This HaBO comes from Rameen, who is looking for a paranormal romance. Trigger warning below for a pregnant woman in peril:

I have been trying to remember the name of this book. It starts with the hero trying to kill the heroine because he believes she has betrayed him and their team (which ended in two of the team member/their close friends dying). They worked together in a secret agency that dealt with paranormal crimes.

The hero is a shifter. The heroine is at a restaurant when he tries to kill her. She doesn’t have any memory and has been working as a waitress.

Anyhow, someone else shoots at the restaurant first and the hero ends up protecting the heroine. Turns out, she was kidnapped and pregnant at that time when she revealed the secrets that betrayed the team. She would have spilled anything, but they threatened the baby’s life. She finally remembers and firmly believes that her baby boy is alive, while the hero holds no such belief. The book ends with them finding the baby, who is also a shifter, just like the hero.

This also seems to have elements of romantic suspense.

This may be the hardest review I’ve ever had to write because there are just so many things trying to escape my mind at one time. My love of Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones has been broadcasted on my Twitter and I even made a super delicious cocktail for it. The prose is beautiful, lyrical, and it seems to surrounded you. This is definitely a book that drags you into it. You won’t be able to stop reading it until your eyes start to cross and you find yourself reading the same sentence over and over.

However, I will issue a vague warning on how everything ends. There is a sequel, which comes out in 2018 (*sobbing*), so I hope you’re picking up what I’m putting down.

Before we can get into the super good stuff, here’s the basics. Wintersong takes places in historically set Bavaria (19th century, I believe). Elisabeth, or Liesl, is the oldest of three children and an innkeeper’s daughter. Her sister is the beautiful one, getting married to Liesl’s crush. Her brother is the talented one, training to becoming a master violinist. Elisabeth has a gift as well, the gift of composition, but because she’s a girl, her father scolds her for spending time on her musical creations instead of being responsible and helping with the care and running of their inn.

Elisabeth’s grandmother is rather superstitious and warns the girls about the Goblin King, which causes vague, childhood memories to surface in Elisabeth’s mind. As the veil between the Underground and the human world reaches its thinnest, Elisabeth’s sister is kidnapped by the Goblin King to be his bride. Elisabeth is tasked with trying to save her, but it’s a lose/lose game to be quite honest. Because hello…she’s dealing with the Goblin King.

I’m sure you’re picking up Labyrinth parallels.

But if the possibility of some David Bowie fantasies doesn’t tempt you, Wintersong also has elements of:

• The Phantom of the Opera
• The Little Mermaid
• Hades & Persephone
• Beauty and the Beast

I feel a little bit like a very shouty man in an informercials. WE’VE GOT BROODING. MORE SEXUAL TENSION THAT YOU CAN SHAKE A STICK AT. ORDER TODAY AND WE’LL THROW IN A BONUS UGLY CRY FOR JUST THE COST OF EXTRA SHIPPING AND HANDLING.

While romance plays a large part of Elisabeth and the Goblin King’s relationship, Wintersong is more about Elisabeth coming into her own. When she enters the Underground, she’s unsure of herself and her talents. She’s so used to giving up her dreams for the sake of her siblings being able to pursue theirs that being selfish is foreign to her. But as she learns to embrace her musical gifts, her blunt honesty, and her femininity, there’s great satisfaction in seeing the Goblin King’s growing fear of this bold, blossoming woman. While I, of course, want a man to adore me, there’s a part of me that also wants to be found intimidating.

The Goblin King is more than just the mischievous anti-hero that we’ve come to associate with David Bowie, tight pants, and that…codpiece. We come to learn that the Goblin King is just as trapped in the Underground as Elisabeth is, and it’s heartbreaking seeing him war with his exhaustion at playing this role. He is no longer a man. He’s a myth. The Goblin King’s true identity, who he was before he was king, remains a secret, but we get little glimpses of who he used to be. Elisabeth desperately wants to know the man, who can play the violin and often takes solace in the Underground’s chapel.

There were also times when I started humming “Tale As Old As Time” in my head.

He cleared his throat. “Are you—are you all right, my queen?”

So distant. So formal. He always called me my dear, said in that sarcastic tone of his, or else it was Elisabeth, always Elisabeth. He was the only one who called me that, and I wanted to be Elisabeth for him again.

“I am fine, thank you, mein Herr.” I matched his distance with my own. The chasm between us grew to twice its size. I ached to bridge it, but did not know how.

Just a little change
Small to say the least
Both a little scared
Neither one prepared…

Jae-Jones’ writing is so descriptive and entrancing. The goblins and the Underground are detailed with this mix of dark romanticism, a twisted glamour where nothing is as it seems. That said, because of the detail, the reading was dense at times. It’s like eating a rich meal. You love every bite, but you know you’re going to get sick if you gorge yourself on it. You have to slow down and savor.

But I was afraid. I had danced and feasted at the Goblin Ball, but this was something entirely different: wild, untamed, and feral. The Goblin Ball, hosted by the Goblin King, had had a veneer of civilized behavior overlaying its orgiastic abandonment, but there were no such niceties now. This was not hedonistic indulgence; this was savagery. I could smell blood—freshly spilled. It smelled of copper and iron and flesh. Twining, writhing shapes copulated in the corners of my vision, and I thought of the little objet d’art in my barrow room that depicted the nymph and the satyr. Music wailed on pipes and horns and catgut lutes—rude, rustic, without refinement. The goblin wine took the edges off my fear, but the chill of it still ran through my veins.

Music also plays a large part in the story in Elisabeth’s identity, in the dysfunction it causes between her and her family, in the growing attraction between Elisabeth and the Goblin King. But I am not musically inclined. I took band for one year in 6th grade, where I begrudgingly played the flute after being denied my choice of playing the alto sax. That’s the extent of my musical knowledge, so the jargon used to describe various elements of musical composition went right over my head.

As I mentioned before, there’s a sequel planned, and thank god, because the ending made me cry. Like shoulder-shaking, full on snot bubbles, crying. The ending is bittersweet, but it’s not the ending I was hoping for and there are still a lot of questions left unanswered. The continuation of Elisabeth and the Goblin King’s story (even if I do have to wait a year) was the only thing keeping me from going into a full blown book hangover.

For those who love Labyrinth or any of the elements I mentioned above, please get this book. It’s whimsical, spellbinding, and full of things that will make fairy tale lovers squee. This is Jae-Jones’ debut novel and because of Wintersong, you can guarantee that I’ll be following her writing closely, whether it’s up and down the Escher staircase or knee-deep into the bog of eternal stench.

