Mrs Giggles has yet another interesting post up on her blog. This time she’s asking why we don’t see romance heroes with the odd porn mag now and again:

Why do we get hardly any contemporary romance heroes who have porn in their PC or in their closet? I don’t remember reading any contemporary romances with heroes who seem to know what even Playboy is….

I’m not suggesting that I want to see romance heroes using sex toys or surfing porn all day, of course – I don’t want to read a romance novel where the heroine plays with the BOB all day either. But I find it unrealistic that we have Navy SEALs whose locker door isn’t graced with even a single saucy photo of some centerfold, a mechanic who doesn’t have at least a calender full of topless women on his office table, or a romance hero who has apparently never thumbed through a single issue of Playboy before.

To be honest, I really don’t see the point in highlighting the fact that a hero in a romance novel reads/watches porn. How would that further the plot? Even in an erotic romance, I’m not sure this would be of any relevance whatsoever. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’d just end up being fucked off, if in the middle of the book, the hero started spanking his monkey whilst looking at pics of random gigantic-breasted women. Who the fuck needs that much realism? Not me that’s for sure.

What say you? Yay or nay to authors showing heroes with porn mags/vids under their bed, and skin pics all over their lockers, in order to inject a sense of realism into the story?

How many books did you buy in January?

Me? I bought a measly six books. Six. Books. For the whole damned month.

I can’t figure out if it’s because I’m trying to spend less, or if there simply aren’t good enough books out there.

Sheesh. Talk about depressing.

TBR pile, here I come.

So, I was surfing round Blogland earlier, trying to catch up, when I came across this discussion over at the Smartbitches blog.

Basically, the discussion was about whether the Public Lending Right (PLR) system, (currently in operation in Canada, UK, Australia, and many other countries) where authors are paid royalties each time their books are borrowed, would be feasible in the US.

Some of the comments were interesting, but as per the universal healthcare discussion, the naysayers seemed to be caught up in the complexities of setting up such a system, rather than the benefits.

This was one of the most annoying comments that I came across, and that’s saying a lot, because there were quite a few: (more…)

It just seemed to go on, and on, and on, and on, and on. The first 100 e-book pages were ok, (I think) but after that, welcome to fucking Snoozefest.

Sheesh.

Here’s the blurb, and no, this isn’t a review.

As her 25th birthday approaches, mild-mannered Philomena Swann lives in terror of her annual birthday wish. Sure, she has a disinterested fiancé and a misogynistic boss, but from experience she knows wishing both away could result in disaster. Why? Because she and her sisters are one-eighth fairy. Not enough to give them magical powers, but enough to qualify for a fairy godmother—from hell.

All Phil wants is, just once, to have the courage to speak her mind. She blurts out her wish…and suddenly finds she can’t stop. To her friends. Her boss. Her Nana. And her best friend, hot and hunky co-worker, Josh. Before she can do any more damage, she begs for the spell to be reversed. And it is—with a vengeance. Now everyone else is compelled to tell her the truth. Including Josh.

But the fairy godmother’s not done. One more wish could change Phil’s world forever—if it doesn’t ruin her life first.

What? I was trying to expand my reading horizons, dammit. Plus it was a friends-to-lovers story, and I usually love those.

The heroine was insipid to the point of insanity. She totally brought out my murderous tendencies. That bitch needed to be slapped so badly, that my palms itched throughout the book. Oh yeah, also, the hero was wetter than a dish rag, and the plot was so stupid, I wanted to gouge my own eyes out.

Apparently, this is a series. Jeez.

Let’s hope the author stays away from slapstick comedy for the rest of the series, because books that try so effing hard to be amusing, rarely are.

Just sayin.

You can buy from Samhain Publishing, here. If you must.

I loved this book when I read it many years ago, and I possibly thought that Dick and Em were a romantic couple, but these days I’m not so sure. Their relationship was beautiful, but seeing as they both die in the end, I would class it more as a love story.

And, yes, they did die.

What do you guys think?

Warning: The following post is not for the faint of heart. *g*

Seriously?

I’m pretty sure there must be females out there who ‘gush’ when they climax, but really, is this a common thing, because I gotta say, nearly every erotic romance book that I read seem to feature gushing heroines.

These days, it’s not enough that they’re wet, no, no, they have to erupt like fucking mount vesuvius.

What’s that about?

