Bodice Ripper is a category designation under Historical Romance. The books usually have tropes of forced seduction, plots where the hero rapes the heroine or uses force, multiple partners, and long separations. They were published in the 1970s to 1990s and are no longer in vogue.
Tara’s Song by Barbara Ferry Johnson is yet another middling Viking romance that disappoints. Written in the late ’70s at the height of the bodice ripper era, you’d expect this Viking romance to rapacious and fun, but I found it rather ho-hum. 2 stars
In a Pirate’s Love by Johanna Lindsey Bettina Verlaine travels across the sea to an unwanted fiance when she is captured by the pirate Tristan Matisse. 1 star
Anne Carsley’s This Triumphant Fire is an ok bodice ripper with a more interesting villain than hero. 3 1/2 stars
In Moment of Desire the heroine Mellie Wilton is forced to sell her body. When true love goes awry, she plots revenge against those who brought her down. 5 Stars
After being loved and abandoned by an English Redcoat soldier, Augusta disguises herself as a male & fights in the American Revolution. Along the way she will find passion and perhaps love. 2 1/2 stars
In Tender Warrior by Fern Michaels, Mirjana, a Muslim princess, seeks protection, only to be captured by her enemy, the warrior El Cid.
Passion’s Proud Captive by Melissa Hepburne is not a book for modern readers, but it’s tailor-made to suit my tastes. A hilarious bodice ripper! 4 stars
From the opening pages of Andrea Layton’s So Wild a Rapture, we are introduced to the 16-year-old heroine, the noble Juliette de Condillac, and her “one true love” Francois du Quesnay,
Barbara (Alan) Riefe’s This Ravaged Heart is a 1970’s Playboy Press bodice ripper and while it wasn’t a great book, it had enough bizarre twists to qualify for a grudgingly positive review. 3 1/2 stars
The Black Lyon was my first Jude Deveraux read. I loved the first half, but the second half faltered a bit as a devious woman’s scheming separates the two protagonists.