Two years ago, I reviewed the first book in this series, The Bedding Proposal ( A | K | G | iB ) and mentioned that I was planning on reading the SHIT out of the next book with the sequel hook twin brother. That was some time ago, and then the sequel arrived at my door and reader, I devoured it.

Rosamund Carrow is the daughter of a barrister, and the sister of a barrister. She learned legal theory and legal argument at her father’s knee, but because she’s a woman, she doesn’t get to actually be a barrister and put all of that lovely theory into practice. Her brother, Bernard, is good at theory and research, but has debilitating anxiety when it comes to actually barrister-ing in court. Their father handled that part, until he very impolitely died. The Law Firm of Carrow and Carrow still had some cases, so Bernard and Rosamund hatch a plot: they’ll dress Rosamund as a dude, tell them this is Bernard’s cousin, Ross Carrow, get her admitted to The Inns of Court, and she will handle the actual representation.

Simple, right?

Of course, the first barrister they oppose in court is Lawrence Byron, who is SUPER good at law, and wins most of the time and then, when “Ross” shows up in court, he LOSES. The indignity! They strike up a friendship, and hang out at Lawrence’s club and at a boxing match, and suddenly Lawrence is contemplating the shapeliness of “Ross'” ass. It’s very disconcerting for him (shades of Sebastian and Viola in Twelfth Night).  He figures out that “Ross” is a woman (that scene was fun) and shenanigans ensue.

So the fun part about “I need to dress up like a dude for ~reasons~” plots is the question of “does she put in the work to make this work, or did she just put on some pants?” You’ll be happy to know that Rosamund and Bernard put in the effort to make the disguise successful, from voice work, practicing walking, altering clothes, and then relying on that old standby, “People see what they expect to see.” For most of the crusty old lawyers of Lincoln’s Inn, they idea that one of their number could be a woman wouldn’t even enter their minds.

I loved that Rosamund had a brilliant legal mind, and while I am very curious about the nature of her legal arguments, I also would have picked them apart. It’s probably better that Warren let it happen off screen. I would have enjoyed a few barnstorming court scenes, though.

Now, much like his brother, Lawrence has some boundary issues. When he figures out that the reason he’s obsessed with the shapely ass in question is because it’s the ass of a woman, he’s like, “Oh, that makes sense.” Then he decides that his best course of action is to seduce her, because sure. Once all the cards are on the table, he realizes that he actually LIKES her, THEN they negotiate their relationship, like fucking grownups.

But, you know, the part where he decides revenge by seduction is the best choice is a bit ooky.

The main obstacle between Lawrence and Rosamund is fairly easily handled, though I appreciated that it was something that Lawrence had to put thought into. The ending was a bit tidy and mildly rushed — and might have come with some social consequences, but then, the Byrons have demonstrated in previous books that they really don’t give a shit.

There was a chance for a much more complicated resolution, which could have been fun (but also would have ruined at least one legal career, maybe three), and it sucks that any reasonable resolution required that…

Bonus! There is sexy time in a law library which…. well, *I* did not partake, but I know that every study room in my law school’s library was used for clandestine rendezvous. (Not the most romantic…or clean…of locations TO BE HONEST.)

Either way, I very much enjoyed this book! MORE LAWYERS PLEASE.

It’s International Women’s Day! For today’s links, I tried to collect things that celebrate women and might make us feel empowered, warm and fuzzy, or might bring a smile to your face if you’re feeling sad, frustrated, or anywhere in between.

…

Sonali Dev is hosting an author interview series called Lit with Love. If the name is any indication already, this is going to be awesome. Two upcoming interviews have already been scheduled: Beverly Jenkins on March 16 at 6pm CST and Julie Ann Walker on June 23 at 3pm CST. You can watch live or catch the interview on YouTube afterwards!

…

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LEGO and NASA have combined to make a kickass WOMEN OF NASA mini-fig set, to help honor women in STEM. Science editor and writer Maia Weinstock created the concept and you can follow Lego NASA Women on Twitter to keep up with the set’s release!

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I recently took up cross stitching and I’m absolutely in love with it. I put on an audiobook or podcast and get to stitching. If you’re a cross stitcher or want to start, I’m over at Book Riot, showing off some great bookish patterns for stitching!

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Miniature charge cables

These mini cables are terrific for keeping in your bag to plug in your battery backup. They're 5" long and don't take up any room or get tangled, and they weigh nothing. There is an Android set and an iPhone set.

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A New York Times article shows how independent bookstores are helping to “stoke Trump resistance,” and it makes me love the book community even more:

Many stores have distributed information for customers who are mobilizing against Mr. Trump’s actions: his cabinet choices, his threat to cut off funding for sanctuary cities and his immigration bans on refugees and many Muslims. At City Stacks, a bookstore in Denver, employees printed out forms with elected officials’ contact information in a gentle nudge to customers. On Inauguration Day, Broadway Books in Portland, Ore., handed out free copies of “We Should All Be Feminists,” a book-length call to arms by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the novelist.

All over the country, independent bookstores have filled their windows and displays with “1984,” by George Orwell; “It Can’t Happen Here,” by Sinclair Lewis; and other books on politics, fascism, totalitarianism and social justice. Booksellers have begun calling the front table devoted to those titles the #Resist table.

I’ve seen some great bookstore displays in Boston. Have you seen any?

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And…kittens! The Icelandic Cat Protection Society has a “Keeping Up with the Kattarshians” live stream with four cute kittens that have little kitty bunkbeds!

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Don’t forget to share what super cool things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

NB: We have a great guest squee review from Reader Tara Scott! The review is also perfect to tie in with yesterday’s Internal Women’s Day and our current political climate. 

Tara reads a lot of lesbian romances. You can catch her regularly reviewing at The Lesbian Review and Curve Magazine and hear her talk about lesbian fiction (including romance) on her podcast Les Do Books. You can also hit her up for recommendations on Twitter (@taramdscott).

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We’ve all seen the iconic “We Can Do It!” poster, famously used during WWII to recruit women to work in factories. Rosie the Riveter’s image is ubiquitous still, available on t-shirts and coffee mugs (or even bobbleheads, if tchotchkes are your thing). We’re so far removed from the events of more than 70 years ago that it’s easy to forget how essential she was, getting women out of their homes and into the workforce gaps left by men who were on the front lines. Ads asked women “Can you use an electric mixer? If so, you can learn to operate a drill.” And did those women ever answer the call. The Liberators of Willow Run is a historical romance that gives us a fictional view into the lives of some of the women who helped the United States win the war, one B-24 bomber at a time.

