Today historical romance author Monica Burns is here with us to celebrate her upcoming release, Pleasure Me
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There’s the old adage, age before beauty. A lot of times it’s used as a snide, deragatory comment implying that somehow age isn’t as good a beauty. Even in today’s society, women in their 40s and 50s still have the stigma that because they’re no longer young, they’re therefore no longer beautiful. But that’s changing. You have women like Demi Moore, Jamie Lee Curtis and other female public figures who are breaking that glass ceiling that says, older isn’t good.
I explored that theme in Pleasure Me. This story is about an older, experienced courtesan, Ruth Attwood, who becomes involved with a younger man, Garrick Stratfield. While Ruth thinks Garrick is only a few years younger, the age gap is much larger. Garrick is a male virgin hero who finds it difficult to keep away from Ruth. His deformity makes him assume he’s not good enough for her. Two characters with major complexes, one physical, and one strictly emotionally.
Ruth, by Victorian standards, is completely over the hill. She knows she’s no longer viable as a courtesan and she’s just been dumped by her latest lover for a younger woman. She’s decided to retire, but she needs a little bit more money to accomplish some tasks before she can leave society. Garrick believes that no woman in her right mind will want to have anything to do with him in the bedroom, so he’s completely inexperienced when it comes to sex.
Although, in order to present a certain image to society, he’s become quite proficient at kissing, and allowing rumors to present the image that he’s a man who seduces and beds women easily. There’s instant attraction between these two characters. Garrick is continuously telling Ruth that age isn’t important, what’s important is how you feel about someone and yourself. For Ruth, she points out to Garrick that who he is as a person physically doesn’t matter, what counts is what’s on the inside.
When I was preparing to write Pleasure Me, my editor had asked me to write a virgin hero in my older woman, younger man theme. That wasn’t an easy thing to do, but I think I accomplished it by giving Garrick a deformity that makes sense as to his sexual inexperience. What I love about this book is that it allowed me to explore my own personal issues with age.
As a woman enters her late 40s, early 50s, peri-menopause or menopause has usually set in. This plays an important role in how a woman feels about herself. Estrogen is a big culprit as it vanishes pretty much during menopause. The body doesn’t do what it used too. I sure wish I could do a cartwheel again. There’s something about a cartwheel that’s freeing. Estrogen is what keeps the skin and muscles tight and firm, so when that dries up wrinkles follow. Then there are the mood swings. For some women it can be a breeze to get through this stage of life, while for others it’s a walking nightmare of highs and lows, and staring at oneself in the mirror and wondering where did the years go.
I wanted to tell a story that dealt with the emotional aspects of aging. The fact that a woman often finds herself believing that her self-worth is all wrapped up in her age when in reality that’s not the case. As Garrick tells Ruth, age is just a number. The number of years one is does not dictate how you live. For me, Ruth’s’ journey in coming to accept the fact that whatever number she is doesn’t define who she is. It was a real eye opener for me.
For the last few years, I’d been focused on how old I am and was continuing to age. It’s not been a pleasant feeling. But as my younger husband has said, genetics and frame of mind have a lot to do with how well one ages. For example, look at Betty White and how at 89 she’s still going strong. John McCain’s mother who is older than 90, and while he was campaigning for President, she got a speeding ticket for doing 90mph. Those are the kind of women I aspire to be. I aspire to be like Ruth who comes to realize that she’s not defined by a number. I refuse to grow old. Inside I’m still a kid, and I intend to live every minute to the fullest. Ruth and Garrick showed me how to do that.
An award-winning author of erotic romance, Monica Burns penned her first short romance story at the age of nine when she selected the pseudonym she uses today. From the days when she hid her stories from her sisters to her first completed full-length manuscript, she always believed in her dream despite rejections and setbacks. A workaholic wife and mother, Monica believes it’s possible for the good guy to win if they work hard enough.
You can find out more about Monica and her novels at her website, Facebook, Twitter and blog.
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Thanks so much for being here with us today, Monica! What a lovely post.
Pleasure Me will be available from Berkley March 1, 2011. You can preorder it here
Hi Monica,
I have no problems with the older woman/younger man relationship. I mean they are drawn together for a reason and I say You are as old as you feel. Or should I say Young as you feel. 🙂 If it lasts, good for them. If it doesn’t”it was fun while it lasted, right ? “
A Virgin Hero. I read a book by an Author with a Virgin Hero and that was the first time. I really enjoyed it. I think people attach the word ignorant with Virgin and I disagree. We feel and love with our emotions first. I would enjoy reading another one. 🙂
Carol L
Lucky4750@aol.com
Hello Monica!
