Part of what I love best about romance novels is that there’s always something new to try. And I’m having a great time with my newest glom. I guess you could say that Harlequin Presents novels are my “incomparables” in the world of guilty pleasures.
Last June I reported on AAR’s third reader/publisher preference poll, and something that stuck in my memory was how readers described the Harlequin Presents line. Terms such as “old-fashioned” and “out of date” were bandied about, and these books’ heroes were described as “over-bearing” and “over-the-top-macho.” To be honest, I’d never even considered reading a Harlequin Presents, based on book titles alone. Come on…The Billionaire’s Pregnant Mistress? The Secret Virgin?
And then I read and fell in love with Lucy Monroe’s 2004 Brava release, The Real Deal. In checking out her backlist, all I saw were HP titles, including the aforementioned The Billionaire’s Pregnant Mistress. I decided that even though I loved The Real Deal, nothing could induce me to read from a line of books that prominently featured the word “mistress” in so many of its titles.
But on one of my too-many trips to the UBS, I gravitated toward the HP section, and selected two titles – Monroe’s The Italian’s Suitable Wife and Cathy Williams’ His Virgin Secretary. Both were as wonderfully over-the-top as promised, and while my grades for these books weren’t terribly high, when I wandered into my regular romance-friendly bookstore a few days later, I had a long talk with the owner, who shared with me that HP’s were her first romances, and that she still has the first 850 titles at home. Dolores admitted that the titles, heroes, and storylines are simply not to be believed, but said, “So what? They’re fun.” I couldn’t have agreed more and, using part of my huge trade credit, picked out several. I honestly wanted to choose more but didn’t want to be a pig about it.
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve read nearly a dozen Harlequin Presents. Though my grades are mainly in the C range, I seem to like them better the more I read, so I plan to continue this glom for now. My friends at AAR tell me HP’s used to be far better, so I’ll definitely pick up some earlier treasures on my next trip to Dolores’ store, but as I told my husband the other day when he caught me reading with a huge grin on my face, “These books are exactly what I thought romance novels were like when I was too much of a snob to read one. But you know what? They’re fun!” They are fun – and I always have a smile on my face when I finish one. And isn’t that enough?
So my questions to you are:
- What are your guilty pleasure reads?
- Have you read any Harlequin Presents? If so, what would you say about them?
- What are the silliest romance novel titles you’ve ever come across?
- Are there books you can’t help but read even though you know they’re a little ridiculous?
TTFN, Laurie Likes Books
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I have to be honest that I don’t really have ‘guilty pleasure’ reads because I like to read for pleasure, and really have no interest in reading anything for the snob-value of it.
I very much enjoy Harlequin Presents. In fact I enjoy most romances whether they are series or single-title. There is always the occasional book that deserves to be thrown against the wall. But the whole genre is about fantasy to me, and I struggle to think of any romance I’ve read that I could describe as being ‘realistic’. I really don’t think realism is something that romance needs to pander too. Depth of characterisation, yes, and just enough reality peppered in to make us believe that, this *could happen*.
I read a lot of historical romances, and having majored in history, it would destroy the fantasy too much for me to start worrying about whether the standard North American romance portrayal of Regency England is realistic – by and large, in my opinion, it’s not. It’s its own fantasy world with its own rules. Just like the fantasy of the shieks and millionaires in Harlequin Presents.
But this does not stop me believing the world the author has created, and enjoying myself losing myself in it.
Guilty pleasures? Anything by Bertrice Small.
Anything sexy and fun. Fiction that’s so hot, you have to fan yourself.
Maybe it is a sign of old age–but I don’t feel guilty about my reading choices. There was a time I did, but not anymore. There was a time I hid all romances. Now I look people right in the eye when I say I’m a romance author. I keep waiting for someone to make a snide comment, but so far no one has!
What a disappointment.
Michelle and Kate -
Your response was very similar to my friend who owns the bookstore I mentioned. She said, “Don’t call them guilty pleasures…just call them fun.”
