My name is Lauren Dane and I love wallpaper historicals.
Yes. Yes I admit it. I like pretty dresses. I like ballrooms and rakes and scoundrels who are really dukes. I do. I don’t care that shoe buckles weren’t round until 1789 or even that this is an actual fact or not. I don’t care that Alamacks wasn’t on X street until 1891 or whatever. I really don’t.
I’m not saying you’re bad if you care about those things. I’m saying I don’t. I don’t mind learning. I like learning. But I want pretty ballrooms and jaunty caps and men who blather about horses (not in too great a detail).
I get that some people are quite serious about historical detail in their historical romances. Everyone’s got their hot buttons. I’m that way about legal stuff in books. It drives me insane to see how people write about the legal system and don’t even bother actually, um, say reading about how the law works. So generally I don’t read books with legal themes or I stick with people I know will do it right or just don’t really touch on intense details. Then again, the legal system is a current thing, it’s pretty basic and not at all that hard to get correct if you just make a passing reference to it and if you delve into ANY subject in detail, it should be well researched, historical or not.
Otherwise, I’m quite happy to read wallpaper historicals with minxes and rakes, Alamacks and ballrooms with tepid lemonade.
I just had to say that. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Oh - how about a contest? Wanna win an ARC of Cascadia Wolves: Standoff? Well how about this? Tuesday when it’s my blog day again, I’ll choose a winner at random from this post? Why don’t you tell me what pushes your buttons in a book - good or bad, you choose!
Girl, the first part of this post read like a twelve-step program for all us (yes, definitely us) historical romance lovers! I dont’ car about all the specifics regarding Almacks and shaved ice and shoe buckles either. I do have a favorite in romance - SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS HOTTIES COMPLETE WITH KILTS AND BROGUE. Whew, lord!
TJ
by TJ February 16th, 2008 at 9:48 pmI think the main thing that pushes my buttons in books are characters that are stupid. The TSTL heroines are high on the list of things that make a book a wall banger. Any (main) character that acts that way though will get a book tossed by me though.
by Erin the Innocent February 17th, 2008 at 1:27 pmThere are 2 main things that both pertain to historicals, which get me wanting to shout WTH was the editor smoking? The first has to do with anachronistic language like modern day Americanisms in an English Regency.
And strangely enough underwear. Ladies did not wear draws, they were naked under their skirts for a rather long time period, which seems to have completely bypassed most authors and editors.
by Dawn M February 17th, 2008 at 2:35 pmWell, I love the historicals, too, and most of the time I could give a rat’s ass about the little details also, as long as there’s a great story to go along with them.
What pushes my buttons most (in a bad way) are a cheater (male or female) and bad grammar/spelling errors, or incorrect usage of the English language, etc. It completely throws me out of a book, especially when I come upon one of my pet peeve words.
by Lori February 17th, 2008 at 3:09 pmYes, I do not appreciate TSTL characters (at least for the hero and heroine).
I am a history buff, but that does not mean that I pick apart the historical references in a book.
If I want historical accuracy,I will do my own research.
Of course, sometimes the errors are so blatant that they just jump out at you and you can’t help wanting to throw it at the wall. I refrain from ever doing that as I value written words too much - I guess because I worked for a printing company and know the work that goes into anything printed.
Ruth C.
by Ruth Chesick February 17th, 2008 at 3:19 pmI am not a stickler for perfection when reading an historical romance. Don’t even mind when the language used is a blend of then and now. It’s all about the story and how well I come to love the characters.
Editing errors is what I find the most distracting. I am getting used to seeing one or two, but over ten in a story makes me nuts.
by cathy M February 17th, 2008 at 3:25 pmGenerally I don’t mind things about books, but typos sometimes trip me up, or if something in the book was missed in editing. (On page 23, the hero is 38 - on page 87, he’s 29.) Also, cheap shots bother me. e.g. all lawyers = slimy horrible people, and the same with politicians. Doctors and teachers = automatically good. Home makers are not smart enough to have a career. Blech.
by JSL February 17th, 2008 at 3:42 pmThe thing that gets me are either a massive number of typos in the story or books that somehow managed to get printed while missing large number of pages (and then having other pages duplicated).
Jessi
by jessi February 17th, 2008 at 4:49 pmtstl people and for some reason whiny heroines get on my last nerve. I don’t mean the ones that don’t kick ass. i mean the one that whine and cry and generally go woe s me. You can be a storng heroine wihout the knifing, shooting or blowing someone up but that would be cool too.
by Pamk February 17th, 2008 at 5:01 pmI love Regency romances. I’m not a stickler for details…why? I don’t know them. LOL
Yes, I know the basics, but unless it’s blatant, I won’t notice.
