Great glasses!
I’m very very lucky to live in the same city as the fabulous Eloisa James for lots of reasons, not the least of which is this–she’s always willing to have a rousing conversation about romance novels. I don’t use the term rousing loosely.
The woman loves romances and has read what seems like all of them…which makes conversations about the genre–I’ll say it again–rousing and awesome. So, of course, when I launched Girls Who Wear Glasses month to celebrate One Good Earl Deserves a Lover, I knew Eloisa (who is, I might add, one of my favorite ladies in lenses) would come up with an amazing lady in lenses…and boy was I right!
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One of my favorite girls-in-glasses romances is in the outrageously non-PC MacKenzie’s Mountain, by Linda Howard (first published back in 1989 and it’s held up!).
In the preface, Linda says that she wanted to write “a simple love story about a half-breed Wyoming rancher and an old-maid schoolteacher.” A lot of girls-with-glasses stories start with an old maid. But in the good versions, the girl turns out to be far from meek and mild: she wields her glasses as a weapon to get exactly what she wants in a world that tends to consign pretty girls to a career as a wife.
MacKenzie’s Mountain opens with the immortal words, “He needed a woman. Bad.” That’s not only a fragment, but ungrammatical as well, but Wolf Mackenzie would never say, “He needed a woman. Badly.” Howard delights in her rough-hewn, uncivilized hero: imagine a ruthless outcast who’s seen the inside of a prison due to an unfair rape charge: “In his veins rans the blood of two of the most warlike peoples in the history of the world, Comanche and Celt.” So what do you think the good people of Ruth, Wyoming would think of a school mistress who beds their most-loathed outcast?
Mary Elizabeth Potter doesn’t care. She heads up the mountain to confront Wolf about the fact that his son Joe dropped out of school a few months ago and falls directly into lust. At first, she thinks Wolf is making fun of her, so she sets him straight: “I know I’m not an attractive woman, certainly not the type to stir a man’s—er, savage appetites.” Well, you can see where this is going.
But Mary is tough. She’s just as tough as Wolf, and in some ways, even stronger. She confronts small town prejudices about race with a kind of guts and glory that puts her in danger, but also slashes through the hatred and intolerance that made Wolf and his son outcasts.
That’s all great, but at the heart, this is a really terrific romance between a man with a crazy amount of testosterone…and a girl who wears glasses.
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It’s been way too long since I read MacKenzie’s Mountain, but you can bet that after reading this amazing homage to Wolf and Mary Elizabeth (who is one heckuva lady in lenses), I ordered it right away and rectified that tragic wrong. I might add, for those of you interested — that MacKenzie’s Mountain is now bundled with MacKenzie’s Mission in the combo paperback, MacKenzie’s Legacy!
So…who is your favorite bespectacled romance heroine? Or hero, for that matter? Share in comments for a chance to win a signed copy of Eloisa’s latest, The Ugly Duchess. US only, winner will be chosen on Wednesday.
February 18th, 2013 at 10:03 am
I cannot stand it two of my fave authors in one place! And one (EJ) speaking about another…
This might feel like heaven!
And for now, my fave bespectacled heroine has to be Pippa….I cannot get her out of my mind….
And someday, I hope that heroine with the glasses? I hope that person might be me. I am trying to be the heroine of my life, glasses and all.
Thanks Eloisa and Sarah for a most enjoyable beginning to my day!
February 18th, 2013 at 10:04 am
Love Eloisa as she knows :-) Also have all of your books Sarah. Just read Mackenzie mountain as I went on a Linda Howard spree cause I had never her books. I just checked out all the library had. I love when heroes or heroines have imperfections
February 18th, 2013 at 10:05 am
Love plain heroine wins the hot guy stories! Thanks for offering the contest.
February 18th, 2013 at 10:10 am
Sarah, my favorite girls with glasses are YOUR girls!! I have very much enjoyed your books! Thank you for the info on MacKenzie’s Mountain by Linda Howard. It asounds like a really good read and one that i will persue!!
February 18th, 2013 at 10:26 am
I love “Mackenzie’s Mountain”! To me it is a must read at least once a year! Wolf & Mary have an instant attraction that extends for Mary to young Joe, who in her eyes becomes hers as much as Wolf’s. The other story I absolutely love about a lady in glasses is Lynsay Sands’ “Love Is Blind”! Clarissa’s stepmother has taken away her glasses & Adrian has a severe scar on his face from a war injury. He believes that she can not see the scar, so is comfortable being with her. She believes wearing her glasses would make her unappealing. They are both wrong!
