I did have a problem believing in the reasoning behind Grace's fear of relationships because it was presented pretty superficially, in my opinion. It felt more like an afterthought or an excuse for Grace's behavior rather than a real emotional problem. Because of this, it was harder for me not to be judgy about her choice to hire escorts, which honestly did feel kind of sleazy to me.

This sums up why this is the first Megan Hart book I’ve read, and not liked. I LUUUUVED Broken. I loved Dirty. And I really liked (though didn’t love) Tempted.

Stranger I had a hard time relating too. I didn’t really enjoy reading it. The realism was wonderful, as usual. But the conflict was not relatable IMO.

Now, on to Deeper…

But I still felt that the novel had a positive ending because Grace finally allowed herself to love someone. She’s stopped letting her fear keep her from having a relationship. So, though I doubt the longevity of the H/H’s relationship, I was left feeling that Grace would get a HEA. It just might not be with Sam.

Anyway, what I had more problems with was the structure of the novel. A huge portion of it is spent on developing the heroine’s relationship with Jack, even to the point that I was hoping the blurb had been misleading and he would turn at to be the hero. Well, that wasn’t the case, which resulted in really little time for the H&H’s relationship to grow. I definitely agree that this left the ending rushed and the conflicts not developed enough.

Selene

I'm not sure I read Hart expecting a romantic feeling about the couple and their relationship, which may account for some of my reaction to this book.

I don’t really mean a romantic feeling about the couple – I have trouble expressing what exactly I’m looking for and what sometimes turns me off in my reading material. I used to call it “glamour”, but that suggests I just want to read about rich, beautiful people, and that’s not it, either. It’s more that I like a version of reality that is slightly smoother than real-reality. I don’t really like Westerns because I don’t want to read about people slopping the pigs, whatever is involved there. In contemporaries, I want reality (and expect a higher level of realism, if only because I’m more likely to catch things that feel false), but I don’t want the story to be so real that it feels dreary. I like that Hart deals with dysfunctional family relationships, but for me it’s a delicate balance between making it real and making it kind of depressing. I can’t really articulate why; I think it’s just that I prefer to have the reality in romances be a little heightened and intense – that feels romantic to me.

Megan Hart has been on my “I really should check her out” list for a while. It sounds as though Dirty is the book to read first, both for the interconnected characters and because it's the best, so I'll have to see if I can find it here in Australia.

FWIW, Hart’s books aren’t connected in the traditional way – her characters tend to have cameos in other books. It can be fun to spot them, but I don’t think their presence is large enough to necessitate reading in any particular order. Though as I mentioned, Dirty does seem to be a favorite among her readers, and I think gives a reader a pretty good idea of what Hart is about as a writer.

I have kind of a split attitude to realism. On the one hand, I really crave it; a book where the characters don't feel real or come alive for me is probably not going to get better than B- from me, no matter how good it is in other respects. On the other hand, I will admit that I like a patina of romance over my romance reading. I like dark, but not necessarily gritty. And I like real-life problems (especially in contemporaries), but too real can feel unromantic to me.

Jennie: My RTB column tomorrow is on the Romance/realism split, lol, so I’ve been giving the topic a little bit of thought. Ultimately, I think it comes down to how we each connect to the narrative, because some things that other readers find “too realistic” I really adore, but other things that some readers find really romantic read as very unromantic to me.

I’m not sure I read Hart expecting a romantic feeling about the couple and their relationship, which may account for some of my reaction to this book.

Anyway, I haven't read Tempted yet (I'm still on my Project TBR from last year), but I appreciate how Hart breaks generic conventions in her books, even if I don't always relate to the characters. To me, Hart's books have a realness and seriousness to them that a lot of other romances lack. Her characters have actual, real-world problems, not the “Oh noes, we've had a Horrible Misunderstanding!” ones I see elsewhere. Perhaps it's because Hart takes the time to develop internal, emotional difficulties for her characters, not easily-manipulated external ones.

In short, her characters can be pretty f-ked up, and their recoveries are not quick and simple. Hallelujah.

I have kind of a split attitude to realism. On the one hand, I really crave it; a book where the characters don’t feel real or come alive for me is probably not going to get better than B- from me, no matter how good it is in other respects. On the other hand, I will admit that I like a patina of romance over my romance reading. I like dark, but not necessarily gritty. And I like real-life problems (especially in contemporaries), but too real can feel unromantic to me.

