Archive for Best Romance Books
Fifty Shades Trilogy: Erotic Romance Books Banned from Some Libraries
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I know, I know. You’re probably saying to yourself, gosh, not another article about erotic romance trilogy Fifty Shades of Grey? But really how could I not write something about how the books have been banned from some libraries?
I read in an article today that a number of Florida public libraries have either banned or declined to carry the popular erotic romance books. Some libraries say that they can’t bring in the books because of a limited budget. Another library has been more blunt, saying that it won’t buy erotic or pornographic books for the library. The Collier County library has declined to stock the book because of its “lack of literary merits including writing quality and lack of compelling plot.”
Now, we must remember that the Fifty Shades of Grey books are currently some of the most talked about novels in America. Everyday there’s an article or two about the books or the author E.L. James (who is currently on her U.S. book tour). They’re also selling like hotcakes.
Libraries are a public service, and the book there are intended for the use by those who cannot afford to – or choose not to – purchase books for themselves. The service is funded by taxpayers, by and large, and is for the public good. With this in mind, shouldn’t they be stocking books that are a big part of the current zeitgeist? Shouldn’t library members be able to choose not to buy the books that have been on the best-seller lists for months, but instead check out these books?
Let’s look also at the excuse that libraries won’t stock erotic romance books or pornography. Having read all three Fifty Shades of Grey books, I would certainly say that they are no more “smutty” than some of the steamy romances from “mainstream” romance book authors. All those bodice rippers that you see in your local library are just as much erotic romance as James’ books. The difference now is that the books have been portrayed in the media as “porn”. They’re not – if the powers-that-be would just read the books, they’d probably see that too.
Which brings me also to the excuse that the libraries can’t stock the books because of a “lack of literary merits”. If that was the reason, then libraries would only stock the literary greats – you know, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Hemingway, Hardy and so on. Oh no, wait, Hardy’s work was panned by the Victorian public as “obscene” (Jude The Obscure having been called Jude The Obscene). So we can’t be having any of those obscene Thomas Hardy books around at libraries as well. And oh, wasn’t Chaucer actually incredibly ribald? Let’s throw his works out too!
I know most library goers whose libraries don’t stock the erotic romance trilogy can go out and buy a copy for themselves. But it’s the principle of the thing you see. My point is, if you can stock Hardy and Chaucer, and if you can stock other romance books (some of which have sex scenes, gasp) then you can definitely stock the Fifty Shades of Grey books.
The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts
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Title: The Last Boyfriend (Book 2 of the Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy)
Author: Nora Roberts
Pages: 352
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Hot on the heels of her 200th book The Witness, Nora Roberts is back with The Last Boyfriend, the second book in her Inn Trilogy. Like the first book in the trilogy (The Next Always), The Last Boyfriend is set in BoonsBoro, a small town in Maryland. In the earlier book, brothers Owen, Beckett, and Ryder rebuilt the historic BoonsBoro Inn. Beckett already has his happy ever after, and now it’s Owen’s turn. Owen’s all about checklists and budgets. He’s incredibly organized, and is the man who whips everything into shape to make sure that the Inn opens on time. But Owen’s on a crash course with the much more spontaneous Avery McTavish, the owner of Vesta Pizzeria, the pizza place that sits kitty corner from the Inn. Avery and Owen have known each other since they were kids – Avery even had Owen for her first boyfriend (at age five!) They liked each other as children – and now they’re ready to continue their relationship, this time as adults!
Is Your Favorite Book on the Top 1000 Best Romance Books of All Time?
Posted by: | CommentsI recently came across a press release that I thought BestRomanceStories.com readers would appreciate. According to the press release, dated April 10, a group of writers (and dare I guess, romance book fans) had put together a list of the Top 1000 Best Romance Books of All Time.
Nora Roberts (www.noraroberts.com)
Now I’m a sucker for romance books, so it’s no wonder that the news immediately caught my eye. Apparently, three writers had toiled for four years to put together what they thought was a definitive list. Books on the list run the gamut from literary classics (such as Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre) to books by the doyen of today’s romance book industry, Nora Roberts. Stephenie Meyer’s young adult book Twilight even makes an appearance. All romance genres are represented – historical, paranormal, contemporary, erotic, and so on.
Judith McNaught
It’s very likely that some of your favorite authors have made the list. Apart from Nora Roberts, who has 25 books on the Top 1000 list, Julie Garwood has 16, while Linda Howard has 14. Some of my other favorites on the list include by Judith McNaught and Susan Elizabeth Phillips (both with 11 romance books in the Top 1000).
Now, I’m all for a Top 1,000 romance books list, and I confess it will probably make it a lot easier to find other books to read that I’ll probably like. My bugbear with the list though, is how unscientific the means of deriving the list was. It wasn’t measured by sales certainly.
