I originally posted this on January 23, 2012 on my new blog. But I have too many emails, so I'm just going to start posting here again. Anyway, here's the blog.
First blog! Here we go.
I love reading. I love it. There's no doubt about
it. I could read all day, every day. My favorite (and pretty much only genre) is
romance. I love seeing that at the end of a novel, the guy gets the girl/the
girl gets the guy. I do have a problem with the actual books. I do. It's
horrible, I know. My problem? The guys.
Why?
Because, they're just
too perfect. No matter how realistic authors make them, you can't find someone
like that. I'll throw some examples in here, just so you see where I'm coming
from.
Candace Havens: All of her men are perfect. Not perfect in the sense
that they don't have flaws, because they do. A lot of flaws. When I say perfect,
I mean that she makes them my ideal type. Yes, a guy in a book is my type. Sigh.
Anyway, that makes it hard for me, as an actual person, to get a boyfriend.
Again, why? Because my standards are too high. Where in the world am I going to
find someone like her character Will Hughes? A captain in United States
Marines-- gone model. Yum.
The answer? I can't find him anywhere. He's yummy,
perfect, and he doesn't exist. I'm not saying he's perfect because he's in the
Marines or even because he's delicious. I'm just saying his personality, which
would take too long to explain, is just perfect. Don't get me wrong,
deliciousness and in the military is a huge bonus. Yes, I said huge. In simple
terms, he hot (a given), he can take orders, not conceited, he's kind, caring,
gets his job done, but doesn't let people walk all over him. It's perfect... but
too high of standard for real guys. Note: If you're a guy who's this perfect: I need to meet
you. Prove me wrong. I'm begging you.
Another person- Sherrilyn Kenyon.
I admit
her Dark-Hunters aren't really realistic. I mean, they're dead. But again,
they're personalities are so realistic. They lose their temper, just like every
other human being, but they own up to it. They have their flaws, like a real
person does, but they (and their significant other) fight through it,
together.
Guys in the real world, don't do that. No guy I've met anyway. They
keep it all bottled up, telling girls (or guys) that it's none of their business
and they can handle it by themselves. Personally, that irritates
me.
Girls (and guys) do realize that there are things that they can't
understand, and there are horror stories that people aren't comfortable sharing.
I'll use the military and active duty as an example. They go over there, they
kill people. Some people can deserve it, and others are casualties. That's just
like SK's "League" series. It's like our military (maybe like isn't the right
word, but it's the only one I have at the moment) but... otherworldly. The guys
in the books, and even the girls, keep their feelings and pasts to themselves,
but in the end, they open to each other and become a better person. No need to
suffer alone and all that jazz.
Of course it takes a strong person to bare
that weight with that other person, but I think everyone has that strength in
them, but they just need to find it.
Don't go dishing your dirt to the
first person who will listen. Obviously there needs to be some bond there, but
don't keep them at arms length all the time.
Historical
Romance:
Alexandra Hawkins, Kinley MacGregor (Sherrilyn Kenyon) and
others:
Here's the fun part.
They can literally be knights in shining
armor. Way back when, when there were assassins, kings, noblemen and all that...
everyone had a past. Some nobody really cared about and others... they were so
mysterious people couldn't help but wonder. I certainly wondered as I read the
novels. They had bad boys back then too, but not to the extent of which people
are today, which can be a real turn off.. People nowadays try to hard, but
that's my opinion. The relevance with historical novels? I like them. That's the
relevance. Aside from that, you have a modern woman writing historical romance.
There has to be some generation/cultural ties in there somewhere.
Back to
standards of "real" guys and a novel's main guy...
In one of Candy's (Candace
Havens) series, she has a character who can see dead people. This is, I think,
realistic. I do believe people can see things that others can't... and it
doesn't make them crazy. There are things out there that can't be explained. The
character, of course, was a girl... and the guy she ended up with was totally
cool with her ability,maybe not at first, but my point is that he didn't abandon
her, something that is getting less common now. One sign of trouble and either
the guy or girl can hit the road. People just don't try anymore... Anyhoo, He
was mellow, of course not all the time, but I couldn't pick out many flaws with
his character that I haven't mentioned before, which I'm cool with
that.
I've never seen/ read about a main character that is so conceited
that I can't stand them. Watch, now I'm going to read something and I'm going to
hate the main character. He's gonna be a complete... well, you know what I
mean.
Oh! And real guys that are super bossy. Not attractive. I was
bossed around by my parents, I don't need another one once I'm out of the house.
Make decisions with me, not for me. I've never seen a character be completely
bossy because he can be. It's always for the greater good of something... and
not his ego.
These were all "adult" romance.
Now for a quick little
trip to teen world.
They're all kind of the same, but not
really.
Rosemary! If you haven't read it, her Maggie Quinn vs Evil books
are genius. Read them.
Anyway, her main male character, Justin, is a very
calm, down to Earth guy - except he believes in the supernatural. Which is fine,
because some guys do. He does what he can to help Maggie. He tries to keep her
safe without being overbearing. He does have a blowup moment... it's not big,
but it shows he's human. I definitely don't know any guy who can hold his temper
like that. Not to say they don't exist, because I'm sure they do.
Obviously,
guys need to show emotion and not be this dead thing who doesn't react to
anything, but guys do have real PMS moments, and that's not cool. Girls do, but
I think we have a little more reason than guys do. Of course, guys do have the
right to be mad at things, I'm not saying that they don't.
Anyway, I'm kind
of running off topic.
With all of my examples, I think I've made my point
pretty clear.
Guys in novels are perfect, with their personalities, their
looks, the way the react to things... it's realistic, but it's not like any guy
I know... which sucks.
It's like... they're humble. Don't get me wrong, real
guys can be humble, I'm not saying they can't.
I just think that fictional
characters that could be real somewhere in the world, make me have too high of
standards/expectations when it comes to guys.
I know I've been saying
this as if girls don't have flaws themselves, which they do. Just like guys,
they have a lot of them. This is about how I feel and how it mixes in with my
personality. I can't write for every girl out there because, honestly, that
would take weeks... and some girls (no offense) are just ridiculous when it
comes to what they want from guys. They're totally over the top.
I've
repeated myself and kind of gone off topic at some points, but I feel I've
gotten my point across for everyone with my gazillion examples.
So tell
me what you think.
Do you agree?
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