one of my favorite romance novels
Jul. 21st, 2010 12:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarea
I am filling in for a colleague this week for the first time ever. I had very little insight to his work/processes before. Prior to leaving, he was like, "Should be a pretty light week." Famous. last. words. HE SO OWES ME. It's been completely insane. Talk about trial by fire. His whole team's like, wow, what a time for you to cover for L.! It's been interesting to gain some insight to what he does, though -- and next time I have to cover for him I'll know what I'm getting into.
One day soon I am going to make this chocolate Guinness cake. I'm not a fan of drinking alcohol (mostly because it only takes like two sips to get me buzzed, and soon after that it's tomato face and headache), but I LOVE cooking with it.
I'm re-reading one of my favorite historical romance novels, one by Laura Kinsale called Seize the Fire. In general, Kinsale's heroes and heroines are not cut from the usual romance novel cloth -- she seems to go out of her way to be unique. Even so, this is NOT a romance novel for the typical romance novel reader. The reason I say this is because the hero is such a bastard of an anti-hero. It was the first time I'd ever, EVER read a romance novel with such a hero. I mean, it's *unheard* of. I think I pretty much stopped reading traditional romance novels after this book, because I liked this hero so much -- it was so refreshing -- that traditional heroes just became uber dull. Many people have the opposite reaction as me. :-) Many people hate the book, rant about how it's Kinsale's worst work, etc. Instead, for me, it showed me that I like imperfect, flawed, edgy heroes who might not fit into the traditional description of "hero." Such as, say, Draco Malfoy. :-)
The novel opens with the hero (Sheridan Drake), on a ship that's being attacked. He's just finished his naval career in the British Navy (which he got into because his asshole father tricked him), and he's super pissed off at the idiot whose fault it is that they're under attack and fuming about the fact that he might actually die at sea after finally getting out of the Navy (he's a Captain). Since he figures he's a goner anyway, he whips out his sword "for dramatic effect" and in a rage goes to attack said idiot, but the pitch of the ship prevents the actual attack and he knocks down the guy, effectively getting the latter out of harm's way of a falling mast. After that accidentally he saves everyone from a bomb. Then we see a series of letters from the idiot he had meant to attack, commending Sheridan to the King for his heroic and selfless actions (for which he gets knighted). Hilarious.
A bit further in, there's a heavy petting session between Sheridan and the heroine, Olympia, who is a princess of some tiny country she's never seen but wants to bring them democracy. She's consistently described as "plump," which also goes against the grain of the traditional romance novel heroine, who's usually willowy. In any case, after this session Sheridan's all -- ahem -- worked up, and he says shortly to his valet, "I want the maid. Lily. Lavinia. What the devil's her name?" And the valet's like, "Mary." It's fun to read and I'm sure it was fun to write. Olympia initially thinks Sheridan's a swell guy, hero of the nation, etc. etc., but eventually learns what a bad, bad man he is. And then the fun really starts.
I'd rather be immersing myself in THAT than what I'm currently doing, that's for sure.
One day soon I am going to make this chocolate Guinness cake. I'm not a fan of drinking alcohol (mostly because it only takes like two sips to get me buzzed, and soon after that it's tomato face and headache), but I LOVE cooking with it.
I'm re-reading one of my favorite historical romance novels, one by Laura Kinsale called Seize the Fire. In general, Kinsale's heroes and heroines are not cut from the usual romance novel cloth -- she seems to go out of her way to be unique. Even so, this is NOT a romance novel for the typical romance novel reader. The reason I say this is because the hero is such a bastard of an anti-hero. It was the first time I'd ever, EVER read a romance novel with such a hero. I mean, it's *unheard* of. I think I pretty much stopped reading traditional romance novels after this book, because I liked this hero so much -- it was so refreshing -- that traditional heroes just became uber dull. Many people have the opposite reaction as me. :-) Many people hate the book, rant about how it's Kinsale's worst work, etc. Instead, for me, it showed me that I like imperfect, flawed, edgy heroes who might not fit into the traditional description of "hero." Such as, say, Draco Malfoy. :-)
The novel opens with the hero (Sheridan Drake), on a ship that's being attacked. He's just finished his naval career in the British Navy (which he got into because his asshole father tricked him), and he's super pissed off at the idiot whose fault it is that they're under attack and fuming about the fact that he might actually die at sea after finally getting out of the Navy (he's a Captain). Since he figures he's a goner anyway, he whips out his sword "for dramatic effect" and in a rage goes to attack said idiot, but the pitch of the ship prevents the actual attack and he knocks down the guy, effectively getting the latter out of harm's way of a falling mast. After that accidentally he saves everyone from a bomb. Then we see a series of letters from the idiot he had meant to attack, commending Sheridan to the King for his heroic and selfless actions (for which he gets knighted). Hilarious.
A bit further in, there's a heavy petting session between Sheridan and the heroine, Olympia, who is a princess of some tiny country she's never seen but wants to bring them democracy. She's consistently described as "plump," which also goes against the grain of the traditional romance novel heroine, who's usually willowy. In any case, after this session Sheridan's all -- ahem -- worked up, and he says shortly to his valet, "I want the maid. Lily. Lavinia. What the devil's her name?" And the valet's like, "Mary." It's fun to read and I'm sure it was fun to write. Olympia initially thinks Sheridan's a swell guy, hero of the nation, etc. etc., but eventually learns what a bad, bad man he is. And then the fun really starts.
I'd rather be immersing myself in THAT than what I'm currently doing, that's for sure.
