Participants in the annual Jane Austen Regency Costumed Parade walk through the centre of Bath in England on September 9, 2017 [File: Matt Cardy/Getty Images] There are more than a few universally acknowledged truths when it comes to writing romance: the course of true love should not run smooth, lovers should be beautiful and readers generally prefer a Happily Ever After (‘HEA’ as it’s known in the romance community). While love stories are still routinely sidelined by some academics and critics, the politics of love, sex and desire, and the stories we tell about them, cannot be overes...