Let's Talk Romance: New Top Five

I haven't been reviewing lately -- I've read at least ten books since the last review, but it seems like so much work to actually take notes and prepare a review, etc., etc. Plus, I know no one actually reads this, and I tend to have problems responding to self-motivation. Anyway, until I manage to scrape up another review or brilliant insight into romance fiction as it stands today, I decided to pick five new romance songs to replace the old five. Here we go:

1. Foreigner - Cold as Ice
No one does angst like Foreigner. Think "I Want to Know What Love Is."

I've seen it before
it happens all the time
you're closing the door,
you leave the world behind
you're digging for gold,
you're throwing away
a fortune in feelings,
but someday you'll pay

you're as cold as ice

2. Pink - You Make Me Sick

You make me sick
I want you and I'm hating it

3. NIN - Perfect Drug
This has long been one of my favourites.

You make me hard
When I'm all soft inside
I see the truth
When I'm all stupid-eyed
The arrow goes straight through my heart
Without you everything just falls apart

4. Nickelback - Saving Me
I ain't got no love for Nickelback, but I do like this song

These city walls ain't got no love for me
I'm on the ledge of the eighteenth story
And oh, I scream for you

Come please I'm calling
And all I need from you
Hurry, I'm falling, I'm falling...

5. Bif Naked - Lucky

How can I ever get over you,
When I'd give my life for yours?

I think my list is a bit moodier than last time. Angst is always on my mind, though I think the level of darkness required to satisfy me fluctuates. For example, I could have put NIN's "Closer" instead of "Perfect Drug" -- "Closer" is a much more dark and raw song. Maybe next list.

Review: Lover Unbound

Title: Lover Unbound
Author: J.R. Ward
Publisher: Signet
Original Date of Publication: 2007 (released yesterday)
Genre/Sub-genre: Paranormal Romance
Part of a Series? Yes, it is A Novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood

It is an unfortunate fact that I can't ever seem to put J.R. Ward's novels down until they are entirely finished, so I missed all four of my classes today polishing this one off. Next time, I'm going to have to try to save it for the weekend.

Lover Unbound isn't as good as the other novels in the series. It resolves the homoerotic elements in the last novel that I loved so much in a way I find kind of offensive (V just hadn't met the right woman), and the language style has become more valley girl than badass gangsta (e.g., "so" is used constantly, as in "I am so all over that"). It also just seemed...generic in relation to the others. They're beginning to all be very similar, and even with the few new characters that were introduced in this novel, the circle seems uniform and a little ho-hum. I hope in the next novel she spices it up by adding something different to the plot.

However, despite these disappointing features, I loved Lover Unbound. I like how she's complicated the sexual history of the Brothers, so that they have issues to work through -- somehow it makes them seem sexier than if they were totally confident studs. I also really loved the ending of this novel -- it was a twist that I wasn't expecting but that fit perfectly. And as with the other novels in the series, I finished this one anticipating the next few -- I'm especially eager for John's novel, now.

Review: Moongazer

Title: Moongazer
Author: Marianne Mancusi
Publisher: Love Spell/Shomi
Original Date of Publication: 2007
Genre/Sub-genre: Action/Sci-fi romance
Part of a Series? God, I hope not

Moongazer is flat and dull and a painfully blatant rip-off of The Matrix. That isn't all I could say about this novel, but it's really all I want to say. It's not even that I feel angry or particularly disappointed about it -- I simply feel so indifferent to it that I can barely muster the energy to review it properly. Still, I'll give it a shot.

I was really excited about the possibilities of this novel -- the post-apocalyptic world! The dark angst-ridden love interest! The manga-esque cover! I was really hoping it would turn out to be like a grown-up version of L.J. Smith's The Chosen and/or Huntress with some cyberpunk thrown in.

However, the post-apocalyptic world turned out to be embarrassingly stereotypical and flat -- the mutated working class living sadly underground, their extra arms waving helplessly, as the evvvvvvil upper class takes advantage of them from their glitzy upper (but still underground) world. Earth as it once was is laid as virtual reality over the destroyed world, people tricked into the program by the upper class, eventually unaware of the real conditions of existence (sound familiar, Matrix viewers?). The revolutionary ideas would have been very interesting if only they had truly been examined, instead of used as a shallow plot device. The characters are cardboard cut-outs ("selfless revolutionary", "lower-class victim", "evil upper-class person"); even Skye, who has the benefit of essentially playing the role of two different people for most of the novel, and who is supposedly struggling to confront her two different sides, is a clear character type (the "real" person). Dawn, the hero, is sensitive, shy, and apparently stupid, rehashing the same issues over and over again (namely, "you're just a shell of the woman I once loved!"), and he doesn't even bother to use new dialogue when he does it. As for the eroticism in Moongazer, I will only say that this is the first book that I have EVER laid down in the middle of a sex scene (I went to sleep).

I think I could go on, but I don't feel like it. To quote Dawn, this book is an "empty shell" of what it could have been.

Review: Arrow to the Heart

Title: Arrow to the Heart
Author: Jennifer Blake
Publisher: Fawcett Columbine/Ballantine
Original Date of Publication: 1993
Genre/Sub-genre: Historical Romance
Part of a Series? No

I didn't enjoy Arrow to the Heart as much as the other historical romances I've read by Jennifer Blake. I've though hard about why that might be, and I've come to the conclusion that the power structure customary in Blake's novels is out of balance in this novel. Usually, the heroine is initially dominated by the man (i.e. kidnapped, held captive, forced into marriage) and a major joy of reading is taking in the situation, in which superficially the hero holds all the cards, all the while knowing the heroine, unbeknownst to herself, has completely mentally and emotionally dominated the hero. It's important that she not know, since (I believe) her power is greater than the hero's because it gives her the ability to control the hero's power, and the balance is equal only if she wields it unconsciously. Also, there wouldn't really be a plot otherwise.

However, in Arrow to the Heart, the hero and heroine are thrust into a situation by an external force and are equal in situational power, which immediately diminishes the hero's power. Also, the hero and heroine are more open and communicative than normal in Blake's historicals, which further upsets the power balance and makes the plot a bit more far-fetched, since the closer the heroine is to realizing the hero loves her, the more desperate the events keeping them apart appear. Basically, the delicious balance of the male dominating the physical while the female dominates the mental/emotional is off.

It's still a good book, and the ending is as satisfying as any other Blake historical. I wonder-- Blake returned to historical romances with Arrow to the Heart after writing a string of contemporaries-- can the difference in her typical power structure be attributed to the influence of more contemporary, "modern" expectations?

