I started rereading Whitney, My Love yesterday afternoon while Junior was in his Tae Kwon Do class. If I stay and observe he doesn't pay enough attention, so I went out to the car and read. Didn't get real far and didn't do much reading last night, Survivor and CSI were on, up until discovering LOST, they were they only TV programs I watched without reading at the same time.
I haven't reread this book in years, my copy is actually the extended hardcover version. I bought it when it came out and read the ending to see what was added, but didn't reread the entire book.
It's kind of sad when we realize an old favorite is no longer even enjoyable. Obviously, the book hasn't changed, but I have. In the back of my mind I knew this wouldn't be a keeper anymore. When this book was new, I read it over and over and loved it, 20 years later I'm not even sure I'll get through it.
I skimmed forward and read the "rape scene" and to be honest, I didn't find it as offensive as other people have. His guilt and groveling is enough for me. McNaught is famous for good hero groveling, usually they have done something incredibly stupid and need to beg for forgiveness over and over.
My problem with the book at this point is what's the attraction for Clayton, why would he be interested in this girl, because Whitney is really still a childish flirt, she's just been cleaned up and given some polish. She's in her late teens and he's in his early 30's. I don't have a problem with the age difference, my problem is with the maturity difference.
Why don't I remember Whitney being incredibly TSTL? She is only 15 when the book opens and we are all capable of stupid actions at that age, but even cleaned up, spit polished and a few years older, she seems to have the common sense of a flea. She misinterprets situations, acts at times without thinking and needs others to clarify and explain things to her. So young, so immature, what's the attraction?
And, while she is at times dumb as a rock, he's a jealous lunatic. Who needs that. I guess I grew up but Whitney and Clayton haven't.
I should have left well enough alone, and kept my good memories of an old keeper just that memories.
3 comments:
Funny you should blog about this. I reread this book about a year ago, and I was asking myself the same questions. What, exactly, did I like about this book? I mean, I absolutely loved it when it first came out, so what's different? I think you're right, though. I'm older and romance writing is older. Those types of books just don't work anymore.
I've got this in my TBR pile--I never read it, having missed this period of romance, but heard so much about it--I'm not quite sure what to expect. It's funny how some books just don't stand the test of time. Others do--Lord of Scoundrels, for ex., but I never read Kathleen Woodiwiss either, and I bet she suffers from the distance of years, too. Maybe I should pull this out and read it, just to see.
Reread Whitney My Love again last year and it lost some of that spark that made it a keeper eons ago. I found that Whitney was tstl often. I'm going to have to do a reread soon. Earlier this year I reread my first romance recently and HATED it and I remember reading that book over and over again.
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