Girls' Series & Their Influence

How many of you were fans of girls’, or guys’, mystery series when you were teens? I’m talking about Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Cherry Ames, Trixie Belden, Vicki Barr, Connie Blair, The Dana Girls. I read them all, including The Hardy Boys, but my hands-down favorite was one you probably never heard of, Judy Bolton.

Nancy Drew was the most popular of the girls’ series. However, I always root for the underdog and I like to be contrary. So while most other girls were reading Nancy, I didn’t much like her, mainly because she was popular, wealthy, and self-assured. I discovered Judy Bolton, and fell in love with her and her friends. Judy, the daughter of a doctor, lived in a small town in upstate New York. Like Nancy, and the others in the girls’ and guys’ series, she solved mysteries.

I related to Judy because she wasn’t rich and perfect and beautiful like Nancy and she didn’t drive a cute roadster or have an adoring boyfriend. Judy had faults and she frequently made mistakes. While Judy Bolton wasn’t as well-known as Nancy Drew, Judy now has a cult following. A while back I belonged to a Judy Bolton Fans Yahoo loop. Many of the members make annual trips to the town in New York that was the model for Judy’s hometown. They even reenact scenes from some of her stories. I love the books but I wouldn’t go that far. I have almost a complete set of Judy books that I collected in the Fifties and early Sixties. Although Amazon now sells reissued Judy books, the originals are rare. Whenever I go to flea markets, I look for them. I find copies of all the other series, even Nancy Drew, but never any Judy Bolton.

Judy grew up during the course of the books, and when she was eighteen, she married a guy she’d known her whole life, Peter Dobbs. Peter was five years older, and a personification of truth, justice and the American way. He became an FBI agent, or G-man, as they were called back then. The romance between Judy and Peter started my love of romance and happy endings. I had a crush on Peter and wanted to marry a man just like him. The heroes and heroines in my books all have a little of Peter and Judy in them.

At the same time I was reading Judy Bolton, I devoured the YA historical romances of Elizabeth Howard. While her books were historicals, her heroines all had something in common with Judy: they were spirited and independent, and while not the most beautiful or the richest women, they weren’t afraid to go after what they wanted. I’m in the process now of buying my favorite Elizabeth Howard books from used online booksellers. The few I have so far are in honored places on my bookshelves.  Candle in the Night, picture below, is my favorite of the Elizabeth Howard books, a book filled with adventure and an emotional romance. In fact, as a tribute to Howard, I named my characters in Loving Or Nothing after the characters in this book, Tami and Daniel.

Judy Bolton and Howard’s heroines greatly influenced the type books I write. My heroines may not be so astoundingly beautiful that they literally stop traffic, but they are beautiful in eyes of the men who love them. Of course, my heroes are always drop-dead gorgeous. No matter their looks, my heroines and heroes have faults and doubts, and things haven’t always come easy for them. I love to put my characters in dangerous situations or situations merely dangerous to their hearts and watch them fight for the happy endings they deserve. Just like Judy and Peter. And in the course of fighting for what they want, they grow and learn valuable lessons and open their hearts to the love they crave.

What about you writers out there—what books did you read that influenced what you write? The same for you readers—did the books you read as teens influence what you read today?

Speaking of romance, I'm thrilled to announce I have a new release, a marriage-of-convenience that turns out to be anything but.

Wedded On a Dare (Love On a Dare Book 2)

A trip to Vegas...
            A gorgeous man...
           A beautiful woman...
          What could go wrong?

When a struggling actress takes a role as the glamorous temporary wife of a wealthy playboy, she finds love doesn’t always come on cue.

Struggling actress Kate Carluccio showed up for her wedding but her groom bowed out without warning. He absconded not only with her heart, but also her parents’ life savings. Her confidence shaken, Kate’s determined to find a way to restore her parents’ money. Then she’s offered the role of a lifetime: step out of her colorful high-top sneakers and into the glammed-up role of socialite wife to a shallow, annoying playboy. If only Kate wasn’t also secretly attracted to him, the one-and-a-half million dollars he offers with his proposal of a marriage-of-convenience might be easier to accept.

Breathtakingly handsome, super rich, and sophisticated with a bad boy vibe, Zach Lyon is a tabloid favorite. He may be a vice-president at his father’s company, but up until now he’s just played a supporting role. But when he discovers two executives are conspiring to force his dad out and take over the company, Zach decides it’s time to step into the spotlight. What better way than to take a glamorous new wife to Las Vegas to spend the Christmas holiday at the home of one of the conspiring executives?

As the curtain rises on the eclectic house party, Kate and Zach play their roles against the backdrop of schemers and snobs, while hiding deep secrets of their own. Can Kate pretend to love Zach without revealing the true depth of her attraction? Can Zach prove to his father he has the stability to go from understudy to leading man? They may have wedded on a dare, but with the stage set for romance, their marriage-of-convenience might just turn into a marriage-to-last-a-lifetime.

      Both books in the Love On a Dare series are available in a convenient boxed set.

Love On a Dare Duet

Buy Links:

Universal link for Wedded On a Dare:

http://books2read.com/u/47xQ9R


Universal link for Love On a Dare Duet:

https://www.books2read.com/u/bxYJXl