Test Your Lit IQ (Romancelandia Edition)

Several weeks ago, going through a box that’s been sitting unpacked in my closet since I moved more than two years ago, I came across a tiny book entitled Test Your Literature IQ. It has 200 questions divided into three sections: one for Dabblers, one for Smarter-Than-Mosts and one for Geniuses. The first section, as one would expect, asks easy questions such as “Who wrote The Color Purple?” and “What is the pen name of Samuel Clemens?” Section 2 is a bit more challenging, asking the test-taker to identify quotations such as “I saw the best minds of my generation, starving hysterical naked” and “There are no second acts in American life.” (I knew the first—Allen Ginsberg, Howl--but missed the second—F. Scott Fitzgerald in notes for his unfinished novel, The Last Tycoon). The Genius section is a rather strange mix of fun challenges and tests of esoteric knowledge. I enjoyed matching the imaginary places (Utopia, Erewhon, Wessex, Shangri-La, Serendip) with their creators (Sir Thomas More, Samuel Butler, Thomas Hardy, James Hilton, Horace Walpole), but, except for Plath, I was at a loss when asked which of five authors (Susanna Kaysen, Eugene O’Neill, Norman Mailler, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sylvia Plath) did not spend time in a psychiatric facility. (Fitzgerald did not.) My 172 correct answers qualify me as a “James Joyce Scholar,” a misnomer, I assure you. I never even finished Finnegans Wake.

Since I am a lover of such tests and a lover of romance fiction, it was a logical move from the rediscovered book to thinking what fun a Romancelandia edition of the test would be. Tuesday afternoon I couldn’t summon the energy to (1) clean house, which I must do before a Grands birthday party this weekend; (2) rewrite a section of TLWH, a task mandated by a late-stage epiphany; (3) read in order to reduce the size of my TBR mountain. But I did have a great time creating an abbreviated version (20 questions rather than 200) of Test Your Literature IQ especially for readers of romance.

Are you a Dabbler? A Smarter-Than-Most? A Genius? Read on and find out.



Questions for Dabblers

1. Who is the author of Lord of Scoundrels?
2. During what period is Bet Me set?
3. Who is Phoebe Somerville?
4. What is the name of the kidnapper turned hero in Devil in Winter?
5. For which work did Julia Quinn win her first Rita in 2007?

a. The Duke and I
b. Minx
c. The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever
d. The Lost Duke of Wyndham
e. On the Way to the Wedding

6. Who is Kit Butler’s love interest in Mary Balogh’s A Summer to Remember?
7. Which of these is not a book by Connie Brockway?

a. As You Desire
b. The Bridal Season
c. The Charmer
d. Skinny Dipping
e. My Dearest Enemy

Questions for the Smarter-than-Mosts
1. Which author doesn’t belong in the list?

a. Nora Roberts
b. Christina Dodd
c. J. R. Ward
d. Julie James
e. Sherrilyn Kenyon

2. Who wrote this line: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife”?
3. What is the pseudonym of Mary Bly, Shakespeare professor and daughter of a renowned poet?
4. Who wrote a lengthy Georgian-set series featuring an aristocratic family with Medieval names and a head of family known as l'eminence noire?
5. Match these famous heroes with their creators:

a. Roarke
b. Derek Craven
c. Mr. Rochester
d. Reginald Davenport
e. Matthew Farrell

Charlotte Bronte
Judith McNaught
Nora Roberts
Lisa Kleypas
Mary Jo Putney

6. How many books have been published in Robyn Carr’s Virgin River series as of July 2010?
7. Which of the following authors has never published a category romance?

a. Nora Roberts
b. Rachel Gibson
c. Jayne Ann Krentz
d. Judith McNaught
e. Linda Howard

Questions for Geniuses

1. Who is the most prolific romance writer of all time?
2. Match the romance author with the blog:

a. Teresa Medeiros
b. Jayne Ann Krentz
c. Anne Gracie
d. Debra Dixon
e. Anna Campbell
f. Julia London

The Goddess Blogs
Word Wenches
Squawk Radio
Romance Bandits
Riding with the Top Down
Running with Quills

