Posts Tagged ‘TV’

Guest Post

“Top 5 Favorite Forbidden Love Storylines” by Abby Niles

I’m a sucker for the forbidden love trope, especially when it’s tossed in with a little unrequited love. In Knocked Out By Love, my hero Brody “The Iron” Minton has been in love with his best friend’s wife for years. He hates the feelings he has for her, but he can’t control the feelings either. So he keeps his distance, only hanging out with his friend and shutting Scarlett from his life. Until a chance meeting brings them together again and he learns her marriage is over, then he faces the struggle between keeping to the bro code and what the heart wants.

Some of my favorite forbidden love storylines are:

1. Damon & Elena (The Vampire Diaries)—If anyone has been following me for any length of time, you already know that I am ga-ga over Damon Salvatore. His love for Elena is one of my all-time favorite love stories. It was the one thing that softened him. The catch? Elena was in love with Damon’s brother, Stefan. Here is a clip of one of my favorite scenes from the early seasons.

2. Robbie & Ceclilia (Atonement)—If you haven’t seen this movie, it’s a real tearjerker, so just warning you.

 

3. Johnny & Baby (Dirty Dancing)—Gosh, I loved this movie! Here we have the rich, innocent heroine and the experienced bad boy hero from the wrong side of the tracks. Baby’s parents didn’t approve, but to hell with them. No body puts Baby in a corner.

4. Josie & Sam (Never Been Kissed)—Now the only reason this one was an okay forbidden love story was because we knew that Josie was an adult playing an student while trying to get a story for her newspaper.

5. Marlena & Jacob (Water for Elephants)—Another tearjerker movie for me, but I loved this story. Marlena is married to the abusive circus master when Jacob, a vet, joins the group to help care for Rosie, Marlena’s elephant. While the two of them care for Rosie, they develop feelings for each other, which creates a whole slew of new problems with her abusive husband.

What is your favorite forbidden love story?

I want to thank EverAfter Romance for hosting me today! It’s been great fun!

Abby

Abby Niles is the author of the contemporary MMA series, Love to the Extreme, and the paranormal series, The Awakening. She is also the author to the geeky romantic comedy, Defying Convention, where Live Action Role Players (LARPers) set out to teach their favorite author a lesson, but end up playing matchmaker instead.

Abby lives in North Carolina with the love of her life and their combined gaggle of kids. When she’s not writing, she’s trying to catch up on an endless pile of laundry and find time to get some much needed reading in.

Uncategorized

Sailor Moon as a Romance Primer

Dear EA Readers,

It’s me, site editor. Did I startle you? Good.

I’ve had the honor of reading some incredibly funny, thoughtful, and intimate writing on Romance the world might ever see, thanks to our (not so) little community of readers and writers alike. EA’s been home to brilliant genre talk, out of this world storytelling, and some of the kindest people I’ve ever worked with. It is my privilege and pleasure.

It’s also pretty greedy. Here I am, hungrily downing your stories of love, loss, passion, and hot dudes you would totally steal straight off of their book jackets—and I’ve put up none of my own.

It’s Read a Romance Month, and for us, that means celebrating Romance in every way we know how.

So here’s a story for the pile.

Picture, if you will: You failed another math test today. Your allowance, which was dwindling a few weeks ago, has been unceremoniously cut off. Whipped cream on top? This dork on the street made fun of your hair.

Oh, and the world’s kind of in peril and you’re kind of, sort of, a superhero. Like, a cat told you? And your powers bite. The only one you’re actually aware of is activated by your crying.

You’re not even sure if that’s a power.

So this fight against a monster you’re currently in? Not going well.

You’re about to try the crying thing again (and by “try” I mean “this is going to happen either way, so might as well pretend it’s on purpose”), when suddenly, you hear music swell.

A man in a tuxedo so handsome that reality gets its own Instagram filter for a moment appears at the window, holding a rose. “How did he get up there and why didn’t he use a door,” you start to ask, but there’s no time. Fast as lightning, he chucks it at the monster’s face.

He chucks a rose at a monster’s face.

