Rachael Ruddick's Blog, page 3

Top 10 Sport Romances

I have written out my top ten favorite Contemporary Sport Romance titles (I have cheated a bit as some are representative of series). They are not in any order, as it would be impossible to decide my number one. Most of these are well known and well loved, with good reason, but there may be a few that are a little out of left field (awesome pun). I will say there are a few more books that I umm’d and ahh’d over including but if I go into what they were I might as well have just made it a top twenty list. My problem now is that I want to go back and read them all again.

Line of Scrimmage – Marie Force

I really enjoyed reading about a married couple sorting through their problems. It reminds us that it is what happens after the wedding that really counts.

See Jane Score – Rachel Gibson

When I first started reading romance I went into my local bookstore and said I was interested in reading a book related to sports. This was what was handed to me. I loved it, and as such it will always remain one of my favorites. The whole Chinooks series is fabulous, although I am sad to say that I was somewhat disappointed with the last book ‘Any Man of Mine’, it felt as though it had been written just for the sake of it. I am not sure if this series is officially over now or what? Does anybody know? I have installed a new policy that I will only read series once all books have been released so I can read them all at once. I have never been good at waiting.

Instant Attraction – Jill Shalvis

I love being in the outdoors and couldn’t go past this book by Jill Shalvis. The second and third books started to feel a little too much of being the same, so I won’t recommend the whole series in the top ten.

Hot Zone Series – Carly Phillips

All three books in this series are excellently written, and as such all future Carly Phillips automatically go into my must read author pile.

He Loves Lucy – Susan Donovan

I will admit I read this book a few years ago now and as my husband will attest my memory is akin to a goldfish. Which is great really because every time I watch a movie (or read a book) I completely forget the story and it is like I am watching it for the first time again. Consequently all I can say is that I have a fond feeling associated with this book and gave it five stars on my reading review. This is a book that instantly comes to mind when I am thinking of my favorites. It is one of those books that I read e back cover and am not sure it is for me, buy by the end of it I go on to read every book by that author irregardless of what is on the back cover.

Nobody’s Baby But Mine – Susan Elizabeth Philips

We all knew that the Chicago Stars were going to show up on this list, and for good reason. I don’t know any CR fan that can go past SEP. Nobody’s Baby But Mine was the first book I read in the series and possibly remains my pick of the bunch, although ‘Match Me if You Can’ is a close second.

Squeeze Play – Kate Angell

I love books that are fun. I am one of those people that will laugh out loud when they read and I definitely got to do that with this book, and indeed the series. Kate manages to write a great story every time.

Speed Dating – Nancy Warren

I think this is the first Category Romance on the list. I am not American and as such have no idea what NASCAR is about, but I enjoyed reading this book, in fact I have actually read it twice.

The Right Mr. Wrong (American Romance) – Cyndi Myers

I am a big advocate for women in sports so I loved this category book about a female ski patroller.

Double Play – Jill Shalvis

Another Jill Shalvis series, this time about baseball. As a side note I also like some of her fire fighter books too. I thought this would be a nice series to round out my top ten.

Who Am I If I’m Just Me?

I am reading a few Kristan Higgins books at the moment and just finished “Just One Of The Guys”. The book explores the theme of identity and how it is shaped and influenced by family, friends and community.

If you think about it so much of how we perceive ourselves, our talents, strengths, purpose and opportunities are based on what other people tell us, as well as how we judge ourselves in relation to others.

For example if you are told you are the smart child or the beautiful, athletic… etc by your parents. You inevitably start to believe this to some degree and project this persona into your own construction of yourself. However, your siblings really make up quite a small pool. This talent that you are told you possess is only in comparison to a couple of other people, and so to the population at large may not be that special at all. For example my family are generally not considered sporty at all, so being called ‘athletic’ in my household would be almost meaningless.

On the flip side we generally will look to what others around us are doing to decide on what opportunities are available to us too. If most people we know are going to university, we are more likely to go too. If people we associate with get married young, or travel, drink, smoke, etc, we will also see this as potential activities for ourselves.

