Can you read a romance if the main character is a name of someone close to you? This just happened to me this week, which propelled me into wanting to write about it. If the main character of a book is the name of someone close to you, can you read it? Now, I’m not talking about your second cousin once removed, or that old neighbor that lived next to your childhood best friend. I am talking about someone that you have a very close relationship.
I’ve read a lot of books that the main characters have names the same as my immediate family members, never an issue. I have three daughters, and I’ve read books that were the heroine had the same name as the younger two, not a problem. This week I started a book where the heroine had the same name as my oldest daughter, and I couldn’t do it. I can’t figure it out if it’s because her name isn’t as typical of a name as my other two daughters or if because she is older and getting closer to her teen hormonal years that it made me think about her having sex. I don’t know, but it freaked me the hell out.
I felt horrible. I kept starting the book, and then I’d put it down because it would weird me out, then I’d pick it back up just to be like “nope cannot read about her asking him to fuck her, not happening.” This author is one of my favorites, and I usually devour her books, no problem. So I felt like an idiot having to email her and say, “Hey, I normally love your books, but I obviously can’t disconnect for some reason, and I am feeling pervy reading about my daughter liking it when his tongue swipes through her heat.” Okay, okay, I realize it’s not REALLY my daughter. Duh! (Insert my overly-dramatic eye roll here)
Please tell me I am not the only person that seems to have this affliction? Are there others out there that feel the same as I do?
I haven’t had that experience, though reading books with heroines who share my first name is sometimes disconcerting. HOWEVER – the email you sent to the author is golden and made me laugh.