#and even tho it was mild i wanted to give prince lazar his dues

[mermaidsirennikita]

One thing this pirate prince book is making me realize about older historicals compared to newer ones (and I’m talking probably like…. mid 90s to early 2010s, maybe), which I don’t think a lot of people get due to stereotypes surrounding older books, is how casual the intimacy often is and how fun that makes them

I feel, and I do think this is reflective of cultural shifts, that a lot of more recent historicals make it so that every kiss is this intense Moment, and every physical progression is like….. a whole Thing.

Whereas in this Pirate Prince book they’re still kind of in a weird gray area in terms of relationship, but he’s drunk and she’s enjoying teasing him and she’s in his lap just casually touching him and he’s kissing her and it’s like…. Just a part of the book. Just cute intimacy that doesn’t have to be this massively impactful break in a slow burn or whatever

And I think you see something similar in Jennifer Ashley’s MacKenzie books—like, Isabella and Mac do have angst and it is a marriage in trouble book but they’re also horny and very attuned to one another’s likes and so they just trade oral sex sometimes and it doesn’t mean there’s been this break in the emotional dam, they’re just….. really physically attracted to each other

I feel that a lot of historicals at the moment have this very “are we giving Austen or are we giving salacious” confusion that makes every tiny moment So Precious and I’m like no dude just let him grab her ass or something Jesus