Archive for the ‘Heroes’ Category
Thursday, August 25th, 2011
I really like food, but I think I’ve become a bit inured to most food scenes in romance novels. All the dessert-cum-sex scenes have melded together, to the point where all I can think about is the mess. I’m not really into strawberries and champagne, so if the hero starts waving them around, my mind starts wandering. And then you’ve got the chefs – I like them, but I think the proliferation of TV chefs, and the sheer accessibility of gourmet gastronomy, have taken away some of the luster of the professional kitchen.
The most memorable scenes, I find, occur outside the gourmet and professional arenas. I remember very clearly the beginning of Lisa Kleypas’ Devil in Winter, when St. Vincent provides a hamper of food for the starving Evie, who proceeds to devour the thinly sliced meats and cheeses sandwiched between buttermilk bread. There’s something equally delicate and decadent about the thin, savory layers (and geez, buttermilk bread) that conveys the indulgence of St. Vincent’s life, which contrasts heavily with Evie’s prior existence. Plus, it just sounds good.
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Tags: Food, romance novels
Posted in Books, Characters, Heroes, Heroines, Jean AAR, Reading, Romance reading | 25 Comments »
Thursday, June 23rd, 2011
While I am in no way an expert on the male psyche, I do have brothers and I worked in a male dominated profession for over ten years so I have had plenty of exposure to their logic, conversation, and ways of interacting with each other. After reading a book with very authentic male dialogue, I then read a passage in another book, where a male character tells a friend that his wife is his life. Now don’t get me wrong, because honestly that is a lovely sentiment. But none of the men that I have been around would say that about their wife to me or any of their other friends in normal day to day conversation. That statement just seems like a crying in my beer, she left me country song.
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Tags: All About Romance, Deidre Martin, Emily Carmichael, Heroes, Nora Roberts, Rachel Gibson, Shannon Stacey, Sue Moorcroft
Posted in Heroes, Leigh AAR | 27 Comments »
Monday, June 13th, 2011
June 21st is the date many readers have been awaiting when The Dark Enquiry, the fifth installment in the adventures of Lady Julia Grey and Nicholas Brisbane, will be released.
With just over a week to go, we’re celebrating with an interview with author Deanna Raybourn and, courtesy of Harlequin and just to sweeten the deal, we also have two Advance Reader Copies of the book to give away. To enter for your chance to win, simply comment to this post by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on Thursday, June 16th.
The usual caveats apply: If you review for another Web site or blog, please don’t enter. Due to high postage costs, this giveaway is open only to readers in the U.S. and Canada. You are welcome to comment more than once, but you will be entered only once. Winners will be chosen at random and will be notified by email on Friday morning. If a winner has not responded within 24 hours, another winner will be selected.
Now, ready for Deanna?
Could you start by telling our readers a bit about the plot of The Dark Enquiry?
Absolutely! In this outing, our sleuthing couple, Lady Julia and her husband Nicholas, investigates the murder of a mysterious medium at a club for Spiritualists. Matters are complicated when they discover that Lady Julia’s eldest brother, Viscount Bellmont, visited the club himself. Readers of the series will also be interested to know that we get another few pieces of Nicholas’ past to add to the puzzle in this book…
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Tags: Deanna Raybourn, The Dark Enquiry, The Dead Travel Fast
Posted in Authors, Book news, Books, Books with Buzz, Characters, Contests, giveaways, Heroes, Heroines, Interviews, Reading, Romance reading, Sandy AAR | 125 Comments »
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
In 2010 readers voted on their Top 100 favorite romance novels. Some of these have been made and remade into films, but many of the top 10 haven’t. Isn’t it time to give Hollywood a nudge and help the powers that be to cast the crucial roles in our favorites?
That’s today’s game: Cast the Top Ten. Let’s start from number ten and work our way to the top. I’ll explain my picks, but the real question is whom you would cast in your favorite book. In case you’ve forgotten who’s who in the books, there’s a link to the AAR reviews to jog your memory. And the actors’ names are linked to their IMDB pages.
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Tags: actors, casting, top 100 romance novels, top ten romance novels
Posted in Books, Characters, Heroes, Heroines, Pat Henshaw, Romance | 23 Comments »
Tuesday, April 12th, 2011
Notes from the Underground, written by Fyodor Dostoevsky begins with the famous opening line, “I am a sick man… I am a wicked man”. In the novel, Dostoevsky creates a hero who possesses all the characteristics of a villain: sarcasm, disillusionment, and a general lack of care for the well being of others. The hero is in actuality an anti-hero, a man who acts like a villain, but who ultimately possesses a core of goodness to redeem himself through words and actions.
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Tags: All About Romance, Anne Stuart, Laura Kinsale, linda howard, Lisa Kleypas
Posted in Heroes, Jacqueline AAR | 37 Comments »
Friday, March 25th, 2011
I’m just going to get out of the way really quickly here because Connie Brockway, one of my favorite writers, has some news. So, without further ado, here’s our newest AAR interview with the author.
Connie, you’ll notice no headline or teaser giving away your news, so what’s up?
I’m going rogue, Sandy. Heading over the wall. Striking out for uncharted territory. Boldly going where (only a few thousand) have gone before! Which is my long-winded way of saying that the next book and very probably the next two full-length historical romance novels I write will be available solely as eBooks.
Though in the interest of full disclosure, I will be part of collaboration from Avon out in 2012.
So, what are the major reasons that you’re making the change?
