Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Darn my screwy HTML!

I’m one of those people who deliberately enjoys messing with people’s notions. I try to break from conventions where I can. At the end of my fantasy novel (unpublished, blah), the heroes fail utterly to Save the World, the little boy they were trying to protect from The Almighty Evil (although they’re unsure if he’s actually evil) dies, and they decide that trying to Save the World was a bad idea and that it wasn’t their place in the first place. My main villain is also pretty, and one chapter of the book shows him going to the grocery store, getting mad about hearing a teenager make racist comments, and falling asleep on the couch while watching TV after eating a frozen waffle.

I wish I could think of something really good to say that didn’t sound totally vain and braggart-y (like that paragraph above), or that contributed something meaningful to the discussion. Let’s try this then: I really hate it when a book can so convincingly pull off a lot of little twists and turns, but the big twist of the main plot is visible from 20 pages in. I read a book like that over the summer. The author fairly skillfully managed to pull off a lot of unsuspected “OMG!” moments, yet I’d figure out what the big twist of the plot was by the second or third chapter (I forget witch). It made me want to scream at the author, “I know you can do this! How did you POSSIBLY overlook how glaringly obvious that was!” Honestly, it would’ve been more of a shocker if my prediction HADN’T been true.

Antispam word is “very69.” There’s a joke there, but I’m not clever enough to phrase it in a way that isn’t just juvenile.

However, I recently went through a serious anti-romance phase when nothing appealed, not even the old favourites. I tried approaching the genre sideways: I read historicals that weren’t “romance”

I tried that, too, but my one attempt at mainstream fiction ended in disaster when I picked up a novel which was soo-hooo-hoooooooooo predictable that after reading the cover blurb I could tell what the Big Secret of the story was. *head desk*

After that I ordered a couple of cozy mysteries, but they didn’t really appeal either. Then I bought Pratchett’s Wintersmith (and I love, love, love Pratchett!)—but, well, that didn’t appeal to me either. So at the moment I watch old Hollywood musicals (and swoon over Gene Kelly) instead of reading a book (and instead of correcting horrible, horrible student papers). Of course, I’ll probably start bursting into spontaneous song at odd moments in the not-too distant future. *g*

For something different, interesting and unpredictable (and not genre romance, though very romantic), I’d highly recommend Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susannah Clarke - if you haven’t already read it.

I thought I put up a post earlier. This alzheimer’s is a bitch.

Joey Hill did an excellent job presenting a heroine who is the polar opposite of the norm in The Vampire Queen’s Servant. I didn’t really care for “My Lady”, but boy did she make me aware of where my line is and how far is too far in crossing it. She is not sweet, nice, or good.In fact, she’s pretty much a blood sucking killer. Hm..go figure.

“Loving And Desperately Wanting Children is such a marker of being a Good Person, and enjoying fucking without some sort of greater Family and White Picket Fence agenda lurking in a background is usually reserved so much for the villain…”

A friend and I were just talking about this last night: how powerful and image the white picket fence and two kids thing is.  She’d just seen “American Gangster” with delicious—I mean Denzel Washington and what struck her was that besides being a sociopath, the Washington character’s goals were still so familiar:  the big house, family, wife, kids.  I’d been watching a documentary about homosexual men who got married then came out to their wives.  A surprising number of them stayed with the wife, choosing the marriage and family they already had.

So how powerful is the image of man, woman, kids, picket fence?  Gangsters want it and homosexuals will deny themselves for it.  I’m simplifying I’m sure, but I suppose I take for granted how difficult it must be to write against that particular type.

Anyway, blah blah blah, I second the Kresley Cole recommendations.  Also try Garcia y Robertson’s “White Rose” series.  It’s shelved in lit, but it’s about a 30-ish Hollywood producer who becomes a witch then goes back in time to the War of the Roses and, among other things, has an affair with her 18 year-old hero.  Mostly historically accurate although I’m sure there are those who quibble about the details.  Good stuff.

I’d been watching a documentary about homosexual men who got married then came out to their wives.  A surprising number of them stayed with the wife, choosing the marriage and family they already had.

So how powerful is the image of man, woman, kids, picket fence?  Gangsters want it and homosexuals will deny themselves for it.  I’m simplifying I’m sure

Not to me. This is an ongoing issue for a lot of gay and bisexual men. They buy into the crap and it eats them alive till eventually one day the fake plastic promise of social acceptance and living to other people’s expectations falls apart and the saddest thing is when kids are involved.

