We are so excited to welcome you to the Must Read Romances blog launch!! We are celebrating Valentine's Day with a real treat: a peek into the thought process behind creating fresh and meaningful characters in author Hilaria Alexander's writing and an excerpt from her well-reviewed debut novel, Prude.
Sexy, Sassy, and Smart: Strong Female Characters in Modern Romance
Romance novels have always
been something I looked at with skepticism. But romance novels as our
grandmothers and mothers knew them have come a long way! In the last few years,
I found myself more and more attracted to the genre. I can say without any
shame that I don't think there's anything better than a good, lighthearted
story with an interesting plot and great characters. After a long day balancing
a million different things, it's the best remedy.
I love New Adult, but as I
entered the second half of my thirties, I noticed that, from time to
time, it's not as easy for me to connect with characters in their early
twenties. Usually, the characters spend the whole time chasing each other
or fighting, and you hardly see them together as a "couple". There's
so much heartbreak, so much angst. Sometime it's worth the pain, other times I
just can't take it, I’m too tired.
I do enjoy Contemporary
Romance, but whenever I try to find a novel where the characters are in their
thirties, most of them are still a little too cheesy and a bit old-fashioned. I
think I was in a book rut when I had the idea for my first novel: I wanted a
good romance story that was fun, sexy enough, with very little angst and
interesting characters. I wanted the characters to be closer to my age and have
a functional relationship.
I can't remember if I
always wanted the female protagonist to be a writer, but I kept thinking about
how certain genres of books had changed so much in the last few years,
especially young adult. I thought for sure, there had to be out there a writer
who was asked to "spice up" their young adult stories. I kept reading
about how authors were rejected or dropped by publishing companies and then ended
up being extremely successful through self-publishing. So that's where
the main character originated from. I thought it would suit more the character
if the female protagonist to have a little bit of an old-fashioned name, one
that wasn't too easy to turn into a nickname.
There always seem to be a huge
disparity between the two main characters in a romance novel. Somehow the
female character always feels like she is not good enough for him. Well, that
gets boring quickly. I thought Prudence had to have some insecurities (because
all women do), but that she shouldn’t dwell on it too much. I wanted her and
her love interest to be equals, to be partners, working together toward
something.
Prudence Clearwater is a
young adult writer and at the beginning of the book, her life is kind of a
mess: she’s been flat out told that her writing is too safe and not hot enough and she needs to spice it up
a bit. She didn’t like the sound of that, and she decided to leave her
publishing company on the spot.
When Ben Hallstrom, a
handsome book agent with a passion for surfing, shows up at a book signing wanting
to be Prudence’s new agent, she is diffident, even more so because he seems to
be so adamant about it. In the following passage, they meet on the beach the
day after he made her a business proposition.
Excerpt*:
*18+ content
I don’t even remember packing a
swimsuit, but I do find one in my bag.
I stare at Rebecca and Anya, but they
are still in a deep, deep sleep. The beach is right across the street. I don’t
have any sunscreen, but it’s still early enough where I won’t get sunburned. I
get dressed, grab my sunglasses, water, phone, headphones and a hotel towel to
put in my bag and step out.
It’s only nine in the morning, and
since most of the Hamptons’ weekenders were out partying last night, the
streets are pretty quiet. The air is crisp and almost a little too chilly right
now for my taste, but I do need some sun, so I lay down and plan to be here
until it’s time for us to check out.
I left the ladies a note, I’m sure they
will be sleeping for at least a couple more hours. I put my headphones on and
start listening to the music, closing my eyes. An hour or more goes by and I
feel the sun is getting warmer, but it still feels good on my skin. It’s so
bright that I can’t see anything through my sunglasses.
I forgot what it felt like to be on a
beach. I make a mental note to do this more often. Suddenly, I feel a shadow
over me. At first I dismiss it as a cloud, but I jump sitting up when I feel
droplets of water fall on me and find myself face to face with Ben. He is
mouthing something to me but I can’t hear him. I take the earbuds out and say,
“What? What are you doing here?”
Then my eyes take him in and I register
what’s going on. He was surfing. He is kneeling in front of me with his wetsuit
around his waist, and the board on the sand next to him. I really see him. Blue
eyes shimmering in the sunlight, wet hair dripping water, lightly tanned arms
and chest, and an amused, playful look on his face. God Bless America. And Sweden.
And the Atlantic Ocean in between. I’m
so glad I’m wearing my sunglasses, because I’m pretty sure my eyes are about to
pop out of my head. I have to remind myself to make sure my mouth isn’t hanging
open and that I’m not drooling. Dammit. F***ing f***ity f***.
Apparently, this is what a dry spell
will do to you; make you lose your f***ing mind at the sight of a handsome guy.
“I was saying, some of my friends were
getting quite distracted because of a brunette over here, moving her hips
pretty seductively. She looked like someone I knew, so I had to come see for
myself. What are you doing here Snow White?”
Snow
White? Ha-ha, very funny. Be cool, be cool, be cool.
“Just chillin’, man. Trying to get a
beginner’s tan.”
