Harlequin Horror

I just got back from 6 days in Colorado (husbandless). Colorado is the best and I had a lot of fun. Whenever I go on vacation I read. As I have recently acquired an Amazon Kindle from my husband's grandmother, it has made the process of buying books VERY easy (too easy says my bank account). Anyway, I didn't think I would read a ton in Colorado because I usually don't (there are too many people to see and visit with), so I only brought one book (Austenland by Shannon Hale) and my Kindle.

Because my sleep schedule was still a bit messed up from Hawaii, I finished the one book I had brought the very first night (at 4 AM). Just as a little plug, I really like Austenland. It was fun...even though I don't read a ton of Jane Austen. Anyway, that left me bookless. I decided that I had spent too much money on books as of late so I started sifting through the free books you can buy for the Kindle. Now there are some really great options of books to buy for free. Most classic books that you can get cheap Barnes and Noble editions of are free on the Kindle. Well, truth be told I wasn't really feeling like a weighty classic. I wanted something light and easy. So I continued looking. Eventually I realized that you can get many Harlequin romances for free.

Now let me explain. I have never read a traditional romance novel. I mean, I've read some Nicolas Sparks and Twilight (of course), but I have never read a true Harlequin romance novel. I decided to give it a whirl. I knew that there would be a lot of sex...I had no idea how much. I read this book called Slow Hands (nice name huh). It was about this woman named Maddie who finds out that her stepmom is planning to cheat on her father by purchasing this European gigolo at a charity bachelor auction. In order to stop this from happening, her sister Tabitha asks Maddie to go to this auction and purchase the man for herself (Tabitha doesn't think she can purchase the man and not engage in sexual behavior with him...which would be bad since she is engaged). Maddie goes and purchases #19 for $25,000 right out of her stepmothers hands. The problem? Whoever created the program got #19 and #20's profiles mixed up. #20 is actually the gigolo. #19 is a normal guy...a paramedic named Jake. This wouldn't really matter since Maddie tries to duck out, but Jake follows her and insists on taking her out (she did pay $25,000 after all). They go out and have a wild night of sex. Maddie realizes she kinda really likes this guy, but she still thinks he is a gigolo. She offers to "employ" him full time for a month. This confuses Jake (after all he is just a paramedic). However, he kinda figures out what is going on and agrees to the deal. Of course, they go out for the month and eventually he tells her the truth and they fall in love, blah, blah, blah. Truth be told...I really did enjoy the characters in this book. They were kinda fun. The story, however, not so much. It was pretty boring. Lots of talking that always led to sex. Which leads me to the main topic of this blog.

There was so much sex in this book. Now this isn't Nicolas Sparks sex which gives you a good enough picture. This is X rated, extremely detailed stuff. It is so specific...which I totally didn't expect. I probably should have stopped reading right away, but I just don't do that. When I start a book I always try to finish it. Truthfully these books are pornography in the simplest sense. I considered how many women read these. Millions probably and they don't realize there is anything wrong with it. I started wondering if the women who read these would be upset if they were to find out that their husbands watched pornography online. I don't think that would be really fair. Moreover, I started thinking about how accessible these books are. They are everywhere. They are in Borders, Barnes and Noble, Walmart, grocery stores, everywhere. Walmart won't even sell CDs with parent advisories on them, yet they have a HUGE section of Harlequin romances. Walmart would require an ID in order to buy an R rated movie, yet I am certain anyone could buy these books. It really started freaking me out. I mean...it was bad enough that I read it, what if one of my 13 year old students read one. That would be so horrible.

I am not one who is all about censorship. In fact, I am against it in a lot of ways. However, I am for ensuring that children don't have access to things that are only appropriate for adults (and maybe not even appropriate for them). We as a society try to protect our children from violence, sex, and language in movies and music (though music is becoming more and more hyper-sexualized...look at Lady Gaga, Ke$ha, and Katy Perry). Why doesn't this apply in books? It is just an interesting question. I really don't have an answer.

I told Nephi about the book and we had a really good discussion about sex in society and how we want to try and protect our children from things like that. Apparently he already knew they were pretty bad...some guy on his mission worked in a library and would always talk about the women who would come in and read "nickel nasties." I thought that was funny.

Anyway, no real point...just something I experienced and learned from. I love how life works like that.