"The Perfect Man is pure science fiction!" ~ Jaine Bright in "Mr Perfect" by Linda Howard
The thing about romance n0vels is that it is addictive. A friend of mine once called it trash book, unless of course the romance took place in sci-fi and fantasy realms. Then, it is the by-the-way type of romance and so it's acceptable. Then, I remember what a local celebrity once said: "I don't read romance novels! I want to live it! ". Yeah, well, each to their own, I guess. But I digress...
Coming back to my love-hate relationship with romance novels, as adolescent as it sounds, I do love reading romance novels, probably because it gives a semblance of what love should be and therefore is the basis for my ideals of love (the kind between a man and a woman). The downside of romance novels is that they have the most wonderful Mr Right(s) or at least a definite Mr Maybe.
Well, honestly, no that is not the downside. The downside is when I am back in reality! In reality, no men measures up, not even a mile close to the definite Mr Maybe. Just knowing that the less-than-perfect heroes of the novels do not exist in reality is truly depressing and hopeless.
So, I resigned myself to reading my latest romance flick, aptly titled "Mr Perfect" by Linda Howard. (It was only recently that I started reading Howard's books and they are not bad! Suffice to say, I like her characters. ) This particular book was splendidly humourous, though it was the classic murder-mystery-romance types.
What I would like to mention in particular is the list of attributes for "Mr Perfect" , which was the topic of discussion between the protagonist and her friends, which ultimately takes focal point in the murder mystery.
Here is the list of 10 attributes for the elusive "Mr Perfect" (courtesy of Linda Howard's "Mr Perfect") (in order of importance and my personal comments in violet):
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1) Faithful (Hear, hear!)
2) Nice (Yup, one of those kind-hearted, helpful guys is a definitely ideal)
3) Dependable (Reliable, trustworthy..as the list goes)
4) Steady job (We, women, are after all practical) ;)
5) Sense of humour (what's life without humour, eh??)
6) Financially comfortable (Don't we all want money? Yup, another practical attribute!) ;)
7) Good looking (but not drop-dead gorgeous) - (DDGs would be a problem! So, settling for GL is just about right! haha)
8) GTB (If you hadn't guessed it already - good in bed)(hmmm...*whistling*)
9) 10-inch, though 8-inch is preferred as the balance two-inch would be leftovers (Warning: X-rated: LOL *blush* If you don't know what this is about...I'm not going to explain! *blush*)
10) Half-hour at least (Warning: X-rated!!! Oh gosh, that long!*blush*)
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*Intelligent* (hey, don't blame me for wanting my man to be smart!!) This attribute belongs somewhere between numbers 1 & 2 of the above list!
*Sigh* Knowing for a fact that it is all ideal and only happens in fairytales, I can't help but hope for something close to that romance. After all, life is all about hopes, dreams and living it to the fullest. I would like to enjoy these ideals before turning completely cynical.
So, where's my Mr Right?
"Yeah, well, like all the other male chauvinists, he got lost on the way and is too stubborn and egotistical to ask for directions!"