Also.Also.Also: WE DESERVE LESBIAN ROMCOMS AND WE DESERVE THEM NOW

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Laneia

Laneia is the Director of Operations and founding member of Autostraddle, and you're the reason she's here.

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16 Comments

  1. I’ve read several books lately that I think would make great queer / lesbian rom-coms.

    When Katie Met Cassidy is a Nora Ephron rom com style lesbian romance – between butch and femme lawyers who run around Manhattan wearing expensive clothing and falling in love.

    Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole is also about beautiful women falling in love while running around New York wearing great clothes, this time a West African butch woman and an African American femme.

    Both of these are very fluffy and satisfying.

    And Kris Ripper’s series The Queers of La Vista is the queer small town romance series I didn’t know I was missing until it came out.

    • I really like your take on these two. Someone told me that they didn’t like When Katie Met Cassidy because it was too privileged, and that definitely is present in the book, but the point is that it’s a silly romance novel! it’s not about anything other than silly romance novel tropes, and that’s exactly why I liked it! I would watch the shit outta that movie

      • Yeah, I completely understand being turned off by the affluence / privilege in a lot of rom coms – but it’s not a deal breaker for me since they already have a fairy tale quality of unreality. And sometimes I just want to indulge in fluffy queer brain candy

        • like I read this book because I wanted vapid fluff! I wanted to suspend disbelief! And my most base, reductive fantasize about a butch sugar mama, why wouldn’t I love a story about a rich sexually experienced butch lawyer?

    • I like vapid fluff reading myself. But man, so many lesbo romances are so POORLY written! Or they have incredibly unappealing characters. Or the most clunky dialogue.

      It’s really bizarre, because there is some amazing f/f fanfic out there. I mean really great character development (ok, there’s a shortcut there because of the source media), plots, humour, hot sex, etc.

      But stuff that gets published? There aren’t that many authors I think of as good. Tipping the Velvet was good, but not exactly humorous. At least it had a HEA. So too with Desert of the Heart, although I do like actual raunch in my romance.

      It doesn’t need to be high literature, but at least Nora Roberts quality (in terms of snacky trash reads) would be good.

      While I totally admire what Bella Books is doing, a) PLEASE HIRE A DECENT GRAPHIC DESIGNER, b) I’ve read two of Radclyffe’s books, and while I liked the smut level, the writing, not so much. Maybe I got unlucky.

      The only one that really sticks in my mind is Pembroke Park by Michelle Martin. A great witty take on a Regency novel. Just enough cheese, and yet totally true to the genre. I WISH there was a digital version!

      In the meantime, alas, I haven’t found anything better than my fave Root x Shaw fanfics.

  2. Not totally related, but the Bollywood lesbian movie came out two weeks ago, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, and while it’s not a rom-com, it has some very cute moments between the main character and her love interest!!! The movie is way more coming out & family oriented, but I’ll give Bollywood some slack since there have been so little LGBTQ storylines in mainstream movies.

  3. You are asking where our Romcoms are? Oh sweet kid… They are hiding in the 90ies and early 00s because back then your elders were always complaining about how Romcoms aren’t good representation and we want real stories.
    Just rewatch Imagine Me and You, Saving Face, Producing Adults, and The Incredibly True Adventures of 2 Girls in Love.

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