Audrey is the first character we meet, and her newfound independence is more precious than she can describe as she lives on her own and works as part of a high-performing crew building liberators at the Willow Run factory. Her mother can’t understand why she didn’t stay at home to wait for Bradley to come back from the war, but what her mother and coworkers don’t know is that there is no Bradley. The convenient fabrication lets her live freely without having to find a husband, hiding the fact that she’s a lesbian. She learned in the hardest way possible that secrecy is where safety lies, and yet she can’t stop the feelings that grow as she gets to know Ruth, the new waitress at her local diner. Ruth moved to Ypsilanti with her own secrets beyond also being a lesbian, and now that she’s seized the chance to live on her own terms away from her family’s expectations, she won’t let fear rule her.

Nona works with Audrey at Willow Run, and as a black woman from Kentucky, she faces more scrutiny and is cut fewer breaks than anyone else in the factory (despite having an incredible attitude and being more precise at the job than most). She’s got a plan, buying war bonds as quickly as she can to pay for the degree that will let her follow her dreams of becoming a teacher. Her friendship with Audrey enriches life for both women, but some rules can’t be broken, no matter how unjust they are.

The Liberators of Willow Run has a lot going for it, and all of it is good. The writing is simple and elegant, bringing the era to life without ever resorting to info dumps and I found myself savouring Marianne K. Martin’s phrasing. The book also perfectly captures a moment in time that was very difficult and yet in some ways almost magical for some women because, for once, they were allowed out of the few specific roles available to them and were able to earn money and live independently if they chose. The difference when the war is over and Audrey is working wherever she can is heartbreaking, showing just how special it was that women were as essential as men to the war effort.

Although a good chunk of the book takes place with Audrey and Ruth apart, their romance is so carefully and delicately drawn that it’s beautiful to watch unfold. Audrey is understandably afraid, given how her last relationship with a woman ended, and yet Ruth’s courage and understanding props her up. Ruth is the perfect partner for Audrey, meeting her exactly where she’s at and only nudging where appropriate. I imagine them as a formidable couple for decades to come, quietly loving each other while making a difference in their community.

Discrimination is also examined from several angles. Nona faces it many times for her race, both at and outside of work, which is in stark contrast to the bigotry that Audrey is able to opt out of by hiding her identity as a lesbian. Nona almost loses her job because her ride to work didn’t show up one day and she can’t eat at the diner with Audrey (or anyone). Audrey, on the other hand, can pass easily through any situation simply by keeping her mouth shut and occasionally making mention of Bradley. Like Audrey, Ruth can carefully choose when or even whether to reveal that she’s a lesbian, as well as the secret of where she was before she moved to Ypsilanti. During that time, at a home for unwed mothers, we also see the judgemental attitudes faced by women who were shunted aside by their families for the sake of reputation, whether it was their own choices that landed them there or not. That alone occasionally left me shakingly angry, although I have to tip my hat to the author for handling such difficult material as gently as she did.

With discrimination against people of colour and the LGBT community seemingly legitimized by the current administration in the US, The Liberators of Willow Run feels like a very timely book. The fear and frustration that many people are feeling now is not new, and examples of quiet resistance like we see with Audrey, Ruth and Nona are more important than ever. This is a book that brings hope and a well-earned happy ending in a time when we need it, and it’s more than worth the read.

This Rec League request spawned a bit of a debate a SBTB HQ. Before we get to our thoughts, here’s the request from Jacqui:

I really want to read a good noir detective book with a romance in it (preferably between the detective and someone else). Penn (Penelope) Williamson’s Mortal Sins comes to mind. Am not fussy about the setting or time period. A good noir murder mystery rather than a normal crime book. Not too much gore (not a particular feature of noir anyway). But I want a romance in it. Am just feeling in the mood for something that is not only a romance. Hope you can help!

Though Jacqui mentions some features she’s looking for, a couple of us were confused about what aspects of noir she wanted.

Carrie: True noir romance is hard to find because the genre is antithetical to romance.

RASL is a noir comic with a lot of romance, but no HEA.

A | BN | K | iB

Elyse: A Dangerous Invitation by Erica Monroe

Sarah: For a reader who doesn’t know quite what that is, can you explain how you are defining or identifying noir?

I mean if someone who is reading this is like wait what’s noir? What are you talking about when you say and describe “noir”?

Carrie: It’s a term that originated in film. It subverts the idea of heroism, and usually features a cynical protagonist and characters who are morally gray at best. Justice is often not achieved. Examples in film include The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, and Chinatown.

Romance is almost always an element of noir but given the shady nature of the characters and their cynical view on life there is rarely a romantic HEA.

A | BN | K | iB

Elyse: Is she looking for a morally gray detective hero? Is she looking for mystery with a hint of romance or romantic suspense inspired by the detective genre? Is romance across several books acceptable?

The thing with noir is it’s usually about sad man feelings and duplicitous women. It’s not very romantic

Carrie: Commenters on my review of RASL listed some feminist noir but I can’t vouch for HEAs.

The message of noir, by which I mean classic, hard core noir, is that people want to exist in a world where there is good and bad, but actually everyone is some of both and usually bad wins.

Elyse: A Dangerous Invitation plays with some noir themes but that’s the only one I can think of

Amanda: At the very least, she wants a murder mystery with romance and a detective character.

Carrie: I’d try Fast Women by Jennifer Crusie then. Plus it has homages to The Maltese Falcon. A tough detective telling a tiny dog, “I won’t play the sap for you, sweetheart” is a scene not to be missed.

A | BN | K | iB

Crap. The one with tattoos.

Shooting something. SCARS. Shooting Scars. Crap that’s book 2. I can’t remember 1.

Also maybe Anne Stuart.

Amanda: Black Ice by Anne Stuart could fit!

I don’t think I’d recommend The Professional ( A | BN | K | G | iB ) as there’s no mystery element. Just corn field fingerblasting.

Sarah: HAHAHAHAHA

Then never mind! The thing is, this is not my genre. cynicism, pessimism – not why I’m here, you know?

A | BN | K

Amanda: Halle MIGHT fit. There may have been a detective element; I’ll have to double check.

Elyse: Amanda, I got to the cornfield scene and was like WTF am I reading? I thought it was a romantic suspense.

