Every Friday, we ask you what YOU think about an issue in romance. The questions are good (we think)–the comments much better! So join us, every Friday at the ask@AAR!
the ask@AAR: What’s your FINAL pick for best romance of 2022?
Hi there AAR readers! Happy December! The staff has begun submitting their Best of 2022 Lists. (I adore these--every year I discover great reads I missed!) I confess I'm having a hard time with mine. [...]
the ask@AAR: What do we think about trigger warnings in reviews?
It's the Friday after Thanksgiving here in the US, a holiday famed for its abundant food, contested history, and familial arguments. I confess my family doesn't fight at Thanksgiving--we leave most of our giant arguments [...]
the ask@AAR: How do you like your love stories?
I was struck by a sentence written by romance novelist Adriana Herrera in the Washington Post this week. Herrera, in an article entitled The 10 Best Romance Novels of 2022, wrote: For me, this year [...]
the ask@AAR: What is a feminist romance?
Each day my inbox is full of emails about upcoming books romance readers might like to read. And, if publishers are right about romance readers--and who is to say they are or are not?--what we [...]
the ask@AAR: Long series–love ’em or loathe ’em?
Nora Robarts, aka J. D. Robb, is publishing the 56th book in her In Death series in January. We appear to have reviewed 42 of the Eve Dallas books (!!!), lastly in 2015 when Maggie [...]
the ask@AAR: What do we think about Eloisa James?
Next month, Eloisa James will publish The Reluctant Countess, the second in her Would Be Wallflowers historical romance series. James has published over 40 books and we've reviewed her 38 times. She's gotten five DIKs, [...]
the ask@AAR: How do you use the site?
I spend a lot of time looking at AAR's stats. According to Google Analytics, 60% of AAR readers access the site via their phones and/or other devices. When users visit the site, the vast majority [...]
the ask@AAR: What book broke your heart?
The final season of His Dark Materials comes out this December and the trailer has dropped. The thing is, I'm not sure I can take it. The conclusion of series, told in the final pages [...]
the ask@AAR: What’s your current frontrunner for best romance of 2022?
The AAR staff will soon begin pulling together their top romances of 2022 lists. I've been thinking about mine--I love these lists! My current top pick is easy--I've only given five stars to one romance [...]
the ask@AAR: What’s the best party you’ve ever been to?
As Covid, more or less, recedes in its every day impact, people are socializing. All over the place. This makes me happy--as an utter extrovert I love get togethers. I've so missed gatherings and parties. [...]
the ask@AAR: What’s the most entertaining work of fiction you’ve read in the last six months?
What's the book you've read in the last six months that you simply couldn't put down? For me, it's Ninth House. Smart, engrossing and entertaining as hell. What about for you?
the ask@AAR: What romances do you feel are brilliantly plotted?
I was struck by a recent article prizing, in mysteries, psychologically complex characters over novels that were essentially puzzles... with tricky plots. In suspense reading, I am the reader who enjoys the latter over the [...]
This is good. Now all the arguments are in a single place.
Ha ha ha!