Mature, Successful Men in Love

Shira Anthony's Aria is a delight--mainly because the two love interests are successful men in totally divergent fields and working out of completely different parts of the world.  When they fall in love, unlike many "straight" romances where the woman defers to the man and either reestablishes herself wherever he's based or completely quits her career to move where he lives, Athony's superstar tenor and talented lawyer must figure out how to make their lives mesh while keeping their careers.

Writers of "straight" romances should learn something from this and make their women characters more assertive.  No, this doesn't mean that the women demand that the men give up their jobs, but rather that the men and women learn how to negotiate in order to make their lives mesh.

If we're talking real equality, then this is a must.  A round of applause for Anthony who figured this out and made it a plot point in Aria.

My review of Aria was featured on AAR this weekend and can be read at the links associated with the book's title in this blog piece.