Amanda: SURPRISE!

Over the Line by Lisa Derochers ( A | BN | K | G | iB ) might fit as well.

Carrie: I’m with Elyse – we would need to know what parts of noir she likes. Detective? Banter? Morally murky characters? The hot blonde/helpful brunette? The visual style (lot’s of high contrasts and great clothes). Does she like the time period of the more classic noirs? Would she like stuff that Elyse likes like Gone Girl, where there’s a twist?

What do you think? Any romance you know of with various aspects of noir? Care to join in on our friendly debate?

Beverly Jenkins joins us to talk about her latest book Breathless and the series in progress. Of course, we talk about history and the stories that inspire her, especially the unsung, undiscovered, or forgotten women behind major figures in history.  We also discuss the communities of women throughout history that worked to help one another, and about her next book – which we really want to read already.

TRIGGER WARNING: we discuss some violent images from the recently released photography collection from Cornell at 17:04 to 17:38. I’ll warn you in the middle to skip ahead when it’s time.

Read the transcript →

Here are the books we discuss in this podcast:

You can find Beverly Jenkins on her website – including her travel schedule – and on Facebook.

In our archives, there’s more to enjoy, including:

• Our reviews of Beverly Jenkins’ books, including her latest, Breathless
• A previous podcast interview with her
• The podcast episodes we mentioned in this conversation: interviews with Alisha Rai and Lauren Willig 

We also discussed a recent Guardian article about characters and readers, information about Lozen, and the collection of photographs of African American life from Cornell – please be cautious if graphic images upset you.

If you like the podcast, you can subscribe to our feed, or find us at iTunes. You can also find us at PodcastPickle and on Stitcher, too. We also have a cool page for the podcast on iTunes.

More ways to sponsor:

Sponsor us through Patreon! (What is Patreon?)

What did you think of today's episode? Got ideas? Suggestions? You can talk to us on the blog entries for the podcast or talk to us on Facebook if that's where you hang out online. You can email us at sbjpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave us a message at our Google voice number: 201-371-3272. Please don't forget to give us a name and where you're calling from so we can work your message into an upcoming podcast.

Thanks for listening!

This Episode's Music

The music in our podcast is provided by Sassy Outwater.

This is from Caravan Palace, and the track is called “Bambous.” You can find Caravan Palace and their two album set with Caravan Palace and Panic on Amazon and iTunes. You can find Caravan Palace on Facebook, and on their website.

Remember to subscribe to our podcast feed, find us on iTunes, via PodcastPickle, or on Stitcher.

The transcript for Podcast 237. New Books and New Insights Into History: An Interview with Beverly Jenkins has been posted!

This podcast transcript was handcrafted with meticulous skill by Garlic Knitter. Many thanks.

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Happy Friday! I hope everyone has some great weekend plans. Meanwhile, I’m making whiskey sours at 10am on a Thursday. Because, apparently, that’s part of my “job.” It’s March and my free time has disappeared in the wake of several exciting new releases and galleys that are sitting on my nightstand.

This month’s cocktail inspiration comes from Kit Rocha’s Ashwin! This is the first book in the Gideon Rider’s spin-off series after wrapping up their Beyond series ( A | BN | K | G | iB | Scribd ). It’s got a touch of sci-fi and it’s set in a dystopian world, but overall, it has a large, diverse, and amazing cast of characters. Plus, supportive female friendships out the wazoo.

A | BN | K | iB

I used Buffalo Trace Bourbon Whiskey because I used it in a previous recipe and I liked it. I’m not much of a bourbon drinker and this one works with my delicate, vodka-drinking sensibilities. The use of bourbon whiskey is an homage to the Beyond series, though Ashwin can definitely be read as a standalone. And while bourbon always gives me the impression of a stiff and serious drink, the lightness of the lemon juice and foamy egg white gives the drink a great smooth tartness.

The name “Knock Knock” is in reference to a knock knock joke. The hero, Ashwin, is a modified super soldier who has been trained not to feel emotion, so reading a particular scene where he tries his hand at telling a knock knock is pretty hilarious. It’s a perfect inspiration for a whiskey sour. A serious, deadly hero trying to bring some levity to a situation.

Now onto the recipe!

Shopping list:
Bourbon
Lemon
Egg
Simple syrup (sugar + water)
Orange bitters

Proportions:
2 oz bourbon
2 oz lemon juice
1 oz simple syrup
1 egg white
A few dashes of orange bitters

Recipe for simple syrup:

1. I make my simple syrup in a 1:1 ratio.
2. Take one cup of water for every one cup of sugar and pour it into a saucepan. Increase the amounts as needed.
3. Stir the mixture regularly over medium heat until all the sugar is dissolved. You don’t want the water to boil or simmer.
4. Pour into a jar or other container to let cool in the fridge. I tend to make big batches at a time, so I always have it on hand. It’s great for sweetening iced coffee, which I love, despite it being twenty-five degrees outside.

Directions:

1. Put bourbon, lemon juice, simple syrup, and egg white into a shaker full of ice.
2. Shake it like a Polaroid picture!
3. Strain into a chilled glass with ice.
4. Give it a few seconds for foam and bubbles to rise to the top.
5. Add a few dashes of orange bitters.
6. Avoid the urge to draw a dick into the foam.

Modifications and notes:

• Feel free to use a bourbon that you like! Buffalo Trace is not necessary.

• Serve it neat, if you prefer!

• Since I’m not a huge bourbon drinker, I added more lemon juice. As you can see, I picked the biggest lemon that ever existed and used the all the juice it could muster.

• If drinking something with egg white grosses you out, skip it!

• Regular Angostura bitters will work as well, but I like the subtle added orange.

• Pro tip: When separating the yolk from the white, do not do it over your shaker because you will inevitably drop the yolk right into the drink.

Cheers!

Normally I don’t buy into a lot of YA romance because I’m pretty cynical at the realism of finding HEA in high school. I mean, I know that a lot of people do marry their high school sweethearts; I just remember what I was like at that age. Growing out my bangs was enough to send me into existential crisis – no way did I have the emotional bandwidth to manage a serious relationship.

But YA has been proving me wrong lately – there is so much amazing fiction coming out (much of it romance) that I’m willing to concede that I’ve been totally wrong. The Sun is Also a Star sucked me in and I totally bought the love story between the main characters. In fact it was so engrossing, it made me forget the news for awhile: I was sitting on the couch reading when my husband came in the room to turn off CNN because he couldn’t take it anymore. Cable news had been on in the background of my reading session for two hours and I hadn’t even realized it.

