Behold, the excitement! I am containing myself to one exclamation point (not including the title) and that was it. Please appreciate my restraint, here.
I have A Pile Of ARCs to give away of my October book, Everything I Know About Love, I Learned from Romance Novels, which so very, very many of you helped create.
From the depths of the box on my dining room table currently being fought over by my cats, I have 10 shiny copies to giveaway.
But that is Not All.
This book is all about the lessons we’ve learned from reading romance novels, and it includes stories from romance readers and authors. My goal with this book was to show that the romance community is filled with incredibly smart and thoughtful readers and writers, and to put to rest the tired idea that romances create unrealistic expectations of love, relationships and sex. Romances, as many of us know, are more often a road map of What To Do and What Not To Do in real life relationships.
So many people contributed, and so very many people went above and beyond to make suggestions and provide stories and lessons learned that this book really isn’t about the genre so much as it is about the women who read and write romance, and how much we have learned from our favorite books. Therefore just giving away the ARC isn’t really enough.
Here’s my plan. Leave a comment and please tell me the one romance novel you want to recommend above all others to someone who hasn’t tried the genre (yes, just one) (yes, I suck) and you are entered to win.
What can you win? Awesome stuff!
Ten winners will be picked at random and each winner will receive an ARC of Everything I Know About Love, I Learned From Romance Novels (Which I refer to as “EIKAL” because there is nothing I love like a REALLY LONG TITLE, BABY, YEAH!).
The winner will also receive one of the following titles from these authors who also appear in the book:
But wait, there is still more. I have 10 copies of a special Jennifer Crusie omnibus edition that contains both Bet Me and Welcome to Temptation in one book – and each winner will receive a copy of that book, too. Each of these authors, plus many many more, appear in the book, providing stories and advice or landing a spot on one of the recommended reading lists in the book.
There will be more chances to win, do not worry. I’m giving away 10 here, and a few on Goodreads and on Twitter. (Any possible giveaways on Facebook will have to be random like a semi-drunk fairy landing on the keyboard and highlighting someone’s comment by chance while I’m half-looking at the screen to stay in line with the Facebook Terms of Service. Then I have to contact the winners by semaphore with hot pink flags while facing the eastern skyline.)
Standard disclaimers apply: I’m not being compensated for this giveaway. Void where prohibited. Do not wear a pelisse in the rain. Stirrups are required, but boots are optional. We’ll sell you the whole seat but you’ll only need the edge. Stripes and plaid are rarely a positive fashion statement.
Comments will be open until noon on Friday, 20 May, and I will announce the winners then. Contest is open to international readers, and since my stats indicate no readers in Greenland, if someone enters from Greenland and wins I’ll send them extra stuff. Come on, Greenland!
Honesty time: I am enormously proud of this book, and humbled by the number of people who shared how much their romances mean to them, and how valuable romances have been in their lives. This book wouldn’t be what it is without the authors and readers who contributed, so I can’t send out the ARC by itself. It has to have company.
Congrats!!!!
lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
Well…today I’m in a historical/paranormal mood so I’m going to say Moon Craving by Lucy Monroe.
Highlander Werewolf….who can go wrong with that. LOVED IT, own it, and have re-read it quite a bit.
First, LOVE the cover. Cheeky. 😉
I usually recommend Susan Elizabeth Phillips to non-believers – she can convert even the most self-righteous folks. Any of the Chicago Stars series works, but if you’re going to make me pick one, I’ll go with ‘This Heart of Mine.’
Congrats!!! If I had to pick one book, it would be “Flowers From the Storm” by Laura Kinsale. Stroke recovery + mental institution + Quakers = awesome.
The Spymaster’s Lady by Joanna Bourne!
Dance Through Time by Lynn Kurland…I LOVE this book and I have read it a million times…it always makes me smile and sigh…
Three Wishes by Barbara Delinksy
If I had to pick 1 book today it would be Suzanne Brockmann’s “Out of Control” With even the newspapers talking about romances that use SEAL’s as heroes I’d want them to read an author that appears to actually research and not just use SEAL as shorthand for alpha male with weapons. Plus this was one of the last that had a secondary historical story arc that I loved about her earlier books in this particular series.
The book that re-interested me in the genre was Courtney Milan’s Unveiled. I LOVE her books! I would definitely recommend that one to a trepidatious newb (I’m pretty sure neither of those are actual words). Thanks for the giveaway! I can’t wait to read your new book!!! (Yeah, I’m a fan of exclamation marks, why do you ask?)