Whenever I come across a ‘gushing’ heroine, I can’t help but imagine a woman with a tap sticking out of her fanny. (a fanny in England is the vagina, not the arse)

You can imagine how that would kinda kill the moment.

Totally makes me want to giggle out loud, and I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the original intention of the author.

Just sayin’.

I just read an interesting RTB column (yeah I know, I nearly died of shock too) by Angela Benedetti, called Do You Self Insert? Sounds kinky doesn’t it?

Apparently an NY editor claimed that M/M will only work in print as erotica, not as romance, because women only read M/M for the sexual thrill of seeing two men together, but when it comes to reading them on the basis of a long term monogamous relationship, they want to be able to place themselves in the story.

Angela writes:

So all right, Ms. Buchanan is obviously unfamiliar with the m/m end of the industry and is repeating the common wisdom she’s heard from other important people on the New York end of the romance genre. I’m sure those same people were just as dismissive of the commercial viability of erotic (het) romance before Ellora’s Cave proved that there’s a huge market for it. The larger publishers will figure out how big the readership is for m/m romance eventually, and then they’ll all be scrambling to bring out m/m romance lines. That’s not really what I wanted to talk about, though.

Instead, what I’m curious about is the inherent assumption behind her statement, that all or at least most het romance readers insert themselves into the story, putting themselves in the heroine’s place as they read.

Re the M/M issue? I think the editor is talking out of her arse, but to be honest, I’d rather discuss the self-insertion question.

I can honestly say that not once in all my reading years have I ever tried to put myself in the heroine’s place. I wonder how true that is of other romance readers?

I once knew a woman on a group list who was obsessed with a certain fictional romance hero, so much so that if anybody ever tried to ‘claim’ that particular character, even in jest, she would go absolutely mental. And I don’t mean, in a joking way either. I think she had a bit of a screw loose. I of course antagonised her at every given opportunity, by pretending to steal said fictional character away from her. Childish I know, but oh so much fun.

I think she’d actually convinced herself that she was in love with this particular hero. I’m not talking about jokingly coveting a particular character, because I understand that a lot of readers, have done that at one time or another (Sarah, you know The Rev is still mine right? *g*). No, this woman really believed that she and this fictional hero belonged together. *Shudder*

I guess when I think about some of the RFGs (Rabid Fan Girls) out there, I wonder if the self-insertion ‘myth’ is as much of an urban legend as we think it is?

Remember how I bitched about Beverly Havlir never updating her website? Well waddaya know, she has a book out today called Educating Emily. I was a little worried about the title because whenever I see the word ‘educating’, included in an erotic romance title, the theme is usually BDSM-centric, which just isn’t my cuppa. All that flogging and submissive bollocks gives me the heeby geebies. I’d rather poke myself in the eye with a hot fork methinks.

Anyway, I’m pleased to report that it’s not a BDSM book. Thank Oprah for that.

Here’s the blurb:

How to drive a man insane in bed.

That’s the subject of Emily Sinclair’s latest article for her online magazine. And she has just the guy in mind to teach her — Devlin McKay. After all, she’s fantasized about the hottie next door for years.

Devlin is shocked by Emily’s proposition, not to mention aroused. She’s definitely not a kid anymore, and she’s not just sexy — she’s irresistible. He agrees to be her sexual mentor, but he has a proposition of his own. When the lessons are over, they will each go their separate ways. He’s not in the market for a relationship.

One night in the classroom — well, bedroom — and Devlin is singing a different tune. Not only is Emily Sinclair all grown up, but she has a lot to teach him, too.

Yeah, the blurb needs work. If I’d happened upon this book without being familiar with the author’s writing, I’d have passed right over it, but whatever, it’s a Havlir baby!

Anyway, I’m off to buy and read!

I was thinking the other day that I haven’t been as adventurous this year in terms of trying many newbie authors.

I used to try at least one new author a week, but just lately, I seem to be sticking to the authors I know and love.

I wasn’t sure what was so different about this year, but then I remembered that a lot of my newbie authors in the past have been at EC, and since EC have stopped producing quality erotic romance, and seem to be doing the whole porn thing, I’ve stopped spending my money there.

My favourite find this year without doubt has definitely been Dorothy Koomson, but I have to say, I haven’t found any other book that managed to move me the way My Best Friend’s Girl did.

So, how have you guys fared so far? Have you found many to-die-for newbies, or like me, have you been sticking to the authors you already know and love?