My first cheesy romantic novel was by Danielle Steele. If you like going through breezy ones and haven't tried Steele yet, I am sure you would enjoy it. That is, if you stop with one or two.
About three novels later, you will realise almost all her novels have a set formula:
Since I started reading her books at an impressionable age of 13, whenever I tried to make conversation with someone, my mind would go - "She wanted to know everything about him (or her)" - she being me of course. It took me a long time to let go of the thought that my life is parallely being written into a novel and that I didn't have to give live mental commentary for everything happening in and around me.
I digress again, Fifteen years later, I still want to know everything about everyone. Of course, I don't go - "Tell me everything!". But when i ask, "How was your trip?" or "How was your weekend?" or the desperate "Anything else?", I expect a mind-blowing and spicy reply. More importantly, I expect details. I do not expect, "It was good" or "It was relaxing".
A more subtle corollary is, when I ask that, I expect everyone to want to know everything about me too. So, when these amazing 1-line insights into the trip or a weekend is not followed by "how was yours?", I die a little inside.
About three novels later, you will realise almost all her novels have a set formula:
- The romance is always between thirty or forty-something young couples.
- Either or both of them have children in their teens.
- Needless to say, the-in-love couple have amazing bonds with their kids.
- They usually meet under unfortunate circumstances (like accidents or war), and when they take a break for coffee, they ask a simple-yet-loaded question. Like, "Did you always want to be a doctor?" or "Do you like what do you do?".
- Invariably, this line is always followed by "She wanted to know everything about him". Or he about her, as the case may be.
Since I started reading her books at an impressionable age of 13, whenever I tried to make conversation with someone, my mind would go - "She wanted to know everything about him (or her)" - she being me of course. It took me a long time to let go of the thought that my life is parallely being written into a novel and that I didn't have to give live mental commentary for everything happening in and around me.
I digress again, Fifteen years later, I still want to know everything about everyone. Of course, I don't go - "Tell me everything!". But when i ask, "How was your trip?" or "How was your weekend?" or the desperate "Anything else?", I expect a mind-blowing and spicy reply. More importantly, I expect details. I do not expect, "It was good" or "It was relaxing".
A more subtle corollary is, when I ask that, I expect everyone to want to know everything about me too. So, when these amazing 1-line insights into the trip or a weekend is not followed by "how was yours?", I die a little inside.
