Finished Linda L Miller's McKettirck's Luck the other night. Pretty good read, but I must say, I'm really turned off by the whole romance genre right now. This can't be a good thing, considering I write romance!! But honestly, the last few books I picked up, I couldn't get past the first three pages. Even this one,... there was so much narrative in the first chapter -- so much crammed-in backstory, that if I wasn't trapped in the little room where my son's speech therapy was taking place, I may not have continued. There were SOOOO many characters - cousins, dead relatives, etc... that I found it rather distracting. But the author had to set it up this way because it's the first of a series. Next up is McKettrick's Pride, then McKettrick's Heart. So in addition to getting to know about Jesse, the hero, we had to have the history of him and his cousins, Rance and Keegan, -- and their backstories! And Sienna, and Travis, and the crippled brother, and the romantic-at-heart mother, and Bronwyn, the waitress at the pub...It's no wonder that main characters in romance novels are more-often-than-not orphans or only-children, otherwise the author has to bore the reader to death with every person in the immediate and extended family. I just read a similar observation in Abby Godwin's blog.
Again, I feel compelled to say that I enjoyed the book overall. And loathe that I am to say negative things since I'm still collecting rejections, there was one scene in the book that was so contrived it was painful to read. Here's the abridged version:
Heroine walks in to hero's house and finds another woman (who happens to be the hero's ex-wife that he didn't tell the heroine about) in his bedroom who just happens to be wearing hero's t-shirt and nothing else... but hero had NO IDEA she was there because he was so tired when he got home, he didn't notice her sleeping on the couch... and she only went into his bedroom because she was scared of his big old house in the country... and she was tired so she took off all her clothes... blah blah blah...
How did this get past the editor??
Oh, now I'm mad at myself for ranting. I'm sure the author did what she thought was right for the characters and to move the story in the direction it needed to go.
Oh, great. Now I'm being a pussy,... It was a total cop-out! A lazy scene!!
Time to change genre's for awhile. Maybe I'll try a paranormal. Or another Pulitzer.
Any suggestions??
3 comments:
LOL Wylie you crack me up! I think some of those scenes get by to the negotiation between editor and writer. Some editors would pick up on it and not let it go through. Others are in tight with their authors and give them a bone every now and again. Then again, it may have to do with the expectations of that sub genre too. Some push the envelope more than others.
I can recommend Cathryn Fox's Pleasure series. Pleasure Control is book one and Pleasure Prolonged is book two. They are hot stuff, so you've been warned. :)
I'm actually putting up a review of Cathryn's book tonight if you want to check it out.
I shall check out your review, Christine. Thanks for the recommendation!
Hiya, Wylie! That does indeed sound like a cop-out scene -- good grief, how do you not notice a woman sleeping on your couch, and what does being tired have with not being able to see past the end of your nose or with taking off your clothes? Heck, the most tired I've ever been is when I fall into bed, too tired to take my clothes off, not the other way around. The whole scene sounds contrived and silly. :-P
Here's some recommendations for ya: anything by Amy Tan, Contact by Carl Sagan, and if you want a Pulitzer, read Pearl Buck's The Good Earth.
Post a Comment