You and No Other, A Review

 






 







You and No Other is the Crown Jewel in Cynthia Wright’s illustrious writing career. As a Romance Novel it fulfills all the requirements A Hero to die for, a stubborn Heroine. Great secondary characters (If one can call France’s most charismatic King a secondary character), forces willing to keep the couple apart, Court Intrigue, Family Dynamics and oh yeah a glorious setting. Re Reading this book almost 30 years after it was written did not diminish the sheer wonder of the story.

Thomas Mardouet, seigneur de St. Briac  has it all. He is gorgeous, well established and a life long friend of the King of France. Secure enough to actually turn down positions at court. He is the hero every girl dreams of and many women secretly yearn for. Charming and charismatic he launches himself into the reader’s heart and never leaves. Thomas was happy with life, his family and friends.. when a chance meeting with a local wood nymph changes everything.

Aimee de Fleurance, oldest daughter to what seems to be a typical family of that era.. needing to broker a marriage for their oldest child that ensures financial security for the family and allows her to live the life she is supposed to live. Aimee, is not willing to settle for life as the wife of a man older than her father and rather decrepit and disgusting as well. Grasping at an opportunity to good to be true she rushes headlong into life at court. Except she is supposed to be her sister, whom the king has designs upon. Not the wood nymph who unknowingly insulted him.

So begins what I love to refer to as a comedy of characters. This book is by no means a comedy or a joke but it is humorous to watch the incredibly respectable Thomas get involved in one scheme of Aimee’s after another. From Aimee’s scheme to escape her family which lands her directly in Thomas’ path to Thomas’ desire to help a friend.. one unique adventure after another. These two are just plain fun!!

One of the reasons why this story spoke to me so strongly was the way they overcame their obstacles. And believe me they were fraught with obstacles, Aimee, escaping her family, hiding from the king.. Thomas, falling for Aimee and not having a clue, in a way, to him at least he was betraying a friend. Villains, politics and more. Each obstacle was overcome with a touch of elegance, a touch of slapstick and all round commitment to the characters. They weren’t put into positions that were false, you could see Aimee pulling one of her schemes and I could almost hear Thomas saying in a mock Cuban accent “Lucy you have some splainin to do”.. It’s not that it was overkill it was just fun. And Thomas, believe me he was just as bad.. his grand plan was the most bizarre and fun and yes erotic of all.

And over all the fun the story told a love story, one of respect and admiration, love and lust.. things we all want in our lives. A generous man who loves us..

There is of course something just so romantic about the setting of this book, from the French Court, which to me just yells romance to a castle in the French Countryside.. The setting was created for love. I can see my family history being replayed in this story.. But then that’s the French in me.. I see possibilities..

The thing is this book almost defines “pure romance”. The characters most definitely drive the story. To me that is what a romance book is about. There can be subplots and secondary characters but the story is told around the hero and the heroine. There are many many books today that are what I call plot driven. In some ways they are similar but there are those who prefer them because they don’t understand the true beauty of a book about people falling in love.. and this book, shares that with us wonderfully.

If you want to read more about Thomas and Aimee you can see them for a little bit in Of One Heart. I am so glad I revisited this charming couple, I find I already miss them. I know it won’t be another 30plus years before I read them again. 

Shauni

*grins* I don't usually rate my reviews.. but this book gets 10 swoons (on a scale of 1-5 of course) but seriously, this book is completely swoonworthy, have your swoon pillows ready

*** If you are interested reading about Cynthia's adventures through France as she fell in love with Francois I be sure and check out her website.. 

http://cynthia-wright.com/ 
You can also find her on Facebook and twitter..
http://www.facebook.com/cynthiawrightauthor
@Cynthiawright1

Caroline by Cynthia Wright - a Review

Caroline by Cynthia Wright - a Review

****Spoiler Alert, This review includes spoilers********

As we continue Romance month, and Cynthia Wright, this is a review of her second book of the Raveneau/Beauvisage series. Caroline was actually written first 1977, but then Wright wrote Silver Storm as sort of prequel to Caroline. It takes place in year 1783, just a year or so after the end of the revolutionary war.

Alexandre Beauvisage is returning from the war when he discovers, a young girl unconscious in the woods. Dressed as a boy, she has no memory of her past, and picks the name Caroline. . Unable to leave her behind, Alec takes her with him to his home in Philadelphia. Traveling on a horse, it will be a long trip before they even come close to his home. He is attracted to the young teenage girl, whom he calls Caro. Early on, in this book I liked Alec, where he is funny, sexy and to me, nicer then the previous book’s hero.. Andre Reaveneau.

Caro is an innocent young girl, whom we know nothing about. She trusts Alec immediately, since she is scared, doesn’t want to left alone, and can’t remember anything. Alec tells her he will tell people he is her guardian, as he is protecting her. However, fairly early in the book, when he had too much to drink, he mistakes Caro not to be an innocent, and thinks she has been lying to him. It is only after he takes her virginity, that he realizes his terrible mistake. Caro does find herself falling hard for the sexy and handsome Alec

The story becomes more enjoyable when they reach Alec’s home in Philadelphia, and Caro gets to meet and fall for his entire family. She becomes friends with Alec’s sister, his brother has a crush on her, and she becomes very close to his “grandmere”. As Caro becomes part of the family, Alec is still intent to find a good man for her, as he arranges for a debut ball. You can see throughout, that Caro is in love with Alec, and that Alec is falling for her, but refuses to admit it. He still keeps her afar, while still enjoying his mistresses.

For the majority of the book, Caro does not remember anything of her past. One day while out shopping, she is accosted by a strange evil looking man. He knows her, and tries to kidnap her….telling her she is his betrothed. Caro manages to escape and runs to Alec’s mansion for safety. Shortly after, the man shows up at the mansion, and claims Caro. Alec steps forward and tells him that he and Caro are already married. To be able to provide the proof of this, the grandmere sneakily suggests that they bring a parson to the house immediately to marry them. Alec agrees, much to Caro’s surprise and they are married.

