Try some; it's good.
Wherein I ramble about books, movies,
music, TV shows, my life, and occasionally, hot emo boys.
My Books
Current WiP
My ValentineGuide sequel = DONE
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Tuesday, November 13, 2007
I want a new drug
First I want to lodge a complaint with the title gods.
Connie Brockway is one of my favorite authors. The woman is insanely gifted; she's totally from the Kinsale school of yummy, irresistible angst, and All Through the Night, published in 1997, is my favorite historical romance of all time. In fact, I want to re-read it but I haven't gotten around to replacing it since the flood a few years back. I was thrilled to death when she friended me on MySpace. Apparently, she's just signed up, and I was the fourth person she invited. I was Connie Brockway's fourth friend on MySpace!! And she invited me.
*Cue fangirl squee* That's bragging rights, there. I don't know if she knows me (sort of, from my web presence) or she just did a search for people who listed her as a favorite author? I'm gonna pretend she has some vague clue who I am. It's my delusion and I'm sticking to it! So there you have it -- my big thrill for Monday.
Anyhow, back to my complaint. People have been talking all over the Internet about All Through the Night by Suzanne Brockmann, and I secretly thought they were mixed up. It's an understandable mistake; both names start with "Brock" and what-not. Imagine my chagrin to discover that there's a new book with that title! One of her Navy Seal books, I think. How confusing is that?!
Two Brock-authors, two All Through the Nights. My brain hurts. Therefore, I protest to the title gods. It's just wrong. Now I don't know whether people actually know what book I'm talking about!
Anyhow, bitching aside, I love romance novels. They're the chocolate of the book world. When you need a comfort read, something to take you away from your puking kid and the fact that the damn dog has chewed up your last pair of decent shoes through some dog ninjary you cannot fathom, given that you keep your bedroom closed at all times, then you get a romance.
The heroes are hot, the heroines are feisty, and the endings are happy. Always. That's non-negotiable, or it's not a romance. It may have "romantic elements" or "romance subplot" but a romance will have a happy ending.
However. I'm a little tired of the endless lust. Like, hero-man takes one look at the heroine, whether she's classically gorgeous or not, and has an instant erection. Or if he's a were, maybe he takes one sniff. Whatever, the point is I'm tired of this lust-at-first-glance thing.
I want something different. I was delighted with Susan Mallery's series for this reason. The Buchanans? I devoured all four books in two days. I don't remember being put off by that instant-boner scene that I've come across with more regularity than I really like.
So here's what I want from you, my dear readers. Help me out with some book suggestions that feature the following plot devices: long-time crush, friends to lovers, and mistaken identity. Here's the caveat. I want a different flow to the relationship, no instant-boner or instant-weeping-vagina moment. I want a slow, simmering build where the characters may not even realize their latent attraction until it bursts into glorious irresistible life. I don't want books with passages extolling the other's good looks. I want something else, something fresh, with the characters enjoying each other's company first. A good example of this is a book by Dee Tenorio, Betting Hearts. I also want banter and clever dialog; Elizabeth Hoyt is a prime example of that.
And if that's not all, I also want lovely writing, hot sex, and a full, satisfying plot. (I'm not asking for much, am I?) Go forth, ye readers, and compile me a reading list that meets these qualifications, for I shall be in the States next month, and I'm buying books! But feel free to nominate ebooks if they fit the qualifications too because I can buy those now. Mwahahaha!
*sits back like a pasha and waits for the book titles to start rolling in*
Connie Brockway is one of my favorite authors. The woman is insanely gifted; she's totally from the Kinsale school of yummy, irresistible angst, and All Through the Night, published in 1997, is my favorite historical romance of all time. In fact, I want to re-read it but I haven't gotten around to replacing it since the flood a few years back. I was thrilled to death when she friended me on MySpace. Apparently, she's just signed up, and I was the fourth person she invited. I was Connie Brockway's fourth friend on MySpace!! And she invited me.
*Cue fangirl squee* That's bragging rights, there. I don't know if she knows me (sort of, from my web presence) or she just did a search for people who listed her as a favorite author? I'm gonna pretend she has some vague clue who I am. It's my delusion and I'm sticking to it! So there you have it -- my big thrill for Monday.
Anyhow, back to my complaint. People have been talking all over the Internet about All Through the Night by Suzanne Brockmann, and I secretly thought they were mixed up. It's an understandable mistake; both names start with "Brock" and what-not. Imagine my chagrin to discover that there's a new book with that title! One of her Navy Seal books, I think. How confusing is that?!
Two Brock-authors, two All Through the Nights. My brain hurts. Therefore, I protest to the title gods. It's just wrong. Now I don't know whether people actually know what book I'm talking about!
Anyhow, bitching aside, I love romance novels. They're the chocolate of the book world. When you need a comfort read, something to take you away from your puking kid and the fact that the damn dog has chewed up your last pair of decent shoes through some dog ninjary you cannot fathom, given that you keep your bedroom closed at all times, then you get a romance.
