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USC Annenberg School for Communication

From bodice rippers to romantasy, romance novels are dominating the book market – and rewriting women’s sexual power

From bodice rippers to romantasy, romance novels are dominating the book market – and rewriting women’s sexual power

(LOS ANGELES) The compulsion started soon after my marriage. Long before e-books and audiobooks, I furtively read paperbacks whose covers of bosomy maidens and bare-chested men would have outed my obsession. Then, on a family car trip, my husband told my young stepdaughters why I liked sitting alone
Diane Winston, USC Annenberg School for Communication 10 Mar 2026

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