Bodice Ripper Readers Anonymous discussion

There are quite a few bodice rippers that were written by guys under a female pseud. The most famous of whom is probably Jennifer Wilde, but there are plenty of others and the quality varies (to put it mildly).

Is the fact that a romance is written by a guy an automatic turn-off?

Or does it make you want to read it more? (*raises hand*)

What has your experience been with romances that you discovered had been written by the opposite sex? Did you think the heroine's characterization suffered? Or not at all?

And did you think it gave the hero an extra dimension or not?

Any other thoughts?

Doesn't turn me off, infact makes me want to read it more. To me it makes it more intriguing to read a book wriiten by male under a female pseud because they have a different take on female emotions. It seems to me the male authors seems to enjoy the heroine suffering more and how they elaborate on that.

I admit to a prurient interest in seeing what the "other" side has to say in a romance fiction capacity. Sometimes it's great, sometimes it's hilariously off the mark, and sometimes it can be a real turn-off and squicky. (The "pudding breasts" from Barbary Bride will never be scrubbed from my brain.)

Hmmm.. good questions there Karla.If I was in a UBS and had in front of me books by a "female-BR/romance" writer and a "male"(with his name on it) I would most likely choose the female.Ok..why? Well..mens "out-look" on sex is way different than ours.Thats not to say ALL of them are like that,ie: Jennifer Wilde/Tom Huff..love his books,he seems to have a good understanding of the female mind,but does throw in a few "quirky" things which dont bother me.Another good example is C.W. Gortner( historical fiction/romance) I had to double check wasnt written by a female..well done.
Now as for some of those other books ie: plantation porn(Karla's fav:D) by men..whew..I gotta be ready for anything. So ..no its not a turn off,and III still read one but I think they tend to have more "sex" than the workings of the female herself..which we dont really want men to totally figure out now do we? :D

I think plantation porn sex is in a different league. It's used to illustrate the degradations within the slave system while being all racy and stuff for prurient reasons, sort of double duty smut. But a strong stomach or love for Teh Crazy is essential to love that stuff (which I do). I almost picked up Master of Falconhurst instead of Devil's Brood yesterday. Sorta wish I had. :D

Dont forget down the road weve got a buddy read date sometime for book 1 reeemmbeerr?? :D Ya..Im not sure if I think The Devil's Broad is the right one for you? Pretty heavy stuff I found..really have to be in the mood as well. If my mind isnt in the setting..game over..try again.

If I'm not in the mood now for Devil's Brood, I doubt I ever would be. I think it's a rare case of "it's not me, it's her." It's been way too stolid and bland, as well as bloated. Only 1 scene so far that I thought was exciting and dramatic. Oh well.

I'll put Wyndward Passion down for a Buddy Read so I don't forget. :)

Can you name some other male BR writers? I'm thinking back to sex scenes in the mystery/thriller field. The stories (edited to replace articles--must've been really tired when I posted) would have been written, ostensibly from female characters' POV, but written by male writers, and most of them were not particularly "real" to me.

Off the top of my head:
Shana Carrol
Saliee O'Brien
Barbara Riefe
Stephanie Blake
Petra Leigh
Janette Seymour

That kinda explains a lot about the Purity series. LOL.

Felicia Andrews is another one, I believe.

So what do you guys think about these writers? Do they handle romance well? Or do they just kinda write soft porn with a girly main character? I've only read Janette Seymour, but IMO he did not grasp the female psyche for a second. His heroine pretty much bounced from rape to rape without ever batting an eye, and fell in "lurv" with a guy who never displayed any quality that would appeal to a normal woman. (Which I guess answers your question, Cheshire Cat, about whether it adds a dimension to the hero--I didn't think so at least in Seymour's case.)

I admit to a fondness for Jennifer Wilde 'cause they are just soooo predictable and the heroine's breasts are always "popping out of her bodice." But I've read others, like the aforementioned Janette Seymour, where it seems more like the guy writing his own fantasies rather than writing characters/situations that women would enjoy...

There was one about a woman who is kidnapped, raped by an underage kid with a huge wang (Ay, no child you, she breathed) and then gets it on with a crazy Tzar in Russia who kept hitting people with his big stick. Definitely a male writer...

I liked Purity's Passion. I thought the author had a nice grasp of writing about the period, and his style was almost quaint in its purpleness. And the story kept moving along. It was a trashy fun read for me. *shrugs*

And I loved the hilariously bad Passion's Sweet Sacrifice IMMENSELY, so really, I don't know a thing about the right reaction to male-penned romances.

My main criteria for any book, romance or not, male or female author, is: Am I bored? If not, then it's all good. :P

Hi Dana!

What's the title of the book you mentioned about a woman who gets kidnapped and raped by an underage kid.
Was that a Jennifer Wilde book? I read a book somewhat similar to that but it was more of a pirate/historical romance-and of course it was also written by a male writer-Melissa Hepburne (female pen name). The title is Passion's proud captive.

joli

I just read another one that is most likely by a guy - Barbary Bounty, the sequel to the infamous (to me anyway) Pudding Tits book, Barbary Bride.

This one was even less focused on the sex and more concerned with splatter violence. Pretty gross in spots, but I still found it entertaining in a Chuck Norris/Buckets of Blood hybrid kinda way.

The hero nailed quite a few female characters in it, but none of the relationships were given any depth, and so the HEA at the end was lame. But the point of the book was about bad guys being nefarious and evil to the good guys. I would desperately love to know what other books "Melissa Masters" wrote under a male name. I suspect spy thriller potboilers or hacky horror stuff. "She" apparently also wrote some gothics as Roxanne Dent.

"Pudding Tits?" LOL!! :D

I will never think of pudding in the same way again. :P

Karla (Mossy Love Grotto) wrote: "I will never think of pudding in the same way again. :P"

LOL! OR jello *wiggle-waggle* I wish Ha!

author robert vaughn writing as PAULA MOORE

Thanks, Joli. I know Vaughan's name from The American Chronicles series.

Karla (Mossy Love Grotto) wrote: "Off the top of my head:Saliee O'Brien"

Saliee is acutally a woman, not a man.

Now that's weird because I saw a male name attached to that pseud before. Huh.

I had a male name attached to it on my blog before but a relative of hers posted a comment letting me know Saliee was his grandmother or something and allowed me to post a photo of her.

I can't find any info to confirm that Melissa Masters is a man.

What is Janette Seymour's real name? I can't find any info on it anywhere.

Michael Butterworth IIRC for Janette Seymour.

I couldn't find anything to confirm Masters was a man either, but I'm convinced, given the three books I've read under the Masters and Roxanne Dent pseuds.

Thanks for the info. I can't find any info on Michael Butterworth that confirms it but I do see his name listed at several Amazon's as being the author. Wikipedia doesn't even list that information. No pseudonym sites list him as being the author so I'm having my doubts.

I'm not OCD about the issue. It won't make me enjoy a book any more or less. Since it's nearly impossible to know for sure about so many of these OP authors, I'll just go with whatever Mystical Unicorn or fictiondb have to say about it (if they have info) and focus on the books themselves.

Karla (Mossy Love Grotto) wrote: "I'm not OCD about the issue."

I am and I'm not going to say someone is writing under a pseudonym if I can't find information to back up my claim.

All that I care about is the story. I have really enjoyed several Jennifer Wilde books.

Sita wrote: "All that I care about is the story. I have really enjoyed several Jennifer Wilde books."

Love Her/His books!:)