"Oh, he loves me...."

...but I'd prefer a hunky vampire to sweep my off my feet and ravish me all night.

"Oh, how he loves me!"

I know I'm not alone in my thinking—as the many bestselling vampire books out today can certainly attest!

Twilight was just a tame version of a really good paranormal romance book. The mature readers have known where the action has been for years, and it wasn't penned from a mom on a soccer field as a gift to her sister. (okay, to be fair, some of them might have been, who knows?)

But what do younger adult readers grab when they out-grow Twilight? Do they want more weak female lead characters, or do they want one with some teeth?

"I have a sword and I'm not afraid to use it. Bring it, beyotch!"

I think the smart ones move on to urban fantasies written in a first person point of view. These stories put them in the place of the main character… the one who is ultimately seduced by, or falls for, the male vampire, werewolf, or other supernatural critter.

I've read some amazing series where she is the demon hunter, the werewolf, the witch, the necromancer, the ghost whisperer, the reaper, or the newly turned baby-vamp. She might be fighting a crime, solving a mystery, saving the world, or protecting those she loves… Sure, she might might mistakes, but she is no swooning heroine who goes off in the woods to die when her heart is broken.

"It's cold out here and growing dark. Think I'll just lay down here and go to sleep.... "

No sir. This heroine will probably track the heartbreaker down and give him a good what-for and an ass-kicking for good measure.

"Did you drink the last cup of coffee, again?"

She is who we long to be. She is our inner diva. She's the gun toting, knife-wielding woman who won't take any crap, won't accept being treated like a doormat, and demands sexual satisfaction.

Now let's imagine…. There is an entire market catering to these ass-kicking heroines and what do we find? Their tragic flaw is they can never seem to find relationship happiness.

Why? Will her ability to be an ass-kicking heroine somehow be diminished by her monogamous relationship? Will she no longer engage in hot sex because she's with the same person night after night? Will her sense of humor at stupid things the man in her life does no longer apply? Will she not suffer the same day-to-day traumas we all do at home and still manage to not smother her spouse each night?

How did we go from fake, drippy teenage romances with complicated love triangles to books with bed hopping, unhappy, but incredibly strong, women?

Real women take control of their lives and don't wait for the day when someone will come along and make them happy.

Nor do they listen to pig-headed men who call them sluts because they'd like their health coverage to cover birth control pills. But I digress... ;-)

Where are the books where she has more sexual knowledge than the leading male and isn't ashamed of her experiences? (Hey, she could have learned from a book for all you know)

Where is the heroine who bitches, cracks jokes, and barks out orders, but invariably always comes back to the strong man by her side?

Where is the female character who helps solve the crime, goes on the adventure, and has some smoking hot sex that reminds you of what real intimacy is?

Oh, that's right. There aren't any books like that.

When I couldn't find one, I had to write it.

Book three in my V V Inn series will be out next month if all goes as planned. I've posted six chapters of Big Game here on the site for you all to enjoy. Thanks for your continued support and I'm honored to have such incredible readers who keep me going.

You all don't need to grow up from Twilight…. You already have.

Cheers,
C.J.