Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The 1990s - nostalgia anyone?

Hi everyone!

How are you doing all? Been quiet on blogland? I'm trying to blog, but I've been busy at work :( Even if I sit at the computer the whole day, I only managed to blog hop... Well I guess it's better than nothing. I hope everyone is doing well :)

This post is related to the reviews I just posted here. Basically, I read three Jayne Ann Krentz in the past few weeks and really enjoyed them a lot :) You can read how much by following the link or scrolling down. I started a separated post, because I wasn't sure if everyone would get to the bottom of the three reviews LOL :)

Anyway... so I read three Jayne Ann Krentz and liked I said, enjoyed them a lot... and I went to the library yesterday and basically picked up all of her books, but I particularly chose the one from her 1990s. Some bloggers had warned me about her books being formulaic and I know what they mean; however, it didn't bother me at all (which is strange a bit) and I've been really having a great time... and I wondered why.

It made me think of Nora Roberts - I've enjoyed almost all of her stand-alone books in the past... but I have to say, it seems there's been a shift in the past few years. Then, Judith McNaught... what did her contemporary romance had that made them stand out?... and then, when I figured it out... Most of the heroes in contemporary romances in the 1990s were... businessmen!

Isn't that weird? How the hero's job changes thing? But when you think about it, it makes sense... at least to me. Most of the businessmen heroes are described as cool, ruthless, smart, manipulative, going after what they want, etc. They follow a certain mold and it's the same for the storyline. It'll focus a bit more on merger and family feuds than murders... You get different characteristics with different types of jobs. I went back and looked briefly over my monthly reads list for the past few months... and I realized that none of the heroes were businessmen or if they were, that it wasn't the focus of the storyline (you know... because some of them sucks blood or change into furry animals :)... There seems to have been a shift in the professions of the heroes... there's a lot more heroes who are with the military or are cops, firefighters, lawyers, actors, retired jocks... or if not, they own a small business in construction but nothing big.

So why is that? How come our heroes aren't CEO or businessman anymore? Was it overdone? Is it because it's not attractive anymore? It's like we abandon a whole possibility of storylines... and so I guess the reason I'm enjoying the Jayne Ann Krentz so much at the moment... it's not just because of the stories and how well they are written... but it's a bit of nostalgia as well.

What do you think?