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Where True Fantasy Lies in Romance: Mr. Darcy and the Miracle Worker Effect
The more I read romances, the less I read them. And it’s not because I don’t enjoy reading the same story archetype (beauty and the beast, wallflower and the rake, et al), because I do. I’m the person who upon seeing yet another romantic comedy being offered on the big screen, will gleefully fork over $6 (matinee, you know) to see it. 9 times out of 10, I’ll even buy the movie. It’s not the repetitive nature of how love is presented to me that annoys me.
It’s the dukes.
No offense to duke lovers out there—they do cut a fine figure in their clothes and on horseback—but I simply cannot stand to read about another one of them. Especially any who happen to live in circa 1815. Why? Because there were a small finite number of dukes in England/Scotland, but there are like a million (only a slight exaggeration) literary dukes. It’s not possible. And none of them are related to the King; how is that even possible? It's not. One of these guys has to be.... *waves hand* I just can’t stand it. And I can’t stand when they send these dukes—FIRST sons—off to fight in wars or spy for their country or the 101 other new and exciting ways to endanger their lives when it was so imperative they keep the line going. No, no, no.
I’m told time and again this is not the point. After all, you don’t read a historical novel for the history (what a weird concept!) but for the fantasy of pretending you’re being romanced by Mr. Darcy. Who you’ll notice was not a duke.
Whatever. If the fantasy is not the historical aspect, what is it then? It can’t be the duke aspect. That’s completely ridiculous. I mean, Prince Charles is the Duke of Cornwall—do you fantasize about him? No, you don’t. And he’s not going to spy for his country, you can bet on it. He does play a mean round of polo—now if I could get a historical novel about a duke obsessed with polo, that I’d believe!
Okay, okay, back on track. I think I may have figured it out. I believe the duke is simply a stereotype for the stuffy Brit we all have pictured in our heads who is reserved to the point of painful. Some say the historical setting sets the books far enough away from reality that we can forget about what life is really like. Back in the good old days before epidurals and flushing toilets. Whatever. Some readers need that separation, I suppose. Me, I’m with Jane Austen. Jane was not writing historicals when she created her novels. She was writing about the contemporary quirks of her day. And then she inserted a man into the midst who suffered foot and mouth disease, a bumbling, uncharming boy next door who paled next to shinier charming men like Wickham. She gave us the guy we’ve been imitating ever since: the Hero with the Inability to Communicate.
Honestly that was what was so perfect about Darcy. He is every inch a man. A flawed, flawed man. Now Eliza Bennet is rather flawed herself, which is how we prefer our heroines. (And I rather enjoy the fact that I don’t remember her once staring in a mirror and making a mental list of her attributes. Brilliant girl.)
It’s the Hero with the Inability to Communicate that is the heart and soul of every romance novel. Not the dukes. Not the knights. Not the FBI agent. That’s just the hair color on the Ken doll. The fantasy is simple: you take a man who is not able to communicate with a woman and by the end of a book, he is able to communicate with her.
It’s like every love story is essentially The Miracle Worker, with the Annie Sullivan character played by the heroine. And honestly it’s a miracle the heroine doesn’t smother the dumb bastard in his sleep before we get to the end of the book. I mean, how hard is it to listen and ask thoughtful questions? How hard is it to do the one thing we asked? Yes, yes, I want you to call me every flipping day, all right.
Of course, there is the flipside to that coin. Why are all these smart, innovative heroines picking these dumb bastards to begin with? Every last jack of them has the Nice Guy Friend who they don’t give the time of day to, but the Hero Who Can’t Communicate is the one they keep making out in corners with. I must spend 2/3rds of every book, going, “Why is this bright, intelligent, clever, witty girl acting like an idiot over this guy who cannot say what she so desperately needs to hear?”
Perhaps that’s the one truth that all romance novels keep honest: love doesn’t make anyone particularly bright.
But still, romance novels resolve nicely, do they not? Yes, he’s a dumb bastard; yes, her intelligence is questionable; yes, the village idiot would have caught on by now and told the heroine what she needed to hear—but in the end, our fantasy is fulfilled. Mr. Hoof and Mouth Disease finally gets the big epiphany. He finally says the right thing—and best of all, he means it. And if he’s a truly remarkable, deserving hero, he shows her all the right things, because as every writer will tell you: you show, don’t tell.
And maybe that’s the lesson women learn in every romance novel. We want to read about a hero who says the right thing—the sappy Edward Cullen thing—because men never do it in real life, and yet, at the end of novels, heroines learn it’s not what the hero said that matters, it’s how he shows her he loves her that’s the real proof.
