Today’s Top 5 Tuesday features my favorite bodice rippers. For those who don’t indulge, a bodice ripper is a romance novel usually written in the 70s – 90s, that involved many of the following elements:
Virgin heroine (not for long)
Alpha (with a capitol ALPHA) hero
Alpha (with a capitol ALPHA) hero
Kidnapping
Forced seduction
Rape
Pirates
Harems
Enslavement
Spying
Travel
Adventure
Epic length
Long separation
Heroine imprisoned
Hero imprisoned
Heroine beaten
Hero beaten
Huge misunderstanding/s
Evil relatives
Evil Mistress
Adultery
Secret pregnancies
Surprise babies
Miscarriages
Amnesia
Flogging
Incest
Incest
Murder
Heroine/Hero sold
Back from the dead
Wild sex
Explicit sex
Arranged marriages
Stalking
Heroine has clothing torn off at least once, maybe several times (why do you think they call them bodice rippers?)
If you’re reading a romance novel and it contains more than three of the above elements, it may be a bodice ripper. If it contains more than 10, it is definitely a bodice ripper and if it contains all of them it was probably written by either Rosemary Rogers or Connie Mason.
Bodice Rippers have fallen out of favor with today’s romance publishers, and frankly, I miss them. Yes they were incredibly sexist and politically incorrect, but the stories were larger than life fantasies. They offered up characters who were bold, vibrant and adventurous, unlike many of the bland, lifeless romance novels that one reads these days. So, without further ado, my top 5 Bodice rippers:
Devil’s Embrace – Catherine Coulter – 1982
Psycho stalking alpha hero. Check. Innocent, soon to be raped and brainwashed heroine. Check. As a friend once said to me, if it wasn’t for all the beating and raping, this would be a great love story!
Never Call it Love – Veronica Jason – 1978
Nope, call it a violent, angsty, sex-filled travelogue.
Sweet Savage Love – Rosemary Rogers – 1974
Ah, Steve and Ginny. What most people think of when they think of a bodice ripper. A little sweet, a lot of savage and not all that much love, but it is still a classic!
Caress and Conquer – Connie Mason – 1986
Bad, bad, bad in a real good way. The entire time you are reading this book you will find yourself wishing you could quit reading it long enough to burn it and bury the ashes in the backyard, so that no one would ever be forced to read it again, but unfortunately, you cannot stop reading it long enough to move off the couch, let alone find matches and a shovel.
Flame and the Flower – Kathleen Woodiwiss – 1972
The one that started it all. Seems pretty tame now compared to the others on the list.
You forgot to mention that the virgin heroine is usually a teenage and the hero who takes her virginity is usually in his 30's!! I miss the good old days when it was ok to read bodice rippers.
ReplyDeleteTwo of my favorite bodice rippers:
Crimson Rapture by Jennifer Horsman
Tiger Lily by Shirlee Busbee
Well, after reading this blog post several times, and after our conversations online today, I have decided to nominate some bodice rippers of my own. I think I will start with Gypsy Lord, by Kat Martin. I just now pulled it off the shelf, and will curl up with this book, a cup of tea and read as it pours rain and thunders outside. I hope the book is a good as I remember. I will have to hit the library before I add other titles to this list. In a fit over the vanilla-ness of so many of the past decade's romance novels, I boxed tons up and gave them away. I thought I was tired of romance novels. What I was tired of was current romance novels. Your blog made me remember all that I was missing - danger, stalking, kidnapping, dark passions, obsessions, near death, pirates, gypsies, real villeins (some of the female persuasion) and more. Off I go to rekindle my romance with old fashioned bodice rippers. Hope to come back with a good review
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestions guys! I have Tiger Lily and Gypsy Lord on their way to me. I can't afford Crimson Rapture, so I'll have to borrow it Jackie:) I'm going to try and keep updating as well, so we don't run out of juicy material!
ReplyDeleteSome of my favorite books were the bodice rippers, I started with Woodiwiss and enjoyed them tremendously, the covers always embarrassed me, I was above that kind of writing, but I love it and have gone back to the books and am constantly searching for more, I like the bodice rippers. Thanks for the suggestions.
ReplyDelete