For someone who’s run a romance novel site for so many years, it’s amazing how long it’s taken for me to get over my reticence about talking about it with “outsiders.” My husband is forever telling people what I do, but when it’s me bringing it up and I’m asked what kind of website it is, until the last year or so I hesitated and fudged.
Actually, reading these HP’s has been very good for me. A couple of days ago I was talking on the phone w/one of my friends at AAR about these books and describing to her some of the plot lines and so on. I was so enthused about them that she’s planning to buy some herself.
As for me, I’ll be continuing my HP discussion on my blog over the next several days, detailing the actual books I’ve been reading…so far there have been nine.
TTFN, LLB
I have to jump in with the majority here. I can’t think of a guilty pleasure read. If the book isn’t fun, I probably don’t have the time to read it.
I’m not crazy about some of the covers–they are silly. But I know authors don’t have much if any choice about those. And publishers swear that these covers sell, so . . .
guilty pleasures would include a book with a sexy, half-naked cowboy on the cover! (and I’d hide under my covers to read it, lol)
I really think literature is like art – so subjective and everyone has their own likes and opinions. The vast difference in genres is what makes literature so wonderful; there is literally something for everyone out there. (and enough half-naked cowboys to keep me happy!)
Guilty pleasure? My new found addiction: Ellora’s Cave.
blogs are my guilty pleasure. Romances of any sort = “research”
Teresa -
I guess I’m just built differently, then. I definitely have different reactions to certain books, just as I do to TV. For instance, my feelings for the original The Addam’s Family are quite different than they are for House – and I like both. The former is fun and kind of silly while the latter is not at all silly. That’s how I feel about the HP’s.
I cut my teeth on Harlequin Presents (Anne Mather, Violet Winspear, then later Jessica Steele, Carole Mortimer, Yvonne Whittal and a bunch of others) and I loved them, and have a bunch on my keeper shelves. I don’t read them as often anymore, but I will pick up one every once in a while because they cost less, and I can get through it in an hour and a half or so. Perfect for when I know I’m going to be waiting somewhere for a while, and don’t want to get completely invested in a deeply emotional or complex story.
There have been times when I’ve been frustrated by a Presents (my only real wallbangers have been Presents) but I won’t name names. I do have a lower tolerance for the hero treating the heroine badly than I used to, but I still enjoy how over the top they are. As you said, fun most of the time.
I started out reading Harlequin Romances when I was 12. When I was 13, I discovered Harlequin Presents. I have the best memories of being a teenager and just inhaling those books. They were so fun, so exciting to me–the Greek tycoons, the foreign settings, the sheikhs, the women carried away by the mastery of an awesome man…. They were totally unrealistic, but they were such a fun fantasy. I still read an HP occasionally just to remember that feeling of pure fantasy. They aren’t realistic–and that’s the point!
Suzanne -
You’ve piqued my interest w/being 12 and reading Harlequin Romances and then 13 and Harlequin Presents. I haven’t a clue as to your age, but if Harlequin Romances are like Silhouette Romances, than they are so chaste as to almost be YA books. On the other hand, and this may have changed over the years, but my experience now w/nearly a dozen HP’s is that they are pretty sexy. What was it like going from one extreme to another at a pretty young age?
TTFN, LLB
Like Suzanne, I started reading Harlequin romances around age 12. They were ANCIENT used copies a family friend gave my dad, a whole box of them, and if he’d known what he was giving me, he probably wouldn’t have.
Anyway, they were pretty tame and the most sexual content was a heavy kiss. I graduated to Harlequin Presents around age 13-14, too, in the early/mid eighties and even then, they were still tame. The first real “love” scene I remember in one was basically this: “And as the sun set over the horizon, he made love to her.” That ended a chapter and the next chapter picked up with the heroine having all these second thoughts. I was a naive 13, so I didn’t have a clue. Of course, as I got older, the books got spicier, but even then, it was more about the developing relationship and the emotional connection than the sex, anyway. What I remember most about the older HP’s and which I consider a real pleasure when I’m in the mood for one is the whole Big Mis plot device. Sometimes, when really well done and when big, bad alpha male grovels so nicely afterwards . . . well, there’s nothing better!:grin:
Hi Laurie,
It was one of AAR’s polls that first made me start thinking about what a “guilty pleasure” really means. I came to the conclusion then that I don’t think I have any guilty pleasures when it comes to reading – if I like it, why feel guilty? As I wrote somewhere else, against whose standard am I supposed to measure my right to take pleasure in a book? On the other hand, if something about reading the book makes me feel ashamed, I put it down because I cannot enjoy things that make me feel ashamed.