3. Who is Harold Lowry?
4. In 1999, a group of Southern writers, most of whom had published romance fiction, started their own small press with an emphasis on the work of Southern storytellers. What is the name of the press?
5. Name any five of the thirteen members of the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame.
6. Sherry Thomas is to Meredith Duran as Tessa Dare is to

a. Sara Lindsey
b. Kris Kennedy
c. Jennifer Haymore
d. Courtney Milan
e. Maggie Robinson

How did you do? Comment please. Pose your own questions, query mine, or question the sanity of such quizzes. Tell us how many you think you know. But please do NOT post your answers to the quiz. Next Wednesday (July 21), I’ll post the answers and a Romance Fiction IQ decoder, and the Randomizer will select one poster to win a free book.

Answers:

Dabblers
1. Loretta Chase
2. 21st century/contemporary
3. The heroine of SEP’s first Chicago Stars book, It Had to Be You
4. Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent
5. On the Way to the Wedding
6. Lauren Edgeworth
7. The Charmer (by Madeline Hunter)

Smarter-Than-Most
1. Julie James (who has never published a paranormal romance)
2. Jane Austen (the justifiably famous first line of Pride and Prejudice)
3. Eloisa James
4. Jo Beverley (the Mallorens and Rothgar)
5. Heroes

a. Roarke—Nora Roberts, In Death series
b. Derek Craven—Lisa Kleypas, Dreaming of You
c. Mr. Rochester—Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre
d. Reginald Davenport—Mary Jo Putney, The Rake and the Reformer & The Rake
e. Matthew Farrell—Judith McNaught, Paradise

6. 10 novels plus 2 novellas
7. Rachel Gibson

Genius
1. Barbara Cartland
2. Romance Blogs

a. Teresa Medeiros--Squawk Radio
b. Jayne Ann Krentz--Running with Quills
c. Anne Gracie—Word Wenches
d. Debra Dixon—Riding with the Top Down
e. Anna Campbell—Romance Bandits
f. Julia London—The Goddess Blogs

3. Leigh Greenwood, author of 40+ romance novels, mostly Westerns
4. Belle Books
5. RWA Hall of Famers: Justine Dare, Jennifer Greene, Francine Rivers, Cheryl Zach, Nora Roberts (three times), Kathleen Korbel (Eileen Dreyer), Jo Beverley, LaVyrle Spencer, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Jodi Thomas, Kathleen Crighton
6. Courtney Milan (CPs—critique partners)

The winner of the free book is Vi. Please send me your contact info at JangaRho at gmail dot com, and I'll send you your book ASAP.

A New Cinderella Tale: Eloisa James’s A KISS AT MIDNIGHT

I’m a fan of romances with fairy tale themes. Teresa Medeiros, Julia Quinn, Anne Gracie, Elizabeth Hoyt, Judith Ivory, Robin McKinley, Mercedes Lackey—I have fairy tale romances by all of them among my keepers. I have been looking forward to reading A Kiss at Midnight ever since I first read that Eloisa James was writing a Cinderella tale. A favorite romance trope in a novel by one of my favorite romance authors—what could be more designed to delight this reader’s heart? Except—I had this niggling concern. Ever since I researched Cinderella for a grad school paper on Shakespeare’s Cordelia (King Lear), I’ve been bothered by the tendency in American popular culture to apply the term “Cinderella tale” to any story, song, film, real-life relationship, etc. that remotely resembles the fairy tale. I often find myself disappointed, and sometimes irritated, by what I think of as false Cinderellas. How terrible it would be if EJ’s book fell into this group.

I’m happy to report that my concern was for naught.

AKAM is rich in the traditional elements of the Cinderella tale. Heroine with a good and loving heart—check; dead mother—check; absent father—check; heroine as target of step-mother’s venom—check; magical guardian for persecuted heroine—check (Some may disagree on this element, but I’ll argue with anyone that Kate’s godmother is magical.); The Shoe—check. AKAM even boasts a witty transformation of the rats from Charles Perrault’s late-17th-century version, which also adds the glass slipper! EJ acknowledges her debt to Perrault in an afterword. AKAM clearly qualifies as a true Cinderella tale.



