What would you change about Anne Stuart's books, if anything?

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Gotta Have My AS Fix!]

Is there anything you would change about Anne Stuart's books?

[Arch]

From the two books that I have read: Fire and Ice and Black Ice. No.

[Love love]

I have to agree with Arch, out of the books of hers that I have read (the ICE series, A ROSE AT MIDNIGHT,THE WICKED HOUSE OF ROHAN and I'm now reading RUTHLESS) I wouldn't change a thing.

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Gotta Have My AS Fix!]

I wouldn't change anything either. I'd wish she'd write faster, and had more books set in the 1930s and 1940s, and more westerns. Otherwise, Happy as a Clam!

[Arch]

When an author has you hook on her work, it's hard to wait for their next book to come out.

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Gotta Have My AS Fix!]

Yup! And I hoard all their books!

[Arch]

I'm glad that an author doesn't have a book out every month. The hunger is good for the mind. :)

[Tammy]

I would re-issue A Rose at Midnight!!

Dammit, that book is hard to find!

[Fani *loves angst*]

Well, I admit that I'd like for her to start writing epilogues in her books, or at least add a couple of pages after the hero and heroine both say their I love yous. She ends them way too abruptly.

[willaful]

They can be a bit too similar to one another.

[Arch]

Willaful, I agree about the books being similar. Black Ice and Fire and Ice were similar, when the heroine went home.

So now that I think about it, I probably would want the hero and heroine reunion to be different.

I haven't read all of the ice series, so I don't know how their endings are. I hope not like the others.

[Tammy]

willaful wrote: "They can be a bit too similar to one another."

She does have a certain 'formula', I think, but she tweaks each one to make it just a little bit different. And she is SO good at her formula!

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Gotta Have My AS Fix!]

I agree, Tammy. Nobody does it better, IMHO.

[Tammy]

High-five, Danielle. ;D

[Arch]

Mrs. Stuart is an excellent storyteller.

[Love love]

I think she's great. I'm really loving RUTHLESS right now. I'm sure I'll give it 5* =)

[Ruth]

I wish ALL her books were available in kindle format... even the out-of-print ones...

[TJ]

Ahh, c'mon guys, you gotta admit her contemporary heroines are way to TSTL. Smarten them up a bit!

[Ruth]

Ahh, c'mon guys, you gotta admit her contemporary heroines are way to TSTL. Smarten them up a bit!

LOL. Actually, I quite like that most of her heroines are just pretty normal. The ones I've read, and which stick in my mind, tend to be good at what they do, knowledgeable in their field etc. But pretty clueless when it comes to the suspense-OMG-there's-someone-shooting-at-me stuff. I have no problem with that. And, it can be a fine line between normal and doormat.

I get quite suspicious when heroines are supposed to be "normal" but miraculously uncover a hitherto undiscovered talent in the use of military hardware or explosives etc

But I respect that you have a different opinion. How would you smarten them up?

[TJ]

I agree completely, Ruth. I love that her heroines are normal and real. What drives me crazy - and I'm thinking of the Ice series here - is when they do absolutely brainless stuff like completely disregarding all warnings and running into the middle of a gun standoff screaming her lovers name. Any woman with a brain would know better. ;-)

[Ruth]

Tammy, I totally agree. Most people just keep their traps shut and think of themselves first, and it's kind of refreshing when they do in RS too.

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Gotta Have My AS Fix!]

Ruth wrote: "I wish ALL her books were available in kindle format... even the out-of-print ones..."


Me too, Ruth!

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Gotta Have My AS Fix!]

Ruth, I think you said it well. Tammy, I can see where you're coming from, but I wonder if it's not a fish out of water phenomenon. I know I would probably be hiding in a corner somewhere whimpering if I was a heroine in an Anne Stuart romantic suspense novel, at least if I couldn't find a way to get the heck away from the situation. :)

[TJ]

Ruth wrote: "Tammy, I totally agree. Most people just keep their traps shut and think of themselves first, and it's kind of refreshing when they do in RS too."

I don't think I would agree with thinking of themselves first, but thinking of something actually constructive to help that wouldn't get your lover shot. Even whimpering in a corner is realistic but not brainless.

[Kythahra]

Have read everything she's written, apart from a couple of OOP oldies, that I haven't been able to find yet.....and can honestly say there's only 1 thing I'd change.

Make them longer - MUCH longer. I never get tired of her kind of hero. Would be quite happy just hearing about their afternoon fixing the car!

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Gotta Have My AS Fix!]

