The Wrangler's Inconvenient Wife

On a recent blog post where I wrote about an experience I had reading another inspirational romance, Kelly left a comment that she thinks of historical inspirationals as Little House on the Prairie for adults.  Which is why I have quickly come to think of Lacy Williams as my new "comfort" author.  Her books are just so darn cozy and wholesome, without being cloying.  I slip right into the world she creates and happily go traipsing along with her characters until the final page.  The Wrangler's Inconvenient Wife is the fourth book in the Wyoming Legacy series and it was so easy to fall back in with White family once again.

Pa and Ma are out of town, and with his two older brothers now with families of their own, it's up to Edgar White to bring his Pa's cattle to market.  Unfortunately it's been one trial after another.  Damaged train tracks mean the train that was going to take their cattle to Cheyenne gets derailed.  On that derailed train?  Fran Morris and her sister Emma, who are part of a passel of orphans looking for adoptive homes.  Turns out though that Fran is of-age!  She lied!  She only did it to protect her sister, to spirit Emma out of Memphis and away from an older man who had become obsessed with her.  But she's in the stew now.  The orphanage matron is calling for her head, she can't go back to Memphis, and Emma is in real danger.  What's left?  Why marry a cowboy, of course!

Edgar marries Fran to keep her out of jail and so none of his brothers take it in their fool heads to marry her.  It's a rocky start to their union however because Edgar cannot abide liars - and while Fran sure is pretty, she's been lying up to her eyeballs.  Now he has to figure out a way to get his Pa's cattle to market, protect Fran and Emma, and oh yeah - figure out what to do with his new wife.  A tricky situation for a man who had never, ever planned to marry.

This was a nice, pleasant read.  Edgar has baggage, mostly regarding his childhood.  Yes, he was adopted by Jonas White and raised in a loving home.  However what that has done is instill a sense of obligation in him.  Jonas saves him, ergo he "owes" Jonas.  He's borderline obsessive getting the cattle to Cheyenne.  He simply cannot let his Pa down.  Period.

You feel for a girl like Fran who is literally the picture of why I'm glad I was born in the late 20th century.  She is all Emma has and as a mere woman, protecting her sister is not an easy thing.  Their parents are dead, her much older brother essentially abandoned them at boarding school, a school they could not pay for, and once a man with resources sets his sights on Emma - well, what chance do they have?  The answer is none.  So she does what she has to do to spirit them to safety, and if that means marrying a stranger - then so be it.

As much as I've come to care about this family and these characters, this wasn't as strong as the other books in the series.  It took a while for the story to find some footing, for me.  It's not really until the couple hits the trail together that things started to pick up.  Also there were elements that I thought the author glossed over a bit - namely the tension between Edgar and his brother Ricky.  It's not explored much and I never felt like I got a good handle on it.  However maybe the finer details are being saved for Ricky's story, which is due out in December.  And while I know I was supposed to feel sorry for Emma, and understand her fears, I couldn't help but get annoyed with the girl.  Sigh.  Yes, I really am this cold-hearted.

So it's not my favorite in the series, but it was a nice return to a world that I've come to care about.  Edgar was always the character that I knew was going to be the toughest nut to crack, and for the most part the author makes his romance work.  If you're looking for cozy, look no further than a Lacy Williams romance.

Final Grade = C+

Little Miss Crabby Pants Is (Almost) Speechless

The birth of my online persona coincides directly with discovering, and falling in love, with the romance genre.  99.9% of "me online" has everything to do with romance novels.  And I've been "me online talking about romance novels" since 1999.  Let's do the math kiddies: That's 15 years.  Wendy has been online blathering about romance novels for 15 years.

In other news, I have no life.

Which is why when "stuff happens" around my little corner of Online Romancelandia I don't always feel the need to comment.  Why?  Because chances are very good that it's a rerun of something that was playing online 2, 5, 10 or 15 years ago.  My policy is basically to only haul out Little Miss Crabby Pants when I feel like I have something to say and I'm not immediately bored by the topic.

And then the Internet decides to wake-up one day and throw me the Granddaddy of All Curve Balls:

A publisher is suing a blogger.