Here’s to tepid lemonade, rakes, and ladies in pretty dresses and long white gloves.
by N.J. Walters February 17th, 2008 at 5:49 pmI love historicals set in ireland and scotland…the strong type of man and the strong woman with some issues-dont we all have things that get us down but help us be who we are too…what i did love years ago was the fabio books
yea yea i know- i just like a good setting with good visual setting backdrop with great characters and great sex!!!!!!! 
by april symes February 17th, 2008 at 6:05 pmI love romance of all types. I want a strong hero and heroine (not wishy-washy). I hate it when she has one type of personality in the beginning and then seems to have a completely different personality by the middle of the book. Oh and lets have lots and lots of sex.
by Janet H February 17th, 2008 at 7:23 pmlike alot of the ladies my big one is tstl characters, I dont notice awhole lot of historical accuracy, I dont like cheating, I dont care if it was normal or accepted in those times it just bugs me
by Jessie February 17th, 2008 at 7:48 pmTstl heroines annoy the heck out of me. Spelling and grammar bugs me but I know mistakes happen. I also hate cheating in a book. I only have read one book where I accepted it. They were both spies and he was supposed to meet with this woman for info. He told the heroine about it and maneuvered so that they did not go all the way. I did not like it but it was more acceptable than straight out cheating.
by Kris February 17th, 2008 at 8:23 pmin my ‘bad’ category: TSTL and/or woe is me heroines
in my ‘good’ category: dominant (but respectful!) heroes
by Anna February 18th, 2008 at 12:57 amMy name is Maryam and yes, I too love Wallpaper Historicals. LOL I’ve got so many of them I’ve read and re-read. Unfortunately, I find it more and more difficult to find good ones.
What really pushes my button are abusive so called heroes and the TSTL heroines who take their abuse… so happy to have the attention of this oh so wonderful (not) hero.
by Maryam February 18th, 2008 at 1:18 amI’ve read hundreds of regency romances, starting with Georgette Heyer, and the most important things are the story and the characters.
Because I’ve read so many, I notice things that are very out of place, but I’m not going to quibble about small details unless they affect the story (and I don’t mind if an author changes the timing or location of events for dramatic purposes as long as they mention it in a forward or postlog).
My biggest pet peeves are grammatical and editing errors. They jolt me out of the magic of the story. TSTL heroines are another problem.
Monogamy is another issue for me. If the hero is still “visiting” his mistress when he’s supposedly falling in love with the heroine, then that’s a problem.
by Beth aka Scifibookcat February 18th, 2008 at 1:30 amI love historicals. What bothers me is when authors don’t spend the time researching the period. Getting the correct names, who fought who, the names of battles etc. If your going to use the the royal court or a battle as a back drop get it right.
by Christine February 18th, 2008 at 8:50 amLauren….
by Melissa February 18th, 2008 at 8:51 amI’m so with you on not caring about the perfect historic details. I find them interesting, but don’t know the difference, so when I’m reading a good historical, I just want to enjoy. LOL, they could be driving horse pulled pumpkins, and I probably wouldn’t mind as long as the story was good and flowing for me. I like pretties, too. And hey…I love paranormals, so I like to read outside the paramenters, anyway, right?
There aren’t too many things that throw me out of a story if it’s good…but the most glaring is MAJOR typos, or repeated phrases. I know that’s an editing problem, but it drives me crazy. Here and there, no problem. But when a book is full of them…I have to put it down. NO dice. Sigh. And I know I miss out on some great stories that way, no doubt.
I love historicals too. And yes, there are definately a couple things that will completely ruin a book for me. Faithfulness is one issue. I don’t care what the time period is or how acceptable being unfaithful is portrayed in the story. It’s difficult to even like the characters let alone believe the happily-ever-after. It also drives me crazy when the only conflict in the story is constant misunderstandings between the main characters. It’s like listening to children squabble!
by Deanna February 19th, 2008 at 3:17 amOn the other hand, I love books that have honorable and quirky heroines and heros. I also like to read both povs.
I love historicals romances too and aslong as we’re not talkinh huge errors in events throught history…i could care less about the appropriate shoe buckle for the time period….. give me a strong female character (can’t stand whiny weak women), great story line and some hot male leads and i’m pretty happy
by Carrie February 19th, 2008 at 10:16 am