One Ring to Bind Them: Ring Symbolism in Popular Romance Fiction more

Jessica Trent, the heroine of Loretta Chase's Lord of Scoundrels, observes that “the selection of a gift requires the balancing of a profoundly complicated moral, psychological, aesthetic, and sentimental equation”; in romance novels a ring, given to the heroine by the hero, may symbolise their sexual union, recall a moment of particular importance to their relationship or reflect aspects of their personalities and appearance.