timeripple (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeripple) wrote2012-03-29 12:54 am
timeripple) wrote2012-03-29 12:54 am
Entry tags:
break me shake me hate me take me over
My heart has been thoroughly broken by Code Name Verity and may never recover, but clearly this will not stop me from reading and flailing about books all over everything and getting political about it.
The story: I was recently invited to an upcoming romance writers meet-and-greet cocktail hour.
Now, romance is not a genre that particularly interests me in a casual capacity. Given the choice, I would probably not stroll over to the paperback romance shelf of a library and pick up something with an appalling cover. (I would probably stroll over to the sci-fi/fantasy or YA section and pick up something with an equally appalling cover.)
However! It is a genre that interests me politically for two reasons, being 1) produced and consumed almost entirely by women, and also 2) being almost universally degraded, disregarded, and generally looked down upon (the first being part of the reason for the second) by The Establishment. As a professional in the children’s lit world, I know what it is like to have your genre of choice pooh-poohed and not taken seriously, and to have one’s intelligence and maturity called into doubt based on one’s involvement with said genre. So I have quite a lot of sympathy for romance, and people who like and advocate romance, even if it’s not quite my thing.
All this is a long way of saying that I feel it would be fun and instructive to attend a romance publishing soiree, and that I also feel I should do some research beforehand. (One hates to insult the guests of honor by showing up and saying, “Oh, I haven’t read your book, I’m just here for the food.”)
So I picked up a number of romance novels at the library recently, and enjoyed many of them! Well, two.
Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
In which an extremely sensible lady sensibly realizes that she is attracted to an extremely unsensible jerk of a man. Who is leading her idiot brother down the path of debauchery, delinquency, and dissolution. In Paris of all places. His nickname is Lord Beelzebub, and he eats babies for breakfast because his mother abandoned him as a child and he has had not one scrap of affection since. His hobbies are associating with degenerates and being exceptionally rude to our heroine.
Clearly the only remedy is for her to make out with him in the rain and then shoot him in the arm.
Shenanigans ensue. Our heroine goes on to save our hero’s illegitimate son from running Heathcliff-style upon the moors in lice and neglect. Then she beats the living daylights out of a burglar, thereby winning the respect and affection of all.
Well, except the burglar.
When the Duke Returns by Eloisa James
You guys. This book is SO HILARIOUS, I do not even have the words, but I will try.
Our heroine was married by proxy at age 11, has never actually met her husband, and is hanging about London bored out of her skull. She would like to be a Duchess in fact as well as in name, and order people about, and do other Duchessly things which apparently she cannot do without a Duke. Also sexytimes; same.
As our story begins, our hero is newly summoned back from India, where he has become a follower of the Middle Way. He advocates things like jogging and meditation, and is allergic to cravats and STDs!
Alas, the hero’s manor has fallen into serious disrepair in his absence. This means that our characters actually spend most of the book talking about plumbing, if you know what I mean, and I think you do.
HEROINE: …drains are totally sexy, okay!
HERO: And hygiene is awesome!
YES. ACTUAL PLUMBING.
My favorite part (aside from the plumbing, because HOW CAN IT GET BETTER THAN PLUMBING?) is the heroine’s best friend, an expert chess player who, given her subplot, probably has her own book that I might quite like to read.
HEROINE’S BEST FRIEND: So, darling, I hear your husband wants a wedding do-over! And he traveled in all kinds of uncivilized places where their idea of a wedding is drinking the blood of an animal sacrifice! Followed by an orgy!
HEROINE: I don’t think that’s quite… That’s kind of an icky imperialistic attitude, you know?
HEROINE’S BEST FRIEND: Yes, but post-colonialism hasn’t been invented yet.
HEROINE’S BEST FRIEND: Must. Score. Invite. AT ONCE!
Are there any romance novels you particularly like? Speak to me, O flist! for my heart is sore and I may never read another YA friendship story again.
*side-eyes open copy of Friends with Boys* Okay, I lied, YA friendship owns my soul, but talk romance to me anyway?
The story: I was recently invited to an upcoming romance writers meet-and-greet cocktail hour.
Now, romance is not a genre that particularly interests me in a casual capacity. Given the choice, I would probably not stroll over to the paperback romance shelf of a library and pick up something with an appalling cover. (I would probably stroll over to the sci-fi/fantasy or YA section and pick up something with an equally appalling cover.)
However! It is a genre that interests me politically for two reasons, being 1) produced and consumed almost entirely by women, and also 2) being almost universally degraded, disregarded, and generally looked down upon (the first being part of the reason for the second) by The Establishment. As a professional in the children’s lit world, I know what it is like to have your genre of choice pooh-poohed and not taken seriously, and to have one’s intelligence and maturity called into doubt based on one’s involvement with said genre. So I have quite a lot of sympathy for romance, and people who like and advocate romance, even if it’s not quite my thing.
All this is a long way of saying that I feel it would be fun and instructive to attend a romance publishing soiree, and that I also feel I should do some research beforehand. (One hates to insult the guests of honor by showing up and saying, “Oh, I haven’t read your book, I’m just here for the food.”)
So I picked up a number of romance novels at the library recently, and enjoyed many of them! Well, two.
Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
In which an extremely sensible lady sensibly realizes that she is attracted to an extremely unsensible jerk of a man. Who is leading her idiot brother down the path of debauchery, delinquency, and dissolution. In Paris of all places. His nickname is Lord Beelzebub, and he eats babies for breakfast because his mother abandoned him as a child and he has had not one scrap of affection since. His hobbies are associating with degenerates and being exceptionally rude to our heroine.
Clearly the only remedy is for her to make out with him in the rain and then shoot him in the arm.
Shenanigans ensue. Our heroine goes on to save our hero’s illegitimate son from running Heathcliff-style upon the moors in lice and neglect. Then she beats the living daylights out of a burglar, thereby winning the respect and affection of all.
Well, except the burglar.
When the Duke Returns by Eloisa James
You guys. This book is SO HILARIOUS, I do not even have the words, but I will try.
Our heroine was married by proxy at age 11, has never actually met her husband, and is hanging about London bored out of her skull. She would like to be a Duchess in fact as well as in name, and order people about, and do other Duchessly things which apparently she cannot do without a Duke. Also sexytimes; same.
As our story begins, our hero is newly summoned back from India, where he has become a follower of the Middle Way. He advocates things like jogging and meditation, and is allergic to cravats and STDs!
Alas, the hero’s manor has fallen into serious disrepair in his absence. This means that our characters actually spend most of the book talking about plumbing, if you know what I mean, and I think you do.
HEROINE: …drains are totally sexy, okay!
HERO: And hygiene is awesome!
YES. ACTUAL PLUMBING.
My favorite part (aside from the plumbing, because HOW CAN IT GET BETTER THAN PLUMBING?) is the heroine’s best friend, an expert chess player who, given her subplot, probably has her own book that I might quite like to read.
HEROINE’S BEST FRIEND: So, darling, I hear your husband wants a wedding do-over! And he traveled in all kinds of uncivilized places where their idea of a wedding is drinking the blood of an animal sacrifice! Followed by an orgy!
HEROINE: I don’t think that’s quite… That’s kind of an icky imperialistic attitude, you know?
HEROINE’S BEST FRIEND: Yes, but post-colonialism hasn’t been invented yet.
HEROINE’S BEST FRIEND: Must. Score. Invite. AT ONCE!
Are there any romance novels you particularly like? Speak to me, O flist! for my heart is sore and I may never read another YA friendship story again.
*side-eyes open copy of Friends with Boys* Okay, I lied, YA friendship owns my soul, but talk romance to me anyway?
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ALso I really enjoyed Jennifer Crusie when I worked at SMP. Try Faking It.
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I have heard excellent things about Jennifer Crusie, and another friend has mentioned Faking It before! Will investigate.
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She is so witty-funny, and her heroine's have things to do, and most of them are dealing with self-esteem issues with awesome zingers and and and
sense of humor is death or life to me in a book.
I loved Bet Me, Agnes and The Hitman (a collab with a military thrillers/sci-fi author guy), Getting Rid of Bradley.
How do you feel about Georgette Heyer? Because when she was good, she was quite good, but when she was bad...
Arabella, The Corinthian, are great caper-not-steamy-romances. The Devil's Cub (which in brief summary sounds like Lord of Scoundrels, but I doubt is too much alike), and These Old Shades...
I don't read many. But I have a couple of authors that have made my Exceptions list. X)
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I love Georgette Heyer (These Old Shades was my first of hers), and you are absolutely right--when she's good, she's delightful, but when she's bad... (I actually made it all the way through an early medieval romance of hers out of sheer morbid curiosity.) Still haven't got to Devil's Cub, but I do love Cotillion and Frederica.
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Arabella, The Grand Sophy, False Colors (despite verging into Georgette Heyerism)... I need to reread Cotillion. That was a charming one.
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I just finished Bet Me and cracked up at what I perceived to be a number of mild Harry Potter jokes, of all things. XD The charming undersized kid with messy dark hair and glasses, denied sweets by his cold, unfeeling relatives... is legitimately terrible at sports! XD SOLD.
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But he IS great, I love that he's a realistic kid, while still playing the role of "from the mouth of babes" for the adults...
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I also like Eloisa James. The chess playing bff does in fact have her own book, wherein she and her husband work through their misunderstandings and fights to rebuild a relationship based on friendships, trust, and mutual respect. I enjoyed it a great deal.
If you enjoyed her, you might also like Lisa Kleypas (a Wellesley alum!) and Julia Quinn, both of whom write historical romance novels set in England with lots of witty repartee, situation comedy, and very clever characters.
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Yay for chess-playing bff! I shall find this book and read it.
And thanks for the tip about Lisa Kleypas! You know I cannot resist repartee.
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In Fast Women, sex happens really soon, and not with the hero. And it's not portrayed as something wrong or uncomfortable, just fun. The heroine is middle aged. The hero has emotional baggage, but so does the heroine, and they figure it out together, not though the Power of Twue Wuv, but by being grown-ups and communicating. The hero doesn't always find the heroine super-mega-foxy-awesome-hot, but he does always like and respect her. So I love that about it. That said, Faking It is hilarious and will make you want to be friends with all the people in the book and I probably like Tilda and her family better than Nell and hers.
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One of the reasons I'm so excited about Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore is that it subverts a number of romance tropes.
Thanks for your thoughts and recommendations! :D