The Sun is Also a Star utilizes the “one day in New York City” meet cute, but with a twist. Natasha is high school senior, star science student, and also an illegal immigrant. She remembers little about her native Jamaica, but after her family’s immigration status is discovered when her father gets a DUI, she finds herself about to be deported. She’s spending her last day in the United States trying to find a way to stay her family’s deportation, and she’s not having much luck.

During her quest she (literally) runs into Daniel. He’s the son of Korean immigrants who came to the United States legally and who have big dreams for their sons. Daniel has an interview scheduled with a Yale alum that’s part of the process of getting into the school. Daniel is on the Ivy League path to becoming a doctor like his parents want, not a poet like he wants, and he’s miserable.

There’s a moment of kismet when Daniel and Natasha meet. Both are facing overwhelming futures designed by their parents and are struggling to find their place in the world. Recognizing a similar disaffection in each other, they spend the day together. Daniel takes Natasha to Koreatown where he shares with her his favorite things about his culture. She talks to him about her passion for science.  All of this could be incredibly contrived, but it’s not. The Sun is Also a Star manages Daniel and Natasha’s day-long courtship in a way that feels totally organic and believable.

Daniel is a romantic; Natasha is a cynic. She has a lot of anger, and she’s entitled to all of it. Her life is being disrupted in a way that will separate her from her friends, fracture her family, and ruin her chances at the college she wanted to attend. Despite all of that, she’s charmed by Daniel and his patience and genuine interest in her. They don’t discuss deportation or Yale or parental disappointment, but rather things like time travel. All of this works because we get such deep POV from both characters, both have strong voices, and all of it flows beautifully.

Daniel muses:

There’s a Japanese phrase that I like: koi no yokan. It doesn’t mean love at first sight. It’s closer to love at second sight. It’s the feeling when you meet someone that you’re going to fall in love with them. Maybe you don’t love them right away, but it’s inevitable that you will.

I’m pretty sure that’s what I’m experiencing right now. The only slight (possibly insurmountable) problem is that I’m pretty sure that Natasha is not.

Natasha follows up:

I don’t tell Red Tie [Daniel] the complete truth about what I would do with a time machine if I had one. I would travel back in time and make it so the greatest day of my father’s life never happened at all. It is completely selfish, but it’s what I would do so my future wouldn’t have to be erased.

Instead I explain all the science to him. By the time I’m done he’s giving me a look like he’s in love with me. It turns out he’s never heard of the grandfather paradox or the Novikov self-consistency principle, which kind of surprises me. I guess I assumed he’d be nerdy because he’s Asian, which is crappy of me because I hate it when people assume things about me like I like rap music or I’m good at sports. For the record, only one of those things is true.

Besides the fact that I’m being deported today, I am really not a girl to fall in love with. For one thing,  I don’t like temporary, nonprovable things, and romantic love is both temporary and nonprovable.

Of course Natasha and Daniel do fall in love, on the worst possible day for both of them, but somehow that romance works beautifully.

There’s also a lot going on in this book with regard to race, the American dream, and parent-child relationships. Both Natasha and Daniel feel like outsiders. Natasha has always been aware of her illegal status and how fragile that makes her life in the United States. They immigrated so her father could follow his dream of being an actor, a dream that faltered, and she’s watched how his bitterness toward the promise of “the American dream” has poisoned her own chances of success. Daniel meanwhile doesn’t want the life his parents have pushed so hard to create for him. His older bother, similarly stifled, has been kicked out of Harvard and now all of the pressure is on him to be the successful one.

Every relationship in this book is complex and nuanced. Yoon also head-jumps into bystanders, including Natasha’s immigration lawyer and a security guard she passes, creating this complex framework of lives that are all interwoven in tiny but significant ways. All of this makes for an incredibly satisfying read.

The Sun is Also a Star was enough to change my opinion on YA romance. It’s an outstanding, immersive, delicious book, and I urge those wary of YA fiction to give it a try.

Logan

by Scott Frank (screenplay), James Mangold, (screenplay), and Michael Green (screenplay)
Marvel Entertainment

NB: Please be warned that this movie does feature violence and abuse against children and teens.

…

We got your female rage RIGHT HERE.

This is the most recent installation in the X-Men Series. Set in the not-to-distant future where mutants are mostly gone, Logan is an old, broken man who gets saddled with a tiny, violent, mini-girl!Logan, and a classic road trip ensues. With a lot of eviscerations.

IMPORTANT NOTE: there will be some spoilers in the following discussion.

RHG: THAT WAS SO GOOD.

Amanda: So so so good. I will never get tired of seeing a girl rip grown men to absolute shreds. Also…speaking of shreds, if you prefer your comic book movies with offscreen violence, this is not for you!

RHG: Not even a little. I don’t want us to get into “all comic book movies are rated R now!” (and I don’t think we will, the tween money is too good) but as a testament to the kind of rage that Wolverine carries, and the kind of damage Wolverine can do, this is UNFLINCHING. An 11 year old girl rips the head off a dude (he was a bad dude, it’s okay). We go from there.

Amanda: I think the violence is what I liked most though, if that’s not too strange to say. I’m not that big into superhero/comic book movies for the most part. My concerns also tend to stray into the sheer amounts of structural damage and bystander danger that’s happen; it’s hard to suspend my disbelief for some reason.

But with Logan, the presence of accidents caused by mutants (Charles Xavier has a degenerative brain disease, which is a huge problem for his abilities), as well as whatever mercenary teams are tasked with tracking mutants do have consequences. And I appreciated that…realism. As real as it can be when you have people unsheathing adamantium claws from their hands and feet.

RHG: Yeah, all the damage (save Charles and his seizures) was pretty damned intimate. Everyone was usually within claw-reach. That makes a difference rather than “I’mma lift this city up and dump it 17 feet to the left.” I like both kinds! Don’t replace! It’s 2017, and this is the year we embrace the power of “And.”

I thought this was an excellent send off to both Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart. They’ve done so well in these roles for SO DAMN LONG, and they go out in by far the best Wolverine movie and one of the best X-Men movies.

Amanda: As much as I wished that everyone lives happily ever after in some green pasture for retired mutants, the end of their story arcs made sense. And of course, I snot cried real hard. Thankfully, it’s winter in Boston and scarves double as tissues.

