Disclaimer: My tips are not guaranteed to work in real life. They are merely conclusions drawn from the literature I love to read and are meant to be fun and taken lightly.
First tip right off the cuff: Never insult a girl who reads romance novels. Whether you find them trashy or not, you need to support the literature of her choice. If you don’t she will throw a 1980s rapist alpha hero at you. I don’t imagine the results will be very pretty for you. So do take care.
The second thing you need to know is that every romance novel perpetuates love between the hero and the heroine as an automatic given. He gets the girl after courting her, even if he doesn’t realize he’s courting. He might think of it simply as seduction. And some heroes are just clueless about the whole process.
Romances play off the idea of the soul mate, the one and only and occasionally second chances. Does that mean number two is not as good as number one? No, that’s why the book was written about the second love instead of the first. Where am I going with all of this?
The sizzle of attraction.
I’m not talking about simple ordinary chemistry. I’m talking about potent chemistry. Chemistry that has your entire being screaming (as it did in Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie) “THIS ONE!”
Attraction is the foundation for first contact between leads in romances. If you’re not attracted to her, why are you pursuing her? If she’s not attracted to you, it’s not going to work either.
3 Tips on Being Attractive Without Being Friend Zoned:
Nearly every romance novel has a condensed relationship. Physical attraction is rapidly pushing both characters toward each other (and I don’t mean just in the sack!) Make your move sooner rather than later. Snails move faster than you.
Since I’m pulling from romances, I’m going to warn you that this tip is superficial. You guessed it: appearance. Almost every hero is smartly dressed and muscular/fit. Some heroes have chest hair, some have facial hair, some are smooth as a baby’s bottom, but they’re all well groomed. So comb your hair, throw away those shirts with holes, and take a shower.
Alphas, Betas, Omegas, and Nerds in romances all possess purpose. Being purposeful gives you an aura that is both sexy and attractive. Find what inspires you, makes you happy and psyched without a girl and keep that a vital part of your life. It's just a bonus if it's something you and her can share.
Courtship.
Usually by the courtship stage in a romance there are many indicators of interest on both parties (even if they are still refusing to acknowledge it openly) starting with physical cues.
Blushing, stammering, blood racing, eyes gleaming, all these are physical cues which go right back to that potent chemistry I was talking about earlier. Look for these clues in her and yourself. Do you get a buzz from being around each other?
Other indicators are touching, flirting, and kissing. The hero and heroine in a romance novel are always participating in casual touches, banter, and passionate kisses. Some of the most common descriptors for kisses in romance are devastating, intoxicating, slow, deep, and hungry.
It’s the hungry that I would like to take a look at more closely. What does a hungry kiss imply? It implies a few things—the first and foremost a singular craving for the other person. You are dying for a taste. (Back off Edward Cullen, I didn't mean quite so literally!)
It also indicates that the physical hunger is in part, a manifestation of deeper underlying emotions. Not only is she physically appealing to you, but the inner person is appealing also. (Chocolaty on the outside, crunchy on the inside with just a hint of caramel.)
Be sure to express the pleasure you find with her in every manner possible in both verbal and nonverbal ways.
Declaration of Love and Marriage Proposals.
Heroes of romances always have great lines even if they tank in practice.
Take Jane Austen’s Mr. Darcy: “You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and adore you.”
Who doesn’t swoon at that? (Well, okay, except for Elizabeth.) Sigh...
Mr. Darcy is the person in front of you in a competition who just wiped the floor with you before you even had a chance. But don’t be disheartened, just because Darcy’s a tough act to follow doesn’t mean you’re completely incapable of making a woman swoon. Like I said earlier, he's got the lines but his execution left a little to be desired. Darcy's first proposal to Elizabeth tanked, just as Mr. Thornton tanks his when proposing to Margaret. Don't know who Mr. Thornton is? Watch and find out:
Conclusion: Don't be afraid of a shaky dismount, just be sure to stick it. If they can come back from being shot down so completely, you can too.
But the words! How do I find the words?
Of course, all the great lines from heroes are scripted to them by writers, most of them female. We know how tough it is to come up with great lines in the heat of the moment, heck they're hard to find when you've got time to plan them out, and we don’t expect you to hand us the perfectly scripted line. In fact, I’m pretty sure the perfect line will be one that comes to you naturally, even if it’s silly or embarrassing. If it sounds like you we’ll trust it, love it, and accept it.
