Reflections on Contemporary Romance & Too Hot to Handle by Elizabeth Lowell

I've read a few recently acquired older romances and one of the things I've found interesting is how some of these books stand the test of time and some of them just seem... dated. This seems particularly evident to me in contemporary romances, weather it's the writing style, what was acceptable to write/include in romances at the time, fashion, dialogue and/or attitudes.

However thinking about it, that's the reason these books are called contemporaries after all -- the content reflects contemporary times, whatever those times may be. If well written, as time passes these contemporary books become a glimpse into the past. In a way they almost become historicals... I mean think about it. Read a contemporary book set in the 1950's, 1960's, 1970's and even the 1980's (don't kill me) and what do you get? A tiny piece of history... even if it's just in the style of writing and what was acceptable and popular during that era.

Pop culture is pop culture and contemporary fiction is a great way to glimpse these little pieces of history as we go along. However in this case, when referencing contemporaries within the romance genre there's a glitch. I've always found contemporary romances to be behind the times when it comes to relationships between men and women, specifically when it comes to women and their true roles in society -- in many cases I found that pop culture was often ignored as well. I think this applied mostly in romance books written in the 1970's, 80's and even 90's where in most cases women were still characterized as submissive, repressed or innocent/naive and even when portrayed as working or independent women, they somehow reverted to those roles. That has changed for the most part, although unfortunately not completely, within the contemporary romance genre.

I remember always being amazed, shocked and awed when reading contemporary romances in the 1980's and even in the 1990's when all (or almost all) the heroines were virgins -- not that there's anything wrong with being a virgin. It's just that after the 1960's sexual revolution, the one that came along with the pill, there seemed to be very few 25 and 30 year old virgins around. So the fact that almost all the heroines in contemporary romances were virgins, always left me wondering if those authors would ever write, or be allowed to write, about the rest of the female population.

I also always wondered when the time would come that female romance readers would stop judging those romance heroines who were not virgins... as sluts. It seemed that the romance genre would never catch up with the 60's sexual revolution or with contemporary female roles in society -- the independent working woman with freedom to choose a relationship when ready. Reality vs. fantasy. How we are vs. how we would like to see ourselves. Fascinating.

A great example of the type of contemporary romances that were being written during the 1980's, but one that is not truly representative of the era is Too Hot to Handle by Elizabeth Lowell. It's interesting because I enjoyed the first -- recognizing the style and the format, the types of characters and story. So this book is definitely dated in the way it is written -- the style.

Interestingly enough some of my old frustrations came back to the surface. This book was written in 1986, yet it could have been written way before that. There's little if anything there that reflects that era, so it's not dated when it comes to pop culture. It certainly has nothing to say when it comes to the reactions of an independent young woman in her 20's during that time -- definitely a retro-style romantic fantasy.

The book is 249 pages, the first meeting between the protagonists takes the first 85 pages of the book, and by end of those 85 pages, they want each other... badly. But the heroine is a useless/clumsy/city girl who's coming from Los Angeles and trying to get a job at the hero's ranch, and HE wants a real woman who will help him run that ranch.

The hero is one of those stereotypical ones who is hot for the heroine on sight, but who decides she's not good enough for him. So he turns hostile, mean and bossy because he's horny and treats the heroine like crap until about half way through the story. Once they get together, he then turns into a tender and hot sexin' machine. Their sexin' scenes go on for page after page and they are HOT -- the highlight is a super-duper HOT sexin' scene on top a horse! And it wasn't just because it was summer and they were ambling/riding through a meadow. Of course that's before he turns back into a mean jerk again... and then reverts to the tender hero by the end so they can have a happily ever after.

The heroine is a virgin in her 20's. She's one of those perfectly perfect young women who had a rough childhood and suffers in silence. And even though she lived in Los Angeles independently and left home at age 16, she has somehow managed to stay naive, innocent and untouched -- her hormones never kicked in until she met HIM. For our girl, it doesn't matter how mean or hostile the hero gets throughout their "romance," she just wants to please him. Of course, our hero gets turned on by the fact that she's a virgin and he calls her "my sweet little virgin" so many times... that I was actually relieved when he finally got rid of that impediment, and needless to say that first time was painless and glorious! And no matter how much of a jerk this hero is throughout the story, he is HOT and our heroine understands... and well... if you've read a book like this you know where it goes from there.