Caro is happy, as she has the man of her dreams. Alec seems content, and within a short period openly does a turnabout and tells her he loves her. The story moves a bit slowly at this point showing the happy couple, and then they go back to Connecticut for Alec to finalize things on the land he had received. It is there that Caro is once again trapped by the evil man, who tries to kill Alec and claim the land and Caro.

Of course, as in most romances, there is a happy ending, and Caro’s memory does return. She was the daughter of the owner who gave the land to Alec, though Caro had been away at school in France for many years. Upon her return to Connecticut, she found her father dead and the evil man claiming her. That was how she had her accident and lost her memory.

I really enjoyed this book a lot more then Silver Storm. The reason being that I liked Alec just about from the start, though at times it does get annoying at the attitudes of men towards women. I enjoyed that we had some time enjoying their open love for one another, and Alec and Caro turned out to be a great couple.

Barb

NEW RELEASES March 1 to March 8, 2012

TITLE: Deep Magic

AUTHOR: Joy Nash

RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2012

TITLE: Lone Wolf

AUTHOR: Jodi Picoult

RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2012

TITLE: The Lucky One

AUTHOR: Nicholas Sparks

RELEASE DATE: March 2, 2012

TITLE: Coralled

AUTHOR: BJ Daniels

RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2012

TITLE: Highland Hearts

AUTHOR: Eva Marie Hamilton

RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2012

TITLE: Bear Meets Girl (Pride series)

AUTHOR: Shelly Laurenston

RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2012

TITLE: The Surrender of Miss Fairbourne

AUTHOR: Madeline Hunter

RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2012

TITLE: Nightborn (Darken #8)

AUTHOR: Lynn Viehl

RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2012

TITLE: Everlasting (Kissed by an Angel #5)

AUTHOR: Elizabeth Chandler

RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2012

TITLE: Soul Bound (Blood Cover #7)

AUTHOR: Mari Mancusi

RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2012

TITLE: Fair Game

AUTHOR: Patricia Briggs

RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2012

TITLE: Passion Wears Pearls

AUTHOR: Renee Bernard

RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2012

TITLE: Waiting For Deborah

AUTHOR: Betty Neels

RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2012

(re-release)

TITLE: Henrietta's Own Castle

AUTHOR: Betty Neels

RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2012

(re-release)

TITLE: The Final Touch

AUTHOR: Betty Neels

RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2012

(re-release)

TITLE: Dying Wish (Sentinel Wars)

AUTHOR: Shannon K Butcher

RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2012

TITLE: Infamous (Chronicles of Nick 3)

AUTHOR: Sherrilyn Kenyon

RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2012

TITLE: Taking a Shot (Play by Play series)

AUTHOR: Jaci Burton

RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2012

TITLE: Oracle's Moon (Elder Races)

AUTHOR: Thea Harrison

RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2012

1970’s Alpha Male Heroes – Love Them or Revise Them? by Cynthia Wright

How fun to be here on the Bodice Rippers, Femme Fatales, and Fantasy Blog! Thanks to Shauni for being so excited when she saw that I was bringing my backlist titles out as e-books and for inviting me to join in the February Pure Romance celebration!

I’m going to share some thoughts about my career, which began 35 years ago, and the challenges of freshening up my earliest novels, which were also most beloved by readers. I’ve thought about this again since reading Barb’s review for SILVER STORM that was published here on Sunday. She raised some of the same issues that I have struggled with!

Once upon a time, in 1975, I was a young wife at home with my baby daughter. Although I’d always been a voracious reader of romances, especially those by Georgette Heyer and Daphne DuMaurier, everything changed one day when I spied THE FLAME AND THE FLOWER on the bookstore shelf. Oh my gosh! Kathleen E. Woodiwiss threw open the bedroom door and nothing would ever be the same. After lusting over heroes Brandon and Wulfgar (THE WOLF AND THE DOVE), I moved on to Rosemary Rogers’s classic SWEET SAVAGE LOVE.

In those days, I was generally accepting of the behavior of those alpha heroes. Was it because the stories were set in other times, when men and women didn’t know about “acceptable” behavior in a relationship? Was it because those days preceded the Women’s Movement and my own consciousness hadn’t been raised? After all, I had cut my romantic teeth on GONE WITH THE WIND. When I blazed through that book at 14, all I wanted was my Rhett Butler fix, no matter how “inappropriate” his behavior was! Reading Woodiwiss, I gave all her heroes a pass. In fact, I couldn’t get enough of them! Sarcastic, harsh, strong, witty, courageous, and incredibly sexy, these alpha males took life and bent it to their will… and that included the heroines who couldn’t help loving them.

Not until I met Steve, in Rosemary Rogers’s books, did I find a hero who ticked me off so much that I threw SWEET SAVAGE LOVE across the room and decided to write my own book. That was the beginning of CAROLINE – and career writing historical romances. 

I know I’m not the only author from the last century who has resurrected her historical romances as e-books. One of my colleagues refers to us as “troglodytes.” I’ve had to adjust to a lot of things that weren’t around when I published CAROLINE in 1977: Facebook, Twitter, e-readers, blogs, and author websites. Last May, when I decided to dust off my 13 novels and send them to be scanned and formatted as e-books, I didn’t give much thought to revisions. I just loved the idea of those books that are part of me being enjoyed by readers again. 

Alexandre Beauvisage, the hero in CAROLINE, was quite the alpha male. His behavior was frequently “unacceptable” and “inappropriate” by today’s standards. But when I created him 35 years ago, I was crazy about the guy! Imagine my consternation when I received the newly formatted .doc file last June, with an opportunity to edit it before its release as an e-book… and I met Alec all over again. It was like being in a time machine. Sometimes he was blatantly sexist and even verbally and emotionally abusive to the heroine. Never mind the fact that he takes her virginity and tells her to forget about it and he’ll help her find a respectable husband. It was a weird feeling to realize that I could make changes in a book that has been in existence since 1977. 

What to do? Leave him alone – or soften his edges to fit the 21^st century?