Though you really can't go wrong if you stick with, "I love you, please marry me."
Abigail Reynolds writes Pemberley Variations. For the uninitiated this means that she takes the classic story of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and plays a what-if scenario. For instance in From Lambton to Longbourn the what-if is what if Darcy and Elizabeth disclosed their feelings before parting ways after Lydia’s fall from grace? The characters in this what-if scenario all bear the same names, and read fairly familiar, but ultimately are recreated and reintroduced. Attraction is played up and scenes Jane Austen would never write appear involving kissing – great kissing, but a staunch Austen fan will probably feel that even this small break in propriety is too much.
Elizabeth finds out to her dismay how deeply in love with Mr. Darcy she is when the news of Lydia’s foolishness breaks. How could she in all good consciousness expose his sister to her family? She worries a lot about Darcy’s good opinion of her and how the current affairs will certainly provide him with enough ammunition to dislike her from hereafter. To her surprise, Darcy is not at all inclined to think ill of her. He wants her to keep correspondence with his sister, Georgiana, as it his only way to communicate with her. He would marry her tomorrow, no today, if only he could be certain of her regard.
Some provocation on both their parts leads to them sharing their first kiss, part comfort, part passion. One kiss melds into the next and then the worst happens – Elizabeth’s aunt and uncle discover them! Elizabeth does not want to trick Darcy into a connection with her family and he is once again unsure of himself in her affections. This happens a lot actually throughout the novel as they go along their tangent journey toward love and ultimate happiness.
Their insecurities are a little over the top, but ultimately are not distracting from the tale. Reynolds has a way with words and I look forward to reading another Pemberley Variation soon.
by Kathryn Nelson, guest blogger and author of Pemberley Manor.
Of all of the dozens of sequels to and adaptations of Jane Austen's work, none, including mine, claim to approach her extraordinary style and ability to delight and endure, but I see my book as an entertaining adjunct to her work. The reader is quickly drawn into a maze of confusions and missteps which leads them, Jane Austen style, to a happy ending - or does it?
From a review by Laura Boyle in the Jane Austen Regency World Online Magazine:
Scenes of marital felicity between Darcy and Elizabeth abound and are explored in a delicate and tasteful way. Sometimes heartbreaking and often humorous, the story will keep readers intrigued to the last... "
I recently heard a writer interviewed who said he doesn't like to read, and doesn't have time for it anyway. I can't wrap my mind around either of those thoughts, and when the two are put together, I'm lost. If I didn't read, I don't think I would write. My writing is the product of being poked and prodded by things I've read or heard into a new direction of thought. Every answer creates a question for me.
I have to admit that writing a sequel to someone else's story is taking that concept a bit further than I ever imagined. The writing of Pemberley Manor was an obsession that took hold of me after watching the BBC/A&E production of Pride and Prejudice in 1995. Jane Austen's works seem to call out for sequels unlike any other author I know. The works of other great authors often call for adaptations, interpretations, modernizations. Austen has garnered more than her share of those too, but no other author living or dead has, to my knowledge, inspired as many direct sequels - continuations of the lives of her characters - as she has.
I have at times wondered if Jane herself is channeling, stirring the pot to see what people make of her couples. Surely she knew that their lives after marriage would be a different story, and if it wasn't her story to tell, it doesn't necessarily follow that she wouldn't have found it interesting to contemplate.
For me, the struggles and disastrous misunderstandings, the unfolding of a deeper understanding between two people, can't really happen until the happily ever after is well on its way. And Jane Austen gives us scant help in judging how this marriage will work. One day, well into the ramble that eventually became Pemberley Manor I actually spent a day copying out the words of Fitzwilliam Darcy to try to make out his character, following Elizabeth 's example when she danced with him at the Netherfield Ball. Taken altogether, Darcy's words in Pride and Prejudice amount to a very few pages, including one disastrous monologue meant to serve as a marriage proposal and one terribly long letter, only marginally better.
In both cases, Darcy admits unapologetically that he persuaded his friend Bingley to stop romancing Elizabeth 's beloved sister Jane. Did he think that would endear him to her? Did she forget that small detail when she visited his estate in Derbyshire and blushed at the thought of being Mistress of Pemberley?
