by Kat Latham

I had the pleasure last weekend, thanks to the lovely Janet Webb and the power of Twitter.

A few months ago, I tweeted a picture of a statue in the gardens of a stately home in the middle of the Dutch countryside, near where I now live. It’s close to the sea, and the fog was so thick I lost sight of my husband when he was a few feet away. This statue shows how eerily atmospheric the gardens were.

Historical romance novelist Miranda Neville remarked that it looked very Betty Neels, and I said I’d never read any of Betty’s books. Janet and Miranda both told me more about Betty’s work (English nurses move to Holland and marry doctors who end up being filthy rich), and Janet actually sent me one.

How cool is that??

So last weekend I read Betty Neels’ The Little Dragon, published in 1978 – the year before I was born – and it was revelatory. Not only could I see how much romance as a genre has changed, but how women’s hopes, dreams and prospects have changed in real life, too.

Take this description of the heroine, Constantia, walking around an outdoor market with the hero, Jeroen.

They strolled round, the doctor’s hand on her arm, for there was a good deal of good-natured pushing and shoving and as he pointed out, her small slim person would have stood very little chance of staying upright. Constantia, who was remarkably tough despite her fairy-like appearance, didn’t argue the point; it was pleasant to be looked after so carefully.

Small. Slim. Fairy-like. Remarkably tough yet loving having a man look after her. Is this the ideal woman of the 1970s?

Has that changed?

And I loved this bit of praise from the hero when he gets an emergency phone call from work, and Constantia shows she understands he has to go: “What a splendid girl you are—not so much as a pout or frown.”

She’s a nurse! Of course she understands! But no, she’s a girl first and a nurse second.

In fact, her career is clearly just something to do until she finds a husband, which reminded me of my mom’s hopes for her own future. Mom wasn’t a nurse, but she certainly wasn’t encouraged to have a career. I wrote about her dream to be June Cleaver on my blog last week.

In The Little Dragon, Constantia’s career is never once mentioned again once she gets engaged. She doesn’t think about it, refer to it, or use the skills she developed through it. Instead, she essentially becomes Jeroen’s housekeeper and babysitter of his niece and nephews.

Contemporary romance often reflects women’s fantasies for their own lives. Did women who read Constantia’s story when it was first published in 1978 dream of being independent only until a rich man came along?

I really enjoyed the book, mostly because it felt like a historical romance since life has changed so much. But even more, it made me wonder about the contemporary romance published today. What does it say about attributes we value in women (slim? fairy-like?)? And what does it show that women today want from life and relationships?

Do you like reading contemporary romance published decades ago? What do you think today’s contemporary romance says about what women want from life and relationships? Thirty years from now, what will people think is strange about our contemporary romance novels

Kat Latham has been reading romance for a couple of decades. With degrees in English lit and human rights, she loves stories that reflect the depth, humor and emotion of real life. When she’s not writing contemporary romance novels, she can usually be found blogging or tweeting overly personal information. She loves meeting other readers and writers online, so follow her on Twitter or check out her blog and say hello!

CRASH INTO YOU by Roni Loren

&

SEVEN DAY LOAN by Tiffany Reisz

is…

CHARLI

Congratulations, Charli! Please email your snail mail address to me at contests at theseasonforromance dot com and don’t forget to include the title you won. You have one week to collect your prize.

by Katrina Latham

I’ve never been an erotic romance reader, but lately I’ve been testing my reading boundaries a little more and stretching out to read things that’re different from the contemporary and historical romances I usually choose.

I tell myself it’s because I want to improve my writing skills, but really it’s because I’m curious. (And a bit pervy.)

The first erotic novels I read turned me off completely and, I’m afraid, gave me a distorted view of the sub-genre. They were short books in my local library in London, and their authors had names that would make porn stars look clever. In fact, the books had a lot in common with movies you might find behind a curtain at your video store.

The storylines were no more interesting than the “Did-somebody-call-a-plummer?” plots in those videos. And the characters had more in common with dogs than with humans; they basically wandered around sniffing each other’s crotches before humping away – whether they liked the person or not.

Gross.

But then I “met” some friends online. Clever women who are strong, funny and creative.

Oh, and they write erotic romance.

So I gave their work a try. And guess what? I might be an erotic romance reader after all.

The first of those online buddies is Tiffany Reisz. She offered a free read, Daniel Part Two, on her blog last year, and who am I to turn down a free chance to test my boundaries?

Tiffany’s writing is powerful and entertaining. The witty, compelling characters in Daniel Part Two kept me returning to her blog as she posted a new chapter every week. Her stories are definitely beyond my comfort zone, as they involve a lot of pain (which apparently is pleasurable, though I’ll take her word for it) and sleeping around, but I’ll definitely read more of her work.

