Sports Romances and Heroines in Pursuit
We don’t know what it is about the combination of Heroes in Pursuit, Heroines in Pursuit, Sports Romances, and Suspense & Mystery, but we seem to have hit all your buttons. Never since we have taken up the Special Titles Listings have we received so many nominations, in the case of Heroes in Pursuit and Suspense & Mystery more than 150 titles each. The good news is that these lists will be expanded considerably; the bad news is that we will just need a bit more time to do so. As a result, we are presenting the updated pages in two steps: Today the shorter Heroines in Pursuit and Sports Romances, and the week after next the other two lists.
Heroines in Pursuit is our newest list and was really only in embryo stage when we asked for your nominations. We are happy to announce that it has been expanded from a mere 8 titles to 50, which means it can be considered a teenager now. While most of the nominations fit the category easily, there were several titles that were tricky to decide about. When we were in doubt, we both read a number of online reviews and asked our colleagues at AAR. We also considered whether we should expand the definition, this being such a new list, but then decided against it. What we have done is rephrase the definition in the hope of making it clearer what we want to include in this particular list.
To provide some examples, here are three titles that were nominated but that we decided not to include in the end, and the reasons why. In The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt, Anna goes to great lengths to initiate a sexual affair with Edward. But she goes to their rendezvous masked, and intends never to see him again. Later she refuses his proposal of marriage for his sake, completely neglecting her own desires. This novel does not meet the criteria in that Anna is not out for a relationship, and she does not hold onto their love, but is prepared for the ultimate self-sacrifice. In His at Night by Sherry Thomas, Elissande does everything in her power to entrap Freddie into marriage. But the man she does end up with in a compromising situation, forcing them to marry immediately, is Freddie’s brother. And in Show No Mercy by Cindy Gerard, while Jenna does pursue Gabe, it is just to acquire information, not to get him to fall in love with her.
On the plus side, there are some marvellous additions to the Heroines in Pursuit list. I was surprised to discover that two Georgette Heyer novels made the list (Venetia and The Grand Sophy). We also now have two American Historicals: Brody by Emma Lang, and Garters by Pamela Morsi. The most surprising title for me however was the classic A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute, which made in on both the Heroes in Pursuit and Heroines in Pursuit lists.
We are happy to add 29 new titles to the Sports Romances list. The list was last updated in 2009 so it’s not surprising that most of the romances we’ve added to the list have been published since that date. You submitted titles from a variety of sports, with ice hockey taking the lead with seven new titles by such authors as Rachel Gibson, Deidre Martin, and Molly O’Keefe.
A few new sports made the list this time. Ruthie Knox’s Ride With Me – featuring cyclists – was added this time. We have our first professional surfer with Jill Sorenson’s Crash Into Me. And how we managed to miss speeadboat racer Cameron Quinn, the hero of Nora Roberts‘ Sea Swept to this point is amazing.
We hope you find something new to read in one of these lists. And check back in a couple weeks for the updates to the Heroes in Pursuit and Suspense & Mystery lists.
– LinnieGayl Kimmel, Cindy Smith and Rike Horstmann