The poet W. H. Auden once wrote, “The way to read a fairy tale is to throw yourself in.” I found Auden’s advice easy to follow when I read A Kiss at Midnight. I was captivated from the first page. I was a bit worried about AKAM’s captivation quotient too. I prefer Beauty and the Beast to Cinderella because Cinderella is so good and so patient, so much like the character of Griselda of Medieval fame. (I once won an audible laugh from my Chaucer prof by confessing my loathing for this character.) But EJ’s Cinderella, Kate Daltry, is no patient, submissive Griselda, and she’s no saintly, suffering Disney Cinderella either. In the first chapter the reader sees her as an angry, embattled heroine, who has been the protector of servants and tenants since her father’s death. In fact, it is this concern that gives her stepmother a means of forcing Kate to do her bidding rather than this Cinderella’s meek submission to villainous authority. I loved Kate. From the fierce protector of chapter one to the drowsy princess of the final chapter, she is fully human and wholly enchanting.

EJ adds other twists to her tale as well. Mariana, the stepmother, is appropriately vain, selfish, and vindictive, but she has only one daughter rather than the traditional pair, and this daughter, Victoria, is a far cry from the "mean girls" of the ancient tale. There is a wonderful twist that I won’t mention for fear of spoilers, but if you’ve read the excerpts, you will be prepared for it. EJ’s prince is no closer to the traditional fairy tale prince that Kate is to the angelic Cinderella. I’ve always thought the prince in the usual tale was rather boring. He’s little more than a handsome face, overflowing coffers, and a means to the HEA for the deserving heroine. EJ’s prince, in contrast, is no cipher. Gabriel is arrogant, intelligent, responsible, conflicted, and lusty. The last is important. AKAM is a 21st-century romance novel, after all.

Finally, the feminist in me rejoices that Kate, with her godmother’s help and her mother’s legacy, saves herself. I further rejoice that Eloisa James makes clear that while Gabriel has the power to break Kate’s heart, she can survive and build a life should he make the wrong choice. I rejoice yet again that it is Gabriel who has to prove himself worthy of Kate, not by meeting an externally imposed criterion for beauty (small feet for the traditional Cinders Girl) but by recognizing the supremacy of love.

Can you tell this book filled me with joy? :)

Readers who are fans of EJ’s series may be a bit disappointed that some of the characters in AKAM will not have books of their own. All of the ends are tied up nicely in HEA bows, but I fell in love with one secondary character that I would have been happy to see as the hero of another book. But although it’s her first stand-alone novel, EJ endows AKAM with the intelligence, humor, and pathos readers look for in her books. The story also has the literary allusions, the funny names, and the female friendships that are EJ trademarks. AKAM is distinctly an Eloisa James book, but it’s one with a difference.

I have a tradition of my own that I began with the first EJ book I read. I always note one sentence that stops me cold and sends me back to reread it, sometimes more than once, to glory in its perfection for the scene, for the character. My favorite such moment in AKAM is this one: “He closed his eyes for a moment, and the color of his eyelashes was like the color of regret. With a kind of piercing sorrow, she knew that she would never forget this prince.” Sigh!

I highly recommend A Kiss at Midnight.



I also recommend for other lovers of fairy tales that you participate in EJ’s current contest. Find your dream fairy tale shoe and share it. You can find the details at eloisajames.com, and the prizes are terrific (a Nook for one lucky contestant). And, even if you aren’t entering, go over to the Fairy Tale Shoe Flickr Group to see the fantastic entries. Joining EJ’s fans on Facebook will garner you a second chance at a Nook. The details for the Facebook Fans giveaway can also be found at EJ’s web site.

Are you a fan of fairy tale themes in romance fiction? Do you prefer those faithful to tradition, or do you like to see an author tweak the conventions? What are your favorite fairy tale romances?

Note: In the interest of full disclosure and to appease the FTC, I hereby state that I received an ARC of A Kiss at Midnight at no cost. As most of you know, I’m a moderator at the Eloisa James/Julia Quinn bulletin board. Neither the free book nor the mod status affected my review of this book.

