Strong female characters have gotten a bad reputation over the past few years. It seems that very few people know how to create them without falling into bad stereotypes and misogyny. I have, however, seen LOTS of really well-written strong women in romance novels, and I think the world at large can learn plenty from them. So, here it goes…
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I’m going to admit to a dirty little secret. I have author friends who spy for me in a bunch of author groups on social media. Nothing nefarious, of course. They just keep me posted on current events and give me a heads-up on stuff that’s bothering authors from one day to the next. And recently, one of my favorite spies told me that there was a particularly heated debate in one group about trigger warnings and disclaimers in romance novel blurbs. The authors overwhelmingly disliked trigger warnings and disclaimers and felt like they were “spoilers.”
I can’t even express how TIRED—absolutely, bone-deep TIRED—I am of remakes and reboots. Hollywood has been remaking movies and shows that aren’t even that old for years now. It’s almost like rebooting an old movie or show is the only option available to Hollywood writers. Frankly, there are very few things I watch on TV anymore, and very few movies I’m willing to pay to see in a theatre these days because of this tiresome reboot trend. What do I do instead? I read. So, after reading A LOT of books (seriously, it’s a scarily huge number), here’s what I think the movie and TV industry can learn from romance novels.
The Bluewater Billionaires is a series of connected standalone romantic comedies about a group of close friends who just happen to be self-made billionaires. Here’s why I think all romance readers should be reading this series. (And authors, take note! We want MORE OF THESE THINGS)
If you’ve been on Romancelandia Twitter for more than a millisecond in the past week or so, you’ve heard about the giant kerfuffle regarding author Lucia Franco’s book, Balance. I’m not linking to it because a) it was removed from Amazon, and b) I don’t want to do anything that might drive sales of the book from other sources because frankly, I don’t support it in any way.
Buying gifts for your loved ones is never as easy as you think it will be. There are just too many choices out there! The stores are always a disaster this time of year, and finding good stuff on Amazon can be tricky. So that’s why we made this list, folks. You’re welcome. Without further ado, here are the best holiday gifts you can easily pick up online for the book nerd in your life. (Or you can buy them for yourself. We don’t judge.)
This is not a new topic for us—hence the word “more” in the headline. We’ve talked about heroes, heroines, and villains we never want to see again. We’ve talked about tropes we hate. We’ve even talked about the lack of diversity in the genre and secondary characters we hate. But the more we read (and we read A LOT), the more stuff we find that we never want to see again. (There’s a lot of great stuff, too, so please don’t message me and tell me how negative I am. We can talk about the great stuff another time, but that’s not what THIS post is about, m’kay?) That said, here’s the new stuff we’ve found to hate lately, so strap yourself in because this could get ugly.
I’m not one to say, “If you love X author, you’ll also love X author.” I mean, we’re all different, and authors are all different, so it’s really hard to say who is going to like what and why. But sometimes when you run through every book your favorite author has ever written and you’re months away from a new release from them, you just need some recommendations—maybe a little guidance on what to do with your reading life when you’ve exhausted your supply of a particular author’s books. In this list, we’re focusing on what to do with your life when you’ve run out of Kristen Ashley books.
We’ve all played dump, date or marry at some point in our lives. It never really gets old, does it? With that in mind, we’ve got a good one for you. Which one of these new adult romance novel heroes would you dump, date, or marry? We’ve got our answers, even though it was anything but easy to decide (see below)...
Why you shouldn’t EVER try to convince me your women’s fiction novel is romanceI’ve seen lots of misclassified books on Amazon lately. LOTS. OF. THEM. I don’t know if Amazon is shifting these books around erroneously, or if the authors/publishers are making mistakes, but whatever the case may be, I’m sick of it. I want to read romance novels. If I wanted to read women’s fiction, I’d go find some women’s fiction to read. There’s nothing wrong with women’s fiction, but it’s NOT romance.
Not too long ago, we posted about stuff that should be banned from paranormal romance novel covers. Now it’s time to focus on contemporaries, because they’re not without fault, either.
Disclaimer: Like I said in the PNR covers post, this is NOT intended to shame authors, and I’m not saying that these books aren’t great. Some of them I would highly recommend. These are just my opinions and personal preferences, and no one is the boss of me. So, if these books look good to you, you shouldn’t let my opinions keep you from reading them. End PSA. Guest post by author Eliot Grayson
Like superheroes, every romance reader has an origin story. Mine is pretty typical: I purloined my grandmother’s Harlequins as an adolescent and read them far into the night. I’m guessing I’m not alone!
We’ve all played dump, date or marry at some point in our lives. It never really gets old, does it? With that in mind, we’ve got a good one for you. Which one of these urban fantasy/paranormal romance novel heroes would you dump, date, or marry? We’ve got our answers, even though it was anything but easy to decide (see below)...
Look, I’m generally not a fan of cheesy rom com movies. I’ve never been able to watch a Hallmark movie all the way through. But I’ve generally had better luck with Netflix movies. I mean, I did enjoy The Kissing Booth, based on the book by Beth Reekles, and I ADORED To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, based on the book by Jenny Han. So when I saw the promo for Falling Inn Love, I figured Netflix had earned the benefit of my doubt. (If I’m being honest, though, if I’d seen the premise on a Hallmark movie, I would’ve run the other way, screaming. But I digress...)
There are very few things I even watch on TV anymore. Why? Because it seems like lately, when I love a TV show, it comes to a horrible, horrible end. Sometimes the ending is so horrible that it negates everything I enjoyed about the show in the first place and I feel like I’ve wasted years of my life fangirling for no good reason at all. I’m actually TERRIFIED that Supernatural is ending this year because what will become of my precious Dean??? So, with that in mind, I’ve come up with this list of the WORST TV endings that need to be rewritten by romance authors ASAP—because let’s face it, romance authors know how to give good ending.
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