Amazon discontinued the ability to create images using their SiteStripe feature and in their infinite wisdom broke all previously created images on 12/31/23. Many blogs used this feature, including this one. Expect my archives to be a hot mess of broken book cover images until I can slowly comb through 20 years of archives to make corrections.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

News You Can Use: Blog Tweakage, Romantic Librarians & Harvey Girls

A couple of minor updates here around the Bat Cave that I want to share with you all.  First, look up.  See that underneath the blog header?  I finally tackled the back end of my blog (phrasing!) and moved the links to the various pages to a more prominent location.  No more being buried on the side bar.

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To coincide with that change, I've finally - at long last - provided title links on my Librarians in Romance Novels page.  A few things of note:
  • Yes, I linked to the Evil Empire that is Amazon.  And yes, these are affiliate links.  So if you buy titles through these links Wendy gets kicked back a few pennies.  Hey, it was a lot of work!  Still, if you don't want me to profit, you've now been warned. 
  • I linked to Kindle versions where I could.  I did this mostly to avoid out-of-print issues.  That said, instances where there's no Kindle version and the print is out-of-print - I linked to the OP print listing. 
  • If I didn't provide a link, I give an explanation.  The prominent example is Lynne Connolly's two titles - which were originally published by Ellora's Cave.  She has since gotten her rights back, but these two titles haven't been self-published or published by another publisher as of yet. 
  • I've also added a Library As Place category - for books where neither of the main characters is a librarian or library employee, but the library plays a semi-prominent role in the story.  For example: if Harry Potter were a romance?  Yeah, would totally be a Library As Place book.
I'm always (always!) looking for titles to add to this list.  Also, this list isn't an endorsement of any kind - so please tell me about librarian heroines (and heroes!) in books you loved and hated!  I'm taking them all!  My only requirement is that the books must be romances featuring a happy-ending or happy-for-now.  Dead librarians give us all a sad.

Also, I have a particular need for diverse librarians (POC, LGBTQ) and Inspirationals.  I'm also open to hearing opinions if you want me to highlight the books that feature diverse librarians.  Right now I'm leaning towards keeping them under their respective sub genre headings and adding a (POC) and/or (LGBTQ) at the end of the title (ex. Checking Out Love by R. Cooper (LGBTQ) listed under Contemporary).  Opinions welcome!

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http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B002WEPDTU/themisaofsupe-20
And finally, in the Pleasant Surprise Category, remember back in the Dark Ages (uh, 2009) when I curated three digital Blogger Bundles for Harlequin?  Well Heroes & Heartbreakers blogger, Kate Nagy, recently wrote a post about "my" Harlequin Historical bundle featuring Cheryl St. John's Harvey Girls series!

Once you're done reading the post and (naturally) downloading the bundle for yourself - you can spend more money after checking out my latest Unusual Historical column featuring April 2016 releases.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Ooh, ooh, ooh. I have librarian romances to recommend.

What the Librarian Did by Karina Bliss - HQ Superromance, contemporary, set in Australia (iirc) with a rock star hero and vintage clothing wearing librarian heroine.

A Seditious Affair by KJ Charles. Historical Regency mm. I think this may count - one of the heroes is a printer and bookseller and occasionally works as a "book man" organizing the libraries of the well to do. Plus it's awesome. It's the second in a trilogy. It's stand alone, but it does give some big spoilers for book 1.

The Girl with the Cat Tattoo by Teresa Weir - contemporary novella with a children's librarian heroine with a match making cat.

And I'm pretty sure there's a 90s era JAK with a librarian heroine - all I remember is a blow job that her ex walks in on. It made a big impression on young cleo - I will let you if I figure out the title.

And I like your current system of just noting LGBT or poc characters and not making them separate categories.

Unknown said...

Perfect Partners by Jayne Ann Krentz. Librarian heroine inherits a sporting goods business. The blurb doesn't mention the bj, but I'm pretty sure that's the one :)

Unknown said...

Oops. Disregard my Bliss and JAK recs. (So much for my reading comprehension). I stand by the other recs though.

Wendy said...

Cleo: Thank you! I've added the Charles and the Weir (I can't believe I was missing the Weir...). The Charles title is "close enough" :) When it comes to historicals I'm a little more flexible with the "librarian thing."

Unknown said...

Gaywyck by vincent virga ,kindle version at amazon.
one of the main character works in the library ,cataloging for a very wealthy private person , gothic and gay storyline. it fit with the library them.

mamxxx

Nikki said...

"Dead librarians give us all a sad." I need to pass this on to my niece and her husband, who are both meta data librarians (I think that's what they're called) and my sister, a retired elementary school librarian.

nath said...

Awesome work, Wendy!!

I had one book in mind, but now, I can't remember the title or the author. Grr. it's going to be on my mind the whole day LOL.