A month or two ago, I read Devil's Highlander by Veronica Wolff.  It seemed a decent sort of Scottish romance, if a little angsty at times, so I decided to try out the second book in the series, Devil's Own.  The second book was about Cormac's (the first book's hero's) twin, who was kidnapped and sold into slavery as a child.  While Devil's Highlander was all right, I'd hoped that the twin would prove a more compelling character.

And he was, to a point... but again with the angst!  Yikes!  Does this author ever create a hero who doesn't agonize over whether he is worthy of the heroine?  I mean, sheesh!  Grow some balls -- and some confidence -- already!

As an adult dabbling in reading romance, I notice the angst in romance novels a lot more than I used to.  When I was a teen I found it romantic, apparently (or it was so normal to me I didn't even notice it), but as an adult I find it somewhat tiresome.  Maybe it's just that I've had too many relationships where I've tried to prop up men who just didn't believe in themselves -- no doubt following the examples of the romance novels I grew up on and took FAR too seriously -- but I no longer find a man with low self-esteem sexy or heroic.  I want to read about men who are confident and funny and sweet.  A little bit of intensity can go a long way, but "intense" and "angst" are not the same thing and should never be used as such.

Not that I found the book to be bad.  It was entertaining, if a bit predictable.  It was fun, and after all, that's what I read romance for: the diversion.  But I do appreciate angst-free heroes and heroines!