As they say, it takes two to tango. And in straight romance, one of them is a man, the hero, the significant other. He's what at least half of the book revolves around. Has he always been like this? Will he ever change? The subject is bottomless well and we have only scratched the surface of the hero of a romance novel, but in the process we have uncovered a lot about where did he come from and where did he go.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Mentions of rape and mental health hospitalisation in the context of recalling plot points.


Books mentioned in this episode:
Olivia Dade, "Spoiler Alert," 2020.
Rachel Feder, "The Darcy Myth: Jane Austen, Literary Heartthrobs, and the Monsters They Taught Us to Love." United Kingdom: Quirk Books, 2023.
Abby Jimenez, "Part of Your World," 2022.
Mona Kasten, "Scarlet Luck Series," 2022
Jayne Ann Krentz (ed.), "Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women: Romance Writers on the Appeal of the Romance", University of Pennsylvania Press, 1992.
Stephanie Laurens, "The Devil's Bride," 1998.
Beth O'Leary, "The Flatshare," 2019.
Ursula Le Guin, "The Left Hand of Darkness," 1969.
Sarah J. Maas, "A Court of Thorns and Roses," 2015.
Opal Reyne, "A Soul to Keep," 2022.

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All art courtesy of @aga.futa.art.
All music courtesy of Stephen James Rowlatt.