Vaginal Fantasy Book Club discussion

Is it just me or do Vaginal Fantasy books lack a funny bone? Aren't we taking sexy time too seriously? What about awkward pick-up lines, bumping heads, and farting under the covers? Not to mention – kilts!
Are all women just delicate flowers waiting around for the man of her dreams to sweep her off her feet? I don't think so. And women always say that nothing is sexier than a man with a sense of humour, so what's with all the the brooding, alpha dog, fireman calendar wannabes?
Am I wrong? Being a manly man myself, I haven't read a lot in the genre. Please tell me that romantic comedy doesn't end at Jennifer Aniston movies.
What's the funniest romance novel you've ever read? (intentional or otherwise)

I am honestly turned off by Alpha Dog characters, which is why I actually like Ghost Planet. Seemed like the women in the story were capable of caring for themselves, and the male characters were capable of getting out of the way.
Humor is always good, but lately reading romance I see a lot of it seems to be largely directed at the female character, which is fine, but I agree that it seems that none of the male characters suffer the slings and arrows of embarrassment. Now THAT turns me off.
Like if the person I'm with can't laugh at themselves every once in awhile, I wonder about their self-esteem.

Yeah, there is nothing funny about misogyny, or misandry for that matter. I'm thinking specifically of romantic and comedic crossovers. Are farce, satire, and burlesque dying art forms?

Vicki Lewis Thompson has some quirky romances.

I think it depends on the sub-genre of romance that you're reading.

I've not run into many historical or paranormal romances that are also comedic (that's not to say they don't have comedic moments, just that I wouldn't classify them as comedic).

Gail Carriger who writes Soulless has a pretty quirky sense of humor that's fun to read, though the series ranks on the lower side of the sexy-time scale, there is some romance. Desperate Duchesses has a vibe that's similar to comedic theater, the rest of the series isn't quite as humorous, unfortnately.

To find something akin to the Aniston's rom-coms you have to look at the contemporary romance sub-genre. Authors like Sophie Kinsella and Jennifer Crusie come to mind.

Some other good resources for finding rom-com books are:
Rom Com Genre on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/genres/rom-com
Romantic Comedy Genre on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/genres/roman...
Humorous Romance Books Listopia: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/12...

I think picking something funny is a good idea, I'll think about that! Sometimes the whole chick-lit thing can feel insubstantial, but I guess if it's an author people enjoy they can always fill time reading more of them~
If you guys have suggestions, let me know. I know there's a series about vampires that is supposed to be pretty cute and funny, gotta dig up the name of it...

Felicia wrote: "I think picking something funny is a good idea, I'll think about that! Sometimes the whole chick-lit thing can feel insubstantial, but I guess if it's an author people enjoy they can always fill t..."
Bwahaha. My evil plan is coming to fruition far quicker than I imagined. You do know I started this thread just so you would do a comedy themed episode, don't you?

I don't know. I found Enternal Pleasures very funny, specially the sexy times at the end

Nicole wrote: "I don't know. I found Enternal Pleasures very funny, specially the sexy times at the end"

i was going to mention it!

I thought Dragon Actually was funny.

Laura wrote: "I thought Dragon Actually was funny."

it was funny till feargus, driven by pleasure turned back into a dragon

Check out Katie Macalister. Her Dark Ones series is about vampires, but I preferred her Dragon books. The Ainsley Grey:Guardian series is a good intro to her world and leads into the Dragon series. I really enjoy her writing style and sense of humor.

Felicia wrote: I know there's a series about vampires that is supposed to be pretty cute and funny, gotta dig up the name of it...

Maryjanice Davidson's Undead and Unwed series?

Felicia wrote: "I think picking something funny is a good idea, I'll think about that! Sometimes the whole chick-lit thing can feel insubstantial, but I guess if it's an author people enjoy they can always fill t..."

There's the "Nice Girls" Series:



I've only read the first two, but they were pretty cute and well-written too. Apparently the author's also written a werewolf series.

Philippa wrote:There's the "Nice Girls" Series:
I've only read the first two, but they were pretty cute and well-written too. Apparently the author's also written a werewolf series.

I love humor and I adore all of Molly Harper's PNR novels. The werewolf series is very funny and, in what I think is a cool twist, the female protagonist is the alpha werewolf in the second book.



Anyone that thinks vaginal fantasy is too serious really ought to give this author a try.

I'd love to have a comedy laced vaginal fantasy month :)

I'm kind of new to romance too, so I can't recommend anything personally, but this might be helpful on the historical side:

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/15...

I have read Undead and Unwed, though, and liked it.

Actually, Most of the paranormal romance books I like to read are funny. If I see one more book about a sexy cop or military man I'm going to scream. I love Maryjanice Davidson's Undead series, Gerry Bartlett's "Real Vampires" series is fun. Love, love, love Katie MacAlisters whole series on dragons. And Bite Me by Christopher Moore is hilarious. Thanks for putting the thought out there.

Yeah Dragon Actually was funny but unintentionally!

I find the Garnet Lacey series really funny. The main character is a wiccan woman who works at a book store, and "accidentally" called Lilith into her body. And there are vampires. (I read #4 first when I stumbled upon it at my library).

