Midweek Minis
Melanie’s reads: Gunpowder Alchemy by Jeannie Lin After all the raving about it this past year, I was really looking forward to this one. Honestly, though, I just couldn’t get into it. I loved the world that…
Characters | Dabney AAR | Defining Romance | Heroes | Lee AAR | Maggie AAR | Mary AAR | Melanie AAR
The Ideal Romantic Hero
Every once in a while I will fall in love with a hero. Kit from Mary Balogh’s A Summer to Remember comes to mind. I loved his laughing eyes. I loved his sunny nature. As I…
Melanie’s Best of Romance List for 2014
Top books of 2014, huh? Sometimes I feel picking my favorite books is something similar to picking one’s favorite child – nigh on impossible. To be honest, I didn’t read a whole lot of books published…
AAR Jenna | AAR Shannon | Anne Marble | Best of List | Caz AAR | Dabney AAR | Haley AAR | Heather AAR | Lee AAR | LinnieGayl AAR | Lynn AAR | Maggie AAR | Melanie AAR | Rike AAR
AAR Picks the Best of 2014
(This column will not be the only piece we run on the best books of 2014. We will still run a separate Buried Treasures piece and several staff members will be sharing their lists of the…
Wait. What? They did that where?
We’ve all read them – those books where the sex just doesn’t make sense. Recently, I’ve stumbled across several that made me cringe.
AAR Blythe | AAR Jenna | Dabney AAR | Lee AAR | Maggie AAR | Mary AAR | Melanie AAR | Pat Henshaw
Roses are red, violets are blue. Like love poems? Here a few.
Before romance novels there were love poems. Sometimes sweet, sometimes tender, sometimes raunchy but always intimate and direct. Most love poems are from the author to a specific lover, a genuine communication that wasn’t necessarily intended…
Alexandra AAR | Caz AAR | Dabney AAR | Heather AAR | Lynn AAR | Maggie AAR | Melanie AAR | Pat Henshaw | Rike AAR
We pick the “Buried Treasures” of 2013
In 2013, self-publishing was mainstream, social media allowed authors more specific ways to publicize their work, and everyone had a strongly held opinion about what constituted a great romance novel. This environment makes the idea of…
AAR Blythe | AAR Jenna | Alexandra AAR | All About Romance | Anne Marble | Caroline AAR | Caz AAR | Cindy AAR | Dabney AAR | Haley AAR | Heather S. AAR | Jean AAR | Lea Hensley | Lee AAR | LinnieGayl AAR | Maggie AAR | Mary AAR | Melanie AAR | Pat Henshaw | Rike AAR
The results of the AAR Top Ten Lists are in and the winner is….
Back in April, we began, on each Tuesday, publishing a reviewer’s Top Ten list. There were no rules other than the books be in the romance genre. Over the next five months, we published twenty-three lists….
Oh, the Mary Sue
Oh, the Mary Sue. Frequently the bane of my existence. The few books I actively hate have Mary Sue characters as the leads. But what is it about the Mary Sue that enrages so many readers?…
AAR Staff Top 10 Favorites – Melanie's Picks
So, like the other AAR staff who have submitted their Top Ten, I’ve been struggling to make decisions about what belongs on my personal top ten. And as I made a list of some of my…