If You Like… Susan Elizabeth Phillips
We are now in process of periodically updating the If You Like lists at AAR. Pollsters Lee Brewer and Cindy Smith have given me suggestions for updates to the lists as they appear now. We also would like to hear what our readers have to say. This week’s author writes contemporary romance in quite a different style than the historical author we profiled last. It’s Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Here are the authors we have as our recommendations for ones that you may enjoy if you like Susan Elizabeth Phillips:
Susan Andersen
Elizabeth Bevarly
Jennifer Crusie
Susan Donovan
Rachel Gibson
Jane Graves
Jennifer Greene
Christie Ridgway
Romantic Hypergamy
Monogamy, polygamy, bigamy – these are all terms that have always been on my radar. The -gamy suffix comes from the Greek for “marriage.” I had never heard of hypergamy, though, until a month or so ago when I started to browse sites written by men about the modern dating scene. Basically hypergamy is marrying up – in status, wealth, prestige. Pick-up artists insist that women are innately hypergamous, that in terms of evolutionary psychology, many women will fight over one alpha male, often accepting fleeting or polygamous relationships rather than mate with men they deem less impressive. Marriage as a social institution evolved in order to more fairly assign mates, increase population, and protect and raise progeny to adulthood – or so goes the theory.
My first reaction was to scoff. After all, I know lots of married people and most [actually none of them] are not married to alphas. So where is all the […]
If You Like…Jo Beverley
A few months ago, I promised I would be updating the If You Like lists at AAR. I asked for help from pollsters Lee Brewer and Cindy Smith, and they provided me with input. Now I’m going to go to the readers. This week’s author will be an addition to the list as it now appears – Jo Beverley. Here are the authors we have as our recommendations for ones that you may enjoy if you like Jo Beverley:
Joanna Bourne
Jane Feather
Jo Goodman
Elizabeth Hoyt
Bettina Krahn
Josie Litton
Julie Anne Long
Barbara Metzger
Karen Ranney
Melody Thomas
Katherine Sutcliffe
Elizabeth Thornton
Recommending new authors is a tricky process. You might like an author because of the genre they write in, or the time period they set their books in, or because of their unique prose. One reader may love Jo Beverley and hate, say, Karen Ranney, while another reader would agree that these two are a good match for like stories. I’d like to open this for […]
Modern “Romance”
I’ll admit it, I never liked Sex and the City. Its premise to me always seemed amazingly depressing, and the idea that women can take on men’s vices and then get old-fashioned fairy tale endings seemed counter-intuitive, if not outright delusional. The Mr. Bigs of the world don’t date older average-looking, high-maintenance career women and marry them. They may have sex with them, but no rings are exchanged. Men who are Masters of the Universe marry supermodels whose skin is still dewy, whose boobs are still perky, and whose fertility is still in full bloom. That may not be fair, it may not be romantic, but that’s the way it is. Anyone female who survived high school and was honest with herself can give you a pretty accurate estimate of what her social value was and tell you which guys were “out of her reach” (as well as those she considered “below […]
Kristan Higgins Winner
As promised, we announce the winner of The Next Best Thing, the newest contemporary romantic fiction book by Kristan Higgins
Heather
Congratulations, Heather! I have emailed you and will make arrangements to have the book sent. Thanks to everyone who entered. If you didn’t win, your wait for the newest from Kristan Higgins will be short. Its release date is February 1st.
– Rachel Potter
Books with Buzz: Kristan Higgins Interview (Contest Now Closed)
One of my best discoveries of the past year was the author Kristan Higgins. I ripped through all four books in her backlist and found them entertaining and thoughtful, funny and romantic. She’s become a comfort read for me, actually, so I was excited to learn that there is more comfort forthcoming. On February 1st, HQN releases The Next Best Thing. Kristan graciously took time to answer my questions about the book, and will be giving a signed copy of it to a lucky reader.
All you need to do to enter for the giveaway is to leave a comment to this post by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, January 28th. The winner will be randomly selected and posted here on Friday morning. The usual caveats apply: This contest is open only to readers in the U.S. […]