February 18th, 2013 at 10:42 am
Violet in VIOLET by Lauren Royal
February 18th, 2013 at 11:05 am
One of my favorite Eloise James’ heroine is Jemma and I love all the Mackenzies, especially Zane.
February 18th, 2013 at 11:06 am
II’ve worn glasses “forever” but my Prince Charming never seemed to mind. I minded when someone tripped me & I fell into a piano & had to have stitches on my eyelid, when I fell in a motorboat & had to have stitches above my eye, when I fell off my bike & had to have stitches above my other eye…you get the idea. And that was before I was 13!!!
February 18th, 2013 at 11:14 am
When I was growing up, I thrived on Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden mysteries. Long about the summer after 8th grade I ran out of books to read and scavenged the household’s meager two bookshelves. My mother was an avid romance reader, but usually gave away her once read books to neighbors, keeping only a handful of her faves. There within, I discovered the likes of Johanna Lindsey, Kathleen Woodiwiss, and titles like The Black Lion by Jude Deveraux. I was completely hooked! I loved the bits of intrigue some of the books might have, but I still wondered, ‘what if there was a true mystery to solve along with the love story?’ ‘What if Trixie is all grown up and I get to read her romance?’
Well, it was maaaaany years later, but as I read Amanda Quick’s, Arcane Society novels, it brought me back to those days of wondering. Finally, girls who wear glasses, buck convention, solve mysteries and get their HEAs ♥
I was ever so happy to meet both you and Sarah at Readers and ‘Ritas this last year and discover a couple more great ladies who wear glasses ;)
Thanks for making your heroines smart and sexy…Glasses or not! You rock!
February 18th, 2013 at 12:12 pm
I don’t think I have a favorite. I myself wear glasses, and I think women that do are badasses!! tehehe =P Thanks for the giveaway.
February 18th, 2013 at 12:39 pm
Is it against the rules to say Lady Philippa Marbury? :) I love how smart and brainy she is about book knowledge but how clueless she is about men and love (and, perhaps, life).
February 18th, 2013 at 2:20 pm
I love the MacKenzie series and Linda Howard, but as far as ladies in glasses go Phillipa wins hands down :D
February 18th, 2013 at 2:33 pm
A favorite heroine who wears glasses is Sara Fielding in Dreaming of You.
February 18th, 2013 at 3:01 pm
The MacKenzie series is one of my all time favorites. In these books, Linda Howard cuts right through to the heart and soul of romance without any excess. I love women in glasses who understand that seeing the world around them in sharp focus is more important than how others see them… especially because most of the others are too self centered to see anyone else.
February 18th, 2013 at 6:47 pm
Cat from Lisa Kleypas’ Hathaway series
February 18th, 2013 at 6:56 pm
I really liked Marianne in Victoria Alexander’s The Marriage Lesson. Naught miss you writes anonymously! I love when the heroines write stories.
February 18th, 2013 at 7:59 pm
I have to vote for Pippa. She’s just so sweet and fierce. :D
I plan on checking out Mackenzie’s Mountain. Thanks for the recommendation, Eloisa.
February 18th, 2013 at 8:27 pm
Miranda Neville’s The Dangerous Viscount; Sebastian, Viscount Iverley. He wears SPECTACLES~! How I disliked him but couldn’t resist loving him all the same.
February 18th, 2013 at 8:28 pm
Did I mention he also love books? And collecting them! We would have a magnificent library~ :)
February 18th, 2013 at 9:14 pm
I don’t really have a favorite character that wears glasses, there are so many wonderful ones. I really love those that accept their selves without worrying about what others think about it!
I can’t wait to read about Pippa….I really need to order that book, but have been trying to knock some out of my TBR pile before buying more (but I don’t know how much longer I can be good, lol)
February 18th, 2013 at 9:35 pm
Can you believe I’ve never read a Linda Howard? Yikes! I’ve been wanting to read the Mackenzie series for awhile now, though; I just didn’t know where to start! :-)
February 18th, 2013 at 9:40 pm
For me, it was Linda Howard’s character Daisy in Open Season. I love the supposedly quiet and shy librarian who snagged the hot sheriff. That book is one steamy read!
February 19th, 2013 at 5:50 pm
Violet Bridgerton from The Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn.
Carol L.