From Romance Book to Romance Series

 

 With the overwhelming success Bridgerton, and with being a romance reader for decades I thought I'd do a post on my thoughts of this new trend.

 

I LOVE IT.  I LOVE IT.   I LOVE IT

Although I know there are a lot more, I'm only going to cover the ones I've seen and I'm only including series and not theatre movies.  Therefore that excludes such monstrosities as 50 Shades of Grey.  No, I didn’t read the books and never plan to.  I confess to being a total romance reading snob and they don’t fit into my rather toffee-nosed (I found this on the Thesaurus and simply had to use it!!  Isn’t it delish?) list of what is a romance  book.  And since I was appalled that this series was considered “romance” I didn’t see the movies either.  Never did and never will either.  So this narrows things considerably and makes this post much shorter – thank heavens for all who read it as I do tend to ramble.

Outlander

The first for me therefore is Outlander.  I read the first three books of the series many years ago and even at that was late to the series.  The sized intimidated me and at the point where I quite, Claire and Jamie were back together and I could rest happy with that.  Plus with all the horrible things they and their loved one suffered, I know it would upset me.

 

So when I heard it was going to be made into a series, I was ecstatic.  I know Diana Gabaldon doesn’t consider them romance but who are we kidding?  Of course they are.  I didn’t really have a visual in my head as to what Jamie and Claire looked like so I was just fine with Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe portraying them.  Yep, very fine with Sam. Yeppers indeedy.  

I watched along and swooned along with millions of other the trials and tribulations of these two soul mates.  I kind of haven’t had cable for almost three years so I did miss Season 5 when it first aired but it’s on Netflix now so all is good.

 

Virgin River

Next up is Virgin River.  I read the first five or so books of this series years ago and loved them until I was a bit put off by the sameness of them and with so many other books to read I kind of stopped reading them.  But when I saw that Netflix had turned them into a series, as with Outlander I was all on board that train.  I binge watched the first season and fell totally in love and while I thought Melinda Monroe a fine choice for Alex, Martin Henderson as Jack – I swooned.  

I thought they did an excellent job in he rest of the cast choices and think this is another fine adaptation though it’s been a while since reading the books.  I’ve watched the first 2 seasons – more than once and if you have Netflixe and haven’t watched it, do so!

 

Bridgerton

And this brings us to Bridgerton.  As with the other two, I read this series, at least up to Sir Philip with Love, years and years ago now.  I think I read them as they came out.  When I said I’ve been reading romance for decades I really mean it *grin*.  So I was beyond thrilled and jumping for joy when I heard these books were being adapted for a series, especially by Shonda Rhimes and her record of incredible success.  With her at the helm, I figured it was a give that it would be successful.  Though I had no idea the level of success it’s experiencing.  I admit I was puzzled at the diversity of the cast when it was first announced, thinking it didn’t really ring true to the times, but having watched the series once and part way through my second viewing, the diversity is an absolutely stunning success for me.  

When ‘Simon’ slides of that horse in his first scene, Rege-Jean Page IS Simon and he gets swoonier and more delicious and my girl parts jump up and dance more in each new scene. 

  Phoebe Dynevor is luminescent as Daphne and the sparks and chemistry between these two – well to put it mildly, is smokin’. 

And I can’t move on without saying that I adore Lady Danbury.

 

All three of these books to series adaptations get an A+ to infinity grad from me.  I can’t get enough of any of them.  But then we come to the latest books to series mentions, Firefly Lane based on a series of books by Kristin Hannah.  Because I’ve been reading books for decades – and yes, decades and decades, I read her straight up romance books and she was an auto buy author at the time.

• Once in Every Life
• If you Believe
• When Lightning Strikes
• Waiting for the Moon
• The Enchantment
• A Handful of Heaven

These are all books I’ve read a number of times each and I constantly check to see if they are out as eBooks.  Not yet I’m so sad to say but hope springs eternal.  So while I haven’t read any of her books since she switched to Women’s Fiction, my sister swears by them.  When I saw they had been made into a series, at first glance I was thrilled.  But then I saw Katherine Heigl is in the series and my loathing for her far outweighs my desire to watch the series that technically isn’t based on true romance books.  So for now I just have to wait for the next season of the three I have mentioned; meanwhile watching and rewatching them, just like I do the books.

My final thought is I am beyond pumped that these series are so well received.  I have my fingers and toes crossed that this is only the beginning.  There are so many beautifully written romance books and series out there and be they contemporary or historical, my fervent hope is this is just the beginning. That the entire world discover the beauty and awe and passion of the romance genre is one of my greatest wishes.  The sky is the limit and dare I *cough* say the In Death books might be another fine idea?  And last but certainly not least dare I say it – Derek Craven.

'til later