Loved Criminal Procedure, Evidence, Patents, and Biotech - but Civil Procedure and Tax made me want to poke out my eyes.  Constitutional Law was fun, but I had a cute professor with a cuter accent.  Makes all the difference. 

As for books, I discovered Sara Donati’s INTO THE WILDERNESS in law school, and it blew my socks off.  It’s a historical, has romance, lovely writing, everything you can ask for.  I also liked reading Frank Miller in my off-hours, along with Charles de Lint, and others. 

I found Kelly Link (STRANGER THINGS HAPPEN) during those three years, and she was so good that when I had a chance to be taught by her at Clarion, I totally jumped.

Teddy Pig,

I agree, not merely because as you say it’s a “plastic promise” for homosexuals, but as my several-times divorced girlfriends will tell you, the promise inherent in the image is false for them too.

Sad for all of us, really.

This post couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time. I threw down 5 or 6 books in a row, half-read due to lack of interest. Sadly, some were from favorite authors. I usually love historicals but recently they’ve seemed so tired.

Like others, I really enjoy Kresley Cole’s books; I’ve read her historicals, not the paranomormals.

Susan Carroll’s triology about three sisters known as Daughters of the Earth refreshed my outlook on historical novels. “The Dark Queen”, “The Courtesean”, and “The Silver Rose”. They’re shelved in fiction/literature,  they’ve got a romantic relationship intertwined in the intrigue of the Inquisition, the court of Catherine de Medici, and women healers who are persecuted as witches. Absolutely absorbing reads that come with death, torture, witch-craft and a sort of HEA ending.

Jacquelyn Frank’s newish series has peaked my interest—so far so good.

Shana Abe’s “Smoke Thief” and “Dream Thief” caught me by surprise. I picked ST up on cover design alone (yeah, sometimes I do judge a book by it’s cover) and immediately ran out for the Dream Thief. I LOVED these two books.

Has anyone else read Lauren Willig’s series?  “The Secret History of the Pink Carnation”, “The Deception of the Emerald Ring”, and “The Masque of the Black Tulip”?  I want more of the contemporary characters intermingled with the historical stories, but I really enjoyed the first one, was luke-warm on number 2, and liked number 3.

Yesterday, I got Madeline Hunter’s latest, “Lessons in Desire”. By page 176 I’m not completely sure who the bad-guy is, though I have a strong suspicion. If I’m right, he’s neither ugly nor mean to kids and animals. Can’t wait to put the kiddo to bed so I can finish it.

It’s a pleasure to see the word “flout” used correctly so many times in five minutes reading.

I agree with the boredom, and don’t you think the rest of the romance reading world feels the same, hence the low figures for category books lately? They tend to be the most predictable. But frankly this is just as true of paranormals, which not so long ago were hailed as something different. I dipped into a vampire tale the other day and it was just a conventional romance novel tarted up with some teeth and blood. Everybody was going steady or married by the end of the book. Boring.

This is the right moment for yet another new subgenre to pop up and get everybody all excited.

Because let’s face it, we’re all book junkies, waiting and hoping for the next high.

HRG dude from HEROES certainly falls into the category of evil good guy -or- good evil dude.

Which is why I love Dr. Evil, he is evil, incompetent, but he loves his kitty, Mr. Bigglesworth.  MWAHAHAHA.

spam word is months12,

I know how you feel - I have this problem with almost all forms of media. Books, TV shows, movies, plays. There’s hardly an element of surprise. Sometimes the books (etc) are well written and intelligent enough that I don’t notice how unsurprised I am at the end. Mostly, they’re not.

The good stuff, though, recently. Uh, Madeleine E. Robins (I do like reading stuff from/about people with my name - is that weird?) has a book called Point of Honour which had an unusual enough premise and tight enough plotting that even though I was confident of the ending I enjoyed the book thoroughly. It’s sort of a Veronica Mars meets Georgette Heyer book. The second is on my reading list.

I also like Sarah Monette’s Mélusine books: Mélusine, The Virtu, and The Miraodr (although I am poor and have not yet read the last one). They are hardcore fantasy, with some excellent world-building and plotting. The original “twist” is fairly evident from the copy on the cover of Mélusine, but Monette moves beyond that. Fair warning: the books do deal with fairly explicit sexual content. Rape, homosexuality, incest, etc. They’re also written in alternating first person POV.