And it works.

Defying all logic, this rose stops the monster in its tracks. It hits it like a migraine laced with holy water. You’d question this, but see, the monster also has knife hands? So this? Refreshing distraction.

But the fight’s not over, for you or the magic stranger in a cape. He turns to you, glint in his eye, and says:

“I believe in you, Sailor Moon.”

Read More

Deadly Rising Ad Gif
Guest Post

Guest Post: “My Crush on Lt. Joe Kenda” by Candice Gilmer

(All pictures from the Homicide Hunter Facebook page)

My name is Candice Gilmer, and I write romance. And I love watching Discover ID. Especially Homicide Hunter, and Lt Joe Kenda.

Yep, that’s right, Discovery ID is the channel that has all true crime mysteries.

And I do have a bit of a crush on Lt. Joe Kenda, both the real man, because, wow, that voice, and the actor that plays the younger version of Kenda in the show, Carl Marino, because, well, what a cutie. (Pictured is the real Joe Kenda on the left and Carl Marino kneeling on the right)

But that’s not the big reason I spend hours watching Homicide Hunter. I watch several of the shows on Discover ID. Some of my favorites are A Crime to Remember, Web of Lies, and Surviving Evil. There are more, of course, but I can’t think of all of them. I spend a decent amount of time watching just about anything they put up on Investigation Discovery.

Part of the reason I love Homicide Hunter is because they have a lot in common with what I write.

Do I write murder mystery romances? Nope. Though my husband swears I probably could with as many of these shows that I watch, and I can usually guess the killer in the end.

As Lt. Joe says:

“Murder is simple… People are capable of anything.”

And they are—if I’ve learned anything watching them, people are crazy and can do anything when their emotions go nuts.

And emotion is one of the things I connect with. I have to, in order to write stories. The idea of what makes people do what they do fascinates me.

What makes a person kill his friend? A wife murder her husband? How did she cross that line?

Read More

Guest Post

Guest Post: Alissa Johnson’s Favorite Romantic Subplots

When I first received the list of possible topics for a guest post on EverAfter Romance, one in particular caught my eye.

“If you like watching X, you’ll love reading Y.”

I really wanted to use that topic. It sounds like so much fun. Sadly, I didn’t have enough suggestions to fill even half a post.

The truth is, I often avoid TV shows and movies that center on relationships. Not always, mind you (my original box set of the 1995 Pride and Prejudice is the sole reason I still own a VCR) but more often than not, I shy away from these types of productions.

There are several reasons for this. 1.) I’m afraid the original source material will be butchered —Nooo! That’s not what happens! 2) I never liked the source material—Yeah, the hero was a jerk in the book, too. 3) I don’t trust the powers-that-be to take their original love story in the direction I want it to go—Aww, they look like the sweetest couple. But there’s only a 50/50 chance of an HEA, so…No.

Read More

Autumn Thorns Yasmine Galenorn
Swoon-Worthy Heroes

Swoon-Worthy Heroes: Grayson from Drop Dead Diva

I admit that sometimes, you just have to binge watch a show you used to watch on air and several weeks ago, I was searching for something to help me get out of my own head and I stopped on Drop Dead Diva. Have you ever watched it? It is about an aspiring model who dies in a car crash, but when she gets to Heaven, she hits the return button, and she ends up coming back to life in Jane’s body. Deb isn’t happy about going from tall, thin, and blonde to a short, size sixteen brunette, but the biggest adjustment is losing her fiancé, Grayson, who happens to work with Jane at the Harrison and Parker law firm.

Read More

Swoon-Worthy Heroes

Swoon-Worthy Heroes: The Men of Reign

So, this may be a little strange, but I have always been obsessed with Scottish and British History, especially the Tudor era. When I was a teenager, I used to read history books, internet articles, and especially Historical Romance, getting lost in these times. Bertrice Small was one of my all-time favorite authors because she included so much history in her books and many of her books featured Queen Elizabeth the first, one of my favorite subjects. I also adored reading about her cousin, Mary, although her life was so sad compared to Elizabeth’s it broke my heart.