Now I hear you asking – so how was the list worked out? Well, three romance book fans sat down and went through websites, bestseller lists and romance book blogs, and conjured the list based on what they saw online. A representative said, “Our only requirement was that the books be readable. We didn’t pick books that we felt like we had to pick. We picked books we enjoy by authors we love to read.”
I am a romance book fan, and I do have my favorite romance books. Don’t we all? There’s nothing wrong with choosing books we enjoy by authors we love… but when it comes to a Top 1000 of all time list, perhaps a little bit more method is required. (As opposed to my own Top 1000 favorite books list.) The preference of three persons is hardly a representative sample for a list as lofty as the Top 1000 Best Romance Books of All Time. I’m also curious as to why the books were ranked the way they were for example? What puts Pride and Prejudice at Number 1, and Justine Dare’s Avenging Angel at Number 1000? What were the criteria?
Nonetheless, if you take the list’s claims with a grain (or a handful) of salt, then the list is an interesting one to peruse, and you’re bound to come across some firm favorites that you share with the romance fans who chose the books. Check out the list here and see if your favorite book or author is on it!
Nicholas Sparks’ The Lucky One in Cinemas This Week!
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The Lucky One, a movie based on Nicholas Sparks’ book of the same name, will be hitting theaters tomorrow. Starring a grown-up Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling, the movie (like the book) is a sweet love story that will have you tearing up as the couple move inevitably toward their happy ever after.
US Marine First Sergeant Logan Thibault is an experienced veteran who’s survived three tours of duty in Iraq. He credits a photo he found one morning as the lucky charm that keeps him safe during his time in the Middle East. The photo is of a woman he doesn’t know, and he makes a promise to himself that when he returns Stateside, he’ll find the woman in the photo and thank her for saving his life. Logan does make it home, and when he does, he embarks on a new mission, one that involves him walking from Colorado to Hampton, North Carolina, with his trusty dog, Zeus. Logan is determined to find the woman in the photo.
By coincidence, he takes a job at a dog training facility where he finds that the mystery woman is none other than single mother Beth Green, the granddaughter of the facility’s owner. Naturally a romance develops between the two, and after overcoming a number of obstacles (including the big reveal when Logan finally tells Beth why he really came to Hampton) and Beth’s difficult ex, everything slides into place for a sweet and satisfying ending.
The Lucky One is the seventh Nicholas Sparks book to be made into a film. Other books that have been made into a film include:
Message in a Bottle
A Walk to Remember
The Notebook
Nights in Rodanthe
Dear John
The Last Song
All have been successful, and The Lucky One too, is likely to do amazingly well, thanks in part to its stars, as well as the innate popularity of Sparks’ books. Indeed movies based on Sparks’ books have launched the careers of a number of young actors, including Ryan Gosling, Channing Tatum and Liam Hemsworth. It should boost Efron’s career as well.
Fans of the books may not think that Efron makes a believable Marine. If that’s the case, it won’t be for want of Efron’s trying. The Efron in The Lucky One is far removed from the boy we’re familiar with from High School Musical. Efron buzzed off his gorgeous locks of hair, grew out some stubble, and worked out 2 to 4 hours a day with a retired Marine, put on 20 pounds of muscle. The result is a believable reserved young Marine who’s seen action in a hot zone.
The Lucky One opens on April 20. Check out the movie trailer, or better yet, get the book before you see the movie:
The Witness: Nora Roberts’ 200th Novel!
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Now available!
If you’re a lover of romance novels, then you must know Eleanor Marie Robertson. What’s that? Never heard of her? Oh silly me. You’ll probably know her better as Nora Roberts, or as J.D. Robb, the pen-name that she uses for her “In Death” series.
Nora Roberts was the first author to be inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. Her first book was published some 31 years ago in 1980, and her latest book, The Witness, is her 200th. (For trivia lovers out there, her 100th book was Montana Sky.) 200 is an amazing number… I’m reliably told that James Patterson has only written 93 (and there’ve been complaints about the quality of the more recent books at that) and Danielle Steele only 84.
Let’s do the Math. Assuming that she’s been writing for 31 years, that works out to just under 7 books a year. Clearly Roberts has to be extremely disciplined to be so prolific… and in fact she is. According to reports, Roberts labors over one book at a time, and writes eight hours a day, every day, even while on vacation. And it’s not as if Roberts books are cookie-cutter replicas of each other. Roberts’ books remain consistently high-quality, with plots and characters that are unique and original.
Nora Roberts and Dogs (www.noraroberts.com)
Roberts wasn’t always a writer, but at the age of 29, while stuck at home with her two young sons in the middle of a snowstorm, Roberts suddenly realized that writing was her calling. The next year, her first book, Irish Thoroughbred came out. Today, Roberts’ books are a shoo-in for the bestsellers lists, and there are more than 400 million copies of her books in print. Some of her most popular books have been made in movies for the Lifetime channel, and all over the world, fans gush about her latest works.
Speaking of her latest work, The Witness (now available for purchase) is a contemