We’ve all done it.  Tried to keep it a secret, hoping no one finds out.  Our furtive habit that so many people tell us we shouldn’t do, but we just can’t help ourselves.  Some of us start when we’re older, and others, like me, get started when we’re teenagers, getting hooked because of one of our friends. What am I talking about?  Reading romance novels, of course! How many of us have heard comments like “Why don’t you read something with real literary value?” or “That’s just escapist, fantasy fluff!” Hearing these comments over and over again can get pretty frustrating, and it’s tough not to get snippy when people outside the romance community (even booksellers!) make judgments about us for what we choose to read. But, friends, we’re not the first to criticized for our reading habits. Back in the 19th century, with printing and shipping costs lowering, as well as a more literate populace, inexpensive books known as penny dreadfuls or dime novels became wildly popular in the United States and England.  The books were full of adventure and excitement, their subjects running the gamut from detective stories, Gothic ghost tales, historical sagas to—yes—tales of the Wild West….

From Trish Jensen: My book that came out in September, AGAINST HIS WILL, featured a man who had no use for dogs. Or any animals, for that matter. I couldn’t stand my own hero for a long, long time because I’m an animal freak, and he wasn’t. The only thing that kept me going (and not bonking him over the head with a baseball bat) was that I absolutely knew the heroine would change his mind, and he’d end up loving that dang Bulldog he’d inherited against his will. I also knew he’d never abuse the dog even if he hated being the new unwilling human, because he’d be dead. (The hero, not the dog.) Well, he actually obeyed me, which most of my characters end up not doing. He fell in love with his dog. So I love him even more today than I did when I finished this story. But that was just a prelim to what I’m talking about here. In my next release, FOR A GOOD TIME, CALL… I’ve recognized that neither of those characters are me, either. Sherry doesn’t let anything get her down. Well, she can get very, very ticked on occasion, and loves…