I cut my teeth on Johanna Lindsey’s A Gentle Feuding more than twenty years ago. My very first romance,
shoved my way because I was getting on my mother’s nerves. It wasn’t fantasy,
mythology, or horror, my typical go-to books , but I was twelve and bored and
needed something to do. She told me to shut up and read, and an addict was born.
I have my library of romance books I’ve kept over the years.
Some stay, some go. Every year I have what I call “the Culling” to keep my library
somewhat manageable. With the advent of e-readers and ebooks, I’m pleased to
say I have many more that I could have handled in print. However, I’ve found
that technology isn’t the only thing that’s changed. So too have my tastes.
It used to be I could read a historical romance and not be
bothered by a sixteen year old girl getting married. Now I can’t do it. Same
with reading about innocent virgins that need a big strong man to help them out
of any situation. I recently read a historical by a favorite author of mine, so
the character might have been in context—it’s not as if women were policemen
and judges back then—but the book drove me nuts. The hero was a complete ass,
the heroine a little pleaser. I couldn’t finish it.
Everything changes, but I hate it when, as a reader, I’m
turned off to an author I usually consider an auto-buy. Why? Is it me, as in the case of my recent disappointment?
That’s not something an author can control. What really gets me is when I’m
used to a level of romance or intimacy in a book, and an author completely
changes what they write. (By all that’s holy, if you start a romance series,
don’t turn it into chicklit or women’s fiction halfway through! Same with paranormal
romance. Urban fantasy is NOT the same thing!)
We all know about author branding. You buy author A because
you want a funny romance. Or author B because you want something dark and
mysterious. But when author A suddenly changes the rules, and you’re reading a
sad historical drama, not the lighthearted romance you’d expected, things go
from bad to worse.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcGVjy2wXq13dN6hpczcqyaTT1RmTldh2qbnxF6TX6tBC-kXpO37da_vkbzCZdwp0HhL9U6PrWK9YJXGEOofpNAZpxXM0QERpR2irrWLia2lamZHDo3pgzuONodsnlhNa8MXsVmEEOsX3x/s200/kindlefire_BtT.jpg)
Now I’m going to do my best to keep looking for my tried and
true authors and enjoying their books. I hope.
Marie Harte
website | blog | facebook
follow me on twitter @MHarte_Author
USA Today Bestselling Author
website | blog | facebook
follow me on twitter @MHarte_Author
USA Today Bestselling Author
While they might not be considered romances as such, I grew up on Victoria Holt (I had to hide them away from my mom who didn't approve of romances). Then I read Scarlet Pimpernel, which I found very romantic (although I despised Marguerite and wanted to rewrite her for Sir Percy.) From there, Kathleen Woodiwiss' The Flame and the Flower -- I was about 18 at the time? That book got me hooked.
ReplyDeleteAh, good old Victoria Hold. And Phyllis Whitney, right? Gothic mysteries/romances. I saw the Scarlet Pimpernel along with Robin Hood on TV. Great stuff. I think I read Ashes in the Wind and glommed onto that one.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in grade nine I sneaked one of my mom's large collection of Harlequin Presents books. The Snow Leopard by Ann(e?) Mather. Nowadays that would be a shifter romance, but alas the leopard was symbolic only.
ReplyDeleteI also read Victoria Holt, Phyllis Whitney and Kathleen Woodiwiss. A kind librarian special ordered The Scarlet Pimpernel for me.I think he may be the first "superhero" with a secret identity.
Really enjoyed this post! I read most of those ladies as well, and Andre Norton (and I kindly inserted more romance into her plots, in my head, LOL).
ReplyDeleteNicole, I'd love to read The Snow Leopard...if it was indeed a paranormal. LOL
ReplyDeleteVeronica, I've heard of Andre Norton but never read her. I too would read anything and insert romance into the plots. So falling into writing romance was a natural fit. :)