Welcome to the first in a new monthly series here at HEA or GTFO: Traipsing through the Tropes, where I get my husband to read a romance novel and we discuss it via Google Chat. We’ll pick one trope and read several books from different subgenres and then go on to the next trope. We will be discussing the book in detail so spoilers abound. You’ll probably enjoy these posts more if you’ve already read the book we’re talking about. The idea was to kick things off with the One Bed trope, my personal favorite, but you’ll see where we ended up in the discussion.
We’re kicking things off with A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare. It’s the first novel in her Spindle Cove series. They’re standalones, but we do discuss other couples in the series so fair warning if you’d rather be surprised.
With that said, and one last reminder that spoilers abound, let’s go!
Adam: Good evening!
Here we are. “A Week to be Wicked.”
I truly enjoyed – once I got into it.
The first time I attempted reading this one – about a year ago – I remember being thrown off my the nomenclature.
Jennifer: At what point would you say you got into it?
What nomenclature threw you off?
Adam: Really got into it? After the stuff with the brigands.
The overuse of “rake” and other such terms.
I was like, “Did people really go around calling people notorious / infamous rakes to their faces?”
Jennifer: I think it would be like calling someone a player. Or maybe a jerk.
A jerk player
Adam: I get that. In theory.
But then, I realized it was something akin to the “technobabble” used in science fiction – especially Star Trek.
As in, this is the lingua franca of the genre.
It’s the ebb and flow of the actual style of writing / reading / creation.
Jennifer: You do have to get into the rhythm to enjoy romance.
heh.
Adam: Exactly!
As in, this is the part I have to take at face value if I want to appreciate the deeper story.
Rhythm joke!
First innuendo!
Jennifer: So what did you think of the characters?
Adam: Minerva was a top-notch heroine.
Jennifer: What do you think of Colin?
Adam: He was obviously written to be a jerk with a heart of gold.
Which I assume to be a common trope.
Giving him a tortured sort of backstory was nice.
Jennifer: Very common. Or jerk to everyone but the heroine.
The only thing that keeps me from hating him is the list of M names he made.
Adam: THE M LIST.
That was a genius revelation 3/4 through the book.
Truly a chef’s kiss detail by the author.
Jennifer: Yep. Oh, I realized on a reread, it’s not a true one bed trope romance.
Adam: Why do you say that?
Jennifer: They negotiate sleeping together before the journey starts. One bed is usually a surprise, something they’re forced into by circumstance.
Adam: There were a few times they had to share one bed.
Ah. Well then. I guess that’s a technicality.
But kind of a key one.
You’re the expert.
Jennifer: What makes one bed so delicious is the forced proximity aspect.
Adam: We could start with “Enemies into Lovers.”
Jennifer: Yes, this is definitely that.
Adam: I found her love of science believable. She’s not a Mary Sue. She just loves geology.
Jennifer: Yeah, Minerva rocks. hahahaha
Adam: Tessa Dare is an excellent writer.
Jennifer: She is. Her stuff is always imaginative and funny.
Adam: I was pleasantly surprised at the level of humor that runs rampant through the book.
And by surprised, I mean, “The romance novels my Mom read when I was in high school always looked laborious, cookie-cutter, and completely over the top.”
Dare imbues her characters with HEAPS of life, agency, and personality.
Jennifer: I always like her heroes even if they are a type I would usually dislike.
Yep. It’s more than angst and doing it.
But the doing it is integral to the progression of the story.
Adam: Exactly. “Angst & Doin’ It” – the name of your podcast.
Jennifer: I don’t do angst. I like fluff.
Adam: The doin’ it was VERY integral to the progression of the story.
Jennifer: You’ve read lots of literary doing it in your many travels, but what did you think of this type of writing of the doing it?
Adam: I was just thinking about that, and it’s mostly boring or faux-edgy.
Jennifer: replace literary with “literary”
Adam: This doin’ it was hot.
As in, straight white dudes can’t write sex scenes for shit.
Jennifer: That’s what I was about to ask.
How it compares
Adam: I mean, there’s very little comparison.
This was well-written, creative, erotic, purposeful, and integral to the story.
Jennifer: Yep. The centering of women’s pleasure, the female gaze.