Review: A Walk in the Wood

Title: A Walk in the Wood
Author: Anna Gilbert
Publisher: Dell
Original Date of Publication: 1989
Genre/Sub-genre: Gothic/ romantic suspense
Part of a Series? Not that I know of

This was a really, really good book. Publisher's Weekly called it "Uncommonly meaningful romantic suspense", and once I got over being offended on behalf of the romance genre, I realized that it may actually be a good way of describing this book. I really enjoyed the twists and turns in the plot, and the overall depth of the work -- the ending, while satisfying and whole, does not tie up every loose end, leaving some things realistically ambiguous. It is very well written; a lot of lines made me stop and admire Gilbert's power of description. The heroine is a great female character -- rational, intelligent, and strong-willed. The ending, while probably predictable for some, took me completely by surprise. I didn't devour the book in one sitting like I usually do with my favourites, but my interest remained constant enough that even though I paused I did finish it, which is not generally the case for me (usually it's all or nothing). I would recommend this book to anyone who wants good writing and good romance combined, and who doesn't mind sacrificing the sex scenes to get it.

Review: Hunter's Moon

Title: Hunter's Moon
Authors: C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp
Publisher: Tor
Original Date of Publication: 2004
Genre/Sub-genre: Paranormal Romance
Part of a Series? Yes, the A Tale of the Sazi series

This book has a great hero and possibly the weakest, most irritating heroine I've ever encountered. He's a hitman and she hires him to kill her at the beginning of the novel -- she can't even do that herself. The rest of the novel is a chronicle of her complete dependency on him. He helps her become more detached from her cruel and manipulative family, he gets her a psychiatrist, he fixes her security system, he finds her friends, rescues her from kidnappers and actually lives for her, actually breathes and makes her heart function for her, near the end of the novel. And then he marries her, thereby ensuring that she'll continue to cling to him for the rest of her life. At the beginning of the novel she is a multi-millionaire, but she did not earn this money -- she won the lottery. At the end of the novel everyone thinks she's dead and she loses the money, so when she becomes married to Tony (the hero) her financial independence (the only form she had) is gone as well. She says herself that the only reason she can think of living is for him. At no point does she think for herself or act for herself in the whole fucking 328 pages. All she does is whine and cling to Tony.

If you can stomach all that, Tony is a good character, and it's interesting to read a romance novel written entirely from the male perspective. However, as the only selling point for the novel, it's a bit weak -- as good as he is, it's hard to respect him, because he loves a complete moron.

Kelley Armstrong: Exit Strategy

Title: Exit Strategy
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher/Series: Spectra
Original Date of Publication: June 26, 2007
Genre/Subgenre: Mystery/Romantic Suspense
Part of a Series? Yes - Nadia Stafford Series


Exit Strategy is the first book in a new series by Kelley Armstrong, or at least I assume it is the first book in a new series. As far as the romantic element goes, it leaves a lot to be desired, but in a good way. There is a well-done UST (unresolved sexual tension) between the main female character Nadia and Jack. The plot of the book is original, and Kelley once again shows her talent for writing an excellent mystery in the midst of a story of real-seeming characters with realistic personal problems. I've always admired the way Kelley could make a werewolf or a witch seem real to me, and she continues the trend with Nadia the cop-turned-assassin.



I suggest this book to people who are fans of the Women of the Otherworld series, as well as those who enjoy fast-paced mysteries with a hint of romantic undertones. The assassin plot is believable, and I highly enjoyed seeing the opposite side of the spectrum in a mystery. It is a nice change from the police/FBI novels I'm used to.



From an author's point of view, keep an eye out for the chapters from the perspective of the victims, and the killer. They were my favourite part of the book because they allowed an insight into things the reader may not have been able to see otherwise. For the romantics out there, make sure to pay special attention to the one in the theatre.

Review: The Rest Falls Away and Rises the Night

Title: The Rest Falls Away and Rises the Night
Author: Colleen Gleason
Publisher/Series: Signet Eclipse
Original Date of Publication: January and June 2007
Genre/Subgenre: Paranormal-Historical Romance
Part of a Series? Yes - The Gardella Vampire Chronicles

I read these two one after the other, so I'll review them together rather than separate them. I tend to view this type of series as one continuous book rather than several complete books anyway, which is one reason I've been so resistant to them. I prefer books that can stand alone. However, The Rest Falls Away has a very positive review by J.R. Ward on the cover, and J.R. Ward is currently my favourite romance author, so I thought I'd give Gleason's series a try.

I wasn't disappointed. The heroine is basically Buffy the Vampire Slayer of the Nineteenth-Century (from the television series, not the movie). She is strong and capable in ways that are not off-putting in the least. I'm normally annoyed by more than one man in the heroine's life, but it does not bother me in this series. Like Bitten, I think it's pretty clear who she's going to end up with in the end. Because this character doesn't show up in Rises the Night until page 180, there's something a little flat in her relationship with the other guy. Still, I don't feel much irritation over drawing out the romance of one heroine and heroine over several books because I like the hero and heroine and I'm interested in how things will play out. I'm bitter about having to wait, though.

Review: Scottish Ecstasy

Title: Scottish Ecstasy
Author: Rebecca Sinclair
Publisher/Series: Kensington Books
Original Date of Publication: 1993
Genre/Subgenre: Historical Romance
Part of a Series? No

I have several weak spots when it comes to romance. One is that I am a sucker for heroes with names like "beast" and "devil", so Alasdair "the Devil" Gray reeled me in. There's also just something about the portrayal of Scottish men in romance novels that's just so cute and sexy at the same time.

This is a good book. The author tends to drag her scenes on endlessly, which becomes a good thing about 200 pages in when the sex starts, but it was a bit irritating before that. It seemed more like self-indulgence on the part of the author than genuine good writing. Of course, it's all subjective.

The heroine's accent got annoying, and all the "yers" and "mauns" seemed to make me even more conscious of the cornier bits of dialogue (though there weren't that many, really). Still, overall it was enjoyable.

Review: Devotion

Title: Devotion
Author: Katherine Sutcliffe
Publisher/Series: Jove
Original Date of Publication: 1996
Genre/Subgenre: Historical Romance
Part of a Series? Sort of...Miracle is about this hero's twin brother

Devotion is a lot like Flowers from the Storm, though in my opinion it's better because the heroine is smarter, more articulate, and more real. It's a refreshing change: the heroine is outspoken and sexually aware (though still a virgin), and the hero is a near-catatonic lump for a good portion of the novel. The ending is a bit different than most formula romances, but I liked it. I really enjoyed this novel and it also has the virtue of being a very quick read -- I polished it off in five hours or less, and I'm no speed-reader.

