Lords and Lairds and Kings, Oh My!

When I was 13 years old I think, well 13 or 14, My mother gave me a book.  Now there wasn’t a special occasion or anything like that it was more like, read this and get out of my hair.  This book was called “The Bride and the Bodyguard” and it was a Harlequin.  It was my first romance novel. You might think it odd ( or you might not) that my mother was giving me a romance novel to read at that age.  Let explain a little further.  I’ve been an avid reader since I can remember. When I was 7 my mother decided to take on a second part time job for the Christmas season, working Thursday and Friday nights at a local fabric store.  I was used to having my mom at home in the evenings and the idea freaked me out.  So in order to placate me she bought a box set of Babysitter Club Books and left one under my pillow a la the Tooth Fairy.  I came home that Thursday and found Kristy’s great idea  under my pillow with a note.  I found that some how this “book fairy” always knew when I had finished a book and that next thrusday I would have a new BSC book. I began to anticipate Thursday nights, (Friday’s were reserved for X-files with my step-dad) and eventually when I was finishing the books by Saturday, my mom just ended up giving me a new book whenever I told her I was finished.  By the fourth grade I was reading adult novels like Mary Higgins Clark and Tami Hoag.  I graduated into James Patterson and John Grisom  and the like by age 12. Polishing off Gone with the Wind by age 13. I’ve come a long way since then, read a lot of novels and met a lot of characters.  So back to “The Bride and the Bodyguard.” The hero of that story’s name was Jeff.  He was a smart-ass lawyer/former PI who couldn’t go to the bathroom without planning it in advance.  I remember almost every detail of that book and I still have it in my library.  But he wasn’t my first RN boyfriend. I came across an article asking about the first Romance Novel boyfriend readers had and it made me think.  Sure, I liked Jeff, but like the guy who asks you to the 6th grade dance, he wasn’t THE ONE. THE ONE was Captain Brandon Birmingham of Kathleen Woodiwiss’ The Flame and the Flower followed very closely by Laird Alec Kincaid of Julie Garwood’s The Bride. They were the first of all the romance novel men I would fall in love with.  Now granted, fictional characters etc etc. But still.  What romantic girl doesn’t love a fairy tale?  If I can’t love the hero, I find the story lacking.  Now, in the years since Brandon and Alec I have met hundreds of Lords, Lairds, Earls, Dukes, Princes, Kings, Captains, Vikings, Soldiers, explorers, professors, and even a few Actors (Thank you Lisa Kleypas for Logan Scott, Thank you!).  Some you love more than others, but you never really forget your first one.  And I tend to get a little protective of them also... In another article I read (written by a psychologist trying to prove that romance novels unbalance the female population), used an excerpt from the Flame and the Flower.  Now, it was not a pretty excerpt and read out of context its a little strong.  Had I read that excerpt with no explanation, no context and no understanding of what was happening in the story...I probably would have been concerned, not to mention turned off by the idea.  Without the context it pretty much sounds like rape.  Now, I am NOT purporting rape as a good thing in anyway shape or form, in fact I think rapists should all be neutered, chemically or physically; However in context of this story, with all the factors and after reading the entire novel, this scene does not come off to me as rape.  It comes off to me as a very naive girl in over her head in something she doesn't understand with a guy who doesn't have all the facts.  Moving on.  I was appalled that my Brandon was being misconstrued by someone who clearly did not read the novel.  Granted everyone is allowed an opinion, but really?  I couldn't get over that someone was actually presenting this as evidence in a supposed scientific study.   Maybe I'm just to unbalanced to see it. To me Brandon is a hero and always will be.  I try to keep these men in mind as I write my hero for the novel I'm working on.  After all, a good leading man just gets better as you age.  Who was your first romance novel boyfriend?  Why did you fall in love with him? Are you still in love with him?

GWTW debate, part 1

I read an article on Heroes and hearts Twitter.  It was an article that in my opinion lambasted Gone With the Wind and said that Scarlett was a dipshit and the original "Mean Girl."

Well that got my panties in a twist. 

The author ignored the facts that it was Scarlett who pulled her family through and provided for them in a time where females fainted if they saw a man without a tie and jacket.  I respect the author's opinion because hey, at least she has one.  the comments that followed all basicall threw Scarlett under the bus and continued to ignore the good side of Scarlett.  Here was my response:


I read GWTW when I was in middle school and its been my favorite book since. Scarlett is by no means perfect and for that matter neither is Rhett. Perhaps the real conflict with the whole greatest romantic story of all time is the fact that is is more realistic in its outcomes than anything else. Sometimes you don't always win. Scarlett was willing to break every rule she had been taught in order to survive. If that made her a bitch then so be it. Melanie, was the same way only here's the kicker: she had everything she wanted. She had a supporting family, the love of her husband and friends and society. Scarlett never had that. She was hated by nearly everyone she ever met and lusted after because she was different from the eyelash batting fools that were considered proper. Who got them food at Tara? Scarlett. Who sacrificed her freedom/happiness to make sure her family had a home to live in? Scarlett. Without Scarlett being the "Mean girl" and forcing her genteel spoiled friends and family to actually work they would have starved. Sure they could have left Tara for Atlanta, but what would they have done for food and money? Could they have even survived the aftermath? Scarlett is a realist. No one likes the girl that calls it like it is and does what she has to do to survive. Except Rhett Butler.

And who doesn't want a filthy rich, passionate smart ass to be in love with you?

It is my opinion that the only real reason that Scarlett had for pursuing Ashley Wilkes was the fact that no one would have ever questioned her again. He was the respresentation of everything she wanted her life to be. Everything she had been trained to want and to be her whole life. Had war not happened, Scarlett would have been a society matron, which is everything she was "supposed" to be. She would have raised her kids and had a properly dull life. But war did happen and war changes people. A great quote from the book is "Pride tastes real good for breakfast." Scarlett had pride enough to take care of her own. She could have left Melanie to die in Atlanta. She could have let the tax collectors take Tara. She chose not too. She chose to fight for what was hers. Sure she could have handled things a little better later in life but hindsight is 20/20. She knows she's done wrong, she knows she screwed up. But she didn't just lie there and take it. The woman is a fighter, kinda like Rocky but in a hoop-skirt. She didnt just lie there on the staircase and cry herself to death. No. In a most optimistic, determined way, she sat up dusted herself off and went to face the day with a new spirit to win back all that she had lost. Even when by that point, she literally had almost nothing left. She never questioned herself or her ability to do so.

That is why I love GWTW and Scarlett O'Hara.