Willow: Something evil-crashed to earth in this. Then it broke out and slithered away to do badness. Giles: Well, in all fairness, we don't really know about the "slithered" part. Anya: No, no, I'm sure it frisked about like a fluffy lamb.

'Never Leave Me'


Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.

There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."


Amy - Sep 14, 2009 11:54:24 am PDT #10034 of 28384
Because books.

Also, really well-drawn men. She really gets male characters in a way that most romance writers don't.

SO MUCH THIS, I have to asscap it.


Steph L. - Sep 14, 2009 11:54:27 am PDT #10035 of 28384
this mess was yours / now your mess is mine

one of the things that infuriated me about her early books at least, was that they seemed to epitomize everything bad about the chick lit genre-- all the labels, the shallowness, the sheer vapidness of how her characters treated relationships. Jemima J was like the dark side of Bridget Jones and oh, how I hated her.

Worst of all, it didn't feel as if the character really learned anything of value by the end of the story.

That pretty much sums it up, right down to the Jemima J. That's a horrible book.

Plus her characters are the very definition of "two-dimensional."


Steph L. - Sep 14, 2009 11:55:36 am PDT #10036 of 28384
this mess was yours / now your mess is mine

when I need escapist, no-brainer reading material

Jennifer Crusie for me.


Connie Neil - Sep 14, 2009 12:06:36 pm PDT #10037 of 28384
brillig

Does anyone else remember Valerie Vayle? She was back in the '80s, and she wrote terrific pirate/Queen Anne era stuff, sexy, hilarious, the men as interesting as the women.


Barb - Sep 14, 2009 12:08:11 pm PDT #10038 of 28384
“Not dead yet!”

Also, really well-drawn men. She really gets male characters in a way that most romance writers don't.

I have to wonder if it's because she had a houseful of them, but she's the undisputed Boss of the Realm.


Scrappy - Sep 14, 2009 12:13:47 pm PDT #10039 of 28384
Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

I LOVE Georgette Heyer and have read all her books endless times, but am still looking for a modern romance writer with the same kind of smart, witty dialogue, believable characters and sense of humor about the whole "love" kerfuffle as Heyer. Cruisie comes closest, but if any of these suggestions come close to that ideal, let me know.


Toddson - Sep 14, 2009 12:15:08 pm PDT #10040 of 28384
Friends don't let friends read "Atlas Shrugged"

I have problems with some of Nora Roberts' sex scenes - some of them are more like a rugger scrum with orgasms than I'm used to in books. Kind of sex as a full body contact sport.


Amy - Sep 14, 2009 12:18:49 pm PDT #10041 of 28384
Because books.

I have problems with some of Nora Roberts' sex scenes - some of them are more like a rugger scrum with orgasms than I'm used to in books. Kind of sex as a full body contact sport.

Heh. They can read that way sometimes. I give her credit for at least changing up some of the imagery, but I'd love to see her do a more realistically worded sex scene once. Some of the imagery gets a bit ... mauve, if not purple.


erikaj - Sep 14, 2009 12:22:35 pm PDT #10042 of 28384
Always Anti-fascist!

Tep is me...I love JC's sense of humor.


StuntHusband - Sep 14, 2009 12:51:04 pm PDT #10043 of 28384
Electromagnetic candy! - Stark

I have problems with some of Nora Roberts' sex scenes - some of them are more like a rugger scrum with orgasms than I'm used to in books. Kind of sex as a full body contact sport.

Is this a problem? OH! I should keep my mouth shut; just the QUESTION is a little revealing.

Hee.

(Ruggers are HAWT.)