Kiss and Make Up Day sounds perfect for romance readers. Except it reminds me of those romances—the ones where 200 pages of angst could be eliminated by one five-minute conversation. Do those books still exist? And how quickly do you give up when you realize nobody is ever going to just TALK?
Kiss and Make Up Already! Read More »
Let’s talk about something we all know and love: the romance reader community. If you’ve ever swooned over a hero or squealed over a perfectly written grand gesture, chances are you’ve shared that excitement somewhere—with friends, book clubs, or, more likely these days, online. And one of the biggest platforms for romance fans to connect is Goodreads. It’s where we track our endless TBRs, leave reviews, and, every year, collectively lose our minds over the Goodreads Choice Awards.
If you’ve ever picked up a romance novel and thought, “Wait, that’s supposed to be the hero? Didn’t the author say he has a scar, dark curls, and a brooding stare? Why is this guy blond and smirking like a toothpaste model?”—you’re not alone. Romance readers have been puzzling over this for decades. Let’s unravel
Why Don’t Romance Cover Characters Look Like Their Descriptions in the Book? Read More »
Of course, you’re on the hunt for the best romances out there. Nobody picks up a book thinking, “I hope this is mediocre.” But here’s the thing: using best-seller lists, “top author” rankings, “Best of” compilations, or any similar lists to find great romances? That’s one of the worst ways to discover the truly amazing
Why Best-Seller Lists Are the Worst Way to Find the Best Romances Read More »
The romance genre often gets a bad rap–usually by men, but also by pretty much everyone in traditional publishing, and a large group of industry professionals who look down their noses at the “women’s genre”. Which is sometimes hard to take, because I’m sure that many of the people disparaging romance have never read a
Romance and Feminism…This could change how you think of the genre! Read More »
If you’ve ever not left a review for a book you’ve loved (or hated!) because, well, who cares what you think?–then you should have a read through Kristen Lamb’s post “Book Reviews: Why They Matter SO Much“. It’s a really good overview of why reviews matter for both authors and readers. Even if you never
Why Reviews Are Important–for readers AND authors. Read More »
Some Pretty Big Changes Coming Up Several weeks ago, I sent this to my reader’s list: Among the writing community I have a bit of a reputation for championing “wide” publishing. Let me explain that. As a reader, I’m sure you’re familiar with Kindle Unlimited, a subscription service that Amazon provides which, for a low
Some Pretty Big Changes Coming Up Read More »
One of the benefits that the new world of indie publishing gives to you, as a reader, is not exactly obvious on the surface. You have to know a bit about the publishing world to realize how awesome and amazing indie publishing really is. So let me give you the nickel tour of one of
…*made* it! (And why it isn’t “phew!”) Read More »
Last Monday I woke up with a pain in the side of my back, that stabbed sharply when I breathed heavily. It hurt to raise my arm. As I had woken with it, I figured I’d slept funny, stressed a muscle or tendon, and that the pain would go away after a while. It got
This is a perennial argument discussion in romance circles and the debate may never end, but let’s try to nail it down a bit better tomorrow. Do you like your books short? Or long? Or don’t care? How do you find romance novels these days? Too long? Too short? Did you know there are hidden factors
Does Size Make A Difference? Read More »