Review: Too Close to Home

Title: Too Close to Home
Author: Maureen Tan
Publisher/Series: Silhouette Bombshell
Original Date of Publication: 2006
Genre/Subgenre: Contemporary Romance
Part of a Series? No

This is surprisingly gritty for a Silhouette -- I guess "Bombshell" is supposed to be a darker series. Too Close to Home features child abuse, murder, and a morally problematic ending, even for me, who likes heroes based on literary representations of Satan, and who openly has a crush on Hannibal Lecter. In a way, the very last line of the novel makes it seem as if conservative family values are offered to cancel out the problematic part -- hey, we're having a baby, so it's okay that _____ (I won't give it away).

At least the book has me thinking, instead of shrugging and moving on to the next one. Silhouettes and Harlequins (which are now apparently one and the same, and it seems I was the last to know) generally don't satisfy me-- they're not dark enough, not meaty enough. Too regulated. This one had that feel in a way, but also surprised me by being darker than I knew was possible under this publisher.

Review: Thief of Hearts

Title: Thief of Hearts
Author: Katherine Stone
Publisher/Series: Warner Books (A Time Warner company!)
Genre/Subgenre: Contemporary/Medical Romance
Part of a Series? No

If I had to sum up this novel in one sentence, this is how I would do it:

There are too many italicized words and too few sex scenes.

Here's the long version -- I love what this book tried to do, but I feel like in a lot of ways, it fell short of its goal. The good twin is dying and the "evil" twin is living in seclusion, writing erotic novels (that's his profession). The heroine, who is close to the good twin in a little sister kind of way, must visit the evil twin and ask for his help, since he's the only matching donor. Doesn't it sound hot? It is in some ways and it is not at all hot in others. It's too gentle and family-oriented. The characters, despite their family-angst-ridden pasts, are surprisingly flat. Perhaps the only thing I liked was Jesse, the evil twin-- I thought the explanation for his hostility and seclusion was well done, anyway, though I don't need to watch ER to know that going through a bone marrow harvest without anesthesia and then getting up and walking away is frankly ridiculous.

Note: In a twist of fate, this novel, which I criticized for its lack of sex, shares its title with at least one porn film, which I discovered while Googling for a cover image.

Review: Wicked

Title: Wicked
Author: Shannon Drake a.k.a. Heather Graham
Publisher/Series: Harlequin
Genre/Subgenre: Historical Romance
Part of a Series? No

Wicked was entertaining, but not nearly as angsty as I would have preferred. The intelligent, analytic hero and heroine, so like the characters in Amanda Quick novels, give the book a lightheartedness it might not have otherwise had, since the subject matter is pretty dark. The novel centers on a man whose parents had been murdered and who, when hearing of their deaths, went berserk on the battlefield and apparently disfigured himself so much that he's worn a mask ever since. It was the mask that sold me on the book in the first place. Something about a man in a mask...mmm. After all, all romance heroes are wearing masks, aren't they? There are a lot of Beauty and the Beast moments in this novel, which I enjoyed, and the Ancient Egypt angle is always fun. If it had only been a bit more dark, a bit more tortured, this could definitely have become one of my favourites.

Review: Genuine Lies

Title: Genuine Lies
Author: Nora Roberts
Publisher: Bantam Books
Genre/Subgenre: Bildungsroman/Contemporary Romance
Part of a Series? No

My first Nora Roberts novel...truly a milestone.

In "Who's Afraid of Happy Endings?" there's a clip of Nora Roberts describing an encounter with a woman who, upon learning Roberts' identity, said "Oh, you write that smut." Nora's response? "No, I do not write smut. What the hell is wrong with you?"

My instant response was to think Lady, lighten up -- how can you write romance and still be that easily offended? My response now, after reading one of her novels, is...yeah, she's still too easily offended, but she really doesn't write smut. After reading Genuine Lies I'm not convinced she even writes romance, at least not in the sense that I attribute to the term. Sure, there is a love story in the novel, but it seemed peripheral to the description of the life of an arrogant, beautiful, ambitious, high-profile woman in a glitzy, high-profile world. In this way, it reminded me of books I've read by Judith Krantz. In my opinion, Genuine Lies is really more of a bildungroman than an actual romance, since it focuses more on the development of the woman than on the relationship itself. Maybe it could be considered a kind of feminist, empowered romance, in that it is truly all about the woman.

That being said, it was a good book. It was very well-written. The plot was tight and intricate. The characters were okay. Well, they might have been a little flat. In fact, the weird thing about Genuine Lies is that it is so good, and yet so flat. Something about it seems ready-made, mass produced, and this is a criticism of Roberts' books that I've heard before. I just finished it, and the major emotion I'm feeling is indifference.

Review: A Cottage by the Sea

Title: A Cottage by the Sea
Author: Ciji Ware
Publisher/Category: Fawcett Gold Medal
Genre/Subgenre: Contemporary Romance
Part of a Series? No
This book isn't really my type, but it was well-written, the characters were interesting and believable, and though it wasn't dark, there was a lot of angst to it. It's also got multiple narratives (one thread in the past, one in the present). I normally don't like that because there's inevitably one narrative thread I like more than the other, and I spend half the novel impatiently skimming. However, the two threads intersect enough in A Cottage by the Sea so that my interest didn't wane too much. It's also very family/baby-oriented, but again, that didn't cause the distaste it usually does for me. The descriptions were wonderful -- I always love reading things set in rural England. Overall, it was a very enjoyable read.

Review: Tempt the Devil

Title: Tempt the Devil
Author: Connie Mason
Publisher/category: Leisure Books
Genre/Subgenre: Historical Romance
Part of a Series? No

When it comes to Tempt the Devil, what I'm really tempted to do is blame the editor -- grammatical errors are my biggest problem with this novel. Comma splices abound, as do periods where there should be question marks. There are also way too many adverbs, and they make the dialogue feel wooden and amateur. Over and above these glaring problems, the whole book is just a little cheesy, as well.

These easily fixable problems are particularly disappointing because there are a lot of aspects of the book that are really cool -- Mason, cheesiness aside, does a good job creating angel/devil, heaven/hell binaries that I really enjoyed. The hero's called Diablo, but he has a hideaway on an island called Paradise. The heroine is, of course, angelic. There are lots of wonderful lines like "Take me to heaven" (I'm sure you can figure out what kind of scene that came from). I think those good/evil, light/dark-type binaries are in a lot of romance novels, but not so obviously as in Tempt the Devil. There is also a great scene near the beginning of the book where Diablo is about to be hanged and he throws his head back and laughs -- it is very, well, diabolical, and also very sexy. The heroine thought so too!

Let's Talk Romance: Female vs. Male Perspective in Love Songs

A couple of weeks ago I got an idea for a series of short stories based on angsty song lyrics, and I just finished my first story and sent it off to my editor (a.k.a. Relena). The project has made me realize something that I find interesting -- most of the tortured, angsty love songs that I love so much and was so excited about using for my project are written and sung from the male perspective.

