I love reading, I love finding new authors and I love to find authors who write something new and totally unexpected. But more than anything I love to read books that are different takes on a not so original plot.
There is something comforting and familiar to me about knowing the general plot line ahead of time. And I love to read an author’s take on that plot and see what new twists and turns she or he has added in.
My all time favorite? Beauty and the Beast. I love that fairy tale. I find it fascinating and intriguing. A woman falling in love with the man inside the beast. It always makes me sigh.
Christina Dodd has a new book out entitled “Wilder” which has a Beauty and the Beast plot line. I’ve never read one of her books. I will be picking up her book tomorrow. I can’t wait.
I do the same thing with certain characters. Is it a book about werewolves? Sign me up. A Seal? oh, yeah baby. Actually, that could be any man in uniform. I’m not picky.
My favorite heroines? The shy, not so attractive, socially awkward misfits. I love to cheer for them.
I’ve always been drawn towards certain books. They’re like that favorite blanket I had as a child. Patched, color-faded with ragged edges, it went everywhere I went. On trips to new places. In airplanes and boats. It was always there. The familiar with the new.
What about you? Do you have any favorite plot lines? Any heroines or heroes that get you time and again?
Clarissa Southwick
Corina Mallory
Meredith Allen Conner
gswguest
Janis McCurry
Jennifer
Lynn Mapp
maryvine
J.S. Keim
mkhutchins
neysajensen
Peggy Staggs
stephanieberget
Gem State Writers 
Liz Fredericks
June 27, 2012 at 5:27 AM
LOL, I thought you were talking about a wereseal up above and thought – there’s a twist on a plot line! š I’m with you on men in uniform – is there anything more alpha? Except maybe a werewolf? And if you know where to look at your neighborhood Fred Meyers . . . my favorite heroine – the brash smartass who’s really a gawky, shy person. One of my favorite authors is Illona Andrews, she has a hero/heroine combo in the Kate Daniels series – makes me sigh.
Meredith Allen Conner
June 27, 2012 at 12:30 PM
I still have to read one of her books!! I’m writing her down right now – she sounds like someone who should be on my auto buy list š I love your heroine type š
Janis McCurry
June 27, 2012 at 8:13 AM
Hmm, I like ugly duckling stories where the heroine grows to like herself and becomes beautiful because of confidence, not artificial means. Fun topic today.
Meredith Allen Conner
June 27, 2012 at 12:31 PM
Yeah. I like that one too š
Jenn
June 27, 2012 at 8:23 AM
I love a dangerous hero (human or otherwise) just waiting to be semi-tamed by the right heroine. I like watching a heroine come into her own as she realizes her own strengths.
Meredith Allen Conner
June 27, 2012 at 12:32 PM
Oooohh!! That’s a good one too! Love those dangerous heroes š
maryvine
June 27, 2012 at 2:41 PM
I think kick-ass heroines are fun to read and write. I like to read about reformed bad boy type heros. Interesting topic.
Meredith Allen Conner
June 27, 2012 at 5:47 PM
I like the kick ass heroines too. I think I can connect more to the shy ones š
florence fois
June 27, 2012 at 4:38 PM
Meredith, I might be conflicted on this one. First I love romantic comedies and weep over the death of one of my comic heroines … Nora Ephran … It doesn’t matter that the hapless male and female may get together … this much I know … but the ride she gave us with her characters was always worth the read … then the added bonus of turning them into great movies.
The other half of that coin are all things myterious, thrilling, chilling and over-flowing with suspense. Throw a romance into the mix and I’m still a happy camper. Sure they’ll catch the villian and maybe even fall in love … but oh the variety of ways is better than afree buffet in Vegas !!
Meredith Allen Conner
June 27, 2012 at 5:50 PM
So true!!! I’d be so happy if someone wrote a Beauty and the Beast mystery – with the romance still in the picture š
Peggy Staggs
June 27, 2012 at 4:49 PM
I’m hooked on the new TV series, “Once Upon a Time.” Great twist on Snow White. My new favorite writer is Brad Meltzer. He pops back and forth between first person immediate and third person. AND it works wonderfully. He has very smart heros. There’s nothing sexier than brains.
I too, had a book I drug everywhere with me. I even got a copy of it for my son when he was little.
Meredith Allen Conner
June 27, 2012 at 5:56 PM
Haven’t seen “Once Upon A Time” – I’ll have to look for it. I still have half the books from my childhood! Love them!!
Lynn Mapp
June 28, 2012 at 4:09 PM
I love secret babies. I love humor. I love, love.
darkhorsebooks
July 14, 2012 at 2:07 PM
So many favorite plot lines….I love it when the long lost heir shows up in a book. It was done fantasically well in The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart and Shadow Lover by Anne Stuart,
John Ross Barnes
August 8, 2012 at 5:06 PM
Thanks for this, Meredith, I’m often drawn to a good “fish out of water” story as well as an “underdog stands up to insideous power”. I guess that could be called the A Wrinkle in Time plot, or perhaps back to the old David and Goliath. And of course, I’m a sucker for the outsider looking in, no one understands, stumbles upon the key to saving the Universe thing.