April 3, 2007

She's So Predictable

I'm stealing this from Sybil, who in turn stole it from Dear Author. I never said I was original, and I thought it might be fun to fill out. But dang, going through my keeper stash in my head I really show a strong preference to American historicals.

My Favorite Books:
Prairie Wife by Cheryl St. John
The Texas trilogy by Lorraine Heath
The Rock Creek Six series by Lori Handeland and Linda Devlin
A Reason To Live by Maureen McKade
The Nightingale's Song by Kathleen Eschenburg
The Firebrand by Susan Wiggs
Hearts by Stef Ann Holm
The Bride Fair by Cheryl Reavis
The Long Way Home by Cheryl Reavis (SSE) (Hey, look! A contemporary setting!)
Breathless by Laura Lee Gurhke
To Dream Again by Laura Lee Gurhke (Hey, look! Victorian London!)
My Darling Caroline by Adele Ashworth (Hey, look! Regency England!)
I Do, I Do, I Do by Maggie Osborne
Dirty by Megan Hart (Hey, look! A contemporary setting!)
Cooking Up A Storm by Emma Holly (Hey, look! A contemporary setting!)
Once A Pirate by Susan Grant (Hey, look! A time travel!)

Favorite Authors:
Maggie Osborne
Cheryl St. John
Cheryl Reavis
Kathryn Shay
Emma Holly
Laura Lee Gurhke (although I still have her entire Avon backlist unread and in the TBR)
Laura Levine (mystery)
Tess Gerritsen (mystery)

What I Like About Romance:
I like an "emotional intensity" in my books and I like to feel a connection to the character(s). As a general rule, I get this in most of the genre fiction I read, but when I discovered romance it was like a light bulb going off.

Also I'm a big-ole' wuss and like happy endings. Probably why I tend to read a butt-load of romance and mystery.

What I Don't Like About Romance:
Following the trends as opposed to creating them. When I started reading/reviewing romance you couldn't find paranormals anywhere and I was special ordering my erotica. Now, everyone and their dead grandmother is writing a paranormal book and every major New York publisher has an erotic imprint. So kudos to the folks who fought tooth and nail, breaking the mold. Boo hiss on the rest of you for jumping on the bandwagon and inundating me to the point where I'm just not that interested anymore. Hey, it's one thing to write that paranormal or sexy book because you want to - another to have the publisher say, "Gee, can you throw in some BDSM and could the heroine have sex with a wood nymph? Otherwise we won't be able to sell this."

And as I've expounded on numerous times in this blog - I'm tired of England already. I say this even though I have a British history degree currently collecting dust in my closet.

Oooh, and I want dark historicals. Lots of angst folks! Bring it on, this girl is always looking for recommendations.

Non-Reading Hobbies:
I really don't have any, but I adore baseball! Go Tigers!

5 comments:

Rosie said...

I've read Cheryl St John just because of you. Ditto Maureen McKade. I'd read Cheryl Reavis from way back but not the book on this list, so I guess I'll be looking for it now.

I just ordered Handeland's 3 books from the Rock Creek six. Hope to get that read before the end of the month.

So I don't think it's predictable. I'm nosy and like to know what people are reading and what they like.

So thanks!

Wendy said...

And I totally left off Pamela Morsi because I was having a brain fart. Both Courting Miss Hattie and Simple Jess are in the keeper stash as well.

Rosie said...

Wendy, I loved Pamela Morisi and I have those same books and a couple others. Have you read the contemps? I tried one and found it to be meh .

Tara Marie said...

I picked up Prairie Wife and 3 other Cheryl St. John's at the UBS yesterday. Love those westerns :D

Pamela Morsi, Courting Miss Hattie, Simple Jess and Heaven Sent all are permanent keepers even if I never reread them again. Wish she was still writing Ameriana.

Wendy said...

Sorry, trying to catch up on my comments.

Rosie: I haven't tried a Morsi contemporary yet because none of the back cover copy has moved me. Plus she seems to be gravitating more towards women's fiction (which I just don't read a lot of) than contemporary romance. Been buying her books for work though!

Tara: I still have several of her books in my TBR - but I haven't read a "bad" St. John western yet. Some I've enjoyed more than others, but she's pretty consistent IMHO.