Why am I drawn to love songs from the male perspective? I have a couple of theories, and I'll use some quotes from one of my favourite articles, Modleski's "The Disappearing Act: A Study of Harlequin Romances" to add some oomph to my explanation.

The first theory is that love songs written from a male perspective give the same specific sense of dramatic irony that I find in romance novels. As the reader/listener/audience, I know something the heroine and often the hero do not. One of the most exciting and intriguing things about reading a romance novel is being privy to the knowledge that the hero, no matter how cold and unfeeling he may seem, is desperately in love with the heroine: "A great deal of our satisfaction in reading these novels comes...from our conviction that the woman is bringing the man to his knees and that all the while he is being so hateful, he is internally groveling, groveling, groveling" (441). Angsty songs written and sung from the male perspective often have the same effect of making me feel that I know something that the woman and sometimes even the man does not realize.

My other theory is ripped directly out of that article as well, and it is that women are conditioned to seek pleasure through the appraisal and approval of men: "'Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at'" [Modleski quoting Berger](445). I'm uncomfortable with this theory, because it would mean that I enjoy romantic songs from the male perspective because I've been conditioned to see myself from the male perspective, and this is how I receive my romantic (and presumably sexual) pleasure.

I tend not to agree with the second theory, at least not entirely, because I don't think I necessarily place myself in the role of the female in the song/book. Either way, I'm somewhat uncomfortable writing romance from the man's perspective, which I feel I pretty much have to do if I'm basing my stories on songs written from male perspective. I realize it is possible for a woman to do this realistically, but I'm not yet comfortable enough as a writer to feel confident about performing this task adequately. However, I'll see what the feedback is on my first story, which is Slow Dancing in a Burning Room.

Review: The Flame and the Flower

Title: The Flame and the Flower
Author: Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
Genre/Subgenre: Historical Romance
Part of a Series? No

Though The Flame and the Flower was published in the 1970s, which is when the Second Wave of feminism hit (or so I understand), the attitude of the author regarding the role of women in this novel more closely matches the stereotypical attitude of the 1950s. I feel that this is the type of romance novel that leads people to believe that all romance novels are anti-feminist -- it is a story with a patriarchal hero and a drooping "flower" of a heroine, who is in the end so grateful for safety and a child that she forgets that her husband repeatedly raped her and subjected her to months of verbal abuse and humiliation. The "manly" condescension of Brandon does not go away because in the end his love and respect for the heroine is only for her "womanly" attributes, not for her as a person. He's not a good man wearing a bastard's mask whose admirable qualities are slowly revealed -- he's a bastard and we are just expected to be won by his swarthy good looks and ability to keep from bedding his wife for the nine months she is pregnant in a bizarre attempt to punish her. Sorry, Woodiwiss -- I'm not biting. Despite what I have said about wanting an unrepentant bad hero, I find this leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

At first I thought The Flame and the Flower was very similar to a Jennifer Blake novel, and I was excited because I once read a novel with a wonderful pirate altercation scene, and I suspected that this was the one. However, while I admit that Blake's novels have a lot of the traits that are characteristic of the more stereotypical formula romances, I have never felt as shocked and incredulous at the blatant gender stereotypes of any romance novel as I was while reading The Flame and the Flower. I guess I should have been tipped off by the title -- flames are active, powerful, and potentially dangerous, and flowers are beautiful but delicate, ornamental, and passive. This describes the gender gap in this novel very well.

N.B. - This is not the cover of the version of the book I read -- I read a 1972 hardcover version I found at the library. However, even Ebay didn't have the exact version I read, and I thought this 1995 cover was much more accurate, considering the tone of the novel itself. Look at the way he's grabbing her, and the rather diabolical cast to his features. It seems the publishers wanted to emphasize the very things I found repulsive about this novel. Fascinating. Of course, in most contexts I do enjoy devilish, forceful heroes, and perhaps this cover just caters to that common preference.

Review: Romancing the Stone

Title: Romancing the Stone
Author: Joan Wilder a.k.a Catherine Lanigan
Genre/Subgenre: Romance/Adventure
Part of a Series? No

When I checked this book out of the library, I was delighted with its possibilities -- imagine, a romance novel that parodies romance novels! I had dreams of it becoming a key text in my future career as a professor specializing in romance fiction.

I was somewhat disappointed with Romancing the Stone, but only, I think, because my expectations were so high. The novel does parody romance novel conventions, to the point where I laughed out loud more than once, especially in the first few pages, which are an "excerpt" from Joan Wilder's newest novel (the heroine is a romance novelist). Overall, however, Romancing the Stone took itself more seriously than I expected, despite the "this is no romance novel"-type refrains from the heroine. The specific "jungle adventure" romance stereotype is not one I have had much experience with myself.

Taken as a straightforward romance novel, Romancing the Stone is amusing, saved from corny conventionality by funny dialogue and the self-serving attitudes of the hero and heroine. Viewed as a parody of romance, it is interesting and worthy of further study, as well as a way to notice and laugh at the conventions of romance while enjoying them at the same time. I haven't seen the film version, but I imagine it's something like the Indiana Jones movies in style and humour, and I'm hoping to rent it if I can find it.

Review: Spanish Serenade

Title: Spanish Serenade
Author: Jennifer Blake
Genre/Subgenre: Historical Romance
Part of a Series? No

The first romance novel I ever read was written by Jennifer Blake. It was, I believe, Midnight Waltz, and I was fourteen years old. I still remember pulling it off the library bookshelf and examining the book jacket with furtive intensity and the first bloom of gleeful delight that would characterize my feelings towards all good romance novels from then on.

Spanish Serenade is almost exactly the same as Midnight Waltz, Royal Seduction, Fierce Eden, and, one can assume, all of Jennifer Blake's historical novels. In fact, though I have Blake's website before me, with a list of all her books, complete with synopses, I'll be damned if I can remember which ones I've read and which I haven't. I have a vague suspicion that this is my second time around with Spanish Serenade, but I can't be totally sure.

Each novel features a woman of superlative beauty and a man of superlative everything, and a few men who vie with the main man for possession of the woman. The woman is usually abducted by the main male character, and her virtue is often in question until he sleeps with her and discovers physical evidence of her innocence. The man is self-derisive and desperately in love with the heroine, which in conjunction with a series of events leads him to be cold, aloof, and intensely passionate in turns, making cryptic statements of feeling and intent that confuse the heroine and delight the reader. At the end of the novel, main male character (whose name usually starts with R), makes a flowery, soul-driven statement of love; this is often rejected by the heroine, who questions his motive. Then she is usually driven to admit her love and/or marry him by some forceful scheme on the part of the hero, usually with the help of a few faithful companions, sometimes even with the help of the one who fought him for her hand, since he can see that they are truly in love and accepts it manfully. The novels are usually set in New Orleans or somewhere else in Louisiana, though Spain, France, and islands such as Cuba and the Caribbean islands often play a role. There is always some high-class Eighteenth-Century living. There is usually at least one ship scene and pirate altercation. There is always at least one intense fight scene brought on by the jealousy and possessiveness of the virile hero. There is always sex, sometimes nearly immediately, often initially by force.