What fantasy (or truth) do you look for your romances to provide? Does the duke thing bother anyone else whatsoever? At all? (I don’t have this problem with earls or viscounts, just dukes.) Does anyone else find it ironic that Jane Austen wrote contemporaries, but we write historicals to imitate her? Me, I’m off to find a historical about an earl…wish me luck there are any earls to fall in love with.
Books by the Crew
104 comments:
Thanks, I needed that! ;)
And I'm wit' ya, Cap'n. Not necessarily 'cause a' the dukedumbs, I don't know 'nuff 'bout history ta be bothered by the aspect. It's the wom'n in those tomes that drive me bats. (I b'lieve it be historically accurate fer them ta be so blessed igonorant 'bout their own bodies...but still drives me bats.) I read them books fer the language and I don't read all that many 'a them.
What fantasy do I like ta reads? The woman ain't perfect, slender, young, wit' perfect boobs. But she still gets the hero. I also likes the ones where the hero ain't perfect. tall, young wit' a perfect ass, and still gets the heroine.
And make me laugh! Please!
Good point about Janey... So's, one day, the writers be writing historicals set in our contemporary-ees? Wonder if they'll get it right? ;)
Funny that you mention it. But I've started reading less historical romance and more paranormal and other books, and it could be partly because of this. Not sure if it's because of the dukes, or because some books even long loved authors aren't reading up to snuff anymore. A lot of instances I feel like I'm reading the same book. JMO though.
In my next series there is a duke, actually. But I know the historical rules. Like the fact that he's next to royalty! LOL And no wars for him, he's too busy squeezing out the pleasures his standing in society has to offer.
Um, yeah. My WIP is about a duke. *blushes* But to clarify, he's not a spy, a soldier, or anything dangerous - just an aristocrat/politician with a tremendous stick up his bum. Okay, yeah, THAT didn't sound defensive. :)
I like a bit of imperfection in my heroes and heroines. While I don't need them to be completely average (hello, writing about a duke!), I do need them to seem like real people, with real fears and flaws. I think it's that degree of realism that makes the HEA that much more satisfying.
I suppose, subconsciously, that's the truth I'm looking for in a romance - the possibility that the HEA could be mine.
LOL, Hellion. I bit the bullet and am writing a duke story now---with a castle, no less. But there is a TON of sex, so you should read it. My duke is poor, and very wickedly oversexed. Please make an exception. :)
But I do agree---there were maybe like 9 non-royal dukes at one point in the Regency. My bugaboo is those duke-spies, or any lord-spy. Just would not have happened. Most stayed home wrapped in cotton wool to preserve England's social hierarchy.
Jeremy in Goddess of the Hunt is an Earl. I think you'd like him. Just sayin'...
I read very few Historicals anymore. I've developed a hang up about characters acting in ways I think are completely out of their time and element. Picky, I know. The Duke thing doesn't bother me as much as it bothers you, but I do miss the Earls and Misters and such. Look back at books in the Malory series from Lindsey or the Rogue series from Beverly. You'll find interesting, intelligent, well-off men who are NOT dukes.
And they are GOOD books.
Hellion - this is brilliant.
:)
I've stopped reading historicals in the past year or
Sorry, I accidentally hit sub before I was ready.
Let me continue....
I've stopped reading historicals in the past year or so as well. I don't know why exactly. I hadn't put my finger on it. I think I just burnt out on it. The last two I read were Tiffany's Hidden Beauty (which was definitely fresh and different) and I'm working on Goddess of the Hunt right now.
I thought initially that I didn't want to read them because I wrote one last year. But I'm writing a paranormal right now and I generally read those now. Mostly because I think that paranormal allows for more freedom with all its mythical creatures. Weres or vamps or witches or whatever. lots of room for different stuff. Not an endless parade of dukes and earls.
I love the idea of the guy who can't communicate. I hadn't ever thought of it that way, but I love it. :)
Andrea Kane writes some great books with some Earls.
Terrio I second the Malory series!
Sabrina - My daughter's middle name is Malory for a reason. ;)
I *admit* I gobbled up Eloisa's last book with remarkable ease for a hero with a duke. With a SERIES of books about DUKES--and I enjoyed all of them. However, I think she did toss a couple earls in there for shits and giggles. And no one was a spy. And it wasn't 1815.
