I attempted to read to you today. You loved it! you just stared at me while I read to you and before I knew it, you were asleep! Heaven.
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Good afternoon readers! And what a fantastic day for a Tempting Tuesday! As I sit here writing, I look outside and it's SNOWING! Yes, yes, yes! I adore the snow and it just puts me in such a fantastic mood. I just finished up a book by an author (that I may very well do a blog about on a later date) that has quickly become a favorite of mine in her genre. That genre being the always lovely and swoon worthy, Historical Romance. I took a moment to sit and think about all of the things that make her one of my favorites and I keep coming back to the fact that her writing style is almost identical to another of my Top 10s, Julia Quinn. I have such a soft spot for her writing and anytime I see that she has come out with something new I, quite literally, jump in may car and RACE to the book store...or just sit at home and buy it on my Kindle. Mostly, I sit at home and buy it on my Kindle...but, man, do I race to that Kindle. (hehehe)
So, without further ado, I introduce to you one of the Titans of the Historical Romance genre:
JULIA QUINN
Julia Quinn, true name Julie Pottinger, was raised primarily in New England, although she spent much of her time in California. Even as a small child she just absolutely devoured books. Her father, like most fathers of teenage daughters, disagreed with her choices of reading material. Sweet Valley High books were just not what he thought a young lady should be reading. Being a very rational man, he told her she could only keep reading the books if she could prove that they were good for her. Mrs Pottinger then blurted out that she was studying them in order to write a novel herself. Challenged to prove that she would stand behind her quite made up reasoning, Mrs Pottinger sat down at their family computer and wrote her first two chapters. Three years later, after she finished her novel, she submitted it to Sweet Dreams Publishing Co., but was rejected.
Moving forward with her life, Mrs Pottinger graduated from Harvard with a degree in Art History. During her senior year of college, she did what most college seniors do and panicked, realizing that she had no idea what she wanted to do with her degree. After contemplating several different career paths she decided to attend medical school. However, while attempting to occupy her down time and relax a little during the long days of studying in under-grad, Mrs Pottinger began writing light-hearted Regency romance novels. A few weeks after she was accepted to medical school, she discovered that her first two novels, Splendid and Dancing At Midnight, had been sold at auction, an unusual occurrence for an untrained, first-time romance novelist. She postponed medical school for two years while she decided if writing was truly something she could be satisfied with and successful at. By the time Mrs Potinger entered Yale Medical School three more of her books had been published and after only a few short months of studying medicine, and constantly daydreaming in the fashion of Historical Romance, she realized that she preferred writing novels to taking notes. She left medical school and devoted herself full-time to her writing, and thank goodness for that!
A feminist at heart, Mrs. Pottinger gives her heroines feminist qualities that are famously not necessarily true to the times that her novels are set in. Uniquely humorous, with witty, entrancing dialogue, primarily character-driven and usually involving large families (each member with their own book, of course) or a large group of people who have decided to function as a family unit, her novels are a wonderful oddity in the Historical Romance genre. You will find a lack of the "bigger picture" drama (we're not chasing down kings and killing dragons here people), which is quite nice at times. I find that I read during more stressful times in my life and the last thing I want out of one of my reading choices is a whole other world of drama to deal with. Many of her novels deal with great internal struggles. She is noted for dealing with more realistic problems like stutters, class-struggles, and lost loves. One of her novels, When He was Wicked, is noted for being unusual for a romance novel, as the first four chapters actually describe the heroine in a happy marriage with someone who is not the hero. The novel then shows the death of the original husband and then goes onto dealing with the grief of both the heroine and hero before allowing the second love story to come to light. As a self-proclaimed aficionado of romance novels (mainly because I just can't get enough of the heros *wink wink*), I find that the story lines and situations she puts her characters into are quite unique for the genre. This may be one of the reasons that I adore her so very much!
Most of her books are dedicated to her husband, Paul Pottinger, often with references to amusing alternate titles for the book. These dedications sometimes have me, quite literally, laughing out loud, which tends to set the mood for the entire novel. Due to her unique writing style, loveable and honest characters, and the overall feeling you get from her novels, she won the Romance Writers of America's RITA Award in 2007 for On the Way to the Wedding and in 2008 for The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever. In 2003, she enjoyed the honor of being profiled in Time Magazine, an accomplishment few romance writers have ever achieved. In 2005 Publisher's Weekly gave To Sir Phillip, With Love a rare starred review, and later named it one of the "six best mass market original novels of the year." Nine of her novels have appeared on the New York Times Bestsellers List, one of which was number one in October 2008, a rarity for a romance novel. Finally, and most deservedly, in 2010 Mrs. Pottinger was inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame.
All of that being said, Julia Quinn is an author I absolutely could not put down. She is most noted for her Bridgertons Series, a personal favorite of mine. Julia Quinn is one of the authors that I credit for helping me fall in love with Historical Romance. When I use to think of the genre all I could think of was freaking Scarlett O'Hara and her burning house, and whether or not someone "gave a damn" about her. I was pleasantly surprised to find an amazing sense of humor and a sense of coming home when reading Julia Quinn's novels. So, if you're a green horn when it comes to historical romance or you're just sick of all of the Scarlett O'Haras out there, Julia Quinn is the woman for you. Visit her website and give it a go. You won't regret it.
Happy Tempting Tuesday everyone! Let me know all about your favorite genre/author/character/book and update me if you decide to give the lovely and talented Julia Quinn a try.
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