Girly Talk

Yesterday I mentioned a book excerpt where the hero lost his macho status with me within the first page or two with something he thought. It got me to thinking about other stuff I'd read where the hero was just a bit too girly in his speech to work for me. One was a historical romance, and the hero, while walking through the garden, had a knowledgeable discussion with another character on the difference between the colors lavender and lilac. {Snort. Show me a man who doesn't call 'em both purple. Go ahead and try.) And there was the romantic suspense where the eeevviill villain got enraged and called another man a jerk. Sheesh! Shades of my seventy-some-year-old mother!

I also got a good laugh from a contemporary romance that was one of a series featuring a bunch of brothers. It was going okay until the hero from the previous book began telling the hero of the current book how wonderful love and marriage were; his life had been transformed. That's what I want for myself, Hero #2 says. I hope I can be as fortunate as you. It'll happen, #1 assures him, as long as you open yourself up to the possibilities. It went on for two pages, and it was so flowery, so touchy-feely, so gosh-darn sensitive that I wanted to puke.

I'm not suggesting every hero needs to be a take-charge, me-Tarzan-you-Jane, chest-thumping bossy bastard. I don't like those kind of heroes, either, except in the hands of a master. But when it starts feeling like the hero is more emotionally evolved than any male on the planet besides Dr. Phil, it just gets crappy -- and when he's more emotionally evolved than any woman I know, it's damn near creepy. Jeez, who wants to read about a romance between a woman and a girly-man? Rachel11:58 AM