April TBR Challenge – Old School
Remembering Jo Beverley
We were saddened to hear about historical romance author Jo Beverley’s death yesterday. (You can read about her and her passing at the Word Wenches blog.) Ms. Beverley was a giant in her field. She wrote over 40 historical romances and won five RITA awards. She is one of only 18 writers inducted into the RWA Hall of Fame. Ms. Beverley was a frequent poster on our boards and several of our staff have lovely memories of her and her books.
Maggie Boyd:
On our own boards Jo once said, “I like my romance rich and over the top“. She certainly seemed to write to that criteria. My very first Jo Beverley novel was A Most Unsuitable Man. While I list several of her books among my favorites, this is the book that got m
TBR Challenge – Modern Love
When I saw that this month’s TBR Challenge category called on us to read a contemporary romance, I found almost an embarrassment of choices. Did I want to go mainstream or inspy? Small town or big city? Something serious or more chick lit in tone? In the end, the setting drew me into Return to Tomorrow, a 2010 re-release of a 1990 title.
The premise of this novel is definitely not run of the mill. The characters were all shaped by their experiences in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, and even 20+ years on, the author shows how the war affected them. Rachel McKendrick spent years in a prison camp in Laos, and not surprisingly, has a lot of emotional issues to work through. After her rescue, she never intended to return to the region but a promise made to a priest she respected deeply […]
If You Like…Jo Beverley
A few months ago, I promised I would be updating the If You Like lists at AAR. I asked for help from pollsters Lee Brewer and Cindy Smith, and they provided me with input. Now I’m going to go to the readers. This week’s author will be an addition to the list as it now appears – Jo Beverley. Here are the authors we have as our recommendations for ones that you may enjoy if you like Jo Beverley:
Joanna Bourne
Jane Feather
Jo Goodman
Elizabeth Hoyt
Bettina Krahn
Josie Litton
Julie Anne Long
Barbara Metzger
Karen Ranney
Melody Thomas
Katherine Sutcliffe
Elizabeth Thornton
Recommending new authors is a tricky process. You might like an author because of the genre they write in, or the time period they set their books in, or because of their unique prose. One reader may love Jo Beverley and hate, say, Karen Ranney, while another reader would agree that these two are a good match for like stories. I’d like to open this for […]
Favorite Heroic Archetypes
We all have our favorite heroes and heroines. What makes them a favorite is completely subjective and often hard to explain. To make things more complicated, favorite characters often represent archetypes and sometimes characters can include the features of several.
My favorite type of hero is one that many readers are extremely vocal in their dislike of – a combination between the playboy and the bad boy hero. I enjoy other characters as well, including the alpha hero – but not the alpha-jerk, even though I have a hankering for one from time to time, too.
When I think of the playboy/bad boy, I imagine one who is self-absorbed, seeks pleasure, and flaunts society’s rules. That is, until he meets the heroine, of course. And, if you throw a little self-torture into the mix, my fantasy hero is created. However, once my ideal hero meets […]