Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women: Romance Writers on the Appeal of the Romance Book

This landmark 1992 book, edited by Krentz, is for all those people wishing to understand why women read romance. There are several good discussions here and one can learn (or reminisce) about the advancement of this genre of past authoresses through analyses and debates of various essayists. However, IMHO, the best line in the book comes from Daphne Clair in her submission of 'Sweet Subversions'.
Half a century later, in the very teeth of women's liberation, Kathleen Woodiwiss's The Flame and the Flower and Rosemary Rogers's Sweet Savage Love generated a flood of immensely successful rape-romances that enraged feminists, created guilt in many avid readers, and were cited as perpetuating the notion that women really do like being forced. (We might assume then that men, major consumers of thrillers, westerns, and detective fiction, enjoy being beaten up, tortured, shot, stabbed dragged by galloping horses, and thrown out of moving vehicles.)
That last line was so good I had to e-mailed it to my sister-in-law when I informed her that romances, with its ever expanding sub-genres, comprise 55% of the current paperback market. I don't favor rape scenes in my romance books, I think because I identify too much with the heroines, and I have no desire to re-read Sweet Savage Love. However, there are notable exceptions where the author is so talented she can pull it off (as I mentioned in in my review of The English Heiress by Roberta Gellis). But, alas, now fortified with Ms. Clair's words, I no longer have to feel guilty for having that awfully embarrassing wonderful 'bodice-ripper' The Flame and the Flower on my 'all-time-favorites' bookshelf. What an enormous relief! :-)