The Internet.  Such a wondrous, beautiful, life-saving, time-saving and time-sucking invention.  I can actually recall life pre-Internet, and while there are times I yearn for those simpler times (usually after a computer meltdown or virus attack), you’d have to pry the Internet out of my cold dead hands before I’d ever give it up.  It has been a boon for readers and authors alike.  Amazon!  Research!  Blogs!  Chat!  Book Reviews!  It’s all here, out in the wild, wild world of the Internet, a quick Google search away.

The Internet has also brought us social networking, and with it more voices, more blogs and more promo.  As more and more authors are finding much of the promotional responsibilities dumped into their laps by their publishers, they have turned to social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook to promote themselves and their books.  With mixed results for many readers.

I am what is called a captive audience when it comes to promo.  I’m a collection development librarian, and a huge chunk of this awesome job is staying informed on books that haven’t come out yet.  Which means I spend a lot of time reading newsletters, blogs, e-mails, flyers, journals, magazines, you name it – if an author or publicist is using it for promo, chances are I’m at least skimming through it.

As a reader, I’m not as much of a captive audience.  I’ll be honest, as a reader the only promo that interests me are for authors and books I’m likely already interested in.  I do look at all promo thanks to my job, but how closely I read it is another matter entirely.  Sometimes I’ll skim it enough to get “Oh, Author X has a new trilogy coming out next summer about vampires.  My library patrons love vampires.  I need to make a note of that….” and leave it at that.

Ask readers what they think of promo and you’ll get a variety of answers.  Some of us hate all of it with a blind seething rage.  Some of us like it well enough, but don’t want a steady diet of it.  Others of us are drawn to specific types of promo, but not others.  For example, I’m a Research Junkie Promo Reader.  I love to read about author research, especially if it was for a mystery or romantic suspense novel.  Go on a ride-along with the local cops?  Visit the local jail?  Visit a fire station?  If so, I want to hear about.  I’m also insanely envious of those historical romance authors who take fabulous trips to England, Ireland, Scotland, Egypt, wherever, all in the name of researching their latest historical romance trilogy.  I’ll read the author’s online trip diary, salivate over the luscious photos, and then weep bitter tears of jealousy.

As a reader, are their any types of author promo that you enjoy? If so, what types?  Or are you a reader who pretty much dislikes all of it and wishes there were some sort of Internet law confining it to the author’s web site and/or blog?

No related posts.

While we had a brief, torrid affair during my teenage years, I didn’t start seriously reading the romance genre until ten years ago.  For some of you, this may seem like a long time.  For the rest of you?  I’m a mere infant.

While I enjoy talking to all readers, my favorites tend to be those readers who have been reading romance novels for 25+ years.  They have such a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the genre, and they oftentimes have completely different perspectives on books, authors and sub genres, that infants (such as myself) fail to realize.

These longtime romance readers, while readily admitting that many of the books don’t necessarily continue to hold up to this day, can recall how mind-altering reading books like The Flame And The Flower and Whitney, My Love were back when they were first published.  How, when they discovered those stories, they were unlike anything else they had read before.  You had to be around during that time period to really “get” how revolutionary some of those stories were.  Let’s be honest; readers today picking up some of these classics for the first time probably aren’t going to have the same reaction to them.  The genre has moved past this ground zero, and we’re in a different space now.

This got me thinking about other revolutionary moments in romance genre history.  It didn’t start and end with Kathleen Woodiwiss.  We’ve had other ground zeroes before and since.  In just my short ten years of reading the genre, two moments really stand out for me personally.

It may surprise readers just coming to the genre now, but there was a time when paranormal romance and erotic romance were downright obscure.  At one point, the only publisher consistently publishing paranormal romances was Dorchester (with their Love Spell imprint).  When romance readers started congregating online, either on message boards or e-mail loops, a common topic that would pop up with regularity were from readers hungry for any sort of “other-worldly” romances.  Vampires, futuristics, time travels – it didn’t much matter at that time because readers were so desperate.  Which is why, even though I’m personally burnt-out on all things paranormal, I’ve never begrudged fans of that sub genre the current glut on the market.  Heck, they earned it!  There were a lot of really lean years.

