Writing the little black dress

Posted byjenniferannerainesPosted inUncategorizedTags:, , , ,

Do a web search for “little black dress” and you’ll discover that fashion historians credit Coco Chanel for this 1920s design. It’s a clothing item that’s so well known it’s often referred to as “LBD”. The LBD is intended to be long-lasting, versatile, affordable, and widely accessible symbolising class, business, elegance, and sexiness. I’ll have what she’s wearing!

“The original LBD also became a blank slate for reinvention that evolved to accommodate the fashionable silhouettes of every decade, from Cristóbal Balenciaga’s abstract sculptural volumes and Christian Dior’s cinched waists and full A-line skirts to Rei Kawakubo’s body-engulfing Comme des Garçons designs and Vivienne Westwood’s draped corset dresses.”

Hollywood’s influence on fashion helped its popularity. Think Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Fast-forward to the Barbie world premiere in July 2023, when Margot Robbie posed for pictures on a pink carpet, in front of a pink Corvette convertible, wearing a black custom Schiaparelli Haute Couture bustier dress that was fully embroidered with sequins and finished with layers of tulle. Admittedly, she did carry a pink mousseline scarf. The modern Barbie wears black.

Trends in fashion come and go, but we’ve held on the LBD—in all its variations—for more than a century now.

Now think of the timelessness of the romance novel—it has multiple genres—historical, paranormal, speculative, romantic suspense, contemporary, romantic comedy, young adult, fantasy, science fiction, LGBTIQ—and the list continues to grow. Within these there are sub-genres and varying levels of heat or spiciness. Erotica is often described as standing to one side of romance because the intent is not to deliver a Happily-Ever-After (HEA) or Happy-For-Now (HFN) outcome.

Like every other area of human endeavour, there are trends and fads in romance fiction. Some authors choose to follow trends, sometimes to stretch their creative muscles, but if you love writing and want to make a living out of it, you have to be hard headed. For other authors, it’s a genre they love.

A current trend is dark romance—themes of love, passion and (often) obsession set against a backdrop of darkness, danger or taboo. The Fifty Shades of Grey series fits this category. Novels can explore BDSM (light or heavy), role playing, abduction, rape fantasies, and kidnapping and captivity. Mafia romance has a growing fan base. Dubious or no consent features, as well as dominant males. Arguably love still leads to redemption, although not all character behaviours change. Some dark romance is getting darker, and the term used in bully romance, which is a pretty descriptive statement. The stakes are higher in these romances, the tension greater and, so the argument goes, reader satisfaction is greater (potentially) when love triumphs.

Social media, including TikTok has popularised a lot of books, including dark romance, but social media has also helped promote terms like “golden retriever” or “cinnamon roll” hero as an antidote to toxic masculinity, although this sub-genre isn’t gaining the same traction.

A cinnamon roll hero is a sweet, supportive and kind hero—the anti Christian Grey. Golden retriever heroes are variously described as calm, easy-going, dependable, good listeners and observers. One source adds that Golden retrievers understand the true meaning of being a partner. Another suggests they’re naïve, which isn’t necessarily a good rep to have if you’re a hero! A good cinnamon roll hero is a multilayered, sexy character.

At their heart, romance novels are about fantasy and escapism. Not everyone shares the same fantasies, and a reader’s fantasies can change over time. At this point in history, between statistics about partner abuse, attacks on gender equality, assumptions that women in high places got there on quotas rather than merit, and even the clustering and muttering of groups on social media e.g.- involuntarily celibate (INCELs) men who blame women because they don’t have a partner, and pundits claiming women should behave like women, I’m beginning to wonder if cinnamon rolls, who value equality in their relationships with women, and who trumpet women’s success, are the real fantasy.

To fit modern parlance, you could say I write cinnamon rolls with backbones of steel. It may be fanciful to suggest it, but really, I write the “little black dress” of romance—contemporary romance with heat and heart, where the lovers are so well-matched you’re convinced the relationship will grow and last. Like the LBD, my heroes are keepers. I hope readers agree.

Note: Getting my ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) together:

ARC readers get advance copies of new releases with the request to post an honest review on one of the major sites, for example, Goodreads, Bookbub, Apple, Amazon, Kobo or Barnes & Noble.

If you’d like to be an ARC reader for my upcoming books—next in line, Quinn, by design—you can sign up to Booksprout, where you’ll have a choice of my book or the books of other authors.

Alternatively, you can contact me directly via the contact link on my website. Let me know a little about yourself. I always post the blurb for my next book on the My Books page of my website, so have a read of that and see if Quinn, by design is a story you’ll enjoy.

By agreeing to be part of my ARC team, you are in no way obligated to leave a review on any site, although I’d appreciate it. I welcome all reviews, good or bad, as long as they are honest.

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You can also contact me directly via the contact page on my website if you have any other questions.

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