I read that the founder of Linkdn said if you want to be successful, hang around other people that are successful. Ie. if you are with people doing what youwant to do, it seems more achievable, and indeed probably is. But what happens of you want to do something that no one else around you is doing? Well you have to work harder:-)

Reading “Just One of the Guys” I was just as interested in how the main character, as well as her siblings and parents grappled with what they wanted, versus their perceptions of what others expected them to be. They all seemed trapped to some extent by these expectations and each dealt with it in different and interesting ways. This perception was also a catalyst for the main issue keeping the hero and heroine apart. All in all it was another good Kristan Higgins book, although I will say that it would be worth separating her books out a bit as The main character used some speech and behaviour patterns that were similar to the heroine in ‘Too Good To Be True’ giving them a sort of ‘sameness’ feel to them.

Am I Beautiful?

I recently read a Kristan Higgins Book called ‘Too Good To Be True’. I love this author, she is so funny, I often end up reading it out to my husband, so he doesn’t wonder why I’m giggling so much.

Anyway another trait of her books is that she writes in first person. If any of you dear readers have ever taken a writing class you will have heard that of course you have to be extremely careful to make sure you don’t write something that it would be impossible for a character to know when you are writing from a particular persons pov.

I know that sounds logical but I will admit it comes up in the writing process. Of course at the time of writing this I fail to come up with a satisfying example. Nevertheless I will press on with the post.

When I was reading ‘Too Good To Be True’ I was initially frustrated that I wasn’t given a good description of the heroine. But of course being first person pov, it comes to the sticking point I just described, in that the character, whose head we are in, is unlikely to just come out and describe herself. Why would she think in her head “I’m 5’7″, With chestnut colored curly hair, I have a nice tan…..”. You get my point, when we think about ourselves we don’t need to say these things to ourselves, we already know that.

Because of this we only really learn about the characters wild hair (which is obviously the physical trait she feels defines her). We have no idea if her hair really is wild, just that she thinks it is. For the rest of her looks all we know is that her sisters are both stunningly beautiful, and she considers herself less pretty then them. So if one thinks about it, she might be very beautiful to her sisters extreme beauty, alternatively she might just have low self confidence, and be even prettier than them. In the end we really have no idea.

After a while of thinking about all this, I actually decided that this was really interesting, and actually really smart. Why? Well if you think about it how much time do you spend trying to work out if you are pretty or not? As women we are constantly comparing ourselves to each other. I will often say to myself something like “I really like that woman’s ‘insert trait here’ and than say either my ‘trait’ is bigger, smaller, firmer, whatever, than hers”. My number one comparison person is of course my sister, naturally she is the closest looking person to me and I look at her good and bad points and see where I measure up on that scale.

What I like about this book is that we never get an outsiders sense of whether she is pretty or not, we only know how she sees herself, by reading about the many ways she gains perspective on her looks. We get an understanding that basically it is impossible to be objective about our own selves. I am sure Kristan Higgins didn’t intend for her book to be enlightening, perhaps she did. But as I thought about this characters self perception, I consequently considered my own, the bias and outside inout that forms it, and how that image of myself is than projected to the world.

Contemporary Romance, Contemporary Women?

There is no doubt about it, reading is an important educational tool. Even in fiction people are able to learn about a wide range of subjects that they might otherwise not explore of their own accord. I for one have absolutely no interest in law, but through reading books such as those by John Grisham I have explored themes and topics that I would not usually pursue.

Contemporary Romance has its own place in the scheme of reader education. But the question is, what is it that people learn from these stories?

One thing I think CR is good at is showing women in a range of roles or jobs that they are not necessarily exposed to on a daily basis. I have read stories with women cooks, pilots, fire fighters, doctors and photographers, to name but a few. In real life I personally know no women in these roles. CR in this respect is a great tool for women to read about other women (even if they aren’t real), and see how their lifes differ from their own.

This comparison of course goes far beyond jobs, to other life situations, such as city v rural, children, family/friend relationships, religious beliefs etc.

