What We’ve Been Thinking About

Essays & Musings

Thoughts on books, reading, culture, and the literary life.

Playing with Fire: A DIK review

April 22, 2016

Liam Carroll and Robert McKenzie grew up together in the worst part of Glasgow. When Liam came out to his best friend Robert, Robert stuck by him. And when Liam…

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A sneak peak at Katee Robert's The Wedding Pact

April 21, 2016

Our reviewer Haley enjoyed the first book in Katee Robert’s O’Malleys series, The Marriage Contract (her review is here). The second one, The Wedding Pact, comes out next week. Ms. Robert’s kind…

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YA: It Doesn't Always Have to Break Your Heart

April 17, 2016

Caroline: I was a teenager when I first read Harry Potter, and I remember how completely shocked and stricken I was by the death of Cedric Diggory. He was the…

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Edge of Obsession: The DIK of the Week

April 16, 2016

I follow Jill Sorenson on Twitter and, a few days ago, this Tweet popped up in her feed. I clicked on the Goodreads link and began reading her review. When I…

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Outlander, Old Skool Romance, and Female Pleasure: A Guest Post by Kiersten Hallie Krum

April 14, 2016

I had lunch this past Sunday in Lambertville, New Jersey with my aunt and uncle. It’s a good midway point for me and my mother—they come up from the Philadelphia…

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Steals and Deals

April 12, 2016

This week has great steals and deals. Click on the book covers to go to Amazon. Thanks and happy reading. Caroline Linden’s I Love the Earl is just 1.99. We…

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Love Poems We Love

April 11, 2016

In honor of April being National Poetry Month, I asked some of the AAR staffers to share their favorite romantic poetry. As it turns out, our staff shares a love…

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Sara Shares Her Love of Outlander

April 9, 2016

Readers, it’s time for a confession. “Hello, my name is Sara and I didn’t like the book Outlander.” Please, before you click away, give me a moment to explain. When…

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Very Short Love Stories: #5WordRomanceNovel

April 8, 2016

Earlier this week, the Twitter hashtag #5WordRomanceNovel was trending. People took to the social media platform to try their hand at micro storytelling. The results were both sweet, funny, dirty,…

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From Books to Burton

April 6, 2016

Two books are making their way from page to screen via Tim Burton productions in the coming months. On May 27 Alice Through the Looking Glass brings viewers a sequel…

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Defining Romance: Does RWA finally have it right?

April 5, 2016

On April 4, a message went up on the Romance Writers of America (RWA) blog: Important Message Regarding 2005 “Definition of Romance” Survey. Here’s what it said: At the November…

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Taboo for Teens

April 3, 2016

Readers of adult romances are likely used to seeing sex scenes in novels. While the genre ranges from chaste to naughty, the average contemporary romance will likely contain some…