Archive for the ‘All About Romance’ Category
Tuesday, May 21st, 2013
I started reviewing for AAR when I was pretty young – 18 years old, and still fairly new to the genre. My tastes have changed and evolved quite a bit in that time. Looking at my reviewer profile, which hasn’t been updated since I started, I am rather skeptical of my “favorites,” some of which I don’t even remember anymore. I couldn’t tell you a damn thing about Hidden Fires by Sandra Brown, except that 6 years ago it was apparently one of my favorites.
My philosophy in choosing favorites is two-fold. One, my Top Ten should be more than a fleeting “books I’m enjoying now,” and therefore aren’t recent reads, or ones that I’ve read only once. Two, they should have something in them that would appeal beyond the romance. I think there is a subtle distinction between “books that a romance reader would enjoy” and “books non-romance readers would enjoy.” There are definitely some stories that I would recommend to fellow romance readers, but not anyone else. The best books are the ones that I think, “I could give this to a friend, and they would understand why I love romance novels.”
So, here we go: my top ten. (more…)
Tags: All About Romance, Courtney Milan, Delilah Marvelle, Diana Gabaldon, j.D. Robb, Julie James, Lauren Willig, Lisa Kleypas, Meg Cabot, meredith duran, Tessa Dare, Top Ten lists
Posted in All About Romance, Books, Jane AAR | 14 Comments »
Wednesday, May 15th, 2013
Given that our “assignment” for the TBR Challenge this month involved reading an author who’s represented more than once in our TBR piles, I couldn’t wait to jump into Courtney Milan’s 2011 release, Unclaimed. If you enjoy strong, character-driven romance, this book is an amazing treat. Definitely a DIK read for me.
This book comes second in the Turner Brothers trilogy, and while it can be read on different levels, it’s deeply satisying no matter how far you want to let your mind dig into it. On the surface, Milan tells an emotional story of two painfully misunderstood people who somehow manage to figure one another out enough to make the other whole. And underneath the surface? Well, Courtney Milan devotes more than a little bit of time to skewering the “keeping up appearances” school of morals. The musings on morality and hypocrisy that run through the story are thoughtfully done and lingered in my mind as long as the actual love story. (more…)
Tags: All About Romance, Courtney Milan, TBR Challenge 2013
Posted in All About Romance, Lynn AAR, Romance reading | 11 Comments »
Tuesday, May 14th, 2013
See, I knew that signing up for this blog would cause me a headache. How are you supposed to choose the top ten romances that rock your world? How? How? (At the back of my mind I have the Baha Men singing along, except it’s “How do you choose now? How, how, how, how?” Great. Hence the headache.)
Anyway, I figured the only way I can keep sane is a) recognize that I won’t hit them all, and b) acknowledge that if I am actually stuck on a desert island with only ten romance novels, I’d go crazy anyway, no matter what I chose. (Unless I chose, like, the Koran, Paradise Lost, and Journey to the West. Then maybe I’d not go all loopy.)
I decided that what I’d probably crave the most is variety, a little bit of every genre to suit every mood. It actually turned out to be relatively easy once I’d decided on this, looked at my Top 100 list, scanned my shelves, and sliced through the different categories. I’m happy with my choices – they’re all different in setting, subgenre, writing style, and character. I’ve also read each of them at least twice – I’m a serial re-reader, so I know when something works for me, when it doesn’t, and (most of important of all) when it stands up to the test of time. (more…)
Tags: All About Romance, Georgette Heyer, jennifer crusie, Jo Goodman, Joanna Bourne, Katie Fforde, Mary Stewart, meredith duran, Nora Roberts, sharon and tom curtis, Thea Harrison, Top Ten lists, top ten romance novels
Posted in All About Romance, Jean AAR, Romance reading, Uncategorized | 17 Comments »
Friday, May 10th, 2013
I’ve noticed that time slip books have been having a moment (hopefully it will be a long one), and one of the masters has a book out this June. Quite a few of us here at AAR have been eagerly awaiting Susanna Kearsley’s latest release for months on end now, and the big day is almost here! We have some romantic suspense fans here, too, and we’re all anticipating Jill Sorenson’s latest release. And, given that we all have varied tastes, there are books on everyone’s lists that span most subgenres of romance. June is looking to be a busy reading month!