For erotic romance, while there were a few select authors writing the steamy stuff (Bertrice Small, Robin Schone, Susan Johnson and Thea Devine come to mind), it really wasn’t until Kensington launched the Brava line that the wheel stated to turn.  It was one of the first instances where a publisher created a completely separate line for erotic romance.  All the reader had to do was look for that Brava “B” on the book’s spine, and they knew it was going to be a spicier story.  It took the guesswork out of browsing the bookstore and library shelves.  Along with Brava’s success, readers soon had more choices thanks to Harlequin Blaze, Ellora’s Cave, and other erotic romance imprints.  Certainly while there are some in the romance writing and reading community who still aren’t happy with the mainstreaming of erotic romance, it doesn’t diminish the fact how amazing these imprint launches were for many readers, myself included.  Finally.  If I wanted a spicier read, if that’s what I was in the mood for, it was readily available, easy to find, and I was no longer stumbling around in the dark.

Genre fiction, not just romance, is very much rooted in the present.  As time marches on, mores and values shift and change.  Genre fiction, it’s authors and readers, take notice, with the books reflecting those changes society is going through at that time.  While the romance genre might not move fast enough for some, or too fast for others, it provides an intriguing window into the lives of the women (and men!) who write and read within the genre.

What other romance genre ground zeroes can you think of?

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One positive thing that has come out of the recent downturn in the U.S. economy, is that romance novels have enjoyed an upswing in positive press coverage. A lot of this is due to the fact that Harlequin is one of few traditional print publishers turning a profit these days, plus they’ve put on the full-court-press celebrating their 60th anniversary. However, as often happens among the online romance reading community, not all press coverage is met with open arms.

The article that got most people buzzing was the USA Today article showcasing that “Golly gee Beave, who knew romance readers and writers were smart?!” Afterwards, I read commentary from readers and authors who were a little irked. Not only with having to constantly defend the romance genre, but that now with the perception that the only way the genre will ever receive any measure of validation is to dress it up in academic robes.

I’ll be honest, I really couldn’t get too worked up over any of this. Generally speaking, I found the USA Today article positive, and I do find it interesting that someone with Eloisa James‘ background turned out to be a very successful romance writer (and I say this only because holy cow, the level of condescension in a lot of university English departments is enough to make my brain bleed ). But ultimately I can see why some people were annoyed by it. Because as positive as the article was, it was reporting an extreme. Just as painting all romance readers as uneducated and sexually unfulfilled, who get their rocks off fantasizing about Fabio, is an extreme. But that’s the media. If they can’t turn it into an extreme, it’s not a story. It’s not worth reporting. If it bleeds, it leads.

What people who sneer at the romance genre will never understand is how diverse not only the genre is, but also it’s readers. Romance readers and writers literally come from all walks of life. Blue collar, white collar, high school drop-outs, graduate degree holders, doctors, lawyers, truck drivers, sanitation workers, librarians, teachers, nurses, married, single, men, women, mothers, childless, small town, and big city. The mass appeal of the romance genre is due entirely to it’s subject matter. Emotion. Human emotion, take your pick, is universal. Certainly all novels deal with human emotion on some level, but no other genre wears it on it’s sleeve like romance does. Next time you’re reading a romance, keep track of all the emotions that flit through the story. It’s not all love and happiness. Romances also deal with angst, anger, tragedy and heartbreak. The difference is that instead of dwelling on these universal, downer emotions, the romance genre uplifts the characters by having them overcome. By giving them a happy ending. And what human being doesn’t want a happy ending? Certainly there will always be people who sneer at the fairy tale, but given the choice between hardship and angst behind door number one or love, acceptance and happily-ever-after behind door number two? Yeah. There’s really no choice, is there?

Unfortunately there will always be narrow-minded morons who don’t “get” this. I’m not wacky enough to claim that every book published within the romance genre is Great Fiction, but when an author gets it right? There is literally nothing more powerful. It hits the reader right where it counts. It tells the reader that what they feel, whatever they’re going through, is perfectly acceptable. Their emotions are valid. Other people out there feel what you feel, and you’re going to be OK.

I tend to be a stick in the mud, so my belief is that the romance genre will always have to deal with some condescension. The world is full of too many narrow-minded idiots, and none of us has the time (or desire) to try and convert every single one of them. Hey, wouldn’t we all rather be reading anyway? That said, if a generally positive article can change even one person’s perception, does that make it a bad thing? Even if it is highlighting an extreme? I say no, it isn’t. Because reaching one person is one more than we had before.