Susan Carroll’s triology about three sisters known as Daughters of the Earth refreshed my outlook on historical novels.

I actually only read the first one and couldn’t continue. It wasn’t very well written or surprising (at all), and I thought the characters were very shallow. Maybe I am just oversensitive to people writing Catherine de’Medici off as a simple villain.

There’s always the classics. I’m reading Middlemarch now, but Colette is always good for some really insightful (but not OBVIOUSLY so, you know?) writing. And Pat Barker’s Regeneration trilogy is - just brilliant. There were elements that genuinely surprised me, for all that it’s historical fiction about a time period I have a good grounding in.

It’s sort of the equivalent of having a very large, very loud person walking up to a tree, poorly concealing himself behind it and yelling that he’s not really there…

Totally off topic, but now I’m remembering Monty Python’s How Not to Be Seen.

I know I’m tired of the sexual pervert as villain. Can we have another motivation, please? At this point I’m willing to read about accountants going mad at tax time rather than ‘get inside the mind’ of another pedophile.

I’m tired of the sexual pervert as villain…. I’m willing to read about accountants going mad at tax time rather than ‘get inside the mind’ of another pedophile.

I’m also tired of villains who have no motivation except to be villains. That’s an issue I had with CL Wilson’s Lord of the Fading Lands—the evil sorcerers seem to be evil for the sake of evilness. They’re a one-dimensional Nation of Evil.  I’d rather read an antagonist whose motivation makes sense, not a stock “Me so evil!” character.

I didn’t realize you were in law school, m’dear.  And in Con Law 1 along with me, to boot.  I too just experienced the fun of City of Philadelphia v. New Jersey. 

In fact, I am currently surfing the Net taking a break from those damn Bill of Rights cases.

KJ

Goodness! I’m a 1L too. Look how smart the Smart Bitches are.

What I’ve found is that I’ve had to go back to tried and true books… I’ve only bothered to pick up one new book since classes started (the C.L. Wilson stuff… good!) and only because I read the review here. After an intimate session with Torts or Contracts, I want a story that I know I’ll like and that won’t try my patience.

Maybe you’ll be more tolerant at Winter Break when you can leaf through books before you commit.

Oh, re. non-stereotype heroes: I remember reading a Georgette Heyer whodunnit.  For those who haven’t read them, she usually had a recognisable cast of ‘type’ characters, and the discovery of the murderer would coincide with the HEA for at least two of the other characters.  This is not a criticism—I like it. 

Anyway, I got about halfway through this book and realised I really wanted Ronald (Rupert?) to turn out to be the romantic hero.  But I knew he couldn’t because he was the stock well-dressed, slightly built (‘willowy’), camp character.  In the last book I’d read he’d turned out to be the murderer.

And then it turned out he *was* the hero, and I was both surprised and very very happy.

I cannot tell you the name of the book, though.  But you could do worse than buying up all her whodunnits—she didn’t write very many.

Oh damn the random smiley.  My fault.  Sorry.

Oh no—not City of Philadelphia v. N.J.  Bad flashbacks.  My first month of law school, I had to read a Judith McNaught a day to keep the doldrums away.  And when my Judith McNaughts ran out, I hit the Gaelen Foley pile.  I went straight for the comfort reads after a hard day slaving over Torts.

As for books that aren’t like a very large man hiding behind a very small tree….  (Love that image.  So much.) Hmm.  Kasey Michaels’ “Maggie” books might fit the bill, since those don’t really follow a conventional romance arc.  And there are no cheering noises loud enough to convey my admiration for anything by Judith Merkle Riley.

“Anyway, I got about halfway through this book and realised I really wanted Ronald (Rupert?) to turn out to be the romantic hero.  But I knew he couldn’t because he was the stock well-dressed, slightly built (’willowy’, camp character.  In the last book I’d read he’d turned out to be the murderer.

And then it turned out he *was* the hero, and I was both surprised and very very happy.

I cannot tell you the name of the book, though. “

Are you thinking of Neville in “A Blunt Instrument”?  A very nice and quite nontraditional hero.  I liked the romance in that book a lot.

“Anyway, I got about halfway through this book and realised I really wanted Ronald (Rupert?) to turn out to be the romantic hero.  But I knew he couldn’t because he was the stock well-dressed, slightly built (’willowy’, camp character.  In the last book I’d read he’d turned out to be the murderer.

And then it turned out he *was* the hero, and I was both surprised and very very happy.

