I’m back on Romance Novel.tv today, talking about Dark Lover. The text says I’m talking about Lover Unbound, but that was later. We filmed this right after I finished reading Dark Lover, and hadn’t engaged in reading the continued and growing traihn wrehck that is the rest of the series. That first one, it was the crack. And I talk about racial ambiguity and homogenization of romance and how few interracial couples there are in mainstream romance.
Candy is going to post her review here, since technical difficulties prevented us from appearing together when we filmed those segments. So stay tuned.
Finally some decent tv to go along with my morning coffee! Way to go Sarah (and virtual Candy too)
Great interview. And so hot, Sarah!
I totally agree with you about the bestselling, fandom phenomenon. I resisted seeing Pulp Fiction for over a year when it came out, because all the gushiness pissed me off. And the vagueness of the commercials. “What the fuck is this movie even ABOUT?” Unfettered praise always turns me off. But then I saw the movie and loved it. Same with reading Dark Lover, though that love is generously mixed with hate. Perfect combination for obsessive weekend reading.
GREAT review!
I’m sad the racial ambiguity bit has been mostly dashed later on in the series. Between that and the “no, they are not ghay” bit…
Still, these are crhack and I’ll keep buying them for a while yet—the paperbacks, that is. No way I’m shelling out for hardbacks.
I usually avoid RNTV like the pleague, but endured the ads to watch your great review 🙂 Can’t wait for Candy’s.
Still, what’s the second thing you won’t admit to liking about DL?!?
I would love to know what plot device gets you every time, Sarah, besides the forbidden attraction. We could submit guesses.
Does your reaction to a later book cause you to reevaluate your initial response to the first, in any series? Usually, the next books are better as an author hits her/his stride, and then there’s the jumping the shark phenomenon that has readers fleeing in droves. Does a really bad read have you scratching your head over what you saw originally? Can a reader treasure the one as s/he jettisons the other or does the later experience taint the first?
what’s the second thing you won’t admit to liking about DL?!?
It’s the second plot device I fall for every freaking time that I won’t reveal. It has nothing to do with DL, but it is SO embarrassing. I can’t even tell you.
Does your reaction to a later book cause you to reevaluate your initial response to the first, in any series?
Nah, I still loved the first one. Kind of like the first bite of an apple always tasting the best. I feel the same way about Feehan’s series. I love the first one – the tortured hero psychically linking to a total stranger whose mind can communicate on the same wavelength, and the heroine reaching out to him because she can hear his loneliness? Love that one. But after that, the “I see in color! Commence doggy style humperation!” grew very tiring.
Does a really bad read have you scratching your head over what you saw originally? Can a reader treasure the one as s/he jettisons the other or does the later experience taint the first?
Not for me. I give some authors hell, as does Candy, when a book isn’t measured up to the standard of writing to which we look forward, but I personally can still treasure an early book in a series even if the later issues are not my cup of gingerbread latte. Same with Feehan. I don’t remember where I stopped reading the Carpathians, but I enjoyed the hell out of the first one.
I’m voting for the secret baby plot.
Ya know, I don’t really think it’s fair to tease and then not tell….
I’m going to guess it’s a hero with a thick brogue. Hoot Man!
nonono Julie B, it’s Hoot, Mon. I just had to put down a Hannah Howell, because while the story line was decent, one more round of “He kens that she kens, don’t ye ken?” was going to have me diving for a sawed-off.
Victoria: For that very reason, I am still boycotting Titanic. Never seen it, never plan to.
Oh, and SBSarah, I still think Black Dagger’s the shiznet, but then I’ve also read all of Feehan’s Dark series more than once, as bad as I feel about that now.
Seeing you—though in person would be better—made my day.
Just thought you should know that. It’s important to make my day. Especially lately. 😉
Loved the review, and was so pleased that the clip was prefaced by an ad for HUGO featuring Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Yum!
Y’know, this “shameful addiction to plot devices” confession kind of links with Candy’s post about the lack of emotional intensity in current romance fiction.
Let’s face it, those story elements it’s now hip to ridicule because readers think they’ve become so freakin’ sophisticated…yes, verily I say unto you, those exact same elements that have fallen into disfavor were often what gave novels their emotional intensity.
Forbidden Love. Secret Babies. Tortuous Misunderstandings. Tortured Pasts Causing Pricky Behavior. Hard Shells Over Soft Cores. I say, bring ‘em back!
Just put them in able hands.