He sits next to me and grabs my phone.
“I want to know what were you listening
to…it must have been good, to get you to shake it like that!”
“Oh God!” I cover my face with my
hands, and I can hear him laughing. I glance over and he puts the buds in
his ears. He looks at the screen.
“What is this? J.Lo.? First Love, huh?”
He’s talking over the music while he’s
still listening to the song. He starts making faces and mock-dancing, moving
his arms and head to the music. I burst out laughing. He takes out the earbuds.
“How does a girl go from an underrated
Raconteurs song to this? Your sixteen year old self would be so disappointed!” He says, recalling
last night’s conversation.
“Hey!” I wave my index finger in his
face, “No shitting on pop music. Everyone needs some fun, sexy pop music in
their lives. It’s summer, and that right there, is the perfect summer song.
It’s hot.”
“You’re right, it is hot,” he says,
scanning my body with his eyes.
I suddenly feel naked. I have on a black bikini top and boyshorts bottoms that
probably make me look even paler. I’m suddenly self-conscious and hope my
shaving job from yesterday is not as botched as I think it is.
“You are distracting the surfers, young
lady,” he says all serious, biting his lip.I lean on my right side toward him.
“Damn, it would seem that these surfers
are easily distracted,” I say, seductively.
I’m surprised by how confident I feel
talking to him today. I can’t help looking at his body either, just like he did
with mine and am distracted by the droplets of water running down his chest. He
smells like salt water.
When I meet his eyes, they are dark and
serious, his jaw taut. I wonder if this is the look he uses on his prey. My
heart starts beating out of control. Don’t get so worked up, I tell myself. I
can’t hold his gaze so I turn towards the ocean, where his friends have gone
back to surfing.
“Doesn’t this area get too busy with
beachgoers to be able to surf?”
“Yeah, usually it does. But there
aren’t that many people this early in the morning and it's still pretty early
in the season. In a couple of weeks it would be nearly impossible.”
I lean back on my elbows and he doesn’t
move from his spot.
“Now that I think about it, where are
Bad Influence No. 1 and No.2? Why are you here alone?”
“Ha! That’s a good one. You know how
you took me back to the hotel right around midnight? I went upstairs to the
room and they were gone! Gone! They left a note saying they had gone out
drinking! They came back plastered at two or three in the morning, and they
decided we were all going to sleep together! I found myself in a Rebecca and
Anya sandwich, with both of them snoring in my face. I had to climb out and get
in one of the other beds. When I left this morning they were still completely
out. As a matter of fact I have to go soon and wake them up in time for
checkout.”
He shakes his head in disbelief, but he
probably knows just as well as I do that when they can get away from the kids
they like to party. I can’t even handle their level of partying; I’m a total
lightweight in comparison. I try to keep up the light tone between us.
“You should have introduced me to your
surfer friends. Since I was distracting them and all, I should apologize,” I
say playfully.
“Maybe I don’t want to introduce you,”
he says seriously.
Huh? What's that all about?
“It’s for your own good, honestly. They
are a just a bunch of sleaze balls. Unless you are looking for that type of
guy, in that case, any of them would be perfect, really,” he says, giving me a
glance that makes me shiver.
“I’m not looking for anything. But you
are correct, no sleaze balls please,” I say, letting out a sigh. I look away,
but I feel his eyes on me.
My heart rate hasn’t slowed down and
something in the way he looks at me has me completely turned on. I need to
leave.
“What time is it? I have to go and wake
those two up!”
“Too bad. I could have given you a surf
lesson,” he says, sounding disappointed.
“Ha! I took a surf lesson once. I don’t
know if I’m ready to embarrass myself in front of you like that!” I reply,
getting up and picking my stuff up quickly. I
put on my sleeveless, black jersey dress while he is still sitting down, never
taking his eyes off me.
He gets up and as he does, my eyes roam
over his beautiful body. He must be 6’2” or something. I look so short next to
him, and I’m 5’6”. He is standing just a foot away from me and I can’t make
myself look at him in the eye, but staring at his chest doesn’t help either, it
has me flustered in all kinds of ways. I’m
already acting stupid as it is. Better cut it short and avoid any kind of
awkward, semi-naked hug. But when I finally look at him, I see him staring at
my lips, and that makes me lose my focus entirely. He leans in closer.
What. Is. Happening? Is he going to
kiss me or is he just teasing me?
“Prudence…” he says, almost whispering,
but he doesn't add anything else. Run,
a voice inside of me says. Run away, now.
“I got to go! Bye!” I say breaking eye
contact. I grab my things and walk away.I leave him staring at me, a puzzled
look on his face, glorious in his half-nakedness.
What will happen? Will Prudence stay far, far away from Ben or
will she decide that working with him it’s worth the risk of falling for him?
Grab your copy of Prude and find out!
About the Author
Hilaria Alexander is the author of Prude. She lives in Oklahoma City with her husband and kids. When she isn't at work, she is reading, catching up on her favorite TV shows and making up story-lines in her mind. She loves traveling and is a self-proclaimed concert addict.