Publishing FIVE revised Special Title Lists
A long time ago in a far-off galaxy … you nominated some books for five of AAR’s Special Titles Listings. And then … nothing. Several months of nothing, and then more than a year. We apologize most sincerely. But – we are glad to announce that finally the revised versions of Scots & Irish Romances, Teachers and Governesses, Villains, Beta Heroes, and Favorite Funnies are online.
The main reasons for this delay are two: Last year, all of us who work on the Special Titles Listings were struck with a hefty dose of real life. Nothing bad, but a lot of stuff that was extremely time-consuming. So with a sigh, we put aside our work on the list. And then came the period during which material was being prepared for the new site. We felt we’d prefer to publish the revised lists at a point when the new site was already launched.
Anyway, here are the new lists, which we hope you’ll enjoy. As you can see, we have added some titles that were only published late in 2015 or in 2016 (nominated by AAR staff), and we hope that you will get some pointers to the sort of book that you like from these.
In addition, we are opening two other lists: Courtroom Dramas and Reunited. Reunited was last revised in 2012, but as it is a very popular trope, we hope for some excellent nominaitons from you. After all, what is not to love about two people who were in love, but lost sight of each other, and now meet again to find out whether they have a second chance at love?
Courtroom Dramas was last opened in 2010, so even if it is not so common, we hope that in the meantime you have come across some books that you would like to see on this list, too. The thrill of the courtroom situation, where it’s not just the happy ending that is at stake, but also justice as such, translates perhaps more easily to the screen, but I remember reading some books that used this trope that had me biting my finger-nails.
Just as a reminder: As always, any book that goes on these lists should be the best of the best (A or B at AAR, or an equivalent grade at a reputable romance review site), or if it’s an older book, it should have stood the test of time and still be enjoyable as it was back when it was written. In addition, it needs to fit the category for which they are submitted.
Here is the link to the ballot. We’re glad to be back and are looking forward very much to your submissions!
~ Rike Hortsmann and LinnieGayl Kimmel
The ballot was rather odd with the Reason for Submitting #7, #8, #9 all appearing before genre for #6. Also Title for #9 listed between title and author for #8. This happened on both ballots I submitted. I sent 17 books in all. Let me know if you didn’t receive them or the data is scrambled.
Sorry about that! Both of your ballots did come through. I switched at the very last minute to Google forms. After several years of using Survey Monkey reliably, including for the last Annual Poll,, Survey Monkey changed things drastically that made using it prohibitive (including cost, number of responses, etc.). So it was a very quick learn for Google forms, and unfortunately I was doing it all with an injured hand. Rike is a great editor catching all of my normal mistakes, but this time I finished it up (after showing her the first 4-5) without her editing. Oops!
And we REALLY appreciate your submitting recommendations despite my goofs!
Thanks for your hard work on these lists! I’ll search my shelves for ideas.
In the teachers list it’s A Lady for Lord Randall (not Mallory) and Selena Kitt (not Kiss).
Thanks for pointing this out!
Before the reunion the couple must be in love? Because I see that in the reunited list there’s Shana Abe’s The Secret Swan and before the separation they didn’t love each other, it was an arranged marriage.
Interesting question, Puce, and one I’ll have to consult with Rike (the other person who does the STLs) about. It definitely couldn’t just be two people who were best friends or good friends, as that would clearly be the Friends to Lovers list. I’m leaning toward thinking if two people were married — even if arranged and they didn’t love each other but were then reunited and fell in love that it would fit. Sorry for being vague; no one’s ever mentioned that before!
Obviously lots of people share your taste … we had way more nominations for this category than for any other we did this time around. ;)
So happy beta heroes has been updated. I love a good beta :)
FYI, We’ll keep these two lists open for two weeks, so get your nominations in by midnight on Tuesday, August 30. Thanks!