when we began our site, the established communities of romance readers online operated within a strange dichotomy. On the one hand, readers would grumble about how romances are dismissed as plebian dreck, or that they receive neither respect nor adequate attention from the media outlets who are continually distracted by the sex and the appearance of Fabio on the cover. But then, should anyone (read: us, for example) begin to examine individual romance novels critically, pointing out narrative flaws or questioning the sexual authority of a heroine who subsumes her identity completely into the hero's by page 4, these same readers and writers would cry that romance is just silly escapist fun and certainly doesn't need to be subjected to harsh criticism. By reviewing romances critically, we are already at odds with these readers, because romances, in our opinion, should be subjected to thorough examination, both from an irreverent and a critical perspective. (180)
Wendell, of the romance review site Smart Bitches Trashy Books writes that