Tag: Romance (general)

Editing Rant: Glorification of the Unhealthy

Erin Penn

Photo by Sydney Sims on Unsplash

This glorification of abusive relationships is so imbedded in our culture writing romance is REALLY difficult.

Break up and stalk until back in love? Break up multiple times? Argue and HIT in anger (woman on man usually in the romance genre, but – still – abusive!!!! NOT CUTE!!!! Never, ever, ever OK.).

How does one have a relationship that shows trouble without bringing in abusive traits to resolve the breakup?

This is a challenge for sweet romance and even another whole level more difficult for more physical romances and eroticas.

According to the common, easy path, talking it out “weakens” the “thrill”.

Consent and communication resolves things quickly — almost like the relationship, if one works at it, isn’t going to be the major issue of the plot keeping the potential lovers from bed.

A healthy relationship is just that … healthy!

It really puts a crimp in a writer’s love of torturing their characters. (We won’t go into the fact the writer’s characters are actually aspects of themselves and what the love of torturing those bits might indicate about the writer’s mental state.)

WHEN DISCUSSING THIS WITH OTHER EDITORS I GOT THE FOLLOWING RESPONSE FROM LUCY BLUE (Chief Editor for the Falstaff Crush (Romance) Line) ON 6/16/2021

This is one of the cornerstone ideas for Falstaff Crush – romances that are about healthy relationships where the conflict and action come from realistic factors outside the psyches of the lovers, not unhealthy ideas and behaviors from the lovers themselves. We’ve discovered it’s perfectly possible to have all the good stuff about romance, even gothic angst and tropes like “enemies to lovers”, without allowing any participant in a relationship to victimize or belittle any other.

But as writers and publishers, you have to want that, and you have to accept that there are some readers who are never going to embrace your books. Because some romance readers are looking for reinforcement of this dangerous idea that “he’s mean because he loves her.” For whatever reason, they don’t want that idea challenged.

That’s it in a nutshell – the conflict and action has to come from outside the couple rather than inside the couple, meaning a bigger world, more moving parts. A harder write.

That isn’t to say some people start off relationships with poorly developed skills, and a book exploring learning about consent and communication could be interesting.

But when unhealthy mechanisms are used to REUNITE the couple and create the course for “true” love, well that shit needs to stop. We must stop making romances creating masks of “loving behavior” overtop criminal activity and possessive destruction.

Be better.

Flash: Commitment

Erin Penn

Photo from Dreamstime (paid stock art)

“One way or another,” ja’Zel rocked back and forth, “I’m gonna find you.” She dug in with one foot, pushing hard into the soil, then exploded forward, pushing hard each step, gaining speed. “I’m gonna get you.” A moment to suck in air before …

Flinging herself into the Between. A chasm cut by the gods not a month ago to keep two tribes from war.

“Forever, you and me.” Her knees and hands hit the edge, the dirt still loose from the quake, but momentum rolled her forward the last few inches. Tears streamed down her face as her fear broke from where she had tightly bound it.

She sobbed in the early morning light, one, two gulps. “Enough of that. Time to move. ma’Drel here I come.”

(word 129; first published 9/24/23)

Book Review (SERIES): League of Lords

Erin Penn

Looking over some other reviews before starting this one – the description of a water-down X-men by way of a Victorian Regency Romance does a real good job of capturing the story. For most of the reviewers, this was a negative – for me, it’s enough of a positive that after reading book 1 (using the first one free-marketing scheme), I picked up book 2 (priced real cheap), and then onto book 3. I’ll pass book 4, since I have a high dislike of time travel – Days of Future Past and other time twisty stories annoy me. I enjoyed all three of the books I did read.

League of Lords series by Tracy Sumner

  1. The Lady is Trouble
  2. The Rake is Taken
  3. The Duke is Wicked
  4. The Hellion is Tamed (not reviewed)

 

Amazon Cover

BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON for THE LADY IS TROUBLE

What’s a reluctant viscount to do when the woman he can’t have becomes the woman he can’t live without?

Viscount Julian Alexander works dutifully to protect London’s outcast clairvoyants. But when the woman he’s sworn to keep from harm threatens to turn his orderly life and League of the gifted upside down, he finds himself craving her above all others. And with her brash American ways driving him to distraction, he fears the ensuing chaos could expose them all to danger.

Psychic healer Lady Piper Scott is tired of being ignored by the man she desires. In an impulsive bid to draw his attention, she slips her protective leash to pose as a medium for bored aristocrats. But when an arsonist turns the séance into an inferno, her plan simultaneously succeeds and fails when Julian flies into a rage… and then whisks her away to his mansion, alone.

Confronted with the woman’s implacable persistence, the handsome nobleman worries that giving into his heart will only inch her closer to those who would abuse her power. But Piper is more resolute than ever to prove her place is by his side, opposing their enemies together.

MY REVIEW for THE LADY IS TROUBLE

First of the series: Why I like – I love friends-to-lovers troupes. The main couple grew up together. Viscount Julian is trying to distant himself from Lady Piper, stiff upper lip and all that – to protect her, of course, but the Lady is having none of that.

