March 11th, 2010 — About
If you're a LRP virgin, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. It's free and easy! See you tomorrow! ~Keira.
Before I begin, thanks Susan for your 5 tells - they're hilarious!
Now, when it comes to our favorite literature is it possible to ever read too much of it? What are some of the tells of overindulgence in romance? Let's take a look!
You Know You Read Too Much Romance When...
- Most of your email is author newsletters telling you about latest releases, contests, and book signings.
- You insist on bringing a chaperone on romantic dates; even though you're 25 years old.
- You own a digital copy of every print romance book on your favorite’s shelf.
- Your favorite’s shelf is now the entire bookcase and the area in front of it on the floor.
- You have a plot trope, character type, or preference you are too embarrassed to share with other romance readers.
- Your bookshelves are classified first by subgenre, then by author.
- After kissing each other breathless, you accidentally say, "Please Lord Mark take me now to your bedchamber."
- He says, "I know-I know you can't spend the night with me because your aunt Lady Marie will start the rumor-mill."
- Your fictional boyfriend is Mr. Darcy, Mr. Thornton, or another romantic alpha hero.
- You once had to question where the hymen was located, because most romance novels have the hero penetrate it somewhere inside the vagina instead of at the opening.
- You clip the covers off your romances and make a mantitty wallpaper collage.
- The name Vladimir de Laaf, the Duke of Longwood, sounds like a valid name for a man and Lady Saramia, the Widow of Evesham, makes for an equally good heroine name.
- In your mind, being unwed and over twenty is a crime.
- When making love-you find yourself moaning, "Oh yes, all the way to the hilt!"
- You’re actually disappointed he showed up in his Lexus....where's the black stallion?
- You own or are following every romance blog you encounter or have written blog posts for them.
- If the first thing you can find in your purse is your latest romance read.
- You’ve attended more than five romance conventions just because. Jane Austen and Regency period conventions count, even if they aren't about books at all, because the subgenres are prominent.
- You can spot a secret baby within a 100 yards.
- If you ever daydreamed about being a heroine in one.
Bonus 21: If you’re like me than you’ve come to the conclusion, there’s never too romance in your life!
Photo Credits: rtbookreviews
Originally posted 2009-06-18 03:45:38. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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November 14th, 2009 — Writing Tips
For this article we're going to skip over the titillating parts about raging tumescence and disintegrating virginal barriers otherwise known as land of frankness and euphemisms. We won't be discussing weeping fluids, honey, dew, or the elixir of love. We're doing this American and bypassing all foreplay and going straight for the mechanics of making love/having sex.
Word choice says it all; how an author is feeling about their characters, what the characters are feeling, and what the readers will get from experiencing the passion vicariously. Compelling vocabulary attracts the reader and continued use keeps them involved while the use of bizarre or crass diction yanks readers out of the zone so fast it'll make the ink fly right off the page. Not good! How do you prevent that? Application of the appropriate kind of words! Well... that and variety! This is why I urge writers to make lists.
I've compiled my own list of terms and presented them here for the express purposes of sharing and expansion. Below you'll find a series of alphabetized words used in describing the physical movements and actions of mating by both men and women in literary sex. For the purpose of this list they are all presented in present participle form or aka the verb coupled with an ing. Of course in practical application they will have to be conjugated to the right tense.
Thrusting
- Breaching
- Burying
- Driving
- Easing
- Entering
- Feeding
- Filling
- Fitting
- Flexing
- Forcing
- Fucking
- Gliding
- Impaling
- Invading
- Joining
- Lunging
- Mating
- Mounting
- Moving
- Nudging
- Parting
- Penetrating
- Piercing
- Pinning
- Plowing
- Plunging
- Pressing
- Probing
- Prodding
- Pumping
- Punctuating
- Puncturing
- Pushing
- Ramming
- Riding
- Rocking
- Rooting
- Rutting
- Seeking
- Settling
- Shoving
- Sinking
- Slamming
- Sliding
- Slipping
- Spearing
- Stretching
- Stroking
- Stuffing
- Teasing
- Twitching
- Undulating
- Working
Opening
- Absorbing
- Accepting
- Arching
- Blooming
- Blossoming
- Clamping
- Clasping
- Clenching
- Clinging
- Clutching
- Contracting
- Cradling
- Drawing
- Enclosing
- Engulfing
- Enveloping
- Flowering
- Gathering
- Grasping
- Grinding
- Gripping
- Guiding
- Holding
- Hugging
- Inviting
- Keeping
- Locking
- Melding
- Melting
- Milking
- Molding
- Parting
- Pressing
- Pulling
- Pulsing
- Quivering
- Reaching
- Receiving
- Robbing
- Seeking
- Squeezing
- Taking
- Throbbing
- Trembling
- Tugging
- Urging
- Widening
- Wrapping
- Yielding
While this list is fairly comprehensive, it is by no means complete. That said, what words would you add? What have you come across on your own reading and writing adventures?
Photo Credits: 1
Originally posted 2009-03-17 05:41:38. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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October 28th, 2009 — 3.5 Stars, Book Review, Contemporary, Interracial, Mistaken Identity, Paranormal, Regency, Revenge, S-U, Survival, Suspense/Thriller, United States of America, Virgin Heroine, Werewolf, Widow or Widower
Terry Spear weaves paranormal, suspense, and romance together in one non-stop rollercoaster of passion and adventure. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying a protagonist werewolf plot (I’m more inclined to favor vampires) and a mystery thriller plotline (again not something I usually go for). I love this novel's front cover (hmm sexy). Don't you? This book reminds me a bit of Only With Your Love by Lisa Kleypas. Overall, there were many pieces that I enjoyed in this book and many pieces that I did not. Of course the story wouldn’t be the same story without the parts that I like least… and all the parts I’m not in favor of can be contributed to the dead sister Larissa.