Now, this constant repeat of the same formula is only a problem if you don't like the formula -- I happen to love it. It has exactly what I want: it features a dark, brooding hero, whose coldness intensifies to conceal his one weakness (love for the heroine); drawn out angst; pirates; New Orleans; abductions. What's not to like, over and over again?

N.B. - It was very difficult to find a picture of the book with this cover, but since I read this version and always make a point of finding the cover I'm familiar with, I spent some time tracking it down. I eventually had the bright idea to check e-bay, and lifted the picture from there. Blake's older covers seem to be disappearing, which is a shame, since I think that the discrete flowers that are replacing the original racy embraces are insincere cop-outs. Women shouldn't be ashamed to be seen reading a novel with lovers gyrating on the front.
/rant

Review: All Smiles

I'm debating whether or not to review this book, because I did not finish it. I fully intended to plow through to the very end, despite the fact I wasn't enjoying it, for the sake of a full and and fair review. However, on page 285, I realized I had at least another 150 pages to go, and I gave up.

I don't think it's a bad book, exactly. I think it just might not be my type. I hate the way it's written, and I especially hate the dialogue. It is not believable (cumbersome and overly complex, with what some people may call the "Dawson's Creek Effect": as in, nobody really talks like that). Information the reader needs in order to understand the narrative is included in ways I consider amateur and cringe-worthy. The relationship is too open, too soon -- there is little angst in the first 2/3 of the book, and while I expect there may be some in the last third, I generally prefer the opposite (angst first, happy resolution at the very end). Overall, I didn't find the book dark enough or powerful enough to really capture my emotions. Then there is the matter of a ghost named Spivey that narrates some mini-chapters, which quickly became unbearable and warranted skipping, and the fact that All Smiles is a terrible pun on the surname of the heroine (Meg Smiles). I read this book in April and I'm still cringing at the memory of it as I write this. No more Stella Cameron for me, until I have reason to believe that she explores darker themes in her other novels. Also, I'm also a little disappointed in Amanda Quick a.k.a. Jayne Ann Krentz for writing such a glowing review of such a lackluster book. But perhaps that is only more proof that for the right person, this could be good.

Let's Talk Romance: Falina's Current Top Five Angsty Love Songs

I'd hate for anyone to think that I confine my love of romance purely to literature. I'm hoping to eventually review films here, and right now I'm going to list my current favourite love songs, with my favourite quotes from them. So, in no particular order...

1. Hinder - Lips of an Angel

My girl's in the next room,
Sometimes I wish she was you

That line is pretty much the only reason I like this song. I used to really be bothered by the concept of infidelity, in films and lyrics and otherwise, but I'm beginning to consider it a useful plot tool.

2. John Mayer - I Don't Trust Myself

No I'm not the man I used to be lately
See, you met me at an interesting time
And if my past is any sign of your future
You should be warned before I let you inside

Hold onto whatever you find baby
Hold onto whatever will get you through
Hold onto whatever you find baby
I don't trust myself with loving you

Oh, John Mayer and I have had a torrid relationship. I loved his early live stuff, hated the CD versions, hated him, his image, and his last couple of albums, and now I'm loving some of his newer stuff, like this (I'm assuming it's new) and "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room." He just got a sexy new haircut that makes him look vaguely like a cross between James Dean and Johnny Depp, too. I have the live version of this song, and I love his sexy, smoky voice.

3. Tegan and Sara - My Number

He grabs me by the hand, drags me to the shore
And says 'Maybe you don't love me, or you'll grow to love me even more'
And I, I'm not surprised

I'm currently trying to find some older and less tinny songs by Tegan and Sara. I don't enjoy their "Walking With a Ghost" style. I prefer their more earthy tunes, like this one, "Hype," and "Divided."

4. Chris Isaak - Wicked Games

And I don't want to fall in love
No I don't want to fall in love, with you

This song is a classic, and so angsty. I read Isaak's interpretation of this song described as "bewildered", and I like that. Bewildered and tortured. Mmm.

5. Ani Difranco - Your Untouchable Face

To tell you the truth I prefer the worst of you
Too bad you had to have a better half
She's not really my type, but I think you two are forever
And I hate to say it, but you're perfect together

So fuck you, and your untouchable face
And fuck you, for existing in the first place
And who am I, that I should be vying for your touch
'Said who am I, I bet you can't even tell me that much

I fell in love with Ani Difranco just a few hours ago...I hadn't really heard anything by her before tonight. She's brilliant. Her voice is so vibrant and colourful, and her lyrics are some of the best I've ever heard.

Let's Talk Romance: The Romantic Hero and Universalism

I'm feeling my way through this topic without any formal academic understanding of Postmodernism itself, but I think it's an important point, at least one that's caused a couple of heated discussions between me and my "Po-mo is the Mo-fo" boyfriend.

When I talk about the Romantic/Byronic hero, I tend to make references to mythological/literary male characters that existed before the Romantic Period - Cain and Milton's Satan are two of my favourites. Jon's argument is that one can't look back with modern perceptions and label something that would not have been labeled at the time. The analogy that he uses, and one that makes sense to me, is to look at, say, ancient Greece and call the men homosexuals. Homosexuality as a term did not exist until thousands of years after this period; homosexuality itself did not exist until we defined it. So to look at, say, Cain, and define him as a Romantic hero does not really work, because Romantic heroes didn't exist until the Romantic Period.

I have trouble wrapping my head around this in some ways, because I know a Romantic hero when I see one. I recognize the combination of characteristics, the "character type" and I don't care whether the character was created thousands of years before Byron started writing or not. At the same time, this argument has made me realize something important -- the Romantic hero is not a thing. The Romantic hero is a perception. That's why I can look at Cain and see a Romantic hero and others in different time periods, including the one in which the Bible was written, can see him as a monster. He's the same character, with the same characteristics, but he can be perceived in different ways. Therefore, what I am interested in is the perception of characters -- Cain, Satan, Lestat, and so many others -- in a certain way, not in whether or not they written deliberately as such or whether there is something inherently "Romantic" in their makeup. It's modern perception that I'm interested in, and possibly Nineteenth-Century perception as well (since that is when the Romantic hero became a noticed a popular thing, and people began to actively create them). Maybe I'm interested in perception starting in the Nineteenth-Century and moving up to Contemporary. I'm really not sure of anything yet, but it's all so damned exciting!