I cannot tell you the name of the book, though. “

Are you thinking of Neville in “A Blunt Instrument”?  A very nice and quite nontraditional hero.  I liked the romance in that book a lot.

That Georgette Heyer hero would be the exceptionally nummy Randall from _Behold, Here’s Poison_, I betcha.

I am currently a 3L, and my taste in reading selection has changed every year.  1L year I read the trashiest, most cliched romance novels I could find because it was as far away from the law as I could possibly get.  Looking back at the books I read that year, I can’t believe I enjoyed them as much as I did.  Probably something to do with escapism and/or my brain turning to mush….

2L year I kind of returned to my old standards, and reread a lot of stuff. 

This year seems to be the year of experimentation.  I’m reading all sorts of stuff I’ve never read before.  I’m reading different sorts of romance (contemporaries instead of my typical historicals; actually tried my first paranormal a couple of weeks ago), reading some classics I never got to during my English major days, and I’m even starting to venture into the world of nonfiction.

I hope that you find something fresh and exciting to divert you, and don’t worry, exams aren’t as terrible as people make them out to be.  You will survive, and before you know it, you’ll be a 3L and almost done!  :)

If I can add my 2 cents’ worth: I’m with most of you on the “tired of..” bandwagon. I’ve had more books that I’ve not bothered finishing in the past few months than I think I’ve had in the 3 years previous, combined.

A lot of what gets annoying is what many have mentioned - transparency of the “suspense” building. For myself, in romance, what I’m tired of is the obligatory big suspense plot, period. (Emphasis on “obligatory” when the author doesn’t seem to have her heart in it). Is it not challenge enough to find a person you can live with and enjoy living with (and who enjoys living with you)? Is there not enough story and characterization to mine in that?

I’m a person who’ll read just about all the sub-genres of romance (even if they make me grind my teeth at times). For me, what is a real “twist” is when the story is just about people, living recognizable lives. Jennifer Crusie is often good for that. Loretta Chase and Eloisa James, too - historical, yes, their stories are not filled up with a ridiculous spy story. I’ve been reading Gaffney’s Mad Dash - it’s actually taking me more than one sitting to read it, because I don’t have all those unnecessary (and too often completely unconvincing) villain POV pages to skim past. What a treat!

(Having come here from Dear Author, I’d just like to say that no authors paid me for this comment)

Do American law students have to spend a year articling with a law firm before writing their final exams?

I ask because that’s when all the good practical jokes take place. The students are sent out to write a paper on the implications of Byrne vs. Boadle on native fishing rights in Yukon or the application of US v. Nixon with respect to pension rights for separated same-sex couples in Alberta. It’s especially good in a small town where the students have to spend half an hour scouting up the correct book of reports. Then they come back and throw things at the paralegals.

One year, one law firm up north sent a request for discovery documents on Byrne vs. Boadle to the law firm next door that had their law students in a wild tizzy for almost a full week, until the senior partner found out what was going on.

Meriam, funny you mention Whitfield’s Benighted/Bareback—I have a post on that book waiting on my other computer.  Syn-chro-ni-ci-ty. [cue synth]

Oh no! I just posted a review. I spent forever chewing my hair and stressing over it because I wanted to do the book justice. And now you’re going to show me up! I can’t wait to read your post.

I tried that, too, but my one attempt at mainstream fiction ended in disaster when I picked up a novel which was soo-hooo-hoooooooooo predictable that after reading the cover blurb I could tell what the Big Secret of the story was. *head desk*

Sandra, what was the book? I’m morbidly curious. Also, I love Terry Pratchett and can’t wait to dig into Making Money, but I’ve never entirely warmed to his Tiffany books.

It’s sort of a Veronica Mars meets Georgette Heyer book. The second is on my reading list.

Madeline, you’ve just described two of my favourite things. Really, I think my head just exploded. I’m off to investigate Point of Honour.

I second (or whatever) Megan Hart - I really enjoyed Dirty. Haven’t tried Broken yet.

Is everyone here a lawyer?

“Is everyone here a lawyer?”  Nope. I’m a SAHM who is just getting back into the workforce. I’ve worked from home for a few years. I was a teacher before kids and now that both kids are in school full time I’m substitute teaching. Believe it or not, I love to sub, it’s fun and different every day!

Bet you didn’t want to know all of that about me did you? ;)

I’m not a lawyer, but I’m married to one who’s past president of his FAWL (Florida Association for Women Lawyers) chapter, where they voted him their “most upstanding male member.”

