Top 100 Romances
November 2007
1
Loretta Chase
European Historical
1995
Lisa Kleypas
European Historical
1994
Jane Austen
Classic Fiction
1813
Diana Gabaldon
Time Travel
1991
Laura Kinsale
European Historical
1992
Mary Balogh
European Historical
2004
Lisa Kleypas
European Historical
2006
Jennifer Crusie
Contemporary
2004
Jennifer Crusie
Contemporary
2000
Julia Quinn
European Historical
2000
J.R. Ward
Paranormal
2006
12
Loretta Chase
European Historical
2005
13
Julia Quinn
European Historical
2000
14
Susan E. Phillips
Contemporary
1994
15
Loretta Chase
European Historical
2006
16
Julia Quinn
European Historical
2002
17
Julie Garwood
Medieval
1989
18
Linda Howard
Romantic Suspense
2000
19
J.D. Robb
Fut. Rom. Susp.
1995
20
Mary Balogh
European Historical
2002
21
Susan E. Phillips
Contemporary
1997
22
Linda Howard
Romantic Suspense
1995
23
Elizabeth Hoyt
European Historical
2006
24
Judith McNaught
Contemporary
1991
25
Connie Brockway
Historical
1997
26
Linda Howard
Series/Category
1989
27
J.R. Ward
Paranormal
2005
28
Julie Garwood
Medieval
1992
29
Linda Howard
Time Travel
1997
30
J.R. Ward
Paranormal
2006
31
Stephanie Laurens
European Historical
1998
32
Jude Deveraux
Time Travel
1989
Susan E. Phillips
Contemporary
1995
34
Patricia Gaffney
European Historical
1995
35
Judith McNaught
European Historical
1990
36
Susan E. Phillips
Contemporary
2005
37
Laura Kinsale
European Historical
1991
38
Linda Howard
Romantic Suspense
2003
39
Judith McNaught
Medieval
1989
40
Suzanne Brockmann
Romantic Suspense
2001
41
Nora Roberts
Contemporary
1998
42
Amanda Quick
European Historical
1992
43
Lisa Kleypas
European Historical
1993
44
Linda Howard
Contemporary
2005
45
Something Wonderful
Judith McNaught
European Historical
1988
46
Susan E. Phillips
Contemporary
2001
47
Elizabeth Hoyt
European Historical
2007
48
Lisa Kleypas
European Historical
2001
49
Judith Ivory
European Historical
1999
50
Julie Garwood
Medieval
1987
51
Julie Garwood
Medieval
1993
52
Charlotte Bronte
Classic Fiction
1847
53
Julia Quinn
European Historical
2004
54
Persuasion
Jane Austen
Classic Fiction
1818
55
Connie Brockway
European Historical
1997
56
Lisa Kleypas
European Historical
2005
57
Nora Roberts
Contemporary
1994
58
Mary Jo Putney
European Historical
1993
59
Susan E. Phillips
Contemporary
1996
60
Suzanne Brockmann
Romantic Suspense
2002
61
Linda Howard
Romantic Suspense
1995
62
Lisa Kleypas
European Historical
2002
63
Mary Balogh
European Historical
1991
64
Judith McNaught
European Historical
1987
65
Mary Balogh
European Historical
2000
66
Judith Ivory
European Historical
2002
67
Rachel Gibson
Contemporary
2003
68
Mary Jo Putney
European Historical
1998
69
Diana Gabaldon
Time Travel
1992
70
Judith McNaught
Contemporary
1993
71
Judith McNaught
European Historical
1985
72
Gaelen Foley
European Historical
2000
73
Mary Jo Putney
European Historical
1997
74
Mary Jo Putney
European Historical
1996
75
Laura London
Historical/Pirate
1984
76
Susan E. Phillips
Contemporary
1998
77
Georgette Heyer
Classic Fiction
1965
78
Lisa Valdez
European Historical
2005
79
Diana Gabaldon
Time Travel
1994
80
Robin Schone
European Historical
1999
81
LaVyrle Spencer
Americana
1990
82
Lisa Kleypas
European Historical
2003
83
Adele Ashworth
European Historical
2000
84
Connie Brockway
European Historical
1998
85
Lisa Kleypas
European Historical
2000
86
Georgette Heyer
Classic Fiction
1932
87
Suzanne Brockmann
Romantic Suspense
2003
88
Jennifer Crusie
Series/Category
1996
89
Laura Kinsale
Medieval
1993
90
Nora Roberts
Contemporary
1998
91
J.R. Ward
Paranormal
2007
92
Linda Howard
Romantic Suspense
2001
93
Nora Roberts
Contemporary
1996
94
Julie Garwood
Medieval
1999
95
Georgette Heyer
Classic
1958
96
Loretta Chase
European Historical
2004
97
Susan E. Phillips
Contemporary
2004
98
Mary Balogh
Trad Regency
1992
99
Julie Garwood
Medieval
1991
100
Nalini Singh
Paranormal
2006
