On romance novels

[akinu]

Hey, I was reading the womens\' forum history and come up with an interesting argument about romance novels. It is said that the romance novels (good ones) posess key elements that make women hot. I think it is a good place to start for a guy like me. Do you have any suggestions on \"educational\" romance novels and do you think it is THAT much important for a guy to posess the romance novel elements?

[Elana]

Can\'t help you. I have never read one and never plan to. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[nonscents]

Someone could make a fortune writing Elana\'s biography.

[Elana]

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Someone could make a fortune writing Elana\'s biography.

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[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img] That wouldn\'t be a romance novel. That would be porn.

[Sexyredhead]

Aren\'t romance novels basically written porn anyway? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[Elana]

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Aren\'t romance novels basically written porn anyway? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

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[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Whitehall]

Having done a bit of research on the net and visiting a bookstore to validate my findings, I\'d recommend \"I Brake for Bad Boys\" and \"I Love (heart) Bad Boys\", a series of collected novellas. I flipped through these and found them interesting enough and will pickup a copy at the used book store later this week.

Amazon has a reader\'s list of hottest romance novels that you may want to check out:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/listmania/list-browse/-/SV2OPOK04L8Z/qid%3D1050941933/sr%3Dlmlf-10/ref%3Dbr%5Flmlf%5F%5F10/002-0036403-0400059

Another list had Janelle Denison and Nicole Jordan as authors of the sexiest of the year novels. Denison contributed to the \"Bad Boys\" series.

Still, don\'t think that you\'re going to get \"Penthouse Collected Letters\" in these - the female mind doesn\'t work the same as a male\'s.

[Elana]

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the female mind doesn\'t work the same as a male\'s.

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True....mine is much dirtier

[sophie]

I have never read them, except for one called \"Shanna\" that was hot because the hero was really a sexy guy, a supposed criminal no less (we like the bad boys?), and Shanna was an ice princess so of course she fell for him eventually but it took a long time (he had to buck all kinds of obstacles, but of course the ice princess was worth it). It was really kind of mesmerizing, but I couldn\'t read those types of books very much (too repetitious). It\'s the only romance I ever really read, so may not be a good example.

Evidently they are hot sellers though.

[EXIT63]

Most of them are based on my life story! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[Sexyredhead]

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Most of them are based on my life story! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

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Which life is that? The one where you were some rogue knight who marries her by force, makes her fall in love with him, and proves her wrong by saving them all from their enemies? Or the one where you\'re an Indian who saves the stranded white woman and shows her what she\'s been missing while you save her from her past? Or the one where you\'re an a$$hole guy nobody would date, but there\'s something endearing about you that she falls for, and oh by the way, you save the day? Or were you the rich a$$hole british lord who makes her agree to some plan to save her that\'s filled with ulterior motives, but in the end she falls for him anyway and he saves her from her past life?


Did I miss any of the cliche plots, y\'all? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[DaVinciKittie]

Gee, SRH, guess you\'re not a big reader of romance, eh? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] I agree that most of the romance novels out there tend to be cliqued, but there are a few authors who write really good stories along with the hot scenes. Yeah, romance novels *are* sort of soft porn (some more than others!), but from the right authors (Nora Roberts, Elizabeth Lowell- present day only), you can really get involved with the characters and their lives- just like with any other good book. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Elana]

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Gee, SRH, guess you\'re not a big reader of romance, eh?

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It\'s like porn.....why watch it when you can do it yourself? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Sexyredhead]

My grandmother died a few years back, and she left BAGS of romance novels for us to go through. I read the backs of a lot of them to see if there was something I might want to keep. Those plots seemed to be the main pattern, and they don\'t interest me. Yeah, the sex scene may be good, but why bother with all the other reading you have to do when you can pretty much tell how it\'s gonna end?
I can\'t say a whole lot though about people\'s taste in books. Gimme a good fantasy book any day. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[DaVinciKittie]

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Gimme a good fantasy book any day.

