Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
- The outfits. Oh, my gosh! The covers alone are stunning (if they’re less “shirtless man” and more “beautifully-dressed woman”. That being said, there are awesome M/M and F/F historical romances, too). I love fancy dress, and both the novel covers and descriptions within the books whet my appetite.
- The heightened romance. Courtship was more of a thing in 1820 than it was in 2020. I love how the characters go on chaperoned dates and woo one another with words or the language of flowers. Or, better yet, smoldering glances!
- The timelessness. Historical fiction feels timeless. Contemporary fiction can seem cheesy or dated in a few years, but you can always look at historical fiction through the lens of, well, history. (You can do the same with contemporary, but need to wait for it to seem historical rather than vintage, which takes about 40 years, IMO.)
- You wouldn’t expect it from me. I am the least romantic person ever. I hate grand gestures and romantic speeches IRL, but in romance novels, they set my heart racing!!
- I’m a history nerd. I love reading historical fiction and nonfiction in general. Add some sex scenes, and I’m yours.
- My favorite sub-genre pays homage to one of my favorite classical authors. My favorite time period in historical fiction is the Regency era, a short period of time that really wasn’t that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. However, it’s popular in romance, because that’s when Jane Austen wrote her novels!
- The tropes. Spinsters. Rakes. Rich boys. Naughty widows. Forced marriages. SIGN. ME. UP!!
- Modern authors mirror modern issues in a spectacular way. I love seeing authors tackle modern issues in a different time period, especially because some problems are truly timeless!
- The subtle feminism. Modern historical romance features strong feminist characters, but even less recent books throw in things that society frowns upon now and make them empowering and sexy. Women are rocking full bushes in these sex scenes, which is scandalous in 2020!
- The added taboo. Sex in 2020 is, for many, not that big of a deal. Many have sex outside of marriage, and even if you wait until marriage, you likely have seen sex scenes in movies. Beyond that, we wear short shorts and crop tops! Fashionable underwear now is fairly modest, but thongs were in just 10 years ago. In historical romance, everything is taboo, and that makes the most normal, vanilla thing feel that much sexier!!
Do you like historical romance? What’s your favorite genre?
Regine Karpel
Yes to the outfits.
http://www.rsrue.blogspot.com
Louise H
I love how taboo and extra naughty the sex feels in historical romances. In fact other than being a history nerd (though I love social history) yes, yes, yes to all your points!
Kate
💜💜💜
lydiaschoch
I’ve always assumed that people who read romance novels are super romantic in real life. I’m fascinated by the fact that this isn’t the case for you! 🙂
My TTT .
Empress DJ
I tend to avoid this genre as I get torqued by how women were treated like property to be sold or bartered by their own families
Kate
I’ve been loving more recently written historical romance because it has been pushing back on this a lot and reflecting current world issues, too!
Saturday Nite Reader
I recently rewatched Downton Abbey and started Belgravia, and it amazes me that it wasn’t that long ago that a women’s reputation could be tarnished for talking to closely with a man….crazy! So many more things of course, but its still crazy to me.
Kate
It is absolutely crazy!
yourwordsmyink
I agree with all of these! Especially the outfits.
anovelglimpse
I need to read more historical romance. I rarely do, and it’s such a good genre. Your post reminded me of that.
The Coloring Book Nook
I am picky about historical romances and don’t like when women are treated like property.
Kate
I agree with that, especially if it’s the “hero” as can be seen in more outdated texts.
hopewellslibraryoflife
I like historical romance, but prefer only minimal sex. GREAT list of reasons to like it!!
Kate
I like a nice clean romance too. 💜
TtlyAdd2Reading
I don’t read much of this genre as I am not keen on how women are sometimes portrayed in these stories.
Kate
I can agree with that. Most of my reads were written more recently, so there’s more of a feminist spin. 💕
Vidya Tiru
yes. i think i enjoy this genre for almost the same reasons!! especially the smoldering glances, the history nerdiness, the rakes ready to be reformed!
Robin Loves Reading
Love this post! I adore historical romances. What’s more is I also adore tropes!
bookswithkathy
I’m glad you like this genre, I just can not get into it.
Gayathri Lakshminarayanan
I have not read many historical romances. But your list is intriguing me!
Megan | The Ginger Mom Reader
Yes, absolutely! I adore historical romance for many of these reasons 🙂
Kate
💖💖💖