By: Dani Collins
Giveaway Alert!
I’m a huge
Mad Men fan and love the transition Peggy has made over the course of the show
from typist to Creative Director. It really brings home how far women have come
in a fairly short time.
You can see
the same thing in the evolution of romance novels over the decades. Many of the
first stories were reflections of reality—a woman’s lack of rights and choices.
Pride and Prejudice was a statement on the fact that women had to marry or face
a life of ruin or destitution.
But
somewhere along the line, as women gained a say in their own life, the nature
of the story conflicts shifted. This is purely my opinion and I’m no sociology
professor, but it looks to me that rather than seeing marriage as something to
attain—and worrying about whether she’ll be happy after the fact—in today’s
romances, heroines see love and marriage as a threat to their hard-won
independence.
This rings
true for me. For years I dreamed of nothing but having a career as a romance
writer. Do you have any idea how hard it is to type with a crying baby on your
lap?
I think
this is why I love Harlequin Presents. Those alpha-males are extra hard to
stand up to and demand some autonomy. (High stakes makes for good stories.)
This is also one of the reasons I chose to make my heroine in my June release,
An Heir To Bind Them, from India.
Jaya is a
modern thinking woman, but her culture is still very patriarchal and
traditional. This causes a lot of angst for her. She loves her family, doesn’t
want to disappoint them, but she wants more from her life than an arranged
marriage. On her journey to finding a career and independence, she bumps into
Theo who steals her heart and gets her pregnant.
Theo, of
course, wants to do all those sweet and smothering alpha things like support her
financially and marry her so her family won’t judge her for their illegitimate
child. He offers her the old-fashioned security that Eliza Bennett was supposed
to aspire to and Jaya knows that kind of security is important, but it’s a
compromise that undermines the woman she’s trying to become.
To give
Theo credit, his sister is a career woman so he respects female drive. He’s
instrumental in helping Jaya advance in her career before they hook up, which
is one of the reasons she falls for him. When he offers her marriage, he
sweetens the deal with some career advancement incentives. (He doesn’t think
his good looks, money and skills between the sheets are enough, bless his
heart.)
Still, it
all feels to Jaya like settling. What reason does the contemporary woman have
for marrying? We all know the answer. Love, of course. You’ll have to read the
book to find out if Jaya gets that from Theo. (Hint: it’s a romance novel.)
But what do
you think the modern woman wants? Love and marriage for security? Or do you
think love and marriage can actually be a stumbling block on the way to
achieving our heartfelt goals?
Giveaway:
I’d love to hear your opinions and will draw from the comments for a signed copy of An HeirTo Bind Them.
I’d love to hear your opinions and will draw from the comments for a signed copy of An HeirTo Bind Them.
Off the boss's payroll…and into his
bed
Jaya. Her name reverberates around
Theo Makricosta's head in time to the whirring blades of his private
helicopter. He must find her; only Jaya can help with the care of his infant
niece and nephew…. It's not because he hasn't stopped thinking about the single
night of mind-blowing passion he shared with the exotic beauty.
Jaya Powers couldn't refuse her
gorgeous millionaire Greek boss when she worked for him, and she can't refuse
him now! Only this time she has a secret. Their night together had consequences
that will change Theo's perfectly ordered existence forever!
EXCERPT:
“There’s
not a woman in the world with enough training to fix me. Don’t try.” Another
warning, his tone a little cooler.
She shook
her head. This was about fixing herself, not him. “I just keep thinking that if
I leave without kissing you, I’ll always wonder what it would have been like.”
That
sounded too ingenuous, too needy, but his quietly loaded, “Yeah,” seemed to put
them on the same page, which was remarkable. He stared at her mouth and hot
tingles made her lips feel plump. She tried to lick the sensation away.
His breath
rushed out in a ragged exhale. He loomed closer, so tall and broad, blocking
out her vision, nearly overwhelming her. But when his fingers lightly caressed
her jaw and his mouth came down, she was paralyzed with anticipation.
There’d
been a few kisses in her life, none very memorable, but when his mouth settled
on hers, unhurried and hot, she knew she’d remember this for the rest of her
life.
The smooth
texture of his lips sealed to hers. He didn’t force her mouth open. She
softened and welcomed his confident possession, weakening despite the nervous
flutters accosting her. He rocked the fit, deepening the kiss so she opened her
mouth wider, bathed in delicious waves of heat. Their lips dampened and slid
erotically. His tongue was almost there, then not, then—
He licked
into her mouth and she moaned, lashed with exquisite delight. This was the kind
of kiss she’d only read about and now she knew there was a reason they called
it a soul kiss. Her hand went to his shoulder for balance. She lifted on her
toes, wanting more pressure, more of him settling into her inner being.
With a
groan he slid his arm around her and pulled her tight against him, softly
crushing her mouth while digging his fingers into her bound hair. It was good,
so good. She reached her arms around his neck, loving how it felt to be kissed
and held so tightly against his hard chest and—
He was hard
everywhere.
BIO
After a
brilliant debut in the UK with No Longer Forbidden, a Mills & Boon Modern
Book Of The Month January 2013, Dani’s first Harlequin Presents, Proof Of Their
Sin, won the Reviewer’s
Choice by Romantic Times Book Reviews for Best First In Series. While her
focus is Harlequin Presents, Dani also writes romantic comedy, medieval
fantasy, and coming August of 2014, erotic romance. Whatever the genre, she always
delivers sexy alpha heroes, witty, spirited heroines, complex emotions and
loads of passion.
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I think modern women still want marriage and kids. Many of my younger co-workers do.
ReplyDeleteoops yenastone at aol dot com
DeleteI love your books too Dani.
Aw, thanks Tammy, and I think biology demands we have kids a lot of the time :)
ReplyDeleteI love the sound of this book, Dani.
ReplyDeleteI believe women can provide for their own financial security in many cases, but what they want is a partner to share their life experiences with.
Marcy Shuler
bmndshuler(at)hotmail(dot)com
Hi Marcy,
DeleteYes, you're right about companionship. I have a friend who just told me she was quitting dating in one paragraph of an email, then promptly told me about the guy she had met recently online who she was thinking of meeting up with in real life. No matter how frustrating courtship can be, we all want to have someone to talk to and do stuff with.