This post is making me laugh so hard, because your shortform list describes nearly every Harlequin Regency romance that I ever read in the 90s and early 00s. The minx thing set me off, because I've read it so damned much.
These days I generally prefer KJ Charles' Regency stuff, which is m/m, but it's clear she's doing fucktons of her own research into the genre and so I'm coming across entirely new terms, the dialogue feels more natural (she obviously cares about it), and while it's still problematic (in that there aren't a ton of women characters, and therefore not much being done against sexism or misogyny in these kinds of texts), she subverts some of the classically held theories of Manliness etc.
But geez, you have just effectively described an entire era of reading for me. And yeah, it IS annoying. I actually avoid Regencies of almost any kind like the plague, and only read Charles on a personal recommendation (i.e. a friend is a friend of hers, lol).
I am all for your resentment, personally. Part of that 'you can love something or like it and still find it problematic as hell or secretly want to throw darts at an image of Heyer over a dartboard.'
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These days I generally prefer KJ Charles' Regency stuff, which is m/m, but it's clear she's doing fucktons of her own research into the genre and so I'm coming across entirely new terms, the dialogue feels more natural (she obviously cares about it), and while it's still problematic (in that there aren't a ton of women characters, and therefore not much being done against sexism or misogyny in these kinds of texts), she subverts some of the classically held theories of Manliness etc.
But geez, you have just effectively described an entire era of reading for me. And yeah, it IS annoying. I actually avoid Regencies of almost any kind like the plague, and only read Charles on a personal recommendation (i.e. a friend is a friend of hers, lol).
I am all for your resentment, personally. Part of that 'you can love something or like it and still find it problematic as hell or secretly want to throw darts at an image of Heyer over a dartboard.'