It wasn’t until the Sexual Revolution had swept through youth culture that romance novels got explicit about sexuality Mental health is central to the wholesome romance’s fantasy of safety, as manifested in relationships built on emotional intimacy The so-called bodice ripper was born in 1972, with Kathleen E. Woodiwiss’ The Flame and the Flower-which follows an 18th-century maiden who falls for the ship captain who kidnaps and ravages her.…