Lisa Fletcher moves the debate about the value and appeal of heterosexual romance onto new ground, testing the claims of speech-act and performativity theorists on everything from popular classics by Georgette Heyer, to 'bodice rippers,' to historical fiction by John Fowles and A. S. Byatt. Nominating 'I love you' as the romance novel's defining speech act, Fletcher offers a lively mix of theoretical arguments and suggestive close readings.