On one hand, I know there are a whole lot of readers who love alpha males. They come right out and say so in their reviews of CAROLINE and my other bestseller, SILVER STORM. (There aren’t many heroes more rakish than Andre Raveneau…and yet most readers love him and want to be Devon!) On the other hand, there is a 2-star review for the paperback version of CAROLINE with this outraged title: “Alpha Male to the Nth Degree!” The reader went on to list Alec’s sins, and the way Caro seems to let him walk all over her. When I saw it, I thought that it might have the reverse effect and actually attract readers…

As I spent more time with Alec in CAROLINE and Raveneau in SILVER STORM, I warmed to them all over again. Although I would sometimes gasp or cringe when I read things they said or did (that I had written 3+ decades ago), I came to realize that part of the appeal of those books is an opportunity for 21^st century women to release modern constraints and travel to another world, in another time, with a man who is powerfully male. And since it’s just a fantasy, we can let go and just enjoy!

I realized that it would be wrong to try to change my alpha heroes, even if I could. I could almost imagine them rising up to protest any effort I might make to change them! However, there were moments in CAROLINE and SILVER STORM when I instinctively felt that the hero had crossed an invisible line and I took the opportunity to rescue him from himself in small, seamless ways.

For instance, near the end of CAROLINE, there is a love scene in the woods where Alec literally tears all the buttons off the jacket and vest of Caro’s new riding habit (overcome by passion, of course!). Good grief - he ripped her bodice! Then he commented, “I suppose I’ll have to replace this habit. It’s a good thing I can afford it!” (Never mind that they are married and it should be their money.) In the revised version, he tears the buttons open, not off. And when he makes the remark about buying her a new habit, it’s because he sees that a couple buttons are missing, not all of them!

While editing SILVER STORM for e-release, I read a scene where Raveneau is having his way with an old girlfriend who also is close friends with the heroine. (Of course, he is only doing this because he can’t face his love for Devon…) He doesn’t just kiss her, but goes too far, I felt as I reread it last summer. In the “author’s cut” e-version, Raveneau still behaves like a jerk, but he doesn’t go quite so far. SILVER STORM, which is rife with pretty “unacceptable” behavior by the hero, has always been my bestselling title… and of course, he sees the light before the last page. The changes I made make it easier for today’s reader to like him along the way, I hope!

The most controversial element in those 70’s historical romances was the “rape” scene, wherein the hero takes the heroine by force and then she goes on to fall in love with him. Many newer readers of the classic historical romances say they just can’t get past those scenes. (I did have scenes in both CAROLINE and SILVER STORM that involved some sexual abuse by villains and I was relieved to have a chance to take those scenes down a notch. If readers compare the paperback versions of those two novels to the “author’s cut” e-books, they’ll find the biggest changes in those passages.) There weren’t scenes of forced sex between the hero and heroine in my books. Even in the 70’s, that was a line I instinctively didn’t want to cross, and I’m glad I don’t have to make a decision about whether to soften those scenes for the 21^st century.

Of course, I went on to write many more novels over the years, and I created other heroes who were more enlightened, and who behaved more like my own fantasy hero. St. Briac in YOU & NO OTHER is a perfect example of that man. He is strong but quick to laugh: an irresistible combination, I think!

I would love to know what you think! How do you feel when you read a great historical romance from the 70’s? Should those alpha heroes be left alone, their bodice-ripping ways undisturbed?

Cynthia Wright

Then and Now

One of the fun things about speaking with authors is that they occasionally show us glimpses of their real selves. I had to giggle when Cynthia Wright made a comment to me about Barb's Review of her book Silver Storm.

Oh she had hoped that Barb was writing her review based on the original Silver Storm format and wanted to make sure that Barb knew that she had a similar response to the hero when read by today's standards but she mentioned that to Barb in the comments..

But what really got her.. was that Barb used the old cover.. totally made me giggle when almost immediately she sent me the new one. Now I didn't want to mess with Barb's post but I DID want to make sure you all saw how pretty the new cover is.. as well know what to look for.. so here are the covers both new and old.. Enjoy

here is the old one on the left



 and on the right...
and here is the new one..
 It really is a pretty cover..

And for your viewing pleasure a sneak peak at Cynthia's cover for her new book Brighter than Gold which she gave a brief synopsis on, in her interview with us..

BRIGHTER THAN GOLD, set in 1864 San Francisco and Columbia, CA, will be available soon. Just finished editing it and I loved it! I think it really is a treat. Samuel Clemens plays a supporting role in it – and the hero is completely yummy.** Cynthia Wright

An Interview with Cynthia Wright

Occasionally if you are very lucky you will get to work with someone who makes a difference in life. Cynthia Wright certainly impacted mine. As a teenager I fell in love with Caroline and continued to read her books until she disappeared. Still I would occasionally pick up one of her books and sink back into the wonder. I would search bookstore shelves hoping a new book was out and that I was just unaware. Sadly, this was not to be until one day I posted a Turnback Tuesday article on Cynthia and she responded!! Words can not describe how very thrilled I was. This chance post has lead to a wonderful experience for me, I can only hope Cynthia has enjoyed it as well. Today I am posting the fantastic interview I had with Cynthia and tomorrow will be posting an article she wrote on the Alpha Male. ENJOY!!

BR:Thank you so much for taking the time to read and respond to my questions. You have long been a favorite of mine and I am thrilled to see you back and writing again.

CW: Thank you for having me! It’s a pleasure to be here.

BR: I must ask, you were a prominent writer in the 70's and 80's in a way one of the groundbreaking authors of Romance and then in the early 90's you more or less disappeared. At least to the writing world. What have you been doing?

CW: By 1996, I felt I needed a break. My relationship with my long-time publisher had eroded, my agent had a mid-life crisis, my editor had been telling me that readers didn’t want to read books like mine any more… and I was losing faith in myself. After 20 years of working alone in a room, I longed for human contact. (This was before the internet & social media!) I began a successful career as an interior designer and had a lot of fun, but I never stopped thinking about plots, characters, and the books that I wanted to write again… some day!

BR: What made you decide to come back? Or did you really never leave?