Review: Full Moon Rising

I'm not sure how to feel about this novel. I'm considering reading the next one in the series, but I don't know whether it's because I like the plot and care about the characters or simply because it ends with a blatant "To Be Continued..." I feel angry at such a cheap trick -- the next three novels in the series were scheduled to come out once a month, which indicates that they were all written in advance and designed to sell as a series. The next book in the series probably has an ending similar to this one, and so on until you've bought all the books in the series. Basically, the end of Full Moon Rising is an attempted guarantee that the next book in the series will be read, because it isn't a complete novel in itself. It's an effective lure, but it annoys and offends me. I much prefer J.R. Ward's method -- she effectively ends each character's story, she makes each novel complete in itself, but leaves the reader fascinated by peripheral characters so that they'll want to read the next books when they are published.

Besides the sneaky non-ending, I'm also not sure I believe in or like any of the characters in Full Moon Rising, including the male romantic interest. For a novel to have an unlikeable male hero is, to me, absolutely unforgivable. Also, because sex is so open, some (most...all?) of the angst is removed from the sexual encounters.

So why, despite all this, am I considering reading the next novel? Well, the series might improve, right? The writing itself isn't terrible, and there is a possibility that the next novel might be more to my liking. I'd hate to think that I'm aware of the "To Be Continued..." but still unable to resist its lure. Also, I understand that writing a series is the most effective way for a romance writer to make sure his or her books stay on the shelf -- the most recent book is on the shelf, and because it's part of a series, all the other books are up there, too. There is such a rapid turnover rate for romance novels that this is really the only way to make sure your books are represented at bookstores for more than a month or two.

Writing: Breaking the Ice

It occurred to me that although this blog is ostensibly at least partially devoted to the craft of writing romance, Relena and I have not made any posts about our own writing. I thought I'd break the ice, though of the two of us Rel is the more dedicated, prolific, and talented writer.

I've written for a good part of my life, but I didn't start getting into writing romance until after I started reading it in high school. I met Relena around the same time, and while I when through sporadic bursts of creative energy, Relena's writing really took off around this point, possibly because I gave her the audience she had lacked (and all the positive reinforcement she could want -- I love her writing). I have yet to complete any fictional novel or short story I have begun, which is a pretty poor track record, but I'm working on it. I have had more success with poetry and life writing, which has gotten pretty good feedback from my small circle of reviewers.

I'm working on a romance novel at the moment, and I'm about 25,000 words in, with another 5,000 - 10,000 words of add-ins that I plan to work in during the editing process. It's not really much yet, but it's the most I've done so far, and I'm really excited about it. It would be so wonderful to publish a novel, though I don't think I'd want to be a full-time romance writer -- after watching "Who's Afraid of Happy Endings?" I was more than a little intimidated by the competitiveness within the genre.

I'm thinking about posting my life writing and poetry and linking it to this site, but I need to figure out where I want to put it, and I need to go through the life writing and change names, so it might be a while. I'm much more focused on what I'm writing now than on going back over what I have written.

Review: Stolen

I know now why this series is not classified as romance. This book was definitely not a romance -- there was a loving relationship in it, but it was not a love story. I'm a little disappointed, but really, it was to be expected: Bitten ended with the romance more or less settled, the angst resolved. I would call Stolen an action novel (is there such a literary genre?), and while several characters were introduced that may have a romance dynamic (Paige and Alex, for example), I'm not interested enough to follow up by reading more.

Well, Alex is pretty sexy, as a half-demon that can incinerate things. If I could be certain that there would be a romantic dynamic to the next novel, I would read it, though I'd take it out of the library instead of buying it.

Review: Lover Revealed

This is the fourth book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, and it was the one I was looking forward to the least, which is probably why I was able to put off reading it until my exams were over. Though I liked Butch, the human who was within the Brotherhood circle but not a part of it, he was hardly as bad or as sexy as the vampires. Marissa, his love interest, was portrayed as very weak and dull in Dark Lover, and I had a hard time shaking that first impression to see her as a good heroine in Lover Revealed. However, in the end this book won me over just as much as the others, mostly because of the homoerotic tension between two of the main male characters. The eroticism in these novels is really fantastic.

The next novel features Vishous as the main male character, and it won't be out until October, which is maddening. One thing that Ward seems to do so well is suck you into the lives of the peripheral characters in every novel, so that even as you are reading and enjoying the current novel, you're anticipating the next one. As I read Dark Lover, I wanted to read the novel featuring Zsadist as a main character; while I was reading Lover Revealed, I anticipated the novels that would feature Vishous and Rhevenge as main characters. I'm even warming up to the horrible names.

The one criticism I have of Ward (besides the names) is that she flirts around the edges of convention but ultimately keeps things at status quo. The Black Dagger Brotherhood is a bunch of hulking vampires that talk like rappers, listen to hip hop, and just generally appropriate a lot of African American cultural stereotypes -- and yet every character in the novels so far is white. There is homoerotic tension between some main male characters (especially in Lover Revealed), but so far, no characters are actually homosexual or even overtly bisexual. Ward goes only so far, but in the end her characters remain the classic romantic male stereotype -- white, virile, heterosexual beefcakes.

There are probably very good reasons for this -- it is likely that Ward feels pressure both from her audience and her publisher to keep things conventional. After all, for all my open-minded talk, I've never attempted to find and read a romance novel featuring characters of non-white ethnicities, though I am aware of the small (but apparently growing) subgenre of romance novels marketed towards African Americans and other ethnic groups. Even as I avoid these books (though avoid may be too strong a word -- they're hard to find, and therefore very easy to avoid) I find the system almost offensively segregated. African Americans and other ethnic groups have not been represented in romance novels, so instead of incorporating more people of other ethnicities into romance novels, there was a subgenre of "African American" novels created. White people can still have their "white" novels, and African Americans can have their own novels. Fortunately, as least as far as I know, these novels have not been given separate groupings in the romance section of bookstores. Yet.

Let's Talk Romance: Romance vs. romance

I'd like to talk about the "R/r" in romance - what it means when I use the capital "R" versus the lowercase "r". I know this might seem obvious to some of you, but it's an important point, because there is a big difference between, say, a Romantic hero and a romantic hero, and lines get blurred when I argue that the romantic hero IS the Romantic hero, as I am wont to do.