The women of this series are all “unconventional” – i.e. they are all very modern (as in OUR time, not Victorian England time) in their want of independence and their sexuality.

Piper starts wearing down Julian, convincing him the fortress of controlled emotions is a prison and not a defense, but then bad guys happen, proving his point. Will she be able to prove love is an even stronger fortress, especially with the love of found family to support them?

 

Amazon Cover

BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON for THE RAKE IS TAKEN

A gorgeous psychic. An unwanted betrothal. A tantalizing compromise.

Lady Victoria Hamilton has a supernatural gift, a fiancé, and a guardian angel. She just never expected her protector to be the most dazzling man in England, a devilish scoundrel they call the Blue Bastard. Victoria has agreed to marry for duty, not love, but her unforeseen desire for her mystical angel threatens to destroy not only her plans for the future but the armor surrounding her susceptible heart.

A confirmed scoundrel, a mind reader, and the only man she desires…

Illegitimate son of a viscount and reigning king of London’s gossip sheets, Finn Alexander has spent a lifetime hiding his ability to read minds behind charming smiles and wicked behavior. No one knows the real man, and he likes it that way. Until he meets the lone woman who sees the man beneath the disguise—a blue-blooded temptress with the power to bring him to his knees.

As they embark on a journey of passion and friendship, Victoria and Finn must decide if they’re willing to risk everything for the promise of true, magical love.

MY REVIEW for THE RAKE IS TAKEN

The second book of League of Lords follows the way-Way-WAY too handsome Finn Alexander, mind-reader, dealing with the first woman in his life whose mind wasn’t an open book. How do you woo a woman when you don’t know what she is thinking, and Lady Victoria is a bit more unconventional than most, so guessing doesn’t work. He is going to have to (gasp) TALK to her and actually listen to the responses.

The paranormal activity continues to be fun in the second book, the presentation of mind-reading works well, and the extended paranormal community for the League of Lord grows in complexity and interest. For the regency romance side, we have a forced engagement, a faked engagement, and tons of other beloved troupes. A good book, more lively than the first.

 

Amazon Cover

BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON for THE DUKE IS WICKED

~FINALIST: HOLT Medallion 2022
~WINNER: MAGGIE Award 2022
~Best Reads of 2021 – Lady With a Quill Reviews

He’s harboring a fiery secret….

The Duke of Ashcroft is determined to keep the League of Lords under wraps. After all, the group’s supernatural gifts brought the mystical misfits together and nobody is going to tear them apart. Intelligent and wily, Sebastian knows better than to trust anyone–especially an impulsive and intrusive American woman.

She’s looking for answers…

Competitive and confident, Delaney Temple is hellbent on uncovering the truth about the League. She’ll stop at nothing to unearth the secrets they’re burying. But when Sebastian is in trouble and Delaney comes to his rescue, their contempt turns to a burning desire. Suddenly, with their passion ignited, they can no longer deny their attraction.

A wicked duke. A troublesome beauty. And the forbidden desire they can’t deny.

MY REVIEW for THE DUKE IS WICKED

Our fiery Duke meets his match in an America woman, who makes the unconventional women who married his friends look normal. Struggling with class and culture is a battle the Duke is willing to face, but can he keep Delaney’s interest on him instead of on the books inside her head?

This third book of the series is both stronger and weaker than the first two. Delaney’s power is interesting, but not as visceral as the rest of the members of the League. The familiar characters from the past stories continue to fill out the larger world, but the best Big Bad so far facing off against our League of Lords happened in book one – and a superhero series is only as good as its villains.

A good read, better than average, especially if you like romance and superhero mixes.

Flash: First Pick

Erin Penn

Image from Dreamtime StockArt (paid)

Well, that seems to be the last of them. I need to get down before something stupid happens. Sera thought, tucking her book back inside its bag and then inside her backpack with the rest of her precious store of new library books. She hoped they were all bangers; it wasn’t like she was going to get the opportunity to get new ones anytime soon. Standing on the narrow ledge, she looked over the chaotic, but slowly calming, crowd. After blowing a whistle through her teeth with two fingers, Sera yelled, “Hey, Tall Girl.”

Like most of the females, the tallest of the women present looked up at the shrill sound, and Sera grabbed eye contact before leaping down, praying the woman was as athletic as she looked. Bless instinct, she thought as the woman caught her instead of letting her fall to the metal flooring. Years of cheerleading made Sera an easy catch; she flowed down a solid body very low on the Body Mass Index for a female and patted her catcher’s firm belly once her feet hit the ground.

“Thanks,” she said looking up, and up. The woman was over a foot taller than Sera’s five foot four inches. Noticing the sweatshirt’s logo under the drying blue goop they had been stored in, Sera commented, “Gators, hmm? You on their volleyball team?” She snapped her fingers. “Zanders, the Blocker! Damn, my brother loves you.”

“Thanks, I think,” the college star athlete chuckled.

“Girl, you are amazing on the court.” Sera stuck out her hand. “Sera Lawson, high school dropout, all around Florida woman.”