The second online friend is Amelia James. I bought Tell Me You Want Me in December and read it in an evening. The book is hot, with loads of sex (of the non-painful variety) and monogamy once the two main characters meet. For a good time, call Amelia James. (Or, better yet, download one of her books.)

The novel that really convinced me I could be an erotic romance reader is Roni Loren’s Crash Into You. *fans blushing face* Holy freakin’ hotness!

I confess, Roni Loren and I were critique partners for a short time before she sold this novel, so I got to read some early chapters. There’s nothing more vicious than a writer who’ll tempt you with an amazing story and then make you wait two years to read more. I ran (okay, drove) to the bookstore the morning Crash Into You was released, and once I started reading it I couldn’t put it down.

Crash Into You is my kind of erotic romance. Even though the focus is on the main characters’ developing sexual relationship, their emotional relationship is very much part of that, enhancing it every step of the way. There’s a deep bond (and a bit of bondage) between these two, and although it’s BDSM, it never scared me the way those early books I read did. Crash Into You is the thinking woman’s erotic romance.

Do you read erotic romance or erotica? What do you think of it? If you don’t read it, what turns you off about it? If you’re on the fence, like me, which authors do you feel are within your reading boundaries and write books that suit your tastes? Comment and enter to win a print copy of CRASH INTO YOU and a digital copy of SEVEN DAY LOAN!

Kat Latham has been reading romance for a couple of decades. With degrees in English lit and human rights, she loves stories that reflect the depth, humor and emotion of real life. When she’s not writing contemporary romance novels, she can usually be found blogging or tweeting overly personal information. She loves meeting other readers and writers online, so follow her on Twitter or check out her blog and say hello!

The Perfect Christmas by Debbie Macomber  ~~ Making Spirits Bright by Fern Michaels

LSU READER

WENDY P

~*~*~

The Duke is Mine by Eloisa James

QUILT LADY

Congratulations, ladies. LSU Reader and Wendy, it’s first to respond, first gets to pick. Please contact me at contests at theseasonforromance dot com with your snail mail address and don’t forget to include the title of the book you won. You have one week to claim your prize.

by Kat Latham

When I was 23, I was dreading my first Christmas away from my family.

I’d moved to Prague, in the Czech Republic, that summer and had barely enough money to buy crappy food, much less to pay for a flight back to California. So I did what any sane girl would do: I got a foreign boyfriend whose family lived much closer.

Smarty Pants and I got together at the beginning of that October, and we’d only been together ten days when we bought a flight for me to spend Christmas with his family in England. That’s right, ten days into the relationship and I was already committing to a Christmas with a family I’d never met—a family that would become my in-laws four years later.

Since I’d never spent Christmas away from my family before, it hadn’t occurred to me how strange it would be to suffer through someone else’s traditions instead of my own. Of course, I knew different families celebrated in different ways. I’d watched enough Christmas movies to know that not every family invited its strangest relatives to spend hours drinking together and then watched National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and laughed hysterically about how familiar it was.

But damn, were my family Christmases like Chevy Chase’s. Complete with the mental grandparents and an uncle who actually referred to himself as Cousin Eddie because he knew people cringed when he showed up.

So I was struck dumb when I arrived at Smarty Pants’ childhood home and had a glass of expensive wine thrust into my hand. You see, I have absolutely no alcohol tolerance. I’d told my future father-in-law I didn’t want any, but he ignored me. So I drank out of politeness. And nervousness.

A few minutes later, I was stumbling through the kitchen calling out, “Thanks for the booze, Bryan!”

I can still remember the less-than-impressed look on his face.

Dinner—instead of being a massive pot-luck buffet of dishes that were easy and could feed 30—was a formal sit-down affair with several incredible courses, all prepared by Smarty Pants’ mum, a lovely woman who missed her calling as a gourmet chef. The food—God, the food!—was amazing, and I discovered a load of new dishes and vegetables I’d never heard of before: celeriac, rum butter, Christmas pudding—which she covered in brandy and set on fire!

But the meal lasted forEVER. In my family, no meal lasts more than 20 minutes. And that’s for a real celebration, like a wedding. We tend to hoover things up within minutes. Sitting at a table with people I was desperately trying to impress for over TWO HOURS nearly killed me. I kept excusing myself from the table so I could stand in the hallway shaking my shoulders and head like a prize fighter, whispering to myself, “You can do it. You can do it. Surely they can’t sit there much longer. There’s gotta be some kind of sports game on TV soon. The men’ll get bored and head for the couch.”

