I received this email from Mara awhile back, and have been compiling a list to help her find the books she’s looking for. I’m hoping you have some suggestions:
I’m not looking for any particular book this is more of a mini rant plus a distant hope that there might be books out there that would stave off this mini rant.
I’ve been reading Maya Banks (specifically books 1 & 2 of the Surrender trilogy) and both heroines, who could clearly use some counseling think to themselves “oh I’d never go to a SHRINK” (only without all caps) and are pretty massively derogatory toward the whole idea of seeking out help for mental health issues or even talking to their doctors.
As someone who has dealt with mental health issues and knows how hard it is to admit even to yourself that help is needed, is there any romance out there with a heroine (or hero) who IS willing to get counseling and isn’t so horribly stigmatizing-ly dismissive of the idea?
Because seriously, having a heroine with major physical/emotional/sexual
abuse in her past… completely dismiss even the
idea of counseling (oh but the magic of the hero’s strong arms and magic
penis can cure her of all her childhood traumas!) really ticks me off.
So, help?
Characters who seek out mental health assistance – should be easy, and of course my mind went blank. That is, unfortunately, normal for my brain. I give it a task, and sometimes it gives me the right answer, and sometimes it says, “You should think about cooking instead. Stew! Stew would be good. Or soup! And bread! Mmm, carbs.”
Which is probably why I had to steer myself away from the pantry and back to my computer.
Fortunately for me, I have excellent smart people to ask!
Carrie: In Caught in Amber, by Cathy Pegau, the main character goes to rehab and gets professional help for an addiction. The story opens with her having had legally mandated treatment, but ultimately she does it voluntarily, with the support of the romantic lead.
In Static, by L.A. Witt, Alex gets treatment for depression. In both books, the professional help is portrayed as essential towards making an HEA possible for both the individual and for the couple.
Sarah: I also asked author and librarian Jennifer Lohmann, whom I know personally, because when I had breakfast with her at RT in New Orleans, she mentioned that her next book features characters seeking counseling. I wanted to know which book (and if it’s out yet!) and if she could recommend any others.
Jennifer Lohmann: The three things I’m working on right now all have at least one character mentioning being in therapy or actually being in therapy. The novella I’m going to self-publish should come out March-ish. The heroine went through therapy after her divorce and mentions it. My 6th book for Superromance (scheduled for December, 2015 right now) also has a heroine that mentions her therapist.
The novel I’m half-done writing is the most therapist-heavy because the hero sees a therapist after the death of his best friend and recommends it to the heroine (hero’s best friend was heroine’s husband). None of these are (nor do I think any reference to counseling in a book should be) hit-you-over-the-head with counseling/therapy. My goal is to have it all presented as a normal course of life, because it is.
Sarah: Jennifer also found people with better book memories than mine to recommend additional titles featuring characters in therapy. Here’s their compiled list, in no particular order:
Lisa Kleypas’ Blue-Eyed Devil —the heroine gets counseling after leaving her abusive marriage. (Recommended by Tweedy Tattersall)
In Robyn Carr’s Virgin River series, there’s a very cool therapist who appears in more than one of the books.
From Lisa Schimmer comes this list of books, which she calls, “a really random assortment… Also, [I’m] convinced more characters/people need counseling.”
Safe Harbour by Danielle Steel ( A | K | G | AB )
Let’s Misbehave by Lisa Plumley ( A | K | G | AB )
One Tiny Lie by K.A. Tucker ( A | K | G | AB )
Sanctuary Island by Lily Everett ( A | K | G | AB )
The Chocolate Touch – Laura Florand ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au | Scribd )
On Dublin Street – Samantha Young
Reckless by Ruth Wind ( A | K | G | AB )
The Crossfire series by Sylvia Day ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas
The Charley Davidson series by Darynda Jones ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au )
The Thrill of It by Lauren Blakely ( A | K | G | AB )
This is by no means a complete list, so I’m hoping you can suggest more in the comments. What romances do you recommend wherein the characters seek therapy or counseling?
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17382857-girl-least-likely-to-marry has a heroine who is on medication for psychological issues, and it’s treated in a respectful and intelligent manner.
HIGHLY recommend Breakaway by Catherine Gayle. The heroine was (super trigger!) gang-raped in college, and seven years and much therapy later still cannot stand to be touched by men, even her brother and dad. Her therapist suggests she sees a sex surrogate, which her insurance wouldn’t pay for and it weirds her out to do anything with someone she doesn’t know. She asks her brother’s best friend (who she’s known basically her whole life and who had a crush on her before her rape) to help her over 6 weeks. And they’re all hockey players. Catnip left and right. The entire series is really good, though I cannot recommend the third book, wherein the heroine is TSTL.
Radio Talk Show Therapist (a GOOD one) and main characters are African American –
TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD by Jamie Wesley. The heroine Noelle is a psychologist, but she does a call in radio show – she and the hero (sports talk show host) help a troubled couple who called in to the show. The hero is dismissive of psychologists and relationship advice, but of course he comes around …
It was a really fun read – I got the rec from Jill Sorenson’s best of 2014 diversity list at Love in the Margins.
It’s not, however, a troubled hero embraces therapy for help. But it is a positive representation of therapy, I think.
In Mara Jacob’s Worth series, the last 3rd book has a psychologist as the heroine, and it gets into her work a bit. In the 4th book, the heroine is one of her patients – she has seasonal affective disorder – and the hero is a widower whose wife had depression. Therapy sessions are important in the story and therapy is a very positive force in their lives.
In Catherine Gayle’s Portland Storm series, the first book is about a rape survivor, and talks about her therapy and therapist, but that’s all off-screen, so to speak. The premise is that she approaches her brother’s best friend to help her get past the worst of the trauma so she can form relationships again. Her therapist was recommending a sex therapist but this is what she chose to do instead. It works, and I’m on the 2nd book and they seem to have a very modern view of health (physical and mental) and men making family life a high priority.
The spiral path by…Mary Balogh? Has a former male prostitute dealing with his past. And there’s a related book that i believe also had a psychologist in it as well.
@ Celia Marsh
Mary Jo Putney I think. At least, I don’t remember one like that by Mary Balogh.
[…] in February, there was a Rec League post over at the SmartBitches, asking for novels in which therapy–and therefore mental illness–are portrayed in a […]
[…] in February, there was a Rec League post over at the SmartBitches, asking for novels in which therapy–and therefore mental illness–are portrayed in a positive […]