The "bodice rippers"/historical romances of the 1970s are mentioned only briefly:
The blockbuster historicals were not explicitly BDSM-focused, but they certainly exploited many of the same conventions that make the Fifty Shades trilogy so popular: the virginal heroine; the older, domineering alpha male hero; the heroine's sudden sexual awakening, matched with the hero's sexual obsession; a focus on sexual violence; and finally the complete reformation of the hero for the sake of his love for the heroine. (166)
The first BDSM romance discussed is:
starting in 1979 and finishing in 1980, the iconic gay Leather magazine Drummer serialized John Preston's Mr. Benson [...]. In it, young Jamie meets the eponymous Mr. Benson in a random bar, and the story relates their adventures as they establish and explore their D/s relationship. [...] Jamie and Mr. Benson accept, explore, and enjoy their BDSM desires, use it to build a relationship together, and through it achieve their happily-ever-after ending. As a result, this story of two deeply kinky gay men finding themselves and each other in their BDSM play is the first BDSM romance as we understand the genre conventions today. (166)
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Erotic romance author Emma Holly has the distinction of being the first to combine the subgenres of erotic romance and BDSM fiction. (169)
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In 2002, Ellora's Cave published their first novel by Joey W. Hill, probably the most well-known author - some would even say the founder - of BDSM romance. (171)
The "bodice rippers"/historical romances of the 1970s are mentioned only briefly:
The first BDSM romance discussed is:
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