Make sure you read that last one in Freddie Mercury’s voice.

We got another convert! I hope you read that sentance in a sing-song voice because that’s the way I wrote it.

Those of you who know me, know the story of how I came to romance. It was long and convoluted with a lot of speed bumps. There were many detours. I took jaunts over to other genre fiction like mystery and horror, but I really liked to pretend that I was a literature snob. Well, there was no pretending. I was a literature snob, but still I read everything. Everything but romance and science fiction. Even that was a lie. I’d read chick-lit (Bridget Jones, The Shopaholic series, etc) and some sci-fi (Dune and the Hitchhikers series). But romance? Oh, no. You can thank Ava and Julia Quinn for my love of romance. And then I brought over Kelli who fell just as hard as I did.

Like all converts, I am rabid about my new found love and I’m thrilled when I bring over another misguided reader.

This particular incident happened at Bank of No Forks. I’d printed out my current work in progress to read and give to Ava to do the same. I had been floundering a bit and was afraid my hero wasn’t very likable. It turns out that I was off base and, when read all at once, the first six chapters were fine and my hero was coming across just as I wanted him to. The receptionist in our office wanted to know what I was doing. So I offered her my finished pages to read.

“Oh no,” she said. “I don’t read romance.” Ah, I’d heard this before. “I normally read a lot of mysteries and thrillers.”

“Fine,” I said. My feelings weren’t hurt. I understood her prejudice. People who don’t read romance don’t realize that romance stories are all about people and their story of falling in love. They expect them to be mindless and, let’s face it, stupid.  You’ll find that modern romances are told by master storytellers who often have mad skills. Mine just happen to also be funny.

“Well,” she said lingering at my desk where the pages sat, waiting to be picked up and read. “I don’t have anything else to do.” Such is life at Bank of No Forks – it’s either feast or famine.

“Go ahead,” I nudged the pages closer to her. “See what you think.” I felt like like I was luring her into my car with candy. Really good chocolate with an almond middle. Candy she would like and beg for more of.

She sat down in the chair before my desk and began reading.  I heard a couple of snorts and a chuckle or two. Eventually, she took the pages to her desk to finish. That night, I had to take the pages home to work on them, but she made me swear I’d bring them back in the morning.

She came back to ask questions. What exactly was the dog/squirrel debacle? What did “hubris” mean? Who were these other people?

Ha ha ha ha ha. Did you read that sentance with a Snidely Whiplash laugh? Well, that’s how I wrote it.

Tomorrow, she’s requested to read Book 1 – Lady Belling’s Secret.

And another one bites the dust.