My Naughty Thoughts : Is Bad Ever Good?

So a while ago I wrote a post Yummy Baddies in which I practically drooled over how hot bad guys were getting and how sad it made me to watch such fine specimen of male anatomy die. I complained about how it was getting harder to not root for the bad guy because truth be told, I am a bit (truth: really really) shallow. (What...I like eye candy). But in the end, I knew he was the villain of the story and he was never a character I could sympathize with or relate to. I mean who could sympathise with Luck Evans in No One Lives? He was a sadistic psycho, but come one, the guy is hot (I'm drooling again...sorry).

Suddenly a new breed of baddies are appearing. The ones that play on our sympathies and make us say to ourselves...I can see myself going down that dark path....or I completely understand.  

For example Regina a.k.a the Evil Queen from Once Upon A Time who, as the seasons progressed, I watched transition from a sweet young woman full of love to a vengeful and bitter evil queen. I found myself yelling at young Snow White (well the tv) to shut her trap when she blabbed to Cora about Regina's love indirectly causing his death and agreeing with Regina when she made the comment that she should have let Snow White die (is that bad). A broken heart can lead you down a dark path and I'm sure some of us can relate. (Regina's still my favourite character from Once Upon A time. I'm was so pissed at Emma at the season finale...lol).

While the writers of Once Upon A Time are having the characters make a distinction between Regina and the Evil Queen like they're two individual people (perhaps to make it easier to sympathise with Regina), Maleficient is one very bad, very vengeful fairy. Not only is this character a villain, but she's the title roll. How could I not cheer on her vengefulness after the brutal way she was betrayed by someone she considered a friend? Shouldn't I have been cheering on her friend a.k.a the king as he tried to save his daughter's life by destroying Maleficient. Of course by the end Maleficient had a restorative transformation to good like Regina did which made my struggle between good and bad a moot point.

Recently I watched the trailer for Dracula Untold (psst Luke Evans is in this one again...yum...so you know I'm going to watch it). Isn't Dracula a bad guy? The trailer is making him out as as father who'd do anything, including selling his soul to the devil, to protect his family. How can you fault a guy for that?

Or what about Walter from Breaking Bad? I've never watched that series so I don't have much I can say, but as I understand from the tidbits I've gleamed, Walter was a chemistry teacher, who after being diagnosed with cancer, turned drug dealer in the hopes of ensuring his family's financial security after his death. Another character doing something bad for the good of his family. Is that shade of grey to the Walter character what made him so popular? An upstanding citizen driven by circumstances to do things he otherwise never would have. It kind of reminds me of the Gerard Butler character in Law Abiding Citizen. I tried to have sympathy for some of his victims (not the killers) but having understood what drove Clyde to his depth of depravity it was a little hard (sorry Jamie, I was rooting for him to kill you too, you were such an insensitive jerk for a good guy).

There are also the characters who we know are good, but are just plain bad. They can be mean and surly, say vulgar and despicable things, and make you feel like smacking them. In essence there're not your stereo typical good guy. Because I watched this movie last night, I'm going to use the autobot Crosshair as an example. He advocated living the humans to fight the decepticons on their own, abandoning a seventeen year old girl and letting Bumblebee and Drift kill each other so he can take over without a fight. At times he was a jerk, but never once did he let his fellow autobots down. Through all his "jerkiness" he was a good guy.

In short, are the bad things some "villains" do ever good? And are those characters always "villains" just because they do bad things? And just how big of a douche bag can a good guy be?

These types of characters are so much more complex than the cookie cutter good guy or even bad guy. When they make you stop and think...wait...is he/she good or bad...

And that's my naughty thoughts on the bad...good...bad guy.

Later Loveys

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Salem.....My Take on Witches

So I've had my nose up in the air for the pass few weeks every time the promos for the newest WGN television show aired. As much as I've developed a taste for paranormal television programming, a show about one of the most ridiculous eras in history didn't spark much of an interest in me.

Last night after enjoying my Sunday night ritual of Once Upon A Time (still one of the best shows on TV) and realizing Drop Dead Diva wasn't in the line-up for tonight, I found myself aimlessly flipping through the stations for something else to watch. I landed on WGN with a three minute countdown for the premier of said show.

I was about to flip the channel, after all I'd decided that I wasn't interested in following the new show, when I remembered...there was nothing else to watch. So I thought, eh...why not. I snuggled deeper into my fluffy pillows and waited, rather patiently for me, the three minutes. Truth be told, I was ready to hate the show. I'd made up my mind. I was just proving to myself that it was going to be mind numbing drivel about holier than thou religious fanatics accusing innocent women of being love slaves to the devil. Nothing supernatural, just ordinary people with god complex. 

