Getting Hammered With Charlotte Stein

Ilya. Ilya.

by Madeline Iva

My latest phase of obsessive devotion is pretty evenly divided between Armie Hammer and Charlotte Stein. I posted HOT MEN FROM U.N.C.L.E and that’s when my friend Adriana Anders and fellow Charlotte Stein fan-cum-semi-stalker said, You know Charlotte Stein has based a lot of the male characters in her books on Armie Hammer, right?

Whaaaaaat?!? No. No, I didn’t know that.

Well, it turns out that Charlotte Stein went through her own Armie obsession a while back. I went right to the source and asked Charlotte all about it on Twitter. It’s true.

Given this new information I had to dive back into her books and re-read all of them with fresh eyes. Wow.

I mean: wow. The stories seemed even hotter to me. Let us discuss:

Well *somebody* had to play the Harvard twins.

Charlotte first saw Armie in The Social Network. This inspired her ménage story DoubledDOUBLED. DoubledDOUBLED is about a nice pair of college age twins who want to do really dirty things with the girl of their dreams.

Then Charlotte saw Armie in Blackout—which is a horrible movie, btw, but he plays a punk in it–which inspired ShelteredSHELTERED.  ShelteredSHELTERED is my model of what erotic romance should be. Hot. Innocent. SO romantic and yet simple too.

I have to pause a moment ask myself what is it about yer basic Charlotte Stein erotic romance trope that makes me so happy? Well, first she takes a nice guy. A nice, very, very hot guy, who yes, okay, has secret lustful filthy thoughts way down deep. No, he can’t put them out there, he’s too nice to do that. Charlotte Stein then kicks off the story with  a heroine who fixates on the problem of what to do with this nice guy seething with sexual repression.  Well, she finds a way to pry him open is what.  Then that nice repressive guy finally lets out his nasty uninhibited sexual side and now all he wants to do is get the heroine off repeatedly.  Sigh.

Armie in Blackout. Don’t you want to kiss that tattoo on his neck?

I mean, I like a heroine who DOES something—who goes after the guy.  Yet I also can relate with the typical Stein-i-an heroine who is pulchritudinous, insecure, and lacks social confidence. (My friends are going to die laughing when they read this – me, lacking in social confidence? Me, insecure? Well I was like that, ladies, back before I got together with DH in the dark ages. If I’m different now, it’s only because of true luv. Which made me the mighty wonder woman I am today. Which is why I write romances. So there.)

I asked Charlotte about why the Armie characters are almost all so deliciously repressed. She said: “Armie played a super uptight religious figure in this cheesy crap called Billy Graham…hence the often seen repression in those characters. Though really that was more my interpretation of how he looks and his expressions.”

A very uptight Armie inspired Restraint: Away We Go, Book TwoRESTRAINT Which is the best short story EVAH! With your most restrained hero ever–thus the title.  Nice guy meets dirty talking girl and boom!

Armie also inspired an equally hot clamped down character named Cameron in Telling TalesTELLING TALES. I’ll confess I had a little bit of trouble getting into this book, but once I was re-reading it with Armie eyes well — I read it in one night.  Much to say here–I’ll save it for goodreads.

Raw Heat

Click to buy.

Armie even inspired Charlotte’s wolfie hero in Raw HeatRAW HEAT because Charlotte says she saw James Spader in a werewolf movie called The Wolf and imagined what if it was Armie instead?

BTW, Raw HeatRAW HEAT is just the best paranormal romance I’ve ever read–and that includes J.R. Ward. The hero is to die. To die.  It’s also got a bittersweet the-whole-world-is-all-going-up-in-flames feeling that I just love.

But wait! There’s more–

Like ménage? Charlotte’s written quite a few that were inspired by Armie and some other movie celebs. I haven’t read them all yet, but maybe you’re a faster reader than I am.

Armie and Michael Fassbinder inspired All Other ThingsALL OTHER THINGS

Armie, Fassbinder, and James Spader inspired Power PlayPOWER PLAY

Armie and Brandon Routh inspired Make MeMAKE ME

Given that Charlotte is so inspired by Armie, I remembered the plot of her book BEYOND REPAIR about a young woman who discovered a semi-drowned movie star in the living room of her beach house. (!) Was that based on Armie? No, Charlotte said. She uses a lot of movie stars for inspiration, and that character was based on Chris Evans.

My dream of being the center of an Armie Hammer/Charlotte Stein sandwich is probably not likely to ever happen, so I’ve also made up an Armie pinterest page for y’all with buy links so you can see His gorgeous face, paired with Her amazing books.

Armie Shmarmie you say. What’s that about Charlotte using other actors for her pervy-hot erotic romance inspirations? Here’s the list.

Click to Buy

Control: Zacharay Quinto

Waiting in Vain: Alex O’Loughlin

Sweet Agony: Benedict Cumberbatch

Deep Desires Alex O’Loughlin

Run To You: Marton Csokas

Intrusion: Hugh Dancy

Forbidden: Colin O’Donoghue

Taken: Silas Weir

So last Friday night, DH and I settled down to watch a video and he said The Social Network? Why did you pick this movie? Didn’t it come out a long time ago? Then we start watching and about ten minutes in, he’s like, Oh. Armie’s in it. Okay, now I get it.

Another good performance in another bad movie. Poor Armie!

We finish Social Network and turn to J. Edgar. DH looks at the cover and says Leonardo DiCaprio? Why? We start watching and then about ten minutes in when Armie shows up in the movie, DH turned to look at me in this resigned way and shook his head. What? I said. It’s for the blog.

Hope you follow us on Lady Smut like I follow Armie Hammer interviews on You Tube.

Hey, while you’re at it, hope you follow us on Pinterest as well.

Do you live in the Mid-Atlantic region? On Saturday, October 10th I’ll be at the Washington Romance Writers luncheon for readers and bloggers in Bethesda, MD. Register for the event, and be showered with free books and awesome gifts! We can talk about Armie. At this point there are less than SIX spots left for readers—so hit that link now if you don’t want to wait until next year. :)