Alyson's Sunday Six

Last Saturday, I wrote a blog on heroes. It included an impromptu "Saturday Sixteen" of the most fabulous female protagonists, or heroines, in my humble opinion. This week, for our "Sunday Six," I did my best to stick to the romance genre. I also tried to explain why I like who I like. I'm posting this "early" because it's going to be a busy day here in Chi-town. (Go Bears!)

Here we go:

1.Elizabeth Bennett of Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen.

I’m a Jane Austen girl all the way-- I reread the whole lot of her books once every three or four years. For me, no romance heroine quite compares to the one and only Elizabeth Bennet. At a time when the behavior of women was expected to be, in every way, polite and restrained, Elizabeth refuses to be pushed into anything. She’s smart, spirited, witty, loyal, independent, kindhearted and yet she makes mistakes. Her judgment is not always dead-on-- and when it's not dead-on, it's not dead-on in a big way. But she’s willing to admit she’s made mistakes—and, in the end, we’re all thrilled that she gets the delectable Mr. Darcy.

Jane Austen said, "I must confess that I think her as delightful a character as ever appeared in print, and how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like her at least, I do not know."

I totally agree.

2. Julia Quinn’s witty heroines of the Bridgerton series, but especially . . .

• Daphne Bridgerton of The Duke and I
  
• Penelope Featherington of Romancing Mr. Bridgerton
  

Okay, so no one compares to Elizabeth Bennett, in my opinion—or Jane Austen—but Julia Quinn is good. Really good. Deft plotting, witty repartee, expert characterization, spirited heroines, a Regency setting, great romances, and heartwarming happily ever afters. I believe in the love of her couples, which is saying a lot. Julia Quinn gets it right. Of course, this isn’t about Julia, it’s about Daphne and Penelope—seemingly “ordinary girls” with warm hearts, bright spirits, dry wit and so much intelligence. I was really delighted by them and their love stories, especially Penelope’s—which incidentally I hadn’t read as of last Saturday when I posted my Saturday Sixteen of fabulous female protagonists. I would have included Penelope for sure.

Penelope is a plain, “slightly plump,” very smart spinster—who also happens to be very shy around those she doesn’t know well. She has a big secret which I won’t divulge—a secret bigger than her huge crush on her best-friend’s brother. What I love, love, love about Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, Penelope’s story, is that I truly believe Colin falls in love with her. (Same is true of The Duke and I – but Daphne’s not quite as much of a wallflower and the duke is attracted to her early on so there’s less of a burden to the author in that one, in my opinion.) I’ve read several novels in which a hunk falls for a so-called plain Jane but usually the author doesn’t convince me, doesn’t actually get me to buy into the love story completely. I smile at the end, and think “there's no way that would last in real life.” So call me a cynic. The point here is that I buy into Penelope and Colin. Completely. They have something interesting in common (can't divulge) and they really are such great friends-- and she's been in love with him forever, and deep down he knows it. Go Penelope! (Go Julia!)

3. Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser of The Outlander Series

The Outlander series is an epic, epic saga of time travel, adventure, romance and love everlasting but at first, publishers and bookstores had no idea how to categorize it. I think for the most part now it’s sold as “romance’—but it’s so much more than that. Here's a not-so-brief description: At the end of World War II Claire Beauchamp Randall, a British Red Cross nurse, and her historian husband, Frank, have gone to Scotland to try to resume their married life where it left off six years before. Their diligent efforts to have a baby come to a halt when Claire discovers an ancient stone circle on a nearby hilltop. She slips between two mysterious- looking boulders, and is transported to the year 1743. Stumbling down a hillside, disoriented and confused, Claire is discovered by Jonathan "Black Jack'' Randall, an evil English officer-- who happens to be her husband's direct ancestor. He bears a striking resemblance to him. Randall notes Claire's revealing 1940's summer dress, assumes she is a whore, and attempts to rape her, whereupon she is rescued by the fierce MacKenzie clan, who take her to their castle and confine her there. Claire adjusts to her situation with amazing ease, using her nursing experience to tend to her hosts' illnesses while she impatiently awaits a chance to return to the circle of stones.