News broke on Friday that Ellora's Cave is suing Dear Author for their recent post: The Curious Case of Ellora's Cave.  Go ahead, go read the post.  And then try to figure out why it's worth suing over - because I've read it a few times now and can't quite figure that out.

Other nice commentary on this recent WT-Actual-F can be found over at Smart Bitches, AztecLady's blog, and Sunita's blog.  Go ahead, go read those posts.

Done?  Ok.

Now let me tell you why we all need to care.

"But, but, but....Little Miss Crabby Pants!  I don't read Ellora's Cave books!  I don't even like Dear Author!  Heck, I'm not even a blogger!  Why should I care?"

Do you like to read books?  Do you like to find out about books?  Yeah, time to start caring.

EC is looking to, essentially, gag Dear Author.  Don't say anything "bad" about us or else we're going all Tom Cruise Nuclear on you and dragging you into court.  Now there are many authors and readers who feel that Dear Author is a Mean Girl blog.  Honestly, I've never gotten that - but to each their own.  The Internet is a wide open space and there's nothing saying you have to like every blog - even mine.  There's a lot of variety out there, find what you like and run with it.

But this suit scares the bejeebus out of me.  Why?  Because in the 15 years I have been online, talking about romance novels, the great, the good, the bad, the OMGWHY?!?!?!?!! of the romance novel world never once - not once! - did I see something like this coming.

We all need to care because if a publisher can go after a blogger for essentially writing a news story, featuring facts culled from other sources (oh, like the public record since EC has been a part of a few lawsuits already), what does this mean for any of us who want to talk about books?

Are we entering into a world where a self-published author can sue a reader for leaving a one-star review of their book on GoodReads?  If I write a ranty-pants review on my blog stating how I thought the hero was a jerk and the heroine was as dumb as a sack of hair, will the publisher sue me for hurting book sales? (In which case I'd tell them to look at my blog numbers and not worry about it)

Where does that leave us?

It leaves us with romance novels pre-Internet.  The days of No Talk and Yes Men.  The only way you heard about new books was to go blindly browsing in the drugstore or listening to Yes Men reviews that glowed about everything published.

So many of us came to the Internet to find "our people."  To find people who would honestly, openly, and not disparagingly talk about the books we loved to read.  And dagnabit, we wanted it all.  We wanted to talk about the great, the good, the bad, and the really, really ugly.  We wanted to learn what each others' ugly was.  We recommend books we hate to other readers who we think might really like them (Dude, I've totally done this).  We squee! about books we love hoping other readers will find them and love them just as much as we did.

And here's a newsflash to publishers and authors: you really don't want to silence that.  Yes, sometimes readers do things you don't like.  We hate on books.  But we also love on books.  Heck, we're TALKING ABOUT BOOKS!  Boooooooooks.  We think books are cool.  We love books!  Books are your business.  Heck, you should love that we think books are cool.

You probably, should, you know, not sue us.  Especially if things are less than rosy.  It might be more prudent to get your own house in order.  Just sayin'.

I was part of the Wild West of Online Romancelandia - back when The Romance Reader (TRR) and All About Romance (AAR) were The Devil.  Even when I felt I had to attend RWA as a Librarian First and keep my reviewing/blogging gigs somewhat quiet, the idea of something like a publisher suing a blogger never, in a million years, entered into my mind.

And that folks, is why we should all care.  Because it really is THAT messed up.  What's next?  A reader/blogger getting sued because that 4-star review just didn't feel quite positive enough?  Because the animated gifs that induce seizures just weren't quite OMG BESTEST BOOK EVER IT CHANGED MY LIFE enough?

If that day comes, someone stick a fork in me.  I'll be done.

More Unusual Historicals!

My latest round-up of Unusual Historicals has gone live over at Heroes & Heartbreakers.  September offers an ecclectic mix - everything from an Italian dance instructor falling for a housekeeper to a jazz club in 1920s Harlem.

Check 'em out!

Audiobook Round-Up: Cats and Cops

My daily commute has been a bit of a trial lately so I thought it was high-time I got back into the swing of things with audiobooks.  It's better than listening to terrible DJs on the radio who play the three same songs over and over again.  Plus if I keep track of what I listen to?  It pads my yearly reading totals and I don't look like so much of a slacker.  It's win-win people!  Here's what I've listened to lately:

The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye is a book that has intrigued since an ARC landed on my desk back at The Old Job.  And naturally, since romance novels take up a huge chunk of my time, I never got around to it.  I was at a library recently for a meeting and saw it in their audiobook section and viola!

