I have to give Deb Baker/Hannah Reed for giving me the idea for this blog. Click here to read her blog post on the Cozy Chicks Blog.
It seems to me that the lines between the mystery genre and romanace are becoming less and less distinguishable. A cozy written now versus one written ten years ago is more likely to have on the page romance. Not graphic sex scenes by any means, but there has been a trend of more action, as well as more bad language and slightly more violence. In my opinion, cozies used to be very close to traditional mysteries and now they are much closer to soft-boiled. Is this a bad change? Not at all. It's simply the evolution of the genre. (Romantic suspense is an entirely different sub-genre.)Cozies and soft-boiled mysteries are very character driven. Or you could call them relational driven - in that its the relationships that are most important (yes there needs to be a good, plausable plot, but come on folks, let's be honest - is there really a plot in the Stephanie Plum books?) So how much relationship do we need to see? Does it make a book less believable if we don't see some action on the page?
So where does the line get drawn now? Authors are probably in the best position to answer that question, after all, authors are receiving reader feedback regularly. So authors - what are your thoughts on romance in the cozy or soft-boiled sub-genres? Are readers asking for more romance or telling you that you have gone too far?Readers, of course I want to hear your opinions as well!! What do you want to see? And what about swearing and violence? Is a character believable if she says "darn" after she has accidentally backs into the tall, dark and handsome police chief's car? :)