Some of those older female attorneys tell hysterical and outrageous stories of what it was like for women practicing law in the Bad Old Days.  Remember, lady law students, you stand on the shoulders of giants—in high heels.

Amen, Candy.

My heroine is over forty and a little overweight, my hero is a former movie star now doing crime drama on television, and he’s gone a little soft over the years. The antagonist is a skinny used car salesman who goes ballistic, and the other antagonist is a shark.

When they get to the HEA, neither of them expects to have more children.

So, like… read my book. It’s in the queue.

~Oh no—not City of Philadelphia v. N.J.  Bad flashbacks.~

Hey, damn sure beats Pennoyer v. Neff. 

True to law school fashion, my school is a damn gossip factory.  Some of my close friends know I’m a writer and my pen name.  But I found out just the other day that someone else somehow found out, bought one of my books, and has proceeded to tell everyone he knows that I write “raunchy stories.” 

Honestly, it amused the hell out of me.

KJ

Ok I have an author for you-Megan Whalen Turner.  The Thief is very good and had some very suprising twists and turns.  Then comes the next the Queen of Attolia.  It has one of the oh my goodness-it can’t happen-jaw dropping on the floor twists.  Then the latest The King of Attolia which in my opinion is the best of the three.  It has one of the most romantic storylines (subtle but it is there) and all sorts of political shenanigans and a totally clueless but hot guard named Costas.

Plus as a total aside The King of Attolia has one of the most BEAUTIFUL covers I have ever seen.http://www.amazon.com/King-Attolia-Megan-Whalen-Turner/dp/0060835796/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-6581270-2647147?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194316182&sr=8-1
Can you tell I am a total fangirl of this series?  Squee!!

So nice to see you back, Candy!

Strange coincidence, your message.  I just finished posting to a private authors’ loop about how my recent output has been slapped down by my editor because it doesn’t conform to the publisher’s standards.  So if you’re getting that “deja vu all over again” feeling, BLAME PUBLISHERS!

I’ve been getting gypsy feet when it comes to my writing and, therefore, have been venturing farther afield of current romance standards…even the erotic ones.  “Fuck the predictability from Chapter One on,” says my wayward imagination.

But—know what?—publishers don’t like that.  Uh-uh.  They want that ol’ HEA to be visible from the jump.  They want relationships to proceed according to established norms.  Even if the heroine is having nothing more than a string of sexual interludes, they want her irresistible wondrousness to be obvious from the start.

So, good luck.  I feel your pain…just from the other end.  (Uh, sorry, that didn’t sound quite right.)

Imogen, you are now my bestest friend. I tried to tell the lady at the used book store that Georgette Heyer used to write mysteries, and she scoffed at me. I loved her stuff and wish I could find my old paperbacks. They are fantastic.

Candy, I’m with you girl, not literally in law school, but in trying to find something *new* to read. After reading romances through my teens, I delved into mysteries for years, and have returned to romance because I desperately needed a break from death and mayhem since I live with it now daily as a SAHM.

I’m hoping that somehow you get a cut of my Amazon basket since I’ve added a gazillion (the technical term) books just from this post alone.

My only complaint about authors and surprises is please don’t kill off one of the central figures in your series after several (5-6) books and getting people invested in the person. I loved Elizabeth George, but after one of her books that had a hideous ending involving one of the central characters, I won’t read her again. Okay, maybe it didn’t help I was pregnant at the time and hormones were running high, but if I knew where that woman lived, I would have flown/driven/boated there and bitch-slapped that woman down. Grrrrrrrrr.

Heidi, I had to laugh at this comment you made, “because I desperately needed a break from death and mayhem since I live with it now daily as a SAHM.” LOL I totally understand that! I was a SAHM for 8 years! Like I mentioned above, I substitute teach now that the boys are in school full time, but that job is not too far from the mayhem part of that either! ;)

I’m with you, Candy.  Tired of the same old cliches and simplifications in novels. 

As for “Loving And Desperately Wanting Children” as a “a marker of being a Good Person,” I’m personally tired of people in novels AND in real life making this assumption.  Recently, I had to, yet again, explain my not wanting to have children to some people, as if my desire to remain child-free was somehow alien or unnatural.  Clearly, I’m a villain if I don’t want children.  Next, I’ll be standing in the way of the hero and heroine because of a nefarious plot I’ve concocted to keep them separated.  Now, I simply need to work on my cackling laughter…

This post is so right on time.