So the three minutes were up and the show begins, and an hour later the credits roll. Was it worth it?

Hell yeah! I cannot remember the last time I watched a television show with bated breath. I remember thinking, what the hell's going on, what's gonna happen next, and damn another ad. The story had me captured. From the beginning it was fast pace get to the point. By the end of the show battle lines were drawn. You knew who the "bad guy" was and who the "good guy" was, and the unlined love affair between the two will be an interesting storyline to watch unfold in coming episodes.

When it came to the characters themselves, I didn't really get a sense of the innocence of the Mary Sibley character before her turn to the dark side, but I can understand her need for revenge prompting her to do something she probably never would have done otherwise. So far she sends chills down my spin. I can't gage just how evil she really is.

As for the John Alden character, I don't like Shane West and I'll probably be bias. So I'll leave it at that.

So would I follow the show? Does that question even need an answer?

And that's my naughty thoughts on Salem.

Later Loveys

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My Naughty Thoughts : Love at First.....Second Sight

Do you believe in love at first sight? I read about it enough. Personally, I'm a bit of a cynic when it comes to falling in love quickly. Well "a bit" may be an understatement to describe my view on it. Can you really fall in love with someone you've only known for a while?

In my post Five Minutes to Sex, I asked about the heroines who sleep with the heroes after knowing each other for all of five minutes. I wondered aloud if that style of writing was meant to tap into some hidden fantasy of the reader. That fantasy of throwing caution to wind and having unbridled sex with a hot stranger. Who knows....(side note: something happened and I finally get it)

In the end, having sex with someone you barely know is still just physical. Love....now we're into the emotional. How realistic are the heroines who go cuckoo for coco puff from the first instance they lay eyes on the hero?

I've read books where the characters don't confess their love for each other until the last page, some where they do it mid book and it feels like you're along for the happily ever after, you know...the what happens next feeling. Then they're the ones that do it so early I'm like...what..did I miss something? ? How'd they go from hello to I love you in the span of fifty pages?

Maybe it's the idea of love. That heart pounding, breath stealing feeling that can be like a drug that allows us to fall and maybe even overlook the fact that the main characters don't even know each other, how can they be in love already. How well do you even have to know someone to be in love?

And why is it if your best girl pal came to you and said she was in love with a guy she met last week you'd wonder if she was crazy, but it's ok for the heroine in your romance novel? Yes it's make believe, candy for the heart, but still, I like a little reality in my novels. I relate better.

Personally I don't like books that drones on for chapter after chapter about all the tedious and useless to the plot things the lead characters do before they finally find love, (get to the point right) but I also can't relate to characters who say they're in love one chapter into the book. Lust I understand, but love....

What do you think? Do you believe in love at first sight?

And that's my naughty thoughts on love at first sight.

Later Loveys

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My Naughty Thoughts : So Much Sex

Wow! Can a book have too much sex? Yes...um...No...hum...Is there even such a thing as too much sex? In my post Is it the Sex or the Story I said that I didn't read romance novels for the sex (scout's honour). Well, I just stepped out of that zone. I admitted in my last post Fifty Shades of WTF that I finally read a romance novel purely for the sex. My curiosity got the better of me. I'd heard the hype surrounding Fifty Shades of Grey, my cousin was reading it (and she never reads) so I thought, what the hell.

Boy was I blown away, and that I think is an understatement. I've never read an erotica before, my romance genre being historical, regency and paranormal, so I really have nothing to compare my experience to. Do all eroticas have this much sex? It wasn't graphic in the least, thankfully, but every other page had a sex scene. Anastasia and Christian did it every day, sometimes four times a day, every which way. Who has the time for all that? I was tired just reading about it, didn't they get tired doing it? Jeez.... I mean

Those two did it here and there, those two did it everywhere.
Yes they did it on a bar, they even did it in a car.
They didn't do it on a train, but they did it on a plane.
They went out sailing on The Grace, and on the sea they did embrace.
You'd think by now their ardour would douse, but alas, they did it in his parent's boathouse. 

The elevator ride, need I say more, definitely deserves another, encore.
He has no pool up in his tower, so they steamed up his grand shower.
On the bed, the wall, the door, they even did it on the floor.
He really really tried his best, and got her flat on his desk.

