[mewzilla]

Bodice ripper is both a pejorative and generic term. It can be used to include/exclude a lot. There is a lot of great romance fiction which can be classed as a bodice ripper. I'd call E.M. Hull's, The Sheik, probably the grandaddy of the all, as a bodice ripper. And I don't mean that pejoratively. That said, would I want to date the hero in that one? No, but that book was written decades ago. Still a great piece of fiction, though.

[mewzilla]

Decades ago...jeez, just checked. Almost a century. 1921. Boy, how time flies.

[mairdie]

Best Regency Romance EVER! Edith Layton’s “The Duke’s Wager.”