What We’ve Been Thinking About

Essays & Musings

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

Confessions of a Settings Junkie

September 15, 2014

I feel like I have been waiting on Connie Brockway’s The Songbird’s Seduction forever even though the truth is I have only had it on order since early June. I’m not typically…

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Chatting with Virginia Kantra about her Dare Island series

September 12, 2014

Carolina Blues, the fourth book in Virginia Kantra’s appealing Dare Island series comes out next month. Today, Virginia talks with AAR about heroes, sex scenes, and happy endings. Virginia is offering…

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You Never Forget Your First

September 10, 2014

Here at All About Romance, our team of reviewers is dedicated to the romance genre. We read, review, and keep up with the goings on of all things romance. We’ve…

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A Formula for Romance… Novels

September 8, 2014

Critics 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, 2014

When 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, 2014

How 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, 2014

I 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, 2014

Many 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, 2014

In 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, 2014

Two 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, 2014

First 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, 2014

One 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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