Before she can get away, the circumstances force her into a marriage with James Fraser, a young Scottish renegade -- and Jonathan Randall's archenemy. Jamie's good looks, passion, and virility soon persuade Claire to redirect her energies toward defending her new husband against her former mate's evil clone. However, at the end of book one, she travels back to her time, pregnant with Jamie’s daughter. Book two picks up twenty years later. Claire is now a physician.

Gotta love Claire. Did she sit around moping during those twenty years? Hell, no. She raised her daughter, tried to make it work with her husband and went to med school.

Mostly, I love, love, love Jamie, I admit it – but Claire is smart, resourceful, adaptable, kind, funny, loyal and very much a survivor. They’re definitely a power couple—and their story is just so breathtaking. This is my favorite “romance” series by far.

Oh, incidentally, of course she goes back in time to rehook up with Jamie . . . c’mon. It’s everlasting love.

4. Anita Blake of the Vampire Slayer series by Laurell Hamilton

Anita Blake is an Animator and Vampire slayer who raises zombies for a living. I ‘m not sure she technically qualifies as a romance genre heroine—but she does have plenty of romance with a hot vamp named Jean Claude, an Alpha werewolf, some wereleopards . . . and so on. Lots of romance . . . and ardeur.

I love her because she’s a brave little bad ass—but in an oddly relatable and endearing way. I’m not alone. Google her name and check it out.

5. Gemma Dante of Total Rush by Deirdre Martin

What’s in a name? Apparently a lot. My son’s name is Dante and if I ever had a girl, I wanted to name her Gemma so I am really partial to this heroine's name. I admit that. Besides that, however, Gemma is an unconventional free spirit, a stregh (Italian for witch), with a very kind heart. She owns a New Age shop, practices Wicca, reads tarot cards but she also helps her boy cousins find mates, takes care of her grandmother with Alzheimer's, falls in love with a "hot" firefighter who hates the smell of her incense . . . and she stayed with me for longer than most romance heroines do. Now, what’s interesting is that a lot of Amazon reviewers didn’t like the romance as much as they liked the romances in Martin’s other books in her hockey romance series. But hey, we’re talking heroines not love stories here, no? Gemma's a good heroine.

6. Last minute new additions

Okay, technically that’s six since I listed two of Julia Quinn's heroines-- and I didn’t resort to putting Scarlett O’Hara or Stephanie Plum on my list, though I was tempted. (Love them both—and I probably could make arguments as to why they could be counted as romance heroines.) Instead, I’m going to end with two honorable mentions —

First, I really liked Clare Lancaster of White Lies by Jayne Anne Krentz. Here’s a teaser from Book Description:

Petite, thirtysomething Clare Lancaster is a Level Ten para-sensitive-and a "human lie detector." Over the years, she's come to accept that someone with her extraordinary talents is likely to have trouble in the relationship department. And she's even resigned herself to the fact that everyone, to one degree or another, hides behind a façade. . . .

Another unconventional, petite feisty chick with smarts aplenty and special abilities. This was the first book by Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick that I’ve read and it was a fun romp. It’s part of her new Arcane Society series.

Second, I have been eagerly awaiting the latest installment from Susan Elizabeth Phillip’s Chicago Stars series, Natural Born Charmer. The lay down date is 2/6 which means I’ll be at Borders on Tuesday morning. I really enjoy her books. All of them. I admit however that so far none of her heroines stand out enough to make my favorites list—Annabelle Granger of Match Me If You Can was close . . . but not quite there. Why? Not 100% sure. Not quite feisty enough I think. Based on the review of Natural Born Charmer at Squawk Radio, however, I'm highly anticipating a new addition to the list. Woo hoo! Check it out and let me know what you think.

Cheers and happy reading! Alyson