bodice-ripper

plural bodice-rippers

1. alternativeAlternative form of bodice ripper.

   Soon bodice-rippers, the gothics, the "romance" novel advanced from paperback to hardback, from supermarket racks to book club selections.

   1993, William O’Rourke, “Catholics Coming of Age”, in Signs of the Literary Times: Essays, Reviews, Profiles 1970–1992, Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, →ISBN, page 48

   4 more examples

   The name "bodice ripper" was derived from the frequent rapes and sexual assaults that the heroines experienced. "Bodice-ripper" heroines were portrayed to be stronger and more active characters than gothic heroines. Editors of category romances, noting the popularity of the "bodice rippers," have borrowed the longer lengths, the overt sexuality and the assertive heroine from these romances.

   1984, Margaret Ann Jensen, “Rivals and Writers”, in Love’s $weet Return: The Harlequin Story, Bowling Green, Oh.: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, →ISBN, page 66

   Indeed, Travis had been a model as a college student, working his way through John Jay Criminal College, posing for the bodice-ripper covers of romantic novels.

   1999 January, Joanna Elm, chapter 17, in Delusion (A Tor Book), mass market edition, New York, N.Y.: Tom Doherty Associates, →ISBN, page 136

   The resulting book reads like a bodice-ripper romance crossed with Judith Krantz, with plenty of feminist and multicultural seasoning thrown in to update the mix.

   1999 November 2, Michiko Kakutani, “Books of The Times: A Single Girl Takes On the California Frontier”, in The New York Times (E section), New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 7

   Grazia [Deledda] discovered early that a short story appeared in the last pages of each magazine; these tales were of a decidedly Romantic bent, much like today's supermarket bodice-rippers.

   2006, Jan Kozma, “Translator’s Introduction”, in Marianna Sirca, translated by Jan Kozma, Grazia Deledda, Madison; Teaneck, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press; Cranbury, N.J.: Associated University Presses, →ISBN, page 9