Thanks to all of you, we had a tremendous increase in voting over our 2004 poll, with over five times as many ballots received. The average ballot had 55 titles on it. All told, you voted for 4,975 separate titles, which is more than twice the number of titles which appeared on ballots in our last poll (2,150 in 2004). A total of 1,339 different authors were named on this year’s ballots. Out of all of the titles voted for, only 195 appeared in first place on any ballot. And of those titles, only three appeared in first place on at least five percent of the ballots. Lord of Scoundrels was in first place on 8% of all of the ballots, Pride and Prejudice on 7% of the ballots, and Outlander on 6% of the ballots. In addition to these first place votes, Lord of Scoundrels appeared on 40% of all the ballots received in some position, and Dreaming of You, the overall second place title, appeared on 34% of all the ballots we received. At the other end of the spectrum, 2,784 titles, or 56% of all the titles you voted for, appeared on only one ballot. There is a fair amount of continuity across all of the Top 100 AAR polls. 34% of the titles in this year’s top 100 have also been on all the previous top 100 charts. Therefore a third of the books that were listed as favorites in 1998 made the list in 2000, 2004, and 2007. After four polls covering ten years, these titles have proven that they withstood the test of time.
Year
% of Top 100
Year
% of Top 100
2007
2
1998
6
2006
5
1997
5
2005
6
1996
4
2004
5
1995
6
2003
4
1994
4
2002
5
1993 5 2001 4 1992 5
2000
8 1991 5
1999
3
1990 2
Looking at the table to the right, you can see that the love is spread out fairly consistently over the past 17 years. More than 80% of your top 100 romances were published on or after 1990. And it looks as though nearly as many favorites were published between 2000 and 2007 as were published between 1990 through 1999. Does this mean romances are becoming better and more memorable? It’s possible, but it’s even more likely that as the pub date for books stretches out farther and farther into the past, they begin to be forgotten. Also, if a greater number of newer readers participated in the poll as compared to long-time readers, they may have more exposure to recently published books…and less access to older ones. This could possibly account for the 39 titles published since 2000 making the Top 100 list as compared to the 45 titles that made the list published from 1990-1999. Meanwhile, just nine titles from the 1980s land on the list of which four were from 1989.
Just over one in three books from your top 100 list appeared in the top 100 for each of our previous polls. On the other hand, one of the biggest surprises we encountered were titles that appeared on this year’s list that had not previously made a showing…and had been published prior to the date of our last poll in 2004. Jane Austen’s Persuasion, for instance, published in 1818, immediately stands out, as does Anyone But You, Jennifer Crusie’s 1996 category romance (just one of two to make your top 100), and Julie Garwood’s Ransom, originally published in 1999. FYI, every “best romance” from AAR’s annual reader polls landed in your top 100 – from Crusie’s Bet Me, in the 8th position, to Suzanne Brockmann’s Gone Too Far, in the 87th slot. Also, 80% of the titles that made the list were granted DIK status. The lowest graded book at AAR (J.R. Ward’s Lover Eternal) was given a C.
Authors With Two or More Titles in the Top 100
# of Titles
Authors with Multiple Titles in Poll
8
Linda Howard
Lisa Kleypas
Susan E. Phillips
7
Judith McNaught
6
Julie Garwood
5
Mary Balogh
Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb
4
Loretta Chase
Judith Ivory/Judy Cuevas
Mary Jo Putney
Julia Quinn
J.R. Ward/Jessica Bird
3
Suzanne Brockmann
Connie Brockway
Jennifer Crusie
Diana Gabaldon
Georgette Heyer
Laura Kinsale
2
Jane Austen
Elizabeth Hoyt
What is not obvious from the results you see to your left is just how much of a resorting of rank there was from the 2004 poll. Suzanne Brockmann may have three titles on the list this year, but in 2004 she was tied for first place with Julie Garwood and Mary Jo Putney, each with seven titles on the list. Julie Garwood only went down to six titles this year while Mary Jo Putney’s showing fell to four titles.