That’s why when Reign first debuted, I was excited. Despite the historical inaccuracies, it is a fun, romantic show filled with intrigue, supernatural elements, and of course, sexy men.

This week, I’m going to talk about two of my favorite hotties, both of whom vied for Mary’s love at different times and lost, but I will forever think about “what could have been…”

Read More

TV Recaps

TV Recap: Downton Abbey Series 6, Episode 3

This week we had a wedding and a return of a family member from abroad. This episode was an improvement over the first two episodes which seemed a bit like the show was treading water instead of giving us a jam-packed final season of drama! I mean, Matthew Goode hasn’t even showed up yet and we’re almost half-way through the season. A great deal went on in the episode but a lot of just seemed to be retread of what previous episodes.

Denker vs. Sprat Round Two: Denker notices that Spratt is acting more squirrely than usual, so of course, she spies on him in a not very subtle way. When Sergeant Willis stops by, Spratt’s secret is out. It turns out that his nephew has been in prison, and is now on the lam, and Spratt has been hiding him in the woodshed. Instead of selling him out to the po-po, she decides to tortures him instead, and might even be blackmailing him. I’ve decided that these two are secretly hot for each other and need to throw caution to the wind and make-out immediately while the Dowager’s back is turned.

It’s Hard Out There For a Butler: Thomas has yet another job interview in the county. For some reason, he prefers to stay in Yorkshire where there are probably no underground gay bars, and no chance of him actually meeting anyone. Sir Michael Reresby lives by himself in a large house that has seen better days with only a housekeeper. His wife has passed and he lost his sons in the war. Despite everything, he believes that one must keep up appearances because better days are coming. He worries that Thomas is a Republican, and Thomas wonders how he’s supposed to keep 50 rooms filled with clutter clean all by himself. The job interview is not a success. He’s back to square one. And his efforts to make friends with Andy keep being thwarted. Baxter, like Mrs. Patmore, thinks he’s trying to get a leg over but Thomas assures her that he just wants to be friends with the lad. I really don’t like seeing Evil Butler so defeated. It makes me sad.

Read More

TV Recaps

TV Recap: Downton Abbey Series 6 Episode 2

This week’s episode could have been subtitled ‘subplots galore.’ The biggest drama in this episode was surprisingly whether or not Carson or Mrs. Hughes was going to get his or her way in regards to where their wedding reception would be held. Lord Grantham graciously offered to hold the reception in the servants’ hall but Lady Mary (of course) thought that they could do a bit better. She insists that the reception be held upstairs in the great hall or one of the many other rooms at Downton that we probably haven’t even seen. Mrs. Hughes doesn’t want to have her wedding reception at Downton at all. Number 1, she doesn’t want to be a servant on her wedding day and number 2, as she puts it to Carson, “It’s just not who we are.” Carson protests that he couldn’t possibly turn down Lady Mary’s generous offer which just annoys Mrs. Hughes. “I am the bride. We’ll be doing it your way for the next 30 years, I know that well enough. But the wedding is mine.” Unfortunately for Mrs. Hughes, Carson refuses to budge. He’s always been inordinately fond of Lady Mary and would rather disappoint his fiancée than her. Priorities, Carson, priorities!

Speaking of Lady Mary, she’s now the agent for the estate which comes as a bit of a shock to poor Mr. Finch. It was bad enough that he had to deal with a jumped up chauffeur, but now a lady? “It’s a changing world,” he tells Lady Mary, reminding us once again of the theme of the last two series of Downton. All this change is likely to give the poor man a heart attack. He’s come to ask whether or not the estate should enter their pigs in the fat stock show. Lady Mary tells him it can’t hurt and promises to bring little George and Marigold along while she talks to her ‘pig man’ Mr. Drewe. Edith, of course, wonders if it is a good idea to have Marigold hanging around near the Drewes, particularly Mrs. Drewe but of course she can’t tell Mary why she disapproves. As Cora points out to Robert, Edith is afraid that Mary will somehow use the information to hurt her and she’s probably not wrong. Ah, siblings, such a blessing. If only Mary and Edith could work together for good instead of finding ways to hurt each other.

