Voracious romance readers often encounter a book which pushes their buttons. Some reader loathe royalty books, secret baby plots or books which feature adultery - and let us not get started on the forced seduction tales which incur many a reader's wrath. Now, I know that reading is a subjective activity and that we've all had different life experiences which mould our character and which may make us intolerant of some subjects, but personally speaking for me the only books which annoy me are the ones which I think are shoddily plotted with one dimensional characters which fail to come alive on the page and books which fail to elicit a single emotion from me barring one of annoyance.
I'm often annoyed by readers who state that they will only read books if the heroines are virgins or by writers who write in a similiar style to a particular author which I think is such a narrow approach to reading as these readers are missing out on some fabulous reads.
One of my all time favourites books is Going the Distance by Christina Jones, who also happens to be one of my all time favourite writers. Now, in this book, Maddy falls in love with a married man (a divinely gorgeous man called Drew)who happens to be married to Caroline. Now if you've not read this book, most of you will probably say that it's a very unromantic set up. Well, let me tell you, GTD is one of the most romantic and funniest books I've ever read and Christina is such a talented writer who handles the subject matter so well that I'd defy you not to fall in love with both Maddy and Drew and I'm positive that throughout the book you'll be cheering them on towards their happy ending.
Having a narrow approach to romance reading means that ultimately the reader will lose out on reading some great reads. I mean most women would balk at the idea that the hero of a romance novel dresses up in women's clothes - but does that stop us from fancying Mr. Rochester?
1 comment:
As a huge Christina Jones fan myself, I couldn't agree with you more, Julie. I adore all her books, but Going The Distance remains one of my very favourites. I only discovered it by pure chance and I am so glad fate dropped it in my lap as I have read every one since and Christina never disappoints. I remember now opening GTD for the first time and nearly being ill with laughter on the first couple of pages!!
Christina always delivers, never lets her readers down, and her books are packed full of humour, romance, wonderful characters - young and old - and they are guaranteed to make me laugh and cry.
You are so right that too many people can be rigid in their choices, or put off by a misconception. Only when you give a book a try can you know if it suits you or not. Not trying means you miss out on some real gems.
Love,
Mags
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