Essays & Musings
What We’ve Been Thinking About
Thoughts on books, reading, culture, and the literary life.
A Formula for Romance… Novels
September 8, 2014Critics of romance novels often cite a long list of problems with the books and one of the most frequently used is that the books are formulaic. Some authors embrace…
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Max de Winter: Dreamboat or Douchebag?
September 4, 2014When I was preparing to write this column I was of the firm opinion that Maximillian de Winter was a definite douchebag. My vague memories of him, from reading the…
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You Want Me to Do What?
September 1, 2014How is going all the way defined between friends? Well, according to Jerry Seinfeld if it is a male/male friendship going all the way is defined as asking a guy…
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Checking in with Sarah MacLean
August 29, 2014I was lucky enough to get a chance to sit down and chat with Sarah MacLean while at RWA. (This was before she won the RITA for best historical romance!)…
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It’s a Lucky Harbor Day: We’ve got Jill Shalvis and a Giveaway!
August 27, 2014Many a romance reader knows Lucky Harbor, the fictional town where Jill Shalvis has set (thus far) nine novels. All good things must come to an end, however, and Ms. Shalivs…
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Is that a sword in your pocket?
August 22, 2014In the early days of romance adventure stories were a fairly standard part of the landscape. One need look no further than Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women edited by Jayne Ann…
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Critique Partners, Continents Apart
August 18, 2014Two of my favorite books I’ve read thus far this year are Untouched by Maisey Yates and Having Her (here’s my review) by Jackie Ashenden. Though both books are contemporary romances, they…
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Fairytales in Romance
August 15, 2014First there were vampires, then zombies, and now fairy tale adaptions seem to be the new entertainment trend. The newest film adaptation of “Sleeping Beauty,” Maleficent, scored big at the box…
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A Special Titles Update!
August 13, 2014One of the nicest parts of looking up newly nominated titles for a Special Titles Listing is discovering and rediscovering great books. This time around, we were struck by how…
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Our First Take on Outlander: The Series
August 11, 2014Starz’s adaptation of Outlander, with Caitriona Balfe as Claire and Sam Heughan as Jamie, premiered last week with a free online episode available here. Outlander is a legend in the…
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Possessive, check. Jealous, check. Volatile, check.
August 6, 2014It’s no mystery that the Alpha-Male character type has dominated romantic fiction. Nearly any romance you pick up will feature one of these tough, rugged, manly men out to woo…
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Romance Writers Rock my Favorite Bookstore
July 31, 2014When I was 18 and arrived in North Carolina to go to school, I was thrilled to discover The Regulator Bookshop. Its shelves held fiction so tempting that for the…
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