#RomBkLove Day 31: Why are HEAs are essential & necessary for you? What must a HEA deliver? What makes for a swoon-worthy HEA?

HEAs saves lives. #RomBkLove

— Melissa Blue (@mel_thegreat) May 30, 2017

And that is tomorrow's prompt in a nutshell! #RomBkLove https://t.co/9hkAr0Mx9C

— Ana Coqui (@anacoqui) May 30, 2017

Melissa Blue is not wrong. I came to romance when my family was going through a rough time and I just couldn't read one more dark dystopian fantasy. The security of the HEA, lets me ride out dark or angst-heavy conflicts and to take risks with settings and premises because I can trust the author will not leave me in despair, but always work the couples back from the brink.

However all HEAs are not created equal. Some are rushed, others too pat.  For me the HEAs have to be earned on the page, rather than magically resolved pages from the end. Character growth and true repentance for bad actions and choices, needs to happen on the page in order for the restoration or establishment of relationships to be believable.  However I don't need babylogues or extensive epilogues. I am comfortable with HFNs, especially when relationships are new or couples are very young.  

My husband and I are approaching our 19th anniversary in less than a month. We married young, and have now outlasted our parents marriages by more than half a decade.  We have had to figure out this HEA business on our own and our marriage has evolved as we have grow up, finished educations, changed careers and raise our family. So for me a HEAs doesn't mean the lovers will never again struggle, and that things will always work out how they want, just that they are committed to facing those struggles and setbacks together.

What do you look for from a HEA? 

 

#RomBkLove Day 30: Old School/Classics Which romances stand the test of time? What elements do you miss?

I came to romance within the last 6 years. I haven't read a lot of Old School romances  and I am honestly a bit fuzzy about what qualifies.  I think most of the older romances I have read, date from the period immediately after so I am curious to hear how others define old-school and what eras they are referring to when they use the term?  Because there are some older romances that I am just scared to try.

A few years back I sent in HABO for honest-to-goodness bodice ripper I read one rainy holiday weekend when I was around 12.  The awesome folks at Smart Bitches found it for me, but I honestly couldn't get past the summaries, to try reading it again.  It was one of those rapey sagas with hero that actually lashed the heroine so badly he left her back terribly scarred.

So what do you mean by Old School Romance?  Any I absolutely have to try?

#RomBkLove Day 29: Friendships. Bro-mances, Best Buds, Girlfriends, galpals, what are the best friendships in romance?

Friendship is super important to me as reader. I love romances where the protagonists have close friends, people who love and care for them and in many cases act as family. I actually keep a GR list for books that feature "great friend group" versus packs of frenemies or sexual rivals.  I have lived far from my family for most of my life, so friends have stepped in to fill that void, and acted as surrogate grandparents to our children, and essential part of our lives in every way.  While I love my spouse, I still need my friends and he needs his. We value and respect that.

One of my favorite things in Anne Bishop's The Other Series is Meg's human pack,  the women who grew from strangers into her family, and Meg's unique friendships with Erebus Sanguanati & The girls at the Lake. She and Simon might have a special deeper friendship, but Meg needs all these people in her life.

One of my favorite things in Beverly Jenkins' Forbidden were the friends Rhine and Eddy both had. Their friends challenged, encouraged and embraced them when they had hard choices to make.

Ruby Lang's Practice Perfect series has great friendships too.  Her three heroines are all doctors and work together. They give each other crap, and known when something is going wrong. The might snip at each other but it is out of love.  Olivia Dade's Lovestruck Librarians also features strong friendships if zany friendships.  Whether they are watching amateur hockey games together or forging dating profiles, these friends have each other's best interests at heart.

How essential are platonic relationships for you in Romance novels?

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#RomBkLove Day 28: Novellas and Short Stories Short & Sexy? Which novellas deliver the HEAs?

In the last two years I have read three fantastic romance anthologies.  I adored The Brightest Day and Daughters of a Nation anthologies by  Kianna, Alexander, Alyssa Cole, Lena Hart & Piper Huguley.  Their stories were all set at different points in American history, and they are fantastic. Their stories packed their punches, tackling history, social issues and crafting beautiful HEA's.  I don't think these collections are still available digitally but all the novellas have been republished as stand-alones.

The third anthology that I adored was Gambled Away with included stories by Rose Lerner, Jeannie Lin,  Isabelle Cooper, Molly O'Keefe and Joanna Bourne.  This was collection of historical romances, all tied together by a gambling theme. The stories were great showcases of their writing talent. Each and everyone of them is worth tracking down.

#RomBkLove Day 27: Romance Icons Their names are synonymous with romance. Who are they? Where do you even start?

