Paranormal Heroines by SB Sarah

While romance blog Smart Bitches, Trashy Books is down for maintenance, SB Sarah has started an impromptu blog tour! Here she is to guest-blog about what she loves with paranormal romance — the heroines!

One of the aspects of the romance genre I absolutely adore down to my tippy toes is the exploration of the female. From traditional archetypes to subversion of expectations, a heroine’s story of actualization, agency, and happily ever after can create a reflection of many aspects of women that don’t receive much attention.

One of the most interesting ways in which the power of women (hear us roar) can be explored in subtle and obvious forms is in paranormal romance. From huntresses with exceptional powers to women who can change into wolves, paranormal romance offers a direct route to looking at how asskicking women can be – both as humans, and as extra-more-than-humans.

In paranormal romance, too, we get to see women acting in ways that wouldn’t necessarily be acceptable in other romance subgenres. She can be violent or aggressive, merciless or cunning – all in pursuit of or in defense of that which she holds most sacred. Hell may hath no fury like a woman scorned, but the scorned woman would run in fear from a woman whose loved ones have been threatened. To heck with scorn; get in our way, and we will bring it and take names when we’re done.

And the paranormal hero, who drinks blood or hears the dead or changes into any number of different animals or can teleport from place to place without the need for frequent flyer miles, he needs a pretty damn strong woman to take him on, so again, paranormal romance underscores an element of women’s characters that doesn’t get a lot of attention: our innate strength, power, and capacity for decisive action. Paranormal romance heroines can kick ass, get dirty, and save the world.

I love that part.

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Smart Bitch Sarah
http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com