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Monday, December 1, 2014

Oh, those whiskey/amber eyes...

I'll admit it. I read romance novels. I am choosy, though, and do have my favorite authors. The books must be well-written with interesting characters, and I must be able to get through the first chapter without wanting to slap sense into the heroine. I enjoy them for the fantasy they are. Shoot, I've even written a couple (Blood and Moonlight and Home Again) and fully expect to write more.

Sometimes, even in the otherwise well-written ones, stuff will bug me. For instance, a lot of authors lately give the hero or heroine whiskey-colored or amber eyes. Folks, that's dark yellow. Ew. I knew a guy once who actually had that color and the effect was anything but attractive. Sorry, just doesn't work. Sounds good in print, but I visualize everything, and yellow eyes are not sexy.

Just now, I'm in the midst of reading Smoke and Mirrors, by Jayne Ann Krentz (2002). I know I can count on her for a great read with no smackable characters. One character (not, thank God, the hero or heroine) is described as having 'striking amber eyes' that the heroine finds difficult to look into. When the hero comments on them, she smiles and says, "Tinted contact lenses." They proceed to call him 'yellow-eyes' through the rest of the book.

Thank you, Ms. Krentz, for skewering that particular annoying trope.

1 comment:

Sharon Rawson said...

I wondered why people would think that was attractive, too. I would feel like a lion was looking at me. Scary, not sexy!