Diana Palmer - Our Guilty Secret...

The older, more experienced, commitment-avoiding man is often a Diana Palmerstaple. As is the virginal, innocent (not TSTL) heroine. It's a formula that works for her. But it may not be your cuppa.

Some authors can do experienced, worldly women who are also vulnerable for the right alpha male. Lora Leigh comes to mind. She does alpha heroines combined with alpha heroes. HOT stuff!

But DP is all about nice girls who find themselves attracted to testosterone-laden alpha males and can't begin to imagine that he would be attracted to her. I think that one reason her books are so popular is that most of us can relate to the heroine. We can remember being young once, doubtful that we could ever attract the attention of the captain of the football team. We love the fantasy that under all that beefcake and self confidence, he's a vulnerable, sweet guy, tired of women who demand his attention as their due. He wants that shy, quiet girl who would appreciate being the center of his world, but never expects it.

I do occasionally want to reach into the pages and strangle the heroine for tolerating the hero's attitude and not standing up for herself. But to do battle with him would not be characteristic for a woman who has never been bullied before. It makes it that much more fun when she finally reaches the breaking point and gets in his face. It blows our macho hero right out of the water.

One of my favorite DP stories is Sutton's Way (recently re-issued in The Winter Man duology). She's a virgin, but kinda worldly as the lead singer in a rock band. He's a virgin widower who couldn't stand to sleep with wife he'd married when she was pregnant. It's a great story!

Another atypical DP: Regan's Pride. She's the widow he blames for the death of his cousin. He listened to his evil, twisted cousin's lies about her. This is a wonderful story about a woman healing from abuse and a man racked with guilt for allowing it to happen and for emotionally abusing her himself.

Also not to be missed is Rawhide and Lace. He took her virginity while losing his own. His self doubt was fed by his competitive brother who wanted the heroine. But she ran to New York where she lost the hero's baby in a car accident that crippled her... Another tearjerker!

What's the Draw of Lora Leigh?

Uber LL fan here. For me, she's an auto-buy/guilty pleasure akin to Diana Palmer (not the writing style or content, but the must-have aspect).

For readers who like alpha males, there are none more alpha than Lora Leigh heroes. But perhaps the greatest dichotomy with Diana Palmer books (aside from the graphic sex) is that Lora Leigh's heroines are every bit as alpha as their male counterparts. They might surrender, but they won't surrender easily. And if their man gives them grief, they're gonna give it right back.

So perhaps the biggest draw of Lora Leigh books is that the heroines are the women we want to be if we're ever written into fiction. Her heroes are the men we want in our lives. Strong and honorable, ready to take on the world, but vulnerable with us. Haven't you ever wanted to be some hunk's only weakness?

Loving Lies is the only book she's written for Samhain, though in her blog FAQ, she's assured readers that there will be more Men of Summer stories.

I believe that, whether it's LL or another author, the plot and character development largely depends on the writer's guidelines/editorial requirements of the publisher. Ellora's Cave books, with their larger print and shorter length, tend to focus more on the erotic elements than the plot. That's what EC readers want and expect from EC.

When Berkley took over the Breeds series, they provided the longer length and editorial input needed to make these much more solid, well-told stories.

The Tempting SEALs/Elite Ops books are published by St. Martin's. The earlier books (Dangerous Games, Hidden Agendas, Killer Secrets) were better than the later books. I think LL's writing has suffered in the past couple of years. First, she has dealt with a troubled marriage and subsequent divorce. Second, I think she's become a victim of her own popularity. Her publishers want an endless supply of LL books because they sell well. I don't think the editors provide enough critical input because they don't want to offend her. I think LL fans would all agree that the Elite Ops books aren't nearly as good as the earlier Tempting SEALs books.

LL needs pages to tell a story well. Some authors are capable of writing tight, somehow managing to offer up a well-developed plot with 3-D characters in relatively few pages. LL isn't one of them, as demonstrated by the shallow, mind-twinkie quality of her anthologized stories.

Ultimately, it's about genre. If you like paranormal stories, you might like her Breeds series. Then again... my sister loves shape-shifters, Cole's IAD series, and Showalter's LOTU series, but will pass on the Breeds. She just hates the barb.

If you like romantic suspense, you might like her Tempting SEALs/Elite Ops. Though as I and several others have mentioned, the more recent titles aren't as good as the earlier works. Here's hoping things will get better now that LL's personal life isn't in the midst of a crisis.

If you like extreme erotic romance, including menage stories, you'll like Bound Hearts, the Nauti Boys, and the Men of August (IMO, the August brothers with their psychological profiles, is much darker than most EC romps). The MofA series was published by EC and the focus on sex is readily apparent. The early Bound Hearts books were published by EC, with Berkley taking over beginning with Forbidden Pleasure (book 8). The difference in depth and intensity is easily noticed.

For a complete booklist and more information, check out Lora Leigh's website.