Larissa is dead. How did she get there? Her living triplet Lelandi is in Silver Town to find out. Her discoveries show just how much of a royal mess Larissa made of her life. One of them (and this is what gets me) was to take Darien as her mate. Darien has a special gift to find his true soul mate through dreams. Larissa claims to be the one he dreams about while knowing the real woman of his dreams is her sister Lelandi. Talk about some sisterly backstabbing!
When Lelandi comes to town to find the truth, her very presence upsets and stirs Darien. He’s attracted to her as he never was for Larissa. He thought the dream mating must have reflected a truer connection than the physical one, which is why he always felt sort of bereft after making love to Larissa. After discovering who Lelandi is and what she really means to him, Darien vows to move heaven and earth to claim Lelandi as his mate.
Throughout the developing passion, Darien and Lelandi unravel the mystery surrounding Larissa’s last months in an effort to find her murderer. Lelandi soon becomes a target herself, but that doesn't deter her from seeking justice. The clues will reveal a most surprising culprit.
Rating: 3.5 Stars.
Book is categorized as interracial because of the pairing of two different breeds of werewolf... red and gray.
Originally posted 2009-03-02 05:23:03. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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October 3rd, 2009 — 4.5 Stars, Arabia/Middle East, Australia/New Zealand, Book Review, Category, Contemporary, Foster/Orphan, Interracial, Kings, Princes, Sheiks, Chiefs, Mistaken Identity, Pregnant, Sheik/Desert, V-Z, Virgin Heroine, Widow or Widower
This book was made out of 3 parts awesome.
Maggie’s mother ran off with her younger sister when Maggie was eight leaving Maggie in the care of her father. He was pretty awful and basically treated Maggie like the son he wished he had forcing Maggie to put all of her time and savings into his farm which basically was throwing it away. Now her father’s dead, but her upbringing has left her with some emotional scars. It doesn’t help to find out the man she thought she loved was screwing with the curvier and more feminine wife of another man.
She meets the hero in the midst of a rainstorm where he rescues her from her sad and sorry state. Concerned, Khalid watches as shock and possibly hypothermia takes over her system. He’s also furious thinking that her tragic state is due to a man hurting her sexually/physically. She denies that she was hurt – which is true at least in the ways that Khalid was mentally coming to a boil over. Her scars are far more mental. Now more than ever before Maggie is feeling inadequate. She’s not nearly feminine enough or enticing enough to attract a man, let alone capable of stirring love in the breast of anyone.
That night she seeks comfort in Khalid’s arms. He hesitates, mentally castrating himself over his undeniable need for this fragile female, because he doesn’t want to take advantage of the situation. Maggie notices the hesitation and it confirms her current muddled thoughts about all the ways in which she is lacking. She presses on and Khalid gives in making love to her.
He wakes to find her gone and his half-brother dead, making him Sheik. Unable to track down the elusive Maggie he heads back home to his country. When he finagles things so that Maggie comes to his country, an incident with a terrified horse almost immediately occurs. This of course leads to some medical tests and surprise, surprise, despite preventative measures Maggie is pregnant. Khalid reveals his identity and proposes marriage.
Will Maggie accept and if she does can she handle being a royal wife with a man who wants her body but not her heart? Will Khalid’s frozen heart melt in the heat of their shared passion? Can a marriage last when it was made purely for the convenience of raising a child?
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Buy on eHarlequin: The Desert King's Pregnant Bride
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Originally posted 2009-01-25 05:47:41. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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September 26th, 2009 — 3.5 Stars, A-C, Book Review, Counts, Marquis, Viscounts, Great Britain, Handicap, Historical Romance, Pregnant, Scarred Hero, Virgin Heroine
Mary Balogh’s Thief of Dreams was a read I couldn’t quite tell if I liked until the end. The ending for me made the whole book worthwhile. I won’t spoil it for those that wish to read it, but I will tell you what made me kind of iffy on the novel.
First, it was how coolly withdrawn the male lead was. I just couldn’t tell if he was interested in her let alone loved her for most of the book. Sure, he respected her and occasionally admired her for her character, but he never let her in or tried to get to know her and her dreams.
Second, Nigel Wetherby, is practically a dandy. His speech, while probably perfectly fine for the time, reads quite ridiculously. I like my men with a little more masculinity. Point in Nigel’s favor is that he can fill out the shoulders of his coats and doesn’t need padding. Of course, he has plenty of scars and a slight limp, which gives him an edge to defy the popinjay vibe.
Third – his name! Nigel? Wetherby? Are you serious? Viscount Wroxley with a toady name… sigh. He sounds like he's a tour guide with a fake accent and a bushy mustache.
I didn’t really have a lot of issues with Cassandra other than that despite all the horrible things Nigel afflicted on her person, she still found herself loving him. True, Nigel’s intentions were on the vein of being honorable and good, but still inexcusable on a lot of levels. He "steals" her inheritance from her father (her father is dead mind you and she doesn’t know the true situation), makes her fall in love with him and marries her when he doesn’t acknowledge any feeling towards her (not even liking her, she could be anyone), and makes love to her before telling her some of the truth about himself and her real situation.
The side romances were very sweet and enjoyable to read and the sex between the main characters was quite exceptional. The ending however, like I said, really pulled this book together for me.
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Originally posted 2008-09-19 21:05:07. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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