Related posts:

1. An Emotional Paradox in Romance Fiction

When I was 16 years old I figured out that I wanted to be a librarian. Upon learning what I wanted to be “when I grew up,” friends and fellow classmates looked at me cross-eyed and told me that I wouldn’t have a job because “the Internet will make that job unnecessary.” Being the stubborn soul that I am, I went off to college, where I met more friends. When these friends found out I wanted to be a librarian I heard, “That’s a risky move. The Internet is going to make libraries obsolete in 10 years.”

2009 marks my 10th anniversary of being a professional librarian and the Internet is no closer to making my job irrelevant today than it was back in the early 1990s. If you want to know the truth, my job is in more danger from idiot politicians than anything the Internet can cook up – but that’s another post entirely.

Which brings me to ebooks.

There’s been quite a bit of talk lately about how ebooks are the wave of the future. How digital publishing is poised on the brink of super-stardom. Meanwhile all I can think about is all those people who told me I’d be out of a job in ten years time.

Yeah, color me skeptical.

Now before anyone accuses me of a being a short-sighted, narrow-minded stick-in-the-mud, I will say that I love ebooks. I own a Sony Reader and it has literally changed my life in regards to my category romance reading. I can’t remember the last time I walked into a Borders and bought a brand new Dead Tree Harlequin. I’m at the point where I’d say I’m doing 98% of my category romance reading on my Sony Reader. Also, as a librarian, I love having another format to offer to readers. Librarians are all about access. We want to give library users as many options as humanly possible to fill their information and entertainment needs. So hip-hip-hooray for ebooks!

That being said, the digital and publishing communities have a lot of issues that need addressing before they can even begin to think about taking over the world.

1) There is a digital divide. No, really, there is. These people tend to be forgotten by those who live, breathe and sleep on the Internet – but there are countless people out there who don’t own a home computer, have high speed Internet connections or lap tops with WiFi cards. Learning the art of a using a computer mouse? Hopping over to Gmail to set up a free e-mail account? So terrifying to some folks that librarians spend a lot of time holding hands and offering step-by-step instruction. Will this divide shrink over time? Certainly. But it still exists and shouldn’t be ignored.

2) Dedicated e-reading devices are really expensive! For a while I thought smart phones would be the wave of the reading future. However, turns out a lot of people don’t like reading on teeny, tiny screens. Until readers like the Sony and Kindle come down in price, the revolution is on hold. But frankly, you can now buy MP3 players for as low as $30 and there are still plenty of people walking around who don’t own one. See #1.

3) Ebooks are confusing. I’ll be blunt: the format issue really has to be addressed. Right now anyone can walk into a library, pick up a Dead Tree Book and read it. All you have to know how to do is read. But to read an ebook ? You need to download the book, get it on your reading device, and heaven help you should you have to convert a file. I spend a lot of time on computers and the thought of converting a file makes my brain go numb. How must it be for others? See #1.

4) Sharing books turns readers into criminals. Right now I can walk into a bookstore, buy a Dead Tree Book, then either donate it to the library or give it to a friend when I’m done with it. Certainly authors aren’t wild about this since they want everyone to buy their books brand new (and honestly, who could blame them?). But I can legally do this with Dead Tree Books and not be branded a criminal, pirate or scumbag. Since the dawn of the printing press and mass-produced reading material readers have done this. They just have. In order for Average Jane Reader to buy into the idea that ebooks are “just like” Dead Tree Books – this issue has to be addressed somehow. Hey, most readers don’t want to post a book on a file-sharing web site. Really, we don’t. But the vast majority of us aren’t willing to give up sharing and swapping books with our friends. Sorry, we just aren’t. And right now we can’t share and swap ebooks legally and that really blows.

So where does that leave us? Well, it leaves us with a lot of unanswered questions. Questions I would like to see addressed, and steps made to find workable solutions. Certainly the ebook market has grown considerably in the last several years, but I’m not seeing the speculated world domination that so many others are predicting until these issues are addressed.

No related posts.

For those of you who have a policy of not wading into Internet kerfuffles (wise decision by the way), you might have missed the hullabaloo that followed the release of My Man Michael by Lori Foster. Good ol’ Mike is part of Foster’s series about her SBC ultimate fighters. The problem? The previous books in the series were all straight-up contemporary romance. This latest book? Yeah, a time-travel futuristic thing. Fans were not happy. Especially since Berkley’s back cover copy for the book was really vague. The author did post an excerpt on her web site that pretty much let the cat out of the bag, but speaking from personal experience, not all readers read excerpts.