My Top Ten Reads of 2010 (So Far)

We are officially halfway through the year, and I always take stock of the year’s reading at this point. I’ve read 137 books so far; a couple of dozen of them were rereads of old favorites, including some new reissues like Jo Beverley’s The Stanforth Secrets and Loretta Chase’s “The Mad Earl’s Bride,” and another dozen or so were literary fiction titles with a sprinkling of non-fiction. But most of my reading in 2010 has consisted of books published this year—heavy on romance with some women’s fiction and mysteries for variety. The first half of the year has been generous in providing reading pleasure. A fair number of the books I’ve read have been added to my keeper shelves, and many more have made me laugh or cry, wonder or remember, and sometimes all of the above. But even among favorite reads, there are those that stand out.

These are the ten that are my top reads of the year so far (in alphabetical order by author):

1. A Matter of Class, Mary Balogh
I admit to complaining about this one. I winced at the price, particularly given the length of the book—somewhere between a novella and a novel. But I’ve been a Mary Balogh fan since her first book; only Nora Roberts accounts for more of my keepers. So I bought it, and I loved it. I loved Reginald and Annabelle, I loved the “matter of class,” I loved the twist (which I figured out quite early), and I loved the sweetness of this most satisfying story.

2. What the Librarian Did, Karina Bliss
This was my first Karina Bliss book, and it is a gem. How often do you find a book that pairs a reformed druggie rock star with a librarian hooked on vintage clothes? WTLD is sweet and sexy and funny and poignant, and it shows how terrific a category read can be at its best.

3. The Forbidden Rose, Joanna Bourne
This is a story about love and trust, about large events that make up the histories of nations and small moments that make up the lives of individuals. The characters are complex and compelling, the story so engaging that it doesn’t seem to end but just moves from the page to the reader’s memory, and the prose so lucid and simple that it set me to paring my own. Joanna Bourne has the gift of creating stories that appeal to the reader’s head and heart. I loved Maggie and Doyle's story, and I’m already impatiently waiting for Bourne's next book.

4. The Goddess of Fried Okra, Jean Brashears
I reviewed Goddess in April, and I’ve already revisited this book. It's one of those books that lingers in the memory, its characters popping up unexpectedly like old friends you haven't seen in a while. It has many champions. Eloisa James praised it in one of her columns for B&N. All I can add is that if you haven’t read this book yet, you are missing a rare treat.

5. Something About You, Julie James
Contemporaries where both the H/H act like adults with brains and hearts as well as sex organs are not exactly common, but these are the kind of books that Julie James writes. I think SAY is her best yet. Jack and Cameron are appealing as individuals and as a couple. The dialogue is great, the danger is credible, and the sexual tension is superbly done. (There’s a motorcycle scene that I’ve studied a dozen times to see how JJ accomplishes this.) It's a terrific book--romantic comedy at its best.













6. Marrying the Royal Marine, Carla Kelly
I continue to be amazed that every book Carla Kelly writes is not on bestseller lists. I’d especially like to see those who complain that romance writers are incapable of writing realistic tales read Kelly. Marrying the Royal Marine is the third of her books about the illegitimate daughters of a villainous aristocrat. Kelly again writes about ordinary people who have extraordinary heart and courage. She writes about war and makes the suffering of the innocent, the humanity of the enemy, and the brutality of “our” side painfully real. Practical Polly Brandon, clear-sighted though spectacled, and her Scotsman with a French name, the decent and honorable Hugh Junot, join a long list of unforgettable Kelly characters. For me, the name Carla Kelly is synonymous with keeper.

7. The Irish Warrior, Kris Kennedy
I used to say I almost never read medieval romances. Kris Kennedy is changing my reading pattern. I loved The Conqueror last year, and The Irish Warrior is even better. I found the dye-witch tale intriguing, and while Senna is a wonderful heroine, it is Finian, with his strength, honor, passion, and humor, who catapults this book over others I also loved to place TIW among my top ten.

8. Song of Seduction, Carrie Lofty
Sometimes I just want to read something totally different from my usual choices, and Song of Seduction certainly meets this criterion. Set in Salzburg in 1804, featuring a pair of musicians as H/H, flawed characters with scars and secrets, with sex scenes that merit the hot label various reviewers have assigned but that nevertheless are part of a gradually developing, complex relationship, SOS is unique. It’s one of Carina Press’s first releases, and if it’s indicative of the quality of romances, CP will be releasing, they can count me among their readers.


