The huge ratings and buzz for Netflix’s Bridgerton, coming on the heels of Starz’s success with Outlander, should make it clear to all but the most willfully ignorant producers that viewers are here for historical romance. And if you’re a producer looking for the Next Big Thing, Romancelandia will reciprocate. We’re here for you, with all the info you need to pick your next breakout Brit historical romance hit. […]
The hardest part of any Best of list is frantically trying to read all the books on everyone else’s list to make sure you didn’t miss something. This is not helped when certain authors release fantastic books well into December (AHEM Ms. Alyssa Cole…) which you have to frantically get to before your deadline for list submission! […]
You’re probably aware that Tuesday, Nov. 3, is Election Day in the United States, whether you live in the United States or elsewhere, even if that “elsewhere” is “under a rock.” Yes, politicians (like lawyers!) have a dubious stereotype, but true public servants – people who dedicate their lives to improving the world and the situation of the people around them – make wonderful heroines and heroes. In honor of Election Day, here’s a list of some of AAR’s favorite romances starring politicians.
The Cowboy Says I Do by Dylann Crush
After Lacey Cherish’s father, the mayor of Idont, Texas, was removed from office and arrested, she ran and won. Now she’s trying to restore the family name and the city, which is saddled with major debt. Sheriff Bodie Phillips is both one of Lacey’s best […]
Over half (21 of 38) books I’ve reviewed for AAR in 2020 are not books that have been published this year. My oldest? Marion Chesney’s 1983 Regency The Miser of Mayfair, re-released in 2011 under her other name M.C. Beaton.
Another interesting fact? I’ve given fourteen DIKs in 2020, but just three (
Queen Move, The Switch, and Bench Player) are 2020 releases. That’s a measly one-fifth. […]
As someone whose path to reading romance included a lengthy period reading X-Files fanfiction (oh, man, who else remembers The Gossamer Project???), I am clearly a huge fan of UST – Unresolved Sexual Tension. In romance, this is the slow burn phase, where the energy of characters’ attraction builds up and up before being released. That’s why I love and developed our Slow burn tag, which I used to make this list of top slow burn romance novels. […]
Have you noticed that medievals, once a staple of the historical category, have become thin on the ground?
Yesterday, I re-read Dark Champion by Jo Beverley off my keeper shelf. I expected it to have some age issues, since the book was originally published in 2003, but I really enjoyed it. I appreciate that Beverley incorporates religion into her setting (a fanatical priest advising the heroine against lust; issues around being asked to swear an oath on the cross), and also that the heroine chafes at the legal restrictions on women without the author sweeping those restrictions away. […]
In Mary Balogh’s 1997 Trad. Regency The Last Waltz, Gerard Percy is living and working in Canada when he learned that he has unexpectedly inherited an earldom. He returns to host a Christmas party at his new estate, to which he invites his Canadian friends, brother and sister Andrew and Jeanette Campbell. […]
In teaching and libraries, we use a term called Mirrors and Windows to describe books. Mirrors are books which reflect your own experience back to you – the character shares your race, your gender identity, your ethnicity, etc. Windows are books which allow you to see into another person’s experience. […]
Last fall, I wrote a blog post about using tags at AAR, which you can find under the Vox Populi tab on the main website. (Using Tags to Find Books You Love) Everything I said in that post remains true, such as the lack of any kind of systematic purpose to my tags and the caution against using them for academic/statistical/analytical purposes. […]