I’ve been meaning to blog a lot more often than I have of late. I sometimes even begin a post, but don’t get far. Between having a cold that lasts forever and just being plain busy, I haven’t been able to focus enough to get something written here. Well, except for one whiney post about being sick which you were luckily spared.
I have been thinking of blog posts. Somewhere on Dear Author, now lost in the mists of time, or the mists of my mind, someone was talking about how isolated heroines often are in romance novels. I think that’s true in a number of books. I also think it’s can be a bit of escapism for author and reader. I do like to write of heroines on their own without some of the attendant responsibilities that go with extended family ties and/or jobs, etc. Not always, mind you, as my heroine in The Strength of the Pack quite definitely has family around her.
It reminds me a bit of the discussion of children in romance where some writers and readers want to escape childcare for a few hours, no matter how dearly they love their kids.
Oh, I found where this was mentioned: Janet’s review of Seressia Glass’s No Commitment Required. A book I now want to read.
Anyway, I am sure there are other reasons to have an isolated heroine than the one I mentioned—for one thing it can certainly increase angst and/or the importance of the hero and the romance—but I know I can enjoy identifying with a woman who does not share all the responsibilities I have.
I don’t mean to say this is the only heroine I like the read or write!
I read Agnes and the Hitman awhile back. Liked it a lot. Then read Ally Blue’s Untamed Heart. Loved it. Not much in common, given one’s a caper-comedy with a huge cast and the other’s almost a cabin romance and emotionally quite dark at times. But, they both have assassin heroes.
I like assassin (or ex-assassin) heroes, but rather like amnesia in fiction, I don’t think I’d like assassin heroes in real life. In fiction, they can do the right thing in a way that isn’t possible in real life.
Anyway, I recommend both books! Untamed Heart is still on MBAM’s bestseller list, so I’m not the only one who liked it.