“Taela Zanders, University of Florida, Junior year, still undecided.” Her black hand encompassed Sera’s firmly without crushing it. “Why the sudden friendliness? You hadn’t even got to the good part of Roses and Reigns.”

“You read it?!?” Sera held up her hand. “No, don’t tell me the ending. I got all three books of the trilogy in my backpack.”

“I’ll kill whoever you want to get book three.”

“Deal, since I think you and I are going to be together.”

Taela leaned forward, her wide shoulders providing privacy in the open space. “Why do you think that?”

“Oh, those boys up there.” Sera waved toward the overhang where some half-dressed human males had paraded through, looking down at them like they were ants. “After each came through, a laser – purple, so hard to pick out all the blue junk – marked a woman. The first guy picked me out, that huge one chose you.”

“Oh god.” Taela palmed her face. “I don’t need this.”

“Yeah, well, aliens. At least I’m assuming. I had hoped if I ever got the UFO probe that I would score me some blue-skinned Ice Barbarians.” Sera curled her lip in disgust. “Not for me to be dyed blue.”

Moving her hand up and down her torso while listening to the shorter woman talk, Taela dark hand gained a pin-point purple shine when level with her sternum. “Anyone else?” she asked. “I only saw the big one, I think.”

“He was hard to miss. I mean, damn, seven foot at least.” Sera waved over to the growing subsection of the crowd, those planning an escape from their alien captors before they even knew anything about anything. “One of those over there. One of the black ones, I think, though hard to tell with all the blue.” Then she nodded to a pair against one of the supporting pillars near the edge of the large space they were in, where the curvy woman had stripped off both their shirts and using them to secure the Hispanic woman’s left arm against her body. “And the two of them.”

“Just five?”

“Just five hunks with abs worthy of licking like ice cream came through. One light for each.”

Taela nodded. “I can’t pick out the purple light. You want to go get the firebreather and join me at the sidelines with the med crew?”

“Sure, although I don’t know how much time we have.” Sera turned toward the crowd where one woman screamed about freedom and rights.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, if I was an alien handing out women like candy—”

“You think that is what is happening?”

“Girl, you already indicate you read the same trash as me.” Sera gave her a look over her shoulder, raising both eyebrows. “Tell me a different scenario.”

Taela closed her eyes, straightening up to her full height. “Wish that I could.”

“Right, so what happens next?”

“They gas the newly awoke to separate out the chosen.”

“Righto,” Sera laughed, “It’s like it writes itse…”

The aliens had a different technology than gas, but the results were the same. The women all collapsed instantly.

(Words 785, first published 9/1/2023)

Above the Crowd Series

  1. Above the Crowd – 8/6/2023
  2. First Pick – 8/13/2023

Flash: Above the Crowd

Erin Penn 1 Comment

Image from Unsplash

Davon took a second look at the women on the lower decks. Choose one had been the command, but how to choose? Looks were just appearances, the luck of genetics and the kindness of unkind life. Whomever he chose would be his responsibility for as long as he lived, and while pretty would help, attitude would be key. He couldn’t make out a single voice in the cacophony among the kidnapped. He and his successful warriors would each get one, leaving the other sixty or so to be dumped back into storage for future rewards. Rewards for the four of them as long they survived, rewards for their circus and bread opponents (as Mannon named their ring-work) when their luck finally failed.

If he did not choose, they would kill one of the women randomly, or so their alien trainers had informed them. Davon leaned forward, easing the pain and bruises left from operating the mech frame in zero g. Squinting with his interface eye, he focused on details. Most of the women were crying, having appropriate hysterics from being only recently been released from the storage fluids. He and his men would need ones, at least initially, who recovered quickly, adjusted fast. Soaked clothes clung to the bodies, making it impossible to pick out tailoring, everything tinted by the blue fluids. Styles, wealth, individuality stolen with their futures by their kidnapping from Earth.

Who could stand out in those circumstances?

One woman shoved some others back to get space, dark hair and taller than those around her. Leader or bully?

The three furthest from the storage chamber seemed to be chatting somehow over the noise. Promising, but only if his teammates picked up the other two. They were dryer than the others, likely the first ones rolled out, so their relative calm may not be reflective of their adaptability.

He scanned for other outliers.

A busty woman was holding a much smaller woman whose arm folded against her body strangely.. Maybe crushed in the crowd. Neither appealed to him, but Mannon had mentioned a preference for curves. Davon captured her image in his false eye and sent it to his second. His second in command liked taking care of others, it would be good for him to have someone to take care of him.

Davon’s eyes drifted over the crowd and found one monkey had climbed to the mini-ledges supporting the cargo bay structure, where ropes could hook containers for shipment. Barely a hands-width wide, the ledge raised her out of the crowd.

And closer to the overhead lights.

Which the woman needed … since she was reading a fucking book.

Where did she get that?

Okay, he had to get an answer. He snapped her image and sent it to his supervisor. “This one.”

(words 465, first published 8/19/2023)

Above the Crowd Series

  1. Above the Crowd – 8/6/2023
  2. First Pick – 8/13/2023