Coming Soon… August 2017

AAR staffers have taken a good look at the wealth of new books being published in August and decided which ones are most likely to make the biggest dents in our bank balances! Joanna Bourne is at the top of several of our lists, closely followed by Tessa Dare, Shana Galen, Layla Reyne and K.J Charles, among others. Here are the books we’re most looking forward to reading next month. How about you? Do you agree with our choices or think we’ve missed out on something really good? Jump into the discussion in the comments.

Beauty Like the Night by Joanna Bourne (1 Aug)

Um. It’s a new book in the Spymasters series by Joanna Bourne.  Surely I don’t need to say anything else?! – Caz

Joanna Bourne. That is all. If there’s a stronger series than her Spymasters, I […]

By | 2017-07-20T15:42:09+00:00 July 20th, 2017|Categories: Anne Marble, Caz AAR, Dabney AAR, E-books, Eagerly Awaiting, EmAAR, Keira Soleore, Kristen D, Lee AAR, Lisa F, Maggie AAR, Maria Rose, Romance reading, Sara AAR, Shannon AAR, Upcoming releases|Tags: , |4 Comments
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Defining Romance: Does RWA finally have it right?

RWA logoOn April 4, a message went up on the Romance Writers of America (RWA) blog: Important Message Regarding 2005 “Definition of Romance” Survey. Here’s what it said:

At the November 2015 Board of Directors meeting, one of the issues discussed was an RWA survey conducted in 2005. Though this occurred eleven years ago, the ill effects of that survey still linger for many members. The survey was included in the Romance Writers Report and asked RWA members to vote on whether romance should be redefined as being between one man and one woman. The survey responses were never acted upon, and RWA’s definition of romance was not changed.

The survey, however, sparked a discussion that compelled our LGBT+ members to justify their existence to others and to participate in debates about their humanity and their capacity to love. This incident was a low point from which RWA’s reputation has never recovered. The organization later reaffirmed RWA’s commitment to making sure that “any definition of romance […]

By | 2017-06-23T08:30:11+00:00 April 5th, 2016|Categories: Anne Marble, Defining Romance, Publishing, RWA|10 Comments
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The Best of 2015: Anne’s List

When I look back at my favorite reads of 2015, most have one thing in common. They were published before 2015. From guilty pleasures like The Selection series (yes, I confess!) and YA thrillers like Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick to my latest addiction to motorcycle club romances… Every time I was ready to put a book on my best of 2015 list, it turned out to be published in 2014, or even earlier. So I’ll start with The Selection series, which I almost hate admitting I enjoyed. Almost.

I’m a big fan of young adult fiction. YA is full of great authors who aren’t afraid to approach controversial topics, and who aren’t afraid to give us strong female characters. That’s why embarrassed to admit that the YA series that took me over this year was The Selection series by Kiera Cass. I had avoided reading it when it first […]

By | 2017-06-23T08:30:12+00:00 February 19th, 2016|Categories: Anne Marble, Best of 2015, Best of List|7 Comments
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Our November Newsletter is online!

Welcome to November! We usually only send out our monthly newsletter but we thought we’d start posting it here as well. AAR’s Anne Marble puts these together every month! Enjoy!

(Wanna sign up? Click here.)

October Interviews and Author Posts

An Interview and a Giveaway with Lucinda Brant

Caz interviews author Lucinda Brant about Deadly Peril, the latest in her series of Georgian historical mysteries. If you haven’t read, Ms. Brant’s marvelous books, you’re missing out!

Why You Can’t Set a Wax Play Scene on Shabbos

Join author Tamsen Parker to find out the answer to this and other things she learned while writing Taking Flight, a BDSM erotic romance set in an Orthodox Jewish Community.

Revel with a Cause: The Outback Bachelor Ball

Learn about Bachelor and Spinster balls, grog, and swag from Karina Bliss, Joan Kilby, and Sarah Mayberry, authors of the The Outback Bachelor Ball trilogy.

Queer Romance Month Posts

This year we again participated in Queer Romance Month. Queer authors from around the […]

By | 2017-06-23T08:30:15+00:00 November 11th, 2015|Categories: Anne Marble, Newsletter|Tags: |2 Comments
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Someday My Print Will Come Back

romance-novel-book-pile-fictionandflowers-wordpress-com-chick-litI bought my first eBook in 1999. Back then, eBook publishing was like a frontier. Most publishers e-mailed the books to you, and the process wasn’t automated, so if you bought something on the weekend, you’d have to wait a day or two to get your e-mail. Sometimes they were even sent as RTF files! Discussions about eBooks would always start with someone saying something like “I don’t read eBooks because I hate reading on my computer screen” and “I’ll never read eBooks because only people who can’t get a contract are published in that format.” OK, some people still believe those things, but most of us have gotten over those hurdles. Still, we’ve found new ones, or new ones have been shoved in place. Then there’s the biggest barrier of all — sometimes I just want to touch a blasted paper copy. Sometimes the paper copy is cheaper, or looks cooler, or is easier to read. Or sometimes there is […]

