If you love Regency romance and read a lot of them, you've got to check this out - I'm still giggling.

Regency Satire

Then come back and we'll talk about cliches and why, despite the fact that writers are repeatedly told to avoid using cliches at all costs, they ARE used and they DO continue to sell books in great numbers. So go on, have a read...I'l wait...

Ok. Let's face it, cliches exist for a reason: they strike a chord in readers. Another way of looking at them is as universal identifiers. The evil stepmom, the greedy business partner, the curmudgeonly grandfather, the dashing rogue, the clever vixen. We know these people the moment we see/read about them. The trick, of course, is to give them new and surprising angles that keep them from feeling stale. But why? Why don't we constantly just come up with completely new character types?

Well, for one thing, at this point no matter what you come up with, it's been pretty much been done before, somewhere in the world's body of literature since the beginning of time. Sorry, but it's true. 

But so what? Robert McKee (writing guru and author of STORY) explained it best in speaking about the James Bond franchise. Over and over for decades now, fans of the series have enjoyed watching Bond do pretty much the same exact thing - defeat the bad guys, save the world, do the bad girl, win the good girl, without ever mussing his clothes or spilling his vodka martini. Bond has become his own cliche, yet we love him...we love watching the game unfold each time because he's so impossibly good at what he does. With each movie, his limits are pushed a little further and the plot becomes a little more fanastic and high tech. But it's still basically the same and has been ever since Sean Connery first swaggered into camera range.

  

 Classic features, dangerous eyes - cliche? Who cares!!!

Classic features, dangerous eyes...

Are we getting tired of this? I think not.

Is it cliche? Like I said, who cares!

The same satire also could be applied to romance series based around navy seals, or big Texas families where the men are all alpha cowboy executive millionaires, or semi-reformed soul gathering vampires. Watching angsty, alpha guys fall for sassy women is just good fun, and no, we don't tire of it.

Me, I love a man's man in breeches and boots, whose billowy linen shirt hangs off his tight, tapering body, who isn't afraid to gallop his horse across a foggy moor, whose dashing presence commands attention in any drawing room, and who knows when and exactly how to kiss his lady breathless.

Do you have a favorite, sinfully secret romance cliche?  Do tell!

I love a good breathless kiss, lol. Bring on the good/bad guys!!

I read a lot of romance novels, so I "run into" cliches all the time. I don't really mind because usually each author puts his/her own spin on it.

I love historical romances, which are full of cliches. One that you see a great deal of is where the hero, who in spite of having a long line of mistresses, has the best sex of his life with the virginal and naive heroine. The virginal heroine, of course, has multi-orgasmic experiences after the first bit of pain. ;)

lol, Cheryl! How true!