CW: I went back to college a couple years ago and had to stop working. I had gotten the rights back to my backlist titles and, last spring, I decided to investigate the world of ebooks. Wow, has my life changed since then!

BR:It must be odd coming back after all these years. Do you sometimes feel like you really are starting as a new writer?

CW: I don’t feel like a new writer, but I do feel as if I’ve gone back in time. I’m editing books that I wrote years ago and had packed away in a box under the bed. Suddenly, those characters are alive again and readers are meeting them, often for the first time, and writing to tell me how much they love them. It’s amazing!

BR:Did you have to go through the same rigamarole as any other new author or were you able to use your connections from the past?

CW: Because of the new world of self-publishing, I didn’t have to find a publisher. And when it came time to get quotes for promotion, I knew some wonderful people to ask. I’ve been refreshing and sometime revising the old titles myself, but when I begin working on original books this spring, I’ll hire a professional editor to work with me.

BR: I am so glad you are back, are you going to be continuing on with the Ravenau's and Beauvisages?

CW:I have a 4th Raveneau novel, TEMPEST, that is partially finished and I hope to have it available as an ebook this summer. The hero is Adam Raveneau, the grandson of Nathan & Adrienne Raveneau in SILVER SEA (originally Barbados). He’s definitely a chip off the old block  I hope to eventually continue on with both families!

BR: I recently read the article you posted on Regan's Romance Reviews and it was brilliant. I can only imagine the challenges that you must feel. What is it like to see your works and realize that they needed to be updated? And did you smile when thinking you had to update a historical romance?

CW: The fact that my books are historicals made my task easier. I have friends who are re-publishing contemporary romances that were written pre-cell phones & computers (just two name two issues!) and they really have their hands full. My problems have more to do with the changes in audience tastes over the years – and my own growth as a woman. Sometimes I read the things I wrote in my 20’s and cringe!

BR:Joanna Lindsey, wrote her Malory series over a 25 year period and it is interesting to see the changes and growth to the genre in a single series. How do you feel about coming back, only to learn that many of your scenes and interactions must be reworked?

CW: I’m actually thrilled to have the opportunity to improve my books! In fact, I may end up doing yet another version of some of the titles that are already available as e-books. When I first began this process in June, I really didn’t think about making major changes. Now I sometimes re-write or completely change whole scenes, if it seems that those changes are warranted.

BR: If you were just starting out today what changes would you make to your writing?

CW: I don’t think I could write the alpha males I did in the 70’s when I was in my early 20’s. And, my heroines would be older and more complicated! However, those earliest books of mine are the favorites of many readers, so I really wouldn’t change anything.

BR: While I loved Caroline, You and No Other remains my all time favorite. I know in Natalya you linked Thomas and Aimee to the Beauvisages have you considered continuing with their stories?

CW: Yes! When I re-read YOU & NO OTHER for editing this summer, I really fell in love with it as never before. Maybe because I’m so many years removed from its creation, I can enjoy it more objectively. I was totally smitten with St. Briac – he is so real to me! I often daydream about sequels to that book that would deal more directly with Thomas and Aimee (than OF ONE HEART, which moved to England). Perhaps the story of Christophe, Thomas’s brother, or one of their little girls – and I’d love to do a swashbuckler with their son, Etienne. He would be the right age around the time Sir Francis Drake began some of his famous voyages. Need to do some research! I’d actually love to do a whole St. Briac series – 4 or 5 books! (If anyone has suggestions, I’d love to hear them!)

BR: I also like how in Natalya you had Alec's dad deceased and his mother in a new romance (ok, I didn't like that his dad was deceased) was it hard to choose to do this?

CW: I don’t think so. After I got to that point, I’d brought so many fantastic couples back into other books that the fairytale endings were getting a bit repetitive. I wanted those characters to deal with some of the same issues the rest of us have in life – like Meagan’s emotional crisis in Spring Fires when she was pregnant and worried that Lion didn’t want her anymore.

BR: Again, in Natalya you had Kristen, the pretty vivacious sister falling for a bit of a nerdy guy. Where you making a statement? Will that relationship last or will Kristen get her own story?

CW: When I was writing NATALYA, I liked the contrast between Natalya’s romance and Kristin’s – and the fact that Kristin thinks she wants Grey, but her her prince is right in front of her face. I don’t have any plans for her to have her own story… but anything is possible!

BR: You gave us such a wonderful tease about her past in Caroline, have you ever considered writing Grandmere's story?

CW: It’s lovely that you remember all these characters and would like to know more about them! Yes, I’ve thought about Grandmere’s story – and the story of Jean-Philippe and Antonia. These days, when ebooks are allowing authors to write novellas – maybe 100 pages – I’ve thought about one of those for some of these stories that could be told on a smaller stage. I also have thought about Mouette Raveneau, whose life is such a mess at the end of SURRENDER THE STARS. She would be a fascinating heroine because she’s flawed, she’s in her mid-thirties, she has two sons, and she was going home to America with her parents after her marriage was shattered. Mouette might even get her own full-length novel…

BR: Who inspired you to write? And How?

CW: Like many of us, I was an obsessive reader as a child, and by 5^th grade I began extending books I loved and making my own sequels. In 8^th grade, I wrote a sequel to GONE WITH THE WIND. I always loved romance and the complexities of the male-female relationship. I read all of Georgette Heyer’s novels – but it was probably Kathleen Woodiwiss who really inspired me to write CAROLINE.

BR: What author's do you enjoy reading? Do you stay in genre or do you have a favorite outside the genre?

CW: I’ve been reading and enjoying historical romance again for the first time in many years. I think Marsha Canham is amazing. I’ve been rereading some of my old Woodiwiss favorites! I have a whole Kindle filled with novels I can’t wait to read after all my own backlist titles are “up” and I can read more for pleasure.

I also love novels (women’s fiction?) by authors like Sue Miller, Julia Glass, and Anna Quindlen.

BR: What new treats do you have in store for us?

