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| What romance may look like. |
Romance is perhaps one of the most scoffed-at genres of fiction. Readers picture glossy covers featuring busty women in various states of undress, looking longingly into a tan, muscular man wearing some type of breech/boot combination. Because of this, the Romance genre is generally a reader’s dirty little secret. Not the kind of books you take with you no public transportation, or leave sitting on your living room table for people to see. But there are three romance authors who, while not raising the genre to the heady heights of Literary Fiction (though as you can tell, that doesn’t bother me a bit), have made it respectable and written some damn good characters along the way. Enjoy their work, and feel free to leave their non-bodice-busting covers lying around wherever you like.
1. Nora Roberts
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| Nora Roberts |
I discovered Nora Roberts by chance when I was browsing the book section at Sam’s Club and picked up one of her books on a whim. I have since had to replace this book three times, and you can see my praise for it here. What I love about Nora Roberts is that she creates real characters. Are they usually living well above their means in a wildly unrealistic set of circumstances? Yes. (That is what makes it romantic.) But the characters themselves are often multi-dimensional, likeable, and attractive (a must when you are reading a book about unrealistic romance). Most importantly, they always have a tragic flaw that they have to overcome. They have natural reactions to the situations they become a part of. I find myself often identifying with the characters Nora Roberts creates. A few have made it into my usual rotation of fictional conversations. That is a very exclusive group, so you can only imagine how great they have to be to get there.
2. Stephanie Laurens
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| Stephanie Laurens |
Okay. So, some of her earlier covers do have the corset ladies on them. But now any off-color images are usually saved for just inside the cover. But more to the point: Stephanie Laurens writes series where each book covers the story of a different character, which I happen to enjoy greatly. In addition, she usually incorporates elements of mystery and intrigue into her plots so that you are not plagued with only a trite story of two people finding love. Usually the two people finding love either start out hating each other or are resigned to aloneness, which somehow, never really gets old, no matter how many times you read it. Are the stories somewhat repetitive? Yes, somewhat. But they are all different enough to continue to be engaging. And there are some steamy scenes too that you can enjoy or flip over at your discretion. That is the wonderful thing about low maintenance fiction.
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| Danielle Steel |
3. Danielle Steel
Danielle Steel is a romance icon. She has written a ton of books. She is the eighth best selling author of all time. There is a reason for this. Her books are gripping indulgences that maybe you wouldn’t tout as your favorites to other book snobs, but that you will return to read when you need literary comfort food. I have not read a whole lot of her work (mainly because of my devotion to Nora), but what I have read has been solid. Quite above the thin bodice busters of quintessential romance.
All right. Let’s call a spade a spade. No matter how you dress it up, Romance is Romance. There is always going to be that underlying element of cheese (or sleaze, if that’s your thing). But there are a few devoted authors who rise above the rest and show that they are dedicated to their genre, but also dedicated to the craft of writing. To these women, I applaud you.
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| Fabio, leading by example. |
Honorable mention to Fabio, the only male Romance author to not use a pseudonym. He was proud of his work and wasn’t ashamed! And kind of created the archetype for the romance lead male, as far as looks.
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