Karma Girl has been officially released! Hooray!

It’s been a long, hard road to get to this point. There are so many people out there who have helped me along the way, from my significant other and family, to friends, to my editor and agent, to everyone who read and critiqued the book, to all the other writers who have answered my never-ending questions. Thank you all. Book lovers are some of the best people in the world.

And for all you folks out there who haven’t sold yet, keep this in mind: I wrote six books over a period of about seven years before Karma Girl sold. In other words, don’t give up. Keep writing and keep getting better, and it’ll happen for you one day too.

And don’t let anyone tell you that you are wasting your time. Even if your work never sells, writing still feeds your soul — and that really is the most important thing. If it makes you happy, do it — no matter what anyone else thinks. To quote Galaxy Quest … Never give up, never surrender!

If anyone out there sees Karma Girl on their bookstore shelves, I’d love to hear about it. I’d also love to hear what you guys think of it — what you liked, what you didn’t like. Give me some feedback! Send me an e-mail at jennifer@jenniferestep.com.

Happy reading!

Jennifer 😎

Jane has an interesting post over at Dear Author today about realism vs. idealism in romance novels, especially in the Bob Mayer-Jenny Cruise book, Don’t Look Down.

The post talks about a male character sleeping with someone other than the heroine during the course of the book and whether that was realistic or not. I read the book. The scene in question didn’t bother me.

But Jane’s post made me think about something else that’s not so realistic in romance novels — the perfectly ripped guy with fantastic hair, obscene wealth, and a killer smile. My significant other brought this up a few days ago, asking me why most guys in romances (and especially on the book covers) are the male model of perfection, when most guys in real life, well, aren’t.

And I didn’t know how to answer him.

I have to admit that I’m guilty of writing the perfect guy in my books, while I tend to make the heroine more relatable (or at least with a more realistic body type). But I give the hero quirks too — a shy personality, guilt over a friend’s death, a desire for revenge that threatens the romance with the heroine.

But Jane’s post also struck me as funny because I’m working on Bigtime 4 now — and the hero isn’t the perfect guy when it comes to looks. Oh, he’s wealthy and witty, but he’s more of a mortal superhero — one without any superpowers. Which means his body is covered with scars from all his battles, his nose is crooked from being broken, etc. I’m making an effort to make him more of a normal guy (in the looks department anyway).

Of course, the heroine thinks the hero is handsome — after she gets to know him. I think that’s just part of the process of falling in love — learning to appreciate what’s beautiful about your partner. The more you love someone, the more you overlook their thinning hair or poochy stomach or thunder thighs in favor of what’s great about them (their smile, their laugh, their smoking eyes).

Which do you prefer? Gorgeous, chiseled heroes? Or more realistic guys when it comes to looks? Inquiring minds want to know …