Oh, there’s reasons a-plenty. First off, the contract I was offered was not good either monetarily and elsewise, the elsewise being in terms of eBooks. It doesn’t take too much business acumen to look at recent eBook sales history and project that eBook readers aren’t going to pony up the same amount for an eBook, that exists only as a virtual entity, as a paper book which costs substantially more to produce (printing, shipping, warehousing, distribution, covers etc.) Or if they do, they aren’t going to do it often. And if the publishers set the price too high, it’s the authors that lose the most. I hate losing.
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Tags: connie brockway
Posted in Authors, Books, Characters, E-books, Heroes, Heroines, Interviews, Reading, Romance reading, Sandy AAR, Settings | 211 Comments »
Monday, March 14th, 2011
On March 22nd, those of us who’ve missed Colleen Gleason’s historical vampires will have reason to celebrate. On that date, The Vampire Voss, the first in her new Regency Draculia series, is released. The next two entries will follow in May and June.
To mark the occasion, we’ve got an interview with the author and five early copies of The Vampire Voss to give away. To enter for your chance to win, simply comment to this post by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, March 17th. A few rules: Due to high postage costs, this contest is open only to readers in the U.S. and Canada. Multiple comments are welcome, but please note that you will be entered only once. This giveaway is designed to get early copies of books into the hands of readers who otherwise wouldn’t have access, so if you review for another Web site or blog, please don’t enter. Winners will be notified by email on Friday morning and if no response is received within 24 hours, a new winner will be chosen.
Before we hear from Colleen, a personal note from me: I read a digital ARC of this one without the cover. Lucky me because this one just blows. Voss is a handsome and seductive vampire, not a young Boris Karloff with really bad contact lenses. I don’t know what the publisher was thinking, but I’m just saying, don’t let the cover scare you.
Now, here’s Colleen:
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Tags: book giveaway, Colleen Gleason, interview, the vampire dimitri, the vampire narcise, the vampire voss
Posted in Authors, Book news, Books, Books with Buzz, Characters, Contests, giveaways, Heroes, Heroines, Interviews, Romance, Sandy AAR | 43 Comments »
Friday, February 25th, 2011
I’ve been thinking lately about what is it about some writers that make their books magical for readers in ways that others aren’t.
First, a confession: I read contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and paranormals, but historical romance was my first love and remains my absolute favorite. So, with my bias fully admitted and setting aside the continuing gush of wallpaper historicals in which you can’t even tell the time period a book is supposedly set in unless the author tells you, there are some talented writers out there I’ve come to admire and who have become auto-buys for me. Still, the ones I’m watching have yet to come up with one of those scenes.
I’m talking about those hit-you-in-the-heart scenes. The kind you remember. The kind you share with other readers who very often respond “Yes!” The kind that make you feel what the characters are feeling.
I love the scene in which Bobby Tom realizes that Gracie made an “X” over his heart in Heaven, Texas. Equally, the “you are my Egypt” scene from Connie Brockway’s As You Desire has to rank as one of the greatest declarations of love in all of romance. And I’ve sighed since I was 14 over the scene in Devil’s Cub in which Mary attempts to break up hotheaded Vidal’s sword fight by stepping in the middle of the action. Vidal’s reaction makes Mary realize for the very first time that her spoiled and haughty Devil’s Cub really loves her. I felt it too and I will never forget the first time I read it.
But, for me, three scenes stand out that perfectly exemplify just what I’m talking about.
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Tags: connie brockway, Georgette Heyer, judith ivory, Lisa Kleypas, loretta chase, susan elizabeth phillips
Posted in Authors, Books, Characters, Heroes, Heroines, Historicals, Reading, Romance, Romance reading, Sandy AAR | 50 Comments »
Friday, January 21st, 2011
Nothing seems more iconic to America than the cowboy, who is recognized and often revered all over the world. He’s tall; handsome; hardworking; kind to women, children, and the elderly; deadly to miscreants; and laconic. His trademarks include a well-worn Stetson, boots, jeans, and chambray shirt. Occasionally, he’s seen in chaps, spurs, and holster holding his trusty revolver. He’s a man’s man, and definitely, oh, definitely a woman’s man.
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Tags: All About Romance, cowboys, Westerns
Posted in Heroes, Pat Henshaw, Reading, Settings | 30 Comments »
Tuesday, January 4th, 2011
If you’re a longtime visitor to AAR, you know what’s coming later this month. But if you’re new to AAR, let us give you a heads-up now, because on Monday morning, January 24th, the AAR Annual Reader Poll will begin.
The Annual Reader Poll has a long tradition at AAR, and is one of the highlights of the year here. It seems hard to believe, but this will be the 15th AAR Annual Reader Poll. The first was conducted back in 1997 for 1996 releases. This one will be for new releases from 2010. Just like last year, the poll will be open for just two weeks, with voting closing at midnight on Sunday, February 6.
We’ve made two changes to the categories for this year’s poll. We weren’t able to announce results last year for either the Erotica category or the Worst Romance category because both of these categories received too few votes spread across too many titles. Based on reader feedback, we’ve changed the Erotica category to Best Romantica/Erotica. As Blythe posted here recently, we’ve changed the Worst Romance to Most Disappointing Romance. We hope that these changes will be successful.
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Tags: All About Romance, Annual Reader Poll
Posted in All About Romance, Authors, Books, Characters, Heroes, Heroines, LinnieGayl AAR, Romance | 9 Comments »