You want to know where else you say, they did it in his room of play.
There he tied her up with cable, and they did it on a table.
Speaking of being tied up, he used leather, rope, chains and cuffs.
Lordy lord the things they've done, would make an innocent maiden run.
For she lets him do real naughty things, why not when she got the ring.

Do I now feel like I've OD'ed on sex (the reading part - wink)? Hum...honestly, I got bored reading it. It was a little too much for me. The rest of the story was great. I enjoyed the emotional ups and downs. But OMG enough already....so I guess for me...a book can have too much sex.

And that's my naughty thoughts on sex, sex, and more sex in romance novels.

Later Loveys

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My Naughty Thoughts : Fifty Shades of WTF

A few days ago I locked myself out of my apartment and of course as luck would have it, that day my landlords were out and my cell was dead. For two and a half hours I sat outside my door on the cold, hard concrete and waited for my landlords to return and relieve me from my self inflicted hell. Let me just say that days later my ass still hurts.

Anyway, though I'm in the habit of carrying my tablet, I am not in the habit of leaving my WiFi on. So there I was, stuck outside with no cell phone and no internet to pass the time. Then I remembered, I have one book on my tablet that I haven't read yet. It's been there for weeks and I've been debating whether or not I really want to read it.

So now I had two choices, I could stare at the slowly darkening sky, or I could read the book. (Oh I don't socialize with my neighbours). So I fired up my tablet and opened my reader and a grey cover with a silk tie flashes across my screen. The title Fifty Shades of Grey captures my attention and I dive in.

Yes its been a few years since the book came out and I'm only now reading it. (I didn't start reading the Twilight series til after I watched the first movie). Let me be honest, I'm reading it for the sex. Pure and simple, no other reason. I've wondered for a while what all the hoopla was about. I actually thought it would be a little more graphic, or maybe I just haven't gotten there yet. I am only on chapter twenty-four. But I must say, I can't remember the last time I read a book with so much sex.

The weirdest thing I find about reading this book is how it uncovered a part of me that I didn't know existed. I am an extremely dominating person, type A personality. Christian ain't got nothing on me. Everything is always my way or no way. And I'm quick to anger when I don't get my way. I couldn't be submissive even if you paid me. Yet I find myself gravitating more towards the Anastasia role. I'm a little like her where I tend to over-think everything and it gets so tiring sometimes, my mind always running. Thinking about outcomes and perception. The idea of simplifying something in my life by giving over control to someone else has some appeal.

So I said I started this book for the sex, and now I've shifted gears.  I've become wrapped up in Christian's psychological problems. Now all I want to know is why doesn't he like to be touched? What's his hang up about food? And did his birth mother or Mrs Robinson make him "crazy"? I love a male lead with problems. It always gives him so much more depth than a Mr. Perfect. The Christian character has got me more hooked than the sex.

I've already cheated and read pages from book three because I had to know if Christian and Anastasia make it to the end. I'm exerting massive amounts of control not to read the last few pages of book one. I'm dying to know what happens already. (That's a nasty habit of mine, reading the end of books before I even start it).

Anyway, so on I read, 50 pages left.

And that's my naughty thoughts on fifty shades.

Later Loveys

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My Naughty Thoughts : She Puts the B in *itch

Villains come in all shapes, sizes and yes, even sexes. They're either a combatant to the hero's strength, or a threat to the heroine's safety, and many times they're usually of the male persuasion. But there is one type of villain that I think is underused in romance novels. You know her, she puts the B in *itch and we love to hate her for it. Her role is sometimes as a competitor for the hero's affections or a simple thorn in the heroine's side.

I remember the first romance novel I ever bought had just such a bitch. I enjoyed hating on her. She was all over the hero every opportunity she got and rude to the heroine, who was his wife. Why did I get so mad at her? Because she played on something I hate...people who don't respect other people's relationship. I was cackling with glee when the heroine finally grabbed her by the hair and tossed her out of her husband's bed chamber (it was a historical by the way). Not only is this one of my favourite books but that's one of my favourite and most memorable scenes.

I love a good female protagonist. I love when for two seconds she makes me forget it's just a book, and I get so angry at her antics that I'm cursing under my breath. My perfect example, even though she's not a romance novel character, is Kathrine Kelly Lang on B&B. I hate her character with such a passion that I had to stop watching that soap opera years ago. I was always afraid I'd throw my remote at the TV. (I'm sure people like Brooke, but hey, villainy is in the eye of the beholder). To make a viewer, or reader, have an emotional reaction to someone that's not even real, I think is great writing.

