Sarah S.G. Frantz, associate professor of English at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina, is president of the International Association for the Study of Popular Romance and the author of articles on Jane Austen, J.R. Ward, Suzanne Brockmann, and contemporary popular romance fiction. Eric Murphy Selinger is executive editor of the Journal of Popular Romance Studies and associate professor of English at DePaul University, where he teaches courses dedicated exclusively to popular romance fiction. He is the author or co-editor of several books and is a regular contributor to Parnassus: Poetry in Review.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgments      Introduction: New Approaches to Popular Romance Fiction—ERIC MURPHY SELINGER AND SARAH S.G. FRANTZ      Part One: Close Reading the Romance1. “Bertrice teaches you about history, and you don’t even mind!”: History and Revisionist Historiography in Bertrice Small’s The Kadin—HSU- MING TEO      2. How to Read a Romance Novel (and Fall in Love with Popular Romance)—ERIC MURPHY SELINGER      3. “How we love is our soul”: Joey W. Hill’s BDSM Romance Holding the Cards—SARAH S.G. FRANTZ      4. On Popular Romance, J.R. Ward, and the Limits of Genre Study—MARY BLY      Part Two: Convention and Originality5. Loving by the Book: Voice and Romance Authorship—AN GORIS      6. The “Managing Female” in the Novels of Georgette Heyer—K. ELIZABETH SPILLMAN      7. One Ring to Bind Them: Ring Symbolism in Popular Romance Fiction—LAURA VIVANCO      8. The More the Merrier? Transformations of the Love Triangle Across the Romance—CAROLE VELDMAN- GENZ      9. “Why would any woman want to read such stories?”: The Distinctions Between Genre Romances and Slash Fiction—DEBORAH KAPLAN      Part Three: Love and Strife10. Borderlands of Desire: Captivity, Romance, and the Revolutionary Power of Love—ROBIN HARDERS      11. Patriotism, Passion, and PTSD: The Critique of War in Popular Romance Fiction—JAYASHREE KAMBLE       12. Straight to the Edges: Gay and Lesbian Characters and Cultural Conflict in Popular Romance Fiction—KATHLEEN THERRIEN      13. “You call me a bitch like that’s a bad thing”: Romance Criticism and Redefining the Word “Bitch”—SARAH WENDELL      Part Four: Readers, Authors, Communities14. The Interactive Romance Community: The Case of “Covers Gone Wild”—MIRIAM GREENFELD- BENOVITZ      15. Happy Readers or Sad Ones? Romance Fiction and the Problems of the Media Effects Model—GLEN THOMAS      16. “A consummation devoutly to be wished”: Shakespeare in Popular Historical Romance Fiction—TAMARA WHYTE       17. The Power of Three: Nora Roberts and Serial Magic—CHRISTINA A. VALEO       Works Cited      About the Contributors      Index

“a fascinating, history of scholarship on popular romance fiction. All scholars of popular culture should read this sophisticated and rigorous volume...the essays in the volume are refreshing”—The Journal of American Culture.

Sarah S.G. Frantz, associate professor of English at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina, is president of the International Association for the Study of Popular Romance and the author of articles on Jane Austen, J.R. Ward, Suzanne Brockmann, and contemporary popular romance fiction. Eric Murphy Selinger is executive editor of the Journal of Popular Romance Studies and associate professor of English at DePaul University, where he teaches courses dedicated exclusively to popular romance fiction. He is the author or co-editor of several books and is a regular contributor to Parnassus: Poetry in Review.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgments      Introduction: New Approaches to Popular Romance Fiction—ERIC MURPHY SELINGER AND SARAH S.G. FRANTZ      Part One: Close Reading the Romance1. “Bertrice teaches you about history, and you don’t even mind!”: History and Revisionist Historiography in Bertrice Small’s The Kadin—HSU- MING TEO      2. How to Read a Romance Novel (and Fall in Love with Popular Romance)—ERIC MURPHY SELINGER      3. “How we love is our soul”: Joey W. Hill’s BDSM Romance Holding the Cards—SARAH S.G. FRANTZ      4. On Popular Romance, J.R. Ward, and the Limits of Genre Study—MARY BLY      Part Two: Convention and Originality5. Loving by the Book: Voice and Romance Authorship—AN GORIS      6. The “Managing Female” in the Novels of Georgette Heyer—K. ELIZABETH SPILLMAN      7. One Ring to Bind Them: Ring Symbolism in Popular Romance Fiction—LAURA VIVANCO      8. The More the Merrier? Transformations of the Love Triangle Across the Romance—CAROLE VELDMAN- GENZ      9. “Why would any woman want to read such stories?”: The Distinctions Between Genre Romances and Slash Fiction—DEBORAH KAPLAN      Part Three: Love and Strife10. Borderlands of Desire: Captivity, Romance, and the Revolutionary Power of Love—ROBIN HARDERS      11. Patriotism, Passion, and PTSD: The Critique of War in Popular Romance Fiction—JAYASHREE KAMBLE       12. Straight to the Edges: Gay and Lesbian Characters and Cultural Conflict in Popular Romance Fiction—KATHLEEN THERRIEN      13. “You call me a bitch like that’s a bad thing”: Romance Criticism and Redefining the Word “Bitch”—SARAH WENDELL      Part Four: Readers, Authors, Communities14. The Interactive Romance Community: The Case of “Covers Gone Wild”—MIRIAM GREENFELD- BENOVITZ      15. Happy Readers or Sad Ones? Romance Fiction and the Problems of the Media Effects Model—GLEN THOMAS      16. “A consummation devoutly to be wished”: Shakespeare in Popular Historical Romance Fiction—TAMARA WHYTE       17. The Power of Three: Nora Roberts and Serial Magic—CHRISTINA A. VALEO       Works Cited      About the Contributors      Index

