Comments on: Gateway Romances

By: Annie Dean

Annie Dean — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 02:57:26 +0000

Kimberly Nee, yes! Mart and Di, right. How could I forget? *grins*

I haunt Ebay because I want this complete set so bad.

By: PixelFish

PixelFish — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 19:22:06 +0000

I think you hit most of my gateway romance books. Ordinary Princess, check. Prydain, check. Horse and His Boy, check. Blue Castle, check.

Also on the list, M. M. Kaye’s The Far Pavilions and Trade Wind, the second of which is absolutely a romance novel. (Trade Wind’s rape scene is notorious in certain circles, but the rest of the book is amazingly gorgeous. Far Pavilions is my favourite of the M. M. Kaye books though, and I’d recommend it as reading to anybody who wants some backstory on colonialism in India and the Middle East, as well as an adventurous romantic story.)

While we’re on the subject of Prydain, Lloyd Alexander’s series, Westmark, also did a lot for me in the romance department.

Mary Stewart’s Touch Not The Cat was my gateway to her books.

Also Elizabeth Pope’s The Perilous Gard and the Sherwood Ring.

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley, as well as her Beauty and the Beast and Spindle’s End and Deerskin.

And this is going to sound a little weird, but Second Foundation, with the unrequited love of the Mule for Bayta. And Dune, for Paul and Chani, as well as Jessica and Leto.

By: Erica

Erica — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 18:14:12 +0000

Wow, Trixie Belden… that takes me back. I had a whole shelf-ful, but I never thought of ‘em as romances. I still own A Wrinkle in Time and it also didn’t occur to me that it might be a romance. Somebody mentioned Judy Blume… I read a lot of those and I suppose they had romances in them. I also liked the Anastasia books (Lois Lowry) which if memory serves, also had bits of what could be called romance. (As I recall, she also wanted to be a writer when she grew up. That, and live in a house with a turret.)

My first “real” romance was also a Johanna Lindsay… in my case, Once a Princess. I then read her entire backlist, and then branched out from there. The rest is history.

By: Camilla

Camilla — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 02:01:06 +0000

Hmm…I’d have to say my first romance was The Ramsey Scallop by Frances Temple. I was only 12 or so and I positively ached for the heroine and hero to confess their love for each other while on their pilgrimage.

By: Kimberly Nee

Kimberly Nee — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 01:44:22 +0000

I’d have to go with Annie on the Trixie series – only Brian was lusting after Honey (and vice versa) and Trixie’s ‘almost-twin’ Mart had the something-something going on with Diana. I loved those books back when I was too young to read Judy Blume.

BTW, the Trixie Beldens were being re-released in hardcover – I’ve found the first 14 or 15 and am slowly buying them for my own daughter. We’ve read the first three so far. She’s still too young for Judy Blume, but I’m looking forward to her reading those as well!

By: Suisan

Suisan — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 01:41:23 +0000

Annie Dean Says:

The Trixie Belden books.

Oh my goodness, Trixie and Jim, the mysterious red-haired boy. *fans self* Plus there were sub-romances between Honey and Trixie’s brother, and between Brian, Trixie’s other brother and their beautiful friend Di.

When it came to the time when they all went to Iowa to her uncle’s farm and there was a dance… I don’t think I ever felt such delicious anticipation about whether Jim would ask Trixie.

YES!! YES!! YES!! I was such a Trixie Belden fanatic. Jim, honorable Jim, quiet Jim, gently teasing Jim, He who always believed in Trixie’s abilities to solve crimes, no matter how bubbly and cute she appeared on the surface. I wanted to be a member of the Bobwhite Club so very badly–then I could have a neat teenaged guy to pair off with too. Mmmm.

By: The Grump

The Grump — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 23:51:19 +0000

Thank you all for the joy of remembering all those books that were “once upon a time”, but taught a lot of useful lessons. Considering them romances is an interesting insight which would be denied by a lot of people I know with degrees, but I agree wholeheartedly. Looking back,I just assumed you grew up and met someone you’d marry. HEA came if he didn’t drink and/or beat you. Obviously, the romance stakes are higher now days. No wonder guys say they have problems figuring out women.

HEA is nice, but there is another point to be considered about books that endure. They have something meaningful to say about more than love or romance. For example, I still read the Anne of Green Gables series on a regular basis. It’s one of the best descriptions of rural farm life at the turn of the century going that I’ve found.

By: Maria Duncan

Maria Duncan — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 18:28:01 +0000

Well my gateway to romance was through tv. I was fascinated by the romance in The Power Rangers between the pink ranger and the white ranger. Sounds odd but from then on I looked for romance in everything

By: Tempest Knight

Tempest Knight — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 18:05:52 +0000

Hm… I’d say my early romances were those teen books. My favorite was “Tiger Eyes” by Judy Blume when it first came out. And I can’t forget Star Wars – the blooming romance between Han Solo and Princess Leia. However, I was more into sci-fi and fantasy until I read “Emerald Enchantment” by Patricia Grasso. That one got me hooked!

By: Kimber Chin

Kimber Chin — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 18:02:45 +0000

Why when Bambi finally fell in love with Faline, of course. (in the original book, not the Disney version)

I loved animal stories as a child. I must have read Bambi a hundred times. Thought he was a very romantic hero.