Wednesday, November 21, 2012

IGWRT's - Out of Standard with Izzy "My Guilty Pleasure"


My Guilty Pleasure

I'm forty seven, too old
to be swept away
by silly romance

tucked away deep
beneath sweaters and jeans,
least my children find out,

falling apart with age,
like me, I suppose.

A bit of youth I revisit
now and again, remind
myself that once upon a time

I was a silly teenager
and that a tiny bit of her
still exists...

by Margaret Bednar 11-21-2012



Confession time over at Imaginary Garden With Real Toad's "Guilty Pleasure"!!! I had NO idea what I was going to be able to reveal... and then I remembered!  I even tried to find where I hid these four falling apart paperbacks.  I bought Harlequin Romances every month when I was a teenager (they were under $1 back then) ... spent far more time on these than I did algebra, that's for sure.  

I have kept my favorite four, have never been able to part with the stories above.   A few years ago I read a portion of them out loud to my husband and he laughed until he cried... he thought they were that bad.  Ha!  Now-a-days HR's have turned into mini-porn, I don't like them nearly as much, haven't bought one in over 20 years... Well now, confession time again.  That's not true.  I bought a whole paper bag full of these "classic" ones at a library book sale about eight years ago ... filled it up for $1.00!!  I recall now I spent the entire summer reading them on the beach.  

Ah, confession is good for the soul.  :)

22 comments:

Kerry O'Connor said...

Ah, these old romances were the best. I remember reading them the night before an exam instead of studying! These could be collectors items one day.

Herotomost said...

Yeah.....I think we had a million of these in our house when I was growing up. Never read one....but my mom and sister ravaged them. Problem was, the read so fast that they would be done in 30 minutes so it took alot of them to fill their time. Great Write and oh so guilty pleasure...lol.

Marian said...

yayayyyyy! LOVE IT. hah! there was one that took place at the amusement park where i grew up; i held on to that one for YEARS and would have thought i still had it, but a quick search just now did not locate it. what was i thinking getting rid of that one???

Sherry Blue Sky said...

I used to read Kathleen Norris books when I was a teen. My grandma regretted getting me interested in them, as she said they warped me for the real world. I always expected things to work out like they did in the books, the good hearts won, etc..........needless to say, my life was nothing like those books!

Cad said...

OMG! Pardon me for chuckling!

Amrit Sinha said...

This was so beautiful ... loved it :-)

Helena said...

lol.....I did the same as a teenager! Mills and Boon they were. Now I'm 47 and always on the lookout for Anne Fine!☺☻☺

Laurie Kolp said...

This made me smile... there's a little romance in all of us.

Happy Thanksgiving!

LLM Calling said...

I love this, what a great write

hedgewitch said...

Trashy novels! The ultimate guilty pleasure. My sisters loved those things and had every one on the market. I read Georgette Heyer and the Bronte sisters, but same difference, really--glowering heros,angsty heriones, thwarted love, all the fun stuff. Now a lot of mystery and thriller escapist-style fiction has gone the soft-core porn route--my husband and I skip those parts, and if there are too many they get thrown in the trash because nothing on EARTH is as dull. Great choice, Margaret.

Fireblossom said...

How cute. Hey, you're right, all our younger selves are still inside us somewhere. It doesn't hurt to let them out sometimes. Loved the old book covers!

Maude Lynn said...

I had that same guilty pleasure back in the day!

Isadora Gruye said...

Laurie, I love this response, and might I say a very brave confession to put out there for your fellow toads. One of my biggest literary guilty pleasures is "Interview with a Vampire," which for most part I consider a romance story between Lestat and Louis. Happy gluttony and viva la

Hannah said...

These covers are great!! I think it's great to keep in touch with our older guilty pleasures!! :)

Susie Clevenger said...

I have partaken of this guilty pleasure...it is great to keep a bit of the teenager inside...I think it would be a hoot to read them outloud.

Helen said...

Definitely not too old for the romance novels, Margaret. Maybe when you are 71? Perhaps, not even then!!

Kay L. Davies said...

You're right, there's a big difference between the old "classic" Harlequins and the new ones. Buying a bag of Harlequin romances is a wonderful guilty secret, and now you need no longer hold it inside...bonus!
K

Doc FTSE said...

A surprising secret pleasure. Better than all the chocolate.

Mrs.Trellis said...

How about lending me a few? Might learn some tips on romancing Caddoc!

Anonymous said...

Ha! Very charming. I can certainly understand this interest! k.

Lolamouse said...

Those covers are fabulous!Funny what we think love is like when we're young!

Ginnie Hart said...

HAHAHAHAHA! I love it. I did the same with all the Grace Livingston Hill books. :) Haven't thought of that in years!