Now I may sound like I only like a female villain if she's going after the hero romantically. Not so. A villainess who's out for blood is just as anger inducing. But sometimes, the interesting few, are just fun to read about. Like the Evil Queen from Once Upon A Time. I love the Regina character. I love her Evil Queen wardrobe (vanity part of me speaking), love her little quips (I'm always laughing at her witty insults - "Go walk yourself" to Red Riding Hood), and honestly I keep routing for her to come out on top (is that bad?).

And then there's the single white female. The crazy that give you the chills and make you say "what the f's wrong with this psycho bitch?" Her brand of villainy is down right scary.

So however she comes, whatever BS she pulls, whether she's a stalker, a vengeful viper or a crazy b-otch, she will leave an indelible mark on you.

And that's my naughty thoughts on bitches we love to hate on.

Later Loveys

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My Naughty Thoughts : Yummy Baddies - The Villains That Turn Me On

When did the bad guy suddenly become eye candy? When did he start rivalling the hero in looks? More and more of our big screen villains are becoming hotties. What's a girl to do when the bad guy gives her a little tingle inside? I remember when the anti-hero wasn't much to look at. It was easy then. You routed for the hunky good guy and cheered when the toad-like bad guy got his, end of story. But now I feel a twinge of disappointment when the bad guy gets killed. I guess it's my affliction for pretty things. I hate seeing a gorgeous guy go to waste. Yummy baddies take my breath away in so many different ways:

I love eye candy. A face to die for starts my engine revving and this baddie did it for me. He started out as one of the good guys and even though I knew he was destined to be bad, I couldn't help crying "No" when he turned to the dark side. Hayden Christensen rocked Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars and his tortured stares were near hypnotizing that I almost joined the dark side with him.

Sometimes a pretty face is just another pretty face. Add a shiver inducing accent to match and I get all tingly down there. Luke Evans as Owen Shaw in Fast 6 and Guy Pearce as Aldrick Killian in Iron Man 3 with their Welsh and British accents were like crooners to my soul....Frankie....

What makes a complete package? A trifecta of hotness? Why rock hard abs you could lick ice-cream off of course. Lee Byun-hun as Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe made my heart do palpitations when his shirt got ripped off. I would have gladly knocked Snake Eyes over with a steam roller to get a better look at that body.

Baddies I drool over aren't always killers. Sometimes they're just plain old douche-bags like Taylor Lautner as Hunky Frat Boy in Grown Ups 2. After being Team Jacob, (yeah I'll say it Edward sucked) it was hard routing for Adam Sandler to knock his punk-ass out.

So now that the baddies are getting hunkier on the big screen, are they also becoming knock-outs in our books. Will the next vampire or werewolf villain be so hot that the heroine can't help but notice.

What do you think about bad guys being as hot as their hero counterpart? Let me know some of your favourite hunky bad guy.

And that's my naughty thoughts on yummy baddies.

Later Loveys

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My Naughty Thoughts : Dumb Heroines - The Lois Lane Syndrome

In writing my I Hate Superman post, I realised there's something I hate even more than heroes like Superman. The dumb heroine that was the old Lois Lane. (This does not include Man of Steel's Lois Lane).

Lois Lane was suppose to be this smart, ambitious, go-getter reporter. The Daily Planet's star. So I find it a bit insulting and condescending that she was fooled by a pair of glasses. Seriously!!

This woman worked closely with her reporting partner, shared space with him, covered ground breaking stories with him, and even interviewed him as Superman and yet she couldn't see what was right before her eyes. Two men with such a striking resemblance that even a blind man could see Clark Kent was Superman. Seriously!!

Superman Returns (2006) made her appear even more incompetent as she didn't even recognise a man she had a kid with. Seriously!!

I excluded Man of Steel's Lois Lane because this woman was true to who I thought the character always should have been. She track down this mysterious super powered saviour in a matter of days straight to his mother's door step and I thought, finally...a Lois Lane I can respect.

Unlike the Lois Lane of old, Blake Lively's character Carol Ferris in Green Lantern earned my undying respected when she realised Green Lantern was her childhood friend within five seconds of standing two feet from him. She even called him out on him thinking that he could fool her with a mask.

I hate when stories are written like the female leads has no senses. Sometimes I even find myself yelling at a movie or TV program or novel : "are you serious" , "how can you not see what's happening" , and my favourite "idiot...serves you right". (Thinking about that right now is making me laugh at how riled up I can get at a dumb heroine).

