Comments on: Keeping It Real

By: freaky fast fat loss

freaky fast fat loss — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:28:21 +0000

freaky fast fat loss…

[...]Keeping It Real « All About Romance’s News & Commentary Blog[...]…

By: metabolic syndrome diet

metabolic syndrome diet — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 22:51:54 +0000

metabolic syndrome diet…

[...]Keeping It Real « All About Romance’s News & Commentary Blog[...]…

By: Nana

Nana — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 01:44:51 +0000

I don’t see a huge difference between a story which transports you to another setting which you have never been to and a story which transports you to a setting which you have been to. Setting is important to me regardless of the level of “realism.” A meticulous historical, a thoroughly-plotted fantasy, and a detailed contemporary all please me for the same reason: they take me somewhere besides the sofa.

By: xina

xina — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:27:31 +0000

I like to sink into a contemporary that seems realistic. Not always, mind you..but I need it from time to time. They are hard to find in the romance genre. So many contemporaries seem ridiculous, and not that historicals don’t but I am less liking to wonder where the author thought up some of the scenarios. I agree with Dick in that I prefer historicals…mostly, at least in the romance genre.
Beautiful Disaster…my 23yr. old daughter loved that book. She likes them gritty. I’m anxious to read it myself.

By: Wendy - AAR

Wendy - AAR — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 18:18:29 +0000

JFTEE-Auburn: Before this morning I would have said that the historical romance without a doubt. But faced with my inability to make a decisive response, I must conclude that the time period fades to shadow and the answer must be memorable characters that have staying power and original and inventive stories; not categories, places, and times.

My thoughts exactly!

By: dick

dick — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:59:15 +0000

I’m far more likely to think “C’mon, get real,” when reading a contemporary romance; the fantasy elements simply don’t work as well. I’m less likely to get that reaction when reading a historical, which is why I prefer them regardless.

By: JFTEE-Auburn

JFTEE-Auburn — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:48:53 +0000

This is probably my third attempt to make a comment here. My first response is that I want to read the deep emotional epic where I laugh and cry and feel like I’ve been through an experience, for example, Kinsale’s The Flowers from the Storm or Gabaldon’s Outlander. Then I erased that and thought of the wonderful and funny stories like Phillips’s Match Me If You Can and how good and light I feel after I’ve finished this type of story. Funny and reflective all at once. Then I erased that and thought of McNaught’s Kingdom of Dreams and the enchanting medieval period. I erased that and …

Before this morning I would have said that the historical romance without a doubt. But faced with my inability to make a decisive response, I must conclude that the time period fades to shadow and the answer must be memorable characters that have staying power and original and inventive stories; not categories, places, and times.

Thanks for posing the question.

By: Carrie

Carrie — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:01:32 +0000

Sometimes books are too good at convincing the reader of the “real” emotions. I could never accept an HEA in a book like Beautiful Disaster. There is nothing beautiful about abuse. I like believable emotions, but when an author convinces me a character is beyond redemption, and then tries to turn the character around in a few pages, I want to throw the book at the wall. If you want realism for most of the book, you have to endure the realism for the ending, and HEA’s rarely if ever happen in abusive relationships. I avboid books with “realistic” portrayals of abuse, unless the abusee gets justice in the end.

I do enjoy realism in other areas, such as PTSD and other emotional issues where healing and turn-around is more believable. For the most part, though, I have enough drama in my life and I read for escape. Books can be emotional, but they need to leave me feeling content, not emotionally wiped out.

By: Leigh

Leigh — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:11:07 +0000

Yes, I like books that make me laugh and my favorites reflect that. While I am impressed with books that challenge my beliefs or have the ability to transport me back in time it is uncomfortable – making me feel like my skin doesn’t fit my body. While I believe that I need to read these type of books every once in a while my core diet is humorous books and those are the books I read over and over.

By: Maggie AAR

Maggie AAR — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:40:56 +0000

Pat said:All three of these books immediately went on my personal DIK list for the impact they made on me

That is what I look for in a DIK. Some of them impact me through their originality, others through emotional response but I have a strong response to the book and that is what makes it a DIK.

I don’t have a favorite kind of romance (although I have certain unfavorites such as small town love stories, avon historicals). I just want a good story well told. I think many of our detractors believe that the romance genre doesn’t have such books. I completely disagree.