I find Darcy impenetrable, just as Elizabeth did initially. She, in the meantime, uses her arsenal of alternately witty and angry retorts to hide her own feelings, which she surely must have noticed some time before she saw the extent of his property. Right up until the wedding brings everything around right, Jane takes her characters only a small step toward mutual understanding, from shredding one another to a gentle teasing. Their only serious conversation happens during his second proposal, and once Darcy has laid his soul bare, Elizabeth jumps into the breach and begins to joke again.
I'm banking on a difficult marriage here. Nick and Nora Charles meet Catherine and Heathcliff. Take the wedding night, for instance. Darcy behaves in a most ungentleman-like manner, not for the first time, and Elizabeth throws in the towel, leaping to a conclusion in her usual style:
"Mr Darcy, pray allow me to suggest a remedy for your most evident distress. Since our marriage has not yet been consummated, I believe you would find little difficulty in securing the offices of a good clergyman in the neighbourhood to perform an annulment immediately. It can serve neither of us to continue as man and wife when there are so little grounds to suppose we could offer one another any reasonable hope of future happiness. Indeed, it seems certain that our expectations of one another are wholly irreconcilable."
She was not prepared for the anguish that met her eyes when he raised his head.
"Is that your wish, madam?" he asked hoarsely.
Well, of course that's not her wish, or Pemberley Manor would have been a very short novel. I hope I'll be forgiven for treading on sacred ground. The truth is, I just couldn't stop myself. Thanks for allowing me on board. I'd welcome feedback from your readers on the subject of sequels: are they flattering or flagrant abuse of an author's property?
As a special treat Kathryn Nelson is giving away one copy of Pemberley Manor to one lucky person. Enter by answering her question above or asking her one of your own. This giveaway is open to US and Canada readers only. Winner will be announced April 2, 2009.
Originally posted 2009-04-01 05:54:16. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
This is my lucky day. Two author interviews in one week! It's complete playtime and fun. I hope you enjoy!
LRP: What is it about Pride and Prejudice that keeps you writing in that genre?
I love the characters. I can't get enough of Elizabeth and Darcy.
LRP: I love them too. What do you think the appeal is for readers?
Abigail: Again, the fabulous characters are a big part. The happy ending helps, too! I think for a lot of readers, Jane Austen lets them escape present day stresses. It's also fun to compare all the different Jane Austen-related novels to discover how different writers see them. But it comes down to one thing: Jane Austen didn't write enough books to satisfy her fans!
LRP: Who is your favorite character in Pride and Prejudice and why? In Pemberley by the Sea?
Abigail: Elizabeth Bennet is my favorite character in Pride & Prejudice. I love her spirit, her wit, her sense of the absurd, and that quality of archness mixed with sweetness that enchants Darcy.
As for Pemberley by the Sea, that's a three way tie. I love both Cassie and Calder, and I feel as if they're part of my family. But here's the surprise - the character who really fascinates me and won't let go is Senator Joe Westing, Calder's father. He's such a nasty person that you'd think I'd want to bury him as quickly as possible, but he's actually very complex. He may even be redeemable!
LRP: I thought Joe was interesting too, but redeemable? I'd like to see that pulled off! How do you define love?
Abigail: I wish I had a good answer for that! But that very question is one of the things that keeps me writing love stories, because it's a subject you can explore forever.
LRP: The scene where Calder and Cassie get together for the first time has got to be one of the best lovemaking scenes I've ever read. What do you think makes a great bedroom scene?
Abigail: Thank you so much! For me, a love scene has to have a certain inevitability about it, a build up, and it has to demonstrate something important about the characters or be important to the plot. Lovemaking scenes that just go through the motions tend to lose my interest. There has to be something else going on, something deeper. For example, Calder has a particular style of lovemaking which reflects his character - pleasing his lover is incredibly important to him. I'm more interested in how a character feels than precisely what is done. As for that particular scene, I have to give a lot of credit to the setting. Anyone who has been swimming in bioluminescent waters can tell you how utterly magical it is.
LRP: If you could pick any actor and actress to play your heroine and hero in a movie, who would they be?
Abigail: Another tough question! I'll go with Jessica Biel for Cassie. Calder would be the tougher part to play - so much happening below the surface - but I'd say Brandon Routh or Christian Bale would be good.
