Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
- Robert A. Heinlein
I’m a cat person. Always have been and always will, even during those times when I do not have one. My last birthday, every single birthday card I received had a cat on it. So it will come as no surprise that I also bring this love of cats to my reading.
There aren’t a lot of cats featured in romance, but when there is, the urge to buy is almost overwhelming. For example, earlier this year there was a Harlequin Intrigue I spotted on the shelf at my local SuperTarget. The cat silhouette on the cover is unmistakable and it immediately went into my cart. When I learned that Familiar, Texas by Caroline Burnes was just the latest in a long series featuring a cat named Familiar, I immediately began searching for the previous books. Never mind that I hadn’t read the one I just bought, I had to have them. And yes, I now have them all. Even better, the ones I’ve read so far have been rather good.
I bought a particular anthology not because of the authors or the back blurb, but purely on the basis that the kittens on the cover were cute and therefore I had to have it. Since then, I’ve made a list of other Zebra Kittens anthologies to purchase in the future. As I’m writing this, I’ve picked up another one, Enchanting Kittens by Cindy Holbrook, Nancy Lawrence, and Hayley Ann Solomon. I wanted to read something this month that involves Halloween, and since it has cats, all the better. With Zebra discontinuing the traditional Regencies, and thus these anthologies, I’m quite happy to know I have some backlist titles to find. Another time, when faced with some Silhouette Romances to read, the one that I grabbed from the stack was the one with the cat on the cover. I was pleased to find that Shirley Jump’s Kissed by Cat was short, sweet, and the perfect way to spend an afternoon.
It’s not just a cat on the cover that will get me to buy the book, either. I picked up Nina Bangs’ Night Bites because I’d visited her website and loved the black cat theme. Robin D. Owens has pictures of her own pets that are the inspiration for her irresistible cat-like Fams in the futuristic Heart series. Her feline characters are one reason I love her books so much. Linnea Sinclair, another author of futuristic romances, has Daiquiri, aka Tank the Furzel and my, what a handsome cat. I associate her with cats, and so remember her name much more often than other futuristic romance authors.
Of the roughly eighty books in All About Romance’s “Those Amazing Animals†in the Special Titles Listings, only fifteen involve cats. I know the list isn’t complete, but it’s obvious that dogs in romances are more popular than cats. Perhaps I’m just biased, but don’t cats and romance just go together? Or has the blindly loyal dog been secretly fomenting dissent against the independent feline? Who knows, but for now, I’ll continue to snatch up those feline romances.
No related posts.
I’m a cat convert (at this stage in my life, there’s a lot to be said for an animal who leaves me alone twenty hours a day!), but I still tend to write more dogs than cats into my stories. Why? Because I think cat personalities are almost as elusive as they are. They almost dare you to capture them on the page.
They also tend to be the “straight guy.” If a dog and a cat share space in the story, for sure the cat’s gonna have the upper hand. Or paw, in this case. Their humor is more subtle, because it’s all about dignity with cats. Dogs don’t care if they’re dumb. Dogs live to be dumb, in fact, because then we laugh at them, and dogs will take any kind of attention they can get.
It takes a special person to get into the mind of a cat. Jennifer Crusie’s Elvis in BET ME is brilliant, but she still gives dogs more starring roles than cats. You get more physical variety with dogs, whereas once you get past the long-fur vs. short fur issue with cats, you’re pretty much done.
And yet, I have written a few cats that have done me proud (because that’s the order of things with cats). And I’m writing one into in my current story. The hero’s cat, no less, so the poor thing has this whole macho thing to live up to on top of everything else. But where the dogs I’ve written have just poured themselves onto the page (as it were), the cats have sat back and said, “You want me, you’re going to have to come and get me.”
Because a cat isn’t about to make it easy for anybody.
Check out Miss Bubbles Steals The Show, an adorable-sounding Red Dress Ink novel about a career-stealing cat. The cat is alone on the cover; it’ll be interesting to hear feedback about how readers responded.
I’m a cat person too. I have four, but for some reason, I give all my heroine’s little dogs.
I’m owned by four cats also. I definitely think cats and romance go together. After all, when a cat loves you, then you’ve got something. Dogs love everyone, whether that person comes to the house to bring you flowers or repossess your car.
I’ve had the same cat for eleven years and a new dog who’s been around only for two weeks. I can say without a single hesitation that the cat is by far and away my favorite! No, she’s not nearly as outward in her displays of affection. But it sure is nice to know that she can take care of herself while that dang dog needs constant attention 24/7. I think that’s the way I like my heroines. They can take care of themselves.
Usually when I see a cat in a story, it’s in the role of foil for the hero. The cat hates him or he’s allergic or it sits on the bed and watches the couple making love. I did enjoy Elvis in Crusie’s Bet Me.
But after saying all of that, I admit that a dog in the story seems more natural than a cat. The cat kind of disappears, since that’s what cats tend to do. Dogs, however, are always hanging around be goofy because that’s what dogs do.
I’m a cat lover from way back although we don’t have one at the moment. Soon though, soon. Cat’s are just so cool and laid back and if they don’t want to have anything to do with you at the moment then they just won’t. I admire that. Dog’s, on the other hand, while loving and affectionate are just too eager and demanding and needy sometimes. I will try and think up some good “cat” books for you.
Huh. Interesting. Especially in light of the tendency for writers to own (or be owned by) at least one cat. (Sometimes I think I’m the only writer who doesn’t have a cat.) In a lot of novels that I’ve read in other genres–fantasy, mystery–single women almost invariably have a cat.
Pat, if I’d mentioned the mysteries, this would’ve been MUCH longer.
I think there’s a stereotype going on with the single woman and the cat. Like she can’t get a man and instead gets a cat. Or the “cat lady” thing.
But then..I have a whole shelf of cat mysteries. And you never see aliens in SF who look like dogs, it’s always cats.
I used to have seven cats when I lived in the country. Alas, I live in town now, and I’m too afraid of traffic to own a cat. I babysit for our neighbor’s kittys when they leave on vacation.
In one of my books (Diamina) there is a talking cat named Bebo, who was named after my editor’s cat. Bebo stole the show in the book, and from a very minor character became a full-fledged secondary character in his own right. Even fictional cats have strong personalities!
It’s a sign of intelligence = people who love cats.
I’m definitely a cat person too and will be on the lookout for anything with a cat on it. I didn’t realize how fun that could be.
Jennifer Crusie has a memorable cat in Cinderella Deal [but I do think the comment was right about the character of a dog can take on more of the comic personna, ie. Crusie's Marlene in Fast Women], I think Debbie Macomber has a cat in the Shop on Blossom Street. Yeah, they do become background furniture rather than cat-alyst.
I have loved dogs and cats, but I will not buy a book with a pet on the cover. You have to sneak a pet into the novel to get me to like it. If I want a book about animals, I will read Watership Down.
This is an irrational preference, I am sure, and surely points me out as cynical as hell, and I can logically understand the appeal of such sentiments, but unlike real-life animals, fictional pets leave me totally cold.
Even Lassie and the Aristocats. So shoot me.
Liked your column though, Nicole.