Animals in Romance

Do you like animals in your stories? I’m not talking about novels about animals, like Black Beauty or Beautiful Joe, although I did love Marley and Me and All Creatures Great and Small. I’m not talking about shape-shifters either, although Kathryne Kennedy does a fabulous job making you believe that people can turn into horses and lions in her Relics of Merlin series. 

I’m talking about animals as companions (or sidekicks, if you will) or even crime-solving felines like the ones Lillian Jackson Braun writes about in her Cat Who series. Dogs and cats, even horses and other creatures that bring something special to a story (I recently finished writing a novel where the heroine owned a sea-faring cat – or should I say the cat owned her as we all know, one never owns a cat-the cat decides you are worthy to be his/her companion). There is a dog in my current novel in progress, not a crime solving dog but a faithful friend and protector.         

          

Angie Fox has Pirate, the talking dog (granted, only Pirate’s owner can hear him) in The Accidental Demon Slayer (I admit, I love this dog!). Lisa Kleypas has all kinds of critters in her Hathaway Series (which I love).

         

I’m an animal lover. Have been all my life – just can’t seem to help myself – and I love it when an author includes a furry, four-legged companion in a story. What are some of your favorite books that feature an animal as sidekick?

 Happy Reading!

Marie 

A Book By Any Other Name?

As Shakespeare says, “What's in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet.” So would a book by any other name be as good? YES. The question lies in whether it would sell. How important is a title to a romance reader buying a book?

As for myself, when it’s time to find a new book to read, I start with my favorite authors. If they have a new one out, I buy it. I don’t read the title or the back cover. But what about when I look for a new author to try, then the title matters . . . somewhat. Okay, maybe it’s really the cover that catches my eye.

However, there are a few titles that have drawn me in over the years because they were different. WHITNEY, MY LOVE by Judith McNaught caught my attention, as did Jennifer Ashley’s THE MADNESS OF LORD IAN MACKENZIE. Another romance I read simply because I thought the title was clever was Angie Fox’s THE ACCIDENTAL DEMON SLAYER. But I have to admit, these are few and far between.

I guess the title matters for me when it gives me an idea about what the book is about. For example, if I’m in a Scottish mood (which happens a lot), my eye naturally travels to titles with the word “highland” in them. If a swashbuckling adventure is more my wish, then of course I look for “pirate” or “sea.” There are many other words in titles that give us an immediate impression: demon, cowboy, bite, warrior, wolf, knight, just to name a few.

So does the title really matter? Will you buy one book over another because of the title? Does the title influence your decision to read the book? Does it call you to pick it up and read the back cover? Let me know.