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Day 28 of the 31 Days of Books Giveaway – Romance Heroines: The Good, The Bad and The TSTL

Tuesday, January 28th, 2014

Congratulations to bn100, who won yesterday’s drawing! I’ll be emailing bn100 to arrange delivery of her choice of book.

Let’s talk heroines: the good, the bad and the TSTL (Too Stupid To Live).

Heroines are hard for me. Even though I’m female, I identify more with the heroes in my books than the heroines. But there are a few heroines (in books, TV or movies) that I can always get behind. The ones who try hard to do the right thing.

Some of the good heroines:

  1. Eve Dallas from the J.D. Robb books
  2. Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the series, not the movie)
  3. Judith Hampton from Julie Garwood’s The Secret
  4. Maggie Concannon from Born In Fire by Nora Roberts
  5. Aislinn from The Wolf and the Dove by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss

Good heroines do what needs to be done, no matter what it costs them. They are women you admire.

Bad heroines are the ones who are too concerned with themselves to truly share in the love story you’re reading. They are unsympathetic people who you actively dislike and would never hang out with if they were real, the ones who make you wonder what the hero sees in them. (No examples here because I’ve purged them from my memory. Bleh!)

And TSTL? There are dozens of those. These are the heroines whose decisions make no sense. They run out into gunfire after the hero tells them to stay put. They go down in the basement with no light on when they know a serial killer is on the loose. They think they can handle everything, only to fall on their butts (or trip over a tree root running through the forest in their nightclothes in the middle of the night). They’re the ones who believe the Jealous Other Woman’s lame story that the hero really loves her, at which point they run away to nurse their broken hearts. Or quit their jobs because the hero is the boss. Or shoot themselves in the foot in some other dramatic, emotional way. They’re the ones who make you throw the book against the wall.

What are your thoughts on romance heroines? Who are your favorites? Comment to be included in a drawing to win a paperback title from my backlist!



Day 13 of the 31 Days of Books Giveaway: Have Vampire Romances Run Their Course?

Monday, January 13th, 2014

Congratulations to Joyce Ward, who won yesterday’s drawing! I’ll be emailing Joyce to arrange delivery of her choice of book.

Let’s talk about vampires.

I still remember watching Frank Langella in the 1979 movie Dracula. He gave sexy a whole new meaning when it came to vampires.

Back in the early 90’s, vampires started to get hot in romance novels, too. Author Lori Herter wrote some vampire romances, including Obsession, one I still have on my keeper shelf. (Lori was mentioned not long ago on the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books website.) Paranormal was popular, especially time travel and vampires. Then by the mid 90’s, no publisher wanted to see anything even the slightest bit paranormal. By the early 21st century, publishers had changed their tune, and vampires were back stronger than ever, thanks to authors like Christine Feehan, Sherrilyn Kenyon, J.R. Ward, Susan Squires and Kerrilyn Sparks. Then Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight came about, bringing the young adult crowd into this world.

In the late 90’s, TV brought us Buffy the Vampire Slayer and her star-crossed vampire love, Angel. (I still root for them, curse or no curse!) Later in the season, there was Buffy and poet-at-heart Spike. I could write a month of blogs on BTVS, so I’ll stop myself now. 😉

Over the past ten years or so, vampire romances have soared in popularity. It seems there are dozens and dozens of them out there, all different flavors of the vampire world. Everyone has their own set of rules, making each story unique. But are there too many now? Has the vampire romance lost its allure? Tell me what you think!

Those who comment get entered in today’s drawing for a free paperback title from my backlist!