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The Austen Project Halftime Report (Guest Post by Jen Heart)

Photo from Goodreads

This is a guest post by the lovely Jen Heart, whose Austen knowledge totally trumps mine, and, more importantly, who has read all the books that have come out so far in The Austen Project, an effort to publish contemporary re-tellings of Jane Austen’s six complete novels. Here is Jen to tell us what’s working (and what isn’t) in the project so far. 

Four entries in The Austen Project, a publishing venture to update Jane Austen’s six major works, have now been released.  The first, Sense and Sensibility, did not disappoint.  The original is filled with heartbreak, loneliness, and longing that make it, in many ways, a very sad story, but S&S ends well because Austen writes recovery from heartbreak that manages to be sad, right, and romantic all at the same time.  Marianne doesn’t really love Colonel Brandon as much as she loves Willoughby until the last few paragraphs of the book.  We’re told that “in time” Marianne’s heart became “as much devoted to her husband as it had once been to Willoughby.” Only a genius like Austen could make that feel like a happy ending, which is why I’m thankful that Joanna Trollope’s Sense and Sensibility doesn’t quite have the reservoirs of sadness that its predecessor does.  Though Trollope keeps the essential plot, the basic characters and their personalities, and the same general relationships in tact, the desperation is missing.  Yet there’s enough Austen to produce some of that lovely reading glow found only from her books. 

Photo from Goodreads

The second installment, Val McDermid’s Northanger Abbey, was also a fun, clever, and well-crafted update. Like the original hero, this Henry Tilney is a bit of a bore, but the story is so fun it’s easy to overlook.  In Emma by Alexander McCall Smith, the third update, “fusspot” Mr. Woodhouse supplies most of the comedy as Emma’s hypochondriac father.  Both were fun, breezy entertainments that made me look forward for rereading the originals, a hallmark of a great re-telling.

If this were a relay race, Eligible, the fourth in the series, not so much takes the baton as flies off the course in a spaceship.

Pride and Prejudice is ~the big one~ and Eligible does a lot of things right.  Most of the characters update well.  Mr. Bennett is as droll and witty as ever.  Mrs. Bennet’s relentless keeping up of appearances and wilful delusions feels 100% correct.  Kitty, Lydia, and Mary are immature, selfish, and annoying, just as in the original.  The big exceptions, though, are the most important ones: Liz, Darcy, Jane, and Bingley.  It’s not that I disliked them; it’s just that they weren’t Austen.

I actually liked this Liz quite a bit.  Single in her late 30s, Liz has a pretty fulfilling life as a journalist (she interviews Kathy de Bourgh, the Lady De Bourgh update who is a Gloria Steinem-like feminist icon), enjoys a good relationship with her sister Jane, and is in general a pretty together lady.  After she encounters a former classmate with four children, the narrator observes, “It was generally less shocking to Liz that twenty years after high school she was still her essential self, the self she’d grown up as, unencumbered by spouse or child, than that nearly everyone else had changed, moved on, and multiplied.”  Later, fueled by revelations from Darcy, when she finally wakes up to the worthlessness of Wickham’s modern counterpart, Jasper Wick, a married man who has been stringing her along for years, the narrator informs us, “So many years–her entire adult life thus far!–wasted on this man.  And she was more to blame than he was.” Yep!  I thought.  So great!  I love you, Liz, whoever you are, because you’re not Elizabeth Bennet.

Photo from Goodreads

Or is she?  I really just don’t know.  If Austen were writing today, would her Liz be having “hate sex” with the modern-day Darcy? Hate sex, by the way, which is not particularly hateful and more sweaty/gross than sexy.  (Sittenfeld must just really like sweaty grossness because Elizabeth’s famous walk to Netherfield that improves her eyes and gives her a flush is replaced, for modern Liz, with a sweaty run that I can’t imagine did anything for her appearance.)  

Eligible is a curious book.  Snarky satire?  Loving send-up?  I’m not quite sure what to make of it, but I picture a modern Austen delighting in it and, like me, waiting eagerly for Persuasion and Mansfield Park.

~

Have you read any of The Austen Project books yet? Let us know what you think so far! 

 

Tags:  Alexander McCall Smith, Austen, books, Colonel Brandon, Curtis Sittenfeld, Eligible, Emma, heartbreak, Jane Austen, Jen Heart, Joanna Trollope, Mansfield Park, Marianne, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, reading, romance, Sense & Sensibility, The Austen Project, Val McDermid, Willoughby




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 Where Have the Horror HEAs Gone?  Writers Who Read: Nicki Salcedo  Ten Types of Angst Book Nerds Get  Writers Who Read: Karen Skolfield  Writers Who Read Anniversary!Copyright © G. G. Andrew [The Austen Project Halftime Report (Guest Post by Jen Heart)], All Right Reserved. 2016.

Romance Trope Tuesday: Second-Chance Romance

It’s a new month, and for the Romance Trope Tuesday series, I’m focusing on a new type of love story: second-chance romance.

There can be two possible definitions of this popular trope in romance. One, it could mean a second chance at love, when two people who’ve had previous relationships that ended with other people find a new relationship with one another later in life. Two, it could mean two people who’ve had a previous relationship with each other–from a single kiss to an early marriage–have a chance to rekindle their romance. For the purpose of this series, I’m focusing on this latter definition of lovers meeting again. (Though I hope to focus on the second chance at love trope in a later month!)

