Recently, I rewatched 27 Dresses starring Katherine Heigl as Jane and James Marsden as Kevin. The reason I find this movie interesting is the exact same reason it doesn’t work for me as a romance (or romantic comedy).
Everyone portrayed in this movie lies. Jane lies to all of her friends and family, pretending she isn’t in love with her boss. Tess, her sister, lies to Jane’s boss, making him believe she’s his dream woman. Kevin lies to Jane, trying to get his story. None of the characters are true to themselves or to others. They pretend to be people they’re not.
Liars make interesting characters. Will they be found out? What will happen when they are outed? Will the revelation force the characters to change, to become better people? There’s a lot of room for delicious tension and for growth.
Liars make terrible spouses however. Jane falls in love with the man Kevin pretends to be. She values the traits his feigned persona has, not the traits he truly has. The man she kissed, slept with, cared for didn’t exist. Their entire relationship was built on nothing.
And how could she possibly trust anything that comes out of his mouth? He lied to get what he wanted. She had no clue that he’s selling her a load of bull. When he lies in the future (and I suspect he will – why wouldn’t he? Lying in the past is how he got what he desired.), she’ll, once again, be clueless.
This is why the romance part doesn’t work. There’s no indication (except the word of a liar) that Kevin truly has changed. Jane can’t keep him honest. She has no ability to read him.
I’ve had liars as heroines or heroes. Bee from Sinful Rewards isn’t completely honest. But their love interests always call them on their bullsh*t. Both Nicolas and Hawke are skilled at separating truth from lies. Bee might lie but she knows she’s not fooling either of them.
A relationship CAN be built on lies if both parties know they’re lies.
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Sinful Rewards 1
Cynthia Sax
Belinda “Bee” Carter is a good girl; at least, that’s what she tells herself. And a good girl deserves a nice guy—just like the gorgeous and moody billionaire Nicolas Rainer. He is everything she wants in a man.
Or so she thinks, until she takes a look through her telescope and sees a naked, tattooed man on the balcony across the courtyard. Hawke is mysterious, the bad boy she knows will bring only heartbreak. He has been watching her, and that makes him all the more enticing.
But when a mysterious and anonymous text message dares her to do something bad, she must decide if she is really the good girl she has always claimed to be, or if she’s willing to risk everything for her secret fantasy of being watched.
Is her mystery man the reclusive billionaire with a wild side or the darkly dangerous bad boy?
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-1-Cynthia-Sax-ebook/dp/B00I7V89H0
Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-1-cynthia-sax/1119055390
