Romance Genre Favorites to Read and Write #MFRWauthor #Bloghop

Hi!

Welcome to Week 17 of the MFRW Author Blog's 52-Week Blog Challenge.

This week's topic of discussion is: Favorite Romance Genre to Read or Write

To Read

I love to read a variety of Romance novel genres as long as they are entertaining, thoughtful, and have a REAL romance to the story.

I enjoy the escapism involved with paranormal and fantasy, and I like the world-building aspect of Science Fiction romance.

But, my very favorite sub-genre of Romance is Historical, though I can't quite commit to one historical time period over another.

I lean towards Regency, but Victorian, Highlander, and Medieval romance are great as well if the above-mentioned aspects are there, that is.

If the historical content is there and written in a way that educates/informs, and if the plot isn't in a saturated context (reads like a hundred other such novels), and if there actually IS a romance involved, then I am going to enjoy every second of that read.

Sadly, this is also a genre of Romance that has been dumbed down, making it harder for me to enjoy now.

Ridiculous, modern dialogue, 21st century mentality infused into the leads, and too much personal opinion being injected into the story by the author as a way to let the reader know she doesn't abide by ANY of what was done, thought, spoken, or occurred back in the day.

"Then why did you choose this sub genre? Why don't you stick to Contemporary and all's well?"

I would never presume to believe that 'all' women back then were mere cattle who swayed on the gentlest breeze, with no mind, no character, and no backbone.

However, and despite their having been women who wanted something more, something tangible to grasp hold of even back in Medieval times, I will not go along with their having behaved, thought, or spoken the way a 21st Century woman would today.

The key to writing a successful Historical romance, to my mind, is to create a believable heroine living in a vastly different world who, yes, has higher hopes for her own future than she's usually dealt...

but with finesse.

With maturity, aplomb, and grace.

Otherwise, she reads like a shrew, a bitch, and a spoiled, willful child.

So, while I still enjoy this sub genre far more than the others, it is sadly becoming more difficult to do because of what I just mentioned.

To be honest, I don't like reading hard-ass heroine in any sub-genre of Romance, be it Paranormal, Shifter, Sci-Fi, or Contemporary.

(Just please keep your ultra left-wing political viewpoints to yourself... Please?!)

It's okay to be stubborn or adamant at times, capable and educated, gutsy and daring, as long as the point behind each occurrence is rational.

It isn't okay for them to be stupid or unrelenting about it... which just makes the heroine seem selfish and undesirable.

I adore alpha males who think, speak, and act the part for their time period -- not have them be emasculated, feminized, or worse, eunuch, in order to soothe the butt-hurt generation.

The real romance occurs when the determined female who can think for herself, take care of herself (for the most part), and who knows what she wants, transform said Alpha into the man he is destined to become... which is IN LOVE.

He's a bad-ass trained to be self-serving, domineering, and protective, until he stumbles upon The One, and then it becomes inevitable that if he's to get what he wants, he needs to change.

It's romantic but just doesn't exist in Historical romance anymore.

Too many Historical romance are written to have the H/h meet, greet, fall instantly in love, have sex within 24 hours, and then go on some ridiculous romp to fill chapters until the I Do occurs.

Again, I suggest these authors stay away from Historicals and write Contemporary instead.

To Write

I stick to Contemporary Romance and Fantasy when I write my Romance novels because, while I feel as if I am learning even more than I had decades ago, when researching history was a passion, I still don't believe I'm educated enough to write Historical romance.

I believe the day will come, though.

Just not now.

So, I stick to Contemporary, and on the Sweet side, though no one can say they are Christian or Wholesome, believe me.

There are rare instances of cussing when someone is upset, and a lot of romantic build-up in the pursuit of sexual pleasure, but I can't bring myself to go full-tilt with my bedroom scenes, so they are left to the reader's imagination.

Foreplay is simple, but the act itself... nope.

My real goal when writing CR is to achieve the True Romance aspect of the genre.

I don't feel as if I've hit the mark, but I do continue to try to write real romance that takes its time building to a meaningful relationship, with dilemmas, gaffs, and monkey wrenches tossed in along the way.

Hopefully, for reader enjoyment -- but I don't know if I hit the mark in that regard, either!

I just like the idea of creating two people who are destined to be together, and showing the reader what it took to get them from point A to point B.

And, I also enjoy READING those types of CR novels as well.

As always, I thank you for stopping by to read my post!

Please scroll down to the LinkyLink tool and click on the next in line to find out Their Favorite Romance Genre they Like to Read or Write.

Blogging is an opportunity for authors to connect with readers. Despite being writers, blogging is an entirely different style of writing and often stumps us. To help our authors blog consistently, thoughtfully and with purpose, Marketing for Romance Writers is announcing the 2018 Blog Challenge. Each week, authors use our writing prompt to create a meaningful blog post. We'll be posting every Friday... join us as often as possible.

All authors with blogs are welcome to participate.