As far as my long weekend reading extravaganza goes, (my 72 hours off before I dive in to final revisions and edits on book 2), I’ve completed Robyn Carr’s WILD MAN CREEK, a MIRA single title romance, and I’m now reading Michelle Willingham’s, SURRENDER TO AN IRISH WARRIOR, a Harlequin Historical romance.

Since my serious push toward publication began, (April 2010 when I began revising for my editor),  I have been totally focused on my heroes and heroines, keeping them together on the page, progressing their romance, and keeping secondary characters to a minimum. This total attention to the hero and heroine is what I LOVE about category romance. But I also like an interspersing of secondary characters to add color and humor to an emotional read.  

I usually love Robyn Carr’s books. She’s an excellent author. But, in WILD MAN CREEK, I found myself skimming over the scenes that did not pertain to the main romance. I got aggravated with all the different POVs and story lines. Funny, I don’t remember this bothering me before I started writing category romance.

In contrast, SURRENDER TO AN IRISH WARRIOR is all about the hero and heroine. They are together in every scene. I LOVE that! I must admit, at times, I’ve read some category romances that felt flat to me. For those of you who aren’t writers, it’s hard work to combine believable/realistic conflict, in-depth characterization, and an interesting plot to create an entertaining 50,000 word book. But so far, for me, Michelle Willingham is doing an EXCELLENT job. (And I note, I think her book may be a bit longer than 50,000 words, but it is still less than single title length.)

So I’ll ask you, how do you feel about secondary characters and multiple POVs (point of views) in the books you read? Do you prefer only hero and heroine POV? Or do you like to go into occasional secondary character POV? And do you like multiple story lines or prefer to stick to the hero and heroine’s storyline?