LRP: What's the biggest pressure you face in the whole writing and publishing process?
Abigail: Self-induced anxiety, without a doubt. I'm my own worst critic, and I'm always afraid that what I write next won't live up to what my readers expect. Of course, my readers would probably be happier if I'd just stop worrying about it and write more!
LRP: What is your greatest weakness in writing dialogue?
Abigail: I struggle to keep dialogue simple and natural. Since I started by writing books set in the Regency, my characters have a tendency to speak in long, convoluted sentences with no contractions and lots of semicolons. With my modern books, I have to read the dialogue out loud to make sure it sounds natural.
LRP: I hear you're writing a sequel to Pemberley by the Sea. Could you tell me more about it?
Abigail: Morning Light starts about a year after Pemberley by the Sea ends, and tells the story of Annie Wright, a good friend of Cassie's and an artist who owns a small gallery in Woods Hole. She was widowed after just a few years of marriage and has sworn off romance, but a man from her past makes her question her decision. In the meantime, Cassie and Calder are growing as a couple, and they face challenges from both their families. Caro and Joe Westing make return appearances, and Cassie's brother Ryan is introduced. It culminates at a gala fund-raiser for abandoned dogs (well, you don't think Calder would be at a fundraiser if there weren't dogs involved, do you?) where all the main characters discover that they've all been acting in the dark.
LRP: I'll have to go check that out! What do you hope your readers will gain from your books?
Abigail: I want them to love the characters as much as I do (that's a tall order!), but the biggest thing is that I want them to find comfort and pleasure in the story. I often hear from readers, especially of the Pemberley Variations, that they re-read my books again and again, and they're the books they take out when life is stressful or painful. I couldn't ask for more than that.
LRP: Could you provide a picture of your workspace? I'd love to see where you do your writing!
Abigail: That would require a whole book of pictures! My motto is "Have laptop, will travel." I have two teenagers, one home-schooled and the other with special needs, and I write at their swim lessons, play rehearsals, doctor's appointments, karate classes, and just about anywhere else. The place I associate most with writing Pemberley by the Sea is my son's hospital room. He had a serious brain injury when he was 8 and was hospitalized for months. I stayed with him the whole time, and I wrote big chunks of Pemberley by the Sea there, because at 3:00 in the morning, Cassie and Calder would always be there for me, and the salt marsh was a mental respite from the depressing hospital room.
At home, I don't have a desk per se. I write at the dining room table, on the couch, lying in bed, and just about anywhere else. The only constant is that there's usually a cat on my lap trying to interfere with my typing.
LRP: Is there anything else you'd like to share with Love Romance Passion?
Abigail: I hope you enjoy reading my books as much as I enjoyed writing them!
LRP: Thanks for chatting with us Abigail!
If you'd liked to learn more about her other Pride and Prejudice variations check out her website listed above!
Originally posted 2008-11-05 05:05:14. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
There was a different reader for this book. It’s something that bugs me when it comes to series and sequels. Same reader please! Tracie Bennett was okay part of the time.
Sometimes I found her Bridget’s voice too harsh. I absolutely hated the mother’s voice; she sounded like she hated her daughter every time she saw her/spoke to her with the sharp hoarse, “HEh-LLooo DAH-ling.” Darcy sounded like a nancy boy instead of a sharp sexy lawyer.
There was more cursing in this book than the first.
The book and the movie are also very different:
Plus – storyline is better than movie. Go Helen Fielding.
Rebecca the Jellyfish is the woman after Mark not Rebecca Gilles. The Rebecca in the book is not a lesbian and is truly after Mark. Bridget is not crazy.
No Daniel Cleaver, which is where the movie is better than the book. Hurrah for mixed up stories and sightings versus giving the wrong slip of paper. Grant and Firth are hot and dorky when they fight.
I wasn’t a fan of the Gary the builder/fisher sideline. Seemed more like filler.
Bridget finds out not long after she quit her job with Sit Up Britain in September, that upper management loves her. She supplied 68% of the ideas for the year she worked there, that they produced and put on the show. Talk about awesome! Go Bridget. They want to give her a raise, pay her for the months she wasn’t working for them and call it paid leave, and rehire her as a manager something or other, forget the exact title, or as a consultant. Oh and Richard was fired due to personal reasons a month after she quit. Hurrah!
