Category: romantic comedy

Edge of Seventeen (+giveaway)
Giveaway · New Releases · romantic comedy

Edge of Seventeen (+giveaway)

Jaycee Weaver32 Comments

Are you hearing Stevie Nicks right about now with that title? LOL! I’ve had 80s music queued up on my Spotify for months now as I’ve been working on my seventeenth book, which just released yesterday. Seventeen. Just the word makes me a little nostalgic, you know?

My 17 year old last weekend before prom (face covered for privacy).

My oldest is seventeen and just attended her junior prom last weekend. The weekend before that I was digging through old photos and came across a few from the 90s when I was also seventeen. Sure About You, which appears in The 80s Rom-Com Club, is book seventeen in my career, and like my memories and watching my kids grow up, it’s got me reminiscing.

Me around age 17

Apparently, I’m not alone in this. There’s a huge trend for all things nostalgic going on in the US right now. Movie and television reboots of hits from the 80s and 90s, Gen Z’s fashion throwbacks, even popular brands from back in the day are revisiting their old logos and/or packaging to engage with their customers on an emotional level. The last couple of years seem to be all about the nostalgia, and for good reason—we’re all recovering from two of the strangest and hardest years in which we’ve been forced to face our own mortality, and as a result we’re desperate to reclaim some of those happy feelings we associate with simpler times.

Of course, trends had absolutely nothing to do with why we created The 80s Rom-Com Club. The six of us just wanted to celebrate the sheer joy of romantic comedies we love from one of the most fun decades in recent history. If that brings a bit of nostalgia, great! But honestly, what’s better than escaping between the pages into worlds of fun, lighthearted humor, complexity balanced with hope, silly social media conversations between girlfriends, faith, and a guaranteed HEA for characters we’ve come to love?!

Not much, am I right?! LOL! At least, we don’t think so.

That’s why we’re so excited to be releasing this set right now. Life is hard. The world is nuts. Throw on a loose off-shoulder sweater and some neon leggings, wrap your hair in a scrunchie, crank up the 80s tunes, and bring on the rom-coms! And don’t forget to enter our release week giveaway over at https://teresatysinger.com/80srcc_giveaway/!

And to celebrate my own (Edge of) Seventeen moment here (just like the white-winged dove…), I’ll draw a name out of the comments by this Friday night for winner’s choice of one of my books if you answer these TWO questions: 1) What’s your favorite 80s flick, and 2) How many of my seventeen books have you read? Can’t wait to read your responses!

The Romantic Comedy
Romance Tropes · romantic comedy

The Romantic Comedy

Jaycee Weaver39 Comments

Romantic comedy as a genre is exploding right now. After the last year and a half of pandemic life, it’s not hard to understand why. After all, it’s been a hugely successful film genre for decades, but while some people will re-watch their favorite film a gazillion times, not all readers treat books the same way. Not to mention most readers consume books like the world will run out of paper.

I’ve been gorging myself on a large number of romantic comedies myself this year. Let’s face it, romantic comedies tend to be high on laughs and low on language and sex, even if they aren’t Christian or inspirational fiction. And though the racier rom coms are growing in popularity, so are Christian ones. (Yay! Finally!)

To be honest, I’ve been kicking around dabbling in the genre myself recently. Considering my natural inclination for hyperbole, I’ve been thinking it could be really fun to experiment more in my writing. Really let my voice loose and quit holding back all the crazy, silly, fun things my spastic brain comes up with. Plus, I’d get to write in first person all the time. Present tense even! Both of which tend to be no-nos outside the rom com genre. Not a lot of people who read serious books (aka literature spoken in a very austere tone) admit to also liking the sassy silliness of a good rom com heroine.

Why are romantic comedies so awesome? For me, it’s how well a book balances the romance with the comedy in the following key elements:

  • The meet cute
  • Chemistry and tension between H/h
  • The potential for disaster
  • Messes and miscommunication
  • Serious moments that matter

And finally,

  • The grand gesture/make up

It must be original or creatively executed. We all know there’s going to be an HEA. After all, it is NOT A ROMANCE without one (I dare you to argue that point). But if any one element tips too far toward romance, it loses the funny. Too far toward comedy, it loses impact in the romance department.

For example, when the H/h have major miscommunications, it can really amp up the potential for laughs. Too far, though, and we want to smack one or both because it’s stopped being funny and threatens the romance. Two enemies might have chemistry galore, but a funny situation can quickly become unromantic (which then becomes less funny) if one character behaves too badly at the expense of the other. It’s a carefully crafted cycle!

My favorite books are the ones that balance tension and angst with humor and lighthearted fun. I’d love to hear your thoughts on what constitutes a great romantic comedy.

Does the whole story have to be funny, or just at a few key points? What are some books you’ve found that really strike a good balance? Is there anything that drives you crazy when things go off balance—either in a good way OR a bad way?

Looking forward to chatting with you in the comments!