Congrats Meri, and thanks to everyone who commented. You helped tremendously. Look for my post on penis envy in romance some time after next week.
I found it very interesting, BTW, that so many people were sure they had seen the Big Reveals dozens of times, but couldn’t come up with many examples. Does this mean this trope is facing an era of shrinkage? Or are the heroines just less sheltered?
Meri — Please email me at jessica@racyromancereviews.com with the email address to which you want me to send the Amazon gift certificate!
The official results form Random.org:
There were 10 items in your list. Here they are in random order:
1. Meri
2. Willaful
3. Sherry
4. Victoria
5. Laura
6. Jill
7. JenB
8. Katiebabs
9. Kyra
10. Tumperkin
Timestamp: 2009-02-28 13:27:52 UTC
For me, it means those books aren’t usually keepers. I think that scene can, ah, arise from a reliance on generic faux-hawtness (much like muscles replacing character development), or from a Little Red Riding Hood fantasy (“Oooh what big teeth you have!”). There’s no room on my shelf for the former.
“For me, it means those books aren’t usually keepers.”
I’ve been pondering this same question and came up with exactly the same answer. Several of us did remember the scene from _Lord of Scoundrels_, but *most* of these scenes are from generic books by generic authors.
I think one reason we’re seeing less of this is that we’re getting many of these scenes from the hero’s POV rather than the heroine’s, especially in recent years. I recall reading romance novels from the heroine’s POV in which she thought it wouldn’t work but didn’t express that thought. The hero obviously can’t be surprised by size issues and most aren’t too worried about it (other than Dain).
I ended up with The Bronze Horseman and The Viscount who Loved Me as examples. I’m not particularly fond of this trope, but both books were keepers for me.
Just found one! Passion’s Sweet Revenge by Jo Goodman. Oh man, I love this gawdawful cover. “She wanted his revenge to go on forever…”
“It will never fit inside me. You’re as big as a –”
Back from 1990, before she really found her voice.
“You’re as big as a –” WHAT?
You’re killing me here. (I suppose that should be “… with your enormous sword of vengeance”, but… enough.)
Sorry, that wasn’t me being shy, it was verbatim.