Old Book Sunday: Just... Hormonal

Dear Mrs. B,
I know I've been reading a lot of romances lately. I'm hoping to have something to talk to you about other than that in weeks to come, but I pulled up another one of the books from the old book pile and decided to give it a shot.

The book selected at random this time was called Just Friends to... Just Married.

For a moment, I will digress: Seriously, now I'm going to ask you this because you and I are friends ... really? I've been wondering this for years: Do they pick titles out of a hat? Is there a random keyword title generator out there for romance novels? I know I've seen several built for plots and I've seen ones that will give you random fandoms to pit against each other and I'm still of the mind that my new town has one to pick out street names. (While I would love to live on Starlight Lane or Time Sweep Court, there are others out there that just leave me feeling sorry for whomever lives there.) If there isn't one out there, I think whomever develops it first will earn a mint.

Returning to point, it wasn't bad. Again, I couldn't remember much about the book going in, although about half way through I came to a scene I remembered and it all came flooding back (although for a moment, I was thinking it was another book). I didn't feel the relationship and the characters were just a leeeeetle over the top. Still, all told, it wasn't bad. In fact, I might even come to love this book and both the hero and the heroine if they both got out of their own way and maybe toned down the grand gestures a bit.

A good beach read, although sadly we're moving on from beach season. Maybe a plane ride? Beware though. It's short, so if you're expecting one book for the whole trip, this is not going to be it. Especially if you have a long layover.

Even though this isn't a glowing review, it is something that on a second read, I could happily recommend to someone who didn't need to think about what they were reading for a couple of hours.

And on that note, Just Friends to... Just Married is, I think, a book that shall be moving on to other hands.

Memories: Objects in the Rear View Mirror Resemble a Fun House

So, Mrs. B, on the topic of romance novels, I decided to go to a book I remembered reading and loving as a young girl and realized just how different it seems to me now. For one thing, I'm a very different girl. I've grown up a lot, learned a lot about what healthy relationships are (as well as what they aren't), and have developed decided tastes for things like, well, romantic relationships and what is "good writing" versus bad.

The Haunting of Brier Rose is a product of the era of romance novels that produced it. It was written in the mid-90s and reads like what was popularly published at the time, even for the budding genre of supernatural romance. The heroine is more Jane Bennett than Lizzy  and is certainly no Buffy, the hero more Heathcliff (and an unmitigated ass), than someone I can get behind (and granted, I've loved some unmitigated literary asses over my time as a reader, although, never really Heathcliff who seems abusive for no reason.) and perhaps that's part of the other problem I'm finding with the story.

Shaking My World

Hi Mrs. B.,

Just so you know, romance isn't the only thing I've been reading of late. I've been OBSESSED with alternate histories. In particular, at the moment, I've been on a kick for books by Cherie Priest.

Old Books, New Me

Hey Mrs. B.,

Back when we moved, I found several boxes worth of books that I couldn't remember what I thought of them. Several, I couldn't even remember what had happened in them. So, I'm giving myself a challenge through the end of the year: Re-read, remember, and share as many as possible. 

This weekend, I re-read Rebecca York's Midnight Kiss.

I couldn't remember anything about it, going in. I had a few guesses about the ending but I was happily surprised to realize that I didn't actually know. 

This book brings an author and a film maker together to bring his book to life, but disasters plague the set and the cast as someone claiming to be the antagonist in the movie starts terrorizing the director, a game that proves deadly.

Some of the prose choices were not ones I would have made, but all in all, it's a good story, one that's held up well. I like the characters: the wounded hero and heroine that come together in the face of adversity. They make me smile and their relationship feels genuine. And don't you want some purple prose in a romance novel?

I think this one is going to be a keeper.

Much love,

Odd