I think older women/younger men stories are fine. They don’t bother me a bit. I haven’t read any romances yet where the hero was a virgin but I think it is an interesting concept. I think a virgin hero would create many unique situations in a story!
StacieDM
user1123 AT comcast DOT net
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hi Carol &Stacie
Its interesting to hear the different perspectives on this topic. Writing Pleasure Me was a challenge not so muc from the virgin aspect but the age issue
I don’t think I have ever a read any book with a virgin hero in it. But I sure would like to! And I actually like the older woman/younger men story though I haven’ read alot of them. I think Lisa Kleypas did one years ago and I loved it. The whole set-up of Pleasure Me sounds very intriguing!
Good luck with it!
claudigc at msn dot com
Thanks Claudia,Pleasure Me seems to getting a lot of positive receptions so I’m eager to get readers thoughts
Monica, I love all your reasons for writing Pleasure Me. I never used to thin aging was anything to worry about, as I far prefer being an adult over a teenager. It wasn’t until recently that I began to really consider the health side of things and now I DO think about aging. Maybe too much.
I also made the colossal mistake of reading the 1st three chapters of Pleasure Me (just this morning actually, right before I saw you’d be here today), because I really want to read the book NOW. You left off that excerpt at such a BAD time lol! Bad for a reader anyway. One who wanted to keep on reading. March 1 can’t come fast enough.
I’ve never read an older woman/younger man story, but virgin heroes are WIN! Can’t wait to read your book!
justforswag(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
Hi Monica. Congratulations on your upcoming release! You posed very good questions.. For me a good romance is a good romance and can be found in either circumstance. However, if I had to pick one over the other I would have to say I would probably prefer a virgin hero over an older women/younger man romance. I like to find a bit of innocence and purity in stories.
rjofus(at)gmail(dot)com
My first romance read was an older woman/younger man book (age gap of 10 years) so obviously I don’t have a problem with it. As for virgin heroes, as long as it’s plausible, I’m all for it! I think I read one recently, too.
ironss[at]gmail.com
I don’t have a problem with older woman/younger man stories.
kissinoak at frontier dot com
I really like reading about virgin heroes. It’s different and not the norm. I’m not bothered by older women and younger men. I think as long as it’s a good story that age doesn’t matter.
iqb99@yahoo.com
I don’t have a problem with older woman/younger man stories. And I also think I would be okay with a virgin hero. Definitively unusual, but in a good way 🙂
marieimy (at) gmail (dot) com
Older women younger men stories don’t bother me at all. I have only read a few though! Now I absolutely love virgin hero stories! I have read a few and loved them! Thanks for sharing with us today!
evjochum[AT]aol[DOT]com
Hi everyone, Sorry it took me so long to get back here. Today was my last day at work before I transfer to a whole different state agency. It was wild and crazy saying goodbye to everyone.
KMont, I’m glad the excerpt made you want to read the book right away. I’ve had some lovely compliments about it, and I’m hoping it’s going to do well, sales wise. Amazon has it for almost half off if you pre-order it, so catch while it’s at such a good price. 😀
Chelsea, hope you enjoy the read
Sheree, You need to read Anna Campbell’s Untouched, which features a male virgin, and it’s a wonderful read.
Danielle, Hopefully you and others will be swept away by Ruth and Garrick’s story! 🙂
Mariee, I’m sure the fact that it’s unusual is why my editor suggested it. LOL I just wasn’t sure I could pull it off, but from several people who’ve read already, I did a decent job of it. 😀
Johanna, My first virgin hero story was Anna Campbell’s Untouched a couple years ago. I NEVER thought of writing one! Just didn’t realize it could be done. LOL
I usually don’t see younger man/older woman, and virgin heroes even less, but a compelling story is a good story. I find myself very intrigued by Pleasure Me!
julieguan AT gmail DOT com
Julie, I hope readers will find Pleasure Me as compelling as All About Romance did when they awarded it Desert Island Keeper status last weekend.
You have great ideas on “age” and I agree. and the type of females that are your heros, I want the same kind of older age for myself. I enjoy most stories with older women younger men, and I don’t think it’s just because I’m getting older. Most of the time the relationship grows so strong because of the conflict perceived by others. Thanks for the giveaway. lisagk at yahoo Dot coM
I’m not crazy about older women/younger man romances. Of course it really depends on the age difference between the two and how good the story is.
penfield716@yahoo.com