Thanks for posting at BookSphere!

I’m pleased and interested to get your feedback on the two books, Luke’s Daughters and Matt’s Family. I put all of myself into those stories and I really think they’re some of my best work.

I have a good friend who doesn’t like Matt for many of the same reasons you don’t like Kristen–maybe that means those two were made for each other! An online review was quite critical of Matt’s Family in general, calling it depressing, I think.

I suppose my response at this point would be that even imperfect characters deserve a happy ending. More importantly, I think novels, even romance novels, can and should encompass imperfect characters.

I get in trouble, occasionally, because my heroines wander from the path of “sympathetic.” I try to comply when my editor says that, because I want to keep publishing books. As a reader, though, I like to see even whiny or abrasive or obstinate women get their men, because women in real life might possess one or all of those flaws. There’s someone for everyone, I’d like to think. And the duty of a romance novel is to bring them together.

Matt and Kristen fell in love at a young age, and were separated at a young age. I think once their relationship had a chance to develop, there would be no question of Kristen’s faithfulness. If Matt had gone to Iraq, Kristen would have supported him and been completely faithful during his absence, welcoming him home with open arms because she truly loves him. She might not have been a strong woman when she married Luke, when she left him, or even when she married Matt, but I believe his love and support allowed her to mature.

It’s pretty cool, analyzing my own book! Thanks, NJ, for the chance to revisit those issues. There’s nothing I like better than hearing from readers.

All the best,

Lynnette

I find both Brennan books rather disturbing in a way, as I always have to stop halfway through each to imagine what would have happened if Matt Brennan simply said to hell with Kristin Jennings, and found some wonderful woman to love him and put HIM first (I was truly happy when Luke was able to do so).

Even though I was totally intrigued with the Matt/Kristen love story, I dislike the Kristen character as a “person.” I find her selfish and spoiled, with no ability to communicate in any honest way. Not with Luke, not with her children, not with her parents, and especially not with Matt.

Kristen claims to love Matt, but doesn’t show it very well (even though she pats herself on the back for going out of her way to be what he “wants her” to be). She continually goes on a guilt trip that makes the reader wonder if she was glad to be married to Matt at all! She’s less than truthful with him, and withholds her feelings from him.

I think the thing that upset me most with the Kristen character is when she questions Matt’s feelings for her and their marriage because he “only” proposed to her when she and Luke had separated!!!!! What? She expected him to express his undying love for his brother’s wife while they’re still together? Matt’s integrity in keeping away as tough as it was for him didn’t impress her?!!!

I also cringed when Kristen worried so much about how Erin’s bad attitude would “kill” Luke emotionally, but seemed to dismiss Matt’s daily hurt caused by the girls because he was so “strong.”

Again today, after I finished “Matt’s Story” for the umpteenth time, I wondered what would have became of the Brennan’s with the start of the war in the middle east in the mid 2000’s. In my mind, I see Kristen getting pregnant by and thinking herself in love with another man while Matt has been away serving his duty for two years straight in Afghanistan or Iraq.

I see Matt getting wounded and waking up to Luke and Sara at his bedside, because Kristen is months pregnant by this other man. All of which she has hidden from them all, until it could not be hidden any more. I see Luke, and Sara, the children, and especially eldest daughter Erin, helping the wounded Matt heal and return once again to “the world.”

Yet, I also see Matt loving Kristen enough to forgive her, and take her back as his wife, and her returning to him. Because she loves him? Or because she feels like she’d embarrass her parents if she didn’t?! Or because of the disappointment of her children. Who knows with Kristen.

If you ever do write another Brennan story, I hope that your storyline will be more positive than the one I describe above. Even though I think Kristen was a bit of a jerk, I’d like to think that in the end, she would have been a loyal wife and partner to Matt.

I look forward to your future books.

1. The Lightheart, Elswyth Thane
2. Persuasion, Jane Austen
3. The Bible
4. Shakespeare’s sonnets
4. Unfortunately, Rainer Maria Rilke’s work comes in 12 volumes, so I’d have to pick some of his prose
5. And some of his poetry
6. A Wind in the Door, Madeline L’Engle
7. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson (This has been sitting on my shelf for as long as I can remember. It’s certainly been dipped into every so often, but I think it’s begging for a trip to a desert island)
8. Les Miserables (in French), Victor Hugo
9. Le Petit Larousse (for reference)
10. Nobel Lectures in Peace 1981-1990 (includes the Dalai Lama, Elie Wiesel, Desmond Tutu, Gorbachev, among others)

Does anyone else do this? Maybe sit at home with no one else around and read in a loud voice to yourself? I like to hear the way the words sound out loud sometimes. And it sometimes helps me find my way into a book that hasn’t really pulled me along so far.

You (and JAK) have an interesting point about genre fiction. When you want to read a romance – or sci fi or fantasy – you know what to look for in the bookstore. You have a particular type of experience in mind.

In literary fiction, I think the reader goes in rather blindly, unsure of what the author might do and, in the end, what sort of journey they’ll be taking. This can be a good thing, especially if the writing is wonderful and the story ultimately satisfies in some way.

But in an increasingly unpredictable world, there are readers who want to know what they’re getting into with a book before they invest the time. Maybe they have limited funds to spend on pleasure reading, or only a few minutes to themselves before bedtime. Series romance is probably the most dependable reading format – readers buy a book from the Silhouette Desire line knowing they’ll get a short, sexy read, sure they won’t have Jack Nicholson popping in to put an ax through the door and shout “Daddy’s home!”

That’s the virtue of Harlequin’s publishing format – giving women (and some men) what exactly the romance they want to read at this moment in time.

And, really, how often anymore do we get exactly what we want when we want it?

LK

I hear you on the disdain that romance novels – and Harlequin in particular – receive in polite company: often by people who don’t read at all! One of my favorite essays on the subject is by Are we there yet?, a keynote speech given by Jayne Ann Krentz at Bowling Green State University. Basically, she argues that Romance novels are a powerful force in the industry (duh!), but that part of the reason it (along with mystery, sci-fi, etc.) is so easy to look down upon is because it *doesn’t* have to put on airs to market itself. People seek genre fiction out for what it is, and not because Oprah recommended it, or some New York Times columnist called it “Lyrical and Invigorating.” In other words, they’re just jealous

Incidentally, I stumbled across this page while adding an entry about you to Romance Wiki (No, I’m not associated with it, but it’s being populated by volunteers at this point). Feel free to check the page out here, and add additional content if you’re feeling brave! The Wiki is a good project, and I really hope the romance community can get invested in it.

**I tried to post this before, and it didn’t show up. I apologize if this is a duplicatetriplicate post, and if so give you full permission to delete.