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Something A Character Did or Said That You Didn't Like (Spoiler Warning)
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Danielle The Book Huntress , Sees Love in All Colors
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Jan 09, 2010 09:09AM
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Their third short story is behind the hardback version of Breaking Point.
Fourth story Trapped can be found here. (Alyssa is spoiled) http://www.randomhouse.com/rhpg/PDF/F...
The story starts on page 22-33.
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I like Jones.
I have a couple of books in the serires that I haven't read. I don't know if I will read them. I didn't really read Max/Gina book. Only glanced over a few pages, because Alyssa and Sam was mentioned.
message 155:
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Danielle The Book Huntress , Sees Love in All Colors
(last edited Jan 09, 2010 10:09AM)
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Teri from Over the Edge
Meg from The Unsung Hero
Alyssa
Molly
I think I'll like Sophia.
I really disliked Kelly, Gina, Joan, and Savannah. As for the TDD series, I can't stand Veronica from Prince Joe. I couldn't even finish the book.
Surprisingly, I ended up liking Sam's ex-wife, Mary Jo? I can't remember. At first I hated her. But she grew on me.
Having said that, I think Suz Brockmann is a very good storyteller. She keeps me reading even when I don't like some of the things that happen, and I don't like some of the characters. I wish she wasn't always doing a PSA about safe sex, though. That got annoying after a while.
Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "You know, the interesting thing about male characters and how they are written, is I think sometimes the books make men seem too alpha, at times. I realize that's fantasy, and some of you mentioned..."I'm like that too Danielle. I write alpha men, but I also like to show a soft, nurturing side to them. I have some books from the 70s where these guys were so hard it was difficult to find anything attractive about them. I would have hurled a vase at their head and left. Grovel you jerk, grovel.
message 158:
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Danielle The Book Huntress , Sees Love in All Colors
(last edited Jan 09, 2010 10:47AM)
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--Yeah, the 70s era heroes don't really make my list of favorites, either. Having said that, I did read and enjoy a lot of bodice rippers from the 80s. I didn't particularly like what the heroes did and what the heroines tolerated, but they were entertaining books. They had a lot more adventure than the newer romances. Have you read Stormfire by Christine Monson? This is probably the most extreme bodice ripper ever written.
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Danielle The Book Huntress , Sees Love in All Colors
(last edited Jan 09, 2010 10:49AM)
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Thanks, Arch. I couldn't remember her second name. I realized that she was a scared, immature girl. I really liked that SB showed her viewpoint and allowed us to see her grow. I came to like her because of that. I think her and Sam were meant to get together for that short time, because of what came into their lives as a result. Mary Lou might not have grown as a person, she might have ended up married to an abusive jerk and grown more racist and self-destructive. She definitely wouldn't have met Ibrahim or fallen in love with him. And Sam wouldn't have his daughter, Hailey. So it turned out very good.
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I like that Suzanne has gone that the route of Sam and Mary Lou as well. Hailey came out of that.
I'm also happy that Alyssa didn't sleep with another man after Sam. He was the man for her and that's the only man she really wanted to be with. Max wasn't really what she wanted. I still believe that she wouldn't have slept with Max. Gone Too Far love scene between Sam and Alyssa proved that to me.
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Danielle The Book Huntress , Sees Love in All Colors
(last edited Jan 09, 2010 11:16AM)
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I'm glad Alyssa didn't sleep with Max, either. That felt really wrong to me. I think that she was still in love with Sam, so that would have been cheating emotionally.
I love the scene where Sam is on the stretcher, and he grabs Alyssa's arm and yells, "You belong to me, and I belong to you." Sigh!
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Yeah, I liked that Alyssa waited for Sam...BUT he had a wife that he slept with on occasion during that period of separation from Alyssa. So I don't know if it's fair exactly, but it is what it is I guess.
Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "Oh, babies really do look like you want to eat them. Apparently babies have a hormone or pheromone that they put out through their skin that makes them very appealing, so that you want to take care of them. That's what I've heard. I love babies!"I didn't know this, but I'm not surprised to hear it. I love babies too, although I'm in no rush to be a nan. I'm far too young for that sort of business! :)
I also think its a personality thing. Some people are naturally more nurturing and drawn to babies.
Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "I've liked most of the Team 16 guys (although Mike as kind of annoying to me at times), but I really didn't like some of their heroines. The heroines I do like:Teri from Over the Edge
Meg fro..."