“a fascinating, history of scholarship on popular romance fiction. All scholars of popular culture should read this sophisticated and rigorous volume...the essays in the volume are refreshing”—The Journal of American Culture.

Sarah S.G. Frantz, associate professor of English at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina, is president of the International Association for the Study of Popular Romance and the author of articles on Jane Austen, J.R. Ward, Suzanne Brockmann, and contemporary popular romance fiction. Eric Murphy Selinger is executive editor of the Journal of Popular Romance Studies and associate professor of English at DePaul University, where he teaches courses dedicated exclusively to popular romance fiction. He is the author or co-editor of several books and is a regular contributor to Parnassus: Poetry in Review.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgments      Introduction: New Approaches to Popular Romance Fiction—ERIC MURPHY SELINGER AND SARAH S.G. FRANTZ      Part One: Close Reading the Romance1. “Bertrice teaches you about history, and you don’t even mind!”: History and Revisionist Historiography in Bertrice Small’s The Kadin—HSU- MING TEO      2. How to Read a Romance Novel (and Fall in Love with Popular Romance)—ERIC MURPHY SELINGER      3. “How we love is our soul”: Joey W. Hill’s BDSM Romance Holding the Cards—SARAH S.G. FRANTZ      4. On Popular Romance, J.R. Ward, and the Limits of Genre Study—MARY BLY      Part Two: Convention and Originality5. Loving by the Book: Voice and Romance Authorship—AN GORIS      6. The “Managing Female” in the Novels of Georgette Heyer—K. ELIZABETH SPILLMAN      7. One Ring to Bind Them: Ring Symbolism in Popular Romance Fiction—LAURA VIVANCO      8. The More the Merrier? Transformations of the Love Triangle Across the Romance—CAROLE VELDMAN- GENZ      9. “Why would any woman want to read such stories?”: The Distinctions Between Genre Romances and Slash Fiction—DEBORAH KAPLAN      Part Three: Love and Strife10. Borderlands of Desire: Captivity, Romance, and the Revolutionary Power of Love—ROBIN HARDERS      11. Patriotism, Passion, and PTSD: The Critique of War in Popular Romance Fiction—JAYASHREE KAMBLE       12. Straight to the Edges: Gay and Lesbian Characters and Cultural Conflict in Popular Romance Fiction—KATHLEEN THERRIEN      13. “You call me a bitch like that’s a bad thing”: Romance Criticism and Redefining the Word “Bitch”—SARAH WENDELL      Part Four: Readers, Authors, Communities14. The Interactive Romance Community: The Case of “Covers Gone Wild”—MIRIAM GREENFELD- BENOVITZ      15. Happy Readers or Sad Ones? Romance Fiction and the Problems of the Media Effects Model—GLEN THOMAS      16. “A consummation devoutly to be wished”: Shakespeare in Popular Historical Romance Fiction—TAMARA WHYTE       17. The Power of Three: Nora Roberts and Serial Magic—CHRISTINA A. VALEO       Works Cited      About the Contributors      Index

“a fascinating, history of scholarship on popular romance fiction. All scholars of popular culture should read this sophisticated and rigorous volume...the essays in the volume are refreshing”—The Journal of American Culture.