The LL&L Rumpus Room

Ah, some great romances. It's been my experience reading good romance that lends to the opinion that the longer the characters are left to develop the more realistic their relationship seems to me. Unless, of course, that relationship was established prior to the beginning of the story.

There are exceptions to this though, rare as they are. A lot of people tend to like trying to force a relationship down my throat by just saying the characters fell in love because they looked into each other's eyes and fireworks went off. Gag me, please. That goes along with what you were saying about the lovers destined to be together. Planets aligned and Broody McHero falls in love with Busty Von Damsel, it's the oldest trick in the book.

Sap is always something I try to avoid, if it's sap I'm tempted to make fun of it. And if I was the one who wrote it, I feel like poking my own eyes out with a fork. And Dark Lady, you know from my reviews how I loved and hated Stephen. I should get back to reviewing that just so I can see things fall apart for him.

As for the worst non-romance novel romance I've ever read. The most recent was in The DaVinci Code. Chy can tell you all about that one if she read my review of it. Basically, Brown mentioned the romance prospect by having the characters look at each other once or twice during the novel. Then, at the very end, his characters get together in a relationship. It burst out of the blue like a foul-smelling bog monster.