Lady Mary may not be kind to her own sister but she certainly is a good friend to Anna. When Anna confides that she’s having fertility problems, Lady Mary reminds her that she too once had problems but a London doctor performed a minor bit of surgery and all was well. She not only offers to make an appointment for Anna to see the same miracle gynecologist but also to pay for any treatment/surgery that Anna might need. Of course, Anna being Anna tries to demur, but Lady Mary is good at riding roughshod over whatever the servants might want and insists. Which is a good thing too because I don’t think I can take another episode of Anna crying in the laundry room or wherever. Despite Mr. Bates insisting that he would be happy with adoption, Anna is sure that he is lying to her and he only wants children who carry his own DNA. The good London doctor informs Anna that she has an incompetent cervix but all he has to do is just stitch her up good once she becomes pregnant and a new little Bates can be born. Hurrah! Of course Anna is grateful to which Lady Mary replies that she seriously owes her since Anna hid her Dutch thing-a-majig for her last series, and helped her get rid Mr. Pamuk’s dead body in series 1. Anna is practically doing cartwheels when she arrives back at the house. As usual, she doesn’t bother to inform Mr. Bates of the cause of her newfound happiness. That would be too easy!

Poor Edith is not having a good episode. While Mary and Mr. Finch manage to come to an understanding, the editor of the magazine Edith owns won’t listen to her, and although she’s keeping the flat in London, she won’t stay there because it’s too lonely. And then there is the whole Drewe situation. Mrs. Drewe quite rightly still yearns for Marigold, the child she raised for several months. The whole situation is uncomfortable for everyone. Lord Grantham worries about how living so close to Marigold is affecting the Drewes but he can’t quite bring himself to tell them leave. After all, the family have been tenants at Downton since Waterloo! But when Mrs. Drewe makes off with Marigold while everyone is cheering Lady Mary and prize-winning pig, it’s clear that the Drewes can’t stay. It’s incredibly sad but understandable. Of course, Comrade Daisy, thinks the whole thing sucks and is another example of how horrible the aristocracy is, although the Drewes leaving mean that Mr. Mason can now move into Yew Tree Farm.

Thomas has been seriously off his game this series. After five seasons of back-stabbing, blackmailing, and crawling his way up from footman to under-butler, Barrow is now superfluous in the Downton household. Carson has nothing for him to do, Andy practically runs whenever Thomas offers to help him with something. When Thomas asks Carson whether or not he should start looking for a new position, Carson practically starts writing a reference for him! When he interviews for a new job, he discovers that he would be expected to not only be a footman but a valet as well as an under butler! Even Baxter has started to feel sorry for him, despite the fact that she was forced to confess her secret to Lady Grantham, because of Thomas.

In case you were wondering, Isobel vs. Violet, the Dowager is still at a stalemate regarding whether or not the local hospital should merge with the Royal York. It’s a question of more modern medicine versus a more personal touch. Dickie Merton is still supporting Isobel, and hoping that she will eventually change her mind and marry him. Dr. Clarkson is still on the Dowager’s side. Robert, who is the patron of the hospital, is trying not to get involved or to take sides. Good luck with that! Violet also convinced Robert not to tell his wife about a meeting of the trustees which didn’t go down very well. Cora is clearly supports Isobel’s point-of-view. Once again this sub-plot is yet another example of the old ways versus the new. And it’s not particularly interesting thus far, just regurgitating the same argument they had last week. Only one side can win, and while Isobel worries about whether or not her friendship with Violet will survive, Violet just wants to be right.

Next week it’s Carson and Mrs. Hughes wedding! Can’t wait to see what the bride is wearing!

Guest Post

Guest Post: “The Strong Silent Type” by Rose Lerner

It’s no secret that the strong, silent type is not always my type, especially when it comes to heroes. I like a guy who talks too much and waves his hands around.

