Bookish Thoughts: 3rd Act Breakup

I read a lot of romance, and something that comes up often in the genre is the 3rd Act Breakup. It’s generally right at the 75% mark, that last push , the last obstacle, a bit of a hurdle to overcome before the Happily Ever After can be earned.

Too often, we (the reader) get the miscommunication  trope. The one where if someone had picked up the phone, it would all be resolved. Well, in Tessa Bailey’s Secretly Yours, the heroine does, in fact, pick up the phone. He just doesn’t answer. Why? Because of a monster of a panic attack, one the lasts weeks. But it is something the reader is prepared for because it has happened to him before. It’s part of his OCD, part of what makes him.. well, him. Just like her chaos makes her, her.  (Loved this book, how Hallie was working through both grief and self doubt. Came close to bawling a few times. Gave it 4 stars)

Then we have Mariana Zapata’s The Winnipeg Wall and Me, which I don’t think has a third act breakup. Vanessa knows she loves Aiden, and while married (convenience) they aren’t quite there yet. It has lots of tension and spunk and fights, but no breakup towards the end. Zapata makes us work for our HEA, but she does not dangler in front of our eyes and then snatch it back away from us. They are apart only because has to leave the state for training, and she’s got a marathon to run. (This book made me stay up til 1am, had me bawling and was not the book I was expecting. 5 stars all the way)

I love when books surprise me, and these two certainly did that. It wasn’t just about the 3rd Act Breakup, or lack thereof. It also had to do with the way the character’s mental health, past trauma and all, were handled through the stories. The fact that these felt like real people, with real wounds.. well, that’s what had me grabbing my Kleenex.

So, my lovelies, what have you been reading?

Tension in Writing

I was reading a “Sweet” romance, which I enjoy as a whole. I like the gamut of the romance genre, but I cut my reading teeth on sweet romances as a young one.

I recently read one where the heroine and hero were alright, but there wasn’t that tension. The electricity a reader feels when they catch each other’s gaze from across the room. The story itself, and the writing was ok, it kept me reading through out the 250ish pages…

Which is short for a historical romance. Or maybe I’m just used to reading mammoth books. But if the reader is feeling the lack of chemistry, maybe it should have been lengthened.

At one point, the reader is told the heroine’s stomache fluttered at the sight of the hero. That was it. All the tension in that should have been dripping in that scene, the longing…. And all the reader received was being told about a flutter.

I used to be a less is more kind of writer. I know that description is one of my weaknesses. Being honest, I was being a lazy writer. Still am, but I’m getting better at making passes on my work as I go, adding details. Glances. A shiver down the spine. Or a golden candlestick on a mantle handed down by generations.

It’s interesting reading as both a reader and a writer. I’m learning a lot, and also enjoying myself quite a lot.

Ta, my lovelies. I’m off to find my next book.

Or maybe I should pick up the pen and write a bit in one of the two I have going on right now.

Bookish Thoughts:You Lucky Dog

Stay with me on this one, I promise even if you don’t read romance, it goes beyond the genre.

You Lucky Dog by Julia London is, according to the back cover, a Contemporary Romance. It is a romance (there is DEFINATELY a HEA at the end) and it is contemporary…. But it’s not a Rom-Com per se (there are funny bits) and the spice level is mild.

I liked the book, a lot. Finished in the way I do books I enjoy. The above is just to get it out of the way, because I want to talk about something else. I need to talk about this book. So obviously I loved it LOL

This book sucked me in and kept me turning pages. And it felt like I was reading a different sort of book. One like… A Man Called Ove, or the Hendrick series. So why was I feeling that with a romance?

In A Man Called Ove, the titular character tries to off himself a few times and keeps suffering mishaps that thankfully ruin his plans. But it sucks you in because you want to know what on earth can possibly happen next.

The Hendrick book that I started with, well Hendrick and his best friend accidentally kidnap a baby. And again, I was pulled through wanting to know what could happen next.

And this story was the same. It pulled me through with what on earth could possibly be going wrong for the heroine, and the couple, next. Because they clearly belong together — they even have matching doggies that are so heart-warming and smoochable.

So while there is romance, and tingly feelings, this falls hard on the fade to black side of romance.

And quite frankly, is just a really good book romance or otherwise.

Ta for now, my lovelies. Hope you’re having a great reading day!

Pacing & HEA in Romance

I recently read a “Rom-Com” that clocked in at almost 600 pages. It was pretty good— I blazed through the first half, then got to what I thought was the HEA… But I still had hundreds of pages to go through.

I’m not going to name names or give titles. But there were at least 3 points where the HEA could have been achieved and the reader be completely satisfied. Meanwhile, the actual ending… Left a lot to be desired. Definitely NOT a situation I want to ever be in with a SO. Nope. Not even a little.

