WHY DO WOMEN PREFER THE BAD BOYS? by Lily Carlyle

I've got a special visitor to Vintage Vonnie today. Lily Carlyle is here to share thoughts on her holiday short story, "Santa Bebe," part of one of Still Moments Publishing's Christmas anthologies, FOR THE LOVE OF CHRISTMAS. This anthology contains four stories, all guaranteed to warm your heart and make you smile. Lily has this to say about "Santa Bebe."

“But really, Bebe, you shouldn’t blame an entire gender for the behavior of a few men. We’re not all so horrible, are we?”

“Well, you’re not bad,” I conceded. “For a man.”

“I’m surprised you noticed,” he muttered.

Poor James suffers the dilemma of so many nice guys—Bebe turns to him for companionship, advice, and kvetching, but will she ever see past his geeky, boy-next-door exterior to realize that he is very much a man. One who has the hots for her?

Why do so many women prefer bad boys to nice guys? But do we really? In preparing to write this post, I immediately came up with two examples proving the allure of the bad boy over the nice guy: Rhett Butler v. Ashley Wilkes from Gone With the Wind and the Beast v. Gaston in Beauty and the Beast.

However, closer examination shows that these aren’t very good examples of the triumph of the bad boy at all. Scarlett actually prefers the seemingly nice guy, Ashley Wilkes, over rakish Rhett (until she has her epiphany at the end of the book). And is Ashley really nice? If nice equates with weak, yes. But he pretty much strings Scarlett along while enjoying married life with the deceptively meek Melanie. Even Rhett, despite his handsome devil looks, wealth, and sexual dabbling, comes through for Scarlett in a number of nice-guy ways throughout the book.

As for Beauty and the Beast, although the Beast, in his prince form, is pretty much the ultimate alpha male—gorgeous, rich, royal—Belle falls in love with the sensitive, beyond-homely Beast, and has no interest at all in the built, boasting Gaston that the village girls swoon over.

Do women prefer bad boys? Or nice guys? Or are we seeking the complex combination of both?

 

 

Blurb for “Santa Bebe” by Lily Carlyle in For the Love of Christmas:

Beautiful, curvaceous Bebe is disillusioned by men and her belief that they see her only as an object. She thinks marrying a man with money is the answer, but her kind, geeky next-door neighbor, James, tries to convince her that real love is out there, even as she reveals to him the troubled childhood that made her so cynical about relationships. When her mother dashes her hopes for a perfect Christmas, Bebe turns once again to James, never suspecting that what she’s been looking for has been right there all along.

Contact me, follow me, like me! lilycarlyle@hotmail.com, https://twitter.com/LilyCarlyle, http://www.facebook.com/writerlilycarlyle

WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR NIPPLE? by Mackenzie Crowne

I've got a special guest here today. An online buddy, a Rose sistah and one of my heroes in life -- Mackenzie Crowne.

 

Styling like Scarlett

What lover of romance doesn’t bow down to Scarlett as the greatest heroine of all time? “What a woman!” to quote Rhett. I mean, how can you beat a heroine who faced the ravages of the Civil War without losing her sense of style? Despite the troubles she faced, I wanted to be her when I was a teenager. I even had a life sized poster of Rhett on my bedroom wall.

Of course, one could argue that Scarlett was something of a bitch, and they’d be right. But what strong woman doesn’t have to pull out her inner bitch once in a while to do what needs doing? Actually, she didn’t start out that way. Okay, so she was spoiled, petulant, and annoying, but when push came to shove, she hitched up her petticoats and fought the battle to survive.

I’m no Scarlett and as one of eight kids, I certainly wasn’t spoiled. I admit to being a bit of a weenie when it comes to confrontations. I guess I just don’t have the killer instinct it takes to be a genuine bitch. But I believe we all have a little bit of Scarlett in us. We just don’t recognize it until we face our own petticoat hitching moment.

 

My moment came in the form of a breast cancer diagnosis. Like Scarlett, I faced an enemy bent on my destruction. The horrendous battle left the landscape of my life ravaged and my body scarred, but like Scarlett, I survived. I thought of her often during my battle and employed her philosophy on winning. Oh, I never went after my cousin’s husband - actually, now that I think of it, if by some measure of magic I could ever speak to Scarlett, her fixation with Ashley is the first thing I’d address. Like, what she was thinking? The guy was a dweeb. And Rhett was…Oh, now that was a man! But I digress…

Where was I? Oh, yes. Her famous lines, “I can’t think about that right now. If I do, I’ll go crazy. I’ll think about that tomorrow.” carried me through some of the darkest hours of my life. Yep, I was Scarlett so often during those eight months of treatment, I may as well have been wearing a dress made of drapes. I think I even began to speak with a Southern accent.

Scarlett teaches us that whatever your battle, a little faith, patience, and perseverance, and even a spoiled brat can come out victorious. So whether you’re battling breast cancer, or just a job you hate, don’t give up. Take things one step at a time. Slip into your best hoop skirt and style for all you’re worth. You’ll get there eventually.

 

After all, tomorrow is another day. 

 

Buy link: Amazon

Mackenziecrowne.com

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