CW: BRIGHTER THAN GOLD, set in 1864 San Francisco and Columbia, CA, will be available soon. Just finished editing it and I loved it! I think it really is a treat. Samuel Clemens plays a supporting role in it – and the hero is completely yummy. Now I’m going to work on CRIMSON INTRIGUE, which I wrote in 1982 under a pseydonym. It’s going to be published under my own name later this spring for the first time. It’s set in Washington, D.C. during the War of 1812 and the hero might be a British spy.

CW:After TEMPEST comes a partially-finished novel set in Cornwall during the Regency. It’s called SMUGGLER’S MOON & I totally love the couple!

SPEED ROUND: short one or two word answers for fun..

The most important one first

BR: Boxers or Briefs Briefs

BR:Daisies or Roses Daisies

BR:Mountains or Beach Beach

BR:Cowboys or Highlanders Highlanders

BR:White or Red wine? Water

BR:If you could go anywhere, where would you go? France

BR:What is your favorite movie? The Scarlet Pimpernel (Anthony Andrews)

BR:What is your favorite color? Violet

BR:Do you have a wild side? 

BR:Bad Boys or Sexy Nerds? Both!

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions. I know you are a very busy lady. And welcome back, you have been missed.

Shauni

ManCandy Monday!!

The other day on Twitter Crystal, from Redheads Review it Better, Lily Graison, soon to be featured author here at Tea and Book and I, were discussing ManCandy Monday.. Ok, we were really discussing having a ManGandy Monday, that's right a celebration of all things David Gandy!!

So it isn't really ManCandy Monday it's

ManGANDY Monday!!

 Because it was just too hard to choose!!

Silver Storm by Cynthia Wright - a Review

****Spoiler Alert, This review includes spoilers********

    

As this is Romance month on Bodice Rippers, I thought this was a good opportunity to read an author I had never read before, and someone known for romance. After reading Shauni's post on Cynthia Wright...I decided to choose Wright for February's Romance author.

Silver Storm was written by Cynthia Wright in 1979. This is the first book chronologically, in the Raveneau series, though Wright wrote Caroline first. Silver Storm is set in the 18^th century during the time when they were fighting the British in the revolutionary wars.The story begins with a wide eyed 12 year old girl, named Devon Lindsay, who lives with her mother in New London, Connecticut. She dreams of adventures on the sea, which she learned from her deceased father, a sea captain. Devon’s mother resents anything that has to do with the sea, and she keeps tight reins on Devon.

As a young girl, Devon meets the dashing Andre Raveneau, a famous French captain. Years later, Devon meets him again and finds herself beginning to dream about him. Now at 18, and the British attacking her town, Devon makes a run for safety to escape being raped by a British sailor, leaving behind her mother, who was also was being attacked. She is saved by a French sailor, who helps her by sneaking her aboard the Black Eagle, whose captain is non other then Andre Raveneau, who will discover her in a short time. But he does not remember Devon.

Andre is your typical swashbuckler, handsome, dangerous and of course, sexy and gorgeous. But despite that, I found him to be somewhat of a cad. He has little respect for women, has them everywhere he goes. Through most of the book, he is not very likeable, despite his sex appeal. Though later in the book, we find out how his father’s mistress caused his outlook on women to be bad, but it doesn’t change how he treats them, and our perspective of him.

He meets his match with Devon, who at her young age stands up to him and Andre has a hard time handling our innocent, but spunky stowaway.

Devon herself, though I enjoyed her, was a bit far-fetched as to putting up with Andre, as well as constantly putting herself in danger. She loves adventure, and cannot resist the attraction of Andre, despite how he treats her.
The last third of the story was good, as finally nearer to the end, as in most romance stories things change for the better. Andre begins to realize that Devon is different then all the women he has known, she was in fact the love of his life. Having left her at his home, while he went to sea, he comes back months later to find out she was pregnant with his child, had a baby girl and left him to go with an old childhood sweetheart, whom she just considered a friend. He goes to find her, captures her back, but now he expresses his love and they get married at the sea.

But the story doesn’t end there. Andre takes her back to her home, to see if any of her friends survived the battle. She finds her mother alive, and remarried, also expecting a child.

I did find the chemistry between Andre and Devon to be sexy, especially during their passionate moments. The end was sweet and of course happy. But even then, as nice as Andre was at the end, through most of the book he really was a brute. Overall, it was a good story, had some excellent parts. I just thought the hero should have been more likeable for the majority of the book, especially in romance books.

Barb

20 Steps To Writing a Love Scene

SATURDAY EVENING POST

♥February is Pure Romance Month♥

We are still in February and what better way to end a Saturday night with 20 Steps To Writing A Love Scene.

I thought so....So grab a glass of wine, the nearest warm body and sit back and write your OWN love scene.

Have you ever read a love scene so perfect, your heart is full, your body is about to explode, your eyes are wet and you actually want to cry out at the beauty you've witnessed? Do you forget you've been reading "mere" words instead of experiencing the most emotional, exciting moment of your own life? Do you have the urge to light up a cigarette to savor the moment when it's done?

Authors don't write these scenes with "mere words." We know there is no such thing as mere words. Words are arguably the most powerful form of communication in the world when it comes to playing with a reader's emotions.

Here are twenty steps to learning how to write love scenes that will live on in your readers' memories forever. Please note that I've used examples from my own work throughout -- not because I believe I'm the only writer who can write effective love scenes, but because I'm a self-promoter to the extreme. Following these twenty steps, I'll list some of the greatest authors of love scenes.

STEP ONE: Decide what you're comfortable reading and writing.

It's becoming very vogue to write romance novels so hot, they'll melt in your hands. Does that mean you should join the crowd? Not necessary. It's a rare thing that an author will write a book with a level of sensuality they're not comfortable with because they'll automatically choose characters that fit their own comfort level. But don't dismiss the possibility simply because you're unfamiliar with the genre or assume that you don't have what it takes to kick it up a notch. You might want to introduce yourself slowly to these steamier stories, if you have a story in mind that requires something a little more racy than you're used to. Read a little of everything to figure out what suits your writing style best.