A quick caveat: a lot of romances, if not most, have a moment, often towards the end of the story, where the couple has moved closer together, emotionally and often physically, but then have a fight or a misunderstanding or a pulling away before coming back together in a happily-ever-after. Though this may be a second chance within their journey, it’s not generally what we mean by a second-chance romance. The difference? In second-chance romance, the couple has usually had their first chance before the book begins, or in its first pages.

Why do readers return again and again to these romantic reunion tales? Five reasons:

We can relate

Many of us have had flirtations, kisses, long-term relationships, and marriages in our pasts that didn’t last. We get what it could mean to encounter that person again–the mix of awkwardness, uncertainty, tension, and hope we might feel, especially if romance wasn’t totally out of the picture.

It makes us nostalgic

Similarly, second-chance romance can make us nostalgic not just for the long-lost lover, but perhaps back to the time when sparks last flew–our time in high school in the 1980s, or that summer spent in Spain at age 35 that burns bright in our memory.

It’s high conflict

As I wrote last month, conflict not only makes a story a story, it makes it more exciting and more powerful once it’s resolved. The conflict in second-chance romance comes from a combination of a couple’s unresolved past and lingering attraction. How do you start a relationship with someone you couldn’t keep one with before? This trope asks that challenging question.

It pairs well with enemies-to-lovers and friends-to-lovers

Tropes often work in concert with one another, and with second-chance romance, often there’s an element of enemies-to-lovers if the former split wasn’t amicable. Or, if it’s a case of two friends who shared a kiss years ago but haven’t seen each other since, they could be friends who have a second chance to turn their friendship into something more.

It’s super emotional

Whereas the strength of enemies-to-lovers romance is its excitement, the best part of second-chance romance is its potential to be very emotional. With a story where two people already know each other and have had a previous connection, the feelings, and emotional stakes, are well-established. You don’t need to have a couple meet-cute and then build feelings for one another–it’s already there.

What do you think about this trope? Is it one of your personal go-to’s? Let me know, and stay tuned on Tuesdays this month to check out how this trope works in a film, a reading list of relevant books, and tips on how to write your own second-chance romance!

You can follow this series by signing up for my mailing list (top right), subscribing to individual posts (bottom right), and/or following the hashtag #RomanceTropeTuesday on Twitter or my Facebook page.

Tags:  books, conflict, enemies, enemies to lovers, enemies-to-lovers trope, Happily Ever After, HEA, hero, heroine, kissing, love, lovers, plot, reading, romance, romance reading, Romance Trope Tuesday, romance tropes, tropes, Tv Tropes, writing, writing romance tropes, writing tropes




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Comments:  0 (Zero), Be the first to leave a reply!You might be interested in this:  
 Writing a Goth Rom-Com  Writers Who Read: Kristin Fields  Making Mr. Melty Ice Cream: Frozen Fruity Flaxseed  Writers Who Read: Leah Umansky  Writers Who Read Anniversary!Copyright © G. G. Andrew [Romance Trope Tuesday: Second-Chance Romance], All Right Reserved. 2016.

Workplace Romance–Oh, How I Love Thee!

I’m over on the romance site Lady Smut today talking about why I love workplace romances. Pop on over and check it out!

Tags:  Alexa Day, Hero to Obey, Lady Smut, Passing Through, workplace romance




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 Writers Who Read: Lynn Kanter  Top Ten Ways to Spot a Rom-Com Hero  How To Choose What to Write Next  Romance Trope Tuesday: Writing Enemies-to-Lovers  Writers Who Read: Amanda GaleCopyright © G. G. Andrew [Workplace Romance--Oh, How I Love Thee!], All Right Reserved. 2016.

Romance Trope Tuesday: Writing Enemies-to-Lovers

Today concludes my look at the enemies-to-lovers trope in romance fiction as part of the Romance Trope Tuesday series. In case you missed it, check out  what it is and why it’s so popular, how it works within a film, and a suggested reading list.

This Tuesday I’m providing some best practices for writing your own tale with this trope. Please note that I’m not a writing expert; these suggestions are more what I’ve seen and learned from reading some awesome enemies-to-lovers romances and writing my own (i.e., mistakes I’ve made). I’m enjoying Romance Trope Tuesday so much because I’m learning so much about the genre, storytelling, and writing, so if you’ve got a tip to add here, please comment so we can learn from each other!

What should you consider when writing a story of two lovers who start out as enemies? Four things:

If you want to use this trope, embrace it. Don’t make nice too soon.

While a lot of romances have parts where lovers are quarreling or are upset with one another, enemies-to-lovers romances will have the main characters at pretty significant odds with each other, at least at first. If you’re going to do this, don’t shy away from conflict or try to ease the tension too soon–that’s what keeps a story (and pages) turning! Make the hero and heroine fight. Make them uncomfortable around each other if they’re forced to work together. Make them dislike each other, then have the hero steal a client from the heroine. Your readers will wonder how they’re going to get together, and that question will propel them forward.

But give them some common ground.

