Today's Guest Blogger is one of the stars of the current Presents line-up - Sharon Kendrick. Sharon started out writing Medicals but these days she concentrates on the Presents novels that have earned her a great reputation amongst the readers.I can't actually remember when I first met Sharon - but then she's not exactly sure of our first meeting either so I don;t have to feel too bad about that. What I do know is that Sharon always looks wonderfully stylish - right down to the fact that when she broke her wrist just before the last RNA Awards lunch at the Savoy in April, she managed to have a plaster cast that toned in beautifully with her outfit. Having met her daughter, I must also say that Sharon seems far too young to possibly be mother to her two children 
.
.I may be celebrating 50 titles, but Sharon has written over sixty books for Harlequin Mills & Boon and tells me that she has never stopped falling in love with her own heroes. She's currently working with an ebony-eyed Greek who is so arrogant he makes her shiver.
So here's Sharon Kendrick
When I think of fifty - I think of the colour gold - and as Kate is having a party to celebrate her 50th book - it's rather fitting that she has chosen June - traditionally a glorious, golden month.
I can't remember when I first met Kate - but I do remember her smile and her rather scrumptuous taste in unusual jewellery. Over the years our paths have crossed at many authorly functions - when we've angsted about our current books, or leapt for joy if we'd just had one accepted.
All I know is that, like most of us - she loves to write (or should that be lives to write?). So enjoy your special day, Kate - and raise a glass of golden champagne to all your absent 
friends!
friends!GIVEAWAY:
Sharon is giving a signed copy of her latest book The Desert King's Virgin Bride as her prize
QUESTION:
What kind of book stays in your mind long after you've put it down?
Sharon says:
For me, it's usually when the central relationship has worked so effectively and convincingly that I wonder how the couple are getting along - almost as if I can believe they really exist. I guess what that really tells me that I like books which are character led, not plot driven - and that too many "coincidences" in a romance novel drive me bonkers!
So what makes a book memorable for you?
WEBSITE http://www.sharonkendrick.com/
15 comments:
Like you, Sharon, it's the characters that make a book live for me. I don't care about exotic locations, or learning the intricate details of the history of Persian carpets, or any of that stuff. I want characters who had a life before the book began and who live on in the memory after I close the covers.
Sharon,
I definitely like character driven books the most as well. While plot and setting are important, it is the characters that truly make the book something special, or not. When I think about my favorite books, the characters are what I remember. If an author can make the characters seem real, make me feel invested in their outcome, that is a special gift indeed.
I like books that are character driven. Like the characters are real people that you known for years. You kind of live their life in the book and imagin what life is for them in the future. I do like some plot to the story a little backgroung history, but not over done.
Character driven books stay with me. I get invested in their lives and truly look forward to reading how they resolve their differences for a HEA. Many things I'll think of the characters long after I've read the book and try imagine what their life is like a few years later -- children, careers, homes, etc....
The settings are usual just "fluff." If the characters are written well you could almost take them out of their setting and the story would work somewhere else.
I like books where the conflict between the hero and heroine is so real and believable (and emotional) you really don't see how they can get together and it keeps you turning the pages to find out--you understand why they're acting the way they are--they simply couldn't do anything else! And yet when the HEA comes, you're overjoyed because it works and the characters earned it by going on their journey.
What a great pic, Sharon!!!
I looove a tormented alpha male who is redeemable and has heart of fantasy love tucked inside his soul. I remember him forever. :D
Hmm, well, in the end I think no matter what it always comes down to the characters. . . but some that have stayed with me are because they were hilarious together, others because they play off well against each other, others because of the storyline. . . but it all depends and come down to the characters. :)
Lois
Characters! The more real they seem, the more the book stays in my mind as I wonder what happens next!
The ones that stick with me are the ones that when the book is done I still want to know what is going on their lives. Did they have kids,and how many.. and all the other details that ended with the book.
I like a book that puts me through an emotional wringer. The characters and their interaction with each other is what appeals for me. I also find that characters that start of with a history with each other are more interesting. I'm not too crazy about love at first sight and marriage within a week or month stories. Where they are or what they do for a living isn't really important to me.
Loved reading all your comments. Re love at first sight and marriage within a week - I think these stories are less common now and this is probably because the reader wants to feel that there is more "substance" to the love-story. Having said that - the coup de foudre is a powerful and irresistible force! I am off to visit my parents, but will call in later - I can see that this blogging could become addictive!
Sharon Kendrick.
ps. I am just finishing writing about a tortured alpha hero at the moment, Nature Nut - and he's driving me MAD1
Sorry about that - this is the first time I've ever blogged and see that I put myself down as "anonymous" which sounds vaguely sinister....
Best, Sharon Kendrick
Characters - but I do like plot as well. And ones with a 'real world' feel (i.e. there are some secondaries, and preferably pets as well - I always look out for Rex and Grandma Mazur in the Stephanie Plum books!)
Characters are what make a book a keeper for me. I want to become like friends. I want to care about what happens to them and I want to respect them.
What makes a book memorable for me is when I get swept up into the characters' story because the author reveals how each person is feeling and I can "live" the romance. I can experience the journey to finding true love.
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