“He’s 61, She’s 21”: Outrage Ensues Over Author’s Age-Gap Romance Novels
This Swiss author is under fire for romanticizing characters in massive age-gap relationships. In another book she wrote, the character is 17 and is interested in three old men—and one of them is her dad.
King of My Heart: A Forbidden Ex's Dad Age Gap Romance was written by indie romance author Seven Rue. The book, which features a 61-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman, went viral after a TikTok reaction video made its way to X.
“He’s 61…she’s 21…that’s so unrealistic,” the TikToker says, referencing the age gap. But then brings up an argument: “Is it???? i bet you would say yes to keanu reeves or brad pitt too!!!” Screenshots of the video was reposted by X user @kissycalloway with the caption, “ew what is that..”
Slueths kept scrolling through Rue’s content and stumbled upon another doozy. In a video posted that she claims is from Rue’s profile, a book is shown with the caption, “There is this book where she’s a [pornstar] and ends up calling her dad daddy.”
Piss Kinks, Inc*st, and "Barely Legal?"
@unearthlyreads on X said, “most of her books contain a piss kink, incest, and barely legal (usually 18, but in one instance a 17yo) fmc… also more than one of her books is banned on Amazon.” According to @unearthlyreads, one banned book includes a character named Birdie, who’s seventeen. A screenshot she posted describes the character dishing out nasty details about the men she "wants" and "needs." According to the screenshot, Birdie said, “One of them is my dad, Rhett. The other is my uncle, Theodore. And the third one is their best friend, Luke. And the best part of it all is...they're all mine.”
Rue has already taken Instagram to speak directly to the backlash against her books. On April 26, 2024, she wrote, “I've said this many times before: I write my books for myself in the first place, and if people want to read them, and if it keeps allowing me to do it full-time, that's great! I'm not constantly online, posting and sharing. I schedule my posts on Instagram and TikTok to limit the time I'm on those apps. I don't have a Facebook account. Deleted it on Feb 19, and ever since I have not been aware that the bullying and harassment and false (and clearly edited) posts are still being posted and shared around.”
She goes on to emphasize her independence, saying she creates her covers, writes, publishes, and edits mostly solo, with help from two trusted readers. And in case anyone was speculating about her personal life, she added, “I have a very fun private life with a man and a family that love me, and a hobby (and part time job) that allows me to travel around parts of Switzerland. [...] I play semi-pro women's soccer, and to be fully honest, I spend more time a week playing soccer than writing books.”
Rue said she doesn’t want to be part of the “book community” and doesn’t seek online validation. She thinks people are just bored and looking to stir drama.
“There are too many people who have nothing better to do than bully strangers on the internet. Two days ago, a 32 year old woman (who is also a mother) sent me a DM on my backup account, calling me a bitch with laughing emojis. Now, I could call her out by name, but I know she sees this, because she keeps watching my stories. It's ridiculous and laughable.”
I love that young women are reading. They're finding a little book community and experiencing a world outside technology. My question is, what happens when we start normalizing relationships with a 40-year age difference? What happens when the fantasy slips into a space that promotes imbalanced power dynamics? I'm not saying that age-gap relationships never work; they certainly can (although 40 is extreme, let's be real). My point is that these books aren't exactly the best crash course in relationships for young women.
There are numerous novels popularized by BookTok where the love interest is literally the relative, principal, or someone in that category of forbidden. Some are normalizing “barely legal” characters to get involved in sexual relationships with much older men. And when you package that as romance without a hint of critique or consequence, it stops being edgy and starts looking a lot like grooming with pretty covers. Fiction can be messy, sure. Yet, if the takeaway for young readers is that power imbalances are sexy and incest is just misunderstood love, maybe it’s time we stop pretending it’s all just harmless fantasy.
Subscribe today to get unlimited access to all of Evie’s premium content.