You don’t want to make the enemies aspect of the romantic relationship too easy to defeat, but you do want there to be some avenue for the couple to find their way to each other eventually. If they’re opposites, as some of these stories are, show them sharing a similar trait, belief, or even a quirky habit. Have them discover they both need to team up on a quest, because they have a common enemy. Make us believe that these two people who hate each other are actually meant to be, whether they know it or not.

Make the journey to love at least a little gradual.

Even the most abrupt shifts from hate to lust like the Slap-Slap-Kiss still offer little clues along the way to show two characters starting to see each other as more than antagonists. If they’re fighting, throw in a brief heated look. If they’re both stuck on a deserted island, have the heroine grudgingly offer the hero half the fish she’s caught. Show animosity slowly giving away to reluctant respect, tentative friendship, or fiery lust. One way to do this is to render one character vulnerable–sick, too drunk to drive, upset over a breakup–and their enemy in the reluctant role of white knight because no one else is around or able to handle it.

An HEA means their dukes should be down.

Once your story concludes and your enemies are now lovers, don’t have one of the characters keep disrespecting the other. If there’s a relationship there, that’s no longer sexy; that’s abuse. Show us they’ve learned and see their love interest in a new, kinder way. Of course, if they’re opposites or they are competing in the same field, there may be some tension in the union that causes disagreements or witty insults from time to time, but make these playful, or at least work-through-able. Respect is key. They need to be at a better place than when they started. Readers don’t want to have to worry that sleeping in the same bed means your heroes both have to keep one eye open lest they get a knife in the back.

But of course, until that HEA, which may be the end of the book (or run until the end of a seven-book series), all’s fair in love and war. Kiss, kiss, slap, slap.

For writers out there, what do you think about these tips? Do you agree? Any considerations I’ve forgotten?

I’ll be back to Romance Trope Tuesday next week, where I’ll turn to a new trope for July: second-chance romance.

You can follow this series by signing up for my mailing list (top right), subscribing to individual posts (bottom right), and/or following the hashtag #RomanceTropeTuesday on Twitter or my Facebook page.

Tags:  books, co-workers, conflict, enemies, enemies to lovers, enemies-to-lovers trope, HEA, hero, heroine, historical romance, humor, kissing, love, lovers, lust, plot, reading, respect, romance, romance reading, Romance Trope Tuesday, romance tropes, romance writing, Slap-Slap-Kiss, tropes, Tv Tropes, vulnerability, writing, writing romance tropes, writing tropes




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 Writers Who Read: Shelley Ettinger  Horror Movies & Women's Sexuality  Romance Heroines We Love  CRAZY, SEXY, GHOULISH Out!  Weird Writing ResearchCopyright © G. G. Andrew [Romance Trope Tuesday: Writing Enemies-to-Lovers], All Right Reserved. 2016.

Romance Trope Tuesday: Enemies-to-Lovers Reading List

In case you’re new to the Romance Trope Tuesday series, this month I’m focusing on the enemies-to-lovers trope. Earlier this month, I explained what it is and why it’s so popular in love stories, and last week I showed how it works within a film.

Today I’m sharing a reading list of recommended romances that follow this trope. This is by no means an exhaustive list–there are TONS of great romances that utilize this trope, in small and large ways. But it’s a list of books I’ve read or will read soon, and represents a sampling of enemies-to-lovers across many different subgenres, from paranormal to hot contemporary to historical.

Book covers and blurbs here are from Goodreads.

A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole 

A mythic warrior who’ll stop at nothing to possess her…

After enduring years of torture from the vampire horde, Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan, is enraged to find the predestined mate he’s waited millennia for is a vampire. Or partly one. This Emmaline is a small, ethereal half Valkyrie/half vampire, who somehow begins to soothe the fury burning within him.

A vampire captured by her wildest fantasy…

Sheltered Emmaline Troy finally sets out to uncover the truth about her deceased parents—until a powerful Lykae claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle. There, her fear of the Lykae—and their notorious dark desires—ebbs as he begins a slow, wicked seduction to sate her own dark cravings.

An all-consuming desire…

Yet when an ancient evil from her past resurfaces, will their desire deepen into a love that can bring a proud warrior to his knees and turn a gentle beauty into the fighter she was born to be?

Love it: I read this steamy paranormal, the second in Cole’s Immortals After Dark series, last year. It also uses the fated mate trope to connect two creatures who would normally be enemies: a Lykae and a half-vampire/Valkyrie. It also has one of my favorite romance covers to date.

A Wicked Way to Win an Earl by Anna Bradley

A tantalizing new Regency romance filled with the most elegant society—and the most forbidden desires…

England, 1811. Delia Somerset despises the privileged ton, but her young sister, Lily, is desperate to escape their family’s scandalous past and join high society. Unwilling to upset her sister, Delia reluctantly agrees to attend a party at the Sutherland estate—and avoid the gossip at all costs.

Alec Sutherland is known as a hot-headed scoundrel, but nothing gets a rise out of him as much as the news that his brother desires Delia’s hand in marriage. She is, after all, the daughter of the London belle who soiled their family name. He’s determined to ruin her reputation as well, in the most delicious way possible. It’s only a matter of time before he can woo her with his irresistible advances.

