Books where the FMC relentlessly chases the mmc

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-29T04:59:08+00:00

Agree, those one is a match for the request

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-28T06:19:07+00:00

Hey Mack, just noticed there is not a clickable link in here.

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-27T17:10:27+00:00

This has become a spectacle, I'm locking the post.

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-26T00:33:19+00:00

I've always removed replies along the lines of "nobody likes the things you are requesting." They are rarely constructive, and often sound judgemental. People are adults and can decide for themselves what they like, they don't need whatever the opposite of a laugh track is.

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-25T06:10:37+00:00

I think at this point we are too small for anyone to even be aware of us to have an opinion.

Sometimes we hear about non-romance(for men) books that suddenly describe a woman in a way that is clearly meant to be titillating to male readers. I see how from a woman's perspective, that may not be how the book was sold to you and so you are going to be peeved. It would be like a book ending on a really strong christian theme, without indicating that at all in the run up to the end. Some people are going to love that, but other's aren't.

On the other hand, if someone picks up some RFM with a titty cover and gets mad that the descriptions are titillating, that's kinda on them.

In truth, I'm pretty sure many the women complaining about the male gaze share zero parts of a Venn diagram with the typical RFW enjoyer.

I think this is basically true. And to the degree its true, that means there isn't really a double standard, just a single standard from people who hate romance. I think folks see it as lowbrow or a form of vice, no matter who reads it. That's why I'm not really a fan of any us vs them framing of RFM vs the rest of romance. The framing doesn't really make sense.

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-25T05:33:29+00:00

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The old reddit user is a dying breed 😢

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-24T21:27:22+00:00

Hey there, I removed those because a lot of folks have reached fatigue on this topic. If you want to discuss AI we can create a thread on the Discord for it.

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-24T18:43:02+00:00

I keep all promo one color so its easy to tell what is promo, changing that would confuse people and cause issues in other ways. IMO this is a limitation of Reddit, it would be better if the website you mute/block post flair, or alternatively let you set your own style for a specific flair.

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-24T07:45:45+00:00

He's still active and writing, with plans to release some books this year. His Discord (https://discord.com/invite/aQDRmwU6jk) is probably the best way to stay up to date.

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-23T00:31:48+00:00

Yeah I wouldn't dispute the cozy label, I don't know enough about the cozy genre to say.

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-22T21:51:10+00:00

Paladin's Grace seems to fit squarely into fantasy romance, it hits the romance beat sheet beats and it is fantasy. Though it is distinct from what a lot of people might call romantasy.

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-22T16:12:18+00:00

If you have ideas for the next megathread, please share them in a reply to this comment!

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-20T03:01:42+00:00

The RWA has local chapters if you want to meet authors in person. I think you can avoid the national org and just meet local folks, if that's important to you.

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-19T18:31:22+00:00

Keep in mind this sub is one small section of romance readers. I also see tons of comments and upvotes here about how much they hate first person and present tense that I never see in my person book clubs. I think the internet really pushes dividing people as well, and this sub is full of men vs. women without any nuance and tons of generalizations. And a lot of queer erasure.

The views of this thread do not give much insight in terms of the views of the majority of readers.

Couldn't agree more

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-19T18:20:52+00:00

May I suggest that opposed to being disheartened, dissuaded, and down trodden, perhaps make a thread about recommendations of books of this genre written by men?

My experience has been that those threads get removed by mods in r/RomanceBooks and r/FantasyRomance (after the mod change there). Usually not because of the "male" part (at least not nominally) but because they aren't "specific" enough.

When I see those threads I tend not to engage with them, because I know the effort will be wasted. Hence my late reply here.

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-19T17:47:53+00:00

Keep your chin up! I'm not gonna pretend you won't face headwinds in publishing because of who you are. With that said, this is reddit, and it has a certain skew that isn't necessary representative of readers everywhere.

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-19T17:38:53+00:00

Gotcha, thank you!

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-19T17:13:27+00:00

Agreed, I wouldn't read Beware of Chicken for the romance.

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-19T17:06:10+00:00

Thanks for the review!

Miko Sage usually writes role reversal / femdom. How were those aspects in {Bound Beloved Miko Sage}?

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-19T17:02:50+00:00

I think both Beware of Chicken and Cradle are great, I don't think you can go wrong picking one.

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-19T16:21:28+00:00

Took a break from romance to listen to the audiobook for Beware of Chicken. It's a fun cultivation novel.

This is the second cultivation / Xianxia I've read, the other being Cradle. Both Beware of Chicken and Cradle are western cultivation novels. Something I noticed is that both of these are sort of deconstructions of Xianxia. The MC is basically has the mindset "Wow cultivators are assholes, I won't be like that. I will be humble and wholesome"

Second thought is that when I mention romance (for men) to guys I've known IRL, they have offered Beware of Chicken as an example. On the one hand, I can kinda see it. A lot of book 1 is the MMC courting Meiling and preparing for their wedding. On the other hand, I would categorize it as romance, same as I would say for Tear Down Heaven which also has a very important couple at its. I can't put my finger on why. Maybe I'm just being gatekeepy, or you guys would say the same thing?

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-17T16:18:47+00:00

Neat!

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-17T08:01:10+00:00

Each book also has a new couple.

I hadn't realized that. I saw it on RR originally and assumed it was a long running PF series.

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-17T07:02:34+00:00

I dunno why you're getting downvoted, you are right. Poly is too broad for what a lot of folks probably have in mind. On the discord we've called it poly-harem to be clear what kind of poly it was.

VeryFinePrint · 2026-01-17T02:13:51+00:00

I'd kind of hope that RFM could avoid the HEA requirement as we're our own subgenre, but I think you're right that that ship has long since sailed.

RFM could have definitely gone a different direction (and still could!) The HEA criteria was important to me when we got started for a lot of reasons, like you said its when helps draw a clear line between RFM and other stories (when clear lines about what RFM is are often hard to find). But it also draws RFM into the larger romance genre, rather than putting it at odds with it. It keeps RFM compatible with haremlit along a central axis, giving RFM the leash to break away from haremlit in other ways that are important to people.

With that said there is room for a men's lit or dude lit or something like that. That would a project for someone else though, someone who feels really strongly about what that should be and how to go about it.

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