Does everything need to be tied up with a big red bow? Not really. But what I was given at the end of this book was 2 characters sicker than dogs and about to go (albeit temporarily) long distance. In a romance.

Now, if your readers have stuck with you for that many pages… I don’t know. Maybe give the a firework ending. Or give us the epilogue where they are reunited.

Because this hot mess that we were given? Whelp. Any of those other premature HEA endings would have been better.

As a writer I am taking from this to make DANG SURE that the payoff is worth the slog.

How’s you’re reading going?

Bookish Thoughts: Meet me in Paradise

Meet Me in Paradise by Libby Hubscher is one of two romatical books I’ve read lately that had something in common ( more on that later).

This book, first of all, has both romance and comedy. Falling in the chute to the plane and getting a goose egg? Check! I may have snorted quite a few time while reading this book.

Marin is our hapless heroine in this story. Marin plays it safe, never going on adventures nor even leaving her home state of Tennessee. Entrusted with her little sisters care after a tragedy while they were young, Marin takes to heart that adventures are dangerous and not worth the risk.

And then thing happen. And it is a fun read, and sexy! But there is a tremor of emotion just under the surface, something that will change Marin’s life. Just like life, this book has beauty and sorrow in it and how that characters deal with it is where I have fallen in love.

Both books had a heroine walk away from the romantic interest. Not because of a huge fight. But because sometimes in life the choices you have suck. What I love and adore, is these books have the heroine figuring it out. Coping with grief and trauma on their own, starting the healing process AND THEN bringing the guy in at the end. In terms of the story, that break was short even tho chronologically it was a while.

In the beginning, Lucas (our handsome hero) fixes almost everything for Marin. He gets her to the island. He gets her to go on adventures. Then helps her through the roughest point. But healing after that? Learning who you are and what your capable of? Proving to yourself who you are with no one else’s lense?

That is priceless.

I dislike the narrative that women need a man to be complete. This book doesn’t use it. Not even a hint. The relationship is meaningful because she can do it on her own. Lucas is the adventure she chooses.

Review: Scrapped by Mollie Cox Bryan & Suprising Lord Jack by Sally MacKenzie

The two books that I’m blogging about tonight are on the surface completely different. One is a modern day cozy mystery, the other a historical romance. And yet here we are. I always said I was a little ecclectic, so now is when we put it to the test.

Please note: Both books were provided as ARCs from Kensington Books. Both are the second books in a series, but you don’t need to read the first books to get into them.

I was excited about Scrapped by Mollie Cox Bryan, I really enjoyed the first book, Scrapbook of Secrets. This one… I enjoyed the novel, but I’m not sure about where the author is taking a few of the characters. By the end of the book, Annie seems to be headed for some no-no action with Detective Bryant, and Vera is embroiled in a no strings relationship that quite frankly, I just don’t get. They’re still great friends, the mystery moves right along… But I’m not sure I’m going to follow on the next book. The friendships in the novel are still solid, Annie’s involvement in the mystery is a little more believable… overall, it was a good book. My trepidation is a personal thing.

Surprising Lord Jack is the historical romance, and it has all of the conventions that you would expect. But what you don’t really expect is for the heroine, Frances, to be quite as headstrong and as determined as she is. I liked her fire, her spunk. Even though she is perfect for Lord Jack, and you’re rooting for the two of them… You almost wish that they had been in a time/place when she wouldn’t have to marry to save her reputation. However, this one was exactly the way I like them: fast, funny with a strong heroine who isn’t afraid to voice her opinion. It is the perfect building block from the previous novel… but I think I actually like this one a bit more 🙂

So, two stand alone sequels to two very different novels. As readers, I want you all to go out and buy more books. But as a writer, I have to ask…Why is one so much more successful than the other? It’s not genre: even though they are in different genres, both are pretty much what I call bubblegum. Great to read, enjoy, breeze through an afternoon.

I think the main thing is that one (Surprising Lord Jack), takes on 2 different characters, with other characters making a reappearance. The other one (Scrapped) revolves around a group of friends, and the focus has remained on the same characters. This makes it harder for an author, because you not only have to bring your loyal readers along with you— you need to make sure that the characters have some kind of growth and change.

You just have to be careful to keep your readers with the characters as they do it.

For me… I think as a writer I prefer the first way. I’ve tried writing a sequel to one of my (unpublished) novels, and while I love the character… I think I’d have to just forget that I had ever written that first novel. Use it as back story. How about you?

If you have written a series— how do you handle it? If you’re a reader– which way do you prefer? All the same characters with a few new ones thrown in? Or new main characters, with your favorites from stories past making appearances?