What's with all this crappy romance in my urban fantasy novel?
And if it has to show up, why so suddenly and so randomly? No, I don't believe meeting a guy and then kissing him in less than a couple hours after meeting and 3 chapters in is normal. It's intrusive and damned annoying and I'd say character assassination except that there are a lot of female heroines who seem to lose sight of their head and panties at the first opportune moment for men that are dangerous and stupid for them to date.
Then, it'll be all Romeo and Juliet and oh, we can't do this contrived angst and it's going to take over this damn story. I bet it is. These things never stay as background - at least with a female heroine - and at the very least, it's going to simmer loudly throughout the story so that I can't even ignore it for the ass kicking portions. Well, actually, more like the hope-it-exists ass kicking portions.
I just want my competent, intelligent protagonist. I don't mind them making mistakes based on faulty information or bad luck or all sorts of reason. Falling in love with someone who's working on the opposite side and who you KNOW is outright lying to you is decidedly not intelligent! It's outright utter stupidity.
That's not to say competent protagonists don't have needs. Lust is perfectly valid and I'll even buy it on first meeting - some people are just hot - but what? Already liking a guy and being drawn to him in, I repeat, a couple hours after meeting? The girl is practically planning dinner dates already.
WHY?! WHY?! UGH.
Is this something I'm missing? I don't see this stupidity with the guy protagonists I've read in the UF genre.
I'm pissed and frustrated. I'm obsessive enough that I won't leave a book incomplete once I start reading it and I feel like I'm going to be banging my head against the desk for the majority of this book.
Then, it'll be all Romeo and Juliet and oh, we can't do this contrived angst and it's going to take over this damn story. I bet it is. These things never stay as background - at least with a female heroine - and at the very least, it's going to simmer loudly throughout the story so that I can't even ignore it for the ass kicking portions. Well, actually, more like the hope-it-exists ass kicking portions.
I just want my competent, intelligent protagonist. I don't mind them making mistakes based on faulty information or bad luck or all sorts of reason. Falling in love with someone who's working on the opposite side and who you KNOW is outright lying to you is decidedly not intelligent! It's outright utter stupidity.
That's not to say competent protagonists don't have needs. Lust is perfectly valid and I'll even buy it on first meeting - some people are just hot - but what? Already liking a guy and being drawn to him in, I repeat, a couple hours after meeting? The girl is practically planning dinner dates already.
WHY?! WHY?! UGH.
Is this something I'm missing? I don't see this stupidity with the guy protagonists I've read in the UF genre.
I'm pissed and frustrated. I'm obsessive enough that I won't leave a book incomplete once I start reading it and I feel like I'm going to be banging my head against the desk for the majority of this book.