This HaBO is from Gloriamarie, who wants to track down this book:
I am embarrassed to admit that I probably read this book within the last 6-9 months.
I remember thinking vaguely as I neared the end that I should have made notes of the creative words and expressions employed by the heroine to avoid swearing. I think a maternal figure in her family was dead set against it.
I remember nothing of the plot at all, which may be important or not.
All I remember is her aversion to cursing. The only expression I remember is “firetrucker.” I realize this is a long shot, to say the least.
In this world where so many people use the f word to punctuate their sentences, it might be amusing to offer substitutes. For example, my BFF took me out to lunch one day and a man at the table next to us loudly and repeatedly inserted the f word in every other word out of his mouth. BFF got so fed up that she balled up her napkin and threw it at him. Never reached him though. Well…I digress…
Does this sound familiar to anyone?
It’s it Fireworks by Sarina Bowen. If I remember correctly she’s a broadcast journalist and won’t swear so that it won’t ever accidentally happen on air.
I have not read this book but now I want to free the heroine from her internal burden vis cursing. LET THE HEROINE SAY THE F WORD!
It sounds like the Time Police series by Jody Taylor. Jane uses ‘firetruck’ and associated forms for cursing and the rest of them end up doing it too.
Jodi Taylor’s Time Police series (a spin-off from the Chronicles of St Mary’s) has the heroine, Lockland, using “fire truck”, it becomes a running joke throughout the series. I’m reading them at the moment and enjoying them very much. Comedy sci-fi with elements of romance. Mostly gentle humour, but some awful things do happen to good people.
The creative swearing makes me think of The Good Place where I have picked up quite a lot of good swears to use in front of my kids:
“What the Fork?” “Shirtballs” “clusterfork” and “ash hole”
I had a feeling while reading the post that I, too, had read the book recently, and when I saw Heather’s comment, I realized I read Bowen’s FIREWORKS last year, as well. So it gets my vote. I think I liked the book, but in general, I often find the verbal gymnastics used to avoid profanity annoying. The F-word is about as versatile as they come and can easily work as a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, interjection, imperative, question, and answer. And yes, sadly, I am a mother. After a lunch recently with my son and his new girlfriend, she suggested he might be less free with his speech when he meets her family than we were with her!
I am very sorry to have to say this, but it is not Fireworks nor any of the Chronicles of St. Mary’s.
I know it is not Fireworks because I don’t own it and I definitely read this book on my Kindle.
Alas!
As for encouraging use of the F word… solely in my own personal opinion, I would prefer to be more creative in my vocabulary.
Thank you for your help, I daresay this is headed for the cold case files.
This is absolutely not it but if not swearing is anyone’s. At nip, “Once Upon a Marquess” by Courtney Milan features a heroine who swears with birds.
OMG “cat nip”!
@Zuzus, my curiosity is piqued.
Could it possibly be The Last Eligible Billionaire by Pippa Grant?
@Erica, No, it isn’t although that at least is a contemporary novel, as is the one I am looking for.
I was amused to recently learn that the term for phrases like, “firetrucker” and “what the fork” is a minced oath.
Gloria: That’s an interesting point of view. I’ve seen people say they dislike the F-word before, but it’s always been because they dislike profanity, and not because the profanity isn’t creative enough. It’s a valid opinion, though. The F-word does get repetitive after a while, I’ll freely agree.
On the subject of creativity, one thing I love seeing in fiction (but that doesn’t appear very often) is somebody who doesn’t just have a foul, foul, foul mouth but also is super creative with the swears. (If anybody here knows a book, show, etc. with that kind of character, feel free to chime in!)
Popping back to add that I think I remember some of Olivia Dade’s early books featuring heroine(s)(?) who try not to use bad language.
The onyl thing I’d change about my partner would be her habit of swearing loudly in public. It’s the volume more than the swearing itself; the woman projects like Brian Blessed. The en masse head-swivel that happens when “Jesus Christ!” rings out in a Saturday morning brunch spot that makes me quail.
Then again, she’d rather I didn’t shriek blood-curdling threats at oblivious drivers whenever we go anywhere, so…
@mikey – you may enjoy The Magpie Lord by KJ Charles. Crane has some pretty memorable turns of phrase, as I recall.
No one is better than Shakespeare when it comes to imaginative, non-f insults.
Having said that, the greatest f-scene ever written is this one, by David Simon, from The Wire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2jaD5512MI
Who knew you say so much with just one little word?
@hng23 – wow. That was terrific. Thank you!
Was it darkfever by Karen Marie Moning? I read it a while ago but remember that the heroine didn’t swear bc her mom(?) disapproved?
My father’s college roommate was Spanish, and my father said he had a show-stopping demonstration of cursing for five (sometimes more) minutes without repeating himself. He always claimed American swearing had a very limited vocabulary.
I sounds like it could be The Naked Fisherman by Jewel E. Ann.
I believe you might be looking for “Just A Girl” by Becky Monson. The main character is a newsanchor who accidentally dropped “the mother of all bad words” on air and so she finds creative ways to swear and encourages all her friends to do the same thing in her presence.
Pippa Grant’s Rockaway Bride–Willow is a preschool teacher