In a comment she wrote on my recent review of Sarina Bowen’s Good As Gold, Caroline wrote:
Similar Posts
the ask@AAR: What were the trends in romance in 2022?
Now that 2022, is in the books, what did you notice about it in romance? From my perspective, there definitely were some trends. Here, in no particular order, are some things I think happened. Was it just me or were there a lot more cooking/reality TV based shows? Lead that struggled with mental illness seemed…
the ask@AAR: The Ask@AAR: From Soft to Savage—What’s Hot in Heroes Now?
Romance heroes used to smolder. Now, it feels as though half of them want to hold your purse while you process your feelings, and the other half want to handcuff you to a headboard and call it forever. Somewhere along the way, much of desire in romance split into two extremes—one soft, one savage—and I’m…
the ask@AAR: What do we think about trigger warnings in reviews?
It’s the Friday after Thanksgiving here in the US, a holiday famed for its abundant food, contested history, and familial arguments. I confess my family doesn’t fight at Thanksgiving–we leave most of our giant arguments for our annual summer vacation where we’re together for a week and have time to resolve most disputes. Thus I…
the ask@AAR: Who’s your favorite couple (of all time) in romance?
Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman. Claire Randall and Jamie Fraser. Stella Lane and Michael Phan. Naledi Smith and Thabiso Moshoeshoe. Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. Dominic Frey and Silas Mason. Just to name a few. Romance is rife with swoon-worthy couples, lovers whose union is literally the stuff that dreams are made of.
the ask@AAR: Who are the best parents in romance? Why?
Peeps–my kids are driving me just a little bit nuts. Two of my adult children are temporarily living with us in our three bedroom condo–and one of them has an extremely energetic dog. And while both are, in general, lovely young men, it’s abundantly clear to me that parents in their 60s should not share…
The ask@AAR: What books do you feel should be on the 2024 AAR Top 100 Romances Poll?
YOU MUST ADD YOUR CHOICES TO THE SURVEY. WE WILL NOT BE ADDING THEM FROM THE COMMENTS. We are slowly creating a list of books that will be on the final AAR Top 100 poll. The 2024 will be made up from four sources. We will take the top 50 from the results from our…

This comment resonated with me. In writing, like most everything else, there’s a place where the rapid pace of production begins to pull down products’ quality. There are categories like, perhaps, category romances where that may not be true. And I’m sure there are prolific authors whose output remains stellar. I just can’t think of any….
What’s your take? Do you feel like there are authors out there who write several really good books a year? Are many authors publishing more books in shorter time frames than they used to? Or am I utterly off base? Let me know!