A Biker Bender

I have a confession. I love biker romance novels. Yes! There is a whole delicious sub-genre of romance novels dedicated to outlaw motorcycle clubs (don’t you dare call them a gang). And I love them.

Since the February newsletter, I have read 18 books, almost all biker romance. According to my Goodreads catalog, of the 1,638 romance novels I have read since I started tracking, 590 are biker romance. That’s 36%. Right now, I am on the final book in a 10 book series—no, a sweeping epic of bikers and the women who love them. The first book was over 700 pages. This last book in the series is something like 1,600 pages and that will be the longest biker romance novel, maybe even novel in general, that I have ever read. I mean,1,600 pages is a lot of biker goodness. 

Why do I love biker romance novels so much? On the surface, there’s a lot of disagreeable qualities to biker books. They’re ultra alpha beefcakes dedicated to upholding the patriarchy. The characters are not typically very diverse. Too often, women are the victims of violence, especially sexual violence, in kind of a titillating way that gives me the ick.

On the other hand, it’s a glimpse at a (highly dramatized) lifestyle and culture very different from the typical romance novel. Characters are usually blue-collar, or lower middle class, definitely not your lords, dukes and viscounts of historical romance. Plots are violent and thrilling, with lots of action, not the archetype of a cozy and cute storyline. Characters are morally gray and complicated. And while this isn’t true of every book, I find more often than not the female main character or love interest is the opposite of an ingénue. Savvy, sometimes sarcastic, deeply loyal, knowledgeable and wise to the world, nothing like the timid virgins waiting to be ravished we stereotypically think of in the romance world. 

I read biker books much faster than I do other fiction genres. I devour them, really. It’s not about thinking through the details or savoring the story, it’s the pure entertainment factor. I go on these biker binges every few months and read nothing else. I don’t share my Goodreads profile widely because of the biker benders. Out of context, it’s just a lot of books with half naked, tattooed men riding motorcycles on the cover. I’m not ashamed, but I am kinda like, “it’s nobody’s business but mine!” Except for all of you. You get to be in my business.

The moral of the story is: read what you like! Read widely and diversely! Try weird stuff. You never know when you might get hooked on a serial killing biker with a heart of gold. Problematic? I don’t know her. 

To the Books!

Books Added to my Wishlist

• Blood on her Tongue by Johanna van Veen: Is her sister going mad or is it vampires?

• Bury our Bones in the Midnight Soil by VE Schwab: Something about immortality and hunger and teeth, so maybe vampires?

• The Unworthy by Augustina Bazterrica: Possibly evil nuns in the post-apocalypse. 

Books I read

The Dartmoor Series by Lauren Gilley (10 books): Gilley refers to these as “literary fiction” instead of romance but I wouldn’t go that far. They definitely fall within romance genre parameters. It's a sprawling saga involving multiple characters and time periods all centered around the Lean Dogs Motorcycle Club. Most books focus on one couple’s love story, sometimes the narrative is split between two couples, where the second couple becomes the primary driver of the next book in the series. Overall, these are pretty good for independently published fiction. Very dramatic, tense and action-packed but also detailed and character driven. I gave each book either 3 or 4 stars. 

Victorian Psycho by Virgina Feito: I didn’t like this as much as I had hoped I would. Yes, it’s gothic. Yes, it’s violent. Yes, it’s droll and even occasionally funny, in a shock and awe kind of way. And yet somehow, all those parts didn’t add up to a whole for me. It was 200 pages but it felt longer and slower, with brief, bright splashes of violence leading to a Grand Guignol style ending. 4 stars for the parts I liked.

Books I Gave Up on

The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey by Astrid Dahl: When it came time to actually pick up and read the book, I decided I wasn’t in the mood for reality television, even fictionalized. 

Cat Pic of the Month

The weather is warming up and that means more time spent on the catio. Here’s Fiona, soaking up that delicious sun.

Show Me the Noods!

I made a Greek-ish pasta salad. It’s kind of an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink style recipe. Chop up some vege, throw in some cheese, use garbanzo or white beans, add a pesto or salad dressing and short pasta and voilà! Pasta salad! This time I used artichoke hearts, radishes, baby bell peppers, feta cheese, green olives, cannellini beans, scallions, Greek dressing, and mini farfalle pasta. Amazing.