Sunday, January 29, 2006

Keeping Promises

I just finished a category romance novel, and as those types of novels go, it wasn't bad. The hero was a little too perfect -- he was a doctor (pediatrician) and all around him, his single wild friends were partying and sampling their woman of the week, but he wanted something more. Still, I could get past that.

What did get me mad was a broken promise.

All throughout the book, the heroine knows she can never marry the hero because he wants kids and she "can't have" children. This to me reads: the heroine has the inability to get pregnant, that she is infertile. In fact, during their first occasion of lovemaking, she's remarkably unconcerned that they don't use any protection.

Then, all of sudden, POOF! She's preggo.

Say what? But, I thought you couldn't have children???

Turns out that she shouldn't have children because of a high risk to her.

Shouldn't. Not couldn't. Big difference. And I felt cheated. I wanted the happy couple have to get over the hump, for the perfect doctor to have to make changes to his dream of a big family in order to prove his undying and unconditional love for the heroine.

Okay, I'm getting a little overdramatic here, but you get the point.

And then, to top it off, she has an uneventful pregnancy with no complications and manages to pop out that baby -- her first -- after only eight hours of labor. Eight! Sheesh... I had 37 hours of labor that ended in an emergency c-section, and I didn't have a high risk pregnancy.

Oh yeah, and her milk came in for her to breast feed less than four hours after she gave birth (and she had no problem learning how to nurse her perfect baby either). Mine took two days - and I consulted with a lactation specialist.

That book is NOT a keeper. Grrr....

What books have you read that don't keep their promises? And how does it make you feel?

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