This book certainly brought back memories of many a contemporary romance and even through some of my frustrations, I had to smile and actually laughed at some pretty inappropriate times -- mostly when I anticipated the dialogue... the predictability of it all. The story was just so familiar it felt as if I'd read it many times even though this was the first time. I must admit despite all the frustration, Lowell wrote some pretty enjoyable hot scenes and I'm sure this book was probably quite popular during that time.

Unlike this book, there are a few contemporary romances that I think stand the test of time... but I'll save those thoughts for another post.

Mini-Impressions: The End of the Adrien English Mysteries by Josh Lanyon

This is the truth here... I meant to write reviews for both Death of a Pirate King and The Dark Tide after I finished reading them back in May. The funny part of the story is that I was so caught up reading this series and the stories, I kept forgetting to well... write a review. 

So, what did I do instead? I kept going back to the books and just kept re-reading them and forgetting to write a thing. I just wanted to enjoy them, over and over again. It became what I'll be calling: My Adrien English Obsessive Cycle.

It has happened to me before where I find a favorite book and become selfish. I want to keep these books to myself. These are books I loved so much that I can't write or talk about them, and/or sometimes it takes me a while to share my thoughts. These books become my private joy and I hold them tight. 

The following are actually my first impressions of the books after I finished them with a few minor edits. 

Death of a Pirate King (Adrien English Mysteries, Book 4) by Josh Lanyon

I loved Death of a Pirate King. Lanyon begins this book two years after The Hell You Say ends, and I think the way he used the timeline was just brilliant. The timeline allowed for character growth for Adrien, and what I thought was more subtle character growth for Jake. It also allows the reader to experience the maturity to relationships established in The Hell You Say, as well as the long term consequences to Jake's questionable actions. I also loved the way Lanyon weaved the mystery and the main character's personal lives in this installment. The end was stunning and the perfect set up for the last book of the series. Grade: A-

The Dark Tide (Adrien English Mysteries, Book 5) by Josh Lanyon

When I finished the Adrien English series all I could think was... I love the way Lanyon finished it off and I want to read it again! The mystery in The Dark Tide parallels Jake's own life in many ways and it has a wonderful retro atmosphere that I just loved. Adrien's character really blooms, as we see just how far he has come from the time we met him. Jake is still a bit of mystery at the end and frankly I like him that way. I loved that Lanyon kept Jake's character true to himself to the end. Both characters go for an emotional ride in The Dark Tide as does the reader, and I think it is an excellent ending to what turned out to be a fantastic series.

I'll admit here that once I finished The Dark Tide, I went back and re-read favorite passages and scenes throughout the whole series and had a bit of a problem letting go of it -- addictive series, addictive characters. What more can I say? Grade: A

Visit Josh Lanyon here.

Anesthezea's 2010 M/M Romance Challenge

Catching Up with some Minis!

Summer's craziness finally caught up with me. So far July has been a month chuck-full of distractions -- the World Cup, my brother's huge birthday bash, preparations for my mother's upcoming 82nd birthday on the 16th, plus the walks and the BBQs and the fun.

The down side? Both my reading and writing have suffered, I'm too distracted and happily tired by end of day to read much or write, although of course I've read a bit -- can't go without some reading. Since I haven't finished any of my reviews, I decided to share a few mini-impressions of some books I read these past months but never reviewed.

Blaze of Memory (Psy/Changeling series) by Nalini Singh

The story of Dev Santos and Katya Haas, this is not my favorite book of the series. I enjoyed the overall storyarc and discovering details about the Forgotten. However the romance itself was not one that kept my interest. Dev was not a character that I loved and Katya didn't make much of an impact. Although for me the romance was lacking, I thought that with this installment, Nalini Singh continued to keep the worldbuilding tight and intriguing, added newness to it and answered questions along the way. Grade B

Stroke (Psycop), Thaw (Psycop), Kindred Spirits by Jordan Castillo Price

Stroke and Thaw are very short stories and part of the popular M/M Psycop series by Jordan Castillo Price. One is a Holiday story and the other is a moment in Victor and Jacob's lives. They are both self-contained short stories that make you want to know more about both the characters and the series. I was certainly curious. Both stories Grade: C+

Kindred Spirits is an amusing encounter between two men at a party. Adam thinks he has developed the ability to see into other people's souls and he thinks John might be a kindred spirit. I had a good laugh at the end of this story when after the encounter Adam seems to have been both right and really quite wrong. :) Grade: B-

