Hello, beeeeetches. It is I, Ai! Grabe… your new fabulous reviewer, with my fabulous debut review of the only book I’ve been able to finish for the past few months. You see, I’ve been having this terrible problem. I love to read. I’ve been reading since I was… I don’t know, a fetus… and the FSM knows if I were the only WOMYN left alive on the planet full of those nasty vampire creatures from I Am Legend, I would totes be okay if I had in my possession every book I have ever wanted to read. True. Story. Speaking of stories, stop me before I tell you mine, lest I go back to, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” ON WITH THE REVIEW, AI! (FSM, I babble more than Bam tends to do) [Bam: Oh no you di’int, beeeyatch!] Where was I? Oh, yeah… Kresley Cole’s Dark Needs at a Night’s Edge was the ONE book that was able to pull me out of my reading funk. I received it in the mail, tore it open, sat down to read, and three hours later, Fini! It was great. And for that, it gets an A. Oh, and also, because it’s pretty great.

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By Jenna Petersen

Before an aspiring author is published, one of the things they can do to get feedback and also get their work in front of an editor is to enter contests, which are held by local Romance Writers of America chapters across the country. To enter, the writer sends some amount of money (these are also fundraisers for chapters), three to five copies of the first few chapters of their manuscript and then they wait. Other authors normally judge the preliminary rounds and then finalists are announced. These finalists have their manuscripts sent to romance editors or literary agents, who then rank the winners and occasionally ask to see more of the manuscript.

As you can imagine, these contests, especially ones with prestige, are very popular.

Before I was published, I entered three. I wrote over 10 manuscripts, for 4 years and I entered three. Why? I was never that into the contests, I always worried about too many cooks in my creative kitchen and those things can get expensive. I sold via a query letter that landed me an agent who then sold my work to a publisher. In other words, the old fashioned way.

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Lorelie Brown is a frequent commenter here at It’s Not Chick Porn and a good friend to our blog. In fact, you might remember her from her awesome entries into those writing contests I used to throw (and I will again, I promise, once I find the time… and the dough). When I asked her if she could oblige us with a novella and she gave me this one, I squee’d. So fun. So sexy.

If you haven’t already, please read chapters one two, three, four, five, and six.

Two years ago, Corrine McQuade was desperate to escape her father’s house. In a perfect world, she would have run to Adam Springton, handsome owner of the Gilded Angel saloon and the man she’d daydreamed about for years. Believing he saw her as only his sister’s best friend, Corrine struck out on her own, finding employment and creating the best life she could. Suddenly Adam is paying attention to her – the kind of attention that makes her skin tingle and heat and she’s tempted by a new chance at love.

But who ever heard of a happy ending for a whore?

Presenting the seventh chapter of Lorelie Brown’s Tarnished Angel…

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There are two very interesting discussions about romance heroines on my two favorite blogs today. On Karen Scott’s:

One thing I’ve noticed is that whenever there’s a question of distance between the hero and heroine, it’s always the gal who has to give up her apartment, and her job. What annoys me is that it usually turns out that the heroine wasn’t happy being an accountant/lawyer/doctor in the first place, and was just waiting for the right man to come along to rescue her from the drudgery of putting bad guys in jail, being able to afford Manolo Blahniks and healing the sick.

And Dear Author’s:

[Kresley] Cole takes very traditional tropes [i.e., the damsel in distress] and reverses them completely. For example, Cole’s books are female-centric with the female myths playing larger roles. Instead of the brotherhood or the male cadre of warriors, you ave a group of sword wielding, smart mouthed, head chopping Valkryries that like sparkly things, nail polish and video games or devious witches that are so beautiful they have to spell themselves to protect others from their personal glory.

Me, I prefer heroines who are smart, experienced, and has been leading a pretty good life even before she meets the hero. Which is why I really enjoy the female heroines of the novels written by P.C. Cast. To me, they are truly about the celebration of all the great things about being a female— sisterhood, being able to sit around with your friends and bare your soul without fearing you will be judged or castigated, and having a support system made up of mothers, sisters, and friends, whether they’re teachers from Oklahoma or actual goddesses from Mount Olympus.

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It’s Monday morning, you’re a little hung-over, your boss is yelling at you, the coffee tastes like piss again, you have to skip lunch so you can drive your kid to the doctor’s office… whatever, Mondays suck. So maybe we can hang out here and talk about my favorite topic…

Romance Novel Heroes.

What makes a romance novel hero stand out for you? What makes you fall in love with him? What are your favorite qualities in romance novel heroes?

My favorite RNH of all time is Sebastian, the Marquess of Bonnington. He was not the “main” hero, per se… he was actually the B-plot, but he just really stood out for me. But he shows up in a handful of books by Eloisa James (Wild Pursuit, Duchess in Love, Your Wicked Ways) in pursuit of another secondary character, Esme. He starts out as a staid, stick-up-the-arse character who is always castigating Esme, a woman with a reputation for being wild. Slowly, he thaws out and begins seeing her as a woman… and he even loses his virginity to her! Once he falls in love with her, he is just so earnest and determined in his pursuit of her that Esme couldn’t help but just give in to him. *sigh*

Anyway, your favorite Romance Novel Hero. Talk amongst yourselves!