And Maggie, you do not have to worry, I will be lined up with everyone else to buy your book(s)--even the dukes. *LOL*
Tiff, I think you hit it exactly: I feel like I'm reading the same book over and over. And I didn't used to feel that way about my novels. Each one was memorable, special--and now they feel...cloned. I realize that's a marketing ploy: "If you like Eloisa James', you'll love Tessa Dare!"--or what have you--and I probably will. But couldn't I love Tessa for not having a Duke who is a spymaster for the War Office and also happens to know kung fu and how to make bombs out of basic household supplies?
Okay, Tessa would never have that character--Tessa's heroes are far more yummy and not ridiculous--but you know the books I'm talking about, right? I mean, sometimes I'm just laughing at the back blurb.
Actually I think it's weird nowadays to be reading about heroes who are all so sensitive and modern and nice--and they're set in the era of before slavery was even abolished, let alone women's rights and sensitivities. All these men who AUTOMATICALLY think that women are equally smart as them--I think that's weird. Hell, I know men who don't think that of me now...and they've been far more conditioned to think so.
I don't exactly want to revert historical heroes back to what they were in the 70s and early 80s--by God no--but I like the ones from the 90s and early 00s. The medium butthead. He wasn't insulting you at every turn, but you had to prove your intelligence to him--and you did. That was the kind of hero I could believe existed.
Maybe I do need to pick up a Mallory book. Or reread the Balogh books about the Bedwyns. I loved that duke! He was so STUFFY! *LOL*
2nd: No, I doubt they'd get our contemporaryness right. *LOL* They'd probably have all our accents as California surfer talk and give us all silocone breasts.
I have a coworker who reads historicals and knows next to nothing about history. She prefers to keep it that way. I informed her "ignorance is bliss" and she was better off. She says "If the war dates are close enough, that's all I notice." And I'm thinking, You don't notice that your TITLED gentleman is fighting in the front lines, got shot, and then survived the wound with little problem? You don't think this is WEIRD when there is no penicillin and they bled you to cure you?
Tiff: a duke who is next to royalty--AND is seeking his pleasure all the time is a character I could believe. *LOL* Can't wait to read it!
The aristrocracy of that era is essentially our celebrities: rich, spoiled, some with a good cause, with good qualities and bad, but usually with more money and sense. And you marry your own because only your own understand what it's like to run around in your circles. How many of our celebrities have joined our military and run off to Iraq? Exactly. Not exactly what they're qualified for. I will grant you, the aristrocracy has better manners--and can curtsey...
Kelly: *LOL* One of my favorite Dukes is the Bedwyn duke--what IS his name--he's got a huge stick up his backside. I'm sure your story will be great.
I'm just remarking that lately there seems to be an influx of dukes...and no misters or minor aristrocracy, like oh, a marquis *droll look*
Giving characters real fears and insecurities is the key, I think, though I think in the case of dukes and the like, the main fear would be: "Does anyone love me for myself and not because of my title and what my title affords them?"
Terrio: an EARL and a WARDROBE scene. I really need to crack on that book. It's near the top of the TBR pile, it truly is, I'm almost caught up.
What things are they doing that seem out of character for you? Because that sort of thing bothers me too--but when we discuss this offline, it's never the same things that hang us up. *LOL* Like I get annoyed if the womenfolk are TOO informative about what happens on the wedding night. I think the majority of people were rather uninformative about it. That scene with the Essex sisters where they won't tell Josie what happens in the bedroom--that was totally spot on to me--but lots of readers were annoyed by it.
Marn: I'm with you. I don't have this same problem with contemporaries or paranormals. It's mostly the regencies I avoid anymore. *LOL* I'll scan the opening page to see what era we're in. Georgian era is fine. (Anything too before that is too early...I don't like the clothing--weird, I know.) And anything from about 1830 on is relatively interesting, but depends.
Of course, in the end, it almost depends most on author voice. The best author voice can get you to suspend belief in the most ridiculous things--it's like being hypnotized.
Oh no, I'm not outing myself here. I already offended the lawyers on Sunday. I'm not offending the writers today.
And wasn't that Wulfgar? Because Beowulf was the Malloren equivalent. Or do I have them backwards? LOL!
Sin & Sabrina: Thanks for the heads up on alternate historical fixes. *LOL* I'll have to give the Mallory series and Andrea Kane a whirl!
Terrio: I didn't mean NAME people. I thought you'd just name things characters do...but I see the problem. You might name something a character did and we'd know instantly the author...okay, nevermind. I don't want to trash authors. I just want to whine about how many dukes there are...in a bid they'll start marketing some Mr. Darcy's again.
Yes, you see my dilemma. LOL! But I'll happily whine about these titles. Can we please get rid of the "sexy words" titles? PLEASE???