This is a historical mystery set in 1845 New York City and follows Timothy Wilde, a bartender saving up money to marry the girl of his dreams.  Until his little corner of the City literally goes up in smoke taking not only his job, but his money with him.  His brother is a cog in the political machine and gets him a position with the new formed police department.  A job Timothy has no interest in, mostly because he'd be beholden to his brother and politics (which he loathes).  But he ends up taking to it like a duck to water, and finds himself playing detective when a young Irish girl, in a blood-soaked shift, literally runs into him on the street.

This had excellent period detail, although it's what I would classify as an "ugly history" book.  There's nothing pretty about this, but then we're talking New York City in the mid-19th century.  Pretty was hard to come by.  A huge chunk of the story revolves around the anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant sentiment at the time, and without going into too much politicking of my own - I think this would make an excellent book club read when you juxtapose 19th century anti-Irish, anti-Catholic sentiment against - well, what we're seeing in the United States today....and I'll just leave it at that.

That said, this is a Bad Things Happens To Kids book (two words: Child. Prostitutes.) and with the historical details comes period language (largely slang).  I know how I am, and I think this would have been a "hard read" for me - but on audio it was excellent (I'd rather see Shakespeare preformed than read it ::shudder::).  Steven Boyer was a wonderful narrator, I thought he handled the accents well, and it kept me glued to my car seat....as it were.  Highly recommended.

Grade = B+

The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lilian Jackson Braun is the first in a series and was originally published in 1966 - and boy does that show!  I loved this series as a teen and kept reading each new installment as an adult even though they devolved into saccharine messes featuring Stepford-like characters who lacked a sense of irony.  What can I say?  Nostalgia can be a killer.

Anyhow, revisiting this first book reminds me that once upon a time there was a little bite to this cozy series, namely Jim Qwilleran's a recovering alcoholic and his journalism career is in the toilet.  Where this series doesn't hold up is, naturally, with technology and anytime when the cost of things (oh, like rent) are mentioned.  But the really glaring instance of Oh How Times Have Changed comes in the form of a secondary character (and possible murder suspect) who is the most stereotypical depiction of a lesbian ever put to paper.  Seriously, the woman's name is "Butchy."  No, I'm not making that up.  Which reminds me of the one big quibble I always had with this series.  Braun was crap for writing female characters.  They're either obnoxious, offensive, or waif-like sparrows who need protecting from The Big Bad World.

I would still recommend this for anybody interested in the history of the cozy mystery sub genre, especially in regards to the US market.  Yeah, yeah - Agatha Christie.  But the cozy market as we know it today in the US (magical baking knitting cats that solve crimes!) can directly be led back to Braun.  Anybody not interested in genre history?  Meh.  Still, it was fun to revisit for me and I'll probably listen to more in the series.  Because, you know, nostalgia.

Final Grade = C

Afraid To Die by Lisa Jackson is the fourth in a series that I impulsive-grabbed off a library shelf because I was desperate to avoid DJ chatter until some of my holds came in.  I got through the first two CDs (out of 10) and called it a day.

The first strike against this book was the narration.  When it was descriptive passages or internal monologues I was fine.  Natalie Ross tended to be overly dramatic for my tastes - but it was still OK.  Until the dialogue portions, and then it was eye-rollingly awful.  Male voices were just....bad.  Also accents, especially Detective Alvarez's, were completely fluid.  

I might have kept up with the book though if the story had caught my attention - which it didn't.  Chalk it up to reading too much category romance, but filler drives me crazy and this story had a ton of it.  Do I care about the police station's Secret Santa exchange that both Alvarez and Pescoli are dreading?  Do I care about the secretary who is such a Little Miss Mary Sunshine that whenever she opens her mouth she barfs up stereotypical Christmas cheer?  Do I care that Pescoli's kids are terrible human beings that I want to reach through the car speakers and strangle?

