Proof That I Will Whore For Books

Wow - that picture turned out bigger than I thought it would be. Ahem.

I've heard good things about Nalini Singh about her paranormal series about were-people and psychics. Reading the descriptions, they sounded more like science fiction, but the two genres blend often enough, so who I am to quibble?

Anyway, she's having a contest in honour of her new book Hostage to Pleasure, and part of the contest is for me to blog about which fictional hero I'd like to hold hostage. If I get picked, I win a $75 book gift certificate. Yes, I will do anything for books (see the Julie Ann Long widget on my blog, that's for a contest, too).

Right now, the only character I can think of who I'd like to hold hostage would be Simon from Julia Quinn's The Duke & I. Not because he's particularly sexy (although he has he charms), but so that I can yell at him. Warning - spoilers ahead. In The Duke & I, he tells the love of his life Daphne that he refuses to marry or have children. When he eventually marries Daphne anyway to spare her reputation, he still refuses to have children (he relies on the time-honoured "pullout" method of birth control). The reason he refuses to do this? Because his Mean Ol' Daddy loved the Dukedom that Simon inherits and was obsessed with the idea of continuing his line.

Simon hates his Mean Ol' Daddy and says, "Well, I'm not going to marry or have kids and then the Dukedom will go out of the family! HAHA DADDY I WIN!"

So basically, I would like the chance to hold him hostage, preferably tying him to a chair so I can scream at him "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?" Seriously. You're not having kids because your dad would like it? Your dad is DEAD. Who gives a shit about your dad? I mean, he has a reason to hate his dad (he was truly an asshole of the highest calibre), but this whole mysterious "I can never have children" thing, that will basically determine how he lives his life and how he lives his life with DAPHNE is based on a plan to spite someone who isn't even in the world of the LIVING anymore, well, it speaks to very dark, serious psychological problems that I would love to beat out of him.

And then, of course, I would invite Daphne in and than leave the room so that she can properly show him how fun baby-Duke-making can be.

Can you guess I'm a little peeved at emo, emo Simon? Just a tad. At least he marries a nice gal.