9. Seven Secrets of Seduction, Anne Mallory
I’ve enjoyed Anne Mallory’s other books, but Seven Secrets of Seduction is the first one that made me understand why some of my friends are Mallory fanatics. Even though the book-loving heroine is common in romance, Miranda herself is uncommon in her character and in her experience. Max is a dangerous hero, and he challenges the reader as effectively as he challenges Miranda. I don’t want to wander into spoiler territory, so I’ll just say,"Read this one." I think you’ll understand those Mallory fanatics too.

10. Ten Things I Love About You, Julia Quinn
I’m an unabashed fan of all books by Julia Quinn. I buy them to be entertained, to laugh, to have my heart touched by the humanness of her characters. While I certainly have my favorites among her books, she never fails to provide exactly what I spent my money expecting. Quite often she offers more. TTILAY was no exception. I fell in love with Sebastian Grey in What Happened in London when he read from a Gothic romance. Seeing him as the author of that romance, as a soldier affected by war, as a man who falls in love deeply and unexpectedly just added to his appeal. Annabel, the Winslow Most Likely to Speak Her Mind, almost deserves him. And in Annabel’s grandmother, Lady Vickers, JQ has created a scene stealer to rival Lady Danbury from the Bridgerton books. A fun read that tugs at the heart as effectively as it tickles the funny bone.

By December, this list may change. In fact I just recently read a July release that will definitely enter my top ten. But whether these books stay in my top ten or not, they are all keepers. Each one gave me much reading pleasure, and I know I’ll be rereading them all. They are all winners.

What are your top reads for the first six months of 2010? Have you read any on my list?

The Raving Reader

A few weeks ago, while searching for reviews of a particular book, I came across a blogger’s rant against readers who rave about the books they read. Nobody, the blogger insisted, could possibly read so many books that truly merited the level of praise that some readers were dishing out. Perhaps the blogger’s purpose was to provoke her reader. If so, she certainly succeeded with me.

Is there a rule that only so many good books can be written? If I’ve read one good book this month, have I reached my quota? Or am I allowed two? Or five? How do I know when I’ve read so many good books that everything else I read must fall short of my definition of “good book”?

And defining presents another problem? Perhaps the blogger’s definition of a good book and mine are quite different. Some reviewers seem to reserve their highest grade for books they see as flawless. I’m not one of those reviewers. If the perfect book exists, I’ve never read it. The Oxford English Dictionary defines “excellence” as “the possession chiefly of good qualities in an eminent or unusual degree.” I’m comfortable labeling books that possess interesting characters I grow to care about, involved in compelling situations and presented in lucid, graceful prose as “excellent,” even if I have a few quibbles about the book. I do grade the books I read. The grade is strictly subjective, and it is intended for my eyes only. Because I read selectively (around 85% from my auto-buy authors), I almost never give a grade below a C+. If the book is really bad, I don’t finish it. And I don’t grade DNFs.

During my decades in the classroom, I never understood colleagues who boasted that only 10% of their students merited an A. I never knew in advance what grades a particular group of students might earn. I taught an advanced composition class once of exceptionally bright, motivated students in which I gave over 50% of them an A and most of the rest a B. On the other hand, I taught classes in which I gave not a single A and a distressing number of Ds and Fs. The grades depended upon the quality of the work produced by the students in each, unique group. I feel this way about the books I read too. Some months I read a string of A books; some months I read none.

When I do finish a book and note it as an A read, I want to share my enthusiasm for what I’ve read. The OED tells me that one meaning of “rave,” one that’s been in use at least since Robert Burton’s The Anatomy of Melancholy in 1621, is “to speak or write about someone or something with great enthusiasm or admiration.” Given this definition, I confess: I am a raving reader. I rush here or to Goodreads or to the Eloisa James/Julia Quinn bulletin board or to my trusted online group and allow myself to freely express my enthusiasm for the books I love. Sometimes I’m sure I sound like an infatuated adolescent. If I’m writing a full review, I strive for a more reasoned tone, but I’m sure even then my enthusiasm breaks through. I never thought about counting my book raves, but since I write in various venues, formally and informally, about books that I have found excellent over more than half a century of reading, I’m sure that the number I rave about would drive that complaining blogger to distraction.

