Fire and Ice Hop

This is the month for romance! For defying the cold nights and curling up with a good novel on your lap, and to revel in the power of love.

Okay, that might have sounded slightly tacky, but it is true: romance is not only hot, it's also vital and when its official holiday comes up, then it's time to give it some thought. And to celebrate with a gift! What am I going to give you, I wonder....

I know! A copy of a book of your choice in the Soul Screamers series! And yes, that includes the omnibus volumes or a preorder of With All My Soul. As long as Book Depository ships to your country, you can win. To enter, just leave me a comment with the answer to this question:

What makes romance perfect for you?

My answer is, of course, related to the series I picked (And from this point on, there are spoilers up to book 5, so if you're not there, feel free to not read on!)
Most times, when we find romance in a book, it's intense and wild and shocking and everlasting. I love that, because usually real life love is complicated and twisted and hard to keep. I think we all need a world colored in pink from time to time! And that's exactly why I admire so much what Rachel Vincent did with this series:

She gave us a perfect hero, she threw her heroine in and let her fall head over heels with the image of the perfect jock, the handsome star. And then... she threw that perfect boy down from the pedestal, showed us he was human and perhaps not quite so perfect. That was eye-opening!

Behind this loss of ideals, though, Vincent developped something else: she allowed an acquitance to grow into camaraderie and then into friendship, almost in the background, the development overarching three books. She let that friendship take roots, slowly, and grow. And suddenly, when one icon falls, we find that, lo and behold, we're left with a real relationship in its place. A relationship based on knowing another person, and liking what you see; based on trust and fun and hard times in equal parts.

I think it was a hue gamble, to give us one hero and then dethrone him in favour of another character, but, though daring, I find it appropiate and, above all, honest with the meaning of love and relationships.

What do you think? I look forward to your answers!