But there is an aspect of the trope I do connect with, and that is the struggle for words. I have a lot to say, and I can be excited or angry with the best of them. But when it comes to being vulnerable, to openly expressing affection or pain without sarcasm…I clam up.

That aspect of myself made its way into the starchy valet hero of my new Regency romance, Listen to the Moon. So here, for your enjoyment, is a list of ten of my favorite heroes and heroines who will doggedly walk through hell for you, but have trouble saying I think you’re great.

1. Oliver Queen from the CW’s Arrow.

Oliver grew up surrounded by lies and silence and passive-aggression, and then spent five years in hell.

He hates hard conversations. He hates questions. He will stand there with his head bowed and his mouth a tight line and let you think the worst, rather than push out an inadequate explanation. My squirrelly baby.

2. Jessica Jones from the eponymous Marvel TV series.

The scene where Jessica slowly forces out the words “I hear…talking…helps,” because someone else is in pain and she wants to help them even though we’ve watched her steadfastly not talk about it for episodes and episodes…yes. Just yes.

3. Constable Benton Fraser, RCMP, from Due South.

Constable Fraser will only talk about his feelings when he’s talking to 1) a ghost, 2) his half-wolf, 3) a sleeping person, or 4) a criminal, to create a diversion.

4. Dante Valentine from Lilith Saintcrow’s eponymous series.

She is the noir kick-ass necromancer I never knew I needed. Watching her push people away is my everything.

5. Spock from Star Trek: the Original Series.

No one has ever loved as deeply as Spock ever maybe? But he cannot talk about it, because then he’d be a bad Vulcan. Remember in “Naked Time” when he says “Jim, when I feel friendship for you, I am ashamed”???? REMEMBER?

I remember.

6. Constable Wu Kaifeng from Jade Temptress by Jeannie Lin

There is probably no quiet, granite-faced cop I would rather have in my corner were I suspected of murder, but he puts up a great front of being scary and mean. And when he does manage to put his thoughts into words, they pack a wallop:

“It’s difficult to look at you because you make me want things,” he answered plainly. “Things I cannot have.”

Guh.

7. Eliot Spencer from Leverage

There are a lot of things Eliot can’t talk about, or doesn’t let himself talk about. He can’t talk about his hired-gun past because it’s too painful. He can’t talk about his feelings because it wouldn’t be macho. He has trouble even giving a hug without a takeback afterward. Eliot is smothered by shame, and it’s beautiful to watch him push through the pain when his friends need to talk to him.

This clip of him explaining what cooking means to him (“It makes me feel something.” “Feel what?” “…Just…FEEL”) will definitely make you feel stuff.

8. Gareth from Proof by Seduction by Courtney Milan

Milan takes the alpha hero and flips him onto his back like a turtle, and suddenly all the things that are supposed to be his strengths are actually weaknesses. Gareth yearns for connections with other people, and has zero idea how to forge them. I may have made horrible squeaking noises during the scene where (under orders from the heroine) he tries ineptly to make small talk with his steward.

9. Tom Foss from ABC Family’s Kyle XY.

I am not exaggerating when I say this minor character in an obscure show that’s been off the air for years changed my life. You can see his soul hovering in the air over his head because it sure as heck is never going to be channelled through his mouth. He answers every question in evasive monosyllables, and also has blown up a bunch of stuff, and then is hurt when you don’t trust him, because he’s given you everything he has and what more do you WANT?

10. Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Katniss can’t say how she feels. Often, she doesn’t even know herself. Put Katniss in the arena and she will get shit done, but don’t ask her to make a speech! And definitely don’t ask her to talk to her friend (who she maybe loves? who knows?) who has been brainwashed to hate her. Because she can’t. She can’t even look at him, and she can’t find the words to explain to anyone why not.

Rose Lerner discovered Georgette Heyer when she was thirteen, and wrote her first historical romance a few years later. Her writing has improved since then, but her fascination with all things Regency hasn’t changed. When not reading, writing, or researching, she enjoys cooking and marathoning TV shows. She lives in Seattle with her best friend. You can find her online at her website or on Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr. You can read the first chapter of Listen To The Moon at her website.