Episode 061: Valentine's Day Romance with Guest Taryn Ruf

• Forever by Judy Blume and
• The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

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On today's show we have Tami's older daughter, Taryn, as our guest to teach us all about the differences between the Romance Genre and romantic fiction. We had such a great discussion and WOW are there a lot of books for you to see below!

As we discussed the Romance genre throughout the episode, Taryn gave SO MUCH wonderful information we've decided to give you a convenient list right here:

• In Romance, the woman is always the Heroine and the male is always the Hero.
• HEA (Happily/Happy Ever After - story is complete) - HFN (Happy For Now - story continues in a series)
• In a Love triangle the choice isn't between two men, it's between two life paths for the heroine. The man is metaphorical for these two life paths.
• Romance has a number of tropes, such as - friends to lovers, best friends brother/sister to lover, enemies to lovers, road trip romance (forced proximity on a journey).
• Sub-Tropes: Sick bed, communication mishap, secret identity
• Romance is about the journey not the end!

Romance Genre fiction vs. romantic fiction - What is the difference?

Taryn: Two requirements for Romance: 1)The main plot in the story is the romance between the two characters.2) There must be an HEA or an HFN

romantic fiction example: Beach Read by Emily Read

Romance Genre example: The Bridgertons Series (The Duke and I - Book 1) by Julia Quinn

Why teach genre fiction in high school?

We had an in depth discussion of why teaching genre fiction is important and why it should be included in high school. Choosing to teach the structure of a Romance novel means that you can talk about heroes and false heroes and structure details such as every first chapter sets the universe where the heroine is located and what she must break out of for her happily ever after.

We discussed how Romance novels are 'feminist' novels. Here's a great article from March of 2020 from The Atlantic called The Unexpectedly Subversive World of Romance Novels that sums it up really well.

For this Episode We Read and Discussed:

Tami Read: The Hating Game by Sally Thorne (Enemies to Lovers - sub trope is rivals to lovers) Amie Read: Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers - Inspirational Romance - extremely famous

Taryn's Romance Recommendations by sub-subgenre

Paranormal: Vampires/Witches/Fey/Valkyrie - Immortals After Dark Series - The Warlord Wants Forever (Book 1 of 17 in series) - Kresley Cole

Regency Romances - Bridgerton's Series (8 books total) by Julia Quinn

Regency Romances - The Duchess Deal (Book 1 of 4) in The Girl Meets Duke Series by Tessa Dare

Contemporary - Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn

Fantasy - A Heart of Blood and Ashes (Book 1 in A Gathering of Dragons) by Milla Vane

The Bride by Julie Garwood

Taryn's recommendations

For Amie - Romancing Mr. Bridgerton (unrequited love / best friends brother) by Julia Quinn

For Tami - Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

Books Mentioned

50 Shades of Grey Trilogy by E.L. James

The Breathless Trilogy by Maya Banks

The Beyond Series Books 1-3 (explicit content) by Kit Rocha

Beautiful Bastard - Book 1 of 10 in series by Christina Lauren

Immortals After Dark Series - The Warlord Wants Forever (Book 1 of 17) by Kresley Cole

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Book 1 of 3 - Love By Numbers Series) by Sarah MacLean

The Return by Nicholas Sparks - romantic fiction

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (kindle edition is currently free)

Lord of the Rings Boxed Set by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brönte

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

Jessa Kane Novellas (Very Explicit-Erotica)

You Had Me At Hola by Alexis Daria (Taryn said Adriana Herrera by mistake in the show)

Mangoes and Mistletoe by Adriana Herrera

Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

Lady Oracle by Margaret Atwood

Media Mentioned

Pride and Prejudice with Kiera Knightley

Bridgerton Series on Netflix

Hallmark Channel - mass market paperbacks in films

Kindle Unlimited by Amazon - monthly subscription

Audible Plus - monthly subscription

Libraries that sell library cards to out of state residents

Brooklyn Public Library subscription

Queens Public Library subscription

Orlando Public Library subscription

Houston Public Library subscription