Why We Love Bad Boys: Guest Post & Giveaway from Jennifer Archer

Jennifer Archer

YA Book:

• Through Her Eyes

Website | Blog | Twitter | Goodreads | Buy the book

I read Through Her Eyes probably about a year and a half ago, and it's one that has really stuck with me over time.  I think because it was so well done, and so different from other books that I've read.  If you haven't read it yet, now's a great time to buy the hardcover!  It's marked down to $6.80 on Amazon right now!  If you'd like to check out my review, you can find it here!

Now here's Jennifer:

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Why We Love Bad Boys

by Jennifer Archer

Let’s talk about bad boys. You love them – you know you do. The fictional ones, anyway. How am I so sure? Because bad boys in books and film have been popular since the beginning of books and film! One famous case in point, James Dean in the movie REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE.

REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE was released in 1955, but I ask you – who can resist that brooding scowl even today? I understand completely why Natalie looks so lovesick!

Most of us, if we’re smart, learn pretty early on in real life that bad boys aren’t good for us when it comes to romantic relationships. Sometimes that realization comes as a big disappointment since bad boys are often so hot. But the problem with hot is that when it’s combined with recklessness it burns. And bad boys are reckless – that’s part of their appeal, their wild independence and intense focus on living by their own rules. We girls try to convince ourselves they’re misunderstood, a tender wounded soul encased in the body of an athlete. As females, we yearn to be the one to heal the wound and tame the beast, while maintaining that provocative, charismatic edge. (Good luck with that, girls!)

I have a theory: even though smart girls have learned to keep their distance from bad boys in real life, we flock to them in fiction because unlike real bad boys, the fictional ones are safe. We get all the deliciously dangerous hotness without any of the risk! We know we can close the book and our lives will still function smoothly instead of being turned upside down. Sure, we suffer along with the heroine of the story as she struggles to capture the heart of her rebel and tame his wild ways. But in the best books, the heroine is strong and intelligent. We know she’ll either achieve the unlikely feat of succeeding to convert her guy, (in which case we’ll cheer for her!) or she’ll learn her lesson and begin to notice that nice guys are hot, too. (In which case we’ll be sad that her bad guy didn’t redeem himself, but relieved that our heroine wised up and will find happiness, anyway).

Many drool-worthy bad boys populate the pages of current YA fiction. A few that come to mind are Patch in HUSH HUSH, Jace in THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS, Roiben in TITHE, Will in CLOCKWORK ANGEL, Damon in THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, and Cassian in VANISH. We alternately love these guys, hate them, and ache for the girl in the story to capture and change them (just not too much!) In my debut YA novel, THROUGH HER EYES, a crystal and old photographs transport Tansy Piper back into the 1930’s and into the body and mind of another teen girl named Isabel. Isabel is falling in love with Henry, a guy she’s known all of her life. Henry is a bad boy – with a twist. Dead for decades, he truly is a tortured soul. In life, he allowed disappointments and slights to warp his mind in disturbing ways, and while Isabel is troubled by his behavior and fears where it might lead, she is seductively drawn to him. Isabel is certain that the sweet, honest boy she once knew still lives inside the wickedly charming but manipulative young man that Henry has become, and she is desperate to save him from himself. But while Isabel has difficulty seeing the futility of her plight, Tansy sees it clearly; not only is Henry jeopardizing his own life, he’s jeopardizing Isabel’s. In the end, Tansy must help Isabel to see Henry through her eyes or risk losing herself along with them.

Who are your favorite irresistible bad boys in fiction? Why do you love them so much??

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Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen (April 5, 2011)
Author's Website: http://www.jenniferarcher.net/
Buy the Book: Amazon
Stand-alone

Tansy Piper was sick of moving all over the country with her mother, author of horror novels, and her Papa Dan, who hadn't spoken in a long time now. More than anything, Tansy just wanted to plant some roots, make some friends, and live a normal life. But when her family move to small-town Cedar Canyon, Texas, normal was not what Tansy found. Almost immediately, Tansy was drawn to certain things about her new house; a crystal, an old pocket watch, and a journal with beautiful poems that almost seemed to be written for her.

She soon finds out that the poems were written by a boy named Henry, who lived in her house many years before, and who died a very mysterious death. In the turret of her new eccentric home, that she has turned into a darkroom for her photography, Tansy discovers that she can connect to Henry and his past in a completely unbelievable way. But as she is drawn deeper and deeper into Henry's world, her own reality begins to fade.

Check out the book trailer! 

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Giveaway:

Jennifer has offered to send two autographed copies of Through Her Eyes + bookmarks to two of our US blog followers!  Just enter below (after the jump)!
a Rafflecopter giveaway