Captcha: own43. I own WAY more than 43 romances!! 🙂
Lord of Scoundrels. Recommended so hard.
I may have recommended this book to 63 women.
It really would depend on the person, but for most of the people I know, my first thought would be a good choice: Angelica by Sharon Shinn. It’s also science fiction, which might hook them, but it’s really a lovely romance.
Goodness! This is so tough, but I would have to go with The Viscount Who Loved Me from Julia Quinn.
It’s been fun looking at the comments…lots of “Oh yeeeaaah! I loved that book!!”
If I had to go with just one I’d say “Nine Rules to Break when Romancing a Rake” by Sarah MacLean. This one is definitely one of my favorites and I think a good introduction to the genre!
Congrats on the book!!
Congrats, Sarah!!! I used three exclmation points. 🙂
Picking just one is so hard, but I’m going to go with Lisa Kleypas’ Blue Eyed Devil.
I know, this has already been suggested, but I’d go with Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie. It’s the one book I reread every year. It has a wonderfully wacky and subversive kind of humor, great dialogues, and a truly breathtaking hero.
Oh, gosh. First thought was Meg Cabot’s “She Went All the Way” but it needs some updated pop-culture references so I have to go with Jennifer Crusie’s “Agnes and the Hitman.”
Oh! Excellent! Happy dance of congratulations on the book!
And by far, Nobody’s Baby but Mine, by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I have worn that book out multiple times and re-purchased multiple times for the love of that book!
So many fabulous books being recommended…
I would (and have) introduce a “romance virgin” to Susan Elizabeth Phillips with “It Had to be You”. I re-read this book so many times and it never loses any of its charm. While in hospital to give birth to my daughter, this book was the one I chose to put in my bag and when the contractions got too close together for me to keep holding the book, my nurse and husband took turns reading aloud to keep me distracted! The nurse told me later that she went on Amazon after that and order two more SEP books!
Congratulations! I can’t wait to read your book.
The first book that popped into my mind was “Naked in Death” by J.D. Robb.
This book is going to get the new reader into the series, then I’ll let them know the author is really Nora Roberts and there’s a whole lot of other books out there. And then they’re hooked on romances.
I really like to tailor recommendations to a person’s individual taste. So, several years ago, when a colleague complained to me that she wanted to read an intelligent romance novel, I said, “You need to read Georgette Heyer.” This was before most of Heyer’s novels were reissued. I lent my colleague my treasured hardcover copy of “Frederica,” with dire warnings about what would happen if I didn’t get it back. I still have the note my coworker left in the book when she returned it: “WONDERFUL! Thank you.”
So it has to be “Frederica.”
I would have to say Mr. Perfect by Linda Howard. It’s funny smart, and has a mystery.
Can’t wait for your new book!
If I have to pick just one, it would be Patricia Gaffney, To Love and To Cherish.
I would recommend something by LaVyrle Spencer, perhaps Morning Glory. Congrats on the book!
Ironically, I would have to recommend Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie. I’d have to say it’s one of the best contemporary romance novels I’ve read in a very long time—strong characters, great story.
Congratulations, Sarah!!
The one book I would recommend… well, if I’m going to choose just one, I’ll make it my first and favourite: MY LADY NOTORIOUS, Jo Beverly. There’s many reasons- it’s a great romp through Georgian England, it introduces the Mallorens and especially the hunky and omniscient Rothgar, and it has fun with the “heroine dressed up as a boy” trope.
Maybe it isn’t strictly romance, but The Boyfriend School
by Sarah Bird would be my recommendation, especially for the slightly snarky doubter-of-the-power-of-romance. The plot of the novel deals with the ‘conversion’ of one such doubter who learns there is much more to the romance genre and the people who love(and write) it than she had ever guessed. Unfortunately, the movie made from the book was a total stinkeroo- and it ruined some of the best and most important aspects of the book.
spamword: nearly52- I wanted to throw a brick at my TV nearly 52 times while watching the trainwreck of a movie adaptation of this awsome book.
For contemporary romance, I’d recommend Nora Roberts or Susan Mallery to ease them into the genre. If they’re a fan of history, I’d recommend any Julia Quinn or Eloisa James book.
Woot! Woot! Congratulations on the book!
When do you sleep?
So I really want to say “Devil’s Cub,” because it’s my favorite, but it’s not the perfect gateway drug for the wildly different audiences of sci-fi/fantasy or contempory fiction fans that I interact with.
