You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
Elizabeth A. submitted this HaBO and she’s hoping to be reunited with this historical romance:
I am a longtime fan and now I am stumped over a book that I read way back in the late 90’s or very early 2000’s.
I thought the author was Dara Joy, but after searching her backlist I can’t find it. The book was an erotica that was about role reversals. Basically, men weren’t allowed to sleep around but women were. It was a societal norm for women to take lovers and then settle on a husband.
I remember the men were taught to “deal” with their desires and not just get a woman for the night. It was set in a historical time period that I believe to be Regency because they do mention the ton.
When the book was originally published it first came out in hardback. A big thing back in the day! I did have the book in my vast supply of books, which resided in my mom’s basement until the great flood. So, I don’t have it anymore. I know it is not much to go on, can anyone help?
I know quite a few people who would love to get their hands on this.
There is a Dara Joy book with this. It was set on another world in a regency time period. It was the last book she published before her “blow up” with her publisher. It was in hard cover.
Its ritual of proof
I looked through the Dara Joy titles and Ritual of Proof sounds like what you were describing? https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/446698.Ritual_of_Proof
I remember this book. The men even had a hymen-equivalent, so their first penetrative sex was painful. My virginal college-student self was equal parts appalled and delighted at the complete sex-role reversal.
I’ll give Ritual of Proof one thing — the role reversal made the role of sexism impossible to miss. It made me feel awful about all those tropes in all those novels that were ignored because it was women being oppressed.
Didn’t enjoy the book, though.
My first thought was “Ritual of Proof” though I didn’t remember it being in hardcover (I was only interested in the paperback because of the hot stepback and, in fact, I still have it on my shelf for that reason). However, Amazon shows that it was published in hardcover and was her first so another firm vote for “Ritual of Proof” (in case anyone still has doubts).
Ah, Dara Joy. Crazy times. I still have my hardback copy of Ritual of Proof–it amazingly survived the great book purge. But I can definitely attest that there was a HB version.
The ebook version has an impressively bad cover!
I remember really enjoying Ritual Of Proof – and boy was it an eye opener because all the tropes thrown at women in romance novels are thrown at the hero. Parts of it made me uncomfortable and I had to really step back and ask myself why things that regularly happened to female characters suddenly seemed more remarkable when the men were treated that way. All the tropes are trotted out here- even the heroine pensioning off her (male) mistress/kept man before she gets married to the virginal hero and her helping him through the pain of first time sex until she helps him like it. It’s a pretty singular romance novel. I can’t think of anything else to compare it to.
Not the HOBO but speaking of books with misandrist histories: the Last Hawk by Catherine Asaro takes place on a planet where men are kept in harems by the Women rulers. The whole series is Science Fiction with heavy romance components but overwhelming bittersweet endings.
OMG, Ritual of Proof. I was a senior in college when it came out, and my best friend and I kept reading passages out loud to each other. I applaud turning the tropes on its head, but it still a horrible book. I managed to get a copy of the ebook a few years ago and trot out passages when I want to shock my friends.
“Ritual of Proof” is my go-to WTFery example as a conversation starter. Never fails to drop jaws and sell at least one copy
I love her Matrix of Destiny series and ‘Tonight or Never’. (That scene on the balcony…Yes, please.)
‘Ritual of Proof’, not so much, for reasons that have already been brought up in the thread.
“Joy’s invented language . . . sounds like a cross between Dr. Seuss and Klingon, in which Klees and Kloos prance over the landscape and sassbits eat lumpies for breakfast.”
SOLD!
It is Ritual of Proof! Thank you! I did enjoy the hymen equivalent in males. It was very eye opening! And entertaining!
Another enjoyable role reversal (though with a lot less WTFery) is Wen Spencer’s “A Brother’s Price.” It sets up a world in which women outnumber men by something like ten to one and, because men are so few and they tend to be less sturdy than women, they are kept in seclusion by their wives (and mothers when they’re young). Families tend to be a large number of sisters with different mothers (also sisters) but the same father (which may be a no-go for some). The hero and one of his sisters rescue a wounded woman who turns out to be a princess … and romance ensues.
WOW. This book sounds both amazing and awful. And my library has a copy. Winning! (Yes, I am gonna read this. The gender roles reversal is just too much to pass up.
OMG, my library actually has a copy of this in the catalog. Of course, it hasn’t circulated since 2012 so it’s entirely possible it’s actually gone missing, and it’s not like I have time for trainwrecks right now, but the fact that it might be within reach makes me happy.
The summary in our catalog uses the term “She-Lords.” Is that actually in the book? Did nobody point out that in a society ruled by women the title for a person in power would be feminine by default? You could go with using Lord as a feminine title or having “Lady” be the term for a position of power, but you definitely wouldn’t slap a feminine modifier on front of another word.
I’m probably focusing on the wrong problem out of many with this book.
OMG, I HAVE GOT to read this now!!! Ill look to see if its cheap somewhere! hahaha
OMG, I *have* this on my bookshelf, and in hard-cover, no less!! Looks like I got it from a UBS, inside front cover has $4.99 penciled in. I probably bought it for the cover artwork, which is gorgeous. The story, not so much as I recall.
A number of Dara Joy’s books are currently available on KU, though not Ritual of Proof, alas.
As far as artwork goes, both hc and pb are very nice. But omg, some of her covers make Poser covers look decent! Just check out the paperback cover for That Familiar Touch!
ritual of Proof is now on KU, maybe the number of people searching there for it promted the copyright holder to put it up.