Red Hot Romance for July

The books discussed in the above linked article look like they will be great fun to read. I have a few of them and I follow several of the authors that are listed. I may have to schedule some fun reading in this summer, just to include some of these. It’s a short list, so it should be doable.

Perfect Stranger by Lindsey Powell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed almost everything about this book. I had to suspend belief that a writer could completely forget about her phone and laptop for several days. Also, I was not thrilled about the ending. I had no choice but to get the next book in the series. I needed to know what happened. If you’re willing to invest in the whole series, then I’d recommend this mostly romance, somewhat suspenseful mystery book.

View all my reviews

Romance Bingo Card

Here’s another card from Theclockworkbook. The top card is the blank card. The bottom is marked with my symbols. Brown X for read, Orange circle for have and want to read, and pink circle is for want to read, but don’t have yet. I did ok on this one, but could do better, I guess.

Fifty States, Fifty Love Stories

Fifty states, fifty love stories

The above linked article tells of the best love stores from each of the fifty states. I have read many of these books, and, of those, I agree that they are great books. I look forward to reading the others.

Alabama

Winston Groom, “Forrest Gump”

Alaska

Eowyn Ivey, “The Snow Child”

Arizona

Barbara Kingsolver, “The Bean Trees”

Arkansas

Bette Greene, “Summer of My German Soldier”

California

Isabel Allende, “Daughter of Fortune”

Colorado

Kent Haruf, “Our Souls at Night”

Connecticut

Bill Clegg, “Did You Ever Have a Family”

Delaware

Cristina Henríquez, “The Book of Unknown Americans”

Florida

Karen Russell, “Swamplandia!”

Georgia

Tayari Jones, “An American Marriage”

Hawaii

Kaui Hart Hemmings, “The Descendants”

Idaho

Wallace Stegner, “Angle of Repose”

Illinois

Sandra Cisneros, “The House on Mango Street”

Indiana

John Green, “The Fault in Our Stars”

Iowa

Robert James Waller, “The Bridges of Madison County”

Kansas

Langston Hughes, “Not Without Laughter”

Kentucky

Ann Patchett, “The Patron Saint of Liars”

Louisiana

Anne Rice, “The Witching Hour”

Maine

Anne Rivers Siddons, “Colony”

Maryland

Anne Tyler, “A Spool of Blue Thread”

Massachusetts

Erich Segal, “Love Story”

Michigan

Jeffrey Eugenides, “The Virgin Suicides”

Minnesota

J. Ryan Stradal, “The Lager Queen of Minnesota”

Mississippi

Bret Lott, “Jewel”

Missouri

Gillian Flynn, “Gone Girl”

Montana

Rick Bass, “Where the Sea Used to Be”

Nebraska

Rainbow Rowell, “Eleanor & Park”

Nevada

Tupelo Hassman, “Girlchild”

New Hampshire

John Irving, “A Prayer for Owen Meany”

New Jersey

Philip Roth, “Goodbye, Columbus”

New Mexico

Leslie Marmon Silko, “Almanac of the Dead”

New York

Truman Capote, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”

North Carolina

Charles Frazier, “Cold Mountain”

North Dakota

Louise Erdrich, “Love Medicine”

Ohio

Toni Morrison, “Beloved”

Oklahoma

Wilson Rawls, “Where the Red Fern Grows”

Oregon

Gayle Forman, “If I Stay”

Pennsylvania

Nick Hornby, “Juliet, Naked”

Rhode Island

Beatriz Williams, “A Hundred Summers”

South Carolina

Pat Conroy, “The Prince of Tides”

South Dakota

Nora Roberts, “Black Hills”

Tennessee

James Agee, “A Death in the Family”

Texas

Edna Ferber, “Giant”

Utah

David Ebershoff, “The 19th Wife”

Vermont

Donna Tartt, “The Secret History”

Virginia

Katherine Paterson, “Bridge to Terabithia”

Washington

David Guterson, “Snow Falling on Cedars”

West Virginia

Jayne Anne Phillips, “Lark and Termite”

Wisconsin

Chad Harbach, “The Art of Fielding”

Wyoming

Annie Proulx, “Brokeback Mountain”

Candy Hearts

Candy hearts

The above linked article shows what candy hearts would say if they were written by people in long term relationships. Some of them are funny. Most of them are accurate.

Romance Readers Starter Kit

Romance starter kit

The above linked article suggests some starter books for those readers who aren’t normally into romances. I am not a big fan of this list, since most of these are way too “romancy” for my tastes. I agree with some of the comments though. Start with “chick lit” or sports romances. I really dislike the historical romances, and I don’t think they should be on this list at all. The suspense books are more along my tastes, and I could probably deal with the contemporary ones, but I feel there are better books out there to start with.

Historical

An Extraordinary Union
by Alyssa Cole

The Lawrence Browne Affair
by Cat Sebastian

Bringing Down the Duke
by Evie Dunmore

A Daring Arrangement
by Joanna Shupe

Contemporary

Treasure
by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Take the Lead
by Alexis Daria

Luck of the Draw
by Kate Clayborn

Mr. Hotshot CEO
by Jackie Lau

Paranormal

Gift of Gold
by Jayne Ann Krentz

The Darkest Night
by Gena Showalter

Dark Lover
by J.R. Ward

Beyond the Highland Mist
by Karen Marie Moning

Suspense

Every Last Breath
by Juno Rushdan

Hidden
by Rebecca Zanetti

Half Truths
by Claire Contreras

Solace Island
by Meg Tilly

Tiny Love Stories

Tiny love stories

The above linked article tells several very short love stories. Most of them aren’t about romantic love, but they are love stories nonetheless. They are all worth reading and beautiful.

Best Romantic Comedy Audiobooks

Best romantic comedy audiobooks

Just in time for Valentines Day, this list comes out. I have read a lot of these books already, but not as audiobooks. Most of the others are books that I have heard of, or are on my TBR list. I would recommend the ones that I have read, so I can only assume that the others would be good, too? Not necessarily true, but maybe?

Lucky Suit
By: Lauren Blakely

Pucked
By: Helena Hunting

Wallbanger
By: Alice Clayton

Neanderthal Seeks Human
A Smart Romance, Knitting in the City, Volume 1
By: Penny Reid

Tangled
The Tangled Series, Book 1
By: Emma Chase

First Grave on the Right
Charley Davidson, Book 1
By: Darynda Jones

Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs
Half-Moon Hollow, Book 1
By: Molly Harper

Master Baker
By: Pippa Grant

Romance Writers of America Update

Romance writers of America

I posted about the romance writers of America, and more on the writers association. There’s another update. It still doesn’t look good, according to the above linked articles. It really shouldn’t be this difficult.

Recommended by Romance Writers

The above linked article talks about new release romance books that were all recommended by romance novelists. I’ve read some. I own some. I have heard of some. It’s a beautiful list.

The Beast of Beswick Amalie Howard

The Bromance Book Club Lyssa Kay Adams

The Flight Girls Noelle Salazar

The Boys in the Boat Daniel James Brown

The Shape of Night Tess Gerritsen

Xeni: A Marriage of Inconvenience Rebekah Weatherspoon

Lost and Found Sisters Jill Shalvis

Tinderbox Rachel Grant

Get a Life, Chloe Brown Talia Hibbert

Room to Breathe Liz Talley

Not the Girl You Marry Andie J. Christopher

Daisy Jones & The Six Taylor Jenkins Reid