February 13th, 2010 — Cursed Lead, Defining the Genre, Great Britain, Highlander
What is highlander romance?
Highlander romance is a subgenre of historical romance. Not to be confused with the show, highlander romance is all about those sexy warrior men. The setting for these romances usually takes place in Scotland or Wales. You may be familiar with the 2008 movie Made of Honor; it was a movie that pitted the typical Highlander, Scottish, hero against a trust fund city slicker. An exemplary novel of this genre is Julie Garwood's The Bride. Overall, Highlander romances are as formula based as any other genre in romance or fiction.
What are the Clans/Tribes involved in Highlander romance?
I am sure there are more, and if you know of them inform me and I’ll flush out this section!
- Celtics
- Saxons
- Scottish
- Welsh
- Highlanders
- Lowlanders
The lore behind Highlander Romance:
Most Highlander romances will use a Romeo and Juliet theme where the clan/tribe/family rivalry and hatred separate the two lovebirds. They will either fall in love in spite of the mutual dislike or be forced into it by another typical plot line such as the girl’s family being indebted to the hero or his family. The debt will be settled by marriage and unwilling or not family honor must be upheld. Luckily for the main leads, they end up liking each other.
There are also plenty of curses and cursed heroes and heroines alike in Highlander romance. A cursed hero will be destined to lose his love or perhaps has already lost his love and finds a new one. He might be cursed to never find love, get married, bear children, etc. The heroines could face similar curses.
Highlander romance also includes a lot of vendettas and bride stealing.
If you would like to add to this section or review a Highlander romance please contact me!
Originally posted 2008-07-09 21:12:11. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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January 31st, 2010 — 1.5 Stars, Acting, Artist, Beauty and Fashion, Book Review, Comedy of Manners, Contemporary, G-I, Gypsy, Low Self Esteem/Confidence, United States of America
I picked this up from the library because it was recommended in the AAR forums as a book about heroines who have low self-confidence. The heroine in Sexiest Man Alive has panic attacks around men, especially good looking men. On the whole it’s a semi-cute read, but it’s very campy in a bad way, like it tries to hard. I show you what I mean…
Jasmine Burns really wants to be a costume designer, but she can’t even make it through the interview with Arturo because he’s handsome. Her sister Amy is a psychic gypsy who lost her powers. Amy gives Jasmine the name of her One True Love. Two thousand dollars poorer, Jasmine has a name, Josh Toby. The only Josh Toby she knows is the gorgeous Hollywood actor, which means she’s screwed because she’ll never leave New York to find him.
Through a quirk of fate, Arturo loves Jasmine’s work and hires her to be his assistant even with her bolt, barf, and run. She is sworn to secrecy and meets him at a restaurant to discuss the details. The secret she has to keep? Josh Toby is in town to do an off Broadway performance as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet. She runs.
Her sister catches her in a taxi and drops her off at a library where another Josh Toby exists. He is a carrot top, extremely shy librarian. Jasmine is relieved. Josh thinks she is a homeless nutcase. One True Love indeed!
The actor Josh Toby pursues Jasmine. He needs her to disguise him from the paparazzi and of course he’s instantly attracted to her weird and quirky behavior. He figures it’s because he’s a famous actor. Josh finds himself spilling a bunch of secrets. How his Hollywood girlfriend, Cleo Chan, is really not his girlfriend. They pose that way for publicity and to keep the crazies away. Oh and how he’s terrified of onstage acting… so the two can bond over irrational fears, which of course they overcome without much difficulty at all later in the novel.
Cleo Chan meanwhile is in love with Josh Toby and is determined to get him back. It doesn’t help that Amy also tells her that Josh Toby is her One True Love. You can guess from here what hijinks end up happening. It’s totally predictable and very unsatisfying.
Rating: 1.5 Stars
Buy: Sexiest Man Alive
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November 3rd, 2009 — 4.5 Stars, Artist, Bride Stealing, Historical Romance, Movie Reviews, Seas, Survival, Virgin Heroine
Titanic is one of the highest grossing films in romance. Romeo and Juliet were not as star-crossed as Rose and Jack. Interesting how both couples names start with R and J. Before you ask, Rose and Jack are a fictional couple not based on historical accounts. A J. Dawson did exist but he was a Joseph Dawson who worked down in the boilers. The romance was invented to keep moviegoers engross in the unfolding historical catastrophe.