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That include Sci-Fi? Have you read Dune (watching the movie doesn\'t count! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]), or Dawn, or Speaker For the Dead? I took a sci-fi lit course in college and I was surprised how much I enjoyed those books (more than just the ones listed, but those were my faves). I\'ve always been a Star Trek and Star Wars fan (ok, please ya\'ll, no making fun) but I\'d never branched out before into other sci-fi. My mother reads fanstasy novels but I can\'t seem to get into those. The first fantasy books I read (aside from Star Wars, which is borderline) were the Lord of the Rings series- LOVED those. Oh, and I really enjoy the Harry Potter books too. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] Read the newest one in two days... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Well, that\'s it for today\'s Reading Rainbow... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Elana]

DVK- Do you and belgareth wear Spock ears and big Harry Potter glasses when you read together?

[Sexyredhead]

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Gimme a good fantasy book any day.

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That include Sci-Fi? Have you read Dune (watching the movie doesn\'t count! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]), or Dawn, or Speaker For the Dead? I took a sci-fi lit course in college and I was surprised how much I enjoyed those books (more than just the ones listed, but those were my faves). I\'ve always been a Star Trek and Star Wars fan (ok, please ya\'ll, no making fun) but I\'d never branched out before into other sci-fi. My mother reads fanstasy novels but I can\'t seem to get into those. The first fantasy books I read (aside from Star Wars, which is borderline) were the Lord of the Rings series- LOVED those. Oh, and I really enjoy the Harry Potter books too. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] Read the newest one in two days... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Well, that\'s it for today\'s Reading Rainbow... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

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Ya know, I haven\'t started the Dune books yet, but I plan to after I finish all the Salvatore books. If you liked Tolkein, read the Forgotten Realms series. You\'ll love. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I love Star Trek, Star Wars, and Harry Potter too. Just broke down this weekend and bought the latest. I keep having to put it down so I can get something done! lol

[DaVinciKittie]

What do you think of the NJO series so far? It\'s almost over, and they don\'t plan to do any more EU books (well, post-movie era at least) after it. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] I just can\'t get into the the prequel era novels as much as the NJO.

I\'ve been wanting to read some of Salvatore\'s non-SW novels. Which ones do you recommend starting with?

[DaVinciKittie]

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ok, please ya\'ll, no making fun

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&lt;sigh&gt; Okay, maybe next time I\'ll be more specific and less PC [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img], and say \"ok, please ELANA, no making fun\". [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

And to answer your question, yes, Bel and I like to spice up our hot nerd sex with a little role-playing here and there. I\'m going to assume you\'ve never actually watched Star Trek- oh the things they can conjure with those Replicators... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img] It\'s amazing, the things the mind can grasp when it\'s not pre-occupied with sex all the time. You might try reading sometime, Elana... you might find you *like* it! &lt;gasp&gt; [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Sexyredhead]

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What do you think of the NJO series so far? It\'s almost over, and they don\'t plan to do any more EU books (well, post-movie era at least) after it. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] I just can\'t get into the the prequel era novels as much as the NJO.

I\'ve been wanting to read some of Salvatore\'s non-SW novels. Which ones do you recommend starting with?

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Believe it or not, I\'ve only read Vector Prime and part of Dark Tide I of the NJO series, so I haven\'t gotten into the prequels yet. I got into some other stuff, then read a bunch of Tolkein\'s stuff again (Silmarillion took FOREVER), then started up on some of Modessitt\'s Recluce series. I got half-way through that, then had a hard time finding any of the rest of the books, so a friend turned me on to the FR series by Salvatore. As for that, the best place to start is at the beginning, with \'The Crystal Shard\' in the Icewind Dale Trilogy.
I skipped the Cleric Quintet. I may be wrong, but it didn\'t seem to have anything to do with Drizzt Do\'Urden, and I\'m too interested in his doings atm to care about getting sidetracked. Unless of course it\'s Harry Potter. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[DaVinciKittie]

Definitely keep going with the NJO. It\'s such an emotional roller coaster, it\'s a little scary sometimes. By the time you get to year 2 you start to feel like you really *are* at war, and unlike the previous SW novels, NONE of the characters are guaranteed to make it out alive. I think it makes them a little more exciting to read since you don\'t have that comfort zone- it\'s a little edgier.

