Via Angela James and several email messages comes this PSA about sexually transmitted diseases among senior citizens:
Link!
While the PSA is hilarious, the facts are that STD infections and HIV infections are on the rise among senior citizens in the US, particularly in Florida, where many retirees live or spend the winter. This is a group of people who grew up without safe sex counseling, and, as the article above states, were in their 20s in the 1960s. (My favorite part of that article: “As a result of the increase in infections, Medicare is considering providing coverage for STD screening and behavioral counseling for seniors.” I wonder what the political fallout of that consideration might be! *headdesk*)
I personally love when there are romance storylines for ancillary characters that are older than the romance norm, and wonder if there will be more romances featuring older couples as the primary protagonists. Do you know of any? Have you read some?
I’m currently reading and loving “Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand,” which features a 68-year-old hero and a 58-year-old heroine. So far, it’s absolutely fabulous.
I can’t decide whether I can bring myself to send this to my parents in Florida or not … hmm.
I second Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand. I really enjoyed it!
I thought of another. Suzanne Brockmann’s first Troubleshooters book has a balding man feeling his age. I think he may only be in his 40s, but it was remarkable to me because it was the first time I read about a hero who was less than perfect physically. Of course, he’s a Navy Seal, so everything else is perfect, but there was the hair and worrying about a possibly career ending injury. It’s also a good read.
I haven’t read any books featuring middle age+ characters as romantic leads, but I love the secondary romance in Heaven, Texas with Bobby Tom’s mother. In fact, I thought it was a whole lot more satisfying and romantic than Bobby Tom’s romance.
Carin, Brockmann wrote The Admiral’s Bride, which was part of the Silhouette series. (I always confuse the series names between her single title and Silhouette books.) I think the Admiral was in his late 40s or early 50s and the heroine was probably late 20s. I haven’t read it since it was first published, so I don’t completely remember the age different, but I know that was a big issue for the hero.
I loved that book and recommended it to tons of friends.
ISTR Harlequin came out with a line in the 80s featuring older heroes and heroines, and it tanked. Perhaps it’s time to re-explore that? And I second the recommendations for Major Pettigrew and SEP’s novels. Not just Heaven, Texas though—many of hers feature secondary romances with older characters. Another one I loved was Jennifer Crusie’s Faking It. I can’t look at a tropical drink with an umbrella without thinking about Ford the Hitman and Gwen.
The Admiral’s Penniless Bride by Carla Kelly has a hero who’s 46. I think the heroine is either in her late 20s or early 30s – I don’t think her exact age was ever given, but she was old enough to have had a young son. I liked that one well enough, although I almost OD’ed on the hero and heroine’s goodness in the first half of the book.
There’s also Jennifer Crusie’s Fast Women, which I don’t remember liking much (but tastes differ, so I’m not saying others wouldn’t like it), and Crusie’s Anyone But You, which I liked (although I still cringe in sympathetic horror over the scene where she slices her hand). I think both have heroines in their 40s, and in Anyone But You the heroine is older than the hero.
I can’t think of any romance novels at the moment where either the hero or heroine are in their 50s or older.
Ooo, better to send it than hear they or their friends have an STD. My parents are 80 and would probably laugh their heads off over this.
I received an email asking for romance recommendations for characters over 40 – so stay tuned for a thread devoted to just that!
I showed the video to our nurse practitioner who sees seniors one day a week. She thanked me and states that it will change her approach to counselling the seniors. We want to know if we can get continuing educations credits for this.
And, yes, romances with seniors would be fun.
My dad is a dirty old man enough I’m not giving him any ideas. Not to mention he’s been devoted (in bed and out) to my mom for 40 years…
It is amazing, isn’t it? I got so caught up in the story that I almost missed my stop on my commute yesterday morning. I can’t seem to put it down.
Nora Roberts, in her Garden trilogy, the second book is Black Rose. The heroine is the mother of the hero in book 3, and the hero is her age as well. I can’t remember if they ever gave either of their specific ages (read this book like 3 years ago), but since she has sons who are in their mid-to-late twenties, I think it’s safe to assume she’s likely close to, if not into her 50s. And the hero is the same. They’re past the “Let’s have a white wedding and make cute babies” stage in their life, and that’s actually kind of refreshing to read.
*sigh* I loved this book.
Julie and Romeo by Jeanne Ray http://www.amazon.com/Julie-Ro…
Oh how I love love love(!!!) this book. It’s so fun! “Julie Roseman has known since childhood that Rosemans are supposed to despise Cacciamanis. She’s never known exactly why…but she’s followed her family’s advice and avoided all Cacciamanis like the plague. Until she bumps into Romeo Cacciamani at a small-business conference—and realizes he’s sort of…sweet. Now, this unexpected relationship is blooming into something big. But wait until their families find out…”
They are middle+ aged with grown children. And it is laugh out loud funny.
Marion Chesney’s Poor Relation, Travelling Matchmaker, House for the Season, and School for Manners series (each is six books to devour quicker than a sleeve of your favorite girl scout cookies) have supporting romance amidst the characters (at least one middle age or older romance going on in each series) that hold the continuity through the stories. Plus they are hilarious.
James Patterson’s THE CHRISTMAS BRIDE features and older woman and several older men…but I can’t recommend it. One of rare books where, after a few chapters, I went to the end. Even that was a waste of time.
James patterson wins
http://goo.gl/RmQqj