Romance Novels

Love and Sex

Would You Write Yourself Into a Romance Novel?

Think of it as the literary equivalent of making a sex tape: A company called UStarNovels lets you customize your own erotic stories with the names of you and your partner, the setting, and details of your choice.

Think of it as the literary equivalent of making a sex tape: A company called UStarNovels lets you customize your own erotic stories with the names of you and your partner, the setting, and details of your choice. I know some of you count romance novels among your guilty pleasures, and they can certainly be entertaining. Plus, if reading erotic fiction is something you like to do with your partner, why not have it be about you?

The way it works is, you choose the character names (it could even be a celebrity crush) and offer details like favorite food and music. You can even say how racy you want the love scenes to be. The result is a 160-page-plus novel written to your specs; it costs about $38 and arrives within a week, depending on shipping. I think this is a pretty funny idea and, depending on the writing, it could be really fun and definitely an attention-getting gift. What do you think?

Guess Who

Guess What This Romance Novel's Really Called?

Valentine's Day is right around the bend, and Harlequin romance novels and their ilk have played a large role in feeding us corny fantasies about how the most important moment in our lives is when He falls in love with us.

Valentine's Day is right around the bend, and Harlequin romance novels and their ilk have played a large role in feeding us corny fantasies about how the most important moment in our lives is when He falls in love with us. So I decided to round up some of the corniest books I could find and ask you to guess what this romance novel is really called?

Poll

Vote for Your Favorite Worst Opening Line in a Romance Novel

I've never been a romance novel reader, but I see plenty of ladies reading this stuff on my commute.

I've never been a romance novel reader, but I see plenty of ladies reading this stuff on my commute. (I'd love to see a dude whip out a Harlequin Romance now and then.) Is the writing really this bad? I can't tell if these are real first lines or parodies of first lines. Either way, choose your "favorite." It's gonna be hard. Click here for more stinkers.