Anyway...my point is this, I don't think I'm dumb. In fact I know I'm an intelligent and competent woman. I don't know how I may react to certain situation but I'd like to think I'd have some semblance of common sense. So I'm not all that interested in reading about dumb heroines. I get that sometimes the heroine has to make a few missteps to keep the story moving. Sometimes she has to trust the wrong person, go down a dark alley or scream at the worst possible time (ever find yourself shouting, shut the f*** up). What I can't accept is making her as stupid as Lois Lane....

And that's my naughty thoughts on dumb heroines.

Later Loveys

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My Naughty Thoughts : I Hate Superman

Recently I watched Man of Steel for the uptinth time, and as usual I was cuckoo for coco puffs over Henry Cavill. He is just so damn hot, and that body sculpting suit...gimme a second I'm enjoying the memory. No more kalson and tights...yeppy. I loved the latest edition to the franchise. Two hours told me more of Superman's story; Jor-El's perspective, Zod's mindset, Krypton's demise, Clark Kent's upbringing, than all the movies combined.

So you may be wondering, if I have such high praise for the movie, and the actor is drool worthy in so many ways, then why do I hate Superman. Because an hour after I watched the movie, a Superman animated movie played and it reinforced everything I hate about this particular hero. He's sanctimonious, a bit of a hypocrite and arrogant.

I didn't always hate Superman. I liked Christopher Reeves in the old Superman movies, and Dean Cain in Lois and Clark was okay. My aversion for Superman started with Smallville and slowly progressed with Justice League (yeah I'm a grown woman and I still watch Saturday morning cartoons). I was into Smallville when it first started until I realised that Superman thinks he's better that Lex Luther. Okay, maybe morally he probably is, but acting like you have a halo over your head is a bit irritating for us mortals. In Justice League he's even worst. He looks down his super powered nose at everyone from that pedestal he's put himself up on. I guess when you can fly you're above everyone else.

I hate his hypocrisy of crucifying the bad guys for their moral indiscretion but giving his friends a free pass for theirs. It's not okay for Lex to spy on people but it's okay for Chloe to do it?

My breaking straw was when Batman opined that they needed to protect the world from the Justice League if they ever went rogue and Superman was adamant that it would never happen. I was like, dude, red kryptonite turns you evil. Is it really beyond the realm of possibility that a hero, yourself included, could go villain? Are you really that conceited?

Why do I like Batman more than Superman? Because Batman knows his fault and shortcomings. He doesn't pretend to be a hero. He's completely aware of the fact that he's capable of doing wrong and he doesn't continue to act holier-than-thou when he does. He has a dark side and doesn't pretend otherwise.

In the end, what's my point. Only that the "perfection" that is Superman, doesn't always translate well into romance novel hero. A goody-goody, who thinks he's always right, and makes you feel morally inferior (even when he isn't trying) can become tiring to read about. I'm not always good, so a little imperfection in my hero makes him seem real, and attainable. The naughty little girl in me likes a little badness in my guys.

So please don't hate on me because I said I hate Superman. In actuality, I'm cool with what he stands for, I just hate the condescending personality he has evolved into. Like I said in the beginning, I liked Man of Steel, both the actor and the movie.

And that's my naughty thoughts on superman type heroes.

Later Loveys

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My Naughty Thoughts : Five Minutes to Sex

Recently I read a romance novel where after knowing (or barely knowing) each other for all of five minutes the hero and heroine were already knocking boots. I guess the prudish part of me kicked in because I was like, what the....(I always have that reaction actually). It made me think about my friend who's already doing the nasty with her boyfriend of five months and how it took my ex an entire year to get any from me.

Am I being the last prude standing when I do a double take when I read about heroines who sleep with the hero five minutes after meeting him. And am I being the one thing I hate more than a liar, a hypocrite, if my writing reflects such a state. I won't even kiss on a first date, but the female characters I have dancing in my head wouldn't hesitate to go after something or someone they wanted, and that includes sexually. I, on the other hand, am nothing like that.

When I write from a character's perspective I tend to infuse a lot of myself into them. All my characters have a piece of my personality in them, except in this aspect. Maybe deep down I wouldn't mind for once throwing caution and upbringing to the wind and indulging in the fantasy of succumbing to a sexual attraction with a hot stranger.