I remember when I first started reading romances, I was a teenager and, at that point in my life, I was satisfied with both the Harlequin teen offerings as well as some of the raciest types of books around (Carter Brown Mysteries.) In my twenties, I got a little more conservative in my reading, yet in my own writing I realized that the stories I had in mind required more overt sexuality. I started reading a wide range of books, acclimating myself to sexuality in books again and finding out what I liked and what I didn't. I discovered that I liked Silhouette Intimate Moments because the emotional and physical love scenes were nicely balanced. A lot of the other category romances were too unbalanced (either all sex, no emotions or all emotions, no sex) for my tastes. I also found that I liked the more racy "romantic erotica" most, as long as the emotions and characterizations were on even ground.

STEP TWO: Let your characters decide the level of intimacy, not publisher guidelines.

I used to base everything I wrote on what the publishers might buy. I suppose it makes some sense to do that when you're not published. Target your publisher, then tailor what you write to that set of guidelines. Sounds logical, right? I'm not so sure. A part of me really believes that the reason I didn't sell all those years was because I was trying to write for everyone else except myself and what fit my characters. If you're writing for someone else, you're not writing what's in your heart... and it's going to show.

The same is true for love scenes. In every one of my books, the level of intimacy is a little different, depending on what that particular hero and heroine dictate. Restless as Rain and Forever Man are strongly what I dub "romantic erotica" because the emotions are as hot as the physical lovemaking. The characters in these books are very extreme, larger than life and they demand a sexuality that suits their personalities. In First Love, the sexual tension is definitely there from start to finish and the love scenes are satisfying without being overtly erotic. However, the hero and heroine in this book are in need of emotional healing, more so than sexual healing. Their lovemaking is part of that healing process, and it suited them to have emotionally sensual loves scenes rather than down-and-dirty, deep ones. Leather & Lace, my first published book, was completely different. The heroine in the book was very innocent and naive. When she thought of lovemaking, it was always in a more "romantic" sense and, because she was so private, having more low-key love scenes were appropriate. The sexual tension remained throughout, however.

STEP THREE: Respect your readers. Give them what you promise.

I read a Silhouette Intimate Moments a couple years, when they first introduced their "mainstream" theme, that was a wonderfully written story. Ultimately, however, I finished the book so disappointed I had to write to the editors about it. This was a story that had all the ingredients of a fantastic read. So why was I disappointed? I was expecting a romance, a romance that would blossom and the characters come to life as they fell in love. What I got was a romance that was a shadow to the external mystery and characters that came to life mostly in the external aspects. I felt very little for the characters in terms of their love bond. When they married at the end, I was only mildly glad.

That same month, I read a Terry Brooks fantasy novel that contained a secondary element of romance that was never brought to complete fruition. I finished the book and immediately started the next in that series, completely satisfied.

So why was I disappointed with the romance I bought, but not with the fantasy? Because in the first, I fully expected a good, solid romance that was equally balanced with a good, solid plot. After all, I bought a Silhouette and I expected a romance, but, dammit, I didn't get it. I felt cheated. In the fantasy, I never expected a romance, but there was one there nevertheless. I felt I'd gotten something extra for my money and time.

The moral of this story: Respect your readers for the time and money they invest in your book. If you set them up for a romance, give it to them in spades. If you set them up for a heavy, emotional drama, give it to them. If you set them up for a steamy romance that keep getting hotter and hotter, deliver it. If you don't give them what you promised them, you'll leave your readers dissatisfied, maybe enough to avoid your next book.

STEP FOUR: Make love scenes real instead of hokey or overly sentimental.

Writing love scenes effectively is very hard to do, yet they're no harder to do write than an action scene. A friend of mine told me recently that the editor-in-chief of a major trade house skips the love scenes when she reads because so many are utterly boring. Isn't that sad? So how do you make your love scenes real? People and relationships are tricky things. The word "normal" in the real world is an impossibility because if you broke down each person into the components they're made up of, you'd find someone who is illogical, contradictory, good and evil. You'd find the makings of a hero and quite possibly the makings of a Mr. Hyde. When you're writing a character, you're exploring those illogical, contradictory, good and evil people and their relationships. You need those things to make a character three-dimensional.

The relationship between a man and a woman is, I feel, the most complex one in existence. Here you have two people, each with their own emotional baggage, screwball ways and contractions trying to (or fighting against!) merging their separate paths into one. The road to that point is utterly fascinating. You make your love scenes real by making your characters real. A fully fleshed out character will make your reader look at the world around them and the people in it in brand new ways. And a fully developed character will certainly make you want to find out what turns them on.

STEP FIVE: Use exaggerated awareness.

"Exaggerated awareness" -- the first time I heard this term was from Sandra Brown. I can't imagine anything else that fits what sexual tension needs to be in a romance more aptly. In romantic fiction, an exaggerated awareness between the hero and heroine is so crucial, it can't be overstated. In a romance, you take for granted that these two were destined, meant to be, fated, designed for each other by God Himself. Therefore, every single look, touch, sense is made larger than life between them. The sexual tension must reach the breaking point and satisfy the reader (and characters) only temporarily until happily ever after. When the hero touches the heroine, even accidentally, the reader can see sparks igniting between them. When he looks at her, a profound feeling comes over the characters and the reader. The emotional impact needs to be conveyed through their every encounter.

STEP SIX: Start sexual tension from the get-go.

Exaggerated awareness between your hero and heroine needs to begin immediately, the first time they come together in your novel, and it needs to increase in depth with each subsequent meeting.

I remember I was critiquing a story for an unpublished writer a couple years ago, and we were at least halfway through the story. At this point, I not only didn't feel many sparks between her hero and heroine during their encounters, I was utterly humiliated when they began making love (though the actual event was, thankfully!, thwarted.)

