I read The Peculiar Case of Lord Finsbury's Diamonds by Stephanie Laurens. Laurens is a good writer but I'm not entirely drawn to her style. I did find the mystery interesting--although I thought a more plotted/Christie-type resolution would have supplied a stronger pay-off.
However, I did not find the couples particularly interesting. A number of romances supply couples who are perfectly aligned, perfectly in love, perfectly happy. I suspect that such romances are echoing what many people find satisfying with Bones, Castle, and other great romance mysteries: a couple in sync.
However, these romances miss that Bones specifically is so good because Brennan and Booth remain very much themselves. Bones, Brennan, is still quite literal, still competitive, still convinced of rather implausible life choices, such as becoming president. Booth still argues about finances and Brennan's work-oriented vacations.
(Some) manga is also quite good at keeping the couple odd and off-kilter. Take Spy v. Family! Or Fake, in which the dreamy yet capable Ryo remains himself while brash and hot-tempered Dee remains himself.
I love romances! What I don't enjoy is "passion claimed them and touch became their language, desire their beacon, and shared pleasure their mutual goal. Yet beneath the heat and the rising tide of yearning, their 'one thing' thudded like a heartbeat, steady and strong. A reassurance and a guarantee, a talisman of the future. An indisputable promise that their dreams could become and would become reality."
Such passages leave me cold. Compare the above by Lauren to one of my favorite lines by a man to his lover:
"[The poems you wrote] are just like you. Incomprehensible and far too clever for their own good, and hiding all sorts of things, and--rather beautiful." (from K.J. Charles's Think of England)
I'd rather have the latter than the former.
A mystery helps. It doesn't entirely make up for what is lacking.
