I am proud to say that I write romantic comedy, but I can’t say that I am naturally funny. Well, maybe I am a little bit. But the decision to make other people laugh while my characters fall in love was a conscious one. Unlike drama, humor is very subjective. What’s funny to one person may not make another so much as crack a smile.

There are certain ‘rules’ to jokes, certain aspects that make them work. Usually. And timing is everything. But first you have to understand humor. Men and women laugh at different things. Amazing, huh? For example how many men do you know who love the Three Stooges? Now, how many women? There are a few of the female persuasion who enjoy a good slapstick, but for the most part that brand of humor belongs to the men. The best way I have ever heard it explained was, “Women will laugh at a man slipping on a banana peel as long as she knows he deserves the fall.” This so-called female humor requires a set up, then a follow through. The first part of the joke might not be funny, but the second time it comes in, well, that’s when the laughter starts. For example, in my new Romantic Comedy, Love Potion Me, Baby, Brice Van Sant drinks a cup of shampoo (work with me here) and ends up marrying the first woman he lays eyes on—Suzanne Rose. The next morning he can’t remember her name. Naturally Suzanne is upset; she thought he was her prince. Instead he turned out to be a “big, fat toad.” Later, when Suzanne is forced to have dinner with Brice and a elderly business colleague and his wife…

She looked to Brice. Lie, his eyes commanded. But Suzanne was already growing tired of this decent. Despite Melvin’s candid remarks, and Claire’s bossy, Mother-knows best attitude, she liked the Greeleys.

“He’s my little toad,” she gushed, very proud of the syrupy tone of her voice. At least her words were true.

“Toad?” Melvin and Claire screeched at the same time.

Brice smiled charmingly. Drat the man! “Just an affectionate nickname. Right, my little salamander.”

The rule of three—for some reason, three is a magical number. Designers will tell you to hang pictures in threes, everyone knows bad things happen in threes, but humor also relies on the rule of three.

“Attention everyone!” Ms. Marshall hiked up her second-skin designer dress and hopped on top of the nearest unoccupied table.

The room fell into an eerie silence. No one said a word. No one breathed. No one even chewed. “I’d like to tell you what a low-down, good-for-nothing, pond-scum-sucking bastard you work for.”

“Oh, snap,” Vanilla whispered.

“He’s untrustworthy. Non-committal. And he wears socks to bed,” Miriam continued. “Even during—”

“Oh, snap,” Vanilla whispered again.

“Argyle socks.” Miriam announced, as if that somehow transformed the act of wearing socks into a felony.

There’s also another ‘rule’ at play here—the rule of the unexpected—this requires some set up. Everything has to be in place for something expected to happen and then wham, the unexpected hits instead.

Silently, she lifted her head. She rose to her feet slowly, almost methodically. “Trick you? Trick you? Trick you, Mr. We-Were-Meant-To-Be-Together? ‘Oh, Suzanne, let’s get married,’” she mimicked. “‘I love you.’”

“I never said that.” How could he? He didn’t even believe in love. Love destroyed. “At least, I don’t remember saying—”

“You don’t remember?” Her voice rose in pure fury. “Allow me to help you recall. Last night you proposed. And I said yes.” She held up her left hand where a plain gold band, identical to his, sparkled in the light of the new day. “This is my wedding ring. This—” she made a sweeping gesture around her—“is the honeymoon suite. And this—” she picked up the pineapple from the breakfast tray— “is the fruit we were supposed to have for breakfast.” She drew back her arm.

Brice ducked just in time.

The large, edible missile went sailing over his head and crashed against the wall.

Some guys never learn. I like this ‘rule’ best. What woman doesn’t want to be the one to turn the rogue around? Now that can’t happen until the end of the book which leaves plenty of page space to teach him a lesson or two. And Brice, my friends, is one of those guys…

“An annulment, Suzanne. We can go back to Davidson and discuss the details. I can assure you I’ll provide you with an adequate settlement.”

The chiming ring of his cell phone cut the silence stretching between them. Somehow the melodic ring sounded shrill and out of place.

Her mouth opened and closed twice before he realized once again he’d said the wrong thing.

“Suzanne, I—” The phone rang again. “Oh, hell.” Brice snatched it up. “Van Sant,” he barked.

“Boy.” The gravely voice boomed across the phone lines. Great, justfantastic. “Do you want to explain to me why you missed our meeting last night? We had very important matters to discuss. Matters of the utmost importance!”

“Settlement? You mean, money?” Suzanne’s cheeks were ruddy with anger. “You want to pay me for being your wife for one night. Isn’t that a little like prostitution?”

“Boy, are you there?”

“Answer me.”

“Boy?”

With a shake of his head, Brice placed one hand over the receiver. He closed his eyes and then opened again, focusing his gaze on Suzanne. “If you’ll just be quiet for five minutes, I’ll pay you double.”

I hope you enjoyed this look into Humor and Love Potion Me, Baby. Long live the Romantic Comedy!

I thought I’d take the time today and talk about something near and dear to my heart: men. And not just any men, but romance heroes.

I shouldn’t have to say the words, but I’m gonna anyway: the heroes in romance novels are SEXY. They are alpha males, go-getters, men of action. They “take care of things.” They can hunt their own food, saddle break a horse, and close multi-million dollar deals while the rest of us are still eating breakfast. They can go into the wilderness with a pack of gum and pocket knife and build a mini-mall.  They are “those guys.” And we love them.