Nina Bangs Wicked Edge was accidentally funny... ... in how bad it was.

I'm not sure if you'd classify Christopher Moore's "a love story" trilogy as Romantic Comedy or just COMEDY, but they're also super funny as well. You Suck was my favourite of the three.

I agree with Vicky about Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series. It's light on the romance (after the first one, especially), but it has wit and a sort of tongue-in-cheek humour of the times...

Serendi wrote: "Felicia wrote: I know there's a series about vampires that is supposed to be pretty cute and funny, gotta dig up the name of it...

Maryjanice Davidson's Undead and Unwed series?"

Yes! is it good?

Yes it is. Amusing, light and fluffy.

Molly Harper's books, Nice Girls... first book preferably.
Ilona Andrews' On the Edge series book 2-3 (1st isn't so comedic).
even first book in Argeneau Vampires series, and Cat and Bones Series.

oh, and amazingly funny 13 hours! edit: nvm, that last is not a fantasy.

I liked the first few Undead and... books, got tired of them after awhile. Went on a major Maryjanice Davidson binge after that - some of her stuff is way more over the top, which is sometimes good and sometimes kinda weird. Her writing is a mixed bag, but I'd definitely recommend trying some of her stuff.

While I like some dark and brooding vampires I also like mine with a side of fluff. I'm a big fan of Katie MacAlister's vampire and dragon books, Lynsay Sands Argeneau books and Kerrelyn Sparks Love at Stake series. I just finished Shadow's Claim and Poison Princess so tonight I'm going to start Katie MacAlister's latest novel, a first in a new series about time traveler's - Time Thief That might be a fun pick one month, has there been a time travel book yet in the book club? It also sounds like it has a light side to the plot as well.

Kelly wrote: "That might be a fun pick one month, has there been a time travel book yet in the book club?"

Technically Outlander had time travel, but I know plenty of people who don't feel like the time travel was really a big thing in it. I think a "true" time travel month might be a cool idea.

Eliste wrote: Technically Outlander had time travel, but I know plenty of people who don't feel like th..."
OOps totally forgot about Outlander, probably because it was so long I haven't finished it yet but thank you for reminding me!

If you're looking for funny Vaginal fantasy, you could do a lot worse than check out Molly harpers Hollows series. The sexy times are not too explicit but there's plenty of humour and romance. I've just finished her latest and laughed out loud on numerous occasions.

Jon wrote: "If you're looking for funny Vaginal fantasy, you could do a lot worse than check out Molly harpers Hollows series. The sexy times are not too explicit but there's plenty of humour and romance. I'..."

yeah thats a good one. even the spinoffs are pretty good

Vicki wrote: "I think it depends on the sub-genre of romance that you're reading.

I've not run into many historical or paranormal romances that are also comedic (that's not to say they don't have comedic moments, just that I wouldn't classify them as comedic)."

I completely agree, and I think that argument could be broadened to "There aren't as many humorous Sci-Fi/Fantasy books in general." Is the SFF genre taking itself too seriously in general? Does building a boss world with different races, politics, languages, and rules of physics naturally lend itself to a lack of cracking wise and shennanigans? (With obvious exceptions like Redshirts, Hitchhiker's Guide, and the Discworld series.) I'd love to hear all your thoughts on this.

The following figures shouldn't be taken as gospel, I just looked up book lists made by other Goodreads..er..s? Goodreadsers. However, I still think there's something interesting in them:

Best Romance Novels of All Time
1,974 Books, 5,942 Voters

Humorous Romance Books
1,189 Books, 2,300 Voters

Best Science Fiction Fantasy Books
2,954 Books, 12,473 Voters

Best Humorous Fantasy and Science Fiction
125 books, 87 voters

Though these numbers are not from the Statistical Institute of Fiction (which should totally exist), I feel like the difference between "regular" and humorous books in the Romance vs. SFF genres is at least a little telling about how seriously SFF takes itself. (Not talking about the authors, just the writing.)

Vicki went on to say: "Gail Carriger who writes Soulless has a pretty quirky sense of humor that's fun to read, though the series ranks on the lower side of the sexy-time scale, there is some romance."

I adore the Parasol Protectorate, and mostly because it was definitely on the funnier side.

Part of the humor that I find in VF-type books isn't comedy within the text (awkwardness in the sack, slapstick comedy) but in the way a story parodizes the genre. One of our recent book picks, Pleasure Unbound, is a great example of this. The book is so ridiculous that the author had to have been trying to make fun of soap operas, action movies & TV shows, romance books, horror films & a slew of other things. There aren't any scenes that are inherently funny, but when compared to or read in the context of a particular genre, you can see that the author is poking fun. The Princess Bride (the book more so than the movie) is another great example of this - it pokes fun at romances, fantasies and swashbucklers, all while presenting itself on the surface as a very straightforward and serious love story. I think several of the books you'll find recommended in these forums will have that same tongue-in-cheek humor, if you look below the surface for it.

Having said that, I would also be interested in reading a VF pick with the occasional joke in the text.

I think Janet Evanovich books are pretty funny romance/mystery books (no fantasy there). Very fluffy, but perfect as audiobooks too. I've laughed out loud several times at work thanks to those books.

what would a gender-bent Joker say? " Let's kill the roarke"