The big winners this time around are Linda Howard, Lisa Kleypas and Susan Elizabeth Phillips with eight titles each while Judith McNaught came in with seven. Even though this shows some growth for Howard (+2), Phillips (+2) and McNaught (+2), it is Lisa Kleypas who comes out way on top by increasing the number of titles from two in 2004 to a whopping eight in 2007.
The new players with multiple books are Jane Austen (definitely not a new author) with two titles, Elizabeth Hoyt (brand new author) with two titles and J.R. Ward with four. Elizabeth Hoyt’s first book, The Raven Prince, came out in November of 2006 and placed 23rd, ahead of many authors with extensive back lists. Meanwhile, J.R. Ward’s first book, Dark Lover, was released in September of 2005 and placed 27th. The first four books of Ward’s series all landed in the top 100. It will be interesting to see if in a few years, those titles will once again make the cut.
Obviously there are books that have moved off the Top 100 over the years but there are three titles that finally had to make way. Castles by Julie Garwood placed 78th, 39th, 28th in the 2004, 2000, and 1998 polls respectively. This year Castles finished well out of the running in 310th place. Sleeping Beauty by Judith Ivory placed 68th, 94th, 96th respectively, and this year it was just out of the top 100 in 114th place. Finally, Mary Balogh’s Lord Carew’s Bride placed 50th, 46th, 90th in those same polls. This year, it was in 192nd place.
Percent of Titles in Top 100 by Genre
Genre
Percent
European Historical
43%
Contemporary
18%
Romantic Susp/Fut. Romantic Suspense
9%
Medieval
8%
Classic Fiction
6%
Paranormal
5%
Time Travel
5%
Series/Category
2%
Historical 2% American Historical 1% Trad Regencies 1%
European Historicals dominate this year’s Top 100, holding more than four of every ten slots. This remains the most popular classification of romances in our poll, and, in fact, represents an increase over our 2004 poll when just 38% of the titles in the top 100 were European Historicals. Just over half, btw, of the European Historicals in your top 100 were published no earlier than 2000. If indeed historicals have declined in quality, one theory is that readers have adjusted their expectations downward.
Contemporary Romances had the next largest showing, representing just about 20% of the titles. It’s tough to do a comparison of poll years for Contemporaries because classifications of “Contemporary” and “Romantic Suspense” are so fluid. Romantic Suspense/Futuristic Romantic Suspense was the third most popular romance classification among those polled and earned 9% of slots in the top 100. At 8% were Medieval Romances. Classic Fiction is next, at 6%, followed by Time Travel and Paranormal – at 5% each. Just 2% of your top 100 were Category Romances; also at 2% were Historical Romances. Trad Regencies and American Historicals only earned 1% of slots each.
The biggest change in classifications from our last poll to this one occurred in the European Historical category (+6%). Trad Regencies also experienced a significant change (-5%) while we went from just one book categorized as Paranormal in 2004 to 5% in 2007. Again, though, it can be tough to compare from one poll to the next in certain categories because of how we classify certain books (it’s not a precise science and in fact, we are currently involved in a project asking authors to help us. to identify books). Son of the Morning, for instance, was considered a Paranormal in the 2000 poll; this time we classified it as Time Travel. That last classification, btw, increased from our last poll as well (+3%) while American Historicals declined (-2%).
Given the trend of increased Paranormal popularity, it’s no surprise that 5% of your top 100 were Paranormal Romances. Four of the five titles on the list belong to one author – J.R. Ward, and the immense popularity of her Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Two of the books in the series earned DIK status at AAR, a third earned a B+ while the fourth received only a C review. The final Paranormal, Nalini Singh’s Slave to Sensation, is the first book in her Psy/Changling series and it received DIK status as did the second book in the series. Ms. Singh is another author we will have to watch to see how her books stand up over time.