There's only one of two reasons for a reader not wanting a love scene to take place: 1) they picked up a spicy book accidentally, or 2) the writer didn't set the stage for love scenes early or enough. If there's no tension between a couple, no exaggerated awareness, a love scene is going to shock and embarrass the reader as much as it will the characters. The last thing a writer wants is a sensual scene that's awkward. When a hero and heroine finally come together for a kiss, an intimate touch or lovemaking, the reader has to be exulted, panting for consummation, ready to claw tooth and nail to see that these two characters have a clear path to the bedroom and aren't interrupted while there! And, most of all, they'll be satisfied when all is said and done.

It's just as important to create an exaggerated awareness in a book where the hero and heroine have never met before. It should be conveyed as if something is missing in this character's life and they recognize that missing piece--even if it's only subconsciously -- when they meet their eventual soul-mate. For instance, in Leather & Lace, the hero has always longed for a woman who's a little shy and inexperienced with men, one who'd love children and the whole forever-after thing. He sees that in the heroine as soon as he meets her and it creates a breathless tension until they meet again. One more piece of that puzzle needs to come together every single time your hero and heroine are in a room together, or simply in each other's thoughts.

STEP SEVEN: Don't use purple prose, hokey euphemisms, words or phrases that make you uncomfortable. But do use words that are appropriate, even if you're a little uncomfortable with them. Your characters are trying to tell you it's a word they would use.

The key to writing a great love scene is to not get mired in either the emotional aspect or the physical for too long. Don't let your characters get so swept away, they're riding on a cloud of the author's "purple prose" rather than the emotions of the most intimate form of bonding imaginable. At the same time, don't let your characters get so involved in the physical act that it becomes, quite disappointingly, mere sex. Readers don't want to hear all those cotton-soft euphemisms any more than they want to hear anything inappropriate to the scene. They want each sense to be well explored -- seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, tasting. Don't neglect the "jarring" senses either, like talking, moving, thinking, because that's where the sense of reality enters in.

Here's a good test of whether a word is good enough to use in a love scene. Say it out loud while you're right in the midst of the love scene you're writing. Does it make you hot? Hotter? Or does it make you laugh out loud? If you laugh out loud, that's a pretty solid indication that it's not a word you should use because your readers will probably do the same. I've been stopped many times while reading love scenes by words and phrases like: "his manhood bobbed up and down like a flagpole", "his rod of pleasure", "her honey pot" or "they soared on the wings of love and exploded into infinity." I cringe or I laugh.

Along the same lines, you may consider certain words too crude, rude or shocking to use in a romance novel. But what if those words fit the character's personality? What if it's something you know they would say?

STEP EIGHT: Set the scene and the mood for yourself and your characters.

How do you get yourself into the mood to write a love scene? Set the scene in your mind. Set the scene in your own living room if it helps you. Take note of things in their natural form. Scents, sights, tastes, sounds, textures. Indulge in pleasure. Light scented candles, peel an orange, play romantic and/or sexy music, put silk or lace or velvet against your own skin. Dab your husband's cologne on yourself. Put on his jacket. Don't answer the doorbell or the phone!

STEP NINE: Don't forget the genre you're writing in.

Imagine the sensuality of a love scene in a romantic horror novel where the heroine both fears and is helplessly attracted to the mysterious, potentially dangerous hero. The heroine would be aware of the temperature of the room, the coldness, and the way she warms when the hero appears in the doorway. She would be aware of that shift of tension within and without her own body. She'd be aware of her palpable fear and excitement, warring with each other. She'd be aware of the shadows of the room, the shadows in his face, on his body. The moonlight spilling across the stone floor. She'd be aware of the hero's smell, primal and raw. She'd start at the slightest sound and would hear her own heartbeat and bated breathing in the eerie absence of sound that follows. His voice would both unnerve her and catapult her excitement...

You can apply these sensations to any genre of romance.

STEP TEN: Use your characters background and experiences in your love scenes.

Your characters will help you choose the words they would use in a love scene. For instance, when writing the first love scene in Restless as Rain, I found myself using "musical" references for the erotic acts they performed, since the characters were musicians. In Falling Star, the heroine is a dancer and she dances for the hero their first time, doing a sensual striptease that takes him past bearing simply watching her without touching her. In Forever Man, the hero is a mechanic and a "road warrior." He thinks in terms of revved engines, power, ultimate freedom. Both the hero and the heroine are extremely raw, violently emotional and, occasionally, vocally rough people, so their love scenes had to fit their personalities.

STEP ELEVEN: Choose your point-of-view very carefully.

I've heard many, many people advise writing every love scene in both the heroine and hero's point-of-view. Naturally you know what works best for your books. Given that I'm a never-say-never type of person, I wouldn't advise anyone to never use two viewpoints in the same scene. Regardless, I caution against it. First of all, why spend the entire book trying so hard to stay in one viewpoint at a time, only to hop between two suddenly and wantonly? You'll confuse and possibly annoy the reader instead of deepen the connection. It makes more sense to make a decision from the very beginning of the book: Will you write in two points of view in any given scene or will you write in one at a time?

Second, you can't give both of their reactions to every single thing alternately. That would definitely be annoying and overkill. Therefore, when you give both points-of-view in the same scene, you're shortchanging one of the characters "alternately." When I write love scenes, I write it in one point of view. After each love scene, I give the pertinent reactions of the other person (the one who wasn't in POV during the scene) in introspection. I feel you heighten the intrigue of the individual characters by staying consistent with POV.

STEP TWELVE: Decide if you want to write chronologically or like an author on acid.

Another thing I've heard is authors say they make notes of where love scenes should fit in while they're writing, then write all the love scenes last. My opinion? I've never seen this go-where-I'm-inspired, chaotic way of writing work effectively for any author. If you leave out scenes and write them last, you change everything by adding it. You have to alter everything a little bit because you need to make sure the scene in question blends with all the others.

This is an illogical way to work. Your book won't be seamless if you don't write chronologically. It'll sound like the author (the characters too?) is on acid. Keep in mind that each sensual scene should be an outreach, a layering of the characters, showing their growth toward each other. If you just drop things in later, you lose the mood, the momentum and the cohesion from once scene to the next. Writing chronologically, everything will fall into place naturally. The progression and tension increase without taking the reader out of the book to wonder if the scene actually fits.