|
Title and Author |
Reviewer |
 |
The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley |
Lynn, Lee, Heather S., Mary, Maggie, Lea |
 |
Freefall by Jill Sorenson |
Dabney, Jane, Lynn, Maggie, Rike |
 |
Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare |
Blythe, Melanie, Maggie, Caz, Lee |
 |
The Sword Dancer by Jeannie Lin |
Rike, Caroline, Maggie, Lynn |
 |
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman |
Caroline, Lynn, Melanie
|
 |
Once Upon a Tower by Eloisa James |
Jean, Maggie
|
 |
Ladies’ Night by Mary Kay Andrews |
Maggie, Lee |
 |
Enticing the Spymaster by Julie Rowe |
Lynn, Rike |
 |
How to Tame Your Duke by Juliana Gray |
Lee, Jane |
 |
Heart of Obsidian by Nalini Singh |
Cindy, Jean |
 |
Secrets and Saris by Shoma Narayanan |
Caroline, Maggie |
 |
Big Sky Summer by Linda Lael Miller |
Pat |
 |
She Rises by Kate Worsley |
Caz |
 |
In Plain View by Olivia Newport |
Maggie |
 |
Sweet Revenge by Zoe Archer |
Rike |
 |
It Had to Be You by Jill Shalvis |
Mary |
 |
Can’t Stop Believing by Jodi Thomas |
Pat |
 |
I’ll Be Seeing You by Suzanne Hayes and Loretta Nyhan |
Maggie |
 |
Surrender to the Earl by Gayle Callen |
Caz |
 |
One Sweet Ride by Jaci Burton |
Haley |
 |
Never a Hero by Marie Sexton |
Pat |
 |
The Sassy Belles by Beth Albright |
Maggie |
Tags: All About Romance, Eagerly Awaited books, Eagerly Awaiting
Posted in All About Romance, Book news, Lynn AAR | 9 Comments »
Thursday, May 9th, 2013
I’ve written here before about my fondness for the Special Settings list at AAR and posted here once about my love of romances set in Greece. I’ve scoured the Special Settings list numerous times for other unusual settings and have discovered some great reads. But there’s another type of setting that I’m particularly fond of and that currently doesn’t have its own list: big cities.
Romance readers often complain about the excessive number of small town/rural romances, particularly in category romances. While I don’t hate small town romances, I can only handle so many romances featuring small town sheriffs, or visitors from the big city who discover the wonders of small towns. As a long-time Chicago resident, I often find myself longing for big city romances (and I’m not talking about European Historicals set in London). (more…)
Tags: All About Romance, big city romance, book lists, Special Title Listings
Posted in All About Romance, Books, LinnieGayl AAR | 23 Comments »
Tuesday, May 7th, 2013
Hi, I’m Cindy, I have been doing AAR Reader polls with LinnieGayl and Lee for the last 7 years, and now I help with the updating of the Special Title Listings with Rike and LinnieGayl. It would be fair to say I love reading lists, my favorite lists being AAR Readers’ lists of favorite books. Now, ask me to rank my favorite romances and I freeze up. But I’ve learned from the best how every list created by a reader may have some caveats attached. I loved reading Jenna and Maggie’s lists because each came at it in different ways. Jenna took Pride and Prejudice off the table – it is just her very favorite book, it’s a classic and almost always ends up on a reader’s top romance ballot, so she posted it as a given. Maggie spoke of the books that created a journey to her reading preferences today and she mentioned the very first series book she read that would be considered an emotional favorite but left it off her final list.
In listing my favorites I originally made the rule that no author could be on the list more than one time. It forced me to think in a different way. Ask me to list my top 10 favorite Anne Stuart books and it would be agonizing, but to only allow one book made me look for the very best of each author’s work. I then promptly broke my rule because one author surprised me and showed me she could make any situation work. And finally, knowing this list wasn’t etched in stone helped me to move forward because I know tomorrow I can change my mind. With that, my list: (more…)
Tags: All About Romance, Anne Stuart, J.R. Ward, Katherine Sutcliffe, Kresley Cole, linda howard, loretta chase, Nalini Singh, Pamela Clare, Suzanne Brockmann, Top Ten lists
Posted in All About Romance, Books, Cindy AAR | 18 Comments »
Monday, May 6th, 2013
We’re at it again! With the help of our readers we have found the right formula for adding new titles to the Special Title Listings. This month we are opening: (1) Nerds & Absent-Minded Professors, (2) Bluestockings and Feminists, (3) Beauty is in the Eye and (4) Unrequited Love. We look forward to seeing your submissions for these lists starting today Monday May 6th and going for the next two weeks ending Sunday May 19th at midnight. As a reminder, any additions to the list have to be: (1) the best of the best, (2) stand the test of time, and (3) actually fit the list for which they were submitted. (more…)
Tags: All About Romance, Special Title Listings
Posted in All About Romance, Cindy AAR, LinnieGayl AAR, Rike AAR | 10 Comments »
Tuesday, April 30th, 2013
Before I begin, I must issue a disclaimer. I don’t have ten favorite books. I have hundreds of them. I imagine most of us here at AAR do. When the idea for the Top Ten Tuesday came up I was panicked wondering how I would narrow my list down to just ten. How could I do that? The simple answer is I can’t. I didn’t. The following list will cover one of my favorites from ten of my favorite romance subgenres. Each book is actually representing many peers. And that is an amazing thing. In looking over a few decades of reading romance novels I’ve fallen in love with the genre all over again. There have been so many fantastic reads over the years, so many books that captured the essence of just what I want from a romance novel.
