This 2007 Harlequin Superromance was a free Kindle download. I would have paid considerably more to read this sweet, romantic, sometimes sad romance. Read on for why I think contemps are the purest form of romance and my thoughts on the hero with PTSD.
Setting: Contemporary Oregon. During a snowstorm.
Hero: Former engineer John Fallon, mid thirties, Iraq war vet with a limp, a scar and PTSD, who is trying to cure himself by running an isolated mountain inn.
Heroine: Fiona MacPherson, age 23, sweet but sensible teacher at a private high school.
Plot: Fiona and her vanload of 8 teenaged students get stuck in a snowstorm on the way home from an academic event. They seek shelter at the Thunder Mountain Lodge, and are stuck there with its surly (but very hot) proprietor for several days.
Conflict: I already told you the hero had PTSD! Pay attention!
Interesting feature: Hero is a beta. He even cries!
Fun factoid: Snowbound was the RITA award winner for best contemporary series romance.
Word on the Web:
Book Binge, Casee, 4.25 out of 5
“I’ve read quite a few Superromances. This one is now it my top 3. For a category romance, it packs quite the emotional punch.”
Shannon C., B (a brief review)
AAR, LinnyGayl, A-
[Note: I think there is a DA review, but I couldn't locate it. If anyone wants to give me the link, I'd be grateful!]
Racy Romance Review:
This admission may get me into trouble, but here it is: I think of contemporaries like Snowbound, ones that focus on the relationship, with no suspense or paranormal elements, as the purest form of the genre. For many people, the historical, perhaps the regency, would serve this role, in part because it’s the original form of the modernish romance (I think?). For me, the only essential elements of a romance are the focus on the relationship and the HEA. Anything else is “extra”, including the historical research required to write a regency or the worldbuilding required of paranormals. I know in my head that (a) the worldbuilding in any good romance is essential to the relationship, and (b) that contemporary writers have to worldbuild, too. But in my heart, as an immersed reader, I “feel” like the historical or fantasy worlds are “extra” (and the more poorly written the romance is, the more nonessential they feel). But in contemporaries, I read “through” the familiar world, straight to the romance. It just feels pure in some sense that doesn’t reflect what I know in my head. Hard to explain, and totally indefensible, but this is one reason why I just love a satisfying contemporary like Snowbound.
