Introduction: feminism, rape law and romance fiction
Section I: Enduring Stabilities
Consent and intent: gendering subjectivity in rape law
Desire and love: gendering subjectivity in Harlequin Mills and Boon fiction
Section II: The Fortitude of Heroines
Victims and the dis/qualification of rape complainants
Heroines and the in/security of romance readers
Section III: Fear and Hope
False complain(an)ts and other legal fictions
Preferred readers and other romances
Conclusion: compelling engagements
Works cited