tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025201337316610324.post8471722065101074731..comments2023-12-31T20:43:08.499-05:00Comments on THE STILETTO GANG: When Mystery Meets RomanceUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025201337316610324.post-77248491563966979942013-07-27T23:20:33.469-04:002013-07-27T23:20:33.469-04:00I'm so happy to learn Skeet and whazzizname wi...I'm so happy to learn Skeet and whazzizname will be carrying on the resisted-chemistry in book #3. I don't have hard rules about romance in mysteries - as long as the mystery, character development and plotting are primary. A little romance is like just the right herbs and spices in a great dish, they enhance, give a little heat, flavor just right. Mary M-Shttp://www.movingfromtheinsideout.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025201337316610324.post-77211414004677480942013-07-27T14:58:55.270-04:002013-07-27T14:58:55.270-04:00Yes, Reine, I love her books, but there the Clare-...Yes, Reine, I love her books, but there the Clare-Russ relationship has been a part of the story from the first. And they're both involved in the mysteries.<br /><br />In this current WIP, The struggles Skeet is making against this attraction are connected integrally with the mystery involved, but I don't know where this is all going in future books. *sigh*Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025201337316610324.post-20684189222814877002013-07-27T04:41:42.856-04:002013-07-27T04:41:42.856-04:00Linda, you are right that Julia Spencer-Fleming...Linda, you are right that Julia Spencer-Fleming's books have relationship at the heart and are an integral part of the story not separate from the main plot or theme.Maureen Harringtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499876353651763590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025201337316610324.post-15033345380376308442013-07-26T23:27:02.736-04:002013-07-26T23:27:02.736-04:00Well, DebRo,you know Skeet. She's not one to a...Well, DebRo,you know Skeet. She's not one to allow herself to fall head over heels, no matter what her libido is telling her to do. She's going to fight against it with all her might. <br /><br />And I, too, hate romance in mystery that has nothing to do with the plot.<br /><br />Well, this bad boy went to school in Britain and has traveled all over the world. But he seems drawn to danger--and he appears not to have the same scrupulous conscience Skeet has. As you might expect, she finds that a HUGE stumbling block.<br /><br />Unfortunately, I have to be mean to Skeet, in order to stretch her beyond what she thinks she can do and make her grow as a person. So I really can't let her be happy. Sorry!Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025201337316610324.post-16442156971373359922013-07-26T22:10:22.142-04:002013-07-26T22:10:22.142-04:00Oh, no! TMI!!! Don't tell me that! Skeet must ...Oh, no! TMI!!! Don't tell me that! Skeet must keep her head on straight!<br /><br />Okay, seriously? Although romance is certainly part of ordinary life, it irks me when it takes over a mystery or when it's dropped in, as Reine said. I can think of one mystery where it was so ridiculously out of place (and did nothing whatsoever for the plot) that I'm not sure I'll ever again read something by that author. The entire chapter can be removed from future printings and nobody will know the difference.<br /><br />Bad boys? Eww, I'm not sure. Sometimes I wonder about the ones from the neighborhood where I grew up. Did they become respectable husbands and fathers, or did they continue on the paths they were on the last time I heard about them forty or so years ago? At least one of them came to a bad end, and probably more than one. I like Skeet and am sure she can take care of herself, but be good to her; she's already had one bad experience:-) But go ahead and break her heart if she can grow from the experience. No! I did not just say that! She deseves to be happy!Deb Romanonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025201337316610324.post-8045542911495601952013-07-26T20:48:02.520-04:002013-07-26T20:48:02.520-04:00Reine, I know what you mean about drop-in romance/...Reine, I know what you mean about drop-in romance/sex passages. I think I see them more in the thrillers, though I have seen a few drop-in romance passages in cozy mysteries recently. They are a problem. Now, a series like Julia Spencer-Fleming's that has a relationship that's at the heart of the series and involved in the sleuthing, as well, works fine for me.<br /><br />Glad you think Skeet and I are doing okay!Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025201337316610324.post-3981133416231209972013-07-26T19:56:43.224-04:002013-07-26T19:56:43.224-04:00You and Skeet...You and Skeet...Maureen Harringtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499876353651763590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025201337316610324.post-79027113767396834772013-07-26T19:55:04.881-04:002013-07-26T19:55:04.881-04:00Kath said it well regarding the Harlequin romance ...Kath said it well regarding the Harlequin romance mystery masquerade…<br /><br />I don't actively seek out romance novels or mysteries with romance in them. How I react to it when I read it depends on how it fits the story. If it looks like somebody wrote their mystery and then dropped romance/sex passages to add a little something—I absolutely want nothing to do with it. But if it is an active and integrated part of an ongoing story—not a drop in—of a story that I like, then I like it. If it's a book by an author I like despite drop in romance/sex passages, I will put up with it. If it gets too annoying I stop reading that author's books.<br /><br />You Skeet are doing great.<br /><br />Johnny Depp...Maureen Harringtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499876353651763590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025201337316610324.post-86983672778932427292013-07-26T13:51:18.296-04:002013-07-26T13:51:18.296-04:00Sounds very Balanced..Not a Romance Reader..But My...Sounds very Balanced..Not a Romance Reader..But Mysteries..Edgy..Could be a Cozy or Darker...A Smart Bad Boy ..Yes...UF/Para 3 Authors Visit E-Mysteries on Pinterest...Addictive...Can Pin Your Own Books if you want to.. ;)Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01210104927893924978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025201337316610324.post-43518169430022898782013-07-26T13:09:41.679-04:002013-07-26T13:09:41.679-04:00Julie, I, too, have that lamentable weakness for f...Julie, I, too, have that lamentable weakness for fictional-only bad boys. (As you know, I'm married to one of the all-time good guys.) It's that hope of turning them around, I suspect. I also suspect that, in real life, they only turn worse.<br /><br />Actually, that's not really true. I know of a wonderful organization in East LA that works with hardened gangbangers and helps them turn their lives around completely. It has a great success rate, and some of the stories are almost miraculous. But, like my friend Luis J. Rodriguez, former gang member, now award-winning poet, novelist, memoirist and community activist, the guys themselves have to be ready and willing to turn themselves around before all the belief and help can work for them.Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025201337316610324.post-62288591969782553172013-07-26T13:03:42.943-04:002013-07-26T13:03:42.943-04:00Mary, that's the way I hope I handled it--so i...Mary, that's the way I hope I handled it--so it's just another of the real-life obstacles she has to deal with as she tries to solve the mystery. And the bad boy does have potential for good, but who knows if he'll turn that way? It's not the way he's going now. The author is sometimes the last to know. :-)Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025201337316610324.post-45856952973102079972013-07-26T13:00:44.521-04:002013-07-26T13:00:44.521-04:00Kath, I'll admit I'm with you. I don't...Kath, I'll admit I'm with you. I don't mind some romance that's secondary, but when the heroine takes the time she's supposed to be desperately using to disarm the bomb or save the next victim to make out with her love interest, that book hits the wall. I find it too unbelievable.Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025201337316610324.post-89017323018841392562013-07-26T12:55:43.814-04:002013-07-26T12:55:43.814-04:00I'll admit to liking a little well-done romanc...I'll admit to liking a little well-done romance once in awhile, and I'm a sucker for bad boys (only in fiction--really!). Julie Tollefsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01579825918764925361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025201337316610324.post-52985737257399779422013-07-26T12:21:54.107-04:002013-07-26T12:21:54.107-04:00It's actually true to life when other aspects ...It's actually true to life when other aspects slip into your straightforward mystery plot . . . she's human, after all, and if the bad boy has potential for good . . . all the better! <br />I think you struck a good balance ;-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025201337316610324.post-45446583267232566662013-07-26T11:50:29.902-04:002013-07-26T11:50:29.902-04:00I don't mine some romance when it's second...I don't mine some romance when it's secondary to the mystery. But lately there have been a whole lot of harliquin romances claiming to be cozy mysteries and it irks me to no end. If I wanted romance I'd read romance genre.Kathnoreply@blogger.com