Tag: romance
Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon
A romance with a supernatural twist that Yoon uses to pose a critically important question to the reader. So just when you are having the most fun enjoying the story suddenly, a gut punch. How would you answer?
Evie, a high school senior, is upset about her parents’ divorce and especially its cause, his father’s new fiancé. She gathers up all her old paperback romances to donate to her local library — no more reading about love! While donating, she acquires a crazy new skill; she can see the past, present and future end of the relationship between people she sees kissing. This talent only underscores how angry Evie is about loss. How to lose this talent? Competitive dancing, of course! While she learns to dance, Evie also has to decide how much else she wants to learn about love and loss.
What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Slivera
This one is a delight — Becky Albertalli (Simon vs the Home Sapien Agenda) and Adam Silvera (They Both Die at the End) each write a character in a fun summer romance set in NYC. The meet cute first meeting, the hunt to find each other later, the bad first dates (x 3!) and of course, all too soon, the end of summer all deliver rich characters, light humor and just a bit of sexual tension. I would have liked the 2 character’s voices to be more distinct; I sometimes had to look at the chapter title to figure out who was speaking. However, this is a solid, adorable, fun relationship-focused romance from 2 writers who’ve captured our imaginations in a sparkling way before.
The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F. C. Lee
Super powers, hilarity, demon spawn and Chinese mythology make The Epic Crush of Genie Lo an awesome book. Genie is busting her butt trying to get into a great college and get out of the community she lives in outside of San Francisco. Everything is going to plan until Quentin shows up and strange things start to happen, like demons arriving and the possibility of the whole city being destroyed.
Here’s the abridged version; turns out Quentin is actually the Monkey King and Genie is the Monkey King’s former all powerful weapon, the Ruyi Jingu Bang, reincarnated as a human. Of course this takes Genie some time to wrap her head around. Turns out being the Ruyi Jingu Bang also means she has awesome super powers. Since the Ruyi Jingu Bang, is incredibly powerful everyone is after Genie because they want to harness her power. Genie has no interest in belonging to someone else. Genie and Quentin begin to train together, because of those aforementioned demons. There are over 100 demons that have escaped from hell and Genie and Quentin need to take them all down to save the day. Note – that is not a simple task. While all that is going on Genie is still trying to manage her day to day life including applying for colleges, friendships, crushes and her divorced parents. She has her hands full to say the least.
Author Interview with Romance novelist Caridad Pineiro
December 7, 2011
A creative book project in elementary school was the impetus to the thriving, successful career of Romance novelist Caridad Piñeiro. Writing her first romance novel in the fifth grade about stranded high school students on a tropical island finding solace in each other, she is now the author of over 20 published books. The New York City Chapter of Romance Writers of America honored Caridad with the Golden Apple Author of the Year Award. In a recent interview with Reader’s Services’ Elvira Carrizal-Dukes, Caridad Piñeiro shared her love of writing.
Continue reading “Author Interview with Romance novelist Caridad Pineiro”
Romance Reviews
January 29, 2011
Just in time for Valentines Day, Romance Reviews blog gives you the scoop on the latest Romance, Erotic and GLBT fiction and reviews old favorites as well.
Romance: the program
January 23, 2011
If you are a sucker for the happy ending, if you crave the comfort of a well-told tale of love, if you seek out authors who can satisfy your love of star-crossed couplings, paranormal trysts, romantic suspense, or urban young adult and inspirational romance, then romantic fiction is for you, and you won’t want to miss this February 12 romance fiction program!
“Indulge in Romance” will feature a panel discussion by five talented Romance authors, Barbara Binns; urban young adult romances, Julie James; romantic suspense novels based on her experience as a lawyer, Maureen Lang; inspirational romances with a historical twist; Margot Justes; international mysteries, and Patricia Rosemoor, author of fifty Harlequin Intrigue novels as well as books in the contemporary, historical and paranormal sub-genres.
The Saturday program begins at 2 p.m. and includes a Borders Books Shop and Share program, with a percentage of all weekend proceeds benefiting Evanston Public Library. In addition, Romance program attendees can indulge in cupcakes, take part in a raffle of luscious gifts from local merchants, Belgian Chocolatier Piron, Pivot Point Academy, and Benefit Boutique and swap for gently-used romance novels.
Warm up February and Indulge in Romance. Contact Juliette Swett at jswett@ecityofevenston.org for details.
Susan M., RA
Reading Through the RITAs
October 21, 2010
Although I occasionally read more “literary” fiction, I spend a lot of time reading Women’s Fiction and Contemporary Romance. The other day, I tried to remember what first drew me to this genre. Every summer, my family drove our Subaru station wagon north to a small cottage in northern Michigan. Every year, two days before we left on our journey, my mother took me and my brother to the library. There we would spend two hours picking out books to entertain us during our time at the cottage. The cottage’s black and white TV’s reception was fuzzy at best, and the June weather wasn’t always warm enough for outdoor activities. Instead, I relied heavily on the entertainment value of the books I picked out during our two-hour adventure at the library. Continue reading “Reading Through the RITAs”
It Must be the Bonnet
August 17, 2010
Or maybe it’s the bonnet and the buggy. Whatever the reason, Amish romances are the newest “hot” genre in romance fiction. Check out these titles in EarlyWord and make sure to look at the highlighted USA article.
-Laura
Rachel Robinson, Librarian Romance Heroine–She’s got a secret that’s long overdue
Recently added to our Paperback Romance collection, What the Librarian Did is a riveting Harlequin SuperRomance by award-winning New Zealander, Karina Bliss. Sparks fly when 34-year-old Rachel, a “smart-ass” university librarian and self-described heartbreaker, hooks up with Devin, a hunky ex-rock-star who thinks Rachel’s perfume is “sexy as hell.” Devin is going back to school in an effort to redeem himself, and Rachel is ready to sign him up and show him around the stacks. Soon Devin is kissing her incredible mouth–“moist, full, bitable” with his petal-soft lips. The plot thickens when Mark, a young college student and fan of Devin’s shows up looking for his birth mother, and Rachel is faced with the secret she has hidden for years. The reviews are in–you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll want to check this one out!
The SuperRomance series is all about “contemporary, believable romance with a modern tone, incorporating today’s women’s concerns.” Hmm.
The stunning book cover inspired a Photoshop contest at smartbitchestrashybooks.com, a great website that reviews romance novels “from a couple of smart bitches who give it to you straight.”
-Susan R.