The more you can identify with a person the more they shape your own self perception and expectations. If someone famous went to your school or lived in your small town you find yourself more easily able to believe that you too could be famous if that was what you aimed for. The same as if someone who used to copy your answers in math class, went on to become an astronaut than it is easy for your brain to suddenly conceive that you too have that potential.

If however you are surrounded by people who have not pursued what is of real interest to you (whether you know you have this interest or not) you are less likely to believe it as a path you could go down. In essence an important aspect of human make up is this self comparison. It helps us to understand our place in the world and our potential.

Of course as I have said before fiction is fiction, but if you have a small circle of people with which you find you can source inspiration, sometimes these books can act as a sort of drawbridge to new opportunities, lifestyles, careers, outlooks that you might not have previously conceived.

Another important role that I believe CR fill is as a source for women to communicate with other women. It is an opportunity to define and redefine ourselves and our roles in the world. In this avenue I believe that CR still has a long way to go in promoting ourselves and our place in society.

I am disappointed how the majority of CR still end with the woman essentially ‘fitting’ into the mans world, be it by moving to the town he lives, or giving up her pursuits that at the start of the book were so important to her, but are portrayed as her major flaw. I want to see men making the sacrifice of their careers, lifestyle or whatever. It still isn’t happening, and don’t be fooled that it doesn’t send the message that that is just how it is,and we are accepting it in the real world too.

Womens sexuality is still on the timid side of things in most CR books. It is common for the woman to have ‘limited’ or ‘unfulfilling’ sexual histories, and to be sexually repressed until suddenly the hero is able to draw out her more ‘wild and free’ side. The man is still seen as the person in charge of the woman’s pleasure.

CR therefore acts as both a source of inspiration and repression to its readership. I hope that in the future more CR will be a source of moving womens interests forward and helping us to define ourselves in a more fulfilling way.

After The Happily Ever After…

The romance genre loves sequels. Once you have learnt all about a town, a team, a family or some other community you want to keep exploring the other people and relationships you have been introduced to. Romance after all is for people who are interested in other people and their stories.

It is difficult in book series, where each book covers one primary couple’s story, to give justice to those that have come before them. This means that the couples from previous books often come across as cardboard ‘perfect couple’ cutouts. They seem to loose dimension and character development and are instead are reduced to lots of ‘significant looks’ and ‘smitten comments’.

I recently read the Stephanie Bond series set in Sweetness Georgia and was infinitely pleased when the couple from the first book returned in the fourth story bringing along with them some discord from being unable to conceive. I was really excited to see a couple experiencing issues in their marriage, as that is part and parcel of any relationship, unfortunately the heroine of the story was able to set things straight a little too easily, not to mention that the returnee discovering she was miraculously pregnant just as she was talking her problems through. But hey congratulations to Stephanie Bond for acknowledging that it is the couples who work through their problems in life together that are the strongest and perhaps the most interesting.

Have you read any contemporary romances where you wanted to keep reading after the happily ever after?

Clichés and The Gravity of Sex

Last week I wrote about the cliché of women wearing front hooked bras in contemporary romance novels. It remains a great mystery to me why it is used over and over. This week I come to you with my next cliché that I am yet to understand.

Cliché two: In sex scenes there is almost invariably a line in there about the woman describing her breasts as feeling ‘heavy’ when she becomes aroused.

I looked this one up on the internet and basically couldn’t find any other mention of the phenomena. It didn’t appear to be a case of ‘is it just me?’.

Again I pose the question, is there a known reason for this commonly used line? I admit that I do not often read older romances (as in published before the naughties) and so am unsure if many of these clichés have just come through the timeline. Even so it is imperative for contemporary romance to be just that, contemporary. Part of their appeal is their currency.

If you know of the reason for ‘heavy breasts’ or perhaps you actually have experienced the sensation and so give basis to its use, please leave a comment at the end of the post.