Gimme a short, fat hero for a change. Or a genuinely creepy, scary villain who isn’t a complete cartoon.

Wry Hag, thanks for the info about being slapped down by publishers for daring to write something different. It makes perfect sense that the industry doesn’t want to veer in any way from tried-and-true—and profitable—formats.

I want to be surprised again.

I’m realizing as I read some of the responses here that perspective can play a part in how we react to certain cliches.  The “desperately wanting children” plotline has never bothered me b/c I always wanted to marry and have children.  I don’t really think twice when I read that plot over and over.

However, someone who does not want children will notice that b/c it doesn’t resonate with them.

I just find that fascinating~how our personal experiences are so much a part of our reading experience.

Oh, I dunno, I was infertile for a long time and desperately wanted kids and the cliche still bores me. ;-)

Like someone (Rosemary?) said way up thread, I am reading lots of light, fluffy fare and haven’t been disappointed, but I’m also trying to space out the types of books I read and not let myself get into glomming a certain genre. And yeah, count me in the please to be surprising me camp. My current book is fantasy, and my major complaint is that I’ve read a lot of this author’s work, and I recognize every single one of her tropes, and the one remotely interesting character with ambiguous motives I’m expecting will either redeem herself at the end or go into cackling villain territory. Either way, I will be bored.

Ah, Heyer. I didn’t even know she wrote romance until after I read several of her mysteries!

You wanna talk about surprises? In one of Heyer’s mysteries, the murderer *gets away* with the murder! Even more surprising, the lower class girl marries the landowner’s son!

‘nother law student (Cdn).

I feel free to confess now that I have long been loving the smart bitches more than the trashy books.

My frustration with romances is less to do with the foreseeable plot movements, and more about how I just don’t care what happens to these people. But it’s probably the same thing—lazy characterization.

So I’ve been reading Dorothy Sayers mysteries lately. They’re tedious at times, but not predictible. And I was thinking just today how… surprising it was, the amount of dark eroticism she could project on a character who was twittish-looking, blond, effete and given to irritating slang.

Meanwhile, I’ve thought a lot about why I don’t enjoy most romances anymore. I think it’s the shortness on ideas. I keep coming back to Jane Austen, Jane Eyre, George Eliot, L.M. Montgomery and Dorothy Sayers because they wrote stories about love that were difficult and conflicted, and big on ideas about men and women.

Conventional romance, the kind that bores us, has maybe one idea: perfect woman finds perfect man? Yawn.

Ditto on the recs for Gordon Dahlquist (Super long, but soo strange and dreamy. I don’t think he even knew how the book would end), Jasper Fforde (sly, irreverent, and in love with English Lit), and Kressley Cole (totally readable and fresh because she commits to her premise, world and characters).

I can’t stand the nicey-nice brand of heroine.  Maybe I watched too many Aaron Spelling shows at a formative stage in my psychological development, but I tend to like villains way better. They dress better, have better lines, and have more fun. Even Disney villains get catchier songs than the heroes do.

Stories I write tend to feature heroes and heroines who could easily be the villains, if the story were told from another perspective.  It’s not that I go out of my way to “mean things up” (well, maybe a little) it’s just that nice is so dull.

And, speaking of nice, have you read Nice by Jen Sacks? :sigh: The title is sarcastic; the book is delightful.

Law school seems to have changed a lot.  It used to be smoking, drinking and who had the most interesting sex life.  I believe my sedate late middle age is related to having got it all out of my system earlier. 

Loved Heyer’s mysteries.  I’ve been listening to them in audio book format—the reader is very good. 

I also have the second book by Robins—Petty Treason (the charge brought against wives who killed their husbands)but I haven’t started it yet. 

I would also recommend Fidelis Morgan’s Unnatural Fire as read by the author. She’s an actress and does a great job as both author and reader—but it’s a bawdy early 18th century mystery and not a romance. 

While I like Jasper Fforde’s Tuesday Next series, I really loved the second in the Nursery Crimes Division series, The Fourth Bear.  Read by Simon Vance who does a great job.  Fforde’s web site is also fun (http://www.jasperfforde.com/) and I even recommend his Blog on Amazon—which is high praise since the majority of those things are a waste of bandwidth.  I cannot get rid of LKH’s no matter how had I try.  I think it has something to do with the fact I bought all of her books until the one after Obsidian Butterfly.  Now have some sort of curse that forces me to continually delete her current babbling.

