I'm going to preface everything by saying I liked this book. Each story was fun and each read very quickly and smoothly. Here's a link to Romantic Times' synopsis. Alyssa has a really good review over on The Romance Reader.I don't have a problem with any of the stories, I've already said I liked all of them. I've got a teeny, tiny problem with the title When Good Things Happen to Bad Boys. Maybe I read too much Anne Stuart, but I wouldn't consider any of these "Bad Boys" bad.
This left me wondering, what exactly constitutes a Bad Boy?
Is it a misspent youth?
Or, are they somehow manipulative?
Do they keep dark secrets?
Do they do bad deeds?
Or, are they really good time boys grown up to decent good men?
Okay, I grasp the difference, but I'm wondering what other readers think about the term "Bad Boys".
12 comments:
Bad Boys (IMO):
-Buck convention (i.e. the rules)
-Indifferent to others opinion of them
-Are prolific in bed
-Intelligent
-Adreneline junkies
...Fiona...
This is the problem with the Bad Boys series. Very rarely, if ever, do they feature what I think any of us would consider 'bad boys.' I challenge anyone to point out any hero in any of the books that's really a bad boy and not slightly cute and cuddly. I haven't read them all but I don't think it can be done.
I think you really have to just chalk up the bad boys part as a misnomer geared to catch the eye of readers.
Fi, I like your description, but doesn't this fit most alpha heros?
Jay, I think you really have to just chalk up the bad boys part as a misnomer geared to catch the eye of readers. That's it.
Hmph AAR had a review too :P
I agree with jay it is more of a branding. I have a wicked women book as well to be read and wouldn't be shocked if it were the same thing.
Sorry about that Sybil, do you want me to add a link??
LOL NO!
I was teasing silly.
::I shall just go cry in the corner that tara thinks my review sucked *g*::
It's definitely marketing. When I sold this novella I had no idea it was going into a Bad Boy anthology. Really, I was just happy the darn thing sold :) My idea was to take a pretty decent clean-cut guy and have him do something out of character and a bit naughty. I wasn't thinking in terms of bad boy or good boy. But, from what I understand, the Bad Boy titles sell a bit better than the other anthologies, so I'm not exactly complaining about this marketing strategy.
Sybil, I knew you were kidding.
HelenKay, My idea was to take a pretty decent clean-cut guy and have him do something out of character and a bit naughty. You completely hit the mark. I liked the contractor/architect twist, nicely done.
It is a conundrum. I know I've run across some true bad boys over the years but can't remember many titles at the moment. Most of them have a tendency to have become "reformed" bad boys, though.
One of the best twists on that reformed business I've every run across was in a Vicki Lewis Thompson book where the lawyer heroine wants her best bud, another straight-laced lawyer in her firm who has the hots for her to begin with, to pretend to be a bad boy to shake up her parents. What she doesn't know is that he was the "real deal" in his youth and has all the necessary accessories stored in the back of his closet, i.e. leather jacket and tight white tee-shirts and jeans. He just about makes her eyes pop out when he settles into the part. Love that book. (Operation Gigolo)
The difference that comes to mind between alphas and bad boys is that bad boys can be sensitive and relate. Alphas are going to be stubborn and fight you tooth and nail where as for bad boys it is more of an image? Maybe?
...Fi
I'm with you Tara Marie, Anne Stuart is the epitome of bad men but then I'd run from them in read life.
If I was thinking of a 'bad boy' in real life I would picture men with tatoos and shaved heads (ever seen Maimi Ink?) - the kind that make your parents hair stand on end. In real life though, they're just like everyone else or maybe just a little naughty ;)
CindyS
That whole 'bad boy' thing really turns me off. It's so corny and cliched by now. I know there's practically nothing new under the sun but I wish the 'bad boy' could be retired.
It's almost as bad as the thirty year old virgin who suddenly wants to screw and/or have a baby. Or the virgin who goes to a 'bad boy' so that he can teach her how to be a 'bad girl'.
There's even a book out by Ruth Kerce called "Virgin Seeks Bad-Ass Boy". I've seen good reviews on this but I'll never read it. I'm suffering from 'bad boy' fatigue.
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