Today I complied a list of the Ten Sexiest Romance Heroes IMHO (In My Humble Opinion) and INPO (In No Particular Order).

1~White collar professionals—Doctors, lawyers, judges, and the like. These guys are powerful, highly educated, and confident to the point of egomaniac. Which we all know is a requirement to be an alpha-male. And power is sexy, right?

2~Performers (heh, heh) Sorry, I should have said actors, all romance heroes “perform” <g>. And they are the best looking, most charismatic of men. Am I right? And with an actor, you never know what’s behind his mask. Is it the truth he’s showing, or only what he wants you to see? Which one is real?

3~Men of God—There is nothing sexier than a man who is battling the desires of the flesh and the goodness of heart. Talk about internal conflict!

4~Athletes—Hard bodies. Need I say more? Okay, travel, wealth, and testosterone.

5~Firemen—If I have to tell you why firemen are on this list, then you have to turn in your ‘Girl Card’!

6~Bull Riders—These are men who jump on the back of a thousand pounds of meanness, tie one hand to the beast, and somehow think it’s a sport. That kind of confidence goes a long way, if ya know what I mean! <wink>

7~Ranchers/Cowboys—Yes, they are different than bull riders. These are the steady cowboys, not the love ‘em and leave ‘em kind. They’ve sown their wild oats and though they might not be ready to settle down completely, if the right girl comes along, they’ll sure think about it.

8~Millionaires—besides the money and the power (and the fact that if you’re lucky enough to marry one of these chaps, you’ll never have to do the dishes again) these heroes need the true love of someone who can see past their bank account to the real person underneath. What heroine wouldn’t want to be the one to save him from that?

9~Law Enforcement Officers—From the local county sheriff of the smallest town in Texas to the homicide detective in the big city, these men are sexy, sexy, sexy. I should know, I’m married to one!

10~Construction Workers—Ah-ha! Gotcha! Brodie is a construction worker. Read the excerpt below to see just why he’s…I mean they’re on my list.

(All right, you’re probably saying “what about add your favorite here?” Well, this is my list, you’ll get your turn.  Read the new excerpt from Brodie’s Bride, then leave me a comment about your favorite type of Romantic hero.

Brodie and Savanna have made their pact to spend the weekend together. A very important potential client, has invited the “family” man to Texas for the weekend to talk over contract negotiations. Savanna agreed with the plan in order to secure a non-questions annulment and save her father’s holdings. But the agreement is proving to be a little more than they bargained for.

“On Monday, after our appointment, you’re leaving.”

“I have to go home,” she said quietly, turning away from him to stare into the postage-stamp sized back yard.

“But we have an agreement for the weekend.  I think we should have some ground rules.”

“Good idea.”  Savanna clapped her hands, then rubbed them together as if she were ready to get down to business.  “Like what?”

“We only have two working bedrooms here,” Brodie said.  “Mine and Nan’s.  Do you mind sharing a room with me?”

Her pupils dilated, and he knew she was thinking about the scarlet room they had shared last night.

“My room has two beds,” he continued.  “We can be like Lucy and Ricky.”

She smiled.  “If it was good enough for the Ricardos, I’m sure I can handle it for a few days.”

“We may not so lucky at the Sullivan’s.”

Sobering, she nodded.  “If there’s only one bed there, we can just take turns sleeping in it.”

“Fair enough.” Brodie said.  “Now, as a married couple—especially at the ranch—we’ll be expected to act like a married couple.”

“Okay.  But only around others.  When we’re alone, we can act like we’re not married.”

“Correct.  But sometimes…”  He took a step closer to where she leaned against the porch railing.  “Sometimes married people hold hands.”

He reached out and took her fingers into his own.  Her skin was velvet soft and smelled so sweet, like the mountains after a rain.

“I—I don’t have a problem with that.”

“Sometimes married couples put their arms around each other.”  He placed her hands behind his neck, then slid his arms around her waist.

“That’s okay,” she whispered.  He watched as she swallowed hard.

“And sometimes married people kiss.  Just a peck here and a peck there.  Are you going to have a problem with that?”

“Huh-uh.”  She shook her head.

“Maybe we should practice,” he rasped, bending his head close to hers.

“Maybe,” she repeated before he brushed his lips across hers once, then twice.

His intent had been the small, nearly chaste kiss of old married couple, but once he got close to Savanna, once he could smell her sweetness and taste her heady essence, he couldn’t stop himself.

He pulled her close to him, gathering handfuls of her tank top, securing her to him.  Over and over he slanted his mouth across hers.  Over and over, deeper and deeper, until her whimper brought him back.

He released her, his breath rasping in and out of his lungs in hard painful gasps.

She grasped the edge of the porch railing, looking as disturbed as he felt.

With demonstrations like that, they may not ever convince Blair and Nan their marriage was an accidental twist of fate, but they would surely convince Red Sullivan their passion was for real.

Brodie ran his fingers through his hair, just one more gesture to keep from reaching for Savanna again.

“There,” he managed to croak.  “That wasn’t so bad, now was it?”

Buy it now~http://thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=195&products_id=4541

Thanks for coming by today! Ciao! <3–Amie