As Delia devilishly plays along in Alec’s game, determined to prove the joke is on him, they inch ever closer to repeating history. And in this game of seductive glances, scandalous whispers, and old debts, the outcome might be much more than either of them anticipated…

Love it: I’ve had this historical romance on my TBR, and am looking forward to the witty Regency dialogue as Delia and Alec battle it out. This novel won the award for First Historical Romance at Romantic Times this year.

Apples Should be Red by Penny Watson

Start with sixty-two-year-old politically incorrect, chain-smoking, hard-cussing curmudgeon.

Add fifty-nine year old sexually-repressed know-it-all in pearls.

Throw in a beer can-turkey, a battle for horticultural supremacy, and nudist next-door neighbor.

Serve on paper plates, garnished with garden gnome.

Tastes like happily ever after.

Love it: Two older main characters–including a curmudgeon hero and pearl-clutching heroine–made this a fun read! I really enjoyed the Thanksgiving setting, too.

Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren

An ambitious intern. A perfectionist executive. And a whole lot of name calling.

Whip-smart, hardworking, and on her way to an MBA, Chloe Mills has only one problem: her boss, Bennett Ryan. He’s exacting, blunt, inconsiderate—and completely irresistible. A Beautiful Bastard.

Bennett has returned to Chicago from France to take a vital role in his family’s massive media business. He never expected that the assistant who’d been helping him from abroad was the gorgeous, innocently provocative—completely infuriating—creature he now has to see every day. Despite the rumors, he’s never been one for a workplace hookup. But Chloe’s so tempting he’s willing to bend the rules—or outright smash them—if it means he can have her. All over the office.

As their appetites for one another increase to a breaking point, Bennett and Chloe must decide exactly what they’re willing to lose in order to win each other.

Love it: If you enjoy hate sex, this is pretty much the book you should be reading. Lots of animosity, lots of panties getting ripped. Lots of fun.

Get Real by Tellulah Darling

Francesca Bellafiore comes from a nice Jewish family — one that happens to have magical powers. Underneath her good-girl exterior, though, she’s a wannabe badass with dreams of becoming a paranormal detective.

Party boy Rafael Muñoz does everything possible to publicly disappoint his high profile father. Privately, it’s a different story. His carefully crafted bad boy reputation masks the fact he’s a master illusionist, forced into solo covert ops. The role is wearing thin and Rafael longs to be part of a team.

When Francesca and Rafael meet, it’s love at first sight… For about five minutes. Rafael is spectacularly attractive—and, Francesca discovers, fully aware of the fact. Rafael knows from experience that girls like Francesca are more trouble than they’re worth.

So it sucks big time when they’re caught in a web of magic, minions, secrets, and enough sexual tension to power NYC. Their only chance to save the city and survive is to team up, trust each other–and maybe even fall in love.

Provided they don’t kill each other first.

Get Real is a romantic comedy, urban fantasy whirlwind with sass, sex, and swoon.

Love it: Tellulah Darling writes hilarious, witty rom-com, and this New Adult fantasy with a bad boy and nice Jewish girl who can’t stop arguing is no different.

Hot as Hades by Alisha Rai

Ensnaring the ultimate bad boy has its risks…and its rewards. 

It’s not easy being Hades. Constantly guarding his world against other meddling and ambitious deities is stressful work. So when a naked goddess falls directly into his lap, along with the news that he has to shelter her for the indefinite future, he is less than thrilled. Particularly since he can’t help but lust after the beautiful female.

The Underworld isn’t the first place Persephone would pick for a vacation—who in their right mind would choose a dark palace over sunshine and flowers? Yet from Hades’s first touch, the dark, sexy ruler fascinates her and has her thinking a fling might be just the thing to while away her confinement.

But trust each other? Not a chance. Until the day comes that Persephone must leave…and they realize that trusting each other is the only way they’ll ever meet again. 

Warning: Contains an arrogant god, a stubborn goddess, horny deity nookie and enough supernatural friction to set the Underworld on fire.

Love it: I’m in the middle of this hot paranormal novella that retells the Hades/Persephone story, and it’s hot and funny.

The Preacher’s Promise by Piper Huguley

1866 – Oberlin, Ohio

Devastated by her father’s death days after her triumphant graduation from Oberlin College, Amanda Stewart is all alone in the world. Her father’s unscrupulous business partner offers her an indecent proposal to earn a living. Instead, to fulfill a promise she made to her father, she resolves to start a school to educate and uplift their race. Sorting through her father’s papers, she discovers he had carried on a mysterious correspondence with a plantation in Milford, Georgia. She determines to start her teaching work with the formerly enslaved. However, when she arrives, the mayor tells her to leave. There’s nowhere for her to go.

Virgil Smithson, Milford’s mayor, blacksmith and sometimes preacher man with a gift for fiery oratory, doesn’t want anything to do with a snobby schoolteacher from up North. On top of everything else, the schoolteacher lady has a will hard enough to match the iron he forges. He must organize his fellow formerly enslaved citizens into a new town and raise his young daughter alone. Still, his troubled past haunts him. He cannot forget the promise he made to his daughter’s mother as she died—that their child would learn to read and write. If only he didn’t have secrets that the new schoolteacher seems determined to uncover.