HP Order of the Phoenix rocks. It took me a long time to get into it, and although I didn\'t really care for a couple of scenes, it was nice to finally get answers to some of the more frustrating questions of the series. I hope you\'ve managed to stay away from spoilers- if I hadn\'t read it as soon as it came out I\'m almost positive I\'d have accidentally found out somethings accidentally, and that would have sucked. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Sexyredhead]

I haven\'t watched tv since before the OotP came out, so no spoilers for me. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I\'d rather read than watch tv most of the time anyway. I really liked Goblet of Fire, but after a while it just went on and on and on... What is it they\'re saying about the new book--that is has more words than the first four books combined??? I find that a little hard to believe, looking at GoF, but ya never know. Nothing like a good long story you can keep coming back to though. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I\'ll probably go back to the SW books after I\'m done with Drizzt (FR series).

I\'ve also heard anything by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman is a good read (see DragonLance series).

I tend more toward the fantasy than the scifi, but who can\'t love ST and SW??? Well, except for DS9 and STV--never could really get into those. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[DaVinciKittie]

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I tend more toward the fantasy than the scifi, but who can\'t love ST and SW??? Well, except for DS9 and STV--never could really get into those.

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LOL! That\'s exactly how I feel about them too. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Phoenix has something like 870 pages, so it\'s longer than Goblet (not sure about actual words though). I know one thing for sure though- it is *LONG*. Seemed like it took half the book to get through the first month. I\'m glad it was long, since I read so damn quickly, but it did seem to drag on and on after a while. There weren\'t really any big revelations for me in it- I\'d mostly already figured it all out. After reading Prisoner of Azkaban, and feeling like a fool for not guessing the ending after all the hints that were dropped, I\'ve started really paying attention to JKR\'s writing. It\'s all foreshadowed if you pay attention. On the other hand, I think I\'d have enjoyed the book a lot more if there were actually a few surprises in it for me. Prisoner is still my favorite of the series so far, and I doubt that will change even through the next two. Anyway, I\'ll shut up about HP before I spoil something for you accidentally! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[sophie]

Since this post has turned to what we like to read, who likes Anne Tyler and Amy Tan? Or am I the only one? They are my favorites. Anne Tyler is so real and she writes like a dream, and Amy Tan is so interesting.

[tallmacky]

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And to answer your question, yes, Bel and I like to spice up our hot nerd sex with a little role-playing here and there. I\'m going to assume you\'ve never actually watched Star Trek- oh the things they can conjure with those Replicators... It\'s amazing, the things the mind can grasp when it\'s not pre-occupied with sex all the time. You might try reading sometime, Elana... you might find you *like* it! &lt;gasp&gt;


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The link between reading and intelligence is skimpy at best. In my viewing and high school days I noticed that those who read books like Lord Of the Rings, Star Trek, and so on did not read them to gain super human intelligence or insight on much of anything. As much as the sterotype of the nerd has been used it\'s not about being a \"nerd\" what causes being a nerd is dejection from any social group at all. Every kid I knew or saw who read books like those were those who were looking to escape their world by any means, basically they couldn\'t hang with other kids so it was either read a book or stare at the wall, or they could masturbate in self pity. That is my observation on younger adults who are heavily involved in any sort of activity like that.

As for adults I don\'t know I could only guess. I would much rather watch a Star Trek Episode than read one the age of the book hopefully will soon be up, books are no better than TV and those who read them are in it for the entertainment.

