These are my confessions.....

So I'm just going to dive right in....
Ok, here it goes.... (deep breaths)
Bless me Internet for I have sinned.....I've started reading Romance Novels!!!!!!!
There, I said it!
Stop looking at me like that!!!
I am 32 years old!
I am an adult.... And it just sort of happened.... shut up!

Anyway, here's how it all started.....
I was in a used book store. I was mostly just wasting time while my daughter was in pre-school. But I was also looking around for something to jump out at me. Some little diamond in the rough that might appeal to me at the moment. That is when I came across the author Katie MacAlister. She seemed to have an eclectic sort of titles to her books from "The Corset Diaries"  to "A girls guide to Vampires" the first in the "Dark Ones" series.
I eventually went back and bought "The Corset Diaries" (because I feel it's important to support local businesses) but at that time I left the store with something else but I had read the back covers they seemed pretty interesting. Not to mention, I love vampire stories. They have always been my monster of choice. So I went to the library and checked out the first of the "Dark Ones" series. I justified it mostly because it sounded interesting and the cover, for a romance novel, was quite innocuous. It looked more like a YA cover. Although by the end of the series they do tend to get more...um...shirtless.

Now, I am not completely new to the romance genre. I have friends who have suggested a few of their favorite novels. And I've read one or two with the unintentional side effect of  finding humor at the serious concepts and outrageously cheesy dialog... in the end they seemed a bit, well, stupid.....When asked my opinion I would joke with them by giving a quick summary of the story..."I love you! I hate you! I love you!I hate you! Oh! I hate you so much for making me love you!!!!! "......but with this author I found something different. Intentional humor. Yes there are some serious points and even parts that are quiet emotional, and other parts that can be almost annoying but I found myself giggling and often outright rolling with laughter (with tears) ....not because the stories/characters are cheesy and predictable but because these real enough characters are put in these unreal situations and they are actually meant to be laughed at from an outside perspective. And yes like in any work of fiction/science fiction, one must suspend reality but... I just love her sense of humor!

Now, here's where more of the confessing comes in....I like it so much that, in the last 5 weeks, between her independent novels, short stories and the Dark Ones series. All together, I've read about 12 of her books..... (and no worries, my kids were still well fed...I think) Granted, three of those books were read as part of a challenge. I bet a high school student that I could finish three of my (over 350 page) books before she could finish her one, already halfway read (350 page) book by the end of the week....needless to say. I won. In fact it's been almost two weeks and she's still not finished....

Anyway, back to the point. The confessing...now while these books do not contain nearly as much foul language as even some YA books, they are essentially meant for adults and therefore do have "adult situations" aka there is sex. But considering that I've been married for over 11 years....and once again for the sake of  my mother, who I'm sure is reading this..I am an Adult, so it's not like there isn't anything I haven't heard of before...well, except maybe that one thing...but in that case, that's when you make the best of an awkward situation and start taking notes....  ;D

I do have to add that after reading so many of her books I have noticed that she has a bit of a pattern. To be fair though, to be that prolific of a writer (over 11 different styles from contemporary, paranormal to the Historical and even a Dragon series) one can't blame her. But with that said, she also manages to come up with enough diverse characters and situations that, even though the formula might be the same. The spin and the interconnecting of stories is enough to keep you going. Granted this opinion is coming from someone who has read all of the original Hardy Boy books... man,Franklin W. Dixon, now there was a writer with a set pattern/outline. But hey, it works because as you can see those were and still are quite popular books no matter what age group. So I know I'm not alone in my quirkiness for some sort of loose order. (and yes, I just did mention the Hardy Boys in a post about romance novels)

Alright, I guess that's it. (sigh of relief) My secret is out....I feel so much better now....