I've never really thought any less of a heroine who sleeps with the hero "on their first date" but I admit to feeling differently in real life. Is that a double standard? Or is it that I already know the heroine ends up with the hero, while real life isn't always that easy.

What do you think of the heroine who sleep with the hero within a day of knowing him? Is the idea a little bit of a turn on or are authors portraying women in a bad light?

And that's my naughty thoughts on giving it up in the first chapter.

Later Loveys

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My Naught Thoughts : Is Strong Ever Too Strong

I got some great comments in response to my last post about leading females. I wrote about two types of heroines, the strong and the helpless. As I "penned" my thoughts on the strong heroine and used a few leather clad bad-asses as examples, it nagged at me that I might be setting up the idea that kick-ass only means physical. And then...how physically combative does she have to be before she loses her femininity.

So I included Jessica Rabbit as an example of a certain type of kick ass female. She may not be able to go toe to toe with werewolves, take on hoards of zombies, or slice a vampire's head off but weak she is not. If there is a spectrum of kick ass females, Jessica would be at one end of it. She's the type that oozes femininity and sexuality. After all, she was drawn that way. She sways her hips in an enticing rhythm, bats her sultry eyes, and puckers her pouty lips (I won't even mention what she does with those boobs). She's alot dainty, but from the first time I saw her, I thought....that chick is dangerous. Jessica is the girlie-girl bad-ass.

At the other end of the spectrum lies the alpha female bad-ass. She's so strong she comes off a little to manly. Sexy may not be the first word used to describe her. Either her body doesn't look very feminine, she doesn't dress feminine (no leather here) or her dialogue is a bit off putting...to "I need no one". I think Sandra Bullock or Melissa McCathy's characters in The Heat is my best idea of her. You have a hard time believing the love interest.

Sonja, Selene and Alice fall somewhere in between. The unobtainable bad-ass. Physically they are gorgeous women to look at, but personality wise they have their short comings. They're hard and lack any vulnerability. You wonder what they need the hero for. (Did you notice how Selene was always saving Michael?  It made him look like less of a man in my eyes).

As much as I love a leather clad fighter, I think I most relate to the girl next door bad-ass. Kind of like Buffy the Vampire Slayer (what vault did I dig that out of). She's cute and bubbly, wears the same kind of clothes I do, doesn't emasculate the hero with her strength and independence, but still needs him from time to time.

Most times when I read romance novels I forget the description of the character that the author gave (especially if there isn't a couple on the cover) and I start imagining them more from what they say and how they act (if that makes any sense). The words conjure the image in my head of either Jessica, Selene or Buffy. And as much as I enjoyed Underworld and Resident Evil, their heroines were just a little to far from the every day woman. I like when they're more like Buffy, they're a little more real to me.

And that's my naughty thoughts on strong heroines.

Later Loveys

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My Naughty Thoughts : Who's Hotter - The Kick-Ass Chick or The Damsel in Distress

Sonja, Selene and Alice. If you love vampires, werewolves or zombies you should recognize these names. What do these women all have in common ... besides black, leather, bodysuits? They kick-ass and look good while doing it. They're the type of women you don't mess with. They can take care of themselves and don't need the hero to save the day. They're an asset to him, not a hindrance. I love these kinds of heroines.

I like strong women who add to the story. She doesn't always have to be able to physically kick ass, a sharp tongue, a rebellious streak, a fearless soul or a woman who, instead of whimpering in the corner, picks up a lead pipe and bashes the villain over the head before he hurts the hero. I think Jessica Rabbit is a great example of a kick ass chick. She's beautiful, sexy and struts around in a tight red dress. If you didn't know her you wouldn't take her seriously as a threat right. But throughout the movie she had her man's back and she was a female no one messed with. A true femme fatal. A red-head with attitude.....

Then there is the flip side of the coin, the damsel in distress. The hero's always saving her, she's easy prey for the villain and she frustrates the hell out of me. You know the type...when the killer/zombie's chasing her she trips and starts crawling on her butt, crying and begging for him not to hurt her, and you're shouting at the book or movie...just kill her already... I quickly lose interest in novels with weak heroines that constantly need the hero to rescue her at every turn. Now this isn't the feminist in me talking, I like a knight in shining armour, but come on. The helpless heroine!!! She's just insulting.

I said in my ginger post that I'm partial to red-heads as my female heroine. The truth is I don't really care what the heroine looks like. I'm partial to red-heads because of the type of personality I'm expecting to see. I like fiery women who gives the hero a little trouble. Not trouble in the way that I'm cursing at the book because I'm frustrated at her stupidity, but trouble in the way that she doesn't make everything easy for the hero, she makes him work for it and she's not afraid to curse him out.