To keep THE PREACHER’S PROMISE, Amanda and Virgil must put aside their enmity, unite for the sake of a newly-created community in a troubling age, and do things they never imagined. In the aftermath of the flood that was the Civil War, God set his bow upon the earth to show love and understanding for humankind. To reflect God’s promise, these combatants must put aside their differences and come together–somehow.

Love it: I bought this book a few months ago on a friend’s recommendation, and am looking forward to reading a story set in a historical period not common to romance, with a stubborn schoolteacher and mayor facing off.

~

Have you read any of these? Or other enemies-to-lovers romances you’d recommend? Let me know–I love getting book suggestions, and this is one of my favorites tropes.

I’ve actually written two enemies-to-lovers stories myself: a British graffiti artist and the American woman who hates him falling in love in Graffiti in Love, and a woman falling for her best friend’s ex that she hates by reputation in Somewhere Warm. They’re filled with fights and sexual tension, one of the reasons I love this trope so much.

I’ll be back to Romance Trope Tuesday in a couple weeks, where I’ll turn to a new trope for July: second-chance romance.

You can follow this series by signing up for my mailing list (top right), subscribing to individual posts (bottom right), and/or following the hashtag #RomanceTropeTuesday on Twitter or my Facebook page.

 

Tags:  A Hunger Like No Other, A Wicked Way to Win an Earl, Alisha Rai, Anna Bradley, Apples Should be Red, Beautiful Bastard, blurbs, book covers, Christina Lauren, conflict, contemporary romance, enemies, enemies to lovers, Get Real, Goodreads, hero, heroine, Hot as Hades, humor, Immortals After Dark, Kresley Cole, lovers, New Adult, paranormal romance, Penny Watson, Piper Huguley, reading, recommended reads, rom-com, romance, romance recommendations, romance subgenres, Romance Trope Tuesday, romance tropes, romance writing, romantic comedy, subgenres, Tellulah Darling, Thanksgiving, The Preacher's Promise, tropes




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 Writers Who Read: Amanda Gale  Writers Who Read: Aline Ohanesian  What Orphan Black Taught Me About Revising  Top Ten Romance Releases in 2014  Writers Who Read: Betsy TalbotCopyright © G. G. Andrew [Romance Trope Tuesday: Enemies-to-Lovers Reading List], All Right Reserved. 2016.

Romance Trope Tuesday: Something’s Gotta Give

It’s Romance Trope Tuesday, and this week I’m looking at our trope of the month, Enemies-to-Lovers, in action in a film.

There are many movies that use this trope, but I decided to use the 2003 Nancy Meyers film Something’s Gotta Give, since it’s one of the few romances with older main characters.

Something’s Gotta Give works by forcing two opposites, Erica (Diane Keaton) and Harry (Jack Nicholson) together, as rom-coms often do, and having them gradually gain respect and affection for one another–which eventually lands them in bed.

Harry (Nicholson) is a notorious playboy and hip hop record company owner who only dates “sweet, uncomplicated” younger women like Marin (Amanda Peet). One weekend, when Marin takes him to her family’s beach house to consummate their relationship, her mother, Erica (Keaton), unexpectedly walks in and mistakes a pantsless Harry for a burglar. Awkwardness ensues, especially after Erica realizes robbery might be preferable to this older cad dating her daughter. But they all agree to remain at the beach house for the weekend, because of course they do.

Like many enemies-to-lovers stories, Harry and Erica are opposites in a variety of ways. He’s a carefree bachelor who wears loose-fitting shirts; she’s an uptight divorcée who speaks French and lives in turtlenecks. “Words have been invented to describe woman like you,” Harry tells her in one scene. “Such as?” she asks, and he responds, “Flinty…and impervious.”

It’s worth noting that not all enemies-to-lovers stories have opposites as the would-be lovers; sometimes the couple is at odds with one another because their families or cultures are warring, or they’re both after the same goal. But when the couple is as different as Harry and Erica, the conflict is almost built-in: there’s much for them to disagree on, from rap to Harry’s tendency to not date women over 30 to Erica’s buttoned-up lifestyle. “Have you always been like this, or do I bring it out on you?” Harry asks her. These early scenes of them arguing are some of the funniest of the film.

But like many stories of opposites and enemies who fall in love, romance blooms in the most unlikely way when Erica and Harry spend time together and realize they aren’t so different after all. After Harry has a heart attack and is forced to stay at the house to rest, all the remaining guests except for Erica leave. Harry and Erica, now alone under the same roof, discover their common ground. Despite their different approaches to life, they’re both older people who’ve achieved success, Erica as a playwright and Harry with his hip hop label. They both only get by on four hours of sleep a night, leading to many midnight meetups, amidst sexy plot contrivances like Harry walking in on Erica naked.

He’s probably in red because he’s the devil–or so Erica would say.

Like most stories, Something’s Gotta Give has more than one trope within its tale. Harry’s doctor, Julian (Keanu Reeves), has a May/December romantic subplot with Erica. Julian is a foil for Harry’s character: he finds older women, or at least Erica, attractive and fascinating. Unfortunately, his attraction in the movie feels pretty underdeveloped, his feelings of adoration and jealousy and (spoiler alert) eventual heartbreak shallow–so much that it made me question whether he was a robot at times. Thought it’s worth noting that since Erica ends up with Harry, there can’t be too much complexity or interest there to distract us (but I would’ve been happier with a tad more).