I'd be cool with her books being longer, Jemma!

[Arch]

Some stories are so good that you want to read beyond the end of the book. You want the hero and heroine's story to be an never ending story.

I would love to see some authors write what's going on in the married life or even engagement life.

I love putting in things in my stories that you don't see in other stories. I like to show normal every day stuff.

Maybe one day, Mrs. Stuart will let us know what's going on now with the Ice heroes and heroines.

[Ruth]

I would love to see some authors write what's going on in the married life or even engagement life.

Ah, but that's why we keep coming back for more, and just can't wait for the next book to come out..

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Gotta Have My AS Fix!]

Actually she does that a little in the Ice books. You get to see Chloe and Bastien settled down, raising their kids. You also see Peter and Genevieve, and Taka and Summer a little in the books after theirs. I'd love to see what Reno and Jilly are up to.

[Arch]

Reno and Jilly were my first Ice couple.

[Kythahra]

Good point, Lady D - and was nice to get a sense of the gang again in Ice Storm.

Than again, perhaps it's just that you see so many other romances where the H/h are blissfully happy at the end, all conflict resolved and cherubs playing harps, that you don't feel the need to join them any further on their journey. Ms Stuart's books establish the ongoing connection between the H & h, and resolve the situational conflicts, but not always the interpersonal ones, which always makes me feel like I've only seen a part of their story, not the whole.

Maybe it's why I like them so much. I take it back. They're perfect.

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Gotta Have My AS Fix!]

Oh I get you, Jemma. I think her books tend to end abruptly, but I feel that she feels that she is telling what she needs to say, and leaves the rest up to us. I know one thing, I do believe in Anne Stuart's happy endings. If the hero is a demon from Hell when the book starts, he can only ascend from that point on. He can't go any lower.

[Kythahra]

Oh, I totally agree, Lady, Danielle.

I guess what I meant to say was that many romances end because there's nothing else to say, whereas AS books end when you know the H & h are going to be together - whatever happens next. And you know more IS going to happen. There'll always be more to say.

For me, the fairytale wedding/hearts and flowers stuff doesn't equate to a HEA. I want to see the H & h, baggage/danger/etc included, choose to continue their stories - all of life's ups and downs - together.

AS stories give me that. I wish more authors did! :)

(sigh) I'm such a fangirl!

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Gotta Have My AS Fix!]

That's very true, Jemma!

I am a serious fangirl, so you're in good company. I am glad to meet other people who love AS as much as I do!

[Arch]

I know that I can read a good single book and still desire more. Most of the time, characters are talked about in later books, because it's a series.

[Tammy]

Before reading the latest posts on this thread, I would have said no more abrupt endings! But after having read Jemma and Danielle's comments about them:

...Ms Stuart's books establish the ongoing connection between the H & h, and resolve the situational conflicts, but not always the interpersonal ones...

...but I feel that she feels that she is telling what she needs to say, and leaves the rest up to us.

I changed my mind. Well put, ladies! You each make a good point - and one I hadn't considered.

Now I just wish her books were longer.

[Kythahra]

Ah, Tammy.... I have this feeling that, even if they were twice as long, we'd still be wanting more!

If you could pick one (and only one!) of her books to magically make longer, which would it be? Can't make up my mind if I'd want it to be something like Moonrise - v. sudden ending, or one of my favourite pairings - just to see what happens to them!

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Gotta Have My AS Fix!]

Oh, good question, Jemma. I'll have to think about it!

Tammy, it's rough b/c I always want more when I read one of her books, but I'm satisfied at the same time.

[Tammy]

Jemma wrote: "if you could pick one (and only one!) of her books to magically make longer, which would it ..."

Good one, Jemma! I've been thinking about this one -- I haven't read all that many of her books (so much backlist yet to discover!) but of the 12 I've read, the one I would magically make longer would be Breathless. I loved that book, thought there was SO much potential in the story and the characters. I was very disappointed when it ended, thought I needed to know more, more, MORE about Lucien, and could have read about them for another couple of hundred pages.

You're right, Danielle -- you always want more but are satisfied at the same time. Kind of like the way I feel about buffalo wings, LOL.

[willaful]

I actually really like the relative shortness of her books. I have to juggle my reading so much that it's often hard for me to find the time to invest in longer books. And there isn't a lot of extraneous crap in her books. They're... streamlined. :-)

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Gotta Have My AS Fix!]

I agree with you about your description of AS books as streamlined, Willaful. I like how concise her writing style is.