So unlike the heroes, who I'm sad to admit (no I'm not) physical appearance can be as important as his personality, for the women...eh...not so much. She can be gorgeous or she can be a plain Jane, it's irrelevant for me. Once she's strong, intelligent and kick ass.

And that's my naughty thoughts on kick-ass chicks.

Later Loveys

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My Naughty Thoughts : Are Gingers as Hot as Their Hair

In my brooders or sun-gods post I drooled over the two male archetypes of romance novels. In the same thought, and for the first time, it dawned on me; what about the gingers? Why aren't there any sizzling hot red-haired heroes. Aren't they sexy too? Or have they been relegated to only the pale skinned, freckled face supporting role.

So I did a Google image search for sexy men with red hair and well....let's just say they're as hard to find as a virgin in a contemporary romance. Don't get me wrong, I found plenty of red-haired men, they were easy to find...but those that look like they belong on the cover of a heated romance novel...uh...not so much. Truth be told you don't see that many red-heads as leading men in movies so why would novels be any different right. That's a shame though. Kevin McKidd and Sean McGowan are two specimens that proves the red-heads can not only hold their own, but give Batman and Thor a run for their money. I'm not really sure just how into a red-headed male lead I am, but I'm willing to give them a try. None of my character in my House of Dragons series are red-heads but maybe later down the line.

On the flip side of the same coin, when I paired sexy and red hair together in a Google search there was no shortage of gorgeous women with flame coloured locks of every shade. I guess when we think of sexy red-heads the first thing that comes to mind in a feisty female. I love the looks of Isla Fisher, Amy Adams and Emma Stone. It's like a cross between the fire we expect from a red-head tempered with a bit of cute innocence.

Another trait I've noticed when it comes to red hair characters is that when an author wants to make their heroine a spit fire with a temper to match, she's always a red-head. I've yet to read a novel with a demure, even-tempered, submissive heroines with a mane of fire. Not saying that brunettes or blondes are such, just that a red-head never is. I guess the personality come with the hair. I could be wrong.

I think I'm bios towards heroines with red hair. As soon as their physical appearance is described as such I think, '...huh she's going to give him hell...' and I like heroines who give their male counterpart a bit of trouble.

So I don't need to be told that female red-heads are sexy....my question is....are the men? Tell me your thoughts on whether or not they're leading man material.

And that's my naughty thoughts on fiery gingers.

Later Loveys

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My Naughty Thought : Who's Sexier - The Dark Brooder or The Golden God

In my love affair with romance novels, I've notice two types of heroes. The Batman type; dark, mysterious, tortured soul and the fun-loving, carefree, playboy sun god like Thor. So I began to wonder....just how rigid are us readers in what we find sexy in our hero. I've poured over many novels and can't remember a red-haired hero. Is a ginger sexy?

Me, I'm a Dark Knight chick myself. I like the smoky, mysterious look. A little darkness and danger in my leading man does it for me. Looks and personality, the darker the hotter. It's beyond sexy when the heroine finally breaks through his wall and makes the hero realize he doesn't want to live another moment without her in his life. I find myself having more of a connection to the hero that has a little more depth to who he is and why he is the way he is. I feel for him and the BS he's been through. I become so invested in him finally finding his happiness that I get frustrated when he screws it up. A hero who's had a perfect life seems a little shallow to me.

In all the romance novels I've read, only two heroes have really struck a chord with me. They both hail from the same series, The Black Dagger Brotherhood. I'm talking about Zsadist and Qhinn. If you've read their stories and didn't feel even a small twinge then you're just cold.

I guess my inclination towards the bad boys has coloured my writing and that's probably why all the male characters in my paranormal romance series have the darker personality. They may not all have the dark hair, dark eyes, but they all have a dark air about them. They all have issues in their pass that they're going to have to deal with.

Now my preference towards tall, dark and dangerous doesn't mean I don't like the other side of the coin.  I mean come on, Chris Hemsworth is droll over, to die for, drop dead gorgeous, and that accent...yum...anyway...Was I the only one who found Tim Hiddleston sexy as Loki in Avengers. I think I may have a thing for "bad" boys.

So when it comes to your taste in leading men are you the dark brooder type or the golden god?

And that's my naughty thoughts on hunky heroes.