Developed this undercooked subplot, a somewhat sluggish last act, and our hero Harry getting neutered more than I felt necessary, Something’s Gotta Give shows us the power of love to make two people who initially couldn’t stop arguing learn from each other and change for the better. “I can’t decide if you hate me, or if you’re the only person who ever got me,” Erica tells Harry as their intimacy deepens, and he says, “I don’t hate you.” As their relationship progresses, Erica becomes more joyful and adventurous, Harry more aware and responsible with his behavior towards women. As I mentioned in last week’s post, these changes in relationship and character arcs are what make this trope so exciting to witness, and the end result so sweet.

There are many other movies out there that use the enemies-to-lovers trope, either throughout the film or in certain scenes. Pride and Prejudice, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Romancing the Stone, While You Were Sleeping, Leap Year, 10 Things I Hate About You, and part of The Princess Bride come to mind. (In fact, I’d argue that the success of The Princess Bride, as well as stories like Twilight, is partly due to them using several very popular tropes together.) Which are your favorite films with enemies who turn into lovers? 

Stay tuned for next week, when I’ll provide an enemies-to-lovers reading list of books to feast on!

You can follow this series by signing up for my mailing list (top right), subscribing to individual posts (bottom right), and/or following the hashtag #RomanceTropeTuesday on Twitter or my Facebook page.

Tags:  10 Things I Hate About You, Amanda Peet, Bridget Jones's Diary, character arcs, comedy, conflict, Diane Keaton, enemies, enemies to lovers, film, foils, hero, heroine, humor, Jack Nicholson, Keanu Reeves, Leap Year, love, lovers, lust, May/December, movie, Nancy Meyers, plot, Pride and Prejudice, rom-com, romance, Romance Trope Tuesday, romance tropes, romance writing, Romancing the Stone, romantic comedy, Something's Gotta Give, stakes, subplots, The Princess Bridge, tropes, turtlenecks, Twilight, While You Were Sleeping




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Comments:  1 (One) on this itemYou might be interested in this:  
 Ten Best Holiday Rom-coms on Netflix Instant  Writers Who Read: Marly Youmans  Writers Who Read: Kaira Rouda  Writers Who Read: Naomi Zener  Top Ten Reasons Romance Writers Should Pen HorrorCopyright © G. G. Andrew [Romance Trope Tuesday: Something's Gotta Give], All Right Reserved. 2016.

Romance Trope Tuesday: Enemies-to-Lovers

I’m starting a series this summer on the blog. Called Romance Trope Tuesday, I’ll be highlighting a popular romance trope each month. One week I’ll introduce why it works; another week I’ll examine the device in action in a movie; and in the third week, I’ll provide a reading list of books that fit the trope. I hope you romance fans out there will join in and post what you think about these tropes, and your favorite stories that fit them!

June’s trope is the ever-popular Enemies-to-Lovers. This is when two characters who dislike one another start falling in love–or simply lust. They could show their animosity for each other by everything from witty bickering in a historical romance to being sworn enemies who’ve vowed to slay each other in a paranormal story. However their hostility plays out, by the time the final page is turned, they’ve fallen into each other’s arms.

Why are so many romance readers in love with this trope? Four reasons:

It’s exciting.

When the main characters move from hate to love, it’s a huge change–and transformation is what makes a story. So does conflict, which is piled on in an enemies-to-lovers tale, where the road to happily-ever-after is anything but smooth. Stakes can often be high, especially if the could-be lovers are mortal enemies. The arcs of the individual characters can be pretty dramatic as well, as they must evolve within themselves and in their relationship. All of this makes for an incredibly intense story.

It’s so sexy.

There’s an electrifying line between hate and lust. When the hero and heroine are fighting but subconsciously or secretly want to fall into bed, it adds tension and frisson to their every word–and an almost uncontrollable passion once they finally succumb.

It can be hilarious.

Assuming the story stakes are fairly low, an argument that turns into something else can be funny. Think of the sit-com where two yelling co-workers suddenly begin making out over a desk. It’s something we don’t expect–and neither do they–and what TV Tropes calls the Slap-Slap-Kiss.

It has the potential to be really sweet.

If two fighters are able to set aside their disagreements, large or small, and come together in affection, it shows the redeeming power of love–and perhaps even its power to unite warring tribes or families, solve a crime, or save the world.

Do you love this trope? Hate it? Used to hate it, but now love it? Sound off in the comments, and stay tuned for next week when I’ll look at an enemies-to-lovers film!

You can follow this series by signing up for my mailing list (top right), subscribing to individual posts (bottom right), and/or following the hashtag #RomanceTropeTuesday on Twitter or my Facebook page.

