New Special Title Lists are Open!

We’re at it again! With the help of our readers we have found the right formula for adding new titles to the Special Title Listings. This month we are opening: (1) Nerds & Absent-Minded Professors, (2) Bluestockings and Feminists, (3) Beauty is in the Eye and (4) Unrequited Love. We look forward to seeing your submissions for these lists starting today Monday May 6th and going for the next two weeks ending Sunday May 19th at midnight. As a reminder, any additions to the list have to be: (1) the best of the best, (2) stand the test of time, and (3) actually fit the list for which they were submitted.

Nerds & Absent-Minded Professors: AAR readers have always had a fondness for those men who are brilliant and maybe just a wee bit socially awkward. After all, nerds love girls that read. In the past few years it seems that nerds and absent minded individuals have become the ‘new cool’. Just look at the success of the TV show The Big Bang Theory starring some wonderfully intelligent but socially impaired heroes. Meanwhile, absent-minded professors have a more unkempt style about them making some women just want to take care of them.

Bluestockings and Feminists: How wonderful to see that our readers are just as interested in the female equivalent to the category above when we asked what lists you wanted updated. This list doesn’t shy away from intellectual or strongly independent women and revels in women who are feminists.

Beauty is in the Eye: These romances feature characters who “are homely, plain, scarred, or do not meet the standards of beauty for their time.” It is wonderful to read a romance where the hero or heroine knows the person is not physically beautiful but as they fall in love with them, all they begin to see is how handsome or beautiful the person really is to them. With this list we will be asking for the character’s name and how they fit this category. Please keep in mind that out of this list two new lists were created called Less Than Perfect (this list is more for physical, mental and emotional maladies) and Plus-Sized Heroines, and these are no longer part of the Beauty is in the Eye list.

Unrequited Love: “Heroes or Heroines in these books are in love but their love hasn’t been returned.” We have to say the picture of Pepe Le Pew and his poor kitty cat love interest used to represent this list epitomizes this category. Although, it is rare in a romance book for the one who is in love to be so open in their emotions and in fact, many times they suffer in silence for years. When submitting titles for this list please indicate whose love is unrequited and for how long if possible.

We hope you have read some wonderful books that fit these categories and we look forward to your submissions. You will find the criteria and submission ballot here.

– Rike, LinnieGayl, and Cindy