Last Month In Ridiculous Romance

[shake_the_stars]

I'm back to entertain you with another Ridiculous Romance Round-Up! As ever, blurbs are stolen from Amazon because that's not the part I want to snark. It's probably a good idea to assume there are spoilers behind the cut, and it's probably a good idea to assume I might make fun of tepid sex scenes. Ready? Let's begin!

Comments

[nyxocity]

And this? Right here? Is why I write primarily male/male romance *LOL*

[shake_the_stars]

If I didn't know any straight people personally, I'd think they were all this fucked-up. :D I prefer the queer stuff myself, though even it is not safe from the ridiculousness of romance - I've read my fair share of bad slash, and you probably have too ;)

[song_of_copper]

Wow, that lost prince one... those names!! Those shenanigans! XD

I'm told that Mills & Boon (not sure if they are well-known in the USA, they're the most famous romance publisher over here) used to have about 5 or so standard plots and the authors used to just 'fill in the blanks'! :-) It's probably quite a relaxing occupation...

[shake_the_stars]

I KNOW!!! At several points, I couldn't believe that I was actually reading what I was reading. It was just...I don't even know. I am guessing she was on a strict deadline or had better things to do the day they called her up and said the book was three weeks overdue.

Your Mills & Boon is our Harlequin! (I believe they're owned by the same company, so I do know them, just by a different name). I am convinced that for some of their imprints, they use a title generator. I wouldn't be surprised if they had only a few standard plots XD

[duokinneas]

Good Lord, I despise any romance in which one character is meant to "tame" or "improve" the other. I can't even name a story or book in which I saw it done well.

And I am damn sick of Big Misunderstandings. Every time a character mishears something/sees a brother kiss his sister on the cheek/thinks the lover is somehow cheating, a good writer suffers a fatal heart attack.

[shake_the_stars]

DO I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE AN "EFFEMINATE PANSY CHYLDE" ICON????

I have never seen the first of your plaints done well, except in comedy, and then they usually relapse. Which is, after all, the point.

Taming the Lost Prince was so stupid, once we got to the Dramatic Denouement, that my brain spent 20-30 seconds cycling through explanations in a futile attempt to keep me from the horrible truth: yes, I actually was reading this, and the page said what I thought it said, and someone actually took the time to write this and it was published, and the library wasted money on it, and I wasted time reading it.

There is a stupid Big Misunderstanding in the first part of my horrible POS novel that I keep making myself slog away on and that you cannot see because it is THAT BAD. I will take it out in the revisions.

[duokinneas]

WHY, INDEED YOU DO. 8DDD