What's Up at AAR : All About Romance %

Hello again, everyone! It’s our round-up of some of what we’ve been doing. We’ve got lots and lots of Best of 2015 lists! And fresh content for you to enjoy.

Here’s what’s new at AAR:

The AAR Annual Readers’ Poll

Annual Poll Update: It’s a Runoff!

For the first time, we are unable to name a winner in any of the categories! So now we’re having a runoff election. Click here.

And the Nominees Are….

Do you need a list of the nominees in the runoff? It’s complete with links in case you find some you missed! Click here.

Hot Author Interviews and Guest Posts

Lessons of Politics, Lessons of Love: A Guest Piece (and a Giveaway) from Roan Parrish

In Roan Parrish’s Out of Nowhere, a character who cares about cars and football, and little else, falls for a character dedicated to social justice and political change. How do they learn to get along. It’s not easy! Start with Colin and Rafe’s five Lessons of Love & Politics… Click here.

Merry (and not so merry widows): A guest post by Megan Mulry

In Megan Mulry’s latest book, Encore, both of the main characters are widowed. So Megan became fascinated with stories about loss and redemption and second chances — particularly widowed characters. She shares from of her favorites, from A Christmas Bride Bride by Mary Balogh to Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (well, sort of) to The Preacher’s Promise by Piper Huguley… Not to mention Seduction by Amanda Quick! And more! Click here.

T.J. Kline and Lizbeth Selvig talk horses and cowboys

Ready for some cowboys? Authors T.J. Kline and Lizbeth Selvig interview each other about their horses, their books, and why readers so love cowboys. Checking out the Healing Harts series (T.J. Kline) and The Bride Wore Starlight (Lizbeth Selvig)!

Courtship, Darcy style: A Guest Post (and a Giveaway) by Maya Rodale

Maya Rodale introduces us to Lady Bridget’s Diary, a romance novel inspired by Pride & Prejudice and Bridget Jones’s Diary, and how that love story is a stark contrast to cultural stereotypes about courtship. Click here.

A Guest post by Elizabeth Michels

Learn what happens when two estranged former childhood friend meet again. Elizabeth Michels introduces us to The Infamous Heir, the first book in her new four book series, The Spare Heirs. Click here.

A Guest Post from Grace Burrowes

It’s one of our most beloved guest posts ever! Learn about the special guy in Grace Burrowes’ life — all four paws of him. Her most recent book is Will’s True Wish. Click here.

An Interview with Farrah Rochon

It’s a friends to lovers story! Drop by to learn more about Farrah Rochon’s newest story, Passion’s Song, part of the Harlequin Kimani February Lineup. Read the DIK review here. Click here.

The Birth of a Series: A Guest Post by Jodi Thomas

Jodi Thomas shares how her new series, Ransom Canyon, was born. Visit the present-day Texas Panhandle in Ransom Canyon and Rustler’s Moon, and visit the early days in Winter’s Camp. Click here.

A Guest Post from Theresa Romain

Stop by for an excerpt from A Gentleman’s Game, and some words from Theresa Romain. Click here.

Romances on Sale in March

Looking for a book that’s in like a lion, or out like a lamb? Bessie Makris gives you the list of what is on sale. Click here.

Romances on Sale in February

Looking for a great book to celebrate the Month of Love? Bessie Makris gives you the list of what is on sale. Click here.

AAR Picks the Best of 2015

Find out what AAR’s staff members picked as their best, from audiobooks to print to eBooks, from old school historicals to new adult. Here are two of our recent roundups.

The Best of 2015: Anne’s List

It was a year of YA guilty pleasures like The Selection series by Kiera Cass and Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick; darker YA like Rachel Vincent’s The Stars Never Rise and Suzanne Collins’ Mockingjay; and classics for all ages like Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Little Princess, and even a (sort of) kinder, gentler motorcycle club romance in Redemption Road by Katie Ashley. Plus an actual historical romance in The Duke’s Disaster by Grace Burrowes, a surprising peek at Mr. Collins in Mr. Collins’ Deception: A Pride & Prejudice Variation Short Story, and a surprising look at a possible future in Lock In: A Novel of the Near Future by John Scalzi. Click here.

The Best of 2015: LinnieGayl’s List

This year, LinnieGayl came out of a two-year reading slump and delved into everything from Rise by Karina Bliss to Rock Hard and Rock Redemption by Nalini Singh. Not to mention The Lure of the Moonflower by Lauren Willig and A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn, The Other Side of Midnight by Simone St. James, and Prudence by Gail Carriger. Click here.

The Latest News and Controversies

Career Matches in Real Life

Who do female doctors marry? Male doctors? Female and male lawyers? Male and female CEOs? Caroline takes a recent Bloomberg study about marriage patterns by occupation and ties it into romance novels, from Judith McNaught’s Remember When to the graphic novel Midnight Secretary. Come by for oodles of examples! Click here.

TBR Challenge: It’s Catch-Up Time!

Caz catches up on Grace Burrowes’ Lonely Lords series by reading David, the ninth book. Lynn catches up on Tess Gerritsen’s Rizzoli & Isles series by reading The Silent Girl, a 2011 entry in that series. Click here:

A Blast from our Past: Declarations of Love

From the over-the-top to the subtle… Celebrate Valentine’s Day with a classic post about declarations of love. Click here.

Court of Thorns and Roses: A Pandora’s Box

Dabney and Haley take on Sarah Maas’s Court of Thorns and Roses — a YA retelling of Beauty and the Beast, or perhaps East of the Sun West of the Moon. Click here.

Whyborne & Griffin by Jordan L. Hawk – A Series Overview

Sci-fi as written by Anthony Trollope? The Palliser novels as imagined by Ray Bradbury? Ulysses lets us in on a series of epic paranormal romance novels that starts with Widdershins and follows two heroes in a strange city at the turn of the 20th century. Click here.

New Reviews and DIKs

Our reviewers have been hard at work! Check out which books we are recommending. Learn about exciting new authors and buried treasures. Find out which long-awaited books satisfied the reviewers, and which disappointed them. There are reviews of everything from contemporary romances to paranormals to historicals and inspirationals.

Recent DIK reviews include books by:

Katharine Ashe

Mary Balogh

Megan Derr

Lois McMaster Bujold

K.C. Bateman

Shay Savage

Ros Clarke

Farrah Rochon

Lisa Gardner

Yasmine Galenorn

Megan Erickson/Santino Hassell