1. So, Park Shi Hoo is going to be indicted for rape. The thing that continues to boggle me is the attitude (even among people who are not "oppa has no flaw and has been framed" fangirl crown, but people who believe he had sex with an unconscious woman) I see everywhere of "he made a bad call, but he is not a bad person." Ummmm - he raped someone. Twice. I am quite content with this making him a bad person. I mean, his Seung Yoo in The Princess' Man is one of my Top 10 kdrama heroes of all time (and I don't have any problems rewatching his dramas as his characters in them aren't rapists), so I get the fangirling, but reel life = not real life.
2. On happier news front, is anyone as excited as I am by the news that Lee Min Ho and Park Shin Hye would pair as the OTP in <b>Heirs</b>, to be written by the writer of Secret Garden and Gentleman's Dignity, aka two of my favorite dramas ever? I think everyone knows my ridiculous crush on LMH and I adore Park Shin Hye - I think they would make a good pair. I kinda wanted Shin Hye to be Jandi in Boys Over Flowers (she would have been much better than the appalling actress that is Gu Hye Sun, though it still wouldn't have fixed the biggest problem which was the horrific script), so I am sort of viewing it as a rematch :)
3. Long trailer for Gu Family Book is out and looks AMAZING (and a bit like a cdrama and a bit like Hong Gil Dong). That bit near the end, where Seung Gi just clings to Suzi for dear life - OMFG, I ship them already and the drama hasn't even started yet. Though I must be the only person who couldn't care less about the parental stories. I have no patience for background or childhood stuff nowadays and just wish it took 10 minutes or less. I mean, the parental thing would make an awesome drama in itself. I just want to get to my LSG puppy!
4. I have been reading a lot of romance novels lately, and a mixed bag they were.
Jo Beverley, St. Raven - OMFG so bad! So very very bad. It's so bad, I want to know why on earth the publishers paid for it, but then I bought it so perhaps the dummy is me. The plot involves our hero, a duke, masquerading as a highwayman for idiotic reasons, and rescuing the heroine from a bad guy jewel search blah blah. If you think I demonstrate no interest in the plot, rest assured, Beverley demonstrates even less - there really is no point to any of the story - half the book is occupied with a very detailed bu tedious description of a very tedious orgy at which our leads end up for little good reason. I mean, if I want pure pr0n, i know where to get it, and this wouldn't be it as a less exciting write-up I have yet to see outside of a medical textbook. If you think any of the characters in this trash are interesting, think again. SIMs have more personality.
Jo Beverley, Forbidden - ummm, it was better than St. Raven? Heroine is a widow of evil dude who kept her in sexual slavery, and she decides to escape her evil brothers who want to sell her to another man like that, runs into hapless hero and rapes (about it more later) him, seeking to become his mistress, she gets preggers, they marry, discover true love, barf barf the end. Part of my problem with this book arises from the fact that I recently realized I hate the set up of 'a person is forced to marry another.' There are some exceptions (both are forced to marry the other and equally do not want it, or the person forced to marry actually does want it) but they are slim. But a much much bigger part of the problem is that the heroine rapes the virgin hero!!!! I mean - WTF! He rescues her from the road she is wandering on, they are stuck sharing a room, he scrupulously doesn't touch her or shows any interest in that sort of thing, she decides she needs a 'protector,' so she assaults him when he is asleep, and by the time he wakes up, she is almost done bouncing on him, if you know what I mean. Did I mention the hero was a virgin because he was fastidious so no hookers or adultery, plus did not want to have any unwanted children (ooops, heroine fixed that! barf!) She has no idea if the man she assaulted is married or courting or whatever. Even if he is the singlest person to ever live, he did not give his consent. Hello, rapist!!! Hero even thinks she as good as raped him, but since he is a man *roll eyes* and she is hot, he is 'oh, OK.' And then he is stuck marrying her because she gets pregnant and everyone treats him as the villain and she keeps her mouth shut. And he tries to be a good husband and I am supposed to root for them? I mean - WTF!!!!! I wanted the heroine to be run over by a carriage and hero to grow a spine and pick someone sane next time. Ugh. Beverley, you are this close to being dead to me.
Jo Beverley, The Rogue's Return - it's OK. Blah. I honestly have no feelings bad or good about this one.
Suzanne Enoch, Taming Rafe - despite the idiotic title, at last, a book I liked! Our hero has wanderlust but considers settling down when he comes in possession of a ramshackle estate with two strongwilled sisters still occupying it (one adult, one kid). This is just such a warm, lovely book about warm lovely people. It made me ridiculously happy.
Julie Anne Long, The Secret Seduction - one of the really early JALs, this is not as good as her amazing Pennyroyal Green series, but still a solid read about a vicar's adopted daughter and a jaded aristocratic poet nicknamed 'the Libertine' finding that they are compatible together. The structure is less tight than in her later books and the characters less instantly loveable, but the lush prose is already present and, while she doesn't delve as deeply into emotional center and heart, she still does pretty well.
Julia Quinn, The Duke and I - the only Quinn book I truly like. Heroine is tomboyish, hero is someone scarred by his horrible childhood, they find love, slowly.
Julia Queen, Everything and the Moon - young lovers separated by lies meet again as older, bitterer adults. It's not a bad book, but it suffers from the fact that I recently read Meredith Duran's haunting At Your Pleasure, which has the same set-up but in its style, the depths of feeling, and character portrayals blows JQ's effort out of the water. (AYP would go into my Top 10 romance novels any time I'd compile the list).
