I'm not sure where you are geographically, but I'm in the northeastern U.S., and like much of the rest of the country, it's been cold and very snowy. Despite really warm temperatures the past 2 days, there is STILL melting snow on the ground. But even though a forecast calling for more snow is making its way across my news feeds, my weakness for romances in which the main characters get trapped in the snow remains ...
Everyone likes to get something for nothing, or close to nothing, and readers are no strangers to the appeal. It’s especially true as more readers from all economic strata are gaining access to e-reader devices. Whether it’s on a smartphone, a tablet, a computer or a dedicated reader, the e-book generation has arrived.
I grew up reading mass market paperbacks believing a hardcover was either a) a library book or b) something rich people with libraries owned. I found paperbacks ...
Author Traci Andrighetti and friends at Adventures in Fiction.
Our big winter event, Adventures in Fiction, was held on February 15th—yes, Valentine’s Day weekend. What better time for romance readers to meet and mingle with authors and fellow readers than on a day when we celebrate romance? Actually, it wasn’t my idea. But it did work out! The night before, the hotel was filled to the brim with happy couples dancing and enjoying Boney James. To be honest, though I found the name familiar, I had to ...
Lately I find myself in a reading slump—which I HATE. I've started and abandoned four books in a row, and it's getting me down. Nothing is grabbing me, not even things that I'm pretty sure I would enjoy. I'm having trouble connecting to the characters, and I find that they irk me more than they invited empathy. I keep switching books, starting and stopping my reading one book after another. Plus, I'm easily distracted and ...
One great thing about life is the cycles of taste and the times when “what is old is new again”—a saying my grandmother used to great effect when explaining why trying to follow a fashion trend was just wasteful. After all, what was out of style today would be very much in style in a short period of time. And so it goes with books. Especially romances. First they say historicals are dead, then contemporaries, then suspense and, always, the ...
I was talking recently to a friend about the general “hotness” of firefighters and why they are so popular as a romantic hero. I wanted to understand the appeal. I know firefighters are supposed to have buns of steel but most firefighters I know are balding (which can be sexy, after all I never knew my husband with a full head of hair). But let’s be serious: romance shelves are filled with series featuring male firefighters, rescuing animals and making ...
One of the more interesting pieces of feedback I received from my last post on romance was found in the number of people who really, really liked what I'd called all those contemporary romances that made me laugh: Contemporary Comedy Romances. The fact that I'd named the subgenre something that described it was commented on by several folks via email and on Twitter, with much appreciation.
I hadn't realized I'd done something so noteworthy. I was ...
The fourth season of Downton Abbey is winding down and by now adventuresome romance readers are looking for something to tide them over until the next season—you know, next year. It’s a sad state of affairs when a reader’s interest in a period or place is aroused and then there’s nothing easily available to fill the void. You’d think among thousands of books being published daily there’d be at least one romance set in the ’20s worth finding. I don’t ...