The answer would be no.  To all of that.  If it doesn't pertain to the whack-job serial killer and/or catching said whack-job?  I.  DON'T.  CARE.  Where's my red pen when I need it?

Also how Alvarez reunites with a long-lost lover strains at the seams.

Nothing was happening that I liked, so back I went to inane DJ chatter.

Final Grade = DNF

TBR Challenge 2014: Baby Makes Three

The Book: Baby Makes Three by Molly O’Keefe 

The Particulars: Contemporary romance, Harlequin SuperRomance #1460, 2007, Book 1 in The Mitchells of Riverview Inn trilogy, Out of Print, Available digitally

Why Was It In Wendy’s TBR?: After discovering the awesomeness of O’Keefe’s Supers I glommed her entire category backlist. I picked this one for the Recommended Read TBR Challenge theme because it’s a favorite of Miss Bates.

The Review:

Suddenly, the reality of her life hammered home like a nail in her coffin. She worked shifts at a chain restaurant and was hungover at three on a Friday afternoon. 

If O’Keefe has a “formula,” I would say it’s in her highly damaged, a half-step away from rock-bottom characters. This story is no different. That cliché “you always hurt the ones you love?” Yeah, this book. I wouldn’t be surprised if the author had that written on a post-it note and stuck to her computer monitor during the writing process.

Gabe Mitchell has built his dream on the Hudson River. An inn with breathtaking views, private cabins and a state-of-the-art kitchen. The problem is he cannot seem to find a chef and the few who have applied (and crashed and burned the interview process) have told him nobody would want to work in “the middle of nowhere” anyway. Gabe is desperate. He’s a few weeks from opening, has a society wedding booked at the last minute, and….no chef. Only a man this desperate would show up, hat in hand, on his ex-wife’s doorstep.

Alice is a great chef. A great chef working at a crappy chain restaurant after her marriage dies a slow, painful death and her own restaurant goes down in flames (figuratively, not literally). She’s living life at the bottom of the nearest bottle and is barely hanging on by her fingernails. Gabe showing up opens a lot of old wounds that haven’t even scabbed over yet. But he’s desperate and turns out so is she. So she agrees to bail him out, work at his inn for a couple of months, and then she’s gone. Or so she thinks.

What makes this story so incredibly gut-wrenching is that you’re reading about two people who still love each other but are in a serious pain. Gabe and Alice were passionately in love. Until reality hit. Reality that they both wanted family, wanted to build a life together, and two miscarriages (late ones) rocked their foundation. They’re both devastated, but instead of grieving together, they end up tearing each other apart. Now they’re back in close quarters out of desperation. Alice essentially a drunk. Gabe unable and unwilling to “deal” with anything. His idea of “dealing” is to sweep everything under the rug and pretend like it never happened.

It’s a hard, hard story. The kind of book that emotionally exhausts you while you’re reading it and the kind of book I tend to back-hand category naysayers with when they say “::sniff:: I don’t read escapist fantasy trash about sheikhs and princesses ::sniff::” 

Gah. Seriously. Shut-up.

If I have any quibbles about this story it’s that it’s so heavy that I’m not sure even a SuperRomance is enough to really flog out all the “issues.” Plus it reads very much as a trilogy. As a stand-alone it doesn’t entirely work. Yes, our couple ends up together, but there’s a development later in the story that leaves me with a worried pit at the bottom of my stomach (will it work out OK?). Also we have series baggage (Mommy Issues Ahoy!) that is blatantly left dangling at the end to feed the next two books in the trilogy.

Still, it’s a really good book. The sort of book that romance readers know exist in the genre, but naysayers don’t have a clue about since they’re too busy sneering at us about sheikhs, secret babies, Greek tycoons and/or Fifty Shades. There’s nothing in this story that I couldn’t see happening in “real life” – which made it all the more poignant.

Final Grade = B+

Retro Review: Touching Evil by Kay Hooper

This review of Touching Evil by Kay Hooper was first publishing at The Romance Reader in 2001.  I rated in 5-Hearts (A rating) with a content warning of "graphic violence" and a sensuality content rating of "PG."

+++++

“The same way I know who he is. Not a face, not a name. Just evil. Just evil alive and walking around pretending to be human. I have to stop him. I have to.”

