Killer Hair and Hostile Makeover or The Mousse Ate My Brain
Okay, so this weekend I find myself watching LMN, also known as one of the Women in Peril Channels. I am introduced to Lacey Smithsonian, a plucky, intelligent young woman with a penchant for vintage clothing and finding murders in the most unlikely places. The actress plays her as sweet and sharp (although her choice in men is questionable, more on that later). She has quirky friends (of course) and a mother who wants her to move back home (played by Mary McDonnell!) and a 'boyfriend' who explains that he didn't tell her the divorce wasn't final to protect her feelings?!? She also has a friendly rivalry going on with the crime reporter, Tony Trujillo, at the paper where she works as the fashion columnist. The actor (Mark Consuelos, Kelly Ripa's husband but don't hold that against him) who plays Tony is ten times cuter than the actor who plays Lacey's 'boyfriend' Vic.
The mysteries are okay, the clothing is kind of cute (love the cranberry coat) and the acting acceptable and perfect for summer fare. The movies are based on two of the books in a series with the same kinds of cutesy titles (Armed and Glamorous, Raiders of the Lost Corset, etc. I think you get the idea) and from what I understand no deeper in either plot or characterization than the movies.
I actually went to the author's website where she wants to know whether we liked Vic or Tony. I voted for Tony and if I thought he and Lacey ever got together I might actually be willing to go out and buy one of these frothy romances masquerading as mysteries, (the author has a picture on her website of her at the Florida Romance Writers Fun in the Sun Conference 2007 so I'm not just being bitchy here), but alas, apparently that doesn't happen; although I'm all for the movies veering into alternate universe territory, if there are anymore, and watching the sparks fly between Lacey and Tony. (Lacey and Tony have much more chemistry than Lacey and Vic.)
Now I do have sympathy for the author, Ellen Byerrum; it's not easy writing a male character that will woo and wow your female heroine but also has to win the hearts and minds of hundreds if not thousands of female readers. He must appeal to so many women that he really can't afford to have too much actual personality and is often only gifted with enough quirks to appear plausible - a mere semblance of humanity. After all, he's a romance hero; no one wants to know that he drools or leaves the toilet seat up, repeatedly. No, they only want to see 'endearing' glimpses of the male species in these light reads - he's cutely stubborn or his over-protectiveness is annoying but forgivable, stuff that can be exasperating but if spun the right way won't end up in a nasty break up, at least not in these types of stories.
The other males in the story though, get to be much more well rounded personalities because they aren't trying to bed our heroine or she's on to them if they are, and thus tend to be more interesting and real characters; which is a shame. It would be much more interesting if Lacey got to have a grown up relationship with the handsome Tony who she has labeled a player (and he probably is, don't know, haven't read the books) and to whom she is not afraid to speak her mind (and vice versa) than with the acceptably flawed Vic. Oh well, this is why I don't often read romances, I so rarely understand the heroine's choice in partners.
Still, if you get a chance, check the movies out, you might like them.
The mysteries are okay, the clothing is kind of cute (love the cranberry coat) and the acting acceptable and perfect for summer fare. The movies are based on two of the books in a series with the same kinds of cutesy titles (Armed and Glamorous, Raiders of the Lost Corset, etc. I think you get the idea) and from what I understand no deeper in either plot or characterization than the movies.
I actually went to the author's website where she wants to know whether we liked Vic or Tony. I voted for Tony and if I thought he and Lacey ever got together I might actually be willing to go out and buy one of these frothy romances masquerading as mysteries, (the author has a picture on her website of her at the Florida Romance Writers Fun in the Sun Conference 2007 so I'm not just being bitchy here), but alas, apparently that doesn't happen; although I'm all for the movies veering into alternate universe territory, if there are anymore, and watching the sparks fly between Lacey and Tony. (Lacey and Tony have much more chemistry than Lacey and Vic.)
Now I do have sympathy for the author, Ellen Byerrum; it's not easy writing a male character that will woo and wow your female heroine but also has to win the hearts and minds of hundreds if not thousands of female readers. He must appeal to so many women that he really can't afford to have too much actual personality and is often only gifted with enough quirks to appear plausible - a mere semblance of humanity. After all, he's a romance hero; no one wants to know that he drools or leaves the toilet seat up, repeatedly. No, they only want to see 'endearing' glimpses of the male species in these light reads - he's cutely stubborn or his over-protectiveness is annoying but forgivable, stuff that can be exasperating but if spun the right way won't end up in a nasty break up, at least not in these types of stories.
The other males in the story though, get to be much more well rounded personalities because they aren't trying to bed our heroine or she's on to them if they are, and thus tend to be more interesting and real characters; which is a shame. It would be much more interesting if Lacey got to have a grown up relationship with the handsome Tony who she has labeled a player (and he probably is, don't know, haven't read the books) and to whom she is not afraid to speak her mind (and vice versa) than with the acceptably flawed Vic. Oh well, this is why I don't often read romances, I so rarely understand the heroine's choice in partners.
Still, if you get a chance, check the movies out, you might like them.