What are some male-driven, “oh that could end up on Lifetime if only it were sanitized” books or book series?
The only one in my repertoire that might even fit is “Swordspoint” by Ellen Kushner, but it’s not contemporary.
“Big Little Lies” might be a better comp, or “Virgin River” by Robin Carr.
Thanks
MC man character POV?
What genre? And how steamy? And…a little elaboration on what you mean by male driven (repeating Prish’s questions)?
@Prish @jassnip… Not super steamy. But too steamy for Lifetime. Something you’d see on Netflix or Prime. “Stream steamy.”
Male-driven meaning MC Man POV, Male Protagonist.
Romances have some scenes her view, then his view. You could look for a writer whose style you enjoy, then read the guy’s POV pages.
I have no way to begin to look for a writer whose work I enjoy. I’m looking for suggestions.
I’m also not really looking for pure romances – is Big Little Lies a romance? (It might be?)
“Swordspoint” certainly has its love affairs, but there is a whole political world too.
I think I tipped my request too far with “romance”…
Mystery, fantasy, scifi, etc?
Now I’ve tipped too far the other way.
I am looking for Big Little Lies, Sharp Objects, maybe The Notebook.
I guess these would be “Intrigue”? But not anything that is suddenly sci-fi or fantasy. (I guess “The Time-Traveler’s Wife” has been knocking around in my head, but that book does not feel like sci-fi, even though it is.)
I know I’m shooting in the dark here…
You know what maybe would work, and is mystery?
something like, “A guy moves to a town and there’s been a murder. He is a cop and tries to solve the crime, but in the process, falls in love with the widow.”
I feel like that must be a thing already though.
Random movies that popped into my head (most of which are from the 80s and I haven’t seen lol):
Body Heat
Basic Instinct
The Big Chill
American Gigolo
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Less than Zero
No idea of any of this is what you’re looking for though.
Okay, so there is a whole category called Romantic Suspense. You could comb through some of the books on Amazon and see if they fit your bill. You mentioned Nicholas Sparks, he does have Romantic Suspense called See Me. I haven’t read it, but it might fit your bill. Blurb below
See me just as I see you . . .
Colin Hancock is giving his second chance his best shot. With a history of violence and bad decisions behind him and the threat of prison dogging his every step, he’s determined to walk a straight line. To Colin, that means applying himself single-mindedly toward his teaching degree and avoiding everything that proved destructive in his earlier life. Reminding himself daily of his hard-earned lessons, the last thing he is looking for is a serious relationship.
Maria Sanchez, the hardworking daughter of Mexican immigrants, is the picture of conventional success. With a degree from Duke Law School and a job at a prestigious firm in Wilmington, she is a dark-haired beauty with a seemingly flawless professional track record. And yet Maria has a traumatic history of her own, one that compelled her to return to her hometown and left her questioning so much of what she once believed.
A chance encounter on a rain-swept road will alter the course of both Colin and Maria’s lives, challenging deeply held assumptions about each other and ultimately, themselves. As love unexpectedly takes hold between them, they dare to envision what a future together could possibly look like . . . until menacing reminders of events in Maria’s past begin to surface.
Rich in emotion and fueled with suspense, SEE ME reminds us that love is sometimes forged in the crises that threaten to shatter us . . . and that those who see us for who we truly are may not always be the ones easiest to recognize.
Maybe done, but never enough of them!
The actor, Jason Priestly, has played a mix of characters in his career. I, particularly, like his current show, Private Eyes, out of Canada and shown on ION stations in the US. The husband remarks what a great villain he was on the husband’s favorite western, Tombstone. I know a little about actor’s prep (and having paid big money student loans off for it …haha). So, I read up on his and that character’s background.
Kind of mind boggling and cosmic flow time, here — his character was Billy Breakenridge who in real life wrote a famous book about his life in Tombstone and the Earps, after interviewing Wyatt in the 1920’s, etc. The TV show Private Eyes is such a good balance of writing and acting, I would approach them for their favorite novels, etc. Fans can do that.
Priestley’s character is remembered by the husband as a villain in Tombstone and a good acted character in the BH9zip show I never watched. That the husband respected the episodes he saw speaks volumes to me. Priestley must really work at his subtext and might know some gems.
It’s a thing, though the only books that come to mind would be romantic suspense or romantic thrillers. Most are dual POV and often with the female lead as MC. You already mentioned Robyn Carr. Suzanne Brockmann maybe? Nora Roberts has at least a few told from the hero’s perspective. Northern Lights is one and the plot matches pretty closely to your suggested storyline. Look into more from Nicholas Sparks, too.
I’d say the type of book you’re asking for fits somewhere in the space around domestic suspense and contemporary fiction, though I don’t see many solely male-driven and when I do, they seem to skew more to crime thrillers than mystery. I haven’t read any Harlan Coben but his name popped into my head.
Karin Slaughter’s Blindsighted might fit, I think it’s dual POV. Her Will Trent series, too? Sandra Brown writes romantic thrillers. One of David Baldacci’s series has romantic elements, but again, these skew to crime rather than mystery.
Historical mystery series have many male POV leads for the MC. It’s probably easier to get published and provide reading and writing pleasure for some. They could be ‘today’, but this way one can enjoy the story and characters w/o needing to address the this’es and that’es of the modern divisive world.
Hey Mike, one book that really fits the feel of that without matching the actual plot is Blood Work by Michael Connelly. You may have heard of Connelly’s popular Harry Bosch detective novels (which have spawned a Netflix series IIRC). Blood Work has similar excellence as a mystery but also has a very strong romance element and is my favourite book by Connelly. (Let me know if you read it as I tried to figure out the storyform, definitely seemed complete.)
Parker’s series of Jesse Stone - Spencer, and just-coming-home-from-the-war Easy Rollins (based on Mosley’s real father) come to mind. And my 93 year old mother likes the books on tapes of mystery series, located in the Southwest, where she grew up. I notice there seems to be a variety of men POV with interesting backstories. That would be an easy search. They came up fast on Google for me.