Comparison of Top Ten Results, 1998 to 2007
2007
2004
2000
1998
Lord of Scoundrels
Lord of Scoundrels
Lord of Scoundrels
A Knight in Shining Armor
Dreaming of You
Flowers from the Storm
Outlander
The Secret
Pride and Prejudice
Welcome to Temptation
Mackenzie’s Mountain
Nobody’s Baby but Mine
Outlander
As You Desire
Flowers from the Storm
Outlander
Flowers from the Storm
Bet Me
Devil’s Bride
Dream Man
Slightly Dangerous
Dreaming of You
Dreaming of You
Heaven, Texas
The Devil in Winter
Outlander
It Had to be You
Lord of Scoundrels
Bet Me
Over the Edge
Heaven, Texas
The Gift
Welcome to Temptation
All Through the Night
Shattered Rainbows
Whitney, My Love
The Viscount Who Loved Me
Sea Swept
The Shadow and the Star
It Had to be You
Loretta Chase’s Lord of Scoundrels has placed first in the last three polls – and shows no sign of giving up its top spot. This much cherished book earned nearly 20% more votes than Lisa Kleypas’ Dreaming of You, and though it was published in 1995 and placed 7th in our first top 100 poll, with time this story has only increased its lustre.
Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas was published in 1994 and placed a lowly 85th in the 1998 poll. Two years later, in 2000, it shot up to sixth place, and remained in that spot in 2004. This year it placed second only 11% ahead of the third place title, but it clearly earned its place.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen has officially made its first showing in the top 10 of the top 100 poll. In 1998, it just missed and landed in 14th place, in 2000 it climbed into 13th place but in 2004 it fell into 22nd. This is the first time a classic has made it in the top 10 and it was originally published in 1813. One wonders if any of the Top 100 titles written by contemporary authors will still be this respected in 200 years. This is also the first year that three classics have made the top 100. In addition to Persuasion, mentioned earlier, another work of classic fiction to make your top 100 – it landed in 52nd place – is Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, published in 1847. Gone With The Wind placed in the top 100 in 1998 and 2000 and received many votes this year, but did not make it onto the list.
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon is no stranger to the top 10 of this poll. It has placed 2nd in 2000, 7th in 2004 and levelled off again this year to match 1998’s showing in fourth place. Drums of Autumn, Dragonfly in Amber and Voyager found spots in the 1998 and 2000 polls but not in 2004. This year, Dragonfly in Amber the second in the series and Voyager the third in the series landed in 69th and 70th place respectively.
Flowers From The Storm by Laura Kinsale was published in 1992 and didn’t make the top 10 in 1998. Since then it has always found a spot in the top 10 and this year it topped out in 5th place.
Mary Balogh, a perennial favorite, has finally had one of her books land in the top 10. Slightly Dangerous was published in 2004 and managed to land in 6th place. Ms. Balogh has always had titles in the top 100 but because she has such a huge backlist, her votes tend to split over more of her titles than authors with smaller bodies of work. There’s a group of readers who prefer her trad Regencies over her European Historicals, but that didn’t show in the results. On the other hand, the sole trad Regency to make your top 100 belonged to Balogh – The Notorious Rake came in 98th.
Lisa Kleypas’ second title in the Top 100 is Devil in Winter, published in 2006, which landed solidly in 7th place. This is the most recently published book to end up in the Top 10 and Kleypas now ties Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Jennifer Crusie for most titles by one author to land in the Top 10. As for Crusie, Bet Me (2004) and Welcome to Temptation (2000) managed to remain in the top 10 in slots 8 and 9 respectively. In 2004 Welcome to Temptation placed 3rd while Bet Me hit 5th place.
The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn just squeezed into 10th place and is Ms. Quinn’s first showing in the top 10.
Authors With Most Votes and Number of Titles
Author
Number titles
Number votes
Titles in Top 100
Linda Howard
44
905
8
Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb
118
880
5
Mary Balogh
62
798
5
Lisa Kleypas
26
788
8
Susan Elizabeth Phillips
18
669
8
Julia Quinn
17
586
4
Julie Garwood
21
555
6
Loretta Chase
15
552
4
JAK/Amanda Quick/Jayne Castle
83
541
1
Judith McNaught
15
460
7
Mary Jo Putney
31
443
4
Jennifer Crusie
14
435
3
Georgette Heyer
42
415
3
Suzanne Brockmann
29
402
3
Laura Kinsale
12
347
3
J.R. Ward/Jessica Bird
9
317
4
Jo Beverley
34
299
0
Judith Ivory/Judy Cuevas
12
268
4
Diana Gabaldon
6
259
3
Connie Brockway
14
255
3
Anne Stuart
37
255
0
Liz Carlyle
15
230
0
Jane Austen
6
220
2
Johanna Lindsey
41
218
0
Madeline Hunter
15
213
0
Stephanie Laurens
25
200
1
Looking only at the authors that received at least 200 votes, Linda Howard received a total of 905 votes for 44 different titles. Close behind was Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb, with 880 votes for 118 different titles. Titles by some very popular authors received numerous votes, but not enough to move any of their titles into the top 100. For example, 34 separate titles by Jo Beverley received a combined 299 votes. However, these votes were spread over enough titles that none of her individual titles placed in the top 100. Similarly, 37 titles by Anne Stuart received a total of 255 votes, but no single title received enough for top 100 placement. I’m sure everyone who voted will compare their ballot to the final tally. How did the pollsters’ ballots compare with the final 100?