Tags:  arcs, books, character arcs, co-workers, comedy, conflict, enemies, enemies to lovers, hero, heroine, historical romance, humor, kissing, love, lovers, lust, paranormal romance, plot, reading, romance, romance reading, Romance Trope Tuesday, romance tropes, romance writing, sit-com, Slap-Slap-Kiss, stakes, tropes, Tv Tropes




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Comments:  0 (Zero), Be the first to leave a reply!You might be interested in this:  
 Top Ten Signs You're Reading Literary Fiction  CRAZY, SEXY, GHOULISH Out!  Writers Who Read Anniversary!  Writers Who Read: Amanda Gale  Writing a Goth Rom-ComCopyright © G. G. Andrew [Romance Trope Tuesday: Enemies-to-Lovers], All Right Reserved. 2016.

SCARY, LOVESICK, FOOLISH out!

I’m happy to announce that my goth rom-com SCARY, LOVESICK, FOOLISH releases today!

SCARY, LOVESICK, FOOLISH is the sequel to CRAZY, SEXY, GHOULISH and continues the story of Nora and Brendan.

It was a question he had to ask…

Brendan Forrester loves his girlfriend, Nora. Like can’t-live-without-her, Gomez-to-her-Morticia-Addams loves her. But when he asks her for more, he can’t help but notice the look of fear in her eyes. Then a ghost from their past shows up at the horror festival they’re both in, and Nora starts to change. Soon Brendan is remembering things he’d rather forget–including the voice of a certain girl he thought they’d long since vanquished.

It was a chance she couldn’t pass up…

When Nora Travers is offered a part in a horror one-act directed by the daughter of a Hollywood bigwig, she knows she can’t miss the chance–even if it means competing against her longtime boyfriend and getting back in touch with the mean girl she swore she’d never be again. But the past doesn’t want to stay buried, and soon Brendan–her usually smart, adoring boyfriend–can’t seem to stop sneaking suspicious looks at her. Or spying on her kissing scenes with her new co-star.

It’s making them both wonder: do they have what it takes to make it through another Halloween?

Download it today, or check out an excerpt to see if it’s your thing. I’m also holding an Amazon giveaway for a free copy of SCARY, LOVESICK, FOOLISH here through June 10th. Enter for a chance to win!

CRAZY, SEXY, GHOULISH is also now free at all stores.

Get SCARY, LOVESICK, FOOLISH today!

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

iBooks

Kobo

Smashwords

Tags:  Amazon giveaway, Crazy Sexy Ghoulish, goth, Halloween, Halloween romance, NA, New Adult, New Adult romantic comedy, romance, romantic comedy, Scary Lovesick Foolish, writing




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Comments:  0 (Zero), Be the first to leave a reply!You might be interested in this:  
 Writers Who Read: Karen Skolfield  Best Winter Romances on Netflix Instant  Guest Post: Why I Write Romance for Women Over 40  Failing My To-Be-Read Pile  Six Ways Sweet Valley High Lied to UsCopyright © G. G. Andrew [SCARY, LOVESICK, FOOLISH out!], All Right Reserved. 2016.

Why Do We Love to Read About Secrets?

I’m over on romance site Lady Smut today talking about secrets–particularly those in the books we read.

If you like secrets in your plot, hop on over and let me know why (or why not)!

Tags:  books, Lady Smut, reading, romance, secrets




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Comments:  0 (Zero), Be the first to leave a reply!You might be interested in this:  
 Writers Who Read: Marly Youmans  Writers Who Read: Andi Cumbo-Floyd  Writers Who Read: Naomi Zener  Writers Who Read: Amy Kathleen Ryan  Writers Who Read: Anna SchumacherCopyright © G. G. Andrew [Why Do We Love to Read About Secrets?], All Right Reserved. 2016.

Writers Who Read: Athena Kildegaard

The Writers Who Read series continues this week with poet Athena Kildegaard.

Who are you?

In summer I’m a gardener and a canner. In winter I teach and sometimes I shovel the front walk. In fall I walk and kick up leaves as I go and smell the must that they leave behind as they fall back to the ground. In spring I think about what I’m going to accomplish during the summer and in fall I mourn what didn’t get done. I’m the mother of two beautiful adults who surprised me even before they came out into this world, and I’m the wife of a man who balances me. I play the piano and I’m learning to knit. And I write poetry and some prose—including four books of poetry, Rare Momentum, Bodies of Light (a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award), Cloves & Honey (a finalist for the Midwest Book Award) and Ventriloquy, just out from Tinderbox Editions.

Which book or series was your gateway into the world of reading?

Hop on Pop – that’s the first book I remember reading. And when my children were small I read it again, with pleasure. Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle was my first book of poetry, a gift from my parents when I was eight or nine. It’s an anthology of poetry for children that treats children as people with a sense of humor and serious concerns. I learned about the wide range of things poetry can do from that anthology. And another gift from my parents was The Wishing Tree, a novel for children by William Faulkner that I loved so much I read it every summer when we drove from Minnesota to Texas. It begins, “She was still asleep, but she could feel herself rising up out of sleep, just like a balloon: it was like she was a goldfish in a round bowl of sleep, rising and rising through the warm waters of sleep to the top.” How marvelous is that: “a goldfish in a round bowl of sleep.”

Nowadays, what makes you crack open a book instead of pressing play on your favorite Netflix show?

There are some great shows on Netflix, but I’ve started some shows and then abandoned them because the books I’m reading are more dense, more challenging, more surprising than most shows.

Which authors are auto-buys for you? Why?