Clichés and Clasps

I absolutely enjoy the Goodreads Contemporary Romance Forum. It has an active community that cover off on many interesting topics. One of the discussions going around at the moment is “What annoys you most in a hero/heroine”? Following on from that I would like to talk about one of the common clichés that annoys me the most in the contemporary romance genre.

Now this may sound stupid to you, but here it is, the thing that annoys me most in contemporary romance books are.. That the vast majority seem to have the heroine wearing a front clasped bra. There you go, I have said it. Why, you may ask. Well simply because most women don’t wear them. Not to mention they are actually almost impossible to buy even if you would want to wear one. There are many obvious reasons why they aren’t popular, such as they would be much harder to adjust size wise, and would probably irritate the more sensitive skin around the cleavage.

Anyway, as part of my intrigue into this topic of annoyance I even went so far as to scout stores in the US and Canada when I was there recently to see if they were popular over there and I just hadn’t realized. But no, searching store after store I came up empty handed in my search. Ditto for Australia, New Zealand and the U.K.

So the question is why does author after author use the front clasped bra when they know that they are almost non-existant outside training bras and the contemporary romance genre? Is it because it is so widely used by others, or is it simply easier to get across on a page rather than saying the hero reached around to unclasp the hook on the bra?

I have no answers, but I would dearly love to hear if there are any clichés that are used in your favorite genre that don’t quite make sense.

Culture Clash

I have been fortunate to travel and live all over the world and one thing I have learnt time and again is that for all the similarities between the UK, USA, Canada, NZ and Australia, there are still many differences.

When I read romance books I occasionally come across a word that in my culture means something obviously different and it unfortunately pulls me put of the story whilst I consciously push away my initial reaction and work on creating an image in my head that is more in line with what the author was actually meaning.

One example is the use by a western romance author of the word stocking. She would write something about the hero taking off his boots and walking into the house in his stockinged feet. Where I come from stocking are ONLY worn by women, generally with dresses or skirts in the winter. They are like a heavy pair of pantyhose. It is therefor hard for me not to imagine a cross dressing cowboy in my head whenever I read this, and I actually have to work to put a man with socks on in my head.

Another far worse example is the use of the word fanny by American authors. Do I have to explain it? Okay, well for everyone else fanny generally means vagina. So perhaps you understand how I can’t help but be shocked whenever I read it, and have to quickly calm myself down and tell my mind the author just meant bottom. Same goes for the usage of the word fannypack, I can’t help but cringe when I hear it.

I understand the need for authenticity in a story. It is vital that the author uses language that fits the setting and characters, so there will always be times when differences between cultures within the story and the reader clash.

Tell me if you have ever experienced culture clash in a romance book, and what was it?

Plot Lines: A Different Type of Girl.

Intro to plot lines posts…

One only has to read a handful of romance books to understand that there are only so many basic plots out there in use, in fact this is true amongst any type of fiction. You might think that this would detract from reading. i mean how many books can you go through about the same thing before it becomes so formulaic that it is no longer satisfying to read? Well I believe if a story is written well,the answer is ALOT. On the other hand any author out there who thinks they are writing about something completely unique needs to read more.

As part of this blog I would like to look at different common plots found in romance books and consider what it is that as a reader I like or dislike about them. I would love to hear from you, your opinions on this plot line, but also other plot lines you would like to discuss in future.

My first study is:

Normal girl meets ridiculously rich/famous/successful confirmed bachelor who doesn’t plan to settle down or alternatively has been burned before (often by a girl ‘similar’ to him) and is not interested in a long term relationship again. As normal girl is so unlike his ‘usual’ type (normally a model, famous, heiress, or extremely rich in some way) neither considers a ‘romantic’ attachment. Because of this they establish a more meaningful relationship based on an actual mental and emotional connection, and tend to respect and appreciate each other more, although often they don’t consciously realize this.

At some point one realizes that the other person has come to mean something important to them and that they do in fact want a romantic relationship. The other person reaches this point later after some ultimatum, but finally redeems themselves and admits their reciprocal feelings.