STEP THIRTEEN: Remember, it's all in the details.

Another trick to making sexual tension prominent between scenes is to focus on a certain aspect that intrigues the opposite character. Each characteristic, quirk or little act builds on what's happening in the story and makes it more powerful.

For instance, in my novel Fire & Ice, the hero is obsessed with the heroine's mouth from the beginning. You can imagine how he reacts the first time he actually kisses it.

In another of my novels, an erotic obsession began early in the book with the heroine watching the hero drink from a bottle of beer. This common act is palpably exciting to her. As soon as he leaves the room, she picks up that bottle and puts her own mouth on it. The hero comes back to find her drinking his beer. This increases the sexual tension between them until the fantasy finally becomes reality.

STEP FOURTEEN: Dialogue is sexy -- use it to its fullest.

Can you imagine having sex in utter silence? Wouldn't it be embarrassing? The same is true in writing love scenes. Using dialogue within a scene of sensual awareness can heighten the erotic edge immeasurably. Just a few words can prompt enough excitement to make your reader unbearably uncomfortable.

STEP FIFTEEN: Definitely use humor in love scenes, if it works.

Don't be afraid of humor, even in an introspective or dramatic book. Tenderness can sometimes cross the line into sentimental and, depending on the situation or characters you're creating, humor could ease the tension long enough to give the reader a magical glimpse into the depth and three-dimensionality of your characters.

STEP SIXTEEN: Ask yourself if you should "raise the stakes" physically or emotionally... or both.

Another thing I've heard both editors and writers say is "You have to raise the stakes with each encounter", be it with a look, a touch, a kiss or lovemaking. Again, this is a theory I don't fully agree with. We're writing romance, not pornography, ladies. There isn't a fine line between these two genres at all. Romance has an equal balance between sexuality and emotional bonding. Pornography has sex, little or no bonding. The biggest problem with the "raise the stakes" theory is that the stakes involved in a romance are emotional, not necessarily physical. If it matches your book to continue to raise the sexual stakes, go with it, by all means! But remember that it's not always appropriate. It might be more appropriate to raise the emotional stakes instead. Or to raise both the emotional and sexual stakes.

STEP SEVENTEEN: Emphasize the physical, but not at the expense of the emotional. Equalize the two as if on an analytical balance.

I admit it, I love reading "sexy books" (as my father-in-law is so fond of calling romance novels!) It might make me strange, but I absolutely adore writing love scenes too. Why do I love them? Because I'm a nymphomaniac or a bored housewife who just doesn't get enough? I'd probably be more interesting if I could claim either of those, but the truth is I read and write romance novels because they're about relationships.

Love scenes employ a wonderful combination of raw physical need and breathtaking emotional intimacy. The most exciting thing about writing a book to me is not action scenes or heart-pounding excitement from page to page. Writing a novel is about creating a character and making him or her so real, you'd never know that it's fiction if the book package didn't have a line that reads "All characters are fictional." All action, all heart-pounding excitement stems from the characters. If I can make you laugh and cry, want to throw your arms around my character(s) or even throw a chair at them, I feel I've done my job. If I make you want my hero so bad, you're all over your husband that night, I'm ecstatic. I've created a three-dimensional character that a real person can interact and feel with.

The reason I love romance novels with a high degree of sexuality is because these are two characters who get to know each other down to appendix scars. Every emotion is emphasized and the reader feels everything the characters do. I can fully immerse myself in them and live vicariously through them. I know everything they know, go through everything they go through, feel everything they feel and I'm privy to everything they think.

Sexy books that don't emphasize the emotional in the same scale as the physical are disappointing. It's simply not enjoyable to me and most lovers of romance to read about two people going at it like dogs when little or no emotional ties connect them. Sure, the two may end up together, but how can the reader feel as much for them as they want to? In that case, the reader becomes a voyeur and not simply someone who longs to get inside another mind and who loves to fall in love.

STEP EIGHTEEN: Remember, less can be more.

You can't write out every love scene in detail, but what if you still want all of them to be sensual? Sometimes a very short scene can sum up an erotic encounter better than two to five pages of graphic detail can. Writing succinct love scenes isn't easy, but it's a useful skill to learn. Some of the most erotically emotional scenes I've ever written were not graphic. But they were equally satisfying to both the characters and the reader.

STEP NINETEEN: Don't write sex for the sake of sex or simply to fill pages.

Some of romance novels I've read from traditional publishers are very exacting, especially in category romances. First kiss must occur by this page, first lovemaking by that page, and if the rest of the plot is a little weak, throw in a couple more love scenes as filler. It's sad that publishers require authors to compromise a story just to fill pages or because sex, sex and more sex is the theme of that particular imprint.

The heart of every romance novel should be the emotional bond between the hero and heroine. Everything else is a layer of that emotional bond--be it children, internal or external conflicts, and, yes, lovemaking. Don't lose sight of that as you write your love scenes. Make each love scene count, make it advance the plot and make it necessary to building the emotional bond into something unbreakable.

STEP TWENTY: Reveal something with each love scene.

As we said, don't use love scene for the sake of filling pages or just to write sex. That's cheating everyone. Love scenes should be as crucial to the plot of a romance novel as any other element of the plot. Don't just throw them in for no good reason. Reveal something with each of these love scenes. Reveal the character(s), advance some element of the plot, reveal hidden emotions -- even if only from one character to the reader and not to another character -- like an admission of guilt... or of love. If you can completely take a love scene out and it won't affect the story in any way, you've probably got an extraneous scene on your hands. Treat it the way you would any other extraneous scene. Cut it ruthlessly and don't look back.

Love scenes can be a chore. They can make editors and readers skip to the next chapter to avoid the boredom, purple prose or embarrassment. Or they can be written so perfectly, your heart is full, your body is about to explode, your eyes are wet and you actually want to cry out at the beauty of what you've created. You'll forget you're writing words instead of experiencing the most emotional, exciting moment of your life. You may even have the urge to light up a cigarette to savor the moment.

by Karen Wiesner

http://www.writing-world.com/romance/love.shtml