Why Blackmail?
You can see from my post on the April 2006 Harlequin Presents that the majority of the books relied on rich men blackmailing vulnerable women into being their (pretend optional) mistresses or wives. This suggests the HPs with this plot must sell like hotcakes, which is puzzling because these books were awful. Here're my brief thoughts.
What supposed female fantasy this exploits:
- Acceding to blackmail is a heroine's bona fides against being considered a golddigger, i.e., she's being forced into the relationship, not seeking it out. So when everything works out in the end, the hero never has to wonder if his money is the appeal.
- Plus if the blackmail involves sex, she doesn't have to own up to her sexuality and possibly be considered a slut.
- An über-desirable hero who is so desperate for a heroine that he resorts to blackmail to have her makes women mentally purr. I guess this could be a heady fantasy.
What it all-too-often looks like to me:
- The heroine is weak; she gives in to blackmail instead of standing up for herself. Could she tape the hero blackmailing her and then turn him in to the police?
- Or, alternatively, could she fess up to her own desires and just get it on with the hero instead of being "forced"?
- A hero who so lacks personality and pulling power that he has to rely on blackmail seems kinda sad, really.
- If he does have charm but faces a heroine who is so stubborn or spiteful or whatever that she won't give the hero the time of day, I'd rather just have the hero shrug and move on.
posted by P.Devi @ 11:56 PM permalink
7 comments
7 Comments:
I think a lot of these annoying structures in romance novels comes from the need to have the hero Be Very Powerful. He's very handsome, very muscular, rich, and talented, but usually he has to have some sort of power over the heroine. Historicals it used to be military strength, asshole alpha heros, and sexual infatuation.
I think the blackmailing thing lingers on because it is a good set-up for a short book. The characters have to meet Right Now and they have to have conflict Right Now and they have to stay bound together. The fact that the authors aren't doing much with it is a different topic. But I think the theme itself isn't going away any time soon--especially since blackmail isn't time-specific the way, say, kidnapping is.
I like the blackmail fantasy -- but its definitely a guilty pleasure. And it has to be done well; if I think the heroine is just a total idiot, and the writing is crap, all the guilty pleasure in the world won't save it.
What I want is a hero who blackmails for a really bad reason, not because he wants her and is just saying "you must marry me if you want to save your business/child/daddy/whatever" then actually falls in love with her and then crawls across the floor and licks her feet in apology, and then she smashes his face a little bit, but then is like, "Okay, you're rich and hot, so I guess I'll stay" (and of course, she's done whatever she needs to do without his help and behind his back, all the while getting her jollies in the bedroom.)
I'd totally read that.
My guiltiest one? THE DEVIL'S PAWN by Yvonne Whittal. Soooo bad but soooo good.
You guys are right; I'm sure I've read blackmail books that I've loved, even if I can't think of any. I agree that it can add intensity. I also agree the way the heroine deals with the blackmail can make or break the fantasy. Good points to think about.
I know I'd love to read the book you just described, Meljean, but forgive me my skepticism that a Harlequin Presents could be so satisfying! BTW, here's a blurb of DEVIL'S PAWN.
P.S.-Welcome back from your mini-break!
I have a run-down of it at my blog, too (my younger self helps me out): Missy does Yvonne.
OH, that was funny! And with so much truth in there. You must be a writer... Thanks for the link, Meljean. Amazingly, Yvonne Whittal never made it onto my radar, and the earlier HR author, Morgan Patterson, I'd never even heard of.
Totally off the wall, but I wonder if the pseudonym Morgan was linked to that nighttime soap actress in the 80s? Or what if the writer was really male? Morgan can be gender-neutral. I mean, the hero having a sense of humor seems mighty suspicious. You might note my own incredulity in the previous post about Anne McAllister having fun at the expense of the hero (who has a brief bout of trying to get a date/get laid, but keeps being thwarted.) OK, never mind, that's laughing at the hero, not the hero having a sense of humor himself. One of my pet peeves is when authors take funny, irreverent secondary characters we love and make them cardboard broody types when they take a turn at the starring role. This is the most stream-of-consciousness comment I've ever written. Let me randomly put a full stop here.
I always wondered about Morgan Patterson, too -- I've never found any other books by him/her, and after reading DARKER FIRE I searched like crazy. Haven't tried in ten years, though -- will have to look again online.
Oh! also that it was set in Colorado. I think that was one of the first HR I'd read set outside New Zealand/Australia/Europe.
Oh, well, lookee here. Morgan Patterson had one other romance published, a 1991 Harlequin Presents called WILD FLOWER WIND (#1366).
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