But! And there’s always a but, Logan ushers in a new era for mutants. I’m desperately hoping there will be a continuation that follows Laura and her fellow mutant friends. If you follow the comics,

I’d love to see Dafne Keen, the girl who plays Laura, grow with the role like we’ve seen Jackman grow as Wolverine.

RHG: DAFNE DAFNE DAFNE. DAFNEEEEEEEE. You’ve got an 11 year old girl who has ONE credit to her name before this movie, going toe to toe with Sir Pat Stew and Hugh Jackman and holding her own. She’s like a tiny lioness! Wary, plotting, lethal, and (I think, at least) looking just a HINT like Famke Jansen which was an amazing accident. I can’t assume that was on the list of criteria, but holy shit, that kid’s eyes are scary when she turns on the “I have a plan to kill everyone in this room” light.

She’s AMAZING. What a fucking find.

Amanda: And to add more to her amazingness, for most of the movie, she doesn’t say a word! All her acting is physical – facial expressions, angry shouts, petulant grunts. She’s such a badass too. Even though she’s eleven, she’s just as powerful as Logan, if not more. Probably more, if I’m being honest.

Speaking of additional characterization, I have a weird, perverse attraction to Boyd Holbrook who plays super soldier bad guy Pierce and I’m REAL ASHAMED ABOUT IT.

RHG: You missed her feral screams.

I did not look at the cast list at all for this (Hell, I wasn’t gonna see it, until the trailer with Laura in the gas station came out) so I was pleased to see both Richard E. Grant (a former Scarlet Pimpernel) and Eriq LaSalle (who I haven’t seen since ER!) were in it. I think all of the supporting actors were great.

This is just a really well put together movie! PLOTS. YOU CAN HAVE A COMIC BOOK MOVIE AND HAVE A COHERENT PLOT. It can be done.

Amanda: AW ERIQ! The Munson family in Logan. Jeez Louise, that was a scene. I think that scene has stuck with me the most out of the whole film, to be honest.

But I agree, there are few things I have to complain about, save for the fact it’s set in the distant future and I desperately wanted to more about those creepy corn harvesting machines.

RHG:

I liked that there were a lot of things that weren’t over-explained. There’s a through-line that explains why there aren’t many mutants left and why there haven’t been new ones, but you have to be paying attention for it (STOP CHECKING FACEBOOK IN THEATER OH MY GOD), because it’s only explained once and almost in passing. And-if you’re worried about “well, I didn’t see X-Men: Apocalypse because they covered Oscar Isaacs’ pretty face with makeup, will this movie make sense?” Yes, it will. I promise.

Amanda: Oh, yeah. I’ve only seen the first two X-Men movies waaaaay back when and I checked out on everything else. So you’re golden!

RHG: Hugh’s amazing at being Old Man Logan (oh, also, if you’re a comic person who knows the plot line of Old Man Logan and think “I don’t want that” it’s not even tangentially related, based on my reading of the summary. Logan is old and broken and dying and that’s pretty much the main similarity. Thank god for licensing issues). It’s been SEVENTEEN YEARS and he’s playing this stiff and sad old man who is self-medicating on multiple levels and making it through the day. I’m gonna miss him, but we have a lot of movies to go back to. Most of them are good!

Amanda: Agreed, and given what Logan has gone through and the shit he’s seen and done, it’s not much of a stretch to see him end up where he is in the movie. It’s sad, especially because it really does seem like he’s only keeping himself alive to take care of Charles. They have a dream of buying a nice boat, but I honestly can’t picture either of them in their respective states to enjoy a life on the ocean.

RHG: No, it’s a dream to keep going, that maybe tomorrow won’t be the same as today, but it’s just a dream.

What do you think for a grade?

Amanda: I really do want to give this an A, haha. I’m even willing to settle for an A-. It was a great movie with plot, emotion, and it gave us Dafne Keen. I’m really looking forward to seeing what projects she does next.

RHG: There’s an ad running that says that this movie should be considered for Best Picture at next year’s Oscars. I hope it’s at least in the conversation! Yeah, it’s an A-. It’s a road trip movie, a comic book movie, and a swan song that doesn’t shy away from the consequences of actions.

And Dafne elevates the grade level. She’s so good. SO SO GOOD.

Logan is in theaters now and tickets (US) are available at Fandango and Moviefone.

Time for our March Smart Bitches Movie Matinee pick! This one is rather obvious, since it’s March and there’s some talk of basketball this time of year. But I’ve also never (to my own embarrassment) seen this movie, and I am so excited about it.

Love & Basketball came out in 2000, but based on reviews I’ve been reading, it holds up marvelously as a story and as a romance. HuffPo published an oral history of the making of the film in 2015, though if you want to be entirely spoiler-free, don’t read it until after you’ve watched the movie.

Love & Basketball is available for around $3 to rent and $10-15 to buy digitally on iTunes, Google:Play, and Amazon, and the DVD can be found at your local library, or cheaply online in new and used condition from Amazon or Alibris.

We’ll be discussing the film on Sunday, March 26th, and we hope you’ll join the conversation with us then!

Editor’s Note: Our regular columnist for Romance Wanderlust is experiencing some medical difficulties that may affect her ability to concentrate and read words. Smart Bitches cannot verify that the following statements are accurate, but we invite you to travel along in our very silly dreamscape of medicine adjustment.

Welcome to this month’s Romance Wanderlust, in which we explore real romantic places. Although I have not personally visited this romantic place I’m sure that all of the below is true and not something I dreamed about during the 14 hours a day that I currently spend asleep while adjusting to new brain meds.

This month we explore the Palace of Versailles, home to Elizabeth I and Richard the Lionheart. It has a fascinating history and has had many famous visitors. Jane Austen wrote her books in the gardens on a laptop. A little known fact is that she and Shakespeare totally did it in the Labyrinthe. Versailles is famous for having many gardens (mostly geometrically designed) and many rooms (mostly shiny). A famous shiny room is the Hall of Mirrors, which is an excellent place for people to stand around and play with their hair.

Jane and her lover Will, when they weren’t writing, ate potato chips in the hot tub which Versailles had because it was so fancy. It was a gold hot tub which you can still use today. Other people who all visited at the same time and were all non-fictional include Ching Shih the Pirate Queen, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Sayid from Lost, and all of the Avengers including Peggy Carter and every supporting character.