So if I read a book about at this stage nonsense science I will be more intelligent? They explain every plan or step they have in Star Trek to you basically with primitive if even fully true science. As for Lord of the Rings well you know [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img].

Phermones &gt; Pheromone forum &gt; Game of Attraction &gt; Sex

\"You might try reading sometime, Elana...\"

Be careful DVK sometimes you sound a bit \"mean\".

[DaVinciKittie]

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I promise to never again post in the \"women\'s forum\"

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Correct me if I\'m wrong, Tallmacky, but I believe this came from YOU, only a month ago. I wasn\'t trying to be rude to Elana- hence all the smiley faces. It\'s funny how other people post things all the time that are borderline rude (and withOUT smileys) yet I seem to be the only one getting any flack about it. I *AM* a little tired of getting picked on everytime I demonstate any hint of having a brain. I even requested in my post that no one make any quips about SW or ST and \"nerds\". If you\'ll notice, I\'m not the one who keeps bringing it up. I\'m not really sure who you are trying to debate with, in that last post, about reading and nerds and such, b/c *I* do not classify people by their reading material (or television preferences) either. I\'ll also agree that reading IS another form of entertainment, or escape if you will, but it can also broaden your horizons and stimulate your mind. Did you think I was dissin\' on Star Trek? I grew up watching ST:TNG and reruns of the originals- it was a family affair. So go preach somewhere else.

Next time I\'ll be sure to fill up the page with smileys just for you.

[tallmacky]

\"I wasn\'t trying to be rude to Elana- hence all the smiley faces.\"

I don\'t want any smileys from you I can make all of the ones I want. You can still be rude and input smiley\'s hmmm maybe the smiley\'s aid in the ease of a sarcastic \"comment\". No one is over you for showing that you have a \"brain\". I was over you for being rude, and if you say everyone is acting that way towards you, you may/can look inside and make sure that the problem is not just with everyone else but a bit with you. I know I can be a whole list of things and there are defections on everyone\'s side. I stopped posting in the women\'s forum because FTR and me were producing a lot of tension but luckily for me she is gone [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]. Look it was a smiley therefore what I said was perfectly fine.

[DaVinciKittie]

That\'s nice, how you put conditions on promises after they were made- gives you a nice out doesn\'t it?

Look dude, you can insinuate whatever you want about me. I wasn\'t trying to be rude in the first place (excuse me, but that *IS* what the smileys are for) and I am not going to fight with you about this.

[tallmacky]

Look dude, you can insinuate whatever you want about me. I wasn\'t trying to be rude in the first place (excuse me, but that *IS* what the smileys are for) and I am not going to fight with you about this.
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The smiley\'s are used to give the reader a better understanding of your current emotional state. Of course you can find other ways and uses for them, the same with with human emotion. They are not to be used to give a \"condition\" to insult someone and have them not take offense.

Hey my dog died [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Hey my dog died [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Here is what I see you do sometimes.

Hey did your dog die? Oh well [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

I am not even trying to fight, I am not saying you are wrong I am saying just to be careful of people\'s feelings it was something that I noticed (maybe others too?). I can grab a quote if needed. My character has been bashed more than a few times some things I noticed could be my causing and some things I was like well forget that.

The promise thing is not even the issue, here is what happen a woman named FTR used to post here. FTR and I butted heads and created a lot of unneeded tension, we could not get along even if we were millionaires that is just the type of chemisty we had. I told her that I wouldn\'t post in the women\'s forum. She has now decided to take a leave. I made this promise to her but she is gone, she cannot be effected by what is said here at all....contract void [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

I wouldn\'t barge in and bust on intimate posting but it was about star trek and lord of the blings.

You now have the women\'s forum back until you leave that is. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

[seadove]

Jason, didn\'t you learn anything yet?

C\'mon over to the open discussion, humor and appreciation section it\'s far safer and less insulting, and you can elaborate on anything you want there.

Leave this section to the women, sometimes they need their privacy to talk girl stuff you won\'t understand anyway.

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