I've liked all the heroines from the first six book with the exception of Joan. Didn't like her one bit. But I will say that Mary Lou and the terrorist subplot was what saved that book for me. Well, that and all the Sam/Alyssa longing angst.
I think the book that introduced Sophia/Dekker/Dave is by far my least favorite of all the books. Stone cold dead last.
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Sam married Mary Lou, because he thought he was doing the right thing. A lot of guys marry the woman that's carrying their baby, because of the pregnancy. Sam didn't love Mary Lou. He thought that Noah married Claire, because she was pregnant. Not hearing the discussion between Noah and his uncle Walter, Sam figured that his uncle Walter believed that a man should marry a woman, because of her being pregnant. That the baby needs the father in it's life. The baby can't born a bastard.
I don't only believe that Alyssa didn't slept with anyone after Sam, because of Sam, but because she would not sleep with anyone that she wasn't in love with.
Remember in Defiant Hero, Sam thought that Alyssa was a virgin, but we find out that Alyssa hasn't had sex in four years. I believe the first guy she slept with was her first and something happen, they broke up and Alyssa didn't sleep with another man, until Sam. Reason is, beause of "being in love."
The first guy,because she was in love.
Sam, because she was in love with him.
She could have slept with the school teacher in Over The Edge. She only kissed him. She could have slept with Max, but he didn't go further because she worked for him, but I honestly don't believe Alyssa would have slept with Max. She wasn't in love with him. If she was in love with him, she wouldn't have slept with Sam in Gone Too Far.
Chaeya wrote: "Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "You know, the interesting thing about male characters and how they are written, is I think sometimes the books make men seem too alpha, at times. I realize that..."Now, now Chaeya no violence, remember?
Anyway, seriously, I couldn't deal with 70s and much of the 80s romance for much of the same reason. Compared to a lot of what's being produced now, romance from back in those days were better written, richer in plot and character development and overall just ... more, but. There was too much angst. The hero and heroine were either separated or at war until the last 15 pages of the book. And yes, many of heroes were downright mean. I love a strong, tough man but there has to be something beating in his chest called a heart.
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--I feel you, Loni. I was quite upset about it. But some good came out of it, in the end. Mary Lou need Sam more than Max needed Alyssa.
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Sam married Mary Lou, because he thought he was doing the right thing. A lot of guys marry the woman that's carrying thei..."
Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "Chaeya wrote: "Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "You know, the interesting thing about male characters and how they are written, is I think sometimes the books make men seem too alpha, at times...."Oh Stormfire, I've been trying to acquire that book since I heard about it from Amazon. It's not easy to find and I'm not going fork up the $100 I've seen a lot of places demanding for it. What's wrong with people?
Man, you guys are spoiling the book. And yes I did skip over Danielle's spoiler post.
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I hate to be that way, but there's something about SB's heroines that tend to rub me the wrong way. I think it's how they tend to walk all over the hero's feelings. If you look at all my least favorites, they are the ones that were bad about this. I believe that most of SB's heroes are betas. They might be in a macho job, but they are betas. That's not an insult, because I love beta heroes. But I think that a good beta needs to be paired carefully with the right kind of heroine.
Hmmm ... now that makes me wonder if this author is for me.
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I'm sorry for posting a spoiler.
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Why do you say that?
Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "Chaeya wrote: "Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "You know, the interesting thing about male characters and how they are written, is I think sometimes the books make men seem too alpha, at times...."Oh man, I read this book called Wicked Loving Lies and I swear I wanted to throw it across the room on numerous occasions, but I hung in there. The hero was a brute (yeah, that's the only thing I could call him), he was always angry at the heroine, doing cruel things to her and the heroine sounded like this waif like Mia Farrow creature who just puffed her way through the book getting taken advantage of, raped, I even think he slapped her around a bit. If they did have a nice moment, he'd immediately be angry with her about something. But the heroine could have been a blow up doll. She just let herself be handled whichever way.
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Here's the part I hated the most. She's with this guy who treats her like this "little bird" awwwww, she's this delicate little creature. They get attacked by these highway men led by yours truly, the hero, and he rapes her. Well her boyfriend whatever who thought she was this sweet little bird watched her getting raped and he got aroused and after they left her, he did her. I guess before she was this untouchable madonna, but after watching her get raped, she was "low" enough for him to finally have sex with. And she just let it happen like "oh". I don't remember her making much of squeak or fuss about this. I think I still have the book.
