So, I’ve had some fun lately with men reading my books. Obviously some men have always read Blaze. Sometimes it’s a wife or girlfriend who hands her man a book and says, ‘read this. This is what women want 
and sometimes a guy’s just curious. But lately, I’ve had the odd experience of having quite a few men I know or only sort of know read my books. Here’s a random sampling of thoughts. First, from Rob who read Under the Influence. Rob’s a single lawyer and took my book on a boys’ skiing weekend. Apparently, they all had some fun times reading aloud from my book. A boys’ weekend? Wonder what scenes they were reading! But what he said to me was that it struck him that before my heroine slept with the hero she’d noticed how clean his bathroom was. He was quite enlightened by the fact that hygiene is a real turn on for women. Yes, I do my bit to spread the word that slobs aren’t really sexy to us. Next was Rick. Rick’s a 62 year old guy in my hiking group. He’s been married for a long time and I think the marriage has dwindled to convenience and he likes to think he’s a bit of a chick magnet. He read a NASCAR Valentine’s novella I wrote. In that story, the heroine ends up in Daytona during Valentine’s after being falsely lured there by a married man pretending to be single. When she finds out she dumps him, as any good heroine would, and then meets the hero. Rick can’t get past the fact that my heroine dumped the married guy. He thinks I’m way too hard on cheaters. :-O Go figure. Then my screenwriting buddy Doug read Too Hot to Handle. We ended up having a really interesting conversation about the ways women and men communicate. My favorite part of the Doug story is that he read the book on public transit. I love the picture of him, this tall, serious man holding a bright red Harlequin with a sexy cover. He told me he definitely got some female attention on the bus.
What about you? Do you know men who read romance? Do you think it would be good for them? I know a Harlequin hero is too much for most mortals to live up to, but I think men can learn a lot by reading what we value in a man. For me it’s honesty, integrity, sense of humor, oh yeah, and a clean bathroom.
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I enjoy a wide variety of book genres, and sometimes only a romance read will do. Sometimes, a very specific type of romance is needed. Could be “heart with heat” or “heat with heart”. Paranormal or erotic romance may be just the ticket. Maybe you want a fun, sexy romp of a romance : ) There is so much variety in the romance read world, and so very many talented authors! Truly something for everyone! Having said all that, I think men should try out a few different types of romance reads–at the very least, just for their own enlightenment! Most of us will not resemble the attractive, appealing lead characters, but we will see some of ourselves somewhere in the story line. Also, I am very sure that the majority of men, not matter how much they deny it, would be aroused and involved by a good “heat with heart” story. It might become a very enjoyable habit for them. They might look at women with a greater appreciation of what makes us tick. If I had seen the “tall, serious man holding a bright red Harlequin with a sexy cover”, he would definitely have captured my attention! I would have loved to read that same book and then discuss it with him. We might all learn something in the process. What fun we could have!
I don’t know any men that read romance. I think it would be great for them read it, but the men in my life are to “manly” to read them.
I don’t know any men that read romance novels. My husband calls my books trashy books and I’ve given up arguing with him and just say, “Hmmm.” I can understand why he might think so because some of the covers do depict HAWT on the cover, you know?
I agree that paranormal or erotic romance are probably the two romance sub-genres most likely to attract men. When I was in grade school and junior high, I used to sneak peeks at my mom’s romance novels “in search of the good parts.” (K) I wonder how many other men had similar experiences?
BLAZE is one of the series lines that I read regularly. If not for the shirtless men on the covers, there have been quite a few — especially baseball or other sports-related ones — that I could see more men enjoying.
Hey Nancy, do you think you could share the pic with your writing buddy reading on public transport? If I saw a man reading a Blaze or any other “girly” book in public, it would definitely pique my interest. I mean, they are that comfortable with their manhood and show it….HOT!!!! That said, I don’t know many men who do read romances or at least, admit to it. I gave a friend of mine a Blaze, one of the less heated ones, lets say…it was hard to choose. I was trying to initiate her into reading Blazes. She told me that she tried to read it with her boyfriend, now fiance and it made him feel uncomfortable. She said she felt embarrassed while reading it too. I definitely think men should read these books. They will definitely learn something new…I mean, I learn something new everytime I read one, so imagine what they will learn. Great post for today.
Peace and love,
Paula R.
Nancy, I met a man who reads romance a couple of weeks ago. Entirely unprompted, he said that more men should read them. He’d picked up a historical romance because his late wife read them and he was curious. He enjoyed the story (it was a mistaken identity plot) and then said it gave him insight into the way women think. (Y)
Paula, it’s a mental picture I carry around with me. Sadly, I do not believe there is evidence. Though next time I see him I’ll definitely tell him what the reactions were from us. I think men sometimes get the mistaken impression they must always act tough to appeal to us, when sometimes the sexiest thing ever is a guy in a bubble bath or playing with a baby or — sigh — reading a romance novel.
Heather, that’s great. Perhaps the novels are a connection to his late wife. And who knows, they may help him connect with a new woman.
Nicole, I hear you. I think a lot of men feel that way.
Virginia, what a very thoughtful post. You’re right, for us it’s the ‘heat with heart’ which makes us all gooey. It’s good for men to see that.
Now I must walk one very anxious border collie. Max has no interest in any romance novels sadly unless he can pee on them.
Nancy
Great post!
I had a few boyfriends and guy friends in my life over the years who when seeing my nose buried deep in a romance would ask me to “read the sex parts outloud”, but none would actually pick up a romance book and read it for themselves.
MsM
My husband would never read a romance book. Even if I have a great ‘scene’ to share with him, he pooh-poohs it.
Hey, Andrew, great to hear from a man. And good for you for reading romance! I’m working on a hockey Blaze right now. I agree that there’s more crossover than there used to be between ‘female’ subjects and ‘male’ ones. Interesting how many women are into sports these days. And men are into cooking and home dec etc.
Elizabeth, I’ve found that men are usually pretty interested in what I do for a living and usually quite pleased to get a book. Then I’d say maybe one in three actually reads the entire thing. Some don’t read anything and some skim for the naughty bits.
Katie, try it in bed sometime. A scene that gets you really hot may well do the same for him (U) . I
Nancy, I think Blazes would be great for men to read, not only for “instruction” in the bedroom, but, for how different men & women think about relationships after sex (I’m not thinking specifically, but, generally, for both sexes).
I have an adult son, who’s single. When he reached manhood & was dating I offered to answer any questions he had about what women liked in bed. I thought this was a generous offer, & he said, “I KNOW what to do. Why would I want to discuss it w/my mom?”. It’s just this prejudice that keeps men in-the-dark about women & sex–LOL.
Patricia
Oh, God, Patricia, that was so brave of you! I basically had the ‘always, always use condoms’ talk with my son and left it at that! But you’re right. It seems to me that so much of great sex isn’t really mechanical, it’s connecting and being open to finding out what your partner likes and wants.
And for any men who might be reading this, in the bedroom it really is okay to ask for directions
I have a cousin named Howard who reads Harlequin all the time. He is like me. He can sit down and will read one in a single day. I know some of the things written within the covers are more than likely unobtainable but that is what the reading of a fantasy couple is all about right. (Y) I do think men can learn a little about how to communicate to a woman by reading these and at the same time a woman can learn how to put a little flirtation either into her marriage or relationship. It can’t hurt right?
Patsy, I absolutely agree!! Anything we can do to help understand each other as men and women is great. Good for Howard! Please give him my love (L) .
what gets me, is my fella use to read, about freaking alines and spaceships and stuff and “”romance”" books wasnt real ,, DUH was his spaceship wielding swords warriors real?
romance has a better chance of being real :-S