I've received a few email requests for erotic content similar to 50 Shades of Grey  [GR | A | BN | S | K] and a few bazillion Google searches for '50 shades synopsis' and '50 shades review'  and, my personal favorite, '50 shades free download.' Heh. Good luck with that last one. This week at Kirkus I talked about the erotic romance that might appeal to those who enjoyed 50 Shades of Grey, from titles with BDSM to … Continue reading GS vs. STA: Erotic Novellas →

Today's Friday Video is all about sexually active senior citizens, but I had an email about it about a half hour ago that led to an interesting conversation. Meike wrote:  The desire for more mature characters in erotic romance fiction is becoming more important to me as I become one of them. It gets a little tiring to always read about these beautiful young bodies having this amazing sex. I would love to hear about … Continue reading GS vs STA: Romance Over 40 →

Billie Bloebaum wrote in with a rather interesting question:  Has there ever been a GS vs. STA for fairy tale-inspired romance? Because I'm totally going through a phase with it right now and was hoping for some recommendations of things inspired by tales other than Cinderella or Beauty & the Beast. I can find a ton of stuff in YA and Fantasy and even Lit Fic (and if you haven't read 'The Snow Child' by … Continue reading GS vs STA: Fairy-Tale Romance Retellings →

Back in February we talked a bit in the comments of the “Lovesweeping the Titles” discussion about Loveswept romances that are totally worth finding (or hopefully re-releasing!), the ones that rocked your Loveswepty world. So many authors first appeared within the Loveswept line, such as Iris Johansen and Janet Evanovich, and I thought it would be a good idea to have one long recommendation thread of which Loveswepts are worth finding.  Random House is bringing … Continue reading GS vs STA: Must-Read Loveswepts →

Cecilia Tan (no relation to Candy that I know of!) tweeted at me, asking in the midst of Yet More 50 Shades of Grey BrouHaHa if there were any BDSM romances that weren't 50 Shades that I might recommend:  She later emailed me:  “Shit to Avoid” is very useful to know, too! Well-written and well-known is probably where I should start[.] So I just read “The Story of L” by Debra Hyde ( A | BN | … Continue reading GS vs. STA: BDSM Romance →

Melissa wrote to me about a specific type of romance relationship – the parental one: I'm recently on a kick reading and writing books in which the hero and heroine have healthy, functional relationships with their living parents, but that sort of book is so hard to find in romance! Carrie Ann Ryan recommended Lauren Dane's Chase Brothers series to me, but I haven't gotten any other recommendations from my Facebook or Twitter queries. Perhaps … Continue reading GS vs. STA: Happy Parental Relationships →

I know Sheri was reading Evanovich's Plum series from the beginning last month (sorry I goofed on your name originally, Sheri, my apologies), as was Alina, and Booklight said Amanda Quick's backlist was on the reading schedule – how are you enjoying them? This week I've tried to read two self-published works, one full length and one short story, and had problems with both. But this weekend I'm spending about 10 hours in the car, and … Continue reading What Are You Reading? →

This email comes from Rebekka:  I don't know if you can help me, but I would really appreciate some recommendations of romances to read that address infertility. As you know, most books that even mention it barely do, and it's usually more a case of, “Oh! My dead husband was sterile!” or it's some other problem easily fixed by the Mighty Wang. The only romance I have read that actually deals with the emotional aspects … Continue reading GS. vs. STA: Infertility →

In the comments to the entry about the discrimination of the Romance Writers Ink published writers contest, DreadPirateRachel and Keri asked for a Good Shit vs. Shit to Avoid for f/f romance, or, in other words, lesbian romances. Keri commented, “It's easy to find m/m, but I'm having a really hard time with f/f, especially fluffier kinds. I love Sarah Waters and Emma Donoghue, who are always suggested, but their writing tends to be more … Continue reading GS. vs. STA: Lesbian Romance →

This “Good Shit vs Shit to Avoid” request comes from Joanne, who is hunting for books to read this winter: I am looking for suggestions for lovely romance or wonderfully trashy romance involving a soldier/soldier of fortune, tough guy in uniform, or one beside a crumpled uniform on the floor. A happily ever after would be nice. In fact, I require it from my fictional men. After an incredibly stressful month and searching in vane, … Continue reading GS vs. STA: Military Heroes →