Just eight of Lee’s top 100 made your Top 100: The Windflower, Jane Eyre, Mr. Impossible, Over the Edge, The Secret Pearl, A Summer to Remember, As You Desire and The Viscount Who Loved Me. For LinnieGayl it was 29: Born in Fire, Born in Ice, Sea Swept, Rising Tides, As You Desire, See Jane Score, Lord of Scoundrels, Match Me If you Can, Mr. Impossible, The Duke and I, Lord Perfect, Naked in Death, Pride and Prejudice, This Heart of Mine, Heaven, Texas, The Secret, Nobody’s Baby But Mine, Dream a Little Dream, It Had to be You, Bet Me, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, The Viscount Who Loved Me, To Die For, Ravished, Dream Man, Devil’s Bride, Saving Grace, One Perfect Rose, and Dreaming of You.
Laurie did better than Lee but not as well as LinnieGayl; 17 of Laurie’s titles made it into your Top 100: The Bride, The Secret, Pride and Prejudice, A Kingdom of Dreams, Saving Grace, The Prize, Then Came You, To Die For, The Serpent Prince, Born in Fire, Naked in Death, My Dearest Enemy, Sea Swept, Honor’s Splendor, Lord of Scoundrels, Devil in Winter, and All Through the Night.
And Cindy, well, 17 of Cindy’s ballot of 36 titles made the list: Dream Man, Lover Awakened, Mr. Impossible, For My Lady’s Heart, All Through the Night, Slave to Sensation, Lord of Scoundrels, Anyone But You, Lover Eternal, The Secret, The Devil in Winter, Worth Any Price, Bet Me, Cry No More, Perfect, Morning Glory and Honor’s Splendor.
Cindy: 50% of my ballot matched! *rubs hands together* What’d I win!?
Lee: Uh, there are no prizes.
Cindy: S’cuse me?
Lee: We did this for fun, remember?
LinnieGayl: Yeah. And if anyone should get a prize it’s me cause I actually listed 100 titles of which 29 matched, not 36.
Lee: Guys, seriously, no prizes.
Cindy: Okay, first, the math makes me the winner and second ‘Whadaya mean we did this for fun!!’
LinnieGayl: Cindy, the math doesn’t make you the winner, you would have to take my percentage and create a fraction and then take your percentage and create a –
Cindy: Ow. No more math. Seriously, I think you guys are the cause of this weird eye twitch I now have. So LinnieGayl, you win! You can have the prize.
Lee: (props her chin in her hand and grabs the first book off her long neglected TBR pile; sighs) Still, no prizes.
Cindy: (peeks over Lee’s shoulder to see which book she grabbed and then glances fearfully at her teetering TBR pile)
LinnieGayl: Yeah, but if there were prizes ….
Which leads us into a few questions to get you started:
1. How did you do with your choices? Are there books on the list that you think are just ‘one-hit-wonders’ (there’ve been some in every poll) that will get knocked off one day?
2. There is a core 34% of titles that have made every poll – how many are among your favorites?
3. With the average ballot having 55 titles on it, what kind of “rules” did you impose on yourself? Did you list only “A” or five-star books, or perhaps books that you’ve re-read at least once? Cindy cops to having “umpteen rules yet somehow made up in my mind.”
4. Are there any titles you voted for that you knew would never make the final top ten, and that you suspected would only be included on your own ballot?
5. Which are the books that you are shocked to see did not make the Top 100?
6. If nearly half of the European Historicals that made this year’s Top 100 were published after the year 2000, does this counter the argument that historicals have been declining in quality, is it possible that readers have lowered their expectations accordingly, or that fewer long-time readers participated in the poll?
Search our reviews database by Title or Author by Titleby Author’s Last Nameby Author’s First Name Do a more in-depth review search via Power Search
Use Freefind to locate other material at the site
]]>
Copyright 2007 All Rights Reserved