Growing up if I associated romance with anyone person, it was probably Barbara Cartland. Her all-pink ensembles, manor house and British accent where often featured on TV shows I watched as a kid.  But when I actually started reading romance two names more than any other kept coming up.  Nora Roberts and Georgette Heyer.  I would then look at their immense backlists and despair.  Where does one start?  Chronologically? With something on sale? A trusted rec?

In the end for both of them I ended up starting with a book that came with both recommendations and a low price point.  I bought a copy of the McKade brothers trilogy on sale, on the recommendation of several Nora fans.  I started Heyer with Venetia, for the same reasons.  Reading them has given me a better appreciation of the romance genre. I understand references to their work that previously passed me by.

What writers do you consider romance institutions? Are there any you are scared to try?

#RomBkLove Day 26: PNR, SFR, UF & Fantasy Magic, shifters & spaceships? Beyond the imaginative settings, what makes it special?

Magic, spaceships, shifters, I read them all. I love action, imaginative settings and I have a high tolerance for worldbuilding. In some ways I am more comfortable reading about kissing on the bridge of a spaceship than in corporate office. I came to Romance through PNR and UF and before I read romance I read SFR, UF and Fantasy for the romantic storylines.  These stories, whether it is the X-men or Tolkien, superheroes or mystical elves, helped me reflect about about our own world and many universal questions about humanity.  

PNR is really a huge genre, everything from mermaids to vampires and witches, and every mystical, supernatural creature in between. Personally I adore romances with Shifters. My favorite PNR is Nalini Singh's Psy-Changeling series. Her worldbuilding is imaginative and even though I sometimes have issue with some of the dynamics of her world (where are the LGBTIA people?? ), I am in too deep, I am deeply invested in the pack and family saga and the fascinating by the political suspense.

My favorite UF Series is probably Patricia Briggs Alpha and Omega series (a spin-off of her Mercy Thompson series).  It feature two wereworlves, Anna, a newly made wolf, who is neither a dominant or submissive wolf but something else. Anna had been forcibly turned and abused by her pack, and Charles, the chief enforcer for the supreme leader of the North American wolves, has been sent to investigate her pack and put things right. Their romance is gentle and sweet and it grows with each book as they learn about each other and how to make each other stronger. The stories have a lot suspense and political intrigue. 

I am currently reading a ton of SFR via KU, Ice Planet Barbarians. I was so skeptical (sex-toy like sex organs, aphrodisiac-pumping parasites), but the subtly expanding worldbuilding and family survival sagas aspect sneak attacked me into reading a dozen books about super-tall, blue, betailed aliens living in Hoth.  

But my SFR heart belongs to  Kit Rocha's amazing Beyond series. What started out as story about a diverse free-loving gang of bootleggers, carving out their own kind of happiness in the shadow of repressive city, grew into a sophisticated political saga, that grapples with the costs of war and moving beyond hedonism to building community, where family and belonging is not simply defined by blood relationships.

My favorite fantasy romance authors are probably Grace Draven whose Entreat Me (a retelling of Beauty and the Beast), is emotional and rich in characterization.

What do you read? Why?

#RomBkLove Day 25: Series & Sagas: Comfort, Continuity, Connection? What is the appeal of long-running series?

 Two of my very favorite series are actually PNR and SFR so I am going to save them for tomorrow's post (Nalini Singh's Psy-Changeling Series and Kit Rocha's Beyond Books).

In the past year I have re-read or binge read a ton of series.  The shared world-building whether in PNR/SFR, Historical or Contemporaries, provide comfort and continuity to me. When I am so exhausted by the constant adversarial change in the world, going back to a familiar & welcoming place in my books is emotionally restful.  After an initial investment, in learning the world-building of particular series, I can sink into it deeper and deeper with each book. The only thing I don't love about series is that when they get better and better and I can't in good conscience tell someone to skip ahead because they would miss the gradual buildup of the story and not have as much meaningful pay-off.

Stephanie Laurens and Julia Quinn's big series (Cynsters and Bridgetons)  are not those kinds of series however. Their series share characters and setting but the books essentially stand-alone. What they share strongly is tone.  These two series were integral to my romance education. They both have things that I have sought again and again in romance: a great sense of the ridiculous and scene-stealing secondary characters.

In contemporary romance, the first series where I really became invested was Shannon Stacey's Kowalski Family books. Centered around a extended family in small-town NH. The family feels really genuine, the family is struggling and chafing because of big and small resentments, and unvoiced feelings. As the series progresses, many of these issues get resolved without them sinking into plasticky perfection. The romances are fun and sexy without being wacky, sweet without being saccharine. I just want to hug these Kowalskis and stay at their inn.  

