Romance Is Relative: Exploring Susan Johnson’s Erotica On Its Own Terms

Part 2!

So in Hot Pink by Susan Johnson, there’s this aspect of the story that I found off-putting but not relevant to the review (which was already long enough). The way Johnson attempts to complicate the relationship between Rocco (male love interest) and Chloe (the Carrie-Bradshaw-by-way-of-Sailor-Moon protagonist) is to have Rocco’s brother insist that he actually go through with the imaginary engagement cooked up by the antagonist. Because … the antagonist’s father is going into business with them. Convoluted, right? Then I kept thinking about how archaic it felt—this needless plot thread that is essentially about Rocco getting married off to secure the family fortune. Why, that sounds more like a plotline that belongs in a historical romance fiction novel, doesn’t it?

So I looked up Susan Johnson’s Amazon page.

TURNS OUT …

She’s written entire series (trilogies, mostly) set in past centuries, often the 1700s or 1800s. In fact, these historical romances are what she’s most well-known for. The bulk of these titles were published in the eighties. Several of them appear to have been reissued at least once. Going by the publication dates, Hot Pink was one of her very first contemporary novels. The others … oh boy. The others.

For one thing, Pink isn’t Johnson’s first book that features an angry, spoiled woman spreading rumors about a false engagement to try to keep her man. Going by the excerpts of several books, the spurned-woman-turned-villain cliché crops up more than once. Fake pregnancies are also a well-worn trope in her books. Johnson gives several characters impossibly purple eyes. The dialogue of the historical romances is more lively, suggesting that she’s better equipped to play with the rhythm of old-world-sounding speeches. Her stock in trade appears to be the demanding alpha male angrily pursuing the virtuous wife/victim of some other, evil alpha male. Which her fans appear to absolutely adore.

Many of the reviews are composed by devoted fans who know what to expect in a Johnson romance (a few quibble with labeling them as “erotica,” for reasons I can’t discern). The rave reviews belong to the historical romances; the most popular trilogy is the Russian/Kuzan Family series (published in the mid-90s), whose hook appears to be a sex bet that takes place against the backdrop of old-world Russian royal opulence. Sample passage: “Through narrowed tawny eyes, Nikki watched [Tanya] tantalize him. Her graceful young body, half revealed in a scanty blouse and silken skirt, twirled close, then retreated, displaying a wanton invitation from brilliant dark eyes. The firelight caught the coruscation of golden highlights from the heavy hoops in her ears and from the multitude of sparkling necklaces twined round her slender neck and swaying against her trembling half-naked breasts.” As the top reviewer puts it, “Prince Kuzan … [is] my favorite kind of hero: an unapologetic jerk of the first order, traversing the line between alpha and gamma, because even though he’s controlling AF, he’s also incredibly conniving and sneaky, and has a lot of polish and charm that makes it easy to see why women flock to him, even though he can be crass.” IRL, this guy would be covered in red flags—but in the context of the genre, he’s literally and figuratively a prince.

The reviews for Johnson’s books are a treat, and served to give me a better context in which to place novels like Hot Pink. There appears to be a consensus that Johnson’s historical romances are better, maybe because the soapy plotlines fit better with that setting. Her contemporary stuff is less popular, if we’re to judge by the volume of reviews (the highest number is 68 for Love Storm [Russian/Kuzan Family Book 2], and the lowest is The Play, discussed below, with 3). She writes contemporary trilogies under the pen name C.C. Gibbs. As far as her modern stuff goes, I found a few critiques that matched my own: that she borrows liberally from the Sex and the City template, that the characters blissfully mistake lust for love, that contraception is hardly touched upon. Some reviewers enjoy the sex scenes for what they are; others (the minority) are annoyed with the lack of realism. For what it’s worth, I thoroughly enjoyed the hamminess of the sample dialogue from Blonde Heat*, which promises to be at least as entertaining as the sex scenes therein. 

As of this writing, Johnson’s latest novel appears to be A Fine Balance: A Deputy Sheriff in Pot County, published in 2016. Curiously, the qualities that the above reviewer raved about in Prince Kuzan  (“conniving and sneaky … [and] crass”) are similar to the character traits that the top review bemoans in A Fine Balance’s impossible hunk: “Ugh! He was a snake. The worst kind of slithering slimy (I know snakes aren’t slimy, but Jack is) reptile! How can this be a romantic hero?” The other newer book, The Play, was reissued in 2019 (originally published in 2002). It’s Johnson’s first and only foray into YA literature, and not coincidentally, her lowest-rated book. It features … wait for it …  a vindictive blonde girlfriend faking a pregnancy to break up the main love interests. The review from School Library Journal really says it all.

My opinion on Hot Pink hasn’t changed, but my perspective on Susan Johnson has shifted. One doesn’t have to create capital-L literature in order to have a respectable career. She returns to her favorite plot lines over and over again, to various degrees of success, but she clearly does so because they’re fun for her. The readers who love her work have fun at well. And in a way, this exercise in genre exploration has given me a better perspective on stuff like Fifty Shade of Grey. It’s still not my jam, but I’m less angry and belligerent about the tropes it indulges in. Why get all worked up over E.L. James’s crass materialism, abrupt plot points, evil blondes, naїve protagonist, and casually violent alpha male when those aspects have, fairly or not, been a part of the fabric of erotica for the past four decades?**

I hope that if Susan Johnson keeps writing, she’ll return to the subgenre of historical erotica that so clearly inspired her. I also hope that romance/erotica/book porn continues to thrive without the alpha male lead characters and jealous ex-girlfriends. Johnson herself proved to several readers, as well as myself, that when she spotlights sexually liberated women as opposed to naїve virgins, it doesn’t hurt her contemporary stories. Maybe she’ll be inspired to mix it up even more.

*Lesson learned: read these books with a full glass of chardonnay at hand.

**You are still allowed to dislike the Grey trilogy and critique James’s work (and ethical dubiousness thereof). I’m saying that now I feel that I understand the genre better—the good and bad parts—and I can let go of my incoherent rage.