Just what is that you might ask? The answer is both simple and complex. I want a lovely love story. Easy enough, right? Wrong. So many authors still confuse lust with love, giving us two bickering people who have hot sex while barely being able to be in the same room together without making us want to smack them both. Other authors confuse excitement with love, delivering fascinating tales which happen to include people falling in love but not really focusing their story on that magical fact. Yet other authors provide us with caricatures falling in love; their books could contain a disclaimer about no humans being involved since I certainly don’t recognize any humans I have ever met in their characters.
So what happens when authors do get it right? We have two people who genuinely get to know each other. We have the surface action of physical attraction and the emotional aspect of two people being enchanted by each other. We have real lives going on while the romance takes place. We meet friends and family who aren’t just set ups for the next book but who provide us with insight into our primary couple. And we have focus – an intense look into watching the characters fall for each other. That to me makes for a luscious love story. (more…)
Tags: All About Romance, linda howard, Lynn Austin, Mary Balogh, Pamela Morsi, robyn carr, Sarah Addison Allen, Stephenie Meyer, Susan Elizabeth Philllips, Susanna Kearsley, Suzanne Brockmann, Top Ten lists
Posted in All About Romance, Books, Maggie AAR | 24 Comments »
Monday, April 29th, 2013
When we embark on adding to one of our Special Title Listings, we are elated when there are lots of titles nominated, because, although it means spending several hours on the computer, it also means discovering fascinating new titles. Considering this, we are very glad that we got so many responses for our Unusual Professions and Met as Children Lists – 52 and 47 respectively. We are especially grateful that you volunteered so many details about the books, because that made it much easier for us to decide if a title fit the list. Thanks a lot! (more…)
Tags: All About Romance, Special Title Listings
Posted in All About Romance, Books, Cindy AAR, LinnieGayl AAR, Rike AAR | 8 Comments »
Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013
Note from our pollsters: AAR is pleased to announce that starting on Tuesday October 1st, 2013 we will open polling for AAR Reader’s Top 100 Romance List. To get everyone ready for Top 100 poll we will post our reviewer and staff picks for their personal Top 10 Favorite Romances every Tuesday starting now until the poll opens in October.
As a way to get to know me as one of the newer reviewers as well as something fun to get us all excited for this fall’s AAR Readers Top 100 Poll, mine is the first installment in a series of AAR staff posts discussing our personal Top 10 favorite romance novels. It’s always nice to rave about your favorite reads, and I’m excited for the chance to talk up these books, hopefully inspiring you to pick up a title that you, too, might love.
When deciding what books to include on my personal Top 10 list, I used one criterion above and beyond the “must be a romance” dictate. I applied the ultimate DIK question – if I had a chest that could only hold ten books to keep me happy while stranded indefinitely on a deserted island, which ones would I choose to put in it? (more…)
Tags: All About Romance, Catherine Nicolson, J.R. Ward, judith mcnaught, Julie Garwood, Kirstan Higgins, Kristin Cashore, linda howard, Sally Mandel, Suzanne Brockmann, Top 100 Poll, Top Ten lists
Posted in AAR Jenna, All About Romance, Books | 10 Comments »
I started reviewing for AAR when I was pretty young – 18 years old, and still fairly new to the genre. My tastes have changed and evolved quite a bit in that time. Looking at my reviewer profile, which hasn’t been updated since I started, I am rather skeptical of my “favorites,” some of which I don’t even remember anymore. I couldn’t tell you a damn thing about Hidden Fires by Sandra Brown, except that 6 years ago it was apparently one of my favorites.