I found this interesting website that looks into the fact and fictions of the movie compared with real life and it makes for a really great read. There are also several actors and actresses paired against photos of their namesakes in the movie. This was fun to see because some are very uncanny in how alike they look.
Jack Dawson, played by Leonardo DiCaprio in this disaster film, wins a poker hand and gains a ticket on the RMS Titanic for its maiden voyage for America. Excited by this once in a lifetime opportunity Jack Dawson rushes to the harbor and scrambles as quickly as he can onto the departing vessel. As his ticket is a third class ticket, he's living below deck much like the ship hands were. Life is an adventure for him and every moment was not to be wasted. His life's philosophy is to make it count.
Rose DeWitt Bukater, played by Kate Winslet, is a poor little rich girl stuck in an engagement she does not want with the snobby and slimy Cal Hockley, Billy Zane. Distraught by the life she sees unfolding before her, Rose attempts to commit suicide off the back of the boat. Jack casually smoking nearby comes to her rescue as her attempt almost succeeds and she slips off the railing.
Her shriek alerts Cal and sailors who were nearby and they hotfoot it to the scene. One glance and it appears that Jack was attempting to rape poor Rose which would have lead him to be locked up were it not for Rose's intervention and a quick story. Jack confirms her telling.
From there the pair meets up again and again, sneaking off and running around the ship. They fall head over heels in love and Rose gets the nerve to act on the lust she feels building inside her for Jack. One risky and risqué nude drawing later and Rose has had enough of proper conventions and respectable distance. They make love in a car, steaming up the windows as they pursue the phantom edge of ecstasy.
After this fated moment, the story turns as the RMS Titanic hits the iceberg and time as Jack and Rose knew it runs out. Desperate to see her safe, Jack struggles to get Rose to safety and in the process is framed for theft, locked up below level with frigid water rushing every second into the room. Their story is heart wrenching and tear jerking as they fight for their love swearing to do so to their dying breaths.
The movie won 11 Academy Awards. Here's the list:
- Best Picture
- Best Director
- Best Costume Design
- Best Visual Effects
- Best Sound Mixing
- Best Sound Editing
- Best Original Score
- Best Film Editing
- Best Original Song
- Best Art Direction
- Best Cinematography
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Buy: Titanic (10th Anniversary Edition)
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Originally posted 2008-10-23 10:44:27. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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October 19th, 2009 — About, Poll
Much of my contact with romantic classics was in high school. It seems odd as a lover of romance novels to prefer most of them in film over the book. In part, I blame forced reading in classes. As Orson Scott Card says, “No book, however good, can survive a hostile reading.”
To date I’ve read Pride and Prejudice
, Romeo and Juliet
, Jane Eyre
, and Wuthering Heights
once each. I don’t know if I’ll ever pick them up again. My most recent of them was Pride & Prejudice and I know quite clearly why I disliked it.
Even after seeing it in films, falling in love with Colin Firth
and Matthew MacFayden as Mr. Darcy, it’s hard to read. I found myself lost in dialogue and having to reread passages. You would think having heard the dialogue acted out I would know easily who said what, but Jane Austen was not a fan of dialogue attribution and tags. Very little he/she/person’s name said such and such. Frankly, I’m surprised anyone could tell enough of what was going on to write scripts for actors based on it.
Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre were hostile reads. I read them after being forced to read Tess of the D'Urbervilles
and I was not a happy camper with my English teacher. I thought he was deliberately trying to waste my time with terrible reads. I think I skimmed them as I learned to skim Tess of D’Ubervilles. Even now, I’m not so sure of Wuthering Heights
(I think it was that one) in film. I do like Jane Eyre as a film though.
As I was telling Katiebabs on Twitter I like the 2006 Masterpiece Theatre version
with Toby Stephens as Rochester over the 1997 A&E version
with Ciarán Hinds simply because they made Hinds look way old and gave him very bad side burns. I’m shallow like that. I think I need to see the Timothy Dalton
version. Katiebabs mentioned that one.
To sum up real briefly, I prefer romance classics in film over text because:
- The language is easier to understand in film.
- The films were not forced on me like the books were.
- Film adaptations are fairly modern and don’t put me to sleep.
- The actors are hot and give me a new appreciation to their heroic personas... plus the wet white shirt phenomena in the Austen films... yum.
- Films are 100% visual and audible. I can see and hear it with much more understanding on the screen.
So now that I’ve admitted my deepest, darkest, most terrible sin. Will you forgive me?
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PS - For all those who vote 1 or 3:
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