Posts Tagged ‘Mary Balogh’
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 | 23 Comments »
Tuesday, June 19th, 2012
This past weekend we celebrated the men in our lives who are dads. The guys who teach bike riding, car pool us to events and make every day a little better just by being there for us. I know lots of great dads in real life. And of course, romance has some fantastic fathers as well. Here is a list that contains just a few of my favorites.
It seems like heroines can have awful fathers. Whether it is the abusive dad of Mary Balogh’s Gilded Web or the father who just can’t care enough about his family to take care of them as in Amanda Quick’s Scandal, our heroines often seem to have fathers that have us wishing them orphans. (more…)
Tags: All About Romance, Amanda Quick, fathers, Justine Davis, Karen Robards, Kathleen Gilles Seidel, Mary Balogh, Sally Tyler Hayes
Posted in Characters, Maggie AAR | 10 Comments »
Monday, November 7th, 2011
In the past, I’ve talked about the plethora of series books out there and how I sometimes wish for standalones, and Leigh blogged about her own series ambivalence. However, instead of answering questions or completely relieving a pet peeve, thinking about interrelated series books begs one big question. What is the magic number for a series? How many books does one need in order to fully develop a series, get closure on the various plotlines and yet not start annoying readers?
Obviously, if it’s not a good, well-written series, one book is probably one too many. Even the good series can go on too long, though. (more…)
Tags: All About Romance, Colleen Gleason, j.D. Robb, Julia Quinn, Mary Balogh, Reading, Stephanie Laurens
Posted in Lynn AAR, Romance reading | 39 Comments »
Monday, September 12th, 2011
The recent Labor Day weekend had friends and I discussing the changing job market. Many of us had launched into second (and even third) career paths, something that certainly wasn’t expected when we initially graduated from college. This got me to thinking of others who have a secondary career path (or sometimes even just a second job!); the writers who keep me supplied in romances.
Contrary to what many in the media may think, an author does not, as Eileen Dreyer so succinctly put it, choose this path because she is “a sexually frustrated loser dressed in a robe and bunny slippers who lives in a dreary apartment with my cat and lives vicariously through my devastatingly beautiful heroines.” Most seem to choose it because it is a girlhood dream. And many, many, many of them come to writing only after having pursued another career first. I am fascinated by the diversity of what those careers are and thought others might be to. So here it is, a cataloging of what several of the greats did before they were romance writers.
Linda Howard worked at a trucking company, which explains to me at least why she can create such realistic men. I would imagine working in a male dominated field like that would show one a great deal about how the opposite sex thinks. Susanna Kearsley was a museum curator, and I think that is reflected in the wonderful historical settings of some of her novels. Justine Davis was in law enforcement before being a writer. She writes authentic romantic suspense with an authentic flavor now. And Inez Kelly was a 911 dispatcher and Linnea Sinclair worked as a private detective and also a news reporter before taking on romantic science fiction. Sandra Brown also worked as a reporter, and Pamela Clare “went to work for a newspaper and held almost every position in the newsroom before becoming the paper’s first woman editor.” Karina Bliss, who has received a DIK here at AAR for Here Comes the Groom, worked as a travel journalist. And Carla Kelly? Well, among her many and varied careers, she has worked as a park ranger and was a Valley City Time Record feature writer.
(more…)
Tags: All About Romance, Carla Kelly, Charlotte McClain, Christyne Butler, Debbie Macomber, Dorien Kelly, Eileen Dreyer, Helen Kay Dimon, Inez Kelly, J.R. Ward, Julie James, Justine Davis, Karen Rose, Karina Bliss, Kylie Brant, Laura Kinsale, Lauren Willig, linda howard, Linnea Sinclair, Mary Balogh, Merline Lovelace, Monica McCarty, Nicole Burnham, Pamela Clare, Sandra Brown, Stephanie Laurens, susan elizabeth phillips, Susan Grant, Susanna Kearsley, Tess Gerritsen
Posted in Authors, Maggie AAR | 12 Comments »
Monday, June 20th, 2011
Every month, the staff here at AAR send me their lists of books on the new release list that they are eager to try. Going over the July list was extra fun because there were four new releases that clearly caught the attention of many. As I went through my emails, I wondered which book was going to hit the top slot. Would it be the new release from Loretta Chase or would it be Anne Stuart, Mary Balogh or Meredith Duran? In the end, Mary Balogh’s book won out with 11 AAR staffers declaring their anticipation of its arrival, but the books by Loretta Chase, Meredith Duran and Anne Stuart followed closely on its heels. In addition, as you can see from checking out the release list and our picks, July is looking like it could be a pretty good month.