I like Janet’s explanation for the reasons behind Grace’s issues, but if that what was Hart was going for, I wish it had been a bit more supported by the text. I also wish there had been more of a resolution. I felt that Grace just kind of “got over” all of her issues because she decided she loved Sam, and that felt a bit shallow to me.

MILD SPOILERS about Grace’s family:

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HERE THEY COME:

I felt that if you looked at Grace’s family, it was clear there were issues. The son was expected to take over the business, but he didn’t, and IIRC, he lives quite a bit away. Grace’s sister is always having Grace watch her kids, and for a while, Grace is sure she’s having an affair, and when we all find out what the sister has been doing, it is one more indication that these kids have issues. Plus her father’s on page behavior is very bullish, very imposing, and not particularly loving. While it wasn’t like Elle’s family on the dysfunction scale, it was enough to make me accept Grace’s fear of commitment and extreme need to be in control (both as an act of rebellion and as a similarity to her dad).

SPOILER for Dirty re. Jack
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In Dirty, Jack was in a threesome one night with Elle and Dan. But Elle was the focus of Jack and Dan’s attention in that scene.

Megan Hart has been on my “I really should check her out” list for a while. It sounds as though Dirty is the book to read first, both for the interconnected characters and because it’s the best, so I’ll have to see if I can find it here in Australia.

Janine, am I reading you correctly that Jack swings both ways?

(Oops, just realised that Jack is not the hero here. Pity. You don’t see enough (i.e. any) bisexual heros.)

And Robin, if you don’t think Hart breaks genre conventions, you need to read Tempted IMO. I would really love to hear your thoughts on it.

Anyway, unlike Jennie and Jane, I had no difficulty empathizing with the narrator-heroines of the abovementioned books. In fact, I enjoyed the fact that Hart wasn’t trying too hard to make me like them, but instead, presenting them as they were, in a way that was true to human nature.

But I did have some difficulty empathizing with and warming to Grace early on, and the funeral parlor work was off-putting to me as well. Between those two things, I ended up putting down Stranger, though before I started it, I was anticipating it so keenly that it was the very first book I purchased at the Sony store after I got my new Sony.

Now your thoughts on Grace, Robin, make me want to pick it up again. Maybe if I keep in mind her jerkish father I could come to like her better.

I recognized Jack from Dirty and I do want to know how his story continues. I also enjoyed the scene in which Dan comes to the funeral parlor, and wanted to see more of him and of Elle.

As an aside, when I discovered that Jack was in this book as well, I wondered what would happen if, sometime in the future, Dan, Elle, Sam (Dan’s brother) and Grace went out to dinner together and ran into Jack. What a weird moment that would be, since three of them were involved with him. So for me, the interconnectedness of the characters from book to book both serves the stories and doesn’t.

I’m not convinced that Hart “breaks” genre conventions in her books as much as tweaks and adapts them. I know that some readers find her books very unconventional, but if you view the book in skeletal form, I think Stranger moves like a pretty traditional Romance, even though its characters are non-traditional and the erotic aspects very developed.

To add to the unorthodoxy, Grace does eventually meet up and pursue a relationship (for pay, mostly) with Jack, her missed date from the bar.

Wait, this isn’t the same Jack who appeared briefly in Dirty, is it? Because Dirty and Broken had characters in common, I assumed Stranger would continue the trend.

Anyway, I haven’t read Tempted yet (I’m still on my Project TBR from last year), but I appreciate how Hart breaks generic conventions in her books, even if I don’t always relate to the characters. To me, Hart’s books have a realness and seriousness to them that a lot of other romances lack. Her characters have actual, real-world problems, not the “Oh noes, we’ve had a Horrible Misunderstanding!” ones I see elsewhere. Perhaps it’s because Hart takes the time to develop internal, emotional difficulties for her characters, not easily-manipulated external ones.

In short, her characters can be pretty f–ked up, and their recoveries are not quick and simple. Hallelujah.

All of which is to say, I’m looking forward to reading Tempted and Stranger, once I’ve finished decimating my TBR pile. *g*