Awrg:  Thursday Next not Tuesday Next.

I’d really recommend my best read of 2007 (so far) to all SmartBitchistas - ‘The Needle in the Blood’ by Sarah Bower.  Gut-wrenching love story set against a semi-true backdrop of the Bayeux tapestry.  Not released in the US yet but you can get free shipping from The Book Depository.

Yeah, a timely subject.  Doesn’t even have to be romance, I just want to read an interesting & well written story.  Predictability, flat characters, unlikely plot, TSTL heroine, sterotype bad guy, author using “she couldn’t believe it” waaay to many times, I just don’t care about this h/h…yuck.

I have refused to finish, or wallbanged many books the last several years.  IMO publishers are currently trashing the fiction industry with poor authors, poor editing, and awful covers.  I love something new, fresh, non-traditional, interesting, and well written.  For new authors, the Library has become my best friend, sooo much badly written stuff available these days.

More & more I find myself reading cross genre, as long as it’s well written & interesting.  Recently read “Inda” by Sherwood Smith…a novel which follows the hero from age 10 to about 16ish.  No sex, no perverts, minimal romantic elements, but very good reading.

Add me to the list who is tired of “we want to buy a house and have kids together so that proves we’re madly in love”.  Ever since I got married people keep hassling me to say when I’ll have children and now that plot in romances drives me crazy.  I’m also a bit played out on heroes who are totally emotionally closed off from everyone but the heroine - it can be done well, but I think I’ve read too much of it lately, especially in paranormals.  I like it when the hero and heroine both have friends and some kind of social network / interests beyond just their relationship.

I just recently read a novela where a woman was having phone sex with some guy and then he came to visit and she was sort of anxious about it and BINGO When he appeared he was not the stud muffin she was expecting and she was all about the looks but it worked out very nicely. I’m trying to remember whose it was. It was in a book with three novellas and hers was the last. hmmm… it was quite delicious in that he was not all that and yet, he was ;)

I second the recs on Jasper Fforde and Sarah Monette. I’ve been meaning to reread Fforde for awhile now before buying his newest, but all my books are in another country…

I also really enjoyed the Gordon Dahlquist, though it took a few chapters for me to get into it properly. As far as other recommendations go, I loved Dark Angels by Karleen Koen mainly because the love story was so beautifully subtle and she’s got a great eye for historical detail. Also The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield and The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox are two books where I was able to predict some of the massive twists, but the writing and the setup were so good that I simply didn’t care.

Heidi~if you remember that book, post the title here in comments. Sounds interesting!!

Thanks!

I don’t think anyone has mentioned this, but I really enjoyed Kelley Armstrong’s Bitten.  It’s supernatural but believably so and not overwrought.  Also the heroine has to choose between the white picket fence hero and the hero who not only kicks puppies but might torture and eat them if he’s bored.  It’s part of a series but there is a definite ending to this one (the first).  There were several twists that took me by surprise, but the characters were so well drawn that that’s what made me fall in love with them (even when they did bad bad things).

Oh yes, and it also takes part in the “sluttiness” conversation in the other post as the heroine sleeps with both heroes at the same time and wonders how guilty she should feel and who about.  Not to mention her sordid past of abuse and body selling.

Sorry I’m coming late to the party but those of you who like the Madeline Robins books, I found out from her recently that the third one is mostly written but her publisher is hesitant to buy it because they weren’t sure how to market the last two so they didn’t do as well financially as they’d hoped. I checked with her and she said that yes, perhaps notes from adoring fans might be helpful so if you would like to save Sarah Tolerance and see the third book published, please drop a note to the author (madrobins at comcast dot net) that she can use to help convince the publisher there there is an audience out there.

For the commenter who liked Sherwood Smith’s INDA, the sequel is now out.  It’s titled THE FOX.  The third book is in progress.

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I checked with her and she said that yes, perhaps notes from adoring fans might be helpful so if you would like to save Sarah Tolerance and see the third book published, please drop a note to the author (madrobins at comcast dot net) that she can use to help convince the publisher there there is an audience out there.

It’s part of a series but there is a definite ending to this one (the first).  There were several twists that took me by surprise, but the characters were so well drawn that that’s what made me fall in love with them

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The True Lurve is the one who can recognize the difference with no apparent effort. Is the hero surly and jealous, and is there a more easy-going male secondary character who becomes a good friend of the heroine’s?