About Books

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    Realist or idealist?

    6 Comments

    Jane has an interesting post over at Dear Author today about realism vs. idealism in romance novels, especially in the Bob Mayer-Jenny Cruise book, Don’t Look Down.

    The post talks about a male character sleeping with someone other than the heroine during the course of the book and whether that was realistic or not. I read the book. The scene in question didn’t bother me.

    But Jane’s post made me think about something else that’s not so realistic in romance novels — the perfectly ripped guy with fantastic hair, obscene wealth, and a killer smile. My significant other brought this up a few days ago, asking me why most guys in romances (and especially on the book covers) are the male model of perfection, when most guys in real life, well, aren’t.

    And I didn’t know how to answer him.

    I have to admit that I’m guilty of writing the perfect guy in my books, while I tend to make the heroine more relatable (or at least with a more realistic body type). But I give the hero quirks too — a shy personality, guilt over a friend’s death, a desire for revenge that threatens the romance with the heroine.

    But Jane’s post also struck me as funny because I’m working on Bigtime 4 now — and the hero isn’t the perfect guy when it comes to looks. Oh, he’s wealthy and witty, but he’s more of a mortal superhero — one without any superpowers. Which means his body is covered with scars from all his battles, his nose is crooked from being broken, etc. I’m making an effort to make him more of a normal guy (in the looks department anyway).

    Of course, the heroine thinks the hero is handsome — after she gets to know him. I think that’s just part of the process of falling in love — learning to appreciate what’s beautiful about your partner. The more you love someone, the more you overlook their thinning hair or poochy stomach or thunder thighs in favor of what’s great about them (their smile, their laugh, their smoking eyes).

    Which do you prefer? Gorgeous, chiseled heroes? Or more realistic guys when it comes to looks? Inquiring minds want to know …

  • Another review of Karma Girl …

    This one comes from Renee Reads Romance. Renee won an ARC of Karma Girl in my newsletter contest a few weeks ago.

    Here’s some of what she had to say:

    KG is a very solid read for a debut book and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Written in first person, it was a funny blend of comic book superheros and chicklit. I’m not a big fan of chicklit or lighthearted paranormals so I was a bit hesitant about reading this but a free book is a free book and the blurb sounded interesting. The humor was not laugh out loud funny, but rather more tongue-in-cheek as if Estep was poking fun of the wacky world she had created. And that worked for me surprisingly well.

    Thanks for taking the time to read and review the book, Renee! 😎

  • Bigtime news, baby!

    6 Comments

    new-pow.jpgI’m thrilled, excited, over the moon, and every other happy adjective you could think of to announce that I’ve sold another Bigtime book to Berkley.

    Jinx focuses on Bella Bulluci, a fashion designer whose luck superpower is more of a curse than a blessing — especially when it comes to her love life. Jinx will be the third Bigtime book and is set for an April 2008 release.

    In an interesting twist, my agent sold the book last week, on Friday the 13th. Jinx … Friday the 13th … weird, huh?

    Anyway, it’s happy dance time! 😎

  • I’m so excited …

    2 Comments

    karma-girl-cover.jpg

    I saw the first finished copy of Karma Girl this week. My editor and her assistant were kind enough to send me an advanced copy. Thanks guys!

    That loud, long squeal of delight you heard echoing throughout the land? That was me.

    I don’t have the words to describe how excited, thrilled, proud, and relieved I am.

    Karma Girl is done. Finished. Finito. The insane idea, the writing, revisions, editing, agent search, contract talks, cover art, cover blurbs, copy edits — it’s all done. And now I get to actually hold my book in my hands.

    Is it wrong of me to want to sleep with it under my pillow? 😎

    I know some authors feel that signing that first contract is the best part of writing. That that act makes them feel like they’ve “made it,” so to speak. For me, actually holding the book has been the best part. Because it’s tangible. It’s real. And it’s mine. Even if I don’t sell a single copy or never get another contract, no one will ever be able to take this away from me. I’ve finally achieved one of my lifelong dreams — and it’s a great feeling. 🙂

    I hope everyone gets to have this feeling at least once in their lives, whether you want to write a book or climb Mount Everest or go skydiving. Never give up on your dreams because they are a big part of what makes life worth living.

    What about you? What was the best part of being published? Signing the contract or actually holding the book in your hands? Inquiring minds want to know …

  • ·

    Shock value …

    NOTE FROM JEN: This post has some spoilers. Stop reading now if you don’t want to know what happens in this book. 

    I’m currently reading Demon Angel by Meljean Brook. I’ll post an official review when I finish it (hopefully sometime next week). It’s a paranormal romance that focuses on Hugh and Lilith. Hugh is a Guardian (an angel-like creature sworn to protect men), while Lilith is a halfling demon (sworn to tempt and punish men). So, you can see why they’re at odds.

    But Meljean does something in her book that I don’t recall any other romance author doing (SPOILER ALERT) — she has Hugh kill Lilith. He kills her! Dead. Shoves a long sword through her heart and buries her. And he thinks that she’s really dead. Not mostly dead. Really, truly, forever dead. Dead-dead.

    I can’t remember this ever happening in any other romance that I’ve read. Oh sure, the hero will off the heroine so he can turn her into a vampire/werewolf/goddess, and they can be together forever. But he only kills her with the intention of bringing her back. Not Hugh. He kills Lilith to set her free.

    And it shocked me. Especially since it was only around page 100. (Yeah, yeah, deep down, I figured that Lilith would get resurrected some way. But still, he killed her).

    This is the first time in a long time that a romance has shocked me. And I started to wonder … why? Why is it so shocking? Because heroes don’t do things like that? Please. People drop like flies in Lee Child’s books. I don’t have a problem with his hero killing people. Heck, I expect him to dispatch bad guys in interesting ways.

    I think it’s because the book is a romance, and I expect the hero to be, well, romantic. Shoving a sword through his beloved’s chest isn’t the typical definition of romantic. I wouldn’t be rushing to forgive a guy who killed me, no matter how much I loved him. But it made me want to read on to see how Meljean pulls off the rest of the book. And that’s what books should do — make you want to see how it all ends.

    More to come later.

    What about you? What’s the most shocking thing you’ve ever read in a romance (or any other book)? Inquiring minds want to know …