If you wander the halls of Versailles at night wearing a white nightie and carrying a candle, you may be visited by the ghost of Lord Byron. He will chant love poetry to you until you tell him to piss off. Another ghost is Mae West. She keeps trying to get it on with Lord Byron but he is terrified of her. If you see her, ask her for dating advice. She will tell you to go for it no matter what the question is.

The Palace of Versailles is conveniently located on the coast of Cornwall near a knitting shop. You can snorkel or scuba dive in the lovely tropical waters off Cornwall’s lovely beaches. You can also rent a submarine and drive it yourself but they charge you extra if you crash it while reciting Captain Nemo’s last monologue.

A little known fact about the expansive gardens of Versailles is that there are enough cocoa and coffee trees to supply a small onsite chocolate and coffee bar where you can get drinks like the Marie Mochanette or a Louis Latte. Since every knows that all plants grow in all climates there is also a Christmas Tree Farm where it snows during, and only during, the month of December.

The best place to have sex in the Palace of Versailles is in one of the bathrooms because they are cleaned on a regular basis. The worst place is on one of the beds. They look amazing but the sheets haven’t been changed for 300 years.

Editor’s Note: At this point the submission from our regular columnist suddenly ceased. Further investigation found her asleep in bed, covered in cats and dogs. We eagerly await her next column, which she tells us will be all about the Tower of London, a charming 1920’s mansion with a moat of champagne, where Charlotte Bronte wrote her masterpiece and Edgar Allan Poe exited, pursued by Ravens.

Are you read for some Cover Snark? I sure hope so, because this one’s a doozy!

From Reader Tammy Cat: I mean why does he have 2 balls between his legs.

Carrie: That’s a medical condition.

Sarah: Very subtle. The smudges of dirt on his muscles deploy an innovative chiaroscuro shading technique effectively.

Also he should see a doctor.

Carrie: I mean not only does he have that medical condition with his testicles but he’s also missing his head. That’s serious.

Amanda: It looks like he’s really straining to keep hold of those balls.

Carrie: At least they aren’t blue.

Redheadedgirl: If it lasts for more than four hours he should go to the ER.

From Reader A, about the same cover: I’m not sure if sending this to you is the correct way of thanking you for all your hard work, but there it is, and now at least I know I won’t be alone in this world with it comes to uncomfortable flashbacks to footballs.

Redheadedgirl: It’s correct.

Sarah: Another reader emailed us about Hail Mary Disco Crotch Football by Nicola Rendell.

From Reader Caitlin: I have only one question: WHY.

Wait, maybe I have two. If those are supposed to be his–ahem–balls, why is he posing for a picture and not seeking medical attention?

Wait, no, three questions. If they were going to go this broad, WHERE IS THE BASEBALL BAT PENIS.

And cycling back around to: WHY.

Redheadedgirl: Is this the cover that the most people have emailed us about?

Sarah: This year, yes.

Amanda: The face and body are from different people, right?

Redheadedgirl: I think the body and the jeans are different people.

Sarah: Is Photoshop a hot new designer jeans label? Like 7 For All Mankind, only with that eyedropper tool as the logo?

Elyse: It reminds me of the bad guy from Men in Black. Maybe he’s an alien wearing a human suit.

Elyse: I think that cat is having an appropriate reaction

Redheadedgirl: …

Amanda: Asking for a friend, but is his front business more animal or human?

Redheadedgirl: What is he WEARING? Did he get that from the Pyramid Collection?

Elyse: What are EITHER of them wearing?

Redheadedgirl: I’m just really distracted by the cutout velvet

Amanda: She looks like she’s wearing a grown up version of a Toddlers & Tiaras costume.

Elyse: I almost spit my drink out.

Carrie: Pepto Bismol pink. The color of my college choir uniform. I don’t miss it.

Sarah: He got to second base on the cover wearing that jacket.

Amanda: I looked at the cover too fast and thought the hero was wearing a Ghillie suit.

Sarah: I had a long conversation via email with Asha Ganesan that culminated in her writing this guest post that addresses her desire for more inclusive representation in historical romance and supports her argument with data and external sources. I just heard you perk up in your chairs, didn’t it? Oh, yes, data!

Welcome, Asha, and thank you for being part of our community.

…

This thoughtful guest post comes from Asha Ganesan. Asha is a social psychology Ph.D student in Sydney by way of Iowa (born and raised in Malaysia), currently working on research related to stereotypes of ethnicity and gender, and how cultures evolve. She’s relatively new to romance, in comparison to many seasoned readers of the genre. She says that the genre itself feels more like a movement with its extensive online presence. As she’s someone who works in understanding people in everyday situations, Asha also became interested in what motivates romance readers and women in general and what their views are on gender roles. Also, she thinks readers have the power to ask for changes that are inclusive, which in turn helps us empathize more with experiences of people who are different from us. Finally, she says, “Diversity is not just a buzzword, it was a part of history and it is the reality that we live in now.”

…

Historical romance (HR) has a major diversity and accuracy problem. The problem stems from assumptions that have been passed down through the lineage of HR (though these assumptions are not exclusive to this genre). The assumption is that branding a story “historical romance” includes some representation of “historical accuracy.” It does not.

I have noticed on threads and on Goodreads, commenters often respond to concerns about racism and sexism in HR as being accurately reflective of that particular era. From my perspective, this is major cherry-picking and a deeply flawed argument, because the lack of diverse characters (including diversity of ethnicity, class, and sexual orientation, but I am focusing on people of color – POC – for this discussion) is also often assumed to be (and defended as!) representative of that particular era.

In reality, HR represents some made up notions of what POCs were like in that era, which are (not surprisingly) actually pretty close to the stereotypes that most people have about POCs today.

In 2014, The Atlantic discussed how the difference within book reader demographics between White and Black readers was not statistically significant. In other words, by population size, readers were and are not more represented by one group over the other.

The quantifiable reality is that writers are now catering to a more diverse audience. But within HR, the characters remain steadfastly and almost exclusively White, even though the population of that time period was not.

Let’s make this quantifiable (I refrained from using sources that would be behind a paywall like academic journals or books, but some of these sources have links to them). Here is the minority population breakdown based on England’s migration data in the 1800s (note that census at the time is considered unreliable for migration data):

• Americans in Britain (1881-1889): 16,000 – 19,000
• Africans in Britain (~1800): 14,000 – 20,000
• Indians in Britain (~1850): 40,000

Sources: Wikipedia; BBC; Migration Watch UK

So, Indian immigrants outnumbered American immigrants by more than a 2:1 margin, while Africans immigrants have comparable numbers to Americans. And yet, if HRs were truly “historically accurate,” why do we have proportionately more stories with Americans characters (usually heiresses), but not Indians? Not only have Indians historically served as seamen, diplomats, businessmen, and officials (the first non-White MP was elected in 1892), but they are also better represented in the population.