Wicked Loving Lies... was that a Rosemary Rogers? I ask because I think I remember some of the very early romances 80s almost read like spousal abuse manuals. Seriously, some of those relationships in those early books were so abusive and dysfunctional, mutually so, that they were difficult to read. And in the end, on the last page, they say I love You and all is supposed to be miraculously well?
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--This is entirely my perception. Tina likes the other heroines, so it could just be me. Don't decide not to read the series on my account and what I have to say.
Arch wrote: "Davina wrote: "Hmmm ... now that makes me wonder if this author is for me."Why do you say that?"
Because I don't like b!tch heroines ... pardon my lingo.
Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "This is entirely my perception. Tina likes the other heroines, so it could just be me. Don't decide not to read the series on my account and what I have to say."Oh, I won't. Essentially what I meant with that comment is that I'd probably prioritise other books before reading these. Furthermore, Tina and I may have the same tastes when it comes to certain themes, but that doesn't mean we'll necessarily like the same type of heroines. When in doubt, I like to form my own opinions about things.
I think we're all just one big venn diagram when it comes to our tastes really. Some may overlap more than others but I've rarely found anyone who is completely in sync with me. I think you can have similar tastes but someone will invariably have a quirk or a peeve that throws all predictions off. Regards Suz Brockmann's series, the romance between the H&H in her books is only one part of the book. In the first six books each book contains a main suspense plotline that usually involves/brings together the primary h/h. Then there is a secondary romance arc. In the first 6, Alyssa/Sam was the main secondary story arc, Molly/Jones' and Max/Gina's arcs got revved up too. And finally there is a WWII plotline as well. So her books aren't conventional romances at all. And when I discovered them I had fallen in love with her plot structure. I actually classify them as ensemble drama/romance/suspense, moreso than romance novels.
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I haven't come across anyone who is completely in sync with me either, and I guess it's a bit premature to expect that. People will have similar likes and dislikes for some things, but certainly not everything. Generally, I've found that, compared to a lot of other folks who read romance, my tastes are quite peculiar. I don't really have a preference for anything: a story, a hero or a heroine, a plot device ... whatever. I'm open to everything until I discover something that doesn't work for me.
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I love Alyssa. She was mostly strong headed, when it came to Sam, because he would get under her skin. She would let him get under her skin.
I have read some of the other heroine stories, but they didn't catch my attention. I've mostly read the book, because Sam and Alyssa was in the book. Some books I haven't read. I didn't read Cosmo story. Breaking Point, I've searched out Sam and Alyssa's part. Alyssa had a bigger part, mostly towards the end.
A lot of Suzanne fans don't even like Sam and that's fine. I love Sam. I love Dave and a lot of her fans don't like Dave, especially, she he won the girl. I like Sophia.
My advise to anyone, is read the stories for yourself and base your opinion of the heroine and hero from there.
I know that I am forever talking about Sam and Alyssa. It's because I love them. I don't except anyone to like them, because I like them. I'm just sharing my like.
That's why I don't let reviews move me.
Tina wrote: "Wicked Loving Lies... was that a Rosemary Rogers? I ask because I think I remember some of the very early romances 80s almost read like spousal abuse manuals. Seriously, some of those relationshi..."I think that's her. There was nothing redeeming about this guy, he was just cruel and I would have taken a stick to his butt and there'll be one big wonderful scene lasted about ten pages of how I'm whipping his butt and the emotional exhilaration I feel.
That's a good way to describe her books, Tina, as ensemble romance/etc.
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Okay, I am late, but I am jumping in. First, one of my favorite authors from way back, had a historical romance series and in one, the bad guy rapes the main characters lady in waiting. In the next book he has become the hero and I thought the book was good (of course this was at least 15 years ago). Not in the fact that there was rape, because that is never acceptable, however, I think part of what the author was trying to show was how little a woman was valued. Back then, she was considered worthless if she was not a virgin and pretty much doomed never to marry. Many people were upset because she made the bad guy the hero in the next book. I think this also plays into the mentality of the time. He was a great hero because she eventually forced you to like him (at least I thought so).On another note, and I have stated this many times, I have read a couple of IR's where the whole time the guy (WM) constantly remarks about body parts until it makes me sick. Big, juicy, pillowy, plump, bodacious, hard to ignore lips are okay once or twice. However,by the second chapter, if you can't find more to write about to prove this are a romance between a BW and a WM, I am pretty much unimpressed with your writing skills.