Although I initially resisted, I fell deep into Kristen Ashley's sprawling and lightly interconnected series. While I read all the Rock Chick, The 'Burg and the new Magdalene series books, my heart is firmly in her Colorado Mountain books. Set in two small Colorado towns, Gnaw Bone and Carnal, these books have strong action & suspense plots, sprawling casts, and colorful secondary characters.  I cared about Sunny and Shambles  and Jim Billy and Nadine just as much as I cared about Tate and Lauren.  These books are cracky and have many things about them that drive me absolutely crazy (house-design porn and macho-insanity) but I fell for the friendships and the action.  I can't re-read one, without re-reading the rest.

What series do you return to? Why read series and sagas?

#RomBkLove Day 24: Careers, Jobs & Work: The romance can be all in a day's work in some novels.  What vocations or jobs do you love reading about? Which ones do you avoid? Why?

I love reading books where the MCs have passions and careers outside of their love interests. I love it when MC's have to figure out a way to balance their ambitions and their love lives, and better yet when the romantic partners are one that respect and boost the other in their ambitions.  I do struggle however with books that depict certain kinds of stressful work environments, harassment, or abuse in particular is not something I deal with well. 

Julie James, Emma Barry, Joanna Bourne, Tamsen Parker, Laura Florand, KJ Charles, Amber Belldene and Lauren Dane tend to hit these work-life buttons for me. The MCs in these books, tend to feel passionately about their chosen vocations. Their lives might be complicated by their careers, and those careers aren't always glamorous but they are theirs.

Two books that I read recently that hit all my romance & career buttons were,

Tamsen Parker's Due South. 

"the sexiest book you will ever read about two people working crazy hours to rewrite a presentation on municipal bonds."

and KJ Charles's upcoming An Unnatural Vice, which I reviewed for RT 

"opposing vocations and radically different backgrounds create a powerful and fascinating conflict."

 

Both these books had strong romantic conflicts that were complicated by the MC's vocations and how that touch every other part of their lives. Both authors handled the conflicts in surprising and satisfying ways.

#RomBkLove Day 23: Romancelandia: From Meet-ups to Kerfuffles, friendships & debate What does it mean to you?

Like anything there are as many experiences of Romancelandia as there are people in it. My sense of Romancelandia is that it is always both bigger and smaller than I think, with people inter-connected in sometimes surprising ways. I know I inhabit a small corner of it, and most days it is a great place to be.  I am incredibly thankful for all the fellow readers, bloggers and authors I have met on twitter, whose thoughtful passion for Romance has introduce me to so many great books and authors. This month, like every month I am incredibly thankful for the conversations, from critical to squee, that help me expand my vision of Romance. 

Twitter is strange place sometimes, Both immediate and remote. But I have made friends on twitter. I listen, I learn and I make connections through it. Despite its flaws, it has made my reading and real life richer.  

So my  favorite part of Romancelandia is when I get a chance to connect with a twitter friend in real life

RWA in 2015 was fantastic. I met so many other readers, bloggers, and of course writers whose books I adore, it frankly overwhelming at times but so much fun. I completely understand why some make it a priority to go every year. That year, I arranged to meet up with Elisabeth Lane at RWA.  Elisabeth was my con buddy, that familiar person in the crowd. We weren't attached at the hip (and we had each brought our spouses),but we connected frequently throughout our time at the con, it was a pleasure to just to be free to chat in person.  Since then I've started making the effort to meet up with other readers when I can (meeting Kay of MBRR in Montreal  or having dinner with Lawless while in NYC last year) because these twitter relationships do matter to me a lot. 

So tell me about your corner of Romancelandia and what it brings to you...

#RomBkLove Day 22: Adaptation Movies, mini-series, games, etc., when loves leaps off the page do you follow?

Mid-Nineties Jane Austen movie and TV adaptations, Emma, Sense & Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice were romance gateways for me. I was inspired to read the books after they introduced me to Austen's work.

My favorite romance-adaptations now are two games.  The first is Regency Love, a iOS app that allows you to play act being a Regency miss, figuring out relationships with friends, townspeople and romancing a variety of  local gentlemen.  All the familiar Regency types are represented and there are multiple scenarios to play out,  so you can play it many times to acquire all sort of achievements. I found it delightful and addictive and I am sorry there have been no further updates.

My second favorite adaptation is Regency Solitaire. By playing the game and advancing through the levels you can unlock little episodes in the life of a young Miss whose matrimonial aspirations are being threatened by her brother's spend-thrift ways. The Solitaire levels were entertaining and the romance interludes fun.

What romance adaptations do you recommend and love?