Moonstruck by Susan Grant

I had Moonstruck on my pile of books to be read for almost a year. I can tell you up-front that this was a great sci-fi/romance read. The sci-fi plot and details were there, but so was the romance -- we're talking one hot couple here! I loved that Britt Bandahar was a strong, tough, kick-ass captain who didn't take crap from anyone. She fell in love, despite incredible prejudices, with a man who was her enemy. And Finn? Finn, being the male in this tale and an alpha male at that, was one of the best parts of the book. Why? Because HE was the one who was Moonstruck! He fell for Britt hook, line and sinker and I loved it! I had some slight problems with the way the world was presented, but there's no question that I truly enjoyed the romance. Grade: B+

I have a few more first impressions to post, but for now I'll leave you with these. Hope you're enjoying these summer days -- mine are hot, humid and hazy! Keep on reading!

Mini-Impressions: Have You Seen Her? by Karen Rose

One by one, the girls disappear from their beds at night. Each one is pretty, with long dark hair. And each one is found brutally murdered. 

Special Agent Steven Thatcher has sworn to find the serial killer preying on this small town. As the investigation pulls him one way, his family pulls him in another. A widower haunted by loss, he now worries about his son Brad slipping away. But there's a bright light in his life: his son's teacher, Jenna Marshall, has reached out to help. She's beautiful, kind, and considerate--and slowly, tentatively, she and Steven are starting to fall in love. But both have been hurt before--badly. And as the two try to find the courage to bare their souls, a murderer who has slain many looks for the real treasure he craves. He sets his traps. And waits. For Jenna...

I highly enjoyed Have You Seen Her? by Karen Rose. I'm finding that Rose integrates the suspense and romance tightly into her stories and that's something I always look for in this genre.

Steven and Jenna are a great couple. There is a lot of hot sexual tension going on between the two in the middle of all the other threads that Rose works into the story. And there's a lot going on: girls kidnapped and murdered by a serial killer, Steven's problems at home with his three boys (I loved his boys), Jenna's problems at school (she's a teacher), and of course Steve and Jenna's romantic conflicts.

I really like that although Steve and Jenna are deeply attracted to each other quickly -- and looking at the timeline they act pretty quickly on that attraction -- they take the time to step back and let the relationship grow before making a commitment.

Rose writes graphic and violent scenes and her villain in this book is a sadistic one. As in Don't Tell, I was a bit disappointed with some of the over the top drama and action at the end, but overall Have You Seen Her? is a solid romance with likable characters and great, well researched suspense.

Genre: Romance Suspense
Series: None
Release Date: September 2007
Grade: Solid B

Visit Karen Rose here

Unexpected Vacation & World Cup Fever!

This week turned into an unexpected vacation. My younger brother came up from Orlando and his visit turned what was supposed to be a sedate week into a non-stop whirl full of family-related events.

Such fun! I have three brothers (no sisters) and we're all sports freaks fans! You can imagine that this week, while the temperature kept climbing, we found places to keep cool, watch sports, just talk and catch up. The best time we had? Watching the World Cup games.

We rooted like crazed fans for Uruguay while they played against Holland, only to see them go down 3 - 2. As disappointed as we all were, including our Uruguayan sister-in-law, we were happy with the Uruguayan team's performance. They played with heart and soul. Congratulations to Holland on their win. Good luck to Uruguay on Saturday's match for third place, we'll be rooting for them again.

And then Spain vs. Germany! We were rooting for Spain who won 1-0 against a team that seemed unbeatable. Now that was a party! The celebration, boasting, cheering and toasting lasted a long, long time. :D

You can imagine that I haven't had much time for reading, much less the hmm... state of mind for writing -- all that celebrating. I did manage to finish reading two books in between the visiting, the sports talks and the celebrations: Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas and Demon Blood by Meljean Brook. That was a miracle, but they were both worthy reads.

My baby brother made his way back to Orlando yesterday, and the rest of us will be watching the finals on Sunday. Spain vs. Holland. Guess who we'll be rooting for? It should be a great match! We have World Cup fever! The fact that the thermostat has been hitting 100 degree (F) and above this past week in our part of the country helps keep the fever high. The fact that our older brother is backpacking through Spain at the moment is keeping us all connected to the craziness.

Salud Noel! Have some vino for us. :D