In January, Silhouette will be ending its Bombshell line. Now I rarely read categories so my comments about Bombshell deals strictly with that line and no other. I am sad that the line will be ending.
Bombshell seemed to have had a rocky beginning. It was a hybrid, not quite a romance, and this seemed to have confused readers. I’ll admit, I prefer a strong romance in my reading. This does not mean the traditional HEA but stronger than some of the early Bombshells had.
The other problem Bombshells had was that it stood on its ear the traditional archetype of the heroine. The heroines were not necessarily the nurturing types of heroines we have come to expect. These were not the heroines of the romantic suspense subgenre who were damsels in distressed and had to be rescued by the hero. These women could take care of themselves. Not all of the heroines in this line were of the kick-butt Buffy/Sydney Bristow mold. Stephanie Feagan proved accountants could kick-butt too. I think it took time for the authors to prefect this change in the paradigm and for the readers to get used to it.
Bombshells, however, have been allowed to develop longer than one book stories. Cate Dermody’s Strongbox Chronicles is a three book series that takes all three books to create the complete story arc. When I first heard the news that Bombshell was ending, I raced to Cate’s website to make sure the third book would still be printed. Luckily it was a December release.
The other series that I panicked, fearing it would not finish was the Madonna Key series. The last book will be out in January with the last of the Bombshells. For six months, I have been enthralled with this miniseries. It is the work of six authors who developed the premise and took it to H/S. The backdrop is mainly Europe, particularly France; the characters are not all American, nor are the heroines innocent virgins (that thought alone would cause Evelyn Vaughn’s Catrina to give a good Gallic snort). And as opposed to some of the early Bombshells, the heroes don’t just stand in the background.
The line seemed to be leveling out and the course was straightening. Unfortunately, the line did not have time to establish itself. I truly hope that H/S and other publishers will see the strengths within the line and allow more books to move out of the tight constraints of the romance genre. In the future, I’d like to see more multi-book miniseries, more books with continuing characters (much like seems to be occurring in the paranormals), more books with strong heroines and strong heroes. I hope this is the Bombshell’s legacy and doesn’t vanish.
[...] Sandy Oakes has a commentary at Romancing The Blog on the death of a series romance line at Harlequin. Bombshell books were hybrids, with the emphasis on the kick-ass heroine who could take care of herself. Adventure and feisty females sounds great as a premise; the TV show ALIAS brought it to our homes once a week during its five year run. However, romance readers expect a certain kind of fantasy, and the series romance format is just too short to develop a character that can love AND kill. Sandy mentions a couple of different multi-book series within Bombshell, and how those held her interest — I think Bombshell discovered this concept too late — keeping one character over multiple books. [...]
by Cuppacafe » Blog Archive » Cuppa Auld Lang Syne December 29th, 2006 at 10:47 amI came to Bombshells late, but really ended up loving them. I was sad to hear that announcement. I think, like Luna, they should’ve been separated from the other category lines. It would’ve kept the confusion to a minimum.
by Jordan December 29th, 2006 at 3:50 pmI’ve never read Bombshell. For some reason I assumed that it was a sexier version of the romances. With that assumption I just wasn’t interested. I buy my erotic romances from epubs. I guess I missed out.
by Barbara B. December 29th, 2006 at 8:35 pmI am sad to see the line go too, there was so much potential out there.
I certainly love a heroine who can stand on her own two feet, move on, and find a little love by the end.
And I find that more in the paranormal market rather than the contemporary market. I hope that soon romance can move forward, and allow for slightly different types of romance to filter into the mainstream market.
by Candice Gilmer December 29th, 2006 at 10:20 pmI’ll miss the Bombshell line, too. I loved Cindy Dees Medusa Series and was looking forward to Carol Stephenson’s next law-based book. (Courting Danger was the first.)
by Mary Stella December 29th, 2006 at 11:21 pmI won’t miss Bombshells. I loved the idea for the line but could never even get through one of the books, even the big award winning ones.
by Anonymous for a reason December 30th, 2006 at 10:15 amI’ll miss the bombshell series. I like a strong-willed, kick-butt heroine. Cindy Dees, Cate Dermody, the Madonna Key series were all great stories.
by Joyce December 30th, 2006 at 2:31 pmNot a series reader.
by Kimber December 30th, 2006 at 7:49 pmHave no memory for them.
But I did like the concept of a kick butt heroine.
I agree.
by Bernita December 31st, 2006 at 8:48 amI really enjoy series and non-wimp heroines.
I’m going to miss this line, especially the later books. It seems like it took them a little while to figure out where they were going, but once they did they were great.
by Loribelle Hunt December 31st, 2006 at 1:39 pmThanks for the eulogy, Sandy. It is a bummer, but not all that surprising in these days of weird and wacky romanceland. Everything, it seems, is a crapshoot. I give kudos to Harlequin/Silhouette for giving this line a shot.
It does suck to be an orphan, and to have a completed, contracted manuscript that will never see the light of day, but I’m the philosophical sort, and see it as a shove to move into other subgenres.
My thanks to everyone who gave Bombshell a chance.
Happy New Year!
Stef
by Stephanie Feagan December 31st, 2006 at 2:52 pmOh, thank you for the mention, Sandy! I was really relieved that the final book in the Strongbox trilogy was able to come out. Someday I hope to have the opportunity to write the others books in that series!
-Cate
by Cate Dermody January 4th, 2007 at 11:37 am