I agree that the Black Dagger books are like crack, a guilty pleasure that grows less fulfilling as the series progresses. My introduction to the books was completely accidental. I needed something to read on a trip, and dashed into a bookstore to find something quickly. Having been an on and off again romance fan for some time, I decided to hit the romance section. I have not read too many of the newer paranormal romances. I had only tried reading one vampire type by Christine Feehan and could not get into it. I never even managed to finish it. So it was with reservations that I grabbed book 3 off the shelf. I had never even heard of J R Ward at the time, since I have not been in the habit of reading romance reviews until recently, and I didn’t know how popular these books were. The plot summary on the back cover sounded fairly interesting, so I bought it, hoping it would be a better experience than the other vampire book I had read. It obviously was part of the series, but that particular bookstore did not have books 1 or 2, so I grabbed it rather than poking around for something else.
I enjoyed the book. I found it refreshing that much of the story was from the perspective of the male character, and I found the romance reasonably satisfying. Sure – it’s the traditional girl meets bad boy and wants to fix him, but with some twists. Of course, once he realizes he’s in love, he changes into a great guy. But I liked it well enough to go back to a large chain bookstore and purchase books 1 and 2, which I also enjoyed. I do agree that book 1 is the strongest of the lot.
I have since read book 4, which I had some reservations about, and book 5 which I found disappointing. I am looking forward to Candy’s review of book 5 (Lover Unbound). I am curious to see her take on it.
All the small issues that irritated me about books 1 through 3 have blossomed into larger problems in books 4 and 5. The language is a problem. I agree – a large man in a leather coat and “shit kickers” would not say “outtie” or all that other lingo JR Ward has developed for her characters. And as the books have progressed, that lingo has become more and more annoying. Also, all the references to nice cars, clothes and booze by brand name became more and more irritating. Does Ward get a kick back from the makers of Grey Goose or the Escalade? I was especially irritated after having her vampire characters explain repeatedly that vampires don’t turn humans into vampires, she resolves the Butch and Marissa (book 4) incompatibility by turning a human into a vampire. It was a little too convenient that he had some vampire blood in him, and that they were able to turn him even though it is incredibly dangerous and never done. Sure I like happily ever after, but Ward set up an impossible situation and then resolved it far too easily, breaking all the rules that she had set up in her book. It’s her world and her rules to break, but I just felt that it was too easy an ending.
I reserve my harshest criticism for book 5. The beginning of the book was strong. I found the descriptions of working in an emergency room quite interesting. I didn’t totally buy into the love affair between Dr. Jane and Vishous. The thing that bothered me the most is the love scene they shared in his bathroom. He makes a comment to the effect that if they are going to do it, they are going to do it his way, which is ostensibly the rough way. So he bosses her around and yanks her hair a little. This did not ring true at all to his character. I believe there is a scene early in the book where he has a woman over to his appartment, and abuses her badly enough that she needs help leaving. There is a mention of bodily fluids, including blood. So if Vishous gets off on pretty rough S & M, I found his love scene with Jane oddly tame. Even the scene where Vishous invites Jane to dominate him comes off as insincere. I am not sure that I can buy that Jane taking so easily to whacking Vishous with a cane, and it did not seem like her treatment of Vishous was as rough as he would have liked. He is described as very hard core until he meets Jane. I am really curious if Ward toned these scenes down for mass consumption.
The ending of book 5 was completely lame. Here is another Butch and Marissa – the human and the vampire that cannot possibly lead lives together. So Jane gets killed off only to return as a ghost. I really did not like this ending.
I will, however, probably buy book 6 whenever it comes out, and hope that it is better than book 5.
I completely missed the racial ambiguity. Maybe that’s because I read the series out of order. I still don’t see it. I’m going to have to re-read the first book. I hesitate to re-read J.R.‘s books because they seem to get worse and worse as I re-read them. If you are interested in reading about multicultural protagonists and you enjoy the basic concepts of the Ward series I suggest L.A. Banks. Not only does she write about interracial relationships and diverse characters . . . she does it convincingly.
Someone needs to create an WRA group; “Ward Readers Anonymous”. Because I’ve hit rock bottom. This addiction is ruining my literary life not to mention my credibility. Eventhough I know it’s bad for me, I can’t resist. Mel L. can be my sponsor since she’s the one who introduced me to the drug in the first place. <—See how this addiction is affecting my judgement! What kind of sense does that last sentence make? SOMEONE HELP ME!
ps. if they keep offering steamy commercials of jrm i might be a regular at rntv
i’m just “saying56” . . .