I don't know. Getting rid of the sexy word titles would be getting rid of an icon, really. Could that be managed?
Personally I'd settle for just having a title that didn't sound like the last 100 books I read.
Actually I think Tessa did a great job--Goddess of the Hunt, et al--that's a unique title!
Unfortunately the last couple of Eloisa James' weren't unique sounding. You have to end up reading the copyright to make sure you haven't read it before. Unless you're an obsessive fan like me and KNOW you haven't read it yet.
I like the Victorians over the Georgians, honestly. Men in heels and makeup just never really did it for me. LOL!!
But we used to have fine titles. Look at McNaught or Garwood or Beverly for that matter. Kinsale, Spencer, and Lindsey. Even if they had something sexy in the title, they didn't sound like every other title AND they actually reflected the story inside.
What a concept!
It's the Victorians for the clothings and the Georgians for the sex, don't you know?
Well, I'm out of step with the crew and friends today. I read lots of historicals. Just within the last few weeks I've read historicals by Eloisa James, Tessa Dare, Julie Anne Long, Meredith Duran, and Victoria Dahl that were A reads for me. Not a cookie cutter character among them. I loved all EJ’s dukes in the DD series. Each was an individual, and I wasn't bothered at all by the number of dukes.
I gather from what some writers have said in online discussions that the proliferation of dukes is a marketing ploy, that writers are encouraged not only to write dukes but to be sure his title is featured in their book’s title. on the other hand, Lisa Kleypas is famous for her self-made heroes, and Carla Kelly’s heroes are nearly always military men, doctors, or lower aristocracy.
And I’m not sure that dukes—Regency or otherwise--are any more prevalent in historicals than the insanely wealthy heroes are in contemporaries. The latter is no more realistic than the former.
Also, I confess that the heroine of my contemporary considers her attributes in a mirror. Slinking away in shame . . .
Janga - My heroine does the same and so do all of Eloisa's heroines. I think we're fine. :)
But I don't agree on the wealthy men in Contemporaries. Yes, there are many, but there are more millionaires (sp?) today than ever before, and certainly more than the nine dukes in question. LOL! My heroes are not rich, which will hurt me in my attempts to sell, but I love them anyway.
Janga: you've got a point about the influx of dukes can't be any more ridiculous than the influx of billionaire badboys that make up the majority of contemporaries. (I tend to avoid those too. And I admit, I get tired of the FBI and the still heroine who has to be rescued because she was walking her dog at the wrong place at the wrong time. That leaves me with paranormals. Or maybe I should take a break from reading...or maybe just read some Tolstoy, so then I'm once again grateful for something light and happy, regardless of truth.)
And don't worry about your heroine--lots of SUCCESSFUL authors do it and it only bothers me. This is not something to be concerned about. I am not anyone's majority. I also flip out when apostrophes are used incorrectly in the word "it's" and "its"--just one of my many, many, MANY neuroses.
And I apologize to anyone who's writing an FBI manuscript who rescues a woman who was walking her dog.
Truly the point of my blog was not to put already nervous writers on the defensive--being I *AM* a nervous writer on the defensive--but to ask if anyone else wished for something a bit more original or was it just me?
I have learned: it's mostly just me. *LOL*
What would be the opposite of the MAN WHO CANNOT COMMUNICATE? Really? I mean, if the guy is a talker, people say he sounds gay. And if he manages to remain manly and still be a talker, then the chances of conflict, internal especially, are reduced.
Since I prefer to write talkative heroes, tell me how to make this work. I'm so tired of worrying about Bryan sounding gay.
You have a point.
I think your problem isn't that your hero Bryan talks--it's that he says the right thing. I know talkers. I've dated a couple--and it's just that they don't say the right thing. But that leads us back that if they can't say the right thing, they can't communicate.
*shrugs* I don't know. You apparently know of guys who talk and who can communicate to women without ticking them off at every turn. You can't be the only woman--so I think if you write your book, you'll find an audience. In fact, my friend Pam would probably read it--because she loves to read about men who do not behave like heathens. (She watched The Ugly Truth--said it was good but depressing, and I knew what she meant. *LOL*)
I refuse to see The Ugly Truth for the same reason. LOL! If I want to deal with a man being a total pig, I'll walk over to the office on my right and strike up a conversation. *rolls eyes*
Yeah, I'm going to probably wait for the video. I have a higher tolerance for piggy behavior, clearly, but I have to cut back my movie going anyway.
Anyway, you'd have an audience, Terri. Bryan doesn't have to talk like a heathen if you don't want him to.
