Bitchery reader M. wrote in and asked for a specific type of romance, and alas, I drew a blank at helping her out. I did name a few titles, though I won’t mention them here because the secret is part of the plot twist in most of them, but I figured the Bitchery knows all.
M. writes:
I’m obsessed with a specific type of romance, and someone said you might be able to help. I’ve looked at the AAR Special Title Listings page, which is so awesome, but they don’t seem to have the dynamic I’m looking for.
I am looking for romances wherein the relationship between the protagonists is a secret from everyone, sometimes even the reader. I’m over-tired of romances where he meets her, and boom, that’s it, thanks for coming and have a safe drive home, if you know what I mean. Maybe the forces of Luuuuuurve™ did hit him or her like a pile of bricks but I adore plots that keep that relationship a secret, and seeing how the couple manage to be together. Can you help?
So – anyone got any ideas? And am I the only one with Atlantic Starr stuck in her head? No? Just me? Crap.
I’ll echo Susan Elizabeth Phillips—Match Me If You Can (heroine is a matchmaker trying to set the hero up with the perfect woman who just turns out to be…)
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation—Is she in love with the archaeologist or his alter ego (the spy) or both?
I’ve just started one, but it seems to be exactly what you’re looking for. Jan Colley’s “Friday Night Mistress” has a couple who meet every Friday night for sex, but their families are business rivals and are in a Romeo and Juliet situation. It starts with a delicious scene at the theater where they are ‘hating’ each other.
So far so good.
Also The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer. It’s about a brother and sister both cross dressing to avoid capture after the failed coup d’etat attempt by Bonnie Prince Charlie. Another gem.
I just remembered another one that fits this topic. Not out yet, comes out in May 2009. RELENTLESS by Lauren Dane. Blurb is below. Very good book.
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. My favorite romance, evahh. Their relationship stays a secret for a good twelve years, and since the older version of the hero is the one involved (note the title) it’s quite confusing for his younger self when he first meets the heroine, who recognizes him as the love of her life…but he doesn’t have a clue who she is.
Also, this book makes me sob like a little boy.
Betsy
Me too! I loved loved loved that book.
Actually if you have an earworm, I would suggest singing the theme song to the Animaniacs (if you don’t remember Steven Spielberg did a kids cartoon-the origination of Pinky and the Brain). Pinky and the Brain theme song also works in a pinch. I haven’t heard of using George of the Jungle. I would just have that running through my head-which it now is along with Atlantic Starr! Thanks 😉
Seriously, you must love those earworms. if you want to be ironic you can try the worms song (i don’t actaully know the title of the song but my aunt used to sing it to us when we were kids). I goes something like “the worms crawl in/the worms crawl out out of your stomach and into your mouth”. if you don’t feel like being ironic, you can try the math somg that my mom used to sing to us. It goes, “2+2 is 4, 4+4 is 8, 8 and 8 is 16 and 16 is 32”. I have an exceedingly odd family, I know.
Spamword: appeared 89—I hope not, I’m only 22!
PRIMARY INVERSION, by Catherine Asaro (actually, many of her books, but this is my favorite.)
The hero/heroine are both psychic, and fall in love not only without knowing the other at first, but actively HATING each other (for good reason—they are each heirs to galactic empires that are mortal enemies and prey on the other’s people). Once they do get together, they have to keep their relationship absolutely secret for the good of both their peoples.
Sounds terribly cheesy, I know, but Asaro’s complicated worldbuilding and in depth characterization pull it off. Plus, the hard sf background is fascinating and very well done if you like that sort of thing, and skippable if you don’t.
I’m going to cast you back two hundred years and recommend Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen. Even if you’ve read it before, but especially if you haven’t.
I second the recommendations for The Time Traveler’s Wife and Megan Whalen Turner’s Thief series.
I’ll also add A Bed of Spices by Barbara Samuel. It’s set in medieval Germany. The heroine is Christian and the hero is Jewish, so they keep their relationship secret from everyone.
Another wonderful book about secret lovers is Mary Balogh’s trad regency Snow Angel. The hero and heroine fall in love after being stranded together in a snow storm but when they meet again they discover that he’s being expected to marry her cousin.
Can’t recommend any books, but once you’ve found one, I recommend serving it up with a side dish of re-runs of “Scarecrow and Mrs. King” or “Remington Steele”!
The “math song” is Inchworm, from the movie Hans Christian Anderson. The chorus is a group of children singing :Two and two are four…” etc, then Danny Kaye sings “Inchworm, inchworm/ Measuring the marigolds/ you and your arithmetic will probably go far. Inchworm, inchworm/ measuring the marigolds/ seems to me you’d stop and see how beautiful they are.” Spamword is youre48. How I wish!
I’m a big fan of more subtle/secret romances myself, but it is a difficult dynamic to search out. Just after reading this post, however, I happened to finish Cotillion by Georgette Heyer, which fits the bill quite nicely. Without giving too much away, the reader and the characters are both kept out of the loop until the very end. I found it very satisfying.
The Pogues recorded (on the album If I Should Fall From Grace with God) this song, and if this works, this should be a link to a youtube video of them performing. I hope.
Man, I love the Pogues.
Not a book, I know, but you should see the new movie Duplicity, with Julia Roberts and Clive Owen.