Later Loveys

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My Naughty Thoughts : Sex Outside the Romance Novel

In my last post I posed the question as to whether or not we read romance novels for the sex or the story. Myself, I enjoy a good story. I find fulfillment whether or not the romance has sex, as long as I can connect with the characters and their story. But I would be lying if I didn't admit that the sex has left a mark on me.  It altered my perception of reality and what I should really have expected, outside the romance novel.

I was a naive, impressionable, virginal teenager when I began my foray into the romance genre. I kissed my first boy at the age of twelve and hadn't had my first sexual experience until I was eighteen. Somewhere in-between those years, after reading countless romance novels, I had given myself a false expectation of sex. Lesson learnt; virgins with over active imaginations shouldn't read romance novels.

What was I to think? with my innocent self. None of the heroines I have read about ever complained about the sex. Bad sex doesn't exist in romance land. Even when the hero was a virgin he magically seemed to know what to do to take the heroine to the heights of ecstasy. So forgive my naiveté for believing that sex was always good. No, not good, Tony the Tiger, grrrrrreat. 

I can't say I was disappointed when I finally took my nose out of the books. Just a little disillusioned. I thought after so much studying I would have been an A+ student. I thought my sex life would be like a romance novel, intense, fiery and a little dirty, but instead I found myself stiff and self-conscious.  It was a rocky road for me getting comfortable in my own skin. How do you go from being a virgin on one page to a freak in the sheets on another? After more than a decade I'm still not there yet.

Although I've never had bad sex, I've never had sex on the level of a really good romance novel either. Now am I talking about the physical bed play or the emotional connection that make for great sex. Does either even exist?

And am I setting up any future partner I'm with to fall short of my overly romanticized expectations? If he's not a strong, powerful man who's a force of nature in bed will he not measure up in my mind? Am I going to have something good, but still want for just a little bit more?

One more thing, have you ever noticed how in every novel fifteen minutes after they're done, the lovers are at it again. Is that even possible?

And that's my naughty thoughts on sex outside the romance novels.

Later Loveys

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My Naughty Thoughts : Is it the Sex or the Story

When I first started reading romance novels in my teens I became one of those people. You know… the type who hides the cover of their book when reading in public. Now almost twenty years later, when I read paperbacks, I still find myself lowering my book to my lap. When half naked hunky men or a couple writhing in passion grace the glossy cover of a book, it’s pretty obvious what you’re reading. Thank God for tablets.

It’s not that I'm ashamed to be caught reading such “trash”, I'm just tired of explaining to my friends that I'm not reading it for the sex, I really am reading it for the story. Then I get the ‘uh-huh’ look and I roll my eyes in my head because I know they've never even read a romance novel yet they’re judging. Those of us who like to indulge in this guilty little pleasure of ours know that there are some romance novels that don’t even have one line of sex. Romance doesn't always equal sex. It’s about the journey the characters are on. The obstacles they face, challenges they overcome and finally finding their happily ever after. Personally, I love reading about a powerful man whose heart is conquered by a willowy flower of a woman. I truly do skim the sex scenes and enjoy the banter between the hero and heroine. I like rooting for them to succeed, groaning in frustration at their near misses and being angered by a really good villain. I also like men on horses, ladies in long flowing gowns, and medieval castles. I do so love a good historical that can take me back in time. So poo....I like to read romance novels.

And now I've added the paranormal romance genre to my reading list. Oye...now I get two kinds of looks. The ‘uh-huh’ for reading a romance novel and the ‘what the hell’ for reading something about vampires and werewolves. I have to admit that I use to give my cousin the ‘what the hell’ look. Guilty. I didn't know any better. So why do I now read about witches and fairies? Because it's fun. They do humanly impossible things and live in this extra ordinary world where anything can happen. And the secret truth is...they're so damn sexy. Their stories always seem a little more intense, a little more dangerous. I love the darkness that seem to cloak the paranormal genre that's lighten by the romance between the main characters.

So yeah, romance novels have some sex. And maybe it is mommy porn for some of us. But its the story that really gets me going. A romance novel can have all the hot steamy sex scenes it wants, if the story's not there it falls flat for me. If the journey fizzles, I won't be reading book two. If I can't connect to the characters, then I've wasted my time. So I don't really care if there's sex or not, I just want a good story. Because a well crafted story stretches my imagination. For me when I read, it's like there's a little movie projector in my head and I'm seeing the story play out on a screen right in front of me. 

And that's my naughty thoughts about sex and romance novels.

Later Loveys