Reading a CBR Favorite for the first time

As you all know by now, emmalita was my book Santa this year. Here’s how awesome she is: she loaned me this ebook, to see if I’d like it. Courtney Milan is a popular writer around the Cannonball Read. I’m not a reader of romance, so I don’t keep up with the genre. But I noticed that people around here LOVE Milan. With a fervent, vocal ardor. So, in my CBR Book Exchange Wish List, I mentioned that I would be willing to give her a try. Emmalita loaned me her Kindle Copy, and here we are.

Lydia Charingford is a clever, cheerful young woman with a scarring secret that she has mostly put behind her. Only her paretns and the handsome new doctor in town, Jonas Grantham, know the secret shame that’s hiding in her teenage past. Of course, Jonas suffers from blunt manners and a bit of a god complex, so he and Lydia clash instantly (I mean, really: who OPENLY ranks the prettiest women in town? Keep it to yourself, dude). They make a bet that hinges on a kiss, and that’s where the sparks begin to fly.

First, a confession: I’ve never been into romance novels, and reading this novella didn’t convince me otherwise. It’s just not my genre. I think it has to do partly with my personal taste in fiction and my professional interest in contemporary (postmodern, experimental, 21st century, etc.) Anglophone (British, American, non-western written in English) fiction. Maybe, for me, the love story is also secondary to everything else…? That said, I TOTALLY understand why everyone is a huge Courtney Milan fan around here. Her women are interesting, complex characters who discover a rich interior life that becomes familiar with their sexualities. They’re educated and enlightened! They enjoy sex and are assertive! Birth control! So, while I do not see myself continuing with Courtney Milan, I am glad good romance exists. After all, that damsel in distress shtick is sooooo overrated.