I think there is original stuff being written. Joanna Bourne, Sherry Thomas, Meredith Duran are all distinctive voices. Tessa Dare is a genius at tweaking the conventions. Have you read the excerpt of Courtney Milan's Christmas novella?
I just think most readers want same old, same old. There is one enormously popular writer whom I stopped reading years ago because it seemed to me that all her books had become rewrites with name changes.Yet many people love her books and keep her on bestseller lists.
Those of us who discuss books online are only a portion of romance readers. I suspect we are, on the whole, better educated and far more analytical about what we read than the average reader.
Hey, I'm writing the FBI hero! LOL. Actually, my current hero is former CIA who went over to the dark side. And my heroine wasn't wrong place/wrong time, but rather an agent who is better trained, smarter, and more cunning than the hero. It's highly entertaining.
I get tired of the same-old, same-old too. But I haven't had the problem lately. Right now I'm in a horror class, so I'm stuck reading Stephen King and all this stuff that is literally terrifying me. I'm going to have nightmares until this class is over. And then I will happily read a Duke who goes off to spy on France. Anything that doesn't involve axes and the blow-by-blow of limb removal.
Though I read one where an Earl went off to spy. It worked for me because he was basically doing it to die and fuck his father :) It seems that death or the refusal to extend the family line is one of the few ways an aristocrat can get revenge.
Janga - This is likely part of Hellie's complaint. These books seem to be what the majority want. And when I say I haven't read many Historicals, part of that is because I'm writing contemp and if I read too many historicals, my characters start talking that way.
I do think the recent batch, say in the last month or so, have been better than we've seen for a while. I know there are interesting Historicals out there I haven't gotten around to reading. But I do wish we could get out of Regency England for a while. There's the occasional jaunt to other parts, but they are so rare these days.
I think Elizabeth Hoyt is extremely original--I *LOVE* her heroes. She does sex and story brilliantly. And Elizabeth Boyle writes in the Regency era--but her voice draws you in so that if a few things feel "standard" you don't mind. I *LOVE* her voice--she's funny and original and just good. Anne Gracie is another must-have historical writer for me--but I think she writes a variety of heroes: soldiers, a duke (a somewhat chubby one really) and an earl...the whole gamut.
But honestly my list of authors is getting shorter--not longer. I have a couple enormously popular authors who are writing historicals in such a way that I'm seriously considering NOT buying them anymore for that exact reason.
On the upside, that means what money I'm not spending on books, I can spend on furniture--which in my apartment is desperately needed. (My friend Jackie made a joke that I could make a sofa out of my books...)
You're absolutely right Janga, that we analyze more than the average reader. I always get all up-in-arms when I come across head hopping or shallow POV's, and then remember than until I started really writing seriously, none of that bothered me.
Hal: *LOL* You're right. It bothers me a lot more about POV headhopping and shallow characterization than it ever did 15 years ago. In fact, if I read a book from 15 years ago, sometimes I go: "This sentence is poorly constructed."
Writing has apparently ruined my reading enjoyability.
This is true of anything. I could enjoy a movie with little issues until I took a film class. As you say, "ignorance is bliss" is a true statement for a reason.
I do want to add I really did enjoy the Linda Lael Miller book--but it was a cowboy one--and it was a cowboy one set in a different place and time than "typcial" cowboy ones.
I just wish there were some things that weren't so darned typical. *LOL* I mean, I don't want a story that misses the beats of romance entirely...but just something a little different. I don't want the exact same fantasy over and over again.
Do you remember When Harry Met Sally--and they were talking about sex fantasies--and Harry says, "So you have the same fantasy, over and over?" (and he's aghast) and she says, "No, I vary it up a little." "What's different?" "What I'm wearing."
I mean, I just want things a little different than what the people are wearing.
Men who communicate verbally aren't necessarily communicatin' perfectly. Words can be misunderstood as much as they be understood. So, Terrio, yer hero can communicate but not be sayin' the right words. Or she many not be hearin' what he says. Or hearin' but not understandin'...
Communication be a two way street and terribly multifaceted.
I get that the scene wit' Josie were historically accurate. Still drove me bats.
;)
TRUE. Communication is a two way street and men are at the mercy of women's filters of taking their words at face value and not at what we THINK they meant by them. And women frequently don't have mercy in this regard--I certainly don't.
Still. Let's consider Mr. Darcy's marriage proposal--a lesson in communication if I ever saw one--and marvel that he thought he could tell her that AGAINST this better judgment, and the fact her family was horrible, he *decided* he couldn't live without her and must propose (clearly with the idea he would not be refused.)