Naturally mayhem ensued. Part of the reason I suspect many readers weren’t happy is because the paranormal glut has finally reached epic proportions. Readers cannot walk into the romance section of a bookstore without tripping over a vampire, werewolf, shape shifter, demon, fairy or psychic. And certainly while futuristic time travels aren’t the same thing as paranormal, they all get lumped into the “otherworldly” category. Readers desperately tired of being beat over the head with paranormal everything, who just want a straight-up contemporary romance, open up a book in their favorite series and get…..time travel futuristic. Yeah. Not happy.

So where does this leave authors?

I’ve always said that authors cannot go into writing a book thinking about “reader expectations.” It is humanly impossible for an author to write a book that will please every reader on the planet. All the author can do is write the best book they can, send it off into the world, and let it go. Authors can write any book they darn well please. We readers might not like it, but we do have a choice. We can follow the author on the journey, or move on to other pastures.

Where authors tend to lose me is when they act “surprised” by upset readers. Like the well-known mystery author who killed off one of the main characters in her long-running series. She was “shocked” that so many readers were ticked off. She writes mysteries, and people die in mystery novels! Yes, people die in mystery novels, but when you write a series that follows the same set of characters over many books, readers become personally invested in their fictional lives. Heck, why do you think soap operas are so popular? You watch a character change, grow, live, love and then you kill them off? Yeah, it’s unsettling to say the least.

Authors need to keep this in mind. Yes, write the book you want to write. Write the book you need to write. But drop the shock and surprise when you throw a curve ball and readers get ticked off when they’re bean-ed at the plate. The “I had no idea!” explanation holds no water, because frankly, we don’t believe you. (Really, we don’t)

In closing, here’s a good aid to help authors understand where readers are coming from. Even if you think readers really have lost their minds and “gone too far.” Think of your favorite series – we’ll use J.D. Robb’s In Death books as an example since so many readers (and authors) love them. You’re reading the latest book. Eve and Roarke are in bed together, when suddenly Eve rolls over and says, “Roarke darling, I’m ever so tired of being a kick ass police detective. I want to quit my job. And you know what I’ve always dreamed of doing? Being the next Martha Stewart! I’m going to open my own catering business! I want to garden and redecorate! Oh, and while I’m in the middle of making life-altering changes, we need to get busy. I fully expect to be pregnant with triplets by the time the last chapter rolls around. I have the sudden desire to nest.”

Yeah, that’s why readers are upset. Pretty much sucks, doesn’t it?

Related posts:

1. The wicked web we weave …

I’m coming up on my sixth year of blogging, and I still enjoy my little hobby today, just as much as I did when I started six years ago. Possibly even more, because through blogging I’ve had the pleasure to meet so many amazing, intelligent and thoughtful women who share some of the same interests as I do. The big one, of course, being reading romance novels. And talking about romance novels. Going on and on and on about romance novels.

The first blogger I met, live and in person, was Rosie, who happens to live in roughly the same geographic area that I do. We met at a local used bookstore, did some shopping, then had a nice, long lunch where we discussed, what else?, romance novels. We’ve spent a fair amount of time together “in person” since then. We’ve had countless chats. But she did say something to me once that has really gotten stuck in my head….

She called me an idiot savant of romance novels.

I’m one of those people, that once I read a book, I can at least recall some details about it. Depending on how much I loved or loathed the book, I can generally recall quite a bit of detail about it. I can’t recite the whole book verbatim. For example, I’m terrible with character names, even for books that are in my treasured keeper collection. I also won’t remember every single plot point or character trait. I tend to recall the highlights, or the “big issues” that stuck in my mind while reading the story. I also can always tell you if I’ve at least read the book. Some readers inadvertently buy duplicate copies of books they’ve read before or check a book out from the library, read the first 50 pages and realize, “Hey, I’ve read this before!” Yeah, with me? That never happens. There are instances where the book in question was merely an “average” read, and because I didn’t have a strong reaction to it (I didn’t love it or hate it), I might not recall a single thing about the book. Nothing. But I will remember, at the very least, that I did in fact read it. I know I read it – even if all the finer details have since flown out of my head.

So how about you? Are you an idiot savant when it comes to your reading? Do you have total recall? Partial recall? Absolutely no recall at all? What details are you likely to remember about a book? What details (like me with character names) do you almost always forget?

