SBD nothing much to say
I decided I needed to get over my anti-famous best seller sneering. Reverse snobbiness is just silly; I should know that. So I raided the best seller lists at the library and got a Linda Howard and another Nora Roberts. I think I've finally developed a taste for the Nora. Her characters are prickly but worth it. She's still not my favoritest writer in the world, but I get the appeal more and more.
The Linda Howard though. Huh? What? Cover of Night must not be her best. Am I right, Howard fans? There are some good things, I suppose. I like the villagers and the scenery. But I'm too hot and grouchy so I'll whine about it instead.
The romance--what romance? The female lead, who's known and basically ignored the hero for years, only falls for him when he turns all killer-protective. And then that pattern repeats with the secondary romance between another hero macho guy and the woman he's admired for years and years and never said boo too. There is such a thing as this Strong Silent Type going too far into the quiet. Granite faced emotionless .... I guess I'm not a big fan of total silence.
I have no problem with the alpha male thing when there's some actual interactions before or after the crush. But basically she falls in love with the guy, goes from 0-60 in her emotional state because his finger tightened on a rifle trigger. No jokes between them, no tension, no shared moments, nothing. Just that finger on the rifle and his eyes narrowing and, boomm she's blown away. I could see going into full-blown lust at that time (well, I can sort of see it) but there's still nothing much in the book after that other than surviving a siege and he gets to show his superbly trained soldier side. They do the "my man!" and "my woman!" gut response thing. He's definitely cute about her kids and I like the fact that he blushed around her. But still. I don't see the love.
The plot was kinda goofy too. I don't get the point of the siege and it didn't fit the character who arranged it. I wonder if his side-kick, another ruthless killer character, is going to show up in another book. We sure learn a lot about him and his motivations. And at the very end he's wandering off somewhere. I was interested enough in him to see if he could be humanized. But hero material? Good God, never for a romance. Maybe another book.
OOo that reminds me how much I like Lawrence Block's hit man series--Keller's a mook.
The Linda Howard though. Huh? What? Cover of Night must not be her best. Am I right, Howard fans? There are some good things, I suppose. I like the villagers and the scenery. But I'm too hot and grouchy so I'll whine about it instead.
The romance--what romance? The female lead, who's known and basically ignored the hero for years, only falls for him when he turns all killer-protective. And then that pattern repeats with the secondary romance between another hero macho guy and the woman he's admired for years and years and never said boo too. There is such a thing as this Strong Silent Type going too far into the quiet. Granite faced emotionless .... I guess I'm not a big fan of total silence.
I have no problem with the alpha male thing when there's some actual interactions before or after the crush. But basically she falls in love with the guy, goes from 0-60 in her emotional state because his finger tightened on a rifle trigger. No jokes between them, no tension, no shared moments, nothing. Just that finger on the rifle and his eyes narrowing and, boomm she's blown away. I could see going into full-blown lust at that time (well, I can sort of see it) but there's still nothing much in the book after that other than surviving a siege and he gets to show his superbly trained soldier side. They do the "my man!" and "my woman!" gut response thing. He's definitely cute about her kids and I like the fact that he blushed around her. But still. I don't see the love.
The plot was kinda goofy too. I don't get the point of the siege and it didn't fit the character who arranged it. I wonder if his side-kick, another ruthless killer character, is going to show up in another book. We sure learn a lot about him and his motivations. And at the very end he's wandering off somewhere. I was interested enough in him to see if he could be humanized. But hero material? Good God, never for a romance. Maybe another book.
OOo that reminds me how much I like Lawrence Block's hit man series--Keller's a mook.
Oh lord - I don't think you could have made a worse choice for your first Howard if you'd tried! That book is terrible, but everyone writes the occasional terrible book. Try Dream Man or After the Night or Angel Creek if you wanna go historical. I also really loved Death Angel but people are pretty divided on that one. -- willaful
ReplyDeleteJeez, I have a skill. I did the same thing with Sandra Brown. Picked up a GODAWFUL book by her. The next one was way better. Still not my favorite writer ever, ever, but at least I got the point.
ReplyDeleteHoward's decline from romance toward suspense with unconvincing romance and survival guides (srsly, check out her Up Close and Dangerous, which is more wildnerness/camping guide than romance or suspense) began with (IMO) All the Queen's Men and has continued unabated. Lots of readers loved Mr Perfect and Open Season, though, swearing they were funny.
ReplyDelete