No such luck. So every 20 minutes or so, I excused myself again for another pep talk. They probably thought I had the trots.

Over the years, I started getting used to those long dinners and really enjoy my English Christmases now. This year, we’re with my family in California, so Smarty Pants will probably be enjoying a nice Christmas lasagna and being teased by my brother for using a napkin. And utensils.

Have you spent Christmas away from your family and the traditions you’re used to? How did you fare? Comment and enter to win a copy of THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS by Debbie Macomber or MAKING SPIRITS BRIGHT by Fern Michaels et al. 

What would make your Christmas perfect?

For Cassie Beaumont, it’s meeting her perfect match. Cassie, at thirty-three, wants a husband and kids, and so far, nothing’s worked. Not blind dates, not the internet and certainly not leaving love to chance.

What other options are there? Well…she could hire a professional matchmaker. Simon Dodson has quite a reputation, but he’s very choosy about the clients he takes on—and very expensive. Cassie considers him a difficult, acerbic know-it-all, and she’s astonished when he accepts her as a client.

Claiming he has her perfect mate in mind, Simon assigns her three tasks to complete before she meets this paragon. Three tasks that are all about Christmas: being a charity bell-ringer, dressing up as Santa’s elf at a mall and preparing a traditional turkey dinner for her neighbors (most of whom she happens to dislike). Despite a number of comical mishaps, Cassie does it all—and then she’s finally ready to meet her match.

But just like the perfect Christmas gift, he turns out to be a wonderful surprise!

~*~*~

Secret wishes, sweet surprises, and gifts straight from the heart. Delight in this season’s most joyous presents with these four sparkling tales. . .

“Making Spirits Bright” by Fern Michaels

Melanie McLaughlin desperately wants to adopt two orphaned siblings and give them a real home for Christmas. A just-for-the-holiday marriage to Bryce Landry fits her plan perfectly. . .until unexpected sparks have Melanie dreaming of forever by his side. . .

“Runaway Christmas” by Elizabeth Bass

A glass of wine, lounging in pajamas, and catching up on movies—that’s Heidi Bogue’s idea of a perfect Christmas. Until her thirteen-year-old niece makes a surprise visit—and a snowstorm turns Heidi’s café into a community refuge. Now one handsome cop is giving Heidi plenty more reasons to celebrate. . .

“Home For Christmas” by Rosalind Noonan

Jo Truman needs a replacement Santa for her gift shop’s Christmas Eve party. She’ll do whatever it takes to convince lonely soldier Sam Norwood that he’s perfect for the part…and that the season for love is always. . .

“Christmas On Cape Cod” by Nan Rossiter

Maddie Carlson would do anything for her best friend. And helping Asa Coleman babysit a rambunctious puppy Christmas Eve night is her one chance to help the troubled teacher put his past to rest. . .and give the sweetest gift of all.

Kat Latham has been reading romance for a couple of decades. With degrees in English lit and human rights, she loves stories that reflect the depth, humor and emotion of real life. When she’s not writing contemporary romance novels, she can usually be found blogging or tweeting overly personal information. She loves meeting other readers and writers online, so follow her on Twitter or check out her blog and say hello!

Making Sausage
(or The Ugly Way Stories Sometimes Get Written)

By Jackie Barbosa

Sometimes, a story seems to write itself. Other times, a story seems to resist being written despite the writer’s best efforts and intentions. Taking Liberties, which comes out today from Harlequin Spice Briefs, definitely fell into the latter category.

It’s hard to say why some stories are so darned hard to write. In some cases, it’s probably because the whole thing was a bad idea in the first place that was never destined to work. That’s happened to me more than once. I have the carcasses of a few manuscripts that never got past the first twenty or so pages because they just weren’t meant to be littering my hard drive.

In the case of Taking Liberties, however, that wasn’t the problem. The problem, in retrospect, was that I sold it to the publisher on the strength of two pitch paragraphs, but aside from the setup described in those paragraphs, I didn’t have the faintest idea of where the story was going. Because the maximum word count for Spice Briefs was 15,000 words (about 50 pages, give or take), I fell into the trap of believing it would write itself. I mean, how hard could it be? I had a hero and heroine who were meant for each other but didn’t know it, a conflict, and some hot sex in mind. No sweat, right?

Except that as I wrote the story without a clear outline, I kept taking wrong turns. I wrote myself into dozens of corners I couldn’t find my way out of. Every time I did it, I’d have to scrap about 5,000 words to get back to where I’d gone in the wrong direction and continue forward. By the time I got 15,000 usable words, I’d probably written three times that many. Some of the words I wrote also wound up needing to be cut because, although I liked them, they weren’t strictly necessary to make the plot hang together and would have put me over the 15,000 word limit.