The heroes are hot, the heroines are feisty, and the endings are happy. Always. That's non-negotiable, or it's not a romance. It may have "romantic elements" or "romance subplot" but a romance will have a happy ending.
However. I'm a little tired of the endless lust. Like, hero-man takes one look at the heroine, whether she's classically gorgeous or not, and has an instant erection. Or if he's a were, maybe he takes one sniff. Whatever, the point is I'm tired of this lust-at-first-glance thing.
I want something different. I was delighted with Susan Mallery's series for this reason. The Buchanans? I devoured all four books in two days. I don't remember being put off by that instant-boner scene that I've come across with more regularity than I really like.
So here's what I want from you, my dear readers. Help me out with some book suggestions that feature the following plot devices: long-time crush, friends to lovers, and mistaken identity. Here's the caveat. I want a different flow to the relationship, no instant-boner or instant-weeping-vagina moment. I want a slow, simmering build where the characters may not even realize their latent attraction until it bursts into glorious irresistible life. I don't want books with passages extolling the other's good looks. I want something else, something fresh, with the characters enjoying each other's company first. A good example of this is a book by Dee Tenorio, Betting Hearts. I also want banter and clever dialog; Elizabeth Hoyt is a prime example of that.
And if that's not all, I also want lovely writing, hot sex, and a full, satisfying plot. (I'm not asking for much, am I?) Go forth, ye readers, and compile me a reading list that meets these qualifications, for I shall be in the States next month, and I'm buying books! But feel free to nominate ebooks if they fit the qualifications too because I can buy those now. Mwahahaha!
*sits back like a pasha and waits for the book titles to start rolling in*
Labels: books
I couldn’t agree more…unless it’s done well. Additionally, I’d rather read about it several chapters or more into the book. I’m more likely to suspend my disbelief if an author has taken time to develop the characters separately first. But this issue seems almost a staple of romance (almost—I’m sure lots of books don’t rely on weak or overdone techniques for building sexual tension). I read one book last summer, though, that was mental lusting nonstop, and also had the lust at first sight—I felt ill once I discovered the pattern. Maybe if the book had been longer with more plot, it could have sustained it. Otherwise, the plot felt more like window dressing.
Yet, even in writing my own stories, I feel the pressure to include the seemingly requisite mental lusting and such. In the previous manuscript I shopped around (a paranormal), one agent who read it said the story could benefit from more sexual tension (the hero was a priest (d’oh!)), so I went for subtly and sophistication rather than bold come hither looks and all of that). But even so, I felt pressure to sexualize practically every interaction the hero and heroine had.
In my current project (an SF romance), I deliberately spiced it (generously) with all the things you just cited that you’re overloaded on. Even as I did so, my heart sank a little each time. I have no idea if I wrote the mental lusting/lust at first sight effectively, but I tried to describe things in such a way that it wouldn’t bore the jaded romance reader. Only time will tell if an agent/editor becomes interested. But your post reminded me of my journey as I’ve tried my hand at romances (three so far). My previous manuscript garnered interest, but it apparently wasn’t sexy enough. I’m curious to see if this one gets a different response.
Regarding Elizabeth Hoyt, I’ve never read any of her books, but I’m intrigued by your praise of her writing. Which book do you recommend I try first? Sorry I don’t have any titles to recommend for you. I’m interested in hearing suggestions as well.
Thanks again for an interesting post!
Well, I read Ms. Hoyt's "Prince" trilogy, and loved them all. My favorite was book two, The Leopard Prince. But they were all good. They go:
The Raven Prince
The Leopard Prince
The Serpent Prince
I heartily recommend them all. I wrote her after I finished them to tell her how much I liked them and she was kind enough to email me back.
Hey, wait a minute... -I- wanted recommendations, and here I'm helping other people out.
This is SO backward. I protest!
Lancelot dolls himself up as the...Green Knight? and Elaine...helps him after he gets hurt and she doesn't realize it's him. There's weird stuff between Guinevere and Arthur and Guine is dumber than rocks. I liked the secondary romance between Brisden and Torre. She likes him from the start but it's not until the end of the book he gets his act together and he realizes how flat out awesome she is.
Lance is really messed up, though. I mean, he's holding more baggage on his shoulders than Atlas.
Um, Scandalous by Karen Robards is about three...half-sisters, I think, with the oldest one trying to marry of her pretty sister so that they can live as well as they can 'cause they had a crappy dad that left them for broke. A guy walks in and pretends to be their half-brother, who is dead, and only the oldest knows it and the oldest sister...shoots him, I think. More assumed identity than mistaken, although the younger sisters think he really is their brother because they have never met him before.
She's got a limp and a scarred leg, too if that helps any.
I'm grasping at straws, though. The name and author of the book I can't remember had a futuristic setting, and the hero was...half-robot and has loved the heroine for years. Really, really slow build on her part.
Know what? I'll get back to you on this.
That last book sounds like Games of Command by Linnea Sinclair.
But since you knew the title you've probably read it.
Now I can stop looking for it, though.