Can someone explain to me why a MAN would think he could say something as, well, HONEST as that and a WOMAN would just agree: "You're right. My family is godawful. Please marry me even if it against your better judgment..." Exactly HOW could he have said that without ticking us all off? What was there to misunderstand?
Yet, somehow, in that convoluted bit of prose, he 'meant' to say...I love you.
OK, bit admit. I haven't read the book.
*ducks down, finds bottles aren't flying. Instead Hellion is stalking her, cutlass in hand. Chance decides to risk the Kraken...throws herself overboard, hoping the beastie will remember the critics and flaming twinkies...
No worries, Chance. Hellie and I haven't read the book either. LOL!
What you meant to say and what you said are two different beasts.
Life is full of "what I meant to say"s.
But this is true, Mr. Darcy was being honest and didn't take into account how his words would sound. I often say things and realize they sounded much better in my head. LOL!
I think this is Pam's problem with The Ugly Truth and the heathen issue. It was "Are men really this insensitive?"
Yes.
Oh, sure, OUT me when I made such an effort to sound like I'd read it. *LOL*
And women are really that sensitive!
The Ugly Truth is that the movie reveals how easily we could get men....if only we'd lower our standards.
I'm pretty insensitive for a woman. *shrug* It doesn't even bother me to admit it aloud.
Janga: "I suspect we are, on the whole, better educated and far more analytical about what we read than the average reader."--*LOL* If you mean "educated" in the means that we've read a million romance novels between us and therefore can teach from what we know, then sure. And I do analyze quite a bit. Though this laps over into everything. *LOL* I'm pretty sure that math class in college I had does not contribute to my reading abilities compared to the average reader. It's not my education; it's that I care more. Then again, maybe those two are tied at the roots where it's not seen. *LOL*
"I’m pretty insensitive for a woman. *shrug* It doesn’t even bother me to admit it aloud."--Yes, perhaps (and not really, you just like to think so) but I have a feeling Mattycakes does his damnest to make sure this remains true or he knows you'd make him cook his own chicken tenders.
Sin, isn't it fun to write about 'insensitive' women?
Excellent post!! Hm, the Duke thing doesn't bother me even though I acknowledge that every single one of your points are correct. But there's just something about the duke that I love. Plausible? Nope! But neither is the love that these books point to, imo. Rarely do I read a H/h that I think have a "real world" relationship. It's this idealized beacon. Everyone wants to pretend it's real but it's just not(this from the girl that has never been in love. Am possibly HUGELY wrong.lol).
Um, impossibly rich contemporary heroes do kinda put me off. I heart Hardy Cates but...um, that's pretty extreme!! He's hot and rich-great combo- but it's his personality that got me. He could've been the mail man and still been hot.lol.(Okay, um, that's another extreme...)
Hal, your heroine kicks more butt than the hero? Am so reading this book!!!! No wonder he hates her. I hope she rubs his face in it.lol.(PS: I am evil...am sure your heroine is less petty than I am.*g*)
LOL
Kiki's pretty insensitive, but it's all pretty much a mask for her. She takes it off for just a few seconds a day to remind herself who she truly is and then puts it back on to cover up and keep herself protected.
And Mattycakes does a lot of things that boils my blood, but I let him get away with it because murder is a capital offense in the state of MO.
Yes, but Hardy Cates grew up poor, therefore deserved all his success, no matter how dirty he played to get there. I love a man who gets down and dirty.
Kelly: I think I am getting cantankerous in my old age *pauses* or MORE so, if we want to be honest--and I am just tired of reading something I don't believe could exist. I'm slowly becoming the disdainful anti-romance reader for the reason that the anti-romance reader doesn't read them in the first place. I *used* to read them because I had hope, they filled me with hope that it could be true.
Clearly I'm just depressed and blaming the books instead. *LOL* Terri's right: I need to up my chocolate dosage.
Hardy Cates is the exception to a LOT of rules...and he would have been hot even if he was a mailman.
*grins* And I can't wait to read Hal's book for the same reason. Reminds me of Mr. & Mrs. Smith (the Jolie-Pitt movie)--and I loved that aspect of them. *LOL*
I'll second the Hardy Cates motion. And I believe Crusie writes regular people. So did LaVyrle Spencer. How about the Robin Carr books? Are her characters uber-rich? I'm guessing not.
Toni Blake writes normal people. Well, as normal as the two most smoking hot people in the world hooking up can be.lol.They aren't rich, though. YAY!
Hardy IS sex. That's why he could be anything and still be hot. And I agree that Hardy deserved what he got. Him playing dirty for it just made him hotter.lol.