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As readers of my personal blog know, November 2008 was not the best month on record for me. After living in California for almost five years, the all too common phenomenon of wild fires showed up, literally, at my back door.

What’s hard to explain, unless you’ve experienced it for yourself, is how fast these wild fires can move – fueled by dry conditions, wind, and plenty of fuel. I was paranoid enough that I got our important papers together (insurance policy, social security cards, birth certificates etc.), but there wasn’t a lot of time to properly pack before we were literally ordered out of our home.

For the record, I am not one of these people who are told to evacuate who then stay behind with a garden hose hoping to beat back a raging wild fire. No. Tell me to leave, and I’m getting out of Dodge as fast as my sensible shoes will carry me.

So we left – with our two cars, important papers, laptop, computer tower, my Sony Reader, two library books I had just checked out (my boss was so proud!), and some clean underwear tossed in a garbage bag.

That was it.

What I find amazing is all the stuff I didn’t take. Stuff I didn’t even try to save. Oh, like namely my entire book collection that I’ve spent the better part of a decade building. Some of my treasured autographed copies. Those nearly impossible to find Carla Kelly traditional Regencies I’ve managed to locate. Lorraine Heath’s westerns. Susan Wiggs’ entire historical backlist. My beloved Harlequin Historicals. My small, but adored, collection of erotica. Not to mention my keepers! Ack!

In the end, I know that what really matters is that we got out of harm’s way, were safe, and that our home wasn’t damaged. Other than some sleep, we didn’t lose a thing in the fire. We were so incredibly lucky, and for that I’m thankful.

But if I had to do it all over again would I try to save any of my books? I’m not sure. In the grand scheme of things, as treasured as some of my books are – if it came down to them or the quilt my grandmother made me, I’m taking the quilt. Still, if I had to do it all over again, I’d probably grab my small collection of keepers.

Faced with evacuation from a natural disaster, what book(s) would you try to save?

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When I started my own blog coming up on six years ago, I didn’t have an actual game plan in mind. I hadn’t gotten past the idea of throwing stuff on the proverbial Internet wall and finding out what would stick. Also, blogging was still in its infancy in the online romance community, so it’s not like there was a large pool from which I could ask for advice. I just jumped right in, and figured out how to swim along the way.

Since Romancing The Blog’s inception, there are been several posts about author blogs, but there hasn’t been one addressing reader blogs (that I could find anyway). I certainly follow a handful of author blogs, but by and large, it’s the readers who are running amok on my Google Reader. Why? Because the entire genesis of my blogging can be boiled down to one simple reason: I wanted to connect with other readers who loved the romance genre as much as I do. This was especially vital because before my move to the west coast, I didn’t have a single person in my “real life” with whom I could talk romance novels with. Sad, but true.

Over the years I’ve seen the number of reader blogs steadily rise – with some running the marathon, while others have faded into the sunset. It’s these blogs that fade away that truly disappoint me, because the more voices there are, the more vibrant the online romance community is. So to help other readers jump into the blogging waters, I thought I’d offer up my Four Helpful Hints To Starting Your Own Reader Blog.

1) Find Your Voice. I’ve never held much stock in the cliché that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Not everyone is going to be a Dear Author, Smart Bitches, Book Binge or The Good, The Bad, and The Unread, and not everybody should try. The trick to making your blog a success is finding your own voice. If you’re forcing yourself into a ready made template that you personally aren’t excited about, blogging is going to get real old, real quick. Blog about what you want to blog about. Find your passion and I guarantee you that your enthusiasm will be infectious.

2) You Gotta Be Consistent. I don’t subscribe to the school of thought that you need to blog every day, but you do have to be consistent. If you want people to visit you, and leave comments, you need to blog at least a couple of times a week. People have short memories, and have a tendency to clean out their RSS feed readers. If you go weeks or months without updating, people will soon give up on you.

3) Stress? What Stress? Updating and maintaining your blog should not be stressful. It also shouldn’t be the world’s biggest time suck. If you’re stressing out about your blog? Yeah, you’re thinking too hard. Again, find your passion. Nothing is a chore if you’re passionate about it.

4) Comment, Comment, Comment. So you’ve got this great blog, but nobody knows you exist. The quickest way for people to discover your blog is by you going out and commenting on other blogs. Visit some of your favorite blogs and leave comments, and be sure to plug in your blog’s URL. This is how I discover all the new reader blogs I follow.

