Tale as old as time... quite literaslly. Were people always talking down on romance novels? Has anything changed between the publication of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice in 1813, the establishment of Harlequin Enterprises ULC in 1949, and now? There's a lot to unpack here and we're giving it an honest go.

Articles and books referenced in this episode:

* Pamela Regis, "A Natural History of the Romance Novel", University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003.
* Maya Rodale, "Dangerous Books for Girls: the Bad Reputation of Romance Novels Explained", 2015.
* B.C. Southam, "Jane Austen,". 1st ed. London; Routledge, 1979.
* Greg William Rathbone, "The False Morality of Lady Novelists"; from Andrew King (ed.), John Plunkett (ed.), "Victorian Print Media: A Reader", 1859.
* Nathaniel Hawthorne, letter, 1855; from Caroline Ticknor "Hawthorne and his Publisher", 1913.
* Jayne Ann Krentz (ed.), "Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women: Romance Writers on the Appeal of the Romance", University of Pennsylvania Press, 1992.
* Tania Modleski "Loving with a Vengeance: Mass Produced Fantasies for Women", Routledge, 1982.
* Pamela Regis, "What Do Critics Owe the Romance? Keynote Address at the Second Annual Conference of the International Association for the Study of Popular Romance", Journal of Popular Romance Studies vol 2 issue 2.1, Oct 12 2011
* Maleah Fekete, "Confluent Love and the Evolution of Ideal Intimacy: Romance Reading in 1980 and 2016", Journal of Popular Romance Studies, vol 11, May 18th 2022.

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All art courtesy of @aga.futa.art.
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