Kailin Gow: On Balancing Action and Romance

Kailin Gow is the author of more than forty books and the founder of the Shy Girls Social Club. You can visit her previous tour stop at Ramblings of a Teenage Bookworm, as well as Faye's and my reviews of BITTER FROST. She'll visit Books by Their Cover next. Full tour dates are available at the Traveling to Teens site.

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On Balancing Romance with Action

I get asked all the time about how to plot a novel so that there is the right amount of action with romance. Most of my novels involve a great deal of action coupled with romance. These elements are necessary in the type of novels I write – books with a strong heroine who usually face extraordinary situations and has to be brave enough to persevere through her situation to survive. I find that my main characters typically lead the way in the romance department, and like in real life, romance happens in the most interesting moments. I tend to have romance in many area of the novel because, to me, life is romantic.



In Bitter Frost, where Breena is drawn into the world of Feyland, her entire concept of Feyland starts off in a dream-like romantic state. Prince Kian is her dream guy, and despite his initial coldness, their adventure and trek through Feyland (which is dangerous, yet fascinating), is filled with romance and action throughout.



In Rise of the Fire Tamer, a series about a group of teenage gamers caught in a world suspended in time, there is plenty of action, but romance abounds because the characters can’t deny the attraction they feel for each other. Going through what Gem, Sparks, Rio, Kat, and Jack goes through; they’re bound to seek comfort and form friendships with each other.



In PULSE, a vampire mystery love story, there is plenty of action and even more romance. A large part of the romance stems from the characters themselves – vampire brothers who are drawn to Kalina, a girl who has a very special destiny. The vampires in PULSE are so romantic, it’s part of who they are.

As far as finding the right balance between romance and action, it is a matter of what feels right for the characters, the plot, and the audience. When it comes together, you know it seems right – just like love.

Review: Bitter Frost

By Kailin Gow
Available now from The Edge Books
Review copy through Traveling to Teens Tours



If punctuation errors and such bother you, you'll probably want to skip over BITTER FROST.  I managed to tune most of them out, but BITTER FROST could have used another round of copyediting.  As is, it made the book seem unprofessional.

Breena is a budding conservationalist who doesn't fit in at her high school despite being friends with the hottest guy around, Logan.  He's clearly in love with her, but Breena is willfully ignorant.  Going home from school one day, she spots a Pixie: Delano.  She doesn't know how she knows his name, she just knows he's bad news.  Pretty soon he's attacked and she's been taken to Feyland by Kian, the Winter Prince. Breena is his prisoner, his key to freeing his sister from the Summer Court dungeons.

BITTER FROST moves quickly.  In some ways, that is good.  There's quite a bit of action and the characters don't spend much time dithering and keeping secrets from each other.  Yet the character development moves too fast at points.  Breena seems to adapt to her new life and relationships with ridiculous speed.  While fun, BITTER FROST lacks emotional depth.  When one character dies, I don't really feel anything because the character has so few defining characteristics other than loyalty.

Not much focus is given to the mythology, but I do like the little that Kailin Gow explains in BITTER FROST.  Particularly, I like the idea that human-fairy hybrids are stronger than either race, rather than weaker.  It makes sense that there could be an advantage in having the skills of two races.  It's a nice touch of originality in a story that follows a familiar narrative pattern.

BITTER FROST is also short, which might be why it moves at warp-speed.  It feels like there's a longer, more measured book waiting to get out.  The next book in the series, FOREVER FROST, comes out tomorrow.  I'm interested in reading it to see whether the pacing and character development even out a little.

I enjoyed BITTER FROST, but it felt like the kind of stuff I read on the internet.  Diverting and interesting, but ultimately not a final draft.  Breena also comes close to being a Mary Sue, which anyone who reads internet fic knows is not a good thing.

News You Can Use

Leave a Mark Auctions are back. THE EVERAFTER by Amy Huntley is currently at $10.



You have until August 31 to like Scholastic's Facebook page. It costs you nothing, and for every friend they have they'll donate a book to K.I.D.S.. Read more about Kids in Distressed Situations.

(Book bloggers looking to pass ARCs on? Try developing a relationship with a local shelter.)

On a less altruistic note, Harlequin Teen Panel is still looking for members ages 13 to 17. I'm a member of their adult program and it's great fun. More info quoted below.

Members of the Harlequin Teen Panel will participate in fun quizzes and discussions about things like: books, movies, music and websites. In other words, everything that you’re interested in.

This is the place to be if you love to read!
Sign up today to share your opinion about the books you’ve read and the books you’d like to read—as well as other things that help you choose your books.

. . . you’ll get FREE Harlequin® Teen books (approximate retail value of $10-$15 per book ) And I can’t wait to hear what you have to say about them—so get ready to dish!

But the free doesn’t end there because as a panel member, you’ll have the chance to be entered into sweepstakes for cool cash and prizes (if your parent/guardian gave permission for this). I’ve also got exclusive panel discussions where you can chat about your latest fav book or character and meet new friends who are doing the same thing. And you’ll be in the know with our members-only newsletters that will let you know what’s going down and when.

Another e-mail suggestion I received that was on-topic: Top 10 Books With A Cult-Like Following.

ETA 4/29/12: K. I. D. S. has a four-star rating from Charity Navigator.

Review: The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & June

By Robin Benway
Available now from Razorbill
Review copy



I don't know why, but I don't think Robin Benway is that funny.  Every review of her books mentions how hilarious she is, but her books don't make me laugh.  At least, not so much that I notice it.

It took me awhile to get into THE EXTRAORDINARY SECRETS OF APRIL, MAY & JUNE.  The book switches between the sisters' points of view and I only enjoyed April at first.  She's the oldest, super uptight, and has been trying to act as a third parent since their parents divorced.  May, conversely, has been acting out and letting her schoolwork suffer since she was closest to their dad.  June just wants to be popular.  I warmed up to June a little by the end, but remained fairly cold to May.

June doesn't have a relationship arc, but April and May do.  April falls for Julian, the boy with the locker next to hers who she didn't speak to until she saved him from a falling light and saw a vision of them making out.  I would've liked them, but as Julian frequently tells her, April acts psycho around him.  It's like the reverse TWILIGHT.  Shallowly drawn boy goes out with a possibly deranged girl.  As for May and Henry, I did like them.  Henry tutors May in European history while they snark at each other.  Their conversations are fairly funny, actually.

Personally, I did like THE EXTRAORDINARY SECRETS OF APRIL, MAY & JUNE.  I just have an odd resistance to liking it because most people love it and I just didn't feel like it was a love book.  It was amusing enough but forgettable.

Just a quick question:

I read the ARC and was going to check the final before I wrote this review, but never could get ahold of a copy. So I must ask if this gaffe in Chapter 10 was fixed:

He rubbed his hand over his hat. "This is my brother's hat, by the way."

. . . "But I did steal it from my brother when I went to visit him last year."

. . .

"Well, you must be an only child," I said to him. "Seeing as how you have the emotional capability of a gopher."

Julian smirked. "Guilty as charged, except for the gopher part."

I can't decide whether it was a mistake or if Julian lied to April and I'm supposed to read something into that.  And it could be different in the final so I definitely can't analyze it.

Mockingjay Release!

Happy release day, ya'll!  I'm sure most people aren't actually reading the blogs today because they're too busy reading MOCKINGJAY.