I did, of course, eventually finish the manuscript and, although when I turned it in, I was sure it was the worst thing I’d ever written in my life (mainly because I’d long since gotten sick of it), I’ve since reread it a few time and I almost can’t believe it’s the same story. Because, you know, it’s actually a lot of fun. The heroine, Tish, is funny and clever and the hero, Nash, makes me a little swoony because he knows what he wants (Tish) and will stop at nothing to get her.

Because Taking Liberties is a brief, I thought you might enjoy reading one of the “outtake” scenes I mentioned above. This one, between Tish and her older sister, Beatrice, is one of my favorites. I hope you like it, too.

“Ouch!” Tish popped the digit she had just absentmindedly stabbed with her sewing needle into her mouth. She had never been particularly skillful at stitchery—much to her mother’s chagrin—but she was even worse at it when she was distracted.

And she was considerably more distracted than usual.

She glanced at the clock above the mantel again. What could be taking so long? She had sent the footman out first thing this morning with the invitations. He should have been back hours ago with the responses, and yet it was approaching high tea with no word.

“Are you going to tell me what’s bothering you, or are you just going to poke yourself until you’ve as many holes as a pincushion?” Beatrice asked in her best older sister voice. The voice that, when they were children, inevitably led to Tish being locked in a wardrobe or finding a frog—or worse—in her bed if she failed to comply. “I know you didn’t invite me here this afternoon just to sit and do needlework.”

Irked at being found so transparent, Tish removed her finger from her mouth and jutted out her lower lip. Beatrice was surely past amphibians by now, and Tish wouldn’t fit in a wardrobe anymore. At least not without a great deal of compacting, and that would require cooperation, which she would not be inclined to give.

“Perhaps I just wanted to spend a few companionable hours with my sister.”

Beatrice rolled her eyes. “So you could spend our entire time together in pursuit of one of your least favorite activities while simultaneously checking the clock every few minutes and jumping whenever a servant comes into the room? I know you better than that. You want to tell me, you know you do.”

The truth was, Tish had wanted her sister’s company solely keeping her mind off the scandalous thing she had done. If even one of the gentlemen breathed a word…well, her father wouldn’t be able to marry her off to the mustiest, goutiest, poorest aristocrat in all of England.

With a sigh of resignation, she set aside her (sampler) and sent a furtive glance toward the salon door. The last thing she need was the untimely arrival of a servant in the middle of her confession. “Papa has given me until next Friday to choose a husband, or he will choose for me.”

Instead of evincing sympathetic horror, Beatrice laughed. “Did you really think he would let you string along forever?”

“Three years is hardly forever.”

“It’s long enough,” her sister countered. “I was only out a Season.”

“And look where that got you,” Tish snapped, more harshly than she intended. Her sister paled, and Tish was instantly contrite. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

Beatrice set her needlework—the straight, even stitches in sharp contrast to Tish’s haphazard ones—on the gold velvet settee beside her and sighed. “Yes, you did, because it’s the truth.” Her sage green eyes misted over. “Albemarle doesn’t love me and never did. If it weren’t for the baby…” She pressed her hand to her belly, which had only just begun to swell, and the hint of a smile curved her lips.

As pleased as Tish was that her sister had something to be happy about again, she refused to take the chance of following in Beatrice’s footsteps. “I’m afraid,” she admitted.

Beatrice’s expression sobered. “Of marrying badly?”

Tish nodded. “I need to be sure that I choose the right man. I want to be madly, deliriously in love with him—and for him to be equally in love with me.”

You can read the first chapter of Taking Liberties at my website and comment here to enter to win a digital copy!

by Katrina Latham

My first introduction to the romance genre was through Harlequin Presents novels, so not only did I learn a whole lot about what boys and girls do when they like each other, but I also got to explore new countries for only a few dollars a month.

That’s how I realized Australia’s the sexiest country in the world.

Lots of the novels were set in London and Australia—places where they called their friends “mate” and lived in flats (which for years I pictured as apartments with lower ceilings).

Both places sounded amazing, but Australia kicked London’s ass on several levels. First, the London novels often took place in offices (*yawn* I’d seen 9 to 5 with Dolly Parton—offices looked like dreadfully boring places to fall in love). The heroes seemed uptight and the heroines wore stockings.

Not the grown-up life I wanted to have.

Australians, on the other time, chased each other through the Outback. They frolicked in the surf. They occasionally encountered animals so bizarre that only funny-sounding words could describe them: kookaburra, wombat, kangaroo.