When I write the words romance or romantic with a lowercase "r", I am referring to romance as we define the term today, and when I refer to a "romance" or a "romantic" hero, I am referring to the hero of a romance fiction novel (for example, Wrath in Dark Lover), or, if I'm not pointing to a specific romance fiction text, to a character that embodies these "romance hero" characteristics. When I write "Romance" or "Romantic", I'm making a reference to the literature of the Romantic Period (approx. 1789-1837, though these numbers seem to shift depending on who one talks to). The Romance or Romantic hero is a character who embodies certain Romantic characteristics (for example, Manfred in Byron's Manfred is a Romantic hero). I will often refer to the Byronic hero as a Romantic hero, but technically he could be seen as a subcategory of the general Romantic hero type.

My academic argument (or rather, the argument I hope someday to make, in an Honour's or a Master's or a Ph.D thesis) is that not all Romantic heroes are romance heroes but all romance heroes are Romantic heroes. I realize that the "all" is problematic -- there are a lot of heroes in romance fiction today that do not have Romantic characteristics. However, the basic formula is a good point of departure.

Let's Talk Romance: the Byronic Hero

I just passed in a creative project in Victorian Literature in which I first defined the Romantic hero and then searched for him in the novels of the Victorian Period. I thought I'd share some interesting tidbits:

Here's what Northrop Frye (an important Canadian theorist) has to say about the Romantic (and more specifically, the Byronic) hero:

“The so-called Byronic hero is often a Romantic version of the natural man, who, like Esau or Ishmael, is an outcast, a solitary much given to communing with untamed nature, and who thus represents the potentially expanding and liberating elements in that nature. He has great energy, often great powers of leadership, and even his vices are dignified enough to have some aesthetic attraction. He is often aristocratic in birth or behaviour, with a sense that, like Esau, he is the dispossessed rightful heir – here the theme combines with the sense of nostalgia for a vanished aristocracy. When he is evil, there is often the feeling that, as with Byron's Cain, his evil is comprehensible, that he is not wholly evil any more than society is wholly good, and that even his evil is a force that society has to reckon with” (30-31).

“[T]he “Byronic” hero...is placed outside the structure of civilization and therefore represents the force of physical nature, amoral or ruthless, yet with a sense of power, and often of leadership, that society has impoverished itself by rejecting” (41).

Mmm...doesn't that sound like every juicy male hero in romance fiction that you've ever lusted after? Here's another, similar description:

“...A man greater than others in emotion, capability, and suffering. Only among wild and vast forms of nature – the ocean, the precipices and glaciers of the Alps – can he find a counterpart to his own titanic passions. Driven by a demon within, he is fatal to himself and others; for no one can resist his hypnotic fascination and authority. He has committed a sin that itself expressions his superiority: lesser men could not even conceive a like transgression” (Perkins 782)

It makes me a little dreamy just to write out these descriptions – the Byronic hero IS the modern romance hero! It's simply amazing that these parallels are so obvious and yet no one's really talking about them.

I have a ton more ideas I'd love to write out, including my thoughts the fascinating concept of "Romantic agony" that Frye discusses briefly, but I've learned from reading other people's blogs that if it's too long, it doesn't get read, so I'll parcel out my exciting tidbits a little at a time.

Works Cited

Frye, Northrop. A Study of English Romanticism. New York:      Random House, 1968.
Perkins, David, ed. “George Gordon, Lord Byron:      Introduction.” English Romantic Writers. San Diego: HBJ,      1967. 779-787.

Book Review: Naked in Death

I guess it will be up to me to write reviews about JD Robb/Nora Roberts since Falina does not read her books. I will use this first book in the series to represent all of them (around 20, I believe). These books are wonderful, and span at least three genres. There is romance, science fiction, and even the hard-core mystery readers will not be disappointed. One of the wonderful things about Nora Roberts is she never writes a scene that is unbelievable, and though these books are set around 2059, the only thing that really differs are the way crimes are committed and the technology advancement. What really makes the jump of 50 years barely noticeable is the depiction of society as gritty, corrupt, but oh-so-honest. People as a whole don't change (but an individual can), and that is the theme at the core of these books.

As for the characters - Eve Dallas is a hard-ass cop, but she's lovable and human in her own ways. She sees the world in black and white, with no room for shades of grey. She stands for the good and the moral. She's a orphan with a dark history, and her job is the only thing she lives for. Throughout the novels you see how actually having someone in her life changes her (for the better).

Roarke (just Roarke) is the richest, most successful businessman on and off planet, and he earned his first fortune in smuggling. He is a former bad-boy who cleans up into having a civilized veneer with a hard edge beneath. He is described as being beautiful, with a face a poet could only dream of, and a black Irish heritage. He has a sexy accent and the body of a god - which is perfectly toned through exercise instead of the popular body sculpting techniques. He loves to read physical books in an age where everything is electronic, and is a big fan of Yeats (or one of those poets). In short, he's ever girl's ideal man.

The only unfortunate thing is that after book 4(?) the main couple is married. There is relatively no UST, and though they still have hot sex, there is only so long I can remain interested in the same people having sex in the same ways. The good news is that they aren't without their problems, what with Eve and her moral fiber and Roarke and his lack thereof. Both of them also have immensely dark pasts, which only adds to their relationship.

Joint Review: Lover Eternal and Lover Awakened

I read these back to back last Friday, from 4 PM to 3 AM, because I really wanted to read Lover Awakened, but Lover Eternal was the second book published, so I felt I had to read that one first. As such, the books are unavoidably linked in my mind and so will be reviewed together.

Everything that Dark Lover had these books have, though in slightly lesser degrees -- despite my expectations, I prefer Dark Lover and Wrath to these these novels, on Rhage and Zsadist, respectively. They were still erotic, angst-filled, and wonderful, though. As could be expected, Lover Awakened is the more angsty of the two. I loved it, but I have an issue with the development of Zsadist that echoes a sentiment I felt after reading and watching Hannibal Rising earlier this year -- I resent the need to justify a "bad" character. The enigma of Hannibal Lecter becomes a revenge story. Zsadist becomes a good, sweet guy trapped by evil circumstances, that just needs a little love to let his "good" side show again. I don't want his good side, though -- I want bad for bad's sake. I don't mind an incomprehensible bad, an unsympathetic bad. I don't need a compelling reason or a justification for badness, and I don't think you do either, reader. Just once I would like a hero that is just unashamedly, inexplicably bad, without some tragic back story.

The next Lover book is about Butch, who is a human, but I still think it might be good. With every novel J.R. Ward is opening up new possibilities for future novels, and I hope she goes on forever. I'm really looking forward to the novel on Vishous, now.