Whats wrong with it…

Sometimes I feel authors don’t give the reader enough insight into the heros to understand why they are so drawn to the ‘common’ girl, after dating girls based solely on the length of their legs. To explain away this dating history you often hear the line, when the hero is an actor or famous in some way, ‘that it was all just for publicity’, but that feels overused.

My biggest pet peeve about these story lines however, is living as a female we are constantly reminded that society views women who have a lot of partners as pariahs, yet women authors are writing stories with heros who unashamedly have slept with half the country. I would definitely think twice about someone who has slept with numerous people, but more than that I struggle to believe that sex is a tool for deep connection (as it is meant to be in romance, otherwise it becomes erotica) if the man has had that many partners.

Why I like it…

I like the premise of this storyline, about finding someone that is different from yourself and doesn’t therefore agree with all your implicit thoughts on how things should be. Instead of conforming to your ideas, because they are the same as your own, they challenge you to think differently about the world. There are countless examples of this out in the ‘real’ world, including relationships with people of different cultures, nationalities or religion. Partnering with people of different backgrounds make you more conscious of your own identity, both the good and the bad.

I guess the other reason people like these stories is that it often means that the ‘common girl’ (aka someone just like the reader) can end up with the rich famous stud. If that is not the ultimate girl fantasy, what is?

Leave a comment on what you like or dislike about this kind of plot. If you have any favourite books that follow this you would like to mention feel free to include them.

The Whole Experience

In modern society it isn’t enough anymore to just read a book, watch a movie or listen to a song. We want to interact with our entertainment and media beyond the main event.

In the arena of movies we are now flooded with extras. Interviews with directors and actors, behind the scenes features, deleted scenes, specials commentaries and directors cuts, merchandise, backlot tours, roadshow tours, premieres, soundtracks, trailers, tie in books, fan fiction, online forums, fan clubs, magazine articles, and so it goes on.

With music there are of course concerts, television network channels devoted to different genres, artist merchandise and occasional special release mixes, music videos. But these have all been around for a while, it hasn’t changed to the same extent in music as it has in movies.

Books however are a whole other area. Publishers and authors have ventured half heartedly past the pages of their novels, but not too far.

Websites:

Many authors nowadays have their own website that describes themselves and their books, often with no more than a backcover description and cover photo. I believe that readers want more than this, and a great exception to the usual content is Susan Mallery and her Fools Gold site. The site, based on the series of the same name, includes news articles, timelines, maps, citizen bios etc. it is fun and enjoyable and adds to the experience past the last page of the book.

Social Media:

I will say upfront that Twitter and Facebook tend to annoy me for the following reasons. The firstnis the invasion of privacy, not only mine but also for the people stupid enoughh to post information that is above and beyond what should be out there for general fodor. The other is the ‘overuse’ of these sites that means you have to trawl through useless comments like ‘had a chicken salad for lunch’ or ‘waiting at the bus stop’. There are authors out there that definitely fall into this category, or worse fill their tweets with insider jokes that their fans won’t understand. I believe that if an author is using Twitter or Facebook as a platform first and foremost to represent themselves and their brand, and to engage with their readers they need to be consistent in their approach and content. In this case I recommend that they have two accounts, one for their friends and onefor their fans.

Trailers:

I like the concept of trailers for books, but I am yet to find one that I like in actual execution. Granted I have been turned off. Y the first few I watched and have generally avoided them since. If you have come across any good trailers, please tell me.

Forums:

There are forums and commentary out there dedicated to Romance which I find great value in. Sites like Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, and Goodreads. Are probably the most rewarding of all avenues to indulge your romance passion outside of the book covers. In addition to online forums there are also reader and writer conferences. I have attended several writing conferences and find them extremely enjoyable and rewarding, both as an opportunity to meet people as well as to focus on skills training. I have. Ot been to a readers conference and would be keen to hear what they are like and if anyone considers them worth attending.

What else is there:

I would be keen to hear about what other avenues you would like to experience romance writing through. Or alternatively do you think it should remain between the pages?