Yes, that's why Hal's story appeals to me, Hells! Mr and Mr.Smith was great fun. And Angelina totally kicked more butt than Brad. But he was so obsessed with her. Hal, is your hero obsessed with your heroine?
Robyn Carr's characters are well off. I'm not sure about uber-rich part-been a while since I read the last trilogy.
Kel - yes, totally obsessed. He knows good and well she's better than him, though he still tries to be the man and take over. *g*. And she's thoroughly petty, which is great fun!
Clearly Hal has watched the movie too and tapped into the same things we enjoyed about the movie too. *LOL* (Didn't you love the scene in the minivan? *snorts* Oh, and the whole "how many kills?" discussion--and then he's making petty remarks because her kills is like 6 times what his was! "This is not my first time." "Yeah, I think we've established that.")
I still haven't seen this movie start to finish, but I loved that caravan scene. Isn't that when they are telling each other the lies they've told and he says something like the classic, "I don't even know who you are anymore." LOL!
Then she had to spin the van around and take of the bad guys herself because he was so off. LOL! That movie was better than I'd expected.
That movie was hilarious. Though I can't imagine men enjoyed it as much as women because Brad Pitt is portrayed as being slightly inept but completely unaware of it for the longest time. Pretty much around the caravan scene. *LOL*
I do love it when he rips off his headset. "Hey, HEY! There's no need to talk to me that way."
You should really watch it beginning to end.
I loved Mr and Mrs Smith. It's like an allegory for every relationship. The whole power struggle, the whole what happens if we don't show the good and the bad--at least to some extent--to one another. And though they irritate me in RL, they have amazing chemistry.
Hellion, I didn't mean education in a formal sense necessarily but in the larger sense of having more knowledge, of wanting to know more. I think there are a lot of readers like my brother. He reads a great deal, but except for a handful of authors whose books he buys regularly, he chooses his books from the bestseller racks. His idea of discussing a book is to say, "I liked it," "It was OK," or "It was a waste of money." I think he is part of a huge group of readers, romance readers among them.
Jo Goodman has a new one coming out next month--Never Love a Lawman, a Western marriage of convenience story. Betina Krahn's Make Me Yours, a truly delightful book, set in 1887, was released last month. Are we all rushing out to buy historicals like these? If we support the different books, we may see more of them.
I know I'm coming across as ornery today, but I have read comments by so many historical writers that make clear they would love to be writing different books but their publishers are pushing for more Regency dukes because they sell.
I think the larger problem is that the genre generally is burdened with mediocrity. I don't think paranormals or romantic suspense are exempt. Someone said that across all kinds of fiction, about 10% of books are terrible, about 10% are excellent, and the rest fall in the middle. Given the number of romances published in any given month, that's a lot of just-OK books in all subgenres.
I used to be just like your brother, Janga. And I still am compared to most of you. I just notice things now that I never would have known before.
And this is the first I'm hearing about those two new books? Maybe that is also part of the problem. The publishers aren't pushing the different stuff on the rare occasion they bother to buy it.
Everyone is runnin' scared. Only buyin' what has sold well... Everyone wants the new JK, but are too damned scared ta take the plunge wit' somethin' new.
I'm wit' Hellie on that. I could do without readin' another Duke anything again. Or the rest, but I'm not a historical lover.
There be a Caravan in the Mr. And Mrs. Smith movie? Be it red? Like mine? ;)
I think the van was silver, but I'm not sure.
*grins at Janga's ornriness* I agree: there is a lot of mediocrity. And I figured that's what you meant by education--though if you were talking about my math class, I thought I'd speak up. *LOL*
I saw Betina's new book--but the cover implied to me it was a contemporary category (aren't I wicked not to have looked at the back? I'm that jaded about categories!)--but if it's historical, I'm there. I always thought she was a fantastic writer. (The Last Bachelor is my favorite of her stuff. Cream of the crop, definitely.)
Jo Goodman and Betina Krahn are "established" writers, in my book, so maybe publishers don't push them as much??
Publicity is left so much up to the authors I think we're in for a rude awakening when/if we ever get published.
"Publicity is left so much up to the authors I think we’re in for a rude awakening when/if we ever get published." (How the hell do I italize this?)
Anyway, true. But that is part of having a presence on the cyber seas, to have at least one foot in the water of publicity.
And what da ya mean, when/if?
2nd: you like the sci-fi sort of story, right? Trekkie like stuff? That stuff IS hard to come by. What authors write that that you pursue? (I am no Trekkie fan myself, but attend costume drama movies like they're Mecca.)
