“A woman doesn't care how a guy makes a living, just how he makes love.”
—Rita (Helen Stanton) in The Big Combo (1949)
Even if you’ve never heard of the term “film noir,” you’ve probably read a book or have seen a movie in that genre. Film noir refers to “…stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations.” With roots in 1930s crime fiction, film noir’s first major wave was during the 1940s and 1950s.
This genre encompasses a broad category of films. It’s strongly associated with a private eye or law enforcement officer as one of the main characters. Other well-known elements are the femme fatale leading lady and an urban setting. It’s also important to note that “Thematically, film noirs were most exceptional for the relative frequency with which they centered on women of questionable virtue.” Noir even extended to science fiction, with films like Blade Runner and Dark City being notable examples of “science fiction noir.”
Given the scope of film noir and crime fiction, it’s no wonder the genres made their way into science fiction romance. J.D. Robb’s In Death series is one prominent example. In a nutshell, it’s noir-flavored crime fiction in a near-future setting. Beginning with Naked in Death, the series follows heroine Lieutenant Eve Dallas as she solves various crimes and embarks on an intense, complex romance with wealthy businessman Roarke. Eve’s character refreshingly subverts the typically male lead in this genre.
Everyone loves a good hero, but what about the bad hero? The anti-hero? The criminal hero? A hero who not only walks the dark side, but enjoys the journey. According to Wikipedia, an anti-hero is a “protagonist who is lacking the traditional heroic attitudes and qualities, and instead possesses character traits that are antithetical to heroism.” The anti-hero is drawn to power and insatiable greed. They are the materialistic, power hungry, tyrannical side of our natures; the side that wants to possess everything it desires, without limit, and control everything it needs. 
On August 7, H&H asked 
Before I became a romance and children’s book novelist, I had a long and interesting career in the arts, public relations, and as a journalist. For five of them, I was a volunteer Senior Docent at the North Carolina Museum of Art. One of my favorite galleries was the African gallery, steeped in rich history and tradition. But I was also an art patron, and at a fundraiser for the African gallery about ten years ago, I won a Pende mask. It hangs in my dining room, and serves as a reminder to me that when you don a mask, you can be anything—or anyone—you want to be.
We are back with Part 2 of our H&H bloggers “List” choices—the list is the fictionalized version of characters you would love to see nekkid if you could, where not even your spouse or partner could say you can’t have them. Because hey, they’re on your “allowed to do it with” list!
I look forward to a new In Death novel from 
St. Patrick’s Day got you in the mood to read a good Irish romance? In a follow-up to Laurel McKee’s 
Many of J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series readers joke that the books are like crack (or “crahck,” if you’re spelling BDB style), so we went to Twitter and asked what other series are equally crack-like?
J.D. Robb
Myretta Robens
The more romance novels you read, the more you become a connoisseur of sex scenes. And while the romantic ones can be scintillating, more often it’s the knock-down, drag-out sex that borders on a fight that garners a scene a permanent slot in the memory bank.
Authors writing series books is now the norm in romance; but what makes a series great, and what makes readers decide not to follow the series through to its end?
The writers I most like to read exhibit strong storytelling abilities, develop their characters and relationships in an engrossing manner, and weave it all together through well-crafted writing. That’s a tall order, quite frankly, and I’ve often said I would rather read an interesting story that isn’t particularly well written to one that features exquisite writing yet reads as deadly dull. Today’s argument isn’t going to compare and contrast story telling and the craft of writing, though. Instead I want to talk about storytelling and character.
The just-released Black Magic Woman is the 11th book in 
It’s hard to imagine that after a decade, I’m giving up on a series that I’ve long adored, one that helped open up an entirely new avenue of reading for me.
If the love of your life were to be taken from you, what would you keep, save, or do to have a piece of them with you…always?
Can romance survive the 
If you're any kind of Jane Austen fan and if you're on the Internet (which you must be because, well, here you are), you have surely run across one (or 20) quizzes which will tell you which Jane Austen character you are. I have been known to take them on occasion and, sadly, I'm usually Mr. Darcy. Don't get me wrong. I love Mr. Darcy. What red-blooded Janeite woman doesn't? But I don't want to be him. And yet, I can see where I might me more like Mr. Darcy than, say, Catherine Morland. But I digress and will save that inquiry for my memoirs.
