, if you will.

They explore the feminine attitudes to sexuality, love and partnership which influence romance novels or run contrary to them. This is important for both genders to gain a deeper understanding of: both as people affected by this in everyday life but through being on the search for partnership of one sort or another themselves, as well as finding ways to maintain relationships and keep them nurtured. Their researched examination reveals things that cannot be extrapolated from the romance novels themselves, without an understanding of being a woman and the collective contexts of romance writing. A frequent complaint is that romance novels set expectations too high for love, men and women; they attempt to deconstruct this myth and -- I think -- represent the female reader experience very well. They've taken an amazingly light-hearted tone in their book, but this is ultimately (laugh out loud!) window-dressing for some Serious Business.

I can only aspire to the braveness of their unique style: unapologetic humour as well as serious academic points. This book has something for everybody: lovers of the genre, people looking for a bit of fun, literary academics and people who want an introduction. They've done their research, with citations listed at the back. The only thing I wished they had was an index, although the entry for some words (like 'hoo-hoo') would be 'every other page'.

Romance novels are one of the unexplored secrets of women. It's time you learnt a thing or two about them: being female, male or possibly both.

You can buy the Smart Bitches' Guide at:

You can find excerpts and outtakes at their website.

Related: 'Romance Anniversary' at the blowhards.com website. There're some romance novel recommendations others and I have made in the comments for you.

*If you've also had a look at our bios recently, you'll notice some of us are on twitter with Alex tweeting: @corrupt_org. You can also find @SmartBitches on there.