Anthony Doerr because he has a big heart and he writes sublime sentences.

Lorna Crozier because she’s funny and serious and she touches what matters with both humor and gravitas.

Robert Wrigley because he’s got an amazing ear and a sharp eye and he makes you look.

Rebecca Solnit because she’s full of passion tempered by intelligence.

Caroline Bergvall because she really knows how to play and how to make it count.

What is your book kryptonite—those unique settings, tropes, or character types that make you unable to resist reading?

Novels of exploration or sea adventures or frontier life: Jamrach’s Menagerie, by Carol Birch, about an expedition to get a dragon, told from a boy’s perspective; The Voyage of the Narwhal, Andrea Barrett’s wonderful novel about explorers who get stuck in the Arctic; Fred Stenson’s The Trade; Guy Vanderhaeghe’s trilogy about settlement of Canada; Kate Grenville’s trilogy about early Australian settlement. I like to be carried away into the life of adventure, risk, and wilderness.

What is your ideal time and place to read?

Sunday morning early, before my husband is up, when I don’t feel as if I must read something, I can just turn the pages and be gone for awhile. Where do I read? My chair in the living room, early light streaming in, a cup of hot strong coffee beside me.

Are you a re-reader? Why or why not?

I re-read poems and books of poems. Individual poems that I love I re-read for different reasons: to be reminded of what’s possible, to feel joy, to feel that this thing we do as human beings matters. I re-read books of poetry because they get better on re-reading. I’ve re-read novels, but not recently, though this summer I plan to read Tristram Shandy because it has been haunting me, but I want to wait until the semester is over so that I can really give myself over to the novel. I once re-read War and Peace to get the taste of a manipulative and cheesy best-seller out of my mouth. It worked!

Which books have had the biggest influence on your writing?

Elizabeth Bishop’s Geography III has been a big influence—for her attentive restraint. And Theodore Roethke’s Words for the Wind for his attentive exuberance. In my twenties I adored Ted Hughes, for his music—particularly his ear for the hard consonants—and for his love of mythology, something I admired but didn’t completely understand.

What makes a book a satisfying read for you?

Whatever the genre, a satisfying read contains beautiful writing. Sentence by sentence, or, if it’s poetry, line by line, I want to feel that I’m in the presence of someone who values music and syntax and words, but isn’t intent on impressing me. If it’s fiction then a satisfying read also creates a world in which things happen that matter and it contains characters that are complicated and strange and human. From non-fiction I want to learn in the company of someone who is passionate about the subject matter.

What are you reading right now?

I’m reading Damon Galgut’s Arctic Summer, a novel that imagines E.M. Forster’s time in India. I discovered Galgut, a South African writer, when I was living in Denmark during a sabbatical eight years ago. The library in the town where we lived had a marvelous and eclectic collection. And I’m reading Creating Minnesota by Annette Atkins, for a new way of thinking about my home. And for poetry I’m lapping up Maureen N. McLane’s World Enough and Jane Munro’s Blue Sonoma and a gorgeous new chapbook of James Tate’s last poems, published by Rain Taxi, called The Meteor.

~

Athena Kildegaard is the author of four books of poetry, most recently Ventriloquy (Tinderbox Editions). She is the Poetry Features Editor at Bloom. Kildegaard teaches at the University of Minnesota, Morris.

You can find out more about her on her website.

~

This will be the last Writers Who Read interview until fall 2016. Thanks so much to all the writers, readers, and others who’ve read and supported this series! Stay tuned for more interviews in the future, and, in the meantime, check out the interviews in the archives to see what other authors have been reading in your favorite genre(s).

Tags:  Andrea Barrett, Annette Atkins, Anthony Doerr, Arctic, Arctic Summer, Athena Kildegaard, Australia, Blue Sonoma, Bodies of Light, books, canner, Carol Birch, Caroline Bergvall, Cloves & Honey, Creating Minnesota, Damon Galgut, Denmark, dragon, E.M. Forster, Elizabeth Bishop, explorers, Fred Stenson, frontier life, gardener, Geography III, Guy Vanderhaeghe, Hop on Pop, James Tate, Jamrach's Menagerie, Jane Munro, Kate Grenville, knit, Lorna Crozier, Maureen N. McLane, Midwest Book Award, Minnesota, Minnesota Book Award, music, mythology, piano, poems, poetry, Poets Who Read, prose, Rain Taxi, Rare Momentum, reading, Rebecca Solnit, Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle, rereading, Robert Wrigley, sea adventures, Ted Hughes, Texas, The Meteor, The Trade, The Voyage of the Narwhal, The Wishing Tree, Theodore Roethke, Tinderbox Editions, Tristram Shandy, University of Minnesota, Ventriloquy, War and Peace, William Faulkner, Words for the Wind, World Enough, Writers Who Read, writing




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Comments:  0 (Zero), Be the first to leave a reply!You might be interested in this:  
 Writers Who Read: Kaira Rouda  Daniel Hales: Top Ten Prose Poetry Books  Weird Writing Research  Writers Who Read: Elizabeth Enslin  Making the Reader the HeroineCopyright © G. G. Andrew [Writers Who Read: Athena Kildegaard], All Right Reserved. 2016.