As to Harlequin Presents, I fully agree with you. In fact, it was to a great deal due to an HP that I pulled out of a truly debilitating reading slump. I came across the book by accident, and as it was an Australian edition with an innocuous title and a non-sensual cover, and I had not read a category romance since I was in my teens, I had no idea what I was in for. The book was “Lazaro’s Revenge” by Jane Porter. Wow. Best author find for me of 2004. With that book I learnt to enjoy reading again. Great emotion, wonderfully exotic location, and compelling characters. Now I squeeze my eyes shut at the titles of Porter’s HPs because I know they are no reflection at all of the quality of the wonderful story between the covers
Danielle C.
Harlequin Presents – in Australia they’re called Sexy Romance – used to be my guilty pleasures.
Like Linda I started out reading Mills and Boon when I got a box full of ancient ones (from a school fete) at age 11. They were extremely tame, but very fun. I was too much of a book snob to ever buy any more though, and it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I rediscovered them in the form of HP. Much hotter and a lot of fun. But truth be told I really can’t get into those over the top alpha male types. Oh I still enjoy the books (mostly) but they just cause too much cringing. Now, however, I’ve discovered temptations and Blaze and I am in heaven. There are some alpha males but there are gamma males too. My only really guilty pleasure left is reading blogs when I should be stuyding. Speaking of which…
I understand what is meant by ‘guilty pleasure’. It is used to explain why you might like something that others find poorly written, horribly unPC, no plot etc.
I have said that Diana Palmer is a guilty pleasure for me because I enjoy many of the unPC moments. Also, the jerk hero who gets his AHA moment – I’m usually just sitting waiting for him to find out how wrong he is and then fix it. (I read a recent release by her that was PC’d up to the gills and it lost all it’s drama but, her older ones rock!)
I picked up a book by an author whose books I had tried and hated. Now I must eat crow because it became a keeper. Some of her other books are good but I can’t read them back to back because I find that her characters can be too good to be true and stereotypical. I would now call her a guilty read.
Not that I feel guilty reading any of these books. It’s just a way to explain to others that yes, there are people who enjoy these authors.
As for HP, I admit I read a few years ago (15) and haven’t picked up any since. It would be nice to know how they have changed. I’ll probably go to LLB’s blog for that discussion
CindyS
definitely the old ‘bodice rippers’ like Rosemary Rogers and Kathleen Woodiwiss. Even though they’re over 20 years old, I’ll still pick up “Sweet Savage Love” or “The Flame and the Flower” and read them again. And though they’re not politically correct in this day and age, I still just love them to death.
Jaci
Laurie,
I’m so glad they put up your entry a day early. I read more Harlequin Romance than Harlequin Presents, but I enjoy both of them and can’t wait to read the entry on your blog.
I. I’ve only come “out of the closet” recently as romance reader/writer. Most of my romance books are finally on the shelf (I used to hide them under the bathroom sink). Now I just hide ones with the goofiest titles or covers. So I guess romance in general is still a semi-guilty pleasure.
II. When I read Harlequin Presents, I think of it almost as sitting down to watch a soap opera. I know the characters and setting will be glamorous and the emotions and problems will be bigger than life. The reason I like them better than soap operas is that they have a happy ending. I hate those soap cliffhangers! Some authors I’ve enjoyed are Sandra Marton and Anne Mcallister. Mcallister’s book even have a touch of humor in them, something you don’t see often with HPs.