Most sex in literary fiction is dry, rough, very dude-centric, and lacking creativity. Lacking vitality too. And nowhere near what sex is like in real life. Not that all romance novels are near what sex is like in real life either….
Adam: Most definitely.
This was wet in every positive sense of that word.
I really enjoyed this read. The only scene I didn’t like was getting captured by the brigands.
Jennifer: What didn’t you like about it?
Adam: I get that their conversation while walking with Francine AFTER she frees him is important, but the whole thing felt like just one MORE obstacle.
It didn’t really add much, IMHO.
Jennifer: I don’t know. I think her saving him was important.
I think that’s why Dare didn’t waste a lot of time seeing him being captive.
Adam: I’ll grant you that. The scene itself didn’t take up much of the book. She didn’t bother herself with overwroght descriptions of him being tortured.
It just happened, and the next morning/day, Minerva appears with Francine and saves him.
Jennifer: I don’t think they’re apart overnight.
I think he gets captured early in the day and she rescues him at like 3pm.
Several hours later.
Adam: I can see that. Obviously the timeline blurred in my head a bit.
What did you think about everything that happened in the Sex Castle BEFORE the smokin’ hot sex?
Jennifer: I thought it was hilarious. And a good setup for the Duke as a hero later in the series.
Minerva as Melissande was great.
Adam: Agreed. It took me a few pages to see where Dare was going, but that was probably me being unfamiliar with the genre.
Jennifer: Here’s a question. What side characters do you think get their own book(s)?
Adam: The obvious guess is Kate Taylor, since she gets her own little POV vignettes.
Jennifer: Can you guess her hero?
Adam: Again, I assume it’s the crusty Corporal Thorne.
Jennifer: Good job!
Adam: Thanks!
Jennifer: Does the guaranteed HEA detract from your reading experience at all? Like removing suspense or something?
Adam: Not at all! It was very akin to reading a Star Trek novel. I know my space friends will mostly be all A-OK by the end, but a good writer will make the trials and tribulations come alive EVEN if you know the end.
Jennifer: Oh…I have a good space alien enemies to lovers we can read.
Adam: And that’s exactly what Dare does so expertly. Just because I know Colin and Min get together in the end doesn’t mean I know exactly HOW it will happen.
Part of me wanted to see Dare make even more hay with Colin’s money (or lack thereof or lack of access to it) hanging over his head, but that’s a minor quibble.
Jennifer: Interesting. I don’t think I would have liked that.
The first book actually talked about that more. Colin whining about not being able to leave Spindle Cove because of his money.
Adam: I get that. It would have introduced a level of detail about his finances that could have bogged things down.
Jennifer: These are standalone but they really do build on each other.
Adam: Him whining about it is all we really need.
Because obviously enough people know about it if Minerva can bribe him with 500 guineas.
Jennifer: I don’t think he ever cared about the 500 guineas.
And I’m too lazy to google. Is a guinea more than a pound?
Adam: IDK. I thought about googling it while reading, but I just assumed that it WAS more than a pound.
That’s the impression the novel gives us, and that’s the hallmark of a good writer.
Dare didn’t feel it necessary to launch into a few pages of exposition about currency in Regency Era England.
Jennifer: It’s one pound and five pence.
Adam: So – just a little MORE than a regular pound?
That system makes no sense.
Jennifer: yes.
It’s ridiculous. This is why JK Rowling came up with her insane exchange rate.
They do weird stuff with money in England.
Adam: **Insert comment about creating a single global currency here**
Jennifer: And on that note…any other comments?
I think we’re wrapping it up.
Adam: No comments at this time other than I really enjoyed the read, and I’d like to read more in the future.
The scales have been removed from my eyes.
Jennifer: More Tessa Dare or more romance or both?
Adam: Both – as long as they write as well as Tessa Dare.
I just wonder if I will prefer historical, contemporary, or fantasy/science fiction.
Jennifer: She’s hard to match for wit.
Adam: If this novel is any indication, I’d probably enjoy everything Dare writes.
Jennifer: I could see the fantasy/science fiction annoying you for being too far from the tropes for that genre.
Adam: As in, being too far from traditional sci/fi tropes?
Jennifer: Yes.
tropes/conventions/whatever
Adam: That’s a fair assessment. You have a good idea of the science fiction I read – not even considering Star Trek.
This has been fun!
I look forward to doing it again next month!
HEA or GTFO 