I don’t think you can go wrong with Kleypas, Quinn, Chase, James & Cruisie, and if it’s a (straight) guy we are recommending for, I’d actually start him on the Sam Vimes books by Pratchett.
Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase. It was my gateway romance, after all, so I figure it should work to hook others. I believe it was the first romance I read recommended by this here old site back when I came for the cover snark and hadn’t become a convert to the awesome sauce genre.
Congratulations on the upcoming book, SB Sarah! I am super happy for you!
I’ll have to confess, I used to be one of those people who believed that romance novels were badly written “lady porn” designed to keep lonely housewives company. I believed everything I had heard about the bad writing and unrealistic heroes. So my best friend, Laura, and I started buying cheap romances and reading them out loud to one another. The ones we picked didn’t really buck any of the stereotypes. Those old books are full of highlighted passages like, “She had no idea, and yet, she knew, as women must have known since they lived in caves.”
The summer we started reading romances, Laura and I went on a long road trip, and we decided to rent a romance novel on tape. We picked up Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Philips, mostly because the back cover promised that it was the love story between a football player and a woman in a beaver costume. It sounded like just our kind of stupid. But when we popped it into the CD player, our lives changed.
This novel was funny, but only because it was intended to be. Dean Robillard was sexy and, well, charming. Blue Bailey was strong willed and independent, and the story was full of some of my all time favorite secondary characters. The best thing of all was that Dean loved Blue warts and all—even in her “Body by Beer” T-shirt and in spite of her horrible paintings of fairies, he loved her. She didn’t need a makeover to make him realize she was sexy, and her transformation had nothing to do with turning her into a mindless pretty trophy for Dean. She only had to realize she was worth loving and let it happen. Because these two people loved one another, a whole host of characters came together to form an unlikely family. Maybe that’s unrealistic, but I think that is exactly what love is supposed to do—to give wayward people a place to go home to.
So I cannot recommend this book enough. It might not be the perfect book. I’m sort of afraid to reread it, because it might not be as good the second time around. (And SEP books are very spotty—some are amazing and some are just awful. The last one had its main characters having romantic sex in a landfill. Susan, what were you thinking?) But Natural Born Charmer was my introduction to the world of good romance, and I think every lover of romance should read it. Laura and I still pick up the bad ones from time to time, but, because of Susan (Yes, I do feel that she and I are on a first name basis.) I have come to really love this genre and the authors and readers who are a part of it.
I loved the first book so I am sure I will love this one too. I would recommend The Perfect Rake by Anne Gracie. It’s funny, gracious and oh so romantic.
Forever Yours by Janmarie Anello was the first book that made me give other romances chance a try. It changed my life. *wipes lone tear*
I would say all the books in The Gardella Chronicles series by Colleen Gleason, but since we can only choose 1, I choose the second novel in said series, Rises The Night. A kick-ass read! And really, what is a better combination than paranormal and regency?!
Just one book ! You utter Baggage Wendell !!!!!
Right then …it has to be The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows.
It’s charming, funny & very moving…..and I keep buying it for people as a gift…even the non romance readers….& everyone I’ve given it to loves it.
You’d have to have a heart as hard as Ayers Rock not to love this book ( I’m not in any way biased – honest !!!)
So many great recommendations here tho’ !
The book I still recommend to friends is “10 Things I Love About You” by Julia Quinn. So witty and fun.
Jennifer Crusie’s FAKING IT because it is the only romance I have read where the sex between the hero and heroine isn’t wham bam, I-can’t-live-without-you. They have to work at it and honesty between them makes it finally work. I was struggling with my own sex life being sub-par and it helped me realize there was nothing wrong with me.
I’m so excited for this book!!!!!
You’re a horrible person for making us stick to just one. I’ll just throw a dart and choose SEP’s Natural Born Charmer, since the beaver suit scene made me laugh so very hard.
And after these comments, I have a list of about 1,000 books I have to read. Now I need to quit my job so I’ll have time.
Good grief…this is SB’s version of Highlander ….” There can be only one “….. !!!!
So mine is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows. It is sweet, charming, funny ,moving & the love story’s wonderful too.
I keep buying it as a gift for friends & family …even the non romance bods …..you’d have to have a heart as hard as Ayers Rock , not to love this book
Ooh, tough one! I’m gonna have to go with Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase. it always makes me smile.
And congratulations!
Congrats Sarah!!!!!
My go-to for newbies is always, always, always Georgette Heyer’s, The Grand Sophy. Her books are fantastic even if they don’t all the sexy bits. (And the dialogue more than makes up for it.)