Four Special Title Lists Now Open!

First, a huge “thank you” to all of you for your enthusiasm about the Special Title Lists, and for your many suggestions about the lists. We’ve tallied all of your suggestions and are pleased to announce that your top four choices amongst the Special Title Lists are now open for additions. The following four lists will be open for suggested additions from now until Sunday evening, September 16, 2012, at midnight:

Marriages of Convenience — Marriages of convenience are marriages that come about because of circumstances. In most romances of this type, neither the hero nor the heroine desires the marriage, but circumstances such as lack of money or child custody make the marriage desirable (last updated February of 2010).

Favorite Funnies – Romances that make us laugh (last updated June of 2009).

Troubled Marriages – These are romances in which the couple is estranged, separated, or even divorced early in the story and, having worked out their differences or problems in communication, reunited at the end (last updated October of 2009).

Beta Heroes — These romances have kinder, gentler heroes, the kind of men who will change your flat tire, open doors for you, help your kid with his homework, and bring you soup when you are sick. (last updated December of 2009).

Submissions are not limited to books published after the Lists were last updated. However, older books need to have stood the test of time; they need to be as good now as when they were first published.

All romance titles are eligible for submission as long as you think it’s one of the best in its category (eg. Beta Heroes). If the book has a B- review or greater here at AAR, it will make the list. Books that have not been reviewed at AAR or have been reviewed but received a poor grade here are still eligible, but we will employ a multi-stage vetting process for these books, including checking other reputable review sites and checking with AAR staff to see if other readers loved the book also. Not all titles will make the cut so don’t be discouraged if a few of your submissions don’t show up. The form to submit updated titles is available here. You should include the following with each book that you nominate:

* The title of the book

* The author’s name

* If not reviewed at AAR, a sentence describing why it should be included and the name of another site where it received a positive review, if available.

We’re looking on the nomination process as a bit of a work in progress. None of us were involved with the Special Title Listings in the past, so don’t know how many submissions to expect. If we receive 20 suggested titles for each list, with the same ones appearing on many submission forms, it will be an easy process. If we receive 2,000 suggested titles, and none overlap, it’s going to be a much more
complicated process. We’ll know more after this first round of submissions, and will share our experiences with you when we publish the revised lists in October.

We are excited to have the Special Title Listings active once again, and can’t wait to start receiving your recommendations. Ready? Head to the submission form and get started!

– Rike Horstmann, LinnieGayl Kimmel and Cindy Smith