Bored With Romance?

You know, yesterday evening, I went to the Borders superstore in Manchester. I usually go to the one in Leeds, but as it happens, I had some business in Manchester.

Anyhoo, I was looking through the romance section (thank God for Borders) and I was thinking that I’d pick out a couple of books by new-to-me authors.

I picked up a book by Jayne Anne Krentz, read the blurb, put it back. It sounded drier than a nuns c*nt.

I picked another JAK book, and put that back. I was falling asleep just reading the blurb.
Anyway, I picked up a couple more, and none of them sounded exciting, so they all went back on the shelf.

I decided that perhaps, I wasn’t in the right frame of mind for a JAK book, so I moved onto Connie Brockway (I know she’s friends with Elizabeth Bevarly, but I can’t hold that against her forever). I picked up one of her books, and it sounded interesting, so I sat down, cross-legged on the floor (get over it, it's my thing) and skim-read the first few pages. Jesus, I swear there were tears in my eyes by the time I got to page twenty. Shit that book was boring (don’t ask me what it was called, because I can’t remember).

I tried a few more Brockway books, and none of them set the world alight for me, so I moved onto the next new-to-me author, who happened to be Jude Devereaux. I skim read about five of her books, but none of them took my fancy. I then tried Judith Ivory, and Elizabeth Lowell, but sadly, with the same results.

Then I got to Emma Holly’s Strange Attractions, (she’s not a new-to-me author) and as I read the first few pages, I got a lovely tingle down my back. Yes, at last, a book worth getting excited over.

I finally figured out what was wrong with the other books. There just wasn’t any chemistry there. In this case, I think it was me, not them. They were probably fab books, but unfortunately not for me. Not that day.

In another time and place, I may love JAK, or Brockway, or Devereaux, but last night, I needed something more, I didn’t want rakish lords, lovely ladies who lunch or vestal virgins who don’t. I wanted gritty, I wanted raw, I wanted sexual, and unfortunately, neither Brockway, nor JAK (bless their cottons) was going to do it for me last night, no matter how brilliant they both are.

Do you guys ever get like that? Or am I just getting bored with straight romance?