Maggie Barnes isn’t a cop, but rather a talented artist working for the Seattle police department. Maggie has a knack. She speaks with victims of violent crimes, and uses their recollections to draw very accurate sketches of the perpetrators. The cops she works with just think that she’s incredibly talented, but it’s much more than that; so, when a terrifying madman starts preying on the city’s woman, Maggie finds her “talents” pushed to the limits.

The madman is actually a brutal, serial rapist that abducts women, literally blinds them, and dumps their bodies in isolated places, leaving them for dead. One such woman was Christina Walsh, who eventually committed suicide. Christina’s death brings John Garrett into town, a powerful businessman who manages to muscle his way into the investigation. He’s determined to get answers, and the minute he meets Maggie, he knows she’s the one who can provide them.

However, as the rapist begins escalating his activities, and the city comes under the grip of panic, John knows he’s going to have to call in a few favors. That means bringing an old friend into town - an old friend who happens to be a psychic and an FBI agent.

Touching Evil is a full-force, page turning, suspense-driven read. As I write this review, I tell myself that the above plot description must be (in fact has to be) vague in order for potential readers to really fall under this story’s spell. Hooper provided enough twists and turns to her story, that it had this reader anxiously gripping the pages and not leaving my couch for hours on end.
Maggie is the sort of strong-willed heroine that I enjoy reading about in suspense stories. She’s smart, observant, with a steely almost untouchable reserve. John is also smart and driven, with a head for business, and a reality firmly grounded in the practical. Initially, he is skeptical about Maggie’s gift and that of his FBI agent friend, but time and again when he’s confronted with the extraordinary, he opens his mind to reach outside of the box.

Hooper made a splash last year with her Shadows trilogy, but Touching Evil has crossover smash written all over it. Not only is the suspense gripping stuff, but also she skillfully weaves in a believable, budding romance, and the paranormal. In fact, the author has me swallowing the psychic angle with nary a skeptical thought entering my mind.

While I enthusiastically endorse Touching Evil, it is not a book for everybody. For one thing, this story earned my graphic violence rating. The very nature of the rapist’s crimes is a real stomach churner, and one of the victims in particular is a real gut-wrencher. There’s also a little unfinished business regarding Maggie’s half-brother, another talented artist with a “knack.” Since this is the first book in a new trilogy, I’m hoping the author isn’t quite finished with him yet.

Hooper fans will be happy to note that this new series is loosely connected to her earlier Shadows trilogy (hence John’s FBI agent friend), with Noah Bishop’s FBI task force playing a big part in the investigation (although Bishop himself only makes a brief appearance).

Hooper has been moving away from straight-up romance for the last several years, and if she keeps churning about books like this, I seriously doubt her fans will have any problems with it. If the New York Times Bestsellers List is any indication, this author is moving up in the world, with plenty of readers ready to follow along for the ride.

+++++

Wendy Looks Back: Readers often talk about "losing themselves" in a good book and that was exactly the case here - my first read immediately following the events of September 11, 2001 in the US.  I was not that far removed from my college days in western New York and had many friends living in the City.  It was a very tense time, full of worry, and this book got me through it.  It would be hard to label this one a "comfort read" given the content, but having grown up as a mystery reader prior to getting hooked on romance - that's kind of what this story did for me.  It took me back to my teenage years of cruising my small town public library looking for new mystery authors to try.

Hooper, of course, has since gone on to enjoy mainstream success - routinely showing up on bestseller lists and publishing in hard cover.

Reminder: TBR Challenge for September

For those of you participating in the 2014 TBR Challenge, this is a reminder that your commentary is "due" on Wednesday, September 17.  This month's theme is Recommended Read.  This one should be easy!  A book recommended by someone - a close, personal friend, an online bud, a blogger, a review you stumbled across on GoodReads late one night etc.  However, remember - the themes are totally optional and are not required.  Maybe you've got your heart set on reading that book that you impulse bought because the description sounded good. It's not important what you read, just that you pull something (anything!) out of the TBR pile.

To learn more about the challenge and see a list of participants, please see the information page.

A Call For Swag Plus H&H

Because my summer wasn't busy enough, I've decided to pack my calender this fall as well.  I've got several library programs coming up, including one on October 11 at a small branch for my former employer.