I offer no apologies for being a raving reader. I do believe that if those of us who love romance fiction want to see it earn the respect awarded to other genres by the larger reading public, we have to be willing for the texts of romance to be subjected to stringent, fair criticism. I believe there is a place for objective evaluations that point out where a specific book falls short of a critic’s criteria for excellence. At the same time, I have no tolerance for mean-spirited reviews that attack an author or for smug snark that is more an opportunity for the critic to display his/her cleverness than to honestly evaluate a book. But, for the most part, when I’m writing about books, I’m sharing what I loved about characters, plot, or prose. It’s what I like to do. I started to read a book this week that I found clichéd, boring, and superficial. I’m sure someone will tell readers what she found lacking in this particular book. I won’t be that person. Instead I can’t wait to tell you about this ARC I read that has a hero and heroine who captured my attention and my heart, a story that made me laugh and cry, and language with phrases that continue to sing in my ears. Yep, I’m raving again.

Do you grade the books you read? Are you sometimes irritated by the enthusiasm of raving readers? Or are you a raving reader?

Summertime, and the Living Is . . .

I have Grand visitors this week.

And I’m spending lots of time in the sun . . .



on the water . . .


and in movie theaters.




The four-year-old said after a long, busy day, “My energy needs a rest.” So does mine. : ) My visitors say goodbye tomorrow. I plan a lazy, relaxing weekend during which I barely stir from the air-conditioned comfort of home, a stack of books, and lots of iced tea. I'll be back next week with a blog about raving readers.


I’m finding summer exhausting. How is your summer going?

A Few Words from Jill Barnett--And A Few from Janga

Last September, not long before the Vagabonds broke up the caravan and headed in different directions, I blogged on my wish list of new books by authors whose names had disappeared from new releases lists. I didn’t include Jill Barnett in the list because I kept seeing references to new books by her, but Hellion, the Cap’n on the Romance Writer’s Revenge, mentioned in her comment how much she missed JB and suggested that her absence might be attributable to the untimely death of her husband.



I haven’t really thought about the wish list blog since the Vagabonds said our goodbyes, but our words—mine and those of all the commenters—caught the attention of Jill Barnett, who sent me the following message:

I scoured your website, Vagabonds, but could find nowhere to post. I just now discovered a conversation in 2009 about me, my books, or lack thereof, and the death of my husband.

I would love to post or have you post this info. I loved that you and Hellion missed my books. As for Chris' death affecting my output, not so much. His death has affected every moment and single grain of my life. I was so scared. Our daughter was only 11. I had to raise her alone. It was not easy. Then my father and my MIL died, two months apart and a year after Chris. Still I was writing.

I was in the middle of CARRIED AWAY when Chris died, and had stupidly patterned a character after him. Can you imagine? Finishing that book was so difficult, but I did. After that, I wrote WONDERFUL, WILD, WICKED, all historical romances, some of my bestsellers, then SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY, THE DAYS OF SUMMER, and another women's fiction book.

And I have three new historical romances coming out all together in 2011.

Here's a short version of what happened. I was urged by my publisher to go hardcover. They wanted to take WICKED hardcover. That bothered me. Romance readers read so much. They want paperback, so I agreed instead to do hardcover fiction and write something else after WICKED, which I asked them to keep as a mass market ppbk. Then during one year, everyone who supported me at the publisher left and my agent left my literary agency. I had been at my publisher since 1988, with my first book. This was what was difficult.

Eventually I slogged through and finished my contract; this was not easy, I admit, and took me forever. I left and have gone over to my old team who are now at Random House/Ballantine. We proposed three new historical romances, which they wanted to hold and publish all at once, and I still had to write the books, so I expect they will be out sometime in 2011.

There is a 4th book they don't know about yet which will probably follow those. Had I written these books faster, they would have been out this year. Blame me for that. I was never a speedy writer. It takes 2-3 months to physically write a book, but 6-9 for me to 'think a book.'