I recently got my hands on an ARC copy of the List by debut novelist Carmen Shirkey. ARCs are one of the best things about being a reviewer, because you get a chance to see behind the scenes. My ARC had five chapter twenty-threes, and this lovable quirk fit right in with the heroine (though I'm pretty sure the real copy has only one chapter twenty-three). How does having five chapter twenty-threes tie in with a heroine who has a penchant for type-A list making? Because the novel is about the heroine learning to loosen up and let her hair down when it comes to finding Mr. Perfect and life in general (though to a lesser extent.)
The tagline of the novel is Can Perfect be Put on Paper? The heroine, Candace Saunders, has had a series of dates that could make most women hang up their stilettos and refuse to leave their apartment again. The beginning sort of reminded me of Me and Mr. Darcy by Alexandra Potter where the heroine is met while on a bad first date with a new potential Mr. Right. Every bad date ends up adding qualifications to the on-going list she has made for the position of her Mr. Right. Some are funny like not a vegetarian and others are pretty standard like not an ass, but just as funny.
In the spirit of Catherine from Wuthering Heights and Bella from the The Twilight Saga, soon after the disastrous date with Mr. Sex Addict, Candace meets two great guys. One is nearly Mr. Perfect and is checking off more on her list as days go by and the other screams Mr. Not Perfect. Candace is about to fall and fall hard... but will she do it with the right one?
It's a light read and certainly a happy one. I can picture it being made into a movie and featured alongside How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and Runaway Bride. Totally different themes but same spirit and certainly as entertaining. I love how it took a common idea that many women have (the list) and turned it into a sweet parody of that idea. So in the spirit of the novel I must ask... what's on your list?
Rating: 4 Stars
Originally posted 2009-02-13 05:17:32. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Duty & Desire is an interesting addition to the trilogy of Fitzwilliam Darcy: Gentleman by Pamela Aidan. This second installment takes readers through Mr. Darcy’s missing moments in Pride and Prejudice in between his departure for London after the Netherfield Ball and his reemergence at his aunt’s house, Rosings Park.
A decent novel, filled with twists and turns, it’s nothing too extraordinary or special in terms of the storyline.
It has two important qualities however: Mr. Darcy’s relationship with his sister Georgiana and a deeper look into his personality.
Readers familiar with Pride and Prejudice, will know the thoughts swirling around Lizzy Bennet’s head, but were left with presumptions and, often dream-filled landscapes, as to the inner mechanical mind of “the man himself.”
These two facets are the meat of the story. Through Aidan’s novel, readers are exposed to another side of Mr. Darcy they always knew existed, but were ever privy to reading about until the very end of Pride and Prejudice. Darcy’s relationship with Georgiana is beautiful.
To quote Elizabeth Bennet, he’s “an ideal older brother.” From his indulgences of her, patience, kindest endearments and openness, as a girl, you cannot help but love him more. Not only love him more, but have the urge to squeal “awwwwww.”
The best part? He falls asleep on her shoulder one night after he comes back from a horrid escapade with a “pack of vipers.” And yes, the vipers are people, not snakes. No, Pamela Aidan does not take Mr. Darcy into Indiana Jones land. Be not alarmed ladies.
The ability to view Darcy’s love for Georgiana, also enables the reader to delve deeper into, what Aidan interprets, as his inner thoughts. Conflicted and confused between decorum and feelings, duty and desire, this novel is one more way to hold on to the character we all know and love.
Not to mention, that it is, for lack of a better term, simply cute how he pines over Lizzy Bennet
and plays a what-if scenario. For instance in From Lambton to Longbourn the what-if is what if Darcy and Elizabeth disclosed their feelings before parting ways after Lydia’s fall from grace? The characters in this what-if scenario all bear the same names, and read fairly familiar, but ultimately are recreated and reintroduced. Attraction is played up and scenes Jane Austen would never write appear involving kissing – great kissing, but a staunch Austen fan will probably feel that even this small break in propriety is too much.
.
and Bella from the 
, soon after the disastrous date with Mr. Sex Addict, Candace meets two 
and 
. Totally different themes but same spirit and certainly as entertaining. I love how it took a common idea that many women have (the list) and turned it into a sweet parody of that idea. So in the spirit of the novel I must ask... what's on your list?