Okay, maybe there weren’t wombats and kookaburras. I do recall some storylines with kangaroos, though.

And the clothes on the covers! I remember reading a novel in my uncle’s living room when I was about thirteen. He stared at the cover for a while before asking me, “Why is the man dressed from head to toe in khaki but the woman’s only wearing a bikini?”

Giving him my best grown-ups-are-sooo-dumb eye roll, I schooled him. “Because that’s what they wear in Australia, Uncle Rick.”

Duh.

Even though Australia has been at the top of my travel wish list for two decades, I’ve only been there through Harlequin. This month I’ll be taking another trip there, courtesy of one of my favorite Harlequin authors: Sarah Mayberry.

No, she’s not sending me a round-trip ticket. (You’re not, right, Sarah?)

Assuming she’s not, she’s done something nearly as good. She’s written another book for me to read. I’ve heard great things about All They Need, but there are only two things I really needed to know before putting it on my wish list: it’s by Sarah Mayberry and it’s set in Australia.

I may read it while wearing my bikini. Because that’s how an Australian would read it.

What place have you read about that seems magical? Have you been able to visit it in real life? Comment and enter to win a digital copy of Sarah Mayberry’s ALL THEY NEED.

Kat Latham has been reading romance for a couple of decades. With degrees in English lit and human rights, she loves stories that reflect the depth, humor and emotion of real life. When she’s not writing contemporary romance novels, she can usually be found blogging or tweeting overly personal information. She loves meeting other readers and writers online, so follow her on Twitter or check out her blog and say hello!

If so, you may be interested in Harlequin’s SYTYCW (So You Think You Can Write) Contest.

If my calculations are correct, I believe this is their second one. I do see one big difference, though, than the one they held last year: this year, entrants must submit a full manuscript. If you’re interested in entering, here’s the link to their page, where they’ve posted submission rules etc.

Writers who started their writing career writing category novels:

Linda Howard
Nora Roberts
Sandra Brown
Janet Dailey
Lisa Jackson
Stephanie Laurens

But there will be no crying today as I celebrate my birthday. Instead, I’m offering up some fabulous books for giveaway.  To enter to win, tell me what’s your ideal way of celebrating your birthday. 

I’m going to be an aunt again today!!! Yep, my brother’s wife is going to have a boy today. They’re naming him Nicholas. I so love that name. (Psst, Nicholas is Charlotte and Alex’s son’s name in An Heir of Deception).

Soooo, to celebrate this momentous  occasion I’m featuring and giving away a couple of baby or child themed romance books. I haven’t read THE BABY PROJECT by Susan Meier but it does come highly recommended. I have read SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE by Rachel Gibson and it’s one of my absolute faves. I have this terrible weakness for great conflict, a sexy romance and an irresistible hero and this book has it in spades.

THE BABY PROJECT
Author: Susan Meier
Publisher: Harlequin
Line: Super Romance
Retail Price: $4.50
Pages:  192

The last thing Whitney Ross needs is to be made temporary guardian of baby Gino. It will only remind her of the precious daughter she lost so tragically….

Then there’s another problem—the little orphan’s new daddy. Darius Andreas is a hotshot tycoon who is cool, collected, shockingly gorgeous and far from ready to be a father!

Whitney must teach Darius the ways of parenting, but it will take all her courage. And as she takes on the baby project, another daunting task comes to light: dealing with her inconvenient feelings for Darius!

~*~*~

SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE
Author: Rachel Gibson
Publisher: HarperCollins
Line: Avon
Retail Price: $7.99
Pages: 400

Georgeanne Howard leaves her fiancé at the altar when she realizes she can’t marry a man old enough to be her grandfather, no matter how rich he is. Hockey superstar John Kowalsky unknowingly helps her escape, and only when it’s too late does he realize that he’s absconded with his boss’s bride. This bad boy isn’t looking to be anybody’s savior but his own. Still, a long night stretches ahead of them—a night too sultry to resist temptation.

Seven years later, Georgeanne and John meet again. She is on her way to becoming Seattle’s domestic darling and he is past his hellraising days. Shocked to learn that he has a daughter, John’s determined to be part of her life. Georgeanne has loved John since the moment she jumped into his car, but will he risk the wrath of his boss, and one final chance at glory, to prove that this time his love will be everlasting?

Since SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE doesn’t have a digital copy, I’m only giving away a print copy, but for THE BABY PROJECT, I’m giving away one in each format.

Are you like me and love a romance with a baby/child element–of course, as long as it doesn’t detract or overshadow the romance? Tell me why you do or why you don’t. The best answer will receive a $10 Amazon Gift Certificate.