Comments on: But IS it romance?

By: Nicola O.

Nicola O. — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:26:02 +0000

errr, that would be ‘controverSy’…

and I realize that my thoughts on Rhett sort of trailed off there, but really, I could go on and on, so it’s probably better this way.

By: Nicola O.

Nicola O. — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:24:00 +0000

I have put GWTW on my list of favorite romances. I agree that if it were published today, it wouldn’t come out in mass market by a romance line. But I tend to be more generous with my definitions for books that pre-date what I think of as modern genre norms, and I think that it contains a lot of the DNA for the current genre, or at the very least, the beginnings of the genre (ca 1970, as defined by ME – I know this is a controvery!)

Scarlett is the quintessential spunky unconventional indefatigable heroine. Rhett is one of the most perfect romance heroes ever, in my mind. I have referred to him as an alpha, but I think really he is more of a beta hero: he keeps standing back, giving her room, security, protection.

I guess I think of it more as a romance forerunner, as so many aspects of it became almost ubiquitous in genre romance– even if its ambiguous non-HEA ending did not.

By: Monday Morning Stepback: Reviews of Unavailable Books — Do They Bug You? «

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:02:44 +0000

[...] Kristie is claiming that books like Love Story and Gone with the Wind are not really romances at AccessRomance. [...]

By: Tara Marie

Tara Marie — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:23:04 +0000

Hammer meet nail You’re exactly right, no HEA, no romance, it’s rather simple.

By: Wendy

Wendy — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:49:18 +0000

By jove, I think she’s got it! I agree with you. Books, movies etc. can certainly be “romantic” – but that doesn’t necessarily make them a “romance.” Well, at least how most romance readers define the genre. I hammer this point into a lot of librarians. Romance novels as we know them today “need” that positive ending. Hero and heroine live happily ever after. A dead hero or heroine at the end does not and never will = happy.

Well, at least in my mind.