|
Title and Author |
Reviewer |
 |
The Secret Mistress by Mary Balogh |
Blythe, Dabney, Rike, Heather S., Jean, Heather B., Maggie, Lee, Sandy, Pat, Jacqueline |
 |
Silk is for Seduction by Loretta Chase |
Sandy, Rike,Leigh, Dabney, Lee, Heather B., Wendy, Jean. Heather S., Jacqueline |
 |
300
A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal by Meredith Duran |
Lynn,Jean, Blythe, Jane, Wendy, Heather B., Rike, Lee, Heather S. |
 |
Shameless by Anne Stuart |
Jean, Sandy, Lea, Jacqueline, Dabney, Lee, Pat, Heather B., Wendy |
 |
Heartless by Gail Carriger |
LinnieGayl,Maggie, Blythe, Jean, Rike
|
 |
The Dark Enquiry by Deanna Raybourn |
Rike, Lee, LinnieGayl, Jean |
 |
One Summer by JoAnn Ross |
Leigh, LinnieGayl |
 |
This Perfect Kiss by Melody Thomas |
Dabney, Lea
|
 |
Give Me a Texas Outlaw by Jodi Thomas, Linda L. Broday, Phyliss Miranda, and Dewanna Pace |
Pat |
 |
Cold Touch by Leslie Parrish |
Lynn |
 |
Black Heart Loa by Adrian Phoenix |
Wendy |
 |
Sunset Bridge by Emilie Richards |
Leigh |
 |
Just Let Go… by Kathleen O’Reilly |
Rike |
 |
Inside by Brenda Novak |
Lynn |
 |
A Summer Reunion by Kasey Michaels, Sarah Mayberry and Teresa Southwick |
Leigh |
 |
Bayou Bodyguard by Jana DeLeon |
Rike |
 |
The Creed Legacy by Linda Lael Miller |
Pat |
Tags: All About Romance, Anne Stuart, Eagerly Awaited, Eagerly Awaiting, loretta chase, Mary Balogh, meredith duran
Posted in All About Romance, Lynn AAR, Romance reading | 12 Comments »
Friday, March 18th, 2011
Over the years here, we’ve said quite a bit about the TSTL(Too Stupid To Live) nutter, one of the heroines we love to hate. And I have long been among those who have hated them most fervently and vocally. The mere letters of this acronym bring to mind so many rage ridden reading moments it’s hard to think of them without boiling blood. My favorite TSTL moment to hate remains the moment in Elizabeth Adler’s Sailing to Capri when Daisy, who had been told by Sir Robert to trust noone but Harry begins to trust everyone around her except Harry – with whom she cleverly verbally spars throughout the rest of the book. Which brings to mind other moments, like when Tristan, Duke of Shelbourn, agrees to the most ridiculous idea ever proposed in Regency bride hunting — a sort of The Bachelor style situation in which he was dating/courting an entire room full of women at once. For that I almost threw Vicky Dreiling’s How to Marry a Duke against the wall. Yet last night, on my millionth or so watching of the movie Charade with Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant, I realized that there are moments when TSTL lends itself quite well to romance.
(more…)
Tags: All About Romance, Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant, heroines, Jill Barnett, Mary Balogh, Reading, Stephenie Meyer
Posted in Maggie AAR, Reading | 38 Comments »
Monday, December 20th, 2010
There are very few books out there I will buy in hardback. Hardbacks have several severe disadvantages, mainly:
- They are big, and don’t fit into my handbag.
- They are heavy, and I don’t like to carry them in my handbag or have my arms tire when I hold them for a longer time.
- They take up more space on my shelves than they need to.
- They are expensive.
(more…)
Tags: book prices, Julia Spencer-Fleming, Lauren Willig, Mary Balogh, Meg Cabot, Megan Whalen Turner, Meljean Brook, Reading, Terry Pratchett
Posted in Books, Publishing, Rike AAR | 22 Comments »
Friday, May 21st, 2010
Yes, I’m one of those romance readers who fits the cliché: Just give me a box of bon bons and a shirtless duke in a cape and I’m all set.
Okay, so I’m not quite that clichéd. Bon bons have w-a-a-a-a-y too many carbs and just slapping the title on any wallpaper character doesn’t cut it.
I like dukes when authors make me actually believe they are dukes.
A sterling example is Mary Balogh in Slightly Dangerous. Much of the book is told from Wulfric’s POV and the reader knows that every fiber of his being is consumed by the responsibilities of his rank to his family, his tenants, and his servants. The life and livelihood of hundreds – and maybe even thousands – depend on him and he never forgets it even for one moment.
(more…)
Tags: dukes, judith mcnaught, Mary Balogh, slightly dangerous, whitney my love
Posted in Authors, Books, Characters, Heroes, Reading, Romance reading, Sandy AAR | 21 Comments »
Friday, May 7th, 2010
As so many of us have blogged about our reading preferences lately, I began thinking about my own romance likes and dislikes. As I’ve gotten older or simply have read more, I’ve noticed differences in my reading preferences and have often wondered why those tastes change. Way back in the day, I loved the pregnant heroine, but now, not so much. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve passed that period in my life – a been there, done that attitude - or maybe it’s simply that there aren’t as many pregnant heroines in Romancelandia these days.
When I began reading in my early teens, I could only get my sneaky little hands on my mom’s books and, sadly, those were the old bodice rippers of the 70s, 80s, and even into the 90s. The ones I remember the most were mainly the Woodiwiss and Lindsey books where the heroines were usually pregnant or at least ended up that way for a good portion of the book. They weren’t the only ones, of course, but those are the ones that standout in my memory because of the pregnancies, or maybe even because of the violence. I’m not terribly scarred – I promise. Regardless, for a younger me marriage and pregnancy were the goals I wanted to obtain after I completed my education and established my career and I gobbled up those books.
(more…)
Tags: linda howard, Mary Balogh, pregnant romance heroines, susan elizabeth phillips
Posted in Books, Characters, Heather AAR, Heroines, Historicals, Reading, Romance, Romance reading | 37 Comments »
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
If you spend much time around romance, particularly historical romance, you know that mistresses show up fairly often. Many, especially in older books, take the form of the woman that was kept by the hero before he met his special virgin snowflake and who inevitably compares unfavorably to the heroine. I still remember (and cringe) over my days of reading Barbara Cartland in high school. Her mistresses weren’t always evil, but they did have a tendency to appear fake and tawdry next to her innocent little dewdrop heroines.
(more…)
Tags: courtesans, Judith James, Mary Balogh, mistresses, prostitutes, prostitution, Tracy Grant
Posted in Characters, Heroines, Lynn AAR, Romance reading | 19 Comments »
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.
