What should we call books with no sex in them? AAR has a sensuality ratings system but that’s not helpful when you want a single descriptor. (It has five levels from Kisses to Burning and probably needs to be revamped.) Romancelandia seems to have settled–to the joy of few–on the term clean. […]
Here at AAR, the staff is beginning to make our favorite Best of 2019 lists. Earlier this week, we asked what your favorite non-romances of the year are. Now we’d like to know: What’s your favorite romance published in 2019?
This week I read a historical romance novella with a love scene that did consent perfectly. Romance novels routinely show–and now more so than ever which is the best–that sex and intimacy are something two (or more) people decide on together. Consent happens when both (or more) parties agree on what sexual contact is going to be and feel like. Desire and how it is acted upon is mutual, pleasurable, and not to be regretted. […]
Last Thursday, October 26th, was not a good day for AAR. By the day’s end, many on Twitter—romance authors among them—had tweeted and retweeted accusations that AAR and its readers are racist, sexist, and ablest. […]
In last week’s the [email protected], many of you longed for historicals featuring untraditional stories. So we want your recs. What historical romances with non-wealthy, non-aristocrat, non-white, non-heteronormative leads–or any other nontraditional aspects–do you love?
We listen to you, we really do. And we’ve noticed that you, along with several of our reviewers, aren’t all that happy with most – not all, but most – of the historical romance that’s been published in the past year or so. Using our Power Search feature, we looked at all the Historical Romance reviews we’ve written in 2019. We’ve given out 19 As, 47 Bs, 21 Cs, 13 Ds, and 2 Fs. […]
Secret baby, friends to lovers, amnesia, arranged marriage, opposite attract, road trip romances… there are many tried and true tropes found again and again in romance. Which ones do you love and which ones do you loathe? And why? […]
There are books, authors, series, and even whole genres that I just can not, no matter how many times I give them a whirl, find interesting. Last year one of my book clubs read A Gentleman in Moscow and everyone but me adored it. I was so bored, I quit at the 500 page mark, miffed I’d wasted precious reading time on such a twee tale. Several friends of mine feel the best book they ever read–EVER!–is A Man Called Ove. I’ve tried to read it three times and every time just… can’t… do… it. That guy is waaaaaay too cranky for me.
So, despite my propensity to love romance novels, there are those that aren’t for me. Shifter stories don’t call to me–I’m always overcome with practical concerns about clothing, food sources, and DNA. I find the appeal of Kristen Ashley’s books somewhat mystifying. I […]
Several years ago, my daughter explained to me the age rule. For those of you unfamiliar with this, here’s a summary of what Wikipedia says:
The Half-age-plus-seven rule (“never date anyone under half your age plus 7”) dictates what age disparity between two people is acceptable in romantic relationships. […]
They were estranged, she briefly took another lover.
They were young, in an argument, she hit him.
She asked him who he was, for reasons he couldn’t say, he lied.
Her best friend from forever was a guy, his jealousy burned out of control. […]