But I adore these books and hope readers will, too. Set in medieval Scotland, they are about three sisters who I believe readers will not forget, and the men who fall in love with them, though that is not an easy task for our heroes. I promise you these books are different, and that readers will read them and find many surprises. They are emotional, sometimes funny, and meant for readers to close the book happy. I want these women to be remembered, and think they will be, although I'm still writing number 3, so we'll see.

I have another idea for a trilogy, so I would like to write that, and further into the future, I swear I will write the two spin offs of BEWITCHING and DREAMING I am still getting mail about.

A revamped Jill Barnett website will up in the late summer. All of my older romances are being released in e-Book form and will be available in a couple of months, if not sooner at all the eBook stores.

I am sincerely flattered that readers miss my books. I will try to make certain they have Jill Barnett books every year in the future.

Yes, there are times and were times when writing a happy, joy-filled love story was difficult, especially in the early days of Chris' death, when I was floundering so, and terribly wounded. But my husband loved that I wrote these books. To stop writing would feel like a slap in his face. I was lucky to have had him for 27 years, and I would have loved to have had him for 27 more. He is missed greatly by my daughter, his brothers and sisters, his friends, his employees, and me.

I do post on a private (not fan site) on Facebook, talk about books and life, family and him, home and writing, and I have little Twitter acct, Jillbooks. I will eventually set up a FB fan page, but anyone is welcome to befriend me on the one that is there now.

So new books are coming, and I hope you will still want to read them, that readers will laugh and cry, and read the last line and close the book on a satisfied sigh.

My best,

Jill Barnett

If you’ve never read a Jill Barnett book, do yourself a favor and look for those ebooks right now. Bewitching and Dreaming are my favorites, and I was delighted to read that Ms. Barnett is planning spinoffs of these books. Anytime the subject of epilogues comes up, I cite Bewitching as having one of the best epilogues ever written. Just thinking about it makes me smile. I know some of you share my fondness for control-freak meets free spirit plots, and, trust me, this tale of the proper, rational Alec Castlemaine, 15th Duke of Belmore, who wants to control everything, and Joyous Fiona MacQuarrie, a one-quarter witch who can’t even control her own magic, will have you laughing, crying, and sighing at some great love scenes. I don’t know of another book where the H/H’s lovemaking is accompanied by a shower of pink rose petals. A cast of wonderful secondary characters, including Beezle, Joy’s familiar, an ermine weasel, add to the delight. Some of the secondary characters get their own HEAs in Dreaming, which Hellion actually likes even better than Bewitching.

I read very few Medieval romances, but I have read JB’s trilogy: Wonderful, Wild, and Wicked. The latter is one of only three Medievals on my all-time top 100 romances list. Even my bias against the period setting couldn’t hold out against the humor, the pathos, and the heart-capturing H/H of this book.



I also love Sentimental Journey. It is a World War II book that is a novel with strong romantic elements rather than a romance, but both the men and women are strong, active, and deeply human characters whose stories will engage your mind and your heart. I have to add a novella to my list of Jill Barnett favorites. “Boxing Day,” one of four stories in the Christmas anthology A Stockingful of Joy, is a one-of-a-kind tale featuring an older heroine and a professional boxer in Victorian New York. It’s been a part of my annual Christmas rereads since I first read it. (Mary Jo Putney’s underrated “The Best Husband Money Can Buy” is in the same anthology.)

Perhaps you are beginning to understand why Hellion and I missed Jill Barnett books and why I think the news that “new books are coming” is an announcement worth celebrating.

What’s your favorite Jill Barnett book? From what writers do you most long to hear a new-books-on-the-way announcement?

I Love Romance Novels! Thank You, Robyn Carr!

Today I was reminded anew of a large reason why I have read romance fiction for most of my life. The realities of death and divorce in the lives of people I love cast a heavy pall over my day. I did what I could for those most affected, precious little though it was. Then, rather than sit and grow sadder with every moment of thought, I retreated to a book.

In this case, the book was an advance copy of Robyn Carr’s A Summer in Sonoma, which I read courtesy of her publisher, Mira/Harlequin, and NetGalley. I first read Carr when she was writing historicals back in the 80s, and she’s been on my auto-buy list since 1999 with The House on Olive Street (which has just been reissued and is in bookstores now, by the way). I bought Virgin River on its release day, well before it became a buzzed-about book. I include all these details because reading an auto-buy author is different from reading a new or new-to-me writer or a sometimes-read author, particularly when the reader has a long history with the writer.

