Pure Corn
I find reading romance novels keeps my brain from overheating from stress/pre-occupation. I recently found a doozy:
Perfect Partners
by Jayne Ann Krentz
1992
Krentz specializes in Seattle regional settings, small towns, and throwing together 1) a young, naive and winsome woman who's rather feminine, tends to have a traditional or semi-traditional occupation and is sexually inexperienced (or underexperienced) with 2) a tall, dark, intense businessman who's a corporate shark, on the outs with his family (if they're still alive) and is fueled by some sort of revenge, either consciously or subconsciously.
The female protagonist of Perfect Partners is named Letty. Letty is a former reference librarian who is bequethed a Seattle-based camping gear company by her deceased great-uncle. Oh, what fun.
Some choice quotes:
"Now, instead of owning Thornquist Gear, the rapidly expanding Seattle-based company that specialized in camping and sporting equipment, Joel had himself a new boss. The thought was enough to make him grind his back teeth. A librarian, for God's sake. He was working for a librarian."
...
"'Tell me, Letty, do you have any experience in the business world?'
'No, but I've read a great many books and articles on the subject since I learned that Great-Uncle Charlie left me Thornquist Gear.'
'Books and articles, heh? You know, Letty, there's quite a difference between the business world and an academic environment.'
'Is there?'..."
...
"Tomorrow morning she would try to find out exactly what bad blood was that ran between Joel and the Copelands. The inquisitive librarian in her would not rest until she knew what happened fifteen years ago."
...
"The very existence of libraries held out hop for the future of the human race, as far as Letty was concerned. If people had enough sense to collect and store information and make it available to everyone, perhaps they would someday have enough sense to use that wisdom to stop wars and find a cure for cancer.
"Being a corporate president was interesting work, but Letty knew that a part of her would always be a librarian."
I'm sure there's more. I hope there's more ...
Comments
It sounds like she written in some ways like a real librarian: ready, willing, and able to take on everything, and driven by the desire to know.
Posted by: Chip Unicorn | December 30, 2003 08:08 AM
Yeah, JAK can get to be pretty predictable. Current setting is the Southwest parts of these United States. Now she's also getting into the continuing characters series stuff with both of her incarnations (JAK and Amanda Quick). I am liking her newer stuff again. Just as an FYI, JAK has a few librarian heroines, but that's probably because she's a former academic librarian herself, so she knows wherefore she speaks.
Posted by: Katie | December 30, 2003 06:02 PM
Thanks for the info on Ms. Krentz. I did not know.
I do give JAK credit for not forcing Letty to wear a bun. In fact, it's especially obvious from the beginning that such a hairstyle wouldn't work on her.
And there was no mention of shushing. Props for that.
Posted by: misseli | December 30, 2003 09:19 PM
Have you heard of The Dewey Decimal System of Love
by Josephine Carr? It's not really a bodice ripper, but it is corny and involves a librarian! Whoopee!!! :)
Posted by: Penny | January 13, 2004 02:37 PM