Take it away, Lois!
Do you remember The
Rules?
It
was first publish in 1995 (the full title was The Rules: Time-tested Secrets
for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right by Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider.)
The book generated a lot of controversy because its premise was that women
should be more like the women of past generations, “easy to be with but hard to
get,” never pursuing men but instead letting the men pursue them. Although the
book was derided as anti-feminist, it sold millions of copies.
One of those copies was purchased by a friend of mine.
Mary and her husband had recently divorced, and she was on a desperate quest to
find a replacement mate. On a trip to Barnes & Noble I watched as she
purchased an armload of how-to-snag-a-man books. She proceeded to read them all,
but The Rules became her bible.
Watching Mary’s dating exploits as a devoted “Rules
Girl” gave me the idea for Hooking Mr. Right, first published under my Emma
Carlyle pen name.
Can a butt-ugly alley cat named Cupid bring
together two people driven apart by secrets and lies?
After writing a doctoral thesis that exposed fraud in the
pop-psychology genre, thirty-two year old professor Althea Chandler has to
sacrifice her professional integrity to save her family from financial
disaster. She secretly becomes best-selling romance guru Dr. Trulee Lovejoy, a
self-proclaimed expert on how to catch a man, even though Thea’s a miserable
failure when it comes to relationships—especially those with the opposite sex.
Burned by a failed marriage, Luke Bennett finds himself pursued by Dr.
Lovejoy toting women after a gossip columnist dubs him New York’s most eligible
bachelor. When he at first mistakes Thea for one of the women out to snare him,
sparks fly, but the two soon find themselves battling sparks of a less hostile
nature, thanks in part to an alley cat named Cupid.
Luke believes he’s finally found an honest woman.
Unfortunately, Thea is anything but honest. She’s got more secrets than the CIA
and a desperate gossip columnist out to expose her. Cupid definitely has his
work cut out for him.
Hooking Mr. Right is
also now part of the Romance Super Bundle II: Second Chances, eleven
romances by eleven award-winning and bestselling authors.
Besides me, you’ll
find fabulous stories by authors Dale Mayer, Donna Marie Rogers, Stacey Joy
Netzel, Amy Gamet, Edie Ramer, Pamela Fryer, Georgina Lee, Kate Kelly, Wendy
Ely, and Lyndi Lamont–nearly half a million words and 2000 pages of strong
heroes and daring heroines who’ll do anything for a second chance at love.
Romance
Super Bundle II: Second Chances Buy Links
Lois Wiston
Here's a little bit about Lois:
Award-winning
and Amazon bestselling author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic
suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, and non-fiction under her own name and
her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically
acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more
mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is an award-winning craft
and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both
her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry. Visit
Lois/Emma at www.loiswinston.com
and Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog, www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com.
Follow everyone on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Anasleuth.
14 comments:
I remember that controversy in the 90's. I also bought the book but have never read it. Funny where we get our ideas. I was in line at Borders waiting to check out one time when I saw this huge book Quotationary. That spurred the idea for my book Quotable where the heroine uses obscure quotes to keep people from getting to close to her.
Kathy, I don't recall that fuss, but I can tell you that I was busy having kids while my husband was on tours of duty far away. I may have been a bit pre-occuppied!
I remember the controversy about THE RULES. I also remember reading Lois's book, Hooking Mr. Right. It's a warm, funny book, one of Lois's best. If the other books in this boxed set are as good, this is a great buy.
What a fun post. I remember that book. I never got it but knew many people who did!
Love the concept for your story!
I've always been a news junkie, and the flap about The Rules was all over the news at the time. The authors were being interviewed all over the place. That's why I was aware of it. And then this friend became obsessed with the book, and next thing I knew, I had a plot!
I remember that I didn't pay too much attention to the book when it came out.
Thank you all for stopping by! So how many of us did manage to snag Mr. Right?
I did. He's checking out old home movies right now.
Somehow I completely missed The Rules. Maybe that's my problem, I've never read a book on dating. My question is do the guys read those books, too? How do they know their role in the dating games?
Waving hi to Barb and Lois!
Oh my goodness! I had a friend who preached that book all the time. However, she kept sleeping with an old boyfriend. Afterwards, she'd hold the book so tight and cry to me telling me she really, really wanted to live by the book, and would try one more time not to be the cow who gave away her milk for free. Oh, I cried too, and felt so bad for my poor friend, who kept trying to be a "rules" girl. I think she married that boyfriend and divorced him a few years later. Pretty sad, actually.
Sue, thanks so much! So glad you enjoyed HOOKING MR. RIGHT. I'm sure you'll also enjoy the other books in the boxed set.
Kathy, Melissa, and Angela, thanks for stopping by.
Barb, thanks for inviting me to visit today. My Mr. Right and I have been together a very long time.
Lani, that's so sad! I hope she found someone in the end. I'm thrilled all of you stopped by and enjoyed this post. Thank you, again, Lois. I'm so thankful for you and all the girls at Romance Super Bundle II:Second Chances. I've learned so much!
Hello, E. Ayers!! Nice to see you!
E., from what I know of the book, I think you're better off not following its advice!
Lani, how sad, but I think your poor friend had self-esteem issues. Even if she had been a faithful "Rules Girl," she probably wouldn't have had a happily ever after relationship, not until she addressed her own problems.
Wise advice, Lois!! Thank you.
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