Actually my current wip is YA romantic-chicklit and I’m just loving working with the elements.
When I was 16, I found my mother’s ‘Harlequin’ series buried in her bookshelf. With the exception of one book ‘Desperado’ (not Diana Palmer but an older book with the same title), the books nor the genre managed to keep my attention for very long….hmn. I wonder why. Big difference ten years later, when the kids start accumulating and the marriage anniversaries fly by.
Suddenly the Romance genre takes on a whole. new. appeal.
And so, like I always do when I find a genre or an author I really like - I binged.
Big time.
And in my experience, I discovered three different kinds of Romance:
1. The cute, funny, witty, lighthearted stuff that makes me smile.
2. The kind with heartbreaking or intriguing back story that gets me totally involved with the characters individually before they get together.
3. The kind whose characters share an ever elusive deep-rooted love (you know, the eyes shining, tightness in the chest kinda thing) that makes me look over at my husband on the couch as we’re stuffing popcorn and feel as though our marriage is suddenly inadequate. I try and stay away from those now.
Rachel Gibson got me hooked on number one and after her I just searched out other authors with the same contemporary genre. Susan E. Phillips got me hooked on the second. Deborah Simmons got me hooked on the third with her ‘Devil’s Lady’ – which is an older book but well worth the read.
And then there were what I refer to as the ‘J’authors:
Julie Garwood
Jude Deveraux
Johanna Lindsey
Judith McNaught
Seriously- why do so many romance author’s names begin with ‘J’? In any case, they’re all awesome in their own way.
It’s true, once you read enough romance, the plot lines do start to meld together, but then something will come along and completely knock you off your feet. For me, this was Lisa Kleypas’- ‘Sugar Daddy’. A perfect mix of the three kinds listed above and totally original. If you haven’t read it. Do.
And it’s books like this that keep me hooked in. I will be a Romance Reader (and maybe even a romance writer) for the remainder of my days.
What is your ‘other’ genre?