The topic du jour will be new and upcoming romance releases, plus what is hot and trendy at the moment.  I thought it might be fun to offer up some swag for attendees.  So romance authors - if you have swag you'd like to unload (and if you have a recent or fall release, even better!) please e-mail me if you're interested in sending me some goodies.  Again, the program is October 11, and the last time I did a program at this location about a dozen folks showed up.  So really, I wouldn't need a ton of stuff.  Well, except for maybe bookmarks.  I'm sure the library would love any leftover bookmarks.

+++++

In other news, I've had two posts go live over at Heroes & Heartbreakers.  First, my monthly round-up of unusual historicals - which Holy Hannah, Samhain decided to publish several westerns this past month.  Huzzah!

And speaking of westerns - I've got a First Look of the latest Rosanne Bittner offering, Desperate Hearts.  This isn't a traditional review, per se - more like an extended glimpse of what the story is about.  For me, personally, it wasn't one of Bittner's finer offerings.  It was one of those City Gal Heads To Middle Of Nowhere And Has No Clue What She's Gotten Herself Into stories - and honestly, I'm just not a fan of those.  I read westerns to get away from heroines like that, so this read like an extended Rescue Fantasy to me and.....meh.  But if you like that sort of plot - then certainly worth a look.  In the meantime, I'm looking forward to next summer when Sourcebooks will be reprinting one of Bittner's Old School meaty sagas, Outlaw Hearts.

Little Miss Crabby Pants Gets Her Pious Panties In A Bunch

When it comes to sensuality in romance novels I am a reader who will read the gamut.  Everything from just kisses to the filthiest, naughtiest sexy times you can imagine.  Books that my pious dead grandmother would find appropriate, and books that would cause said pious grandmother to stroke out if she weren't already dead.

When it comes to "the naughty bits" - I don't discriminate.  I like logical behavior and consenting adults.  Really, that's about it.  Give me those things, whether it's a "gentle" story or massive orgies involving hanging upside down from chandeliers - I'll judge the books pretty much the same way.  Did I like these people?  Do I feel like they belong together?  Did I get lost in the story?  

As much as I've "judged" books over the years, I've tried never to judge The Reader.  Readers read romance for a variety of reasons.  The reason I read the genre isn't necessarily "the right reason" or even "the only reason."  Plus you need to factor in personal baggage.  As much as readers talk about getting "lost" in a story - we never go into any story totally alone.  No, we're dragging a couple steamer trunks of personal junk along with us.  There is nothing wrong with this.  We're human.  No matter how hard we try, we will never forget ourselves entirely.  Which is why I always say that "relating" to a character is hogwash.  Make me understand the character(s), and you've got me.  I'll follow an author straight off a cliff if they make me "understand" the character(s).

Which brings me to inspirational romance.  When describing myself I would have to say I'm not a religious person.  Which begs the question of why I read the occasional inspirational romance.  It's pretty much the same reason I read category romance.  Sometimes I just want the romance.  I want a strong focus on "the relationship."  Sometimes I just want a nice story about nice people.  And inspirationals can give that to me.  Nice story, nice people, and common themes that play well into religious overtones without preaching from the pulpit.  For example, I've read many an inspirational where forgiveness and redemption are common themes.  I find these compelling as a reader, and while they play well into a religious world view, they are understandable and relatable to readers who don't necessarily believe in a higher power.  In other words, when done right, inspirationals can be life affirming without truckloads of endless preaching and spoon-feeding doctrine to readers.

I thought I'd never say this, but now I'm wondering if my reasons for reading inspirationals is "wrong." OK, maybe not "wrong" per se, but just a completely different reason other than why 99.9% of hardcore inspirational readers read them.

A perfect example of what I'm running up against happened to me this past weekend.  I'm in the midst of contest judging so cannot name the book outright, but in broad strokes - it's a historical mail-order bride story.  Literally, in the first chapter, the couple is married.  M-A-R-R-I-E-D.  As in, holy matrimony.  So the conflict is, essentially, that they are strangers and married.  Got it?  So being married, the couple does have sex.  Now, this being an inspriational, the sex is behind closed doors - but the couple is attracted to each other.  They have "feelings."  They feel desire for each other.