I know when I pick up a book with Robyn Carr’s name on the cover that I’m going to get an emotionally intense story in which characters, who will be presented within the context of a community of family and friends, will experience problems that mirror real life problems. With the help of their community, the characters will overcome these problems in credible ways. The psychically and physically wounded will be healed, the lonely will find love, and the embattled lovers will reconcile.

I have a particular fondness for the kind of book Carr writes, books I call “hybrid romances” because they are a blend of women’s fiction and romance. I felt safe reading A Summer in Sonoma. I knew I was entering a world where characters would struggle with some of the same problems that had left me weighed down with sadness, but they would emerge triumphant. I wasn’t disappointed.

ASIS is the story of four women, friends since their school days, discovering that the lives they are leading as they head into their thirties are not the lives they expected.

Cassie, an ER nurse, is single. A series of bad relationships with jerks and losers have left her lonely and frightened. “There were times she thought life just wasn’t worth living without some kind of deep love and intimacy. The thought of growing into an old woman without ever having that kind of intimacy was unimaginable.” Then in the worst moment of her life, she meets a most unlikely knight.

Julie is married to her high school sweetheart Billy. The parents of three children, living on Billy’s salary as a paramedic for the fire department and his second job in construction, they have too many bills for their income and too little time together. “When she was crowned homecoming queen, this was not how she had envisioned her life. She’d had her fifteen minutes of fame when she was seventeen.”

Beth is a busy doctor, “a nerdy brain inside a model’s body.” Immersed in her new practice at a local women’s clinic, she insists she has no time for a man in her life. An only child of older parents, Beth is used to keeping things to herself: “She’s always been a private sort, not because she was secretive, but because she had a tendency to be intense, to think about things deeply for a long time before putting her emotions out there to be examined.” But the recurrence of a medical problem that had left her scarred in heart and body the first time teaches her how much she needs her old friends--and a new one.

Hairdresser Marty, married to Joe, a fireman, and the mother of one child, hates her life. Every day of dissatisfaction with her husband’s old world ideas about gender roles and his slobbish ways erodes her love for him more and sets her thinking of a life separate from his. “The sexy man she’d fallen in love with was gone, replaced by this Neanderthal who couldn’t care less about her feelings.”

The friendship that connects these four women is the center of this book. Their interactions felt real to me. The intimacy, the informality, the history they shared all rang true. More than once I was reminded of my own best friend, who has been a part of my life since we were four years old. I also liked the way the group extended to integrate the men in their lives. Cassie and Billy are friends too. He’s more than just her best friend’s husband. Billy introduces Joe and Marty. Cassie worries about what her friends will think of the new man in her life. All these things added to the credibility of the story. One of my favorite passages described a gathering of the tribe: “It worked. Four odd couples strung together by four women who’d been friends since they were girls, laughed and joked through lots of food and good wine, told tales about one another and seemed to connect on many levels.”

Fans of Carr’s Virgin River series know what great male characters this author creates. Walt knocked some of those VR heroes down a notch or two on my list of favorites. I adore the big, burly biker with his ponytail, naked woman tattoo, love of books, and tender ways with a woman’s body and heart. Billy who is still passionately in love with his wife after thirteen years of marriage, who thinks his three kids are miracles, won my heart too. Jerod, a nurturer who is not intimidated by Beth’s independence or forced dependence is a dream hero. Even stubborn Joe, who takes his marriage vows seriously and —once he knows the problem—knocks himself out showing his love for his wife, is a winner.

A Summer in Sonoma did exactly what I hoped it would. It allowed me to come back to the heartbreaks in my real world less weighed down by sadness, with a greater sense of optimism. Escapism? Perhaps. I prefer to think of it as a reminder that human creatures can, to borrow terms from William Faulkner’s Nobel acceptance speech, not merely endure but prevail.

I love romance novels! I owe a big thank you to Robyn Carr and to dozens of other romance writers who keep enriching my world and safeguarding my sanity with their tales of those who prevail.