I know, you think I’d be “mad to miss it, sad to skip it.”

Yes, I know that one. And you are right about the song’s aptness:

“I never loved nobody fully
Always one foot on the ground
And by protecting my heart truly
I got lost in the sounds
I hear in my mind
All these voices
I hear in my mind all these words
I hear in my mind all this music”

Have you read Dirty? If not, IMHO, you should!

This, and also “Elle’s gradual emergence from a very stuck place” and her resistance to falling in love made me think of the video and words of Regina Spektor’s Fidelity. It’s even got a literally faceless stranger who changes into the narrator’s true love.

That’s a very interesting phenomenon — loving a book more after you read it. So often we talk about how the classics don’t hold up when we read them later. I also read Tempted and liked it very much. No one else sounds like Megan Hart.

Ms. Hart,

Thank you for visiting, and for giving some insight into Dan. FWIW, the female narrator for Broken, another one of yours I loved, was terrific with both male and female characters.

Janine,

Yes, I have read Reason Enough, Broken, and Tempted. All meg-worthy.

You are so right about the characterization in contemps. Not just of people but places. Sometimes when I read them I feel like I have walked into a generic super store — not a good feeling for me.

Those things about Elle, and a few about Dan — the duckie in his tub, the gumdrops on his tie, the whiskey, those things do distinguish these characters. They are not just random details.

I think it may have been your review that led me to buy Dirty actually, so thank you, belatedly!

For me, what made them feel so real wasn’t so much their lack of a career vs. stay-at-home issues, but rather the fact that they were a bit flawed and esp., the details that stood out about them. Especially in the case of Elle, her counting, dressing in black and white, the way she painted her house, her love of The Little Prince — I rarely feel that I get that kind of distinct characterization in contemporary romances. Hart also gives her characters psychological complexity, and those two things make her characters leap off the page.

BTW, there’s more about Elle and Dan in Hart’s Broken (which is also fabulous) and in the Spice Brief Reason Enough.

I’m always happy to hear that someone connects with my work, and since Elle and Dan have a special place in my heart, I’m particularly happy when someone recommends or praises DIRTY.

As for the criticism of Dan, I have to say I feel sad for anyone who can’t believe Dan’s real. Maybe I’ve just been lucky enough to know a Dan, or more than one Dan, actually (though he’s not based on any one person in my real life) — and more importantly, I do believe that we all see people in different ways. Seen through Elle’s eyes, despite what she wanted to want, Dan WAS close to perfect. (He’s really not, obviously, but he’s a good guy all the same.)

At any rate, I appreciate your review and your love of this book! Thanks so much!

M