November 18, 2011
Am I the only one who has noticed the profusion of twitching Mr. Toads in romance novels these days? Why, it's almost an epidemic! I remember where I was when I read my first sentence with a "twitcher" in it. I lie, I don't remember where I was, I just know that the first time I read that word it was pretty much a fun moment. And then, it s-p-r-e-a-d, until now almost every book, every hero has a twitching Mr. Toad! They can happen anywhere - on horseback, in ball rooms, in dark alleys, leaning against a wall, in a carriage, in a library. And, anything can set them off! A sprightly turned ankle, a swan-like neck, a pert nose, the curve of a downy cheek, the bosom about to fall out of a gown. I feel sorry for all those heroes with this affliction. My eyelid twitches every once in awhile, so, for something that is quite a bit more sizable it must be rather embarrassing when one goes off. Especially, the requisite giant one our heroes have. We should breath a sigh of relief that they don't make noise when they twitch. Just think of all those twitching Mr. Toads in a Regency ballroom. Do you think it would be possible for all of them to go off at once? Duck! They're about to blow!
I think it is time for us to find a new descriptor - let's turn to the handy dandy Theasurus, shall we? We have flutter (not manly enough), shiver (nah, too weather-related); there's stir, tremble, shudder, tic, jitter, twiddle, quiver, dance, flip, flop and my all time favorite, blink. A blinking Mr. Toad. What do you think? Pretty descriptive.
And, now on to The Accidental Courtesan by Cheryl Ann Smith. Yep, there were twitches in this book, and with good reason. The heroine (Noelle) was a bit of a Mr. Toad teaser, if you get my drift. And, why shouldn't she be? She's a virgin hanging out at a school for courtesans. Makes perfect sense. Actually, nothing in this book really makes too much sense. This is the second in the series and it requires the reader really really suspend belief. I understand that authors/writers are trying to come up with something new, something different. But, sometimes we get lost in the unbelievable and the story turns into something that is so preposterous it's silly. A good writer can take any mundane plot and make it seem new again. I truly believe that Ms. Smith has the writing ability to do that, it's just that this plot was a distraction. It distracted from character development of both the main couple and all those wonderful secondary people that live within the pages.
I didn't care for Noelle, I thought she was a tease, and not a funny one. She had one hair-brained scheme after another and she led Gavin around by his twitcher. I hope future books by Ms. Smith have more character development and less unbelievable plots.
Time/Place: Regency England
Sensuality Rating: Hot
1 comment:
Said it before, will say it again: I LOVE your reviews!
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