I'm thinking this is a good thing, right?  I mean, characters in romance novels who aren't eunuchs and/or dead below the waist are always a good thing.  Sex is part of the human condition.  I mean, God wants us to be fruitful and multiple, right?  And if you believe in God, and God gave us sex, how can sex (especially sex between a consenting married couple who have the hots for each other) be a bad thing?

But apparently I'm barking up the wrong tree.  Here are samples of some reviews I came across for this particular book.

"Throughout there is too much information behind their private doors."

Really?  I must have missed the part where Vin Scully strode in the bedroom and started giving readers the play-by-play.

"However, the endless descriptions of the couple’s passionate moments were way, way too much in this novel. It got in the way of the overall story a lot."

The irony being that I was bored with a lot of the other "stuff" in this story and was really struck by the fact that the author chose to portray an intimate married couple without being graphic.  Go figure.

"There was a little too much intimacy in the book to suit my personal reading preferences so I was a little disappointed in this book. Maybe there should have been a little pre-wedding story before the wedding."

So newlyweds being attracted to each other and doing what newlyweds do all while the author is giving us the G-rated rundown is "too much."  Got it.  

"Not that it was as bad as mainstream smut, but, it was way too much in my opinion. It didn't feel like a clean read at all..."

Words.  Fail.  ::headdesk::

So, let me see if I understand the issue here.  We have a married couple (M-A-R-R-I-E-D) who have the hots for each other and have G-rated sex behind closed doors.  The "passionate moments" are essentially heated looks, teasing banter, and the characters embracing.

And yet this is apparently "bad."

In which case I hope none of these women ever set foot in the Bat Cave and accidentally stumble across my collection of Black Lace novels.  I'd probably find myself the subject of an exorcism.  Or as the lead in a reenactment of the Salem Witch Trials.  Either one = Not. Good.

Romance readers are often labelled as wanting to escape into a Fantasy Land because they can't handle "real life."  Yes, some readers do read romance for escapism (I don't - but I also don't feel like there's anything wrong with "escapism" - hey, whatever floats your boat).  Some readers like that emotional connection that romance gives to them.  Emotions are universal human conditions.  We all can understand hate, anger, joy, happiness etc.  Romance offers that immediate buy-in.  Then there is this business of "falling in love."  A lot of us have done it, but it's never uniform.  How one couple "falls in love" can be (and often is) totally different from most other couples on the planet.  Love may be universal, but it's also a tad mysterious.  It's not one size fits all.  You can't bottle it.  That's why it's so freakin' fantastic to read about.  Yes, in romance, the characters fall in love.  But they don't necessarily fall in love the exact same way as the couples that came before them.

 Like all romance sub genres, I think inspirationals offer these things too.  But these comments I keep running up against in some inspirational reviews begs the question:

What do inspirational readers want?  

And for that matter - do I really want an answer to that question?  (Probably not)

Because honestly, I'm starting to wonder.  If it's not OK for a married couple to feel desire for each other - well I'm sorry, I don't know who to feel more sorry for: the women leaving these kinds of review comments or.....their husbands.

And yes, I just went there.

I refuse to believe that I shouldn't be reading inspirational romances and I refuse to believe that I'm wrong for reading them for the reasons that I do.  I've always said that I read romances because I believe in the heroine.  I believe she can be the hero of her own story.  I believe she deserves happiness.  And by extension, women in real life deserve happiness.  They should be allowed to control their own destinies.  They should be allowed to feel desire, to be open in their sexuality, to revel in being A Woman.  And then I read comments like the above in reviews for inspirational romances and I think, "If married women aren't allowed to be sexual and feel desire for their husbands, what are we left with?"

Yeah, a big steaming pile of No Thank You Ma'am.

So who is the problem here?  I refuse to believe I am the problem - because this is my blog and I'm always right on my blog.  I refuse to believe that an inspirational author writing about the feelings and desires of a married couple is wrong.  And while I try very hard to never tell another reader what they should feel, what they should think, and that yes, they are allowed to their own opinion - this is one instance where I want to stand on top of a desk, give my patented Librarian Death Stare and say....

Madam, you are wrong.

But instead I'll settle for blogging it.