Romance 101

If your idea of a typical romance novel involves a plot line straight from a 1940's musical, then you might want to update your mental image. The old 'girl meets boy' thing does not hack it in today's romance industry. It's all about subgenres now, and we have a few new romances that represent the new developments in paperback lit.
Let's Misbehave, by Lisa Plumley, is a chick-lit romance. A ditzy urban single woman in her 20's, with a shopping addiction, relocates to a sleepy small town where she meets a hunky divorced dad. Flirtatious repartee and wacky hijinks ensue, with the aid of the 3 kids, and it's not a question of if they will get together, but how.
Web of Love, by Mary Balogh, is a Regency romance that introduces a new set of characters (Balogh likes to write series that follow the romantic lives of a particular family. We have the Bedwyn family series already on the shelves). The backdrop for this book is the Battle of Waterloo (see my post from Sept. 10). The plot is more interesting and less far-fetched than most Regency romances, and the sex scenes are less steamy (that may be a good or bad thing, depending on your tastes).
Blood Red, by Heather Graham and Scent of Darkness, by Christina Dodd are both examples of the hot new thing: paranormal romance. Graham's story involves evil vampires in New Orleans (of course), a good-looking vampire hunter and some unlucky bridesmaids. It leans more heavily on the vampire angle than the romance, and the sex scenes are much tamer than Laurel K. Hamilton's vampire books, but the elements are still all there. Dodd's book involves werewolves and ancient Faustian deals. The shape-changing descendants of Konstantine Varinski are 'love-em and leave-em' men who owe their souls to the Devil. But one member of the family has truly fallen in love, and this love may be a deal-breaker for the Devil. The rest of the family are called upon to deal with their errant member, which adds a large dose of suspense to the romance.