There was a relatively "new" author who wrote a breakout trilogy called Warprize, Warsworn, and Warlord. I read the first one--and it was excellent and different.
I ran out of chocolate. Today is a "when/if" day.
http://www.eavwrites.com/
Here she is. I think she writes exactly what you'd like. Great voice.
I knew it!
I'll email you. LOL!
Betina has a category out about a woman with twins. It's a reunited lovers story, but I don't think that's the one Janga is talking about.
Chance - Put in front of the phrase and after it. (Now watch this just italize what I have and not show the markings.)
And she means WHEN. WHEN we publish....
Have a Captain's Cocoa Puff, I'll even drizzle extra chocolate on the brownie if'n you'll dump the what/if for a definite when.
OK, bit confession. I don't read what I write. I read cozy mysteries, television adaptations and the occassional recommended historical. Well, and sometimes contemporaries.
If I read anything like what I 'want' to write...it would be Jim Butcher's The Dresden's Files. Or even Lois McMaster Bujold Vorkosigan Saga. I do like Angela Knight and keep intending to read Linea Sinclair... I like Kim Harrison, but am often eaten up with envy in regards to her success, so have to be in the perfect place to read her.
But thanks for the recommendation. I'll check her out.
As I said, I do read recommendations! (Well, tho I find it hard when Last Chance passes on a series of more than three books... I am such a wimp with long series anymore! But I will read them...eventually! Honestly, LC...)
I know she's watching...
OH! HTML tags! Let's see if I can get it to work...
italicize!
Betina's category is a historical. I went to the website. It did not say anything about twins.
Email me the markings too. *LOL*
Then why don't you write what you like to read?
Whoop!
Sorry, it's another author on the Riding With the Top Down Blog and I thought it was Betina. But Betina does have a Blaze book out.
http://astore.amazon.com/ridingwiththetopdown-20/detail/0373794835
Right. That's the one we're talking about. It's a historical--and I didn't buy it because it looked like a contemporary category romance.
Hel, I also think I separate my readin' from my writin'. Like I keep 'em in two different houses. Keeps me from contaminatin' myself???
CL Wilson was recommended in the same breath as Elizabeth Vaughan...so yes... *LOL* Different writers, but both very break out.
I don't like fantasy--and I like Elizabeth's books.
This is so cool!
Yes, I amuse easily.
Just another way I be so unique!
Can ya do the trick with bold also...?
bold
Speaking of CL Wilson, anyone know why her latest book has been pushed back? Me sis was livid.
I did email you!
That is historical! I never would have guessed from the cover either. LOL! And I forgot Blaze was doing Historicals now.
At least she has a prince instead of a duke. LOL!
Chance has a new toy. How cute. LOL!
STOP SHOWING OFF if no one is going to email me how to do it! *LOL*
You threw me with the twins reference, Terri. Yes, Betina's book is a Harlequin Blaze, which is probably what confused Helli. I didn't even know Blaze did Historicals.
I won't say anymore since you've inspired me to blog about books I've read that are different on Thursday. LOL!
I got it. I did take a class on website design years ago, so understand HTML tags. The mystery is solved! That's about the sort of plot I'd probably find with mystery, honestly.
I just read a short story by Jackie Kessler, with some awesome demon sex. I might look for the novels...
Okay, people are just trying to piss me off now.
STOP SHOWING OFF if no one is going to email me how to do it! *LOL*
Goodness, Hellie-me-luv, mind your temper. We have guests. *swigs from a bottle of rum*
Yeah!! This means Janga's new blog is going to increase my TBR pile by about 25%.
If anything increases my TBR pile by 25% I'll have to get a bigger apartment! But I look forward to Janga's blog.
I just checked out Janga's blog - great post on children's books today!
Good way to kill a discussion about sex, Sabrina. ;)
Thanks, Sabrina. The different books blog will be on the Romance Vagabonds site rather than at Just Janga. :)
OMG! The "how many kills" part was awesome! I hear it was controversial because people thought they were discussing sexual partners.*g*
Hal, am loving that you have a heroine that the hero is obsessed with. And the fact that she's better than him! And then add in that he hates her and yet falls in love with her= AWESOME! I need this book. When will it be ready for beta readers? You know I heart your writing style already.:)
Marn, love your assessment of Mr. and Mrs. Smith! It's dead on! My brother is convinced that Brad Pitt was cheating on Angelina because of that opening scene where he has lipstick on his collar and is putting back on his wedding ring. Pffft! He was on a mission!
Um, vent done...
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