Martin slowly turned toward her. "How much research?"
"An embarrassing amount."
"And?"
"Most of the history was miserable. Women were traded around for alliances, peace, heirs, and status. There wasn't much romance to find."
"That's history."
"Fiction somehow annoyed me more."
Alexandra began counting on her fingers while Martin watched.
"Some stories made every woman fall in love with the protagonist, then picked one at the end. The rest smiled through their heartbreak, pretended they had always known, and slowly disappeared from the story."
Martin grimaced. "That's rough."
"Other stories kept introducing new women until the older heroines became furniture."
"That might be worse."
"It was insulting."
She raised another finger.
"Then there were stories using aphrodisiacs, demonic pollen, lust curses, or medicinal pills and calling the result romance."
The irritation returned to her face.
"Some of it was rape with fantasy decoration."