Most importantly, blogging is fun. If it wasn’t fun, I wouldn’t have maintained mine for the last 5+ years. Don’t be afraid, and find what works for you. I adore authors, but it’s the reader bloggers who have my heart. It’s all of you out there that keep me wired to my Google Reader every morning as I down my morning jolt of caffeine, and I selfishly want more of you. So come on in, the water’s just fine.

Related posts:

1. Five Tips on an Easy-to-Use Social Media Tool: Commenting
2. Blogging Tips for Writers
3. How Authors Should use Social Media

The Boyfriend and I recently treated ourselves to a weekend getaway. On the first day of our mini-vacation we found ourselves with some time to kill and decided to do a little window shopping in a downtown area. As luck would have it, we came across a nice looking independent bookstore, and I convinced my man that I’d “only be a minute, promise!”

Upon walking into the bookstore, I was once again reminded on why I don’t patronize 99% of independents. Want to guess how many romances I found?

One.

Yeah, one.

The paperback edition of High Noon by Nora Roberts.

The sad truth is that there were eight other romances on the New York Times Mass-Market Paperback Bestsellers List that week.

The Hollow by Nora Roberts, The Lost Duke of Wyndham by Julia Quinn, Always Dakota by Debbie Macomber, Not Another Bad Date by Rachel Gibson, With Every Breath by Lynn Kurland, Damien by Jacquelyn Frank, Tempting Evil by Allison Brennan and Dark Desires After Dusk by Kresley Cole.

These titles were nowhere to be found. So if these bestsellers weren’t in stock, what do you think my chances were of finding a debut or midlist title?

As the Magic 8 Ball would say: Outlook Not So Good.

And yet these independents have the repeated nerve to wonder why some readers choose instead to support Big Box Bookstores, WalMart and/or Amazon? Editorials are written, speeches are given, about how we should move heaven and earth to support small business owners.

To which I say: Get A Clue.

The vast majority of independents have done an excellent job of convincing me over the years that my reading choices are 1) poor 2) not valid and 3) that I must be an uneducated moron with latent Fabio fantasies. So why exactly do I want to encourage their narrow-minded way of thinking by giving them my hard earned money? I’d much rather give my money to an evil corporation that has a well-stocked romance section.

Niche bookstores are one thing. If I walk into an independent that is clearly all about mystery or science fiction, not finding a single romance isn’t going to burn my biscuits. They advertise as a niche, and are there for that specific community. But to be an independent that touts itself as being about all books and then dismissing the best selling genre out there?

Thanks, but no thanks.

No related posts.

The Boyfriend recently suggested to me that I like buying books more than I actually like reading them. A rather silly notion, to be sure, but all it took for him to arrive at this conclusion was a quick look at our home office. Let’s just say I have books pretty much stacked to the ceiling, although I think I’ve done a decent job corralling them into the walk-in closet.

I did concede that I do love buying books. There’s nothing quite like walking into a bookstore and looking at all the pretty, shiny possibilities. The pretty covers. The not-so-pretty covers. The unblemished spines. The “smell” of new books. There’s nothing quite like the thrill of the hunt, plus an unread book signifies hope. All of those unread books have potential.

That is what all my book hunting and buying boils down to – the search for The Next Great Read.

I said as much to The Boyfriend. As much as I like buying and hunting for books, I like reading a really great one a whole lot more. My exact words were “There’s nothing better than a really great book,” which is when his eyes started rolling back in his head. That pretty much put an end to the conversation, but not on me ruminating further…

Every reader has a “There’s Nothing Better” list. Themes, styles, autobuy authors, triggers that make really great reads for them. Here are a few of mine:

There’s nothing better than an edge-of-your-seat suspense novel written in first person.

There’s nothing better than discovering an author who excels in writing in the category format.

There’s nothing better than a great friends-to-lovers story.

There’s nothing better than a tearjerker, two-hanky, emotionally-draining western romance.

There’s nothing better than a “sweet” romance that doesn’t resort to preciousness.

There’s nothing better than a fabulous Harlequin Historical.

There’s nothing better than a sexy cowboy hero.

Avid readers become “avid,” because something triggers it for them. I think it all boils down to the “There’s Nothing Betters.” Those key elements, themes, and archetypes that speak directly to that individual reader.

What are some of your “There’s Nothing Betters?”

No related posts.