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*The following may contain spoilers*
In Loretta Chase's Lord of Scoundrels the heroine shot the hero in his arm. The wound l..."
Male on female violence is VASTLY different than female on male violence. Unfortunately neither are accurately reported on in general.
Bekah wrote: Male on female violence is VASTLY different than female on male violence. Unfortunately neither are accurately reported on in general.In what why do you mean?
Are you saying one is more acceptable than the other? I'm unsure how to interpret your comment so please clarify.
I agree with you that they're not accurately portrayed, and that's mainly because Male on Female violence is largely condemned and frowned up (and rightly so, you will not get any arguments from me regarding that) while Female on Male violence is often portrayed as funny, the victim having deserved what he got, that women have a right to resort to violence (even in situations where their lives and or personal safety are not threatened) or many times it is not reported on at all.
Moreover did you read the book in question?
*SPOILER AHEAD*
The heroine shot the hero with a gun. He was ill from the injuries he sustained for 4 days and the arm was paralysed for many more days after that. Moreover, for the times this could have easily been a fatal injury due to the increased possibility of infection and the like. How would you have felt if the hero had done this to heroine?
Is that VASTLY different from many male on female violence we hear about nowadays?
This was entirely unacceptable behaviour on the heroine's part and I don't care how much the hero "deserved" it. I don't want to read books where ANY form of intimate relationship violence is glorified, and the heroine's actions in this book was mostly certainly glorified.
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saninbham wrote: "On another note, and I have stated this many times, I have read a couple of IR's where the whole time the guy (WM) constantly remarks about body parts until it makes me sick. Big, juicy, pillowy, plump, bodacious, hard to ignore lips are okay once or twice. However,by the second chapter, if you can't find more to write about to prove this are a romance between a BW and a WM, I am pretty much unimpressed with your writing skills."This has got to be my biggest beef with IRRs. Why does everything has to be about race? Why are these difference in black women amplified? I can tell you, I know a lot of big, bodacious white chicks too. I've even read about a few in books and nobody makes a big deal out of it. I can't stand to see when IR authors fall into this trap.
Arch wrote: "A heroine shouldn't do to a hero, what a hero shouldn't do to her."My feelings exactly, Arch.
What that heroine did really upset me, especially when you consider the reason she shot the hero was as much her fault as it was his.
This is the type of female privilege depicted in real life and fiction that majorly pisses me off.
If women want respect from men, show them respect.
No man has a right to put his hand violently on a woman. However, it is also just as important to realise that if you don't want to get hit, don't hit.
Many women resort to violence against a man because they know he's unable to retaliate without serious consequences (or because they want to provoke him into retaliating so they can play the victim).
It's really sick and twisted and wrong in every major way.
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Overly description of the heroine is not just written in interracial books. It's written in non-interracial books as well.
Example:
Tight firm butt.
Small perfect breast
Kissable lips.
All race of women can fall in this category.
It's not so much the words or even the descriptions, its the constant focus one how "different" a black woman is just because she's with a white man. If the hero was a black guy, I'm sure the same emphasis on how "different" she is wouldn't be there. I'm not black, but as a woman I find it very annoying. I've been with white men and black men and while there are certain cultural differences, at the end of the day they're just the same as other men regardless of race. I believe this is also true for black women.
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John Doe probably is use to being with women like Jennifer Ainston, but now he's with a Queen Latifah.
I'm sorry, but it's true, Jennifer and Queen Latifah is built differently. So, if a white guy never been with a black woman, he might note her lips, her eyes, her butt, etc. because that's all new to him.
I honestly don't believe that all interracial writers are trying to make the black woman stand out more than any other race of women.
Now if every other page, the writer is having the man repeat himself, then something is a little off there.
Every woman is the same or should I say have the same body parts. They just comes in different shape and sizes.
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In what why do you mean?
Are you saying on..."
sorry, lol, this is my job, so I have to turn it around.. Why do you suppose female on male violence is portrayed as funny and fluffy and laughable? What's the message there?
What irritates me in some books (ir or not) is the constant focus on good looks. If you make it known early on that the main leads are gorgeous I don't find a need to keep harping on it the entire story. It makes it seem as if that's all they have going for them.
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Books mentioned in this topic
Stormfire (other topics)Taming The Beast (other topics)
Gone Too Far (other topics)
The Unsung Hero (other topics)
The Wolf and the Dove (other topics)
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