Meet Managing Editor/Senior Reviewer Blythe Barnhill 
Blythe’s Top 10 Romance List
About Me Personal Reading Tastes
I’ve been reviewing and editing for AAR since 1998, and I absolutely love my job. My favorite authors have shifted quite a bit since I first started. Right now I enjoy Meredith Duran, Carla Kelly, and Courtney Milan. Older favorites include Diana Gabaldon, Mary Balogh, and Mary Jo Putney, and I still keep current with all the J.D. Robb books. Though I read primarily romance now, I take a break every month and read something more literary for my book club. I’m also a huge Harry Potter fan and am liking J.K. Rowling’s new mysteries.
When I’m not reading, reviewing, or “managing,” I am usually busy with my four children. When I started reviewing the youngest wasn’t even born. Now my boys are in high school, my girls are in college, and I spend a lot of time at track meets and band concerts. I also work full time as a manager for Athleta – I like to say that I tell people what to wear and what to read. When I’m not reading, writing, working, or sitting at a track meet, you can find me running or practicing yoga.
What I’m a sucker for in a book: First-person point of view, Regency house parties, heroines married or engaged to “the wrong man,” Colonial America/Revolutionary War settings, friends who fall in love, good “guy speak,” spy heroes, bluestocking heroines, Regency governesses, and poor relations.
What I don’t particularly care for in a book: Mistress plots, cross-class romances in historicals, bizarre will stipulations, baby/pregnancy plots, anachronistic language, and heroines in historicals who jump into bed without considering the reproductive consequences.
What drives me absolutely nuts in a book: Illogical plots, one-sentence paragraphs, obvious/simplistic writing that spells out every detail for you, Big Misunderstandings that could be solved with a five minute conversation, wounded heroes/heroines that spend the entire book wallowing in self-pity, gross historical errors, and werewolf or vampire romances.
Favorite Romance Novels
Absolute Favorite
Slightly Dangerous by Mary Balogh
Favorite Classic
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Favorite Short Stories
Just Curious (Simple Gifts) by Jude Deveraux
The Christmas Ornament (A Regency Christmas) by Carla Kelly
Romance Authors Favorite Characters
All-Time Favorite Romance Authors
Diana Gabaldon
Mary Balogh
J.D. Robb
Best Discovery/Buried Treasure Author
Dana Ransom/Rosalyn West
My Biggest Glom
Mary Balogh
Carla Kelly
Author I Have Given Up On
Julie Garwood
Suzanne Brockmann
Authors Others Love That I Don’t
Linda Howard and almost any paranormal author
Favorite Hero
Jamie Fraser, Outlander
Rogan Sweeney, Born in Fire
Wulfric Bedwyn in Slightly Dangerous
Favorite Heroine
Catherine Melbourne, Shattered Rainbows
Most Tortured Hero
Michael Kenyon, Shattered Rainbows
Samuel Gerard, The Shadow and the Star
Strongest Heroine
Eve Dallas, In Death Series by J.D. Robb
Favorite Couple
Catherine Melbourne and Michael Kenyon, Shattered Rainbows
Jamie Fraser and Claire Randall, Outlander
Wulf and Christine in Slightly Dangerous
Best Villain
Tyler Fairfax, from Rosalyn West’s Men of Pride County Series
Favorites by Plot Type Favorites by Mood
Suspense:
Over the Edge by Suzanne Brockmann
Carnal Innocence by Nora Roberts
Cabin or Road:
Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase
Funny:
Nobody’s Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Sexy:
Over the Edge by Suzanne Brockmann
Rapture in Death by J.D. Robb
Comfort Read Author(s):
Nora Roberts
Julia Quinn
Most-Hanky Reads:
Always to Remember by Lorraine Heath
Shattered Rainbows by Mary Jo Putney
Guilty Pleasure:
Whitney, My Love by Judith McNaught
Favorites by Sub-Genre
Medieval:
Wicked by Jill Barnett
Traditional Regency:
The Notorious Rake by Mary Balogh
European Historical:
Shattered Rainbows by Mary Jo Putney
Slightly Dangerous by Mary Balogh
Wicked Becomes You by Meredith Duran
American Historical:
I Do, I Do, I Do by Maggie Osborne
The Beloved One by Danelle Harmon
Contemporary:
Born in Fire by Nora Roberts
Over the Edge by Suzanne Brockmann
Alternate Reality:
The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon
Category:
Get Lucky by Suzanne Brockmann
Least Favorites
Most Disappointing Book
The Burning Point by Mary Jo Putney
Worst Book
The Last Male Virgin by Katherine Deauxville
The Great Baby Caper by Eugenia Riley
Most Annoying Lead Character
Michel des Anges, The Lover
Dr. Peter Havistock, The Last Male Virgin
Purple Prose-iest Book
The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
Non-Romance Favorites
Favorite Author
Barbara Kingsolver
Elizabeth George (older books)
Favorite Book
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Possession by A.S. Byatt
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
Favorite Classic Novel
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Favorite Mystery
The Lynley Mysteries by Elizabeth George
Favorite SF/Fantasy
The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
Favorite Women’s Fiction
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Anne Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Favorite YA Book
Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery
Amanda by Candace F. Ransom
The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
Favorite Set of Connected Books
The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon
The In Death Series by J.D. Robb
The Anne Series by L.M. Montgomery
The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
Book Most Often Reread
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery
Slightly Dangerous by Mary Balogh
Innocent in Death by J.D. Robb
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