In fact if this book was anyone other than Kleypas I wouldn’t care to read it. But I want to see what she does with it.

It seems to me to have a retro feel to it and belong in 80s romanceland. But I could be way off.

As for holly, I like her stuff, and the whole threesome stuff doesn’t count as a LT in my book *g*. Go figure.

The solution for the odd man out, I like how Holly handled it (dont’ want to give spoilers), but she didn’t demonize or provide a superifical romance for the other person, instead it was pretty realistic and appealing because the two who stayed committed also still recognized their attraction for the third person.

I have read and enjoyed love triangle stories, but they have to be sort of amazingly written to keep me reading. I like to know up front who’s going to get the girl so I know who to root for. And if it looks like the author is just going to drag it out to the end and keep me entangled in three sets of emotions, I have to skim ahead or toss the book. I don’t like big surprises as a reader and I’m not fond of “let’s find this poor schmuck also-ran a mate” sequels.

Lavyrle Spencer’s Twice Loved. The third wheel wasn’t villified exactly, but he was made kind of pathetic. It falls under a & b.

Carla Kelly’s Libby’s London Merchant. The third wheel (I’d include his name, except it would be something of a spoiler) wasn’t evil or hateful, although he was thoughtless and did some hurtful stuff; a lot of readers preferred him to the eventual hero. This book falls under c, since Kelly wrote his book later.

Oooh, I just remembered a third book — an old category from the late 80s or early 90s I think. [And if anyone can give me the title and author, she'll be amply rewarded :).] Heroine is engaged to a carpenter who she thinks is calm and average — he’ll be a good husband, which is what she wants after being married to a journalist who was never around and who died abroad on assignment. Out of the blue, journalist husband reappears — not dead after all! And she has to decide who/what she wants.

Seriously, I love triangles, as long as they’re written well, and the characters aren’t cookie-cutter -like, and the guy who doesn’t get the girl isn’t painted as the bad guy.

Triangles are more effective for me, when there’s an element of unrequited love in the story. I love the whole obligatory jealousy scene, when the hero finally realises that just because he can’t see what a treasure he has in front of him doesn’t mean that other guys are just as blind. Yep, me loves my triangles.

As to solutions? I guess a secondary romance or a spin-off to their own story is about the only way to go.

Of course, there’s nothing like a really good Gothic set-up where the reader isn’t sure about either the hero or the other suitor until the end. And sometimes not even then.

Or, in the case of demonization, I am irritated by the author’s heavyhanded portrayal of the wrong guy.

I did find one triangle that worked, though it’s not a strict romance. It was in Sarah Smith’s mystery The Vanished Child. The wrong guy was portrayed very convincingly, I thought. (Wonderful book, by the way.)