Long before E.L. James was burning up bestseller lists with her spicy 50 Shades novels, another book’s rumored bawdiness had readers flocking to their local bookstores and libraries in desperate hopes that they, too, might be able to get their hands on a copy. That book was Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor. Published in 1944 by […]
Before she became an award-winning romance novelist, Sophia Nash’s colorful career took her from television production to Congress, where she worked as a speech writer and press secretary, to the Washington International Horse Show, where she served as executive director. Her first book, A Secret Passion, was a finalist for the 2004 Romance Writers of America […]
Ever since Rudolph Valentino made goo-goo eyes at the screen and left a generation of ladies swooning, romance has been a staple at the movies. With such a wealth of choices in front of me, an explanation of how I selected this list seems necessary. First, all of my choices consist of movies first released in theaters—apologies to […]
New York Times-bestselling author Jenn McKinlay made her name writing cozy mysteries, including A Library Lover’s Mystery Series. Recently, she turned her attention back to romance. This spring, she published About a Dog, the first book in her Bluff Point Romance series, with Barking Up the Wrong Tree following quickly on its heels. We talked […]
The summer may have faded, but love springs eternal here at Booklist. As we introduce the latest installment of our long-running annual spotlight on romance, we begin the second year of our new tradition: #SeptemberRomance. For the next two weeks, The Booklist Reader will delight all your senses with daily romance injections: interviews with famous […]
A note from the editor: This is the final entry in #SeptemberRomance, our month-long celebration of romance novels. For more—way more!—great romance coverage, click here. Twenty years ago or so, my friend Debbie Mazoyer and I decided to team up and try our hand at writing romances. We chose the nom de plume Deborah Shelley, […]
The American Association of Publishers reported a 35.3% increase in audiobook downloads—the strongest gain in any literary format—as well as a lusty boom in audio production: 9,630 more titles were published than in the previous year, bringing the number of audiobooks published in 2015 up to 35,574. That’s an increase of 29,374 titles in the past five years—and […]
Some great love stories may not be classified as romances, even though they richly convey the same appeal. What’s more, many romantic novels in other genres are series, so readers are privy not only to the courtship and wedding, but also to the pleasures of living out the happily ever. These titles will get you started—and […]
We can’t explain why men who work with their hands and know their way around a toolbox are so sexy, but there’s no denying that they are. This list contains more than 20 hunky men—and a couple of talented women—who know what to do with a hammer. Gimme Some Sugar, by Kimberly Kincaid Being one half of a celebrity […]
New Adult is a romance subgenre that has become increasingly popular over the last few years. Despite this popularity, the phrase “New Adult” leaves most people scratching their heads. The basic, underwhelming criteria for New Adult is that the style falls somewhere between the Young Adult and Adult genres, and the age of the protagonist is between 18 […]