In other words, it’s disingenuous and deceitful to defend a character who is racist or sexist as “historically accurate,” while at the same time defending stories populated entirely by White people as “accurate” as well.

It’s hard for me to examine population numbers and HR and not think the discrepancy has something to do with writing and reading what’s comfortable for the general Western population. And I am certainly not the first to point this out. For a more powerful condemnation, read Zora Neale Hurston’s What White Publishers Won’t Print, which begins:

I have been amazed by the Anglo-Saxon’s lack of curiosity about the internal lives and emotions of the Negroes, and for that matter, any non-Anglo-Saxon peoples within our borders, above the class of unskilled labor.

This lack of interest is much more important than it seems at first glance. It is even more important at this time than it was in the past. The internal affairs of the nation have bearings on the international stress and strain, and this gap in the national literature now has tremendous weight in world affairs. National coherence and solidarity is implicit in a thorough understanding of the various groups within a nation, and this lack of knowledge about the internal emotions and behavior of the minorities cannot fail to bar out understanding. Man, like all the other animals, fears and is repelled by that which he does not understand, and mere difference is apt to connote something malign.

Because I am a romance reader, I am speaking of romance, specifically HR. There is a whole population of us (whether in the West or East) who want more from HR. And that more is very possible, and in fact probable.

There is historical evidence to show that there were British men who had Indian wives, and White women married and had children with Indian men. In one example, Sake Dean Mahomed (who opened London’s first Indian restaurant and introduced shampooing to English baths) converted to Anglicanism to marry his wife, Jane Daly, because the law at the time forbade Protestant and non-Protestant marriages.

So why is it so unbelievable in a HR? If we are capable of suspending reality when it comes to our handsome rake alpha not being even slightly physically affected by his debauchery and we are willing to overlook the deus ex machina in many of our favourite books (twin-swapping? Windfall? He wasn’t a commoner after all?), is it really too much to ask to make one of the MC’s lover an African woman? To make his wife Asian? To have a character be a cunning Indian businessman – villain or hero?

Personally, I have no issues if POCs were shown in the capacity reflective of that time (i.e., lower status), but right now, for the most part we have a barren wasteland where these characters have been completely erased from most HR, as if they weren’t a part of society at all.

If HR is really meant to be accurate, then there should be more diversity in its stories as that is accurately representative of the England’s population of that time. Moreover, if HR is meant to be fantasy/fiction, including diversity shouldn’t bother anyone nor should it become a chore.

Some may ask, “Why do we need diversity? These are stories about people, not race-based social commentary.” The sad part is that the lack of diversity itself is race-based social commentary.

I’m using Indians in England again as an example to illustrate my point. There are thousands of HR books with White characters, more books than the average person can read in their lifetime. Regency/Victorian HR books with POCs as central characters? I’m pretty sure I have read all of them because they amount to less than 20.

TV shows with Indians are central characters in the last 5 years: around 5. This doesn’t even address whether the central characters had depth and were not exotified or other areas like video games and comics, sci-fi & fantasy books.

A | BN | K | iB

I admit, it is likely a struggle to write about a group of people one doesn’t know. I am not a writer, but I am a researcher. So I know this problem is not just for fiction writers. But citing “lack of resources” or “I didn’t know” is not an adequate excuse for me anymore because it took me all of 10 minutes to look up the research and statistics for this write-up. At its core, diversity is about listening, reading, and understanding diverse stories. Love, lust, affection, and intimacy are not exclusive rights belonging to a particular group, even in a historical context. They do not have to be entrenched with social commentary.

To assume English historical love stories should focus solely on the upper-class, White aristocracy is myopic, limiting, and for me, rather uninteresting. The fact that there are individuals out there who make unsubstantiated assertions about an all-White Regency/Victorian England, as reflected in HR writings, is evidence enough as to why diverse characters are needed.

The default assumption about the Whiteness of England sits uncomfortably with a lot of POCs in part because historically, records and stories are written by individuals in positions of power. The truth is often only known through close examination of unbiased records taken by few individuals and interestingly enough, military records, during that time. Yes, England was a White-majority country, but that doesn’t mean interracial marriages, relationships, and births did not happen. Because, yes, interracial relationships were frowned upon and illegal, they likely went without substantial documentation – but they happened. Here is a brief example with Black British immigrants.

As a similar example, the documentation during colonial times can also be tricky, due differences in language and naming conventions across different countries. (To see an example of how tricky it is, watch the episode of Who Do You Think You Are? with Persuasion’s Rupert Penry-Jones discovering his Anglo-Indian heritage from the 19th century). This intermingling of ancestry between the English and POCs from their colonies is a well-known matter to geneticists and historians as well.

The point here is this: we readers want to see ourselves in characters we read in Historical Romance.

At one point, I did feel like I saw myself. But the more HRs I read, the more I started feeling like an outsider. I no longer experienced the dizzying highs because I realized these emotions and experiences have not included me and will likely not include me whether I am in Regency England or in real life.

In Regency England, someone like me would have no place in aristocracy (unless I’m passing for White or from the British Raj) and most HRs still focus on the aristocracy. In present day life, Indian women (and many Asian, South American, and African women as well) are often stereotyped as being repressed, submissive, or speaking with heavily-accented English. Isn’t it ironic that all the POC women I’ve read about in HRs and contemporaries stick pretty close to these stereotypes? Either I’m not present in the story at all, or, if a character attempts to resemble me even a little, it’s a limited, prejudiced representation that is so far from reality it isn’t me, either. I remain invisible. It also makes the character hard for anyone else to empathize with because it’s just a caricature.

I don’t want to be a special snowflake. In books, I want see POCs as people, heroes, villains, lovers, con-artists, or children, not as a social issue that needs to be addressed. Yes, I belong to minority groups, but beyond that, I am an individual and I would like to see characters that are supposed to “represent” me being treated as a whole individual, with strengths and flaws.

So, to summarize: historical romance was likely never meant to be historical fact, given how selective the “accuracy” of these stories has been. Let’s not mislead ourselves into thinking so and using that as a reason to exclude diverse stories. We were present in Regency England. We are present now. And we want to be included.