III. Titles with the word “virgin” in them are my pet peeve. Like that is the sum of her whole personality!
IV. I love marriage of convenience stories or relationship/engagement of convenience stories, even in contemporaries. I am willing to suspend my disbelief because I enjoy that storyline so much. There is something about the levels of attraction working on different levels that just really zings me.
Just FYI from someone who reads both, Harlequin Romance is not quite as chaste as Silhouette Romance today. SR requires that couple be married to make love. In HRs, that is not the case, but the sensuality level is still pretty mild. There can be love scenes, but it doesn’t get too anatomically detailed, if you catch my drift. I didn’t want to get off topic, but I really love HRs and could go on about them forever. I hope you give some a try some day.
I define a “guilty pleasure” as a book that uses a lot of features I like to snark about as being characteristic of “bad” books. Dara Joy is a definite guilty pleasure for me. Her books are so trashy, the names of her characters in the Matrix of Destiny series make me cringe in horrified delight, and they’re just so much fun. Certain Lisa Kleypas books are also guilty pleasures, like Lady Sophia’s Lover. I think it’s a terrible book on a lot of levels, but I enjoyed it all the same. Michelle Reid, Carole Mortimer and Charlotte Lamb (I can’t remember if they write for Harlequin Romance or Harlequin Presents or both) are also guilty pleasures. Man, all those dark, glowering Italian heroes who are so distant and manipulative that they border on being emotionally abusive can get a bit much. I normally hate those types of heroes, but several Michelle Reids are on my keeper shelf.
I’m an unabashed book snob. I do think there’s a difference between “quality” fiction and “trashy” fiction, but unlike much of the literati, I think the standards are pretty much completely subjective. To me, “quality” fiction makes me think and engages my senses and my emotions in a very distinct way. “Trashy” fiction helps me to NOT think. I don’t read entirely for fun; books like Barry Unsworth’s A Sacred Hunger or Patrick Susskind’s Perfume aren’t fun to read by a long shot, but I stayed up until all hours reading them, and I thought about them for days afterwards. On the other hand, I’m lucky if I can remember the titles of my guilty-pleasure books, even though I re-read the keepers occasionally.
I think both types of books play equally important roles in my life. Hey, when I’m feeling depressed or life is hard, I’m not reaching for Madame Bovary, I’m grabbing a Dara Joy and reading about hot inter-species sex with ridiculously sexually-accomplished humanoid aliens. Just as when I’m feeling down, I don’t make myself a four-course French meal from scratch; I grab the nearest bag of chocolate-covered pretzels and chomp down.
Candy -
You’re one of the few people to ever almost-mirror what I say about reading romance in general. I read certain books to think and romances to feel, or just to entertain. I really don’t read them to think…I spend enough time on a daily basis doing that. I read romance just for fun.
We’re on a similar wavelength in another way, too. You’re just about the first person to have loved Perfume! I gave it to my husband to read after I read it when it was first published and he thought it was sick. Yeah, it was, but it was really intriguing.
TTFN, LLB
My main read is the Harlequin Presents line. As someone previously said, in Australia they are categorised under the Sexy line.
Harlequin Presents is a misunderstood line I think. They have changed so much over the years. The age difference between the hero and heroine isn’t as much as the early days. Most of the heroines also have careers, they also stand up to the hero and stand up for their beliefs. Presents have kept up with the changes in the modern world.
I absolutely adore the Alpha male. He is strong and sometimes immovable. But when he falls for his mate he falls hard but by no means does that weaken the man. We are just shown another side to him, the side he shows only for his mate.
Romance is all I read. I read for enjoyment. There is enough bad news on the evening news to fill my quota of ‘thinking’ genre. LOL
Nicki
Oh I forgot to mention, Laurie if you come across Lucy Monroe’s “The Billionaire’s Pregnant Mistress” do pick it up. It is an amazingly good read.
Also any Michelle Reid backlists you can find are well worth a look in as well.
There are so many other authors I could recommend to you as well, including a few Australian Authors.
Nicki
I just started a series of bloggings at my blog about my HP experiences in more detail…today was the first HP I read a couple of weeks ago. I plan to talk about all those I’ve read over the next week or so.
TTFN, LLB