Review: Fantasy Lover

I can't remember when I read this -- sometime last week, certainly. I didn't take any notes and I don't have all that much to say about it as a result. I had heard that this book isn't as good as her later ones, and I'm willing to believe that. It's not that it wasn't enjoyable, but it's been pretty much overshadowed by its proximity to Bitten and Dark Lover and even Flowers from the Storm. I would say it was only okay, for a few reasons which may be completely personal. First of all, the hero is a demi-god and I found the author's portrayal of Aphrodite, Athena, and Eros both corny and uncharacteristic. The heroine was boring (and plain!) and the hero wasn't nearly dark enough for a Spartan warrior who was trapped into being a love slave for two thousand years. The book also contains one of the cheesiest sentences I've ever read; the heroine's name is Grace and the phrase is "You're my saving Grace." It hurt just to rewrite it. If this book is a must-read to understand the other books in the series, I'm fine with that. I'm willing to try a few of the others, but if they're as sappy and cheesy and un-angsty as this one, I'm going to give up quickly.

Let's Talk Romance: A Poem

Romance
By Andrew Lang

My lover dwelt in a Northern land.
A grey tower in a forest green
Was hers, and far on either hand
The long wash of the waves was seen,
And leagues on leagues of yellow sand,
The woven forest boughs between.

And through the silver Northern light
The sunset slowly died away,
And herds of strange deer, lily-white,
Stole forth among the branches grey;
About the coming of the light,
They fled like ghosts before the day.

I know not if the forest green
Still girdles round that castle grey;
I know not if the boughs between
The white deer vanish ere the day;
Above my love the grass is green,
My heart is colder than the clay.

I'm not sure I would use this as a representative of romance (as Henry A. Beers seems to have done by including before the preface to his A History of English Romanticism in the Nineteenth Century), but there is a lot in it that I would consider romantic (and Romantic) and it reminds me of a lot of things I have read -- The Lord of the Rings, Rebecca, The Last Unicorn, some of L.J. Smith's books from the Night World series...I could probably go on. Doesn't it have that lonely haunting quality that works so well for romance?

Review: Dark Lover

I just read Dark Lover straight through, and what can I say? Most of what I'm feeling for this book is just a warm, unarticulated feeling of glee. I loved it. I love the idea of Wrath, The Blind King of the vampires. He was as hot as hell -- this book gets 5/5 for eroticism, definitely. However, the other five members of the Black Dagger Brotherhood were all also attractive to varying degrees, and this book was somewhat overshadowed by the fact that as soon as I read about Zsadist I wanted to read the novel devoted to him (though I hate the reappropriation of words and names by adding pointless letters - Wrath is the only one that has a correctly spelled word for a name. The rest are Rhage, Tohrment, Zsadist, etc.). Something that really sets this book apart is the language -- the male characters talk like rappers, which I would have expected to annoy me, but it turned out to be refreshing and enhanced the appeal and charm of the characters.

Review: Flowers from the Storm

I'm on fire with the romances -- I just finished Flowers from the Storm, which was rated #2 of "Reader's 25 Favourite Books" in the December issue of Romantic Times Book Reviews.

In my mind, it is nowhere near the caliber of Bitten, but it's almost impossible to rate different sub-genres on the same quality scale, anyway. This one is what it is -- a historical romance from the early nineties, the kind that you find in hardcover at your local library with thick, slightly yellowed pages and Fabio on the cover. In other words, the kind of romance I love. This one has an interesting plot point, which is the reason I chose it; the hero, the Duke of Jervaulx, is a handsome rake that has a stroke which, among other more minor things, renders him unable to speak or understand speech. This only enhances the romantic heroism of him -- he doesn't talk much, when he does it's terse, and he is brooding, angry, and violent. Mmm.

The heroine, a Quaker who knew him slightly before the stroke and met him again afterward, is all right, but nothing really special, and all her "thy"s and "thou"s are irritating if historically accurate and/or religiously appropriate.

The sex is really surprisingly good -- I give it a 4/5 on the erotic scale. I would complain that the book wasn't dark enough, but like a drug addict that has to have more and more to feel the same high, I am beginning to find that I crave more angst and darkness with every book I read.

Review: Bitten

I stayed up until 5:30 AM this morning, reading Bitten straight through. I can't remember the last time I felt compelled to do that. The first thing I thought as I finally put it down was wow, that was great. It energized me and now I feel back in the game, waiting for a ride to the library to pick up another romance (though Bitten is actually sold as horror at our local Indigo -- nonsense). I also bought two more books, Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dark Lover by J.R. Ward, with the guidance of Indigo's resident romance expert.

Bitten is a werewolf romance, but it feels very fresh and different (perhaps that is why it is not classified as romance). The best thing I can say about it is that though it fits a mold it is not formulaic -- the human love interest isn't a jerk and the bad-boy werewolf isn't a brooding enigma, but isn't sentimental and corny, either. Elena is an assertive, take-charge heroine, but again, she manages to escape the "spunky gal that intrigues hero" formula. And though Clay is certainly magnetic, there are other main characters with an equal amount of charisma -- Jeremy, for example. There's plenty to be interested in, in other words.

Wow, Clay sure is hot, though. I love the southern accent. I love his unrepentant badness. I very rarely read serial books featuring the same character (after they've said their "I love you"s, I turn away and don't look back) but I'm considering Stolen.

Other random points:

- Usually I hate it when the heroine is torn between two men -- it makes me anxious. I like a clear winner. It didn't bother me in this one though -- there's never really much doubt which one has her heart.

- Usually, I like sex to be held off until at least the middle and admission of love to wait until the very end -- however, it isn't like that in this book, and it works just fine the way it is.

- I spent half the book rooting for another hero but wasn't disappointed with the outcome.

Let's Talk Romance: Blogs

I've been searching on and off for a while...and now I've found a couple of solid looking blogs that discuss romance fiction from an analytic/academic point of view:

http://teachmetonight.blogspot.com
http://www.romancingtheblog.com/blog/

Also (and I got this directly from the first blog) a documentary called "Who's Afraid of Happy Endings?" discussing romance fiction is going to be playing on BRAVO! in Canada on Thursday, March 8th, at 8:30 PM EST. As someone who has been searching for a long time (albeit half-assedly) for any information on romance fiction on the internet, I assure you that this is big and wonderful and exciting and has already proven worth the effort (that documentary is a great find! I suggest that everybody watch it!)

Review: Aurora Leigh

This very long poem revolves around the creation of a woman poet in the Victorian period and does include a central love story, but by the time I got to the romantic climax I was so overwhelmingly tired of it all that I didn't even get a little thrill, whereas a good angsty romance usually leaves me writhing on the floor, grinning like an idiot. Also, AL is a devout Christian, and there is a lot of stuff about god taking care of things, etc., which I, as an atheist, find excruciating. There are a lot of interesting things that can be said (and have been said, at least by me, in class) about the hypocrisy of presenting Al as a progressive woman from within the context of a religious system that oppresses women as a matter of principle (love, honour, and obey, anyone?). If this had not been a course requirement, I don't think I would have bothered finishing it.