By | 2017-06-23T08:30:16+00:00 October 28th, 2015|Categories: Anne Marble, Books, E-books, Reading|Tags: , |25 Comments
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How To Lose Money and Annoy Romance Fans: A Story of Scribd.

iPad-Fantasy-v1

About a year ago, I tried the free trial offered by eBook subscription service Scribd. The number and variety of titles were astonishing, and there were books from both major publishers and indie publishers. Big publishers that refused to make books lendable on Amazon or to add their books to Amazon’s Prime Lending Library and Kindle Unlimited joined Scribd. The books waiting in my library ranged from Cycle of Lies: The Fall of Lance Armstrong (still in hardback then) to new adult titles to lots of recent young adult titles to a textbook on homicide by Robert Ressler, and more. And the romances? Everything from major romance authors such as Julia Quinn to Julie Garwood to Jude Deveraux and Johanna Lindsey. Avon titles! Pride and Prejudice continuations! Carla Kelly books! I couldn’t wait to dive in.

Then I found out that I hated reading in the Scribd app, and I wasn’t crazy about reading on their website. Yup. With […]

By | 2017-06-23T08:30:19+00:00 July 6th, 2015|Categories: Anne Marble, E-books, Publishing|Tags: |19 Comments
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AAR Picks the Best of 2014

(This column will not be the only piece we run on the best books of 2014. We will still run a separate Buried Treasures piece and several staff members will be sharing their lists of the best books they read this year.)

Each year, we ask the AAR staff to pick one book as the best romance published this year. Here are our picks for 2014:

MiMaggie: Mambo in Chinatown by Jean Kwok was my number one read of 2014. I loved the Cinderella nature of the tale, the unique look into Chinese-American culture, the heroine Charlie and her irrepressible spirit and generosity and the gentle, hopeful nature of the love story. So few books do a good job of capturing what it’s like to be a first generation American but this novel, reviewed here,  captured it perfectly.

Lea: WILaYWhat I Love About You by Rachel Gibson. These days I tend to […]

By | 2017-06-23T08:30:24+00:00 December 31st, 2014|Categories: AAR Jenna, AAR Shannon, Anne Marble, Best of List, Caz AAR, Dabney AAR, Haley AAR, Heather AAR, Lee AAR, LinnieGayl AAR, Lynn AAR, Maggie AAR, Melanie AAR, Rike AAR|Tags: , , , , |33 Comments
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The results of the AAR Top Ten Lists are in and the winner is….

loverawakenedBack in April, we began, on each Tuesday, publishing a reviewer’s Top Ten list. There were no rules other than the books be in the romance genre. Over the next five months, we published twenty-three lists. Out of the 230 entries, we listed 201 books. We hit every genre (although we have a definitive fondness for historical romance), and waxed upon the works of 121 authors. After every one had weighed in, only one book garnered five–the most–votes: J.R. Ward’s Lover Awakened. […]

By | 2017-06-23T08:30:38+00:00 October 7th, 2013|Categories: AAR Blythe, AAR Jenna, Alexandra AAR, All About Romance, Anne Marble, Caroline AAR, Caz AAR, Cindy AAR, Dabney AAR, Haley AAR, Heather S. AAR, Jean AAR, Lea Hensley, Lee AAR, LinnieGayl AAR, Maggie AAR, Mary AAR, Melanie AAR, Pat Henshaw, Rike AAR|Tags: , |17 Comments
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E-Lending and the LendInk Brouhaha

kindlebook The latest Internet scandal about piracy isn’t about piracy — it’s about misunderstanding what eBook lending is all about. What happened proved that social media can be a powerful force, but those powers aren’t always used in the right way. Just ask the owner and users of LendInk, a legitimate eBook lending site that did not host any files. LendInk was taken down because of erroneous takedown notices from concerned authors. This story even made news in Australia.

Writers are one of the biggest forces in getting eBook pirating sites shut down. This power is a good thing. But what if the site isn’t actually a piracy site? What if, like LendInk, it’s one of several lending sites, sites that are allowed by Amazon, B&N, and other eBook vendors? Then we have a problem. […]

By | 2017-06-23T08:31:04+00:00 August 14th, 2012|Categories: Anne Marble, E-books, Publishing|Tags: , |10 Comments
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