I’m currently reading a book where the hero tells that the heroine that he loves her by page 40, and there are still 150 pages to go. Where’s the fun in that?
Erm.. incidentally, the couple seem to be having mammoth sex sessions every two pages, so I guess I’m supposed to forget about the plot, and just get my rocks off.
Nice.
MERLIN
December 20
9:35 pm
Not so unusual.
Metaphorically speaking I normally fall in love on page 3 and get totally bored by page 25 (after mammoth sex sessions).
We all have our problems.
M.
MERLIN
December 20
9:41 pm
PS Although I don’t really know most of you I’d like to take the opportunity to wish all of you who hang around on Karens’ blog a very happy Xmas and a great 2008.
Some of you have kept me hugely amused all year.
M.
Karen Scott
December 20
10:06 pm
Mery Christmas mate, did you get my card? I got yours, and very nice it was too!!
By the by, I’m very familiar with that hotel that Jonny Evans was in. Another money grabbing wench trying to ruin a young man’s reputation I’d guess (yes, very unfeminist of me), what say you?
Oh yes, and 1-0 at Anfield suited me right down to the ground. Shame Chelsea and the Arses didn’t draw.
Karen Scott
December 20
10:07 pm
And that would be Merry. Dammit.
kis
December 20
11:22 pm
Just read a 270 page ebook where they don’t even have sex until the last chapter, and somehow I managed to not only keep reading (and ignoring the laundry), but to cry a few times along the way. Awww.
Constant sex gets very boring to read. I like long enough breaks in between that if the author uses similar phrases to describe pretty much the same acts in more or less identical order three sex scenes later, there’s still a minuscule chance I won’t notice it and rip my hair out.
And merry xmas to everyone.
Rattitude
December 20
11:46 pm
Plot does seem to have become optional with a lot of erotic romance….
Anonymous
December 21
12:51 am
Antz said:
All I know is that when I read a book where they gold for the gold every three pages, I don’t care if it’s the good steamy sex that makes you want to change your panties (too much info I know) but when a author does that to me I just skip over the steamy bits and get to readimg me some plot.
Shannon Stacey
December 21
2:02 am
I once heard a Harl/Sil editor say that the romantic arc, and therefore the book, is essentially over when the hero professes his love. As a reader, I find that’s usually true for me. I’ve found a few exceptions, but not many.
notyouraveragecitizen
December 21
2:34 am
Damn! It’s amazing what passes for sexy and adult romance nowadays. What about the pleasure of the build up? What about the anticipation for crying out loud?
Geez!
kis
December 21
4:59 am
Yeah, the climax (cough, cough) of a romance for me is always when the man admits what a shit he’s been and professes his love, especially if he begs for forgiveness. That kind of remorseful groveling is way better than sex.
I’m sure that exposes some sad psychopathology in me, but there you are.
Dionne Galace
December 21
7:37 am
I’m sure that exposes some sad psychopathology in me, but there you are.
Amen, sista. We share the same affliction, then.
Metaphorically speaking I normally fall in love on page 3 and get totally bored by page 25 (after mammoth sex sessions).
We all have our problems.
Merlin never fails to crack me up, man.
MERLIN
December 21
8:53 am
No card yet but they’re delivering until Monday – it’ll turn up.
And I get a few trips to Arsenal next year courtesy of corporate hospitality.
M.
Dawn
December 21
8:59 am
I think if the hero professed his love that early I’d think he was a stalker!
Anyway, my last day at work for the year, so Merry Christmas to all of you and thanks for the laffs.
Angelia Sparrow
December 21
11:36 am
*blush* I’m working on one where the hero professes his love on page 30/150.
The rest of the book is about the relationship, how an agoraphobic PTSD Iraq vet and a double-amputee phone psychic start to make a life a together.
I think it depends on how and why the “I love you” comes so early.
Sarah McCarty
December 21
12:15 pm
I’m agreeing with the Har/Sil editor. It’s a lot like the clues in covers that explains to us the content of the book in the snapshot of a blink, When the hero professes his love, it is the signal to the reader that all conflict is over. The confessing is a sign of total acceptance. The challenge has been completed. the race is over and about 50 other analogies that all fit.*G * Having the heroe confess too early is a lot like starting an hour long fireworks display with the grand finale. The subsequent explosions are pretty, but they don’t have the same punch and the end of the show is more a petering out of pyrotechnics than a memorable crescendo.
Natch, I’m only talking romance, not erotica, not suspense, mystery, etc, and hopefully I’m being coherent because I’ve only had one sip of coffee. *G*
Sarah McCarty
December 21
12:17 pm
Hey Merlin. *waving* How are you doing?
Amie Stuart
December 21
3:51 pm
Constant sex gets very boring to read.
Dare I say, they get boring to write as well *ducks*
Merry Christmas Karen and everyone!
azteclady
December 21
4:10 pm
While most romance novels are about the journey to that first heartfelt “I’ve been an asshole, but I love you so much, pretty please forgive me, and I’ll devote my life to making you happy,” I’ve read and enjoyed more than one in which the conflict comes after–when people get to sharing their lives completely, with morning breath and upset stomachs, as well as the ghosts of loves past. If and when these are well written, they are better than the more traditional format (for me), because frankly, the real work starts after the “I love you.”
Barbara Sheridan
December 21
6:18 pm
I once heard a Harl/Sil editor say that the romantic arc, and therefore the book, is essentially over when the hero professes his love.
As a reader and when I write I’m very big on the “want it can’t have it” situations characters can get into. If an author can get that going I think the couple can be together–almost until the story’s true end.
I also agree with a fondness for placing as much story and characterization as possible in between the sex scenes.
MERLIN
December 21
7:49 pm
Hey Sarah – I’m fine thanks ; how about you ?
Karen : card turned up this afternoon. Merci bien – and now I have a name for “TTG”.
Why TTG anyway ?
M.
Karen Scott
December 21
10:25 pm
Merlin, it stands for The Tall Guy. He’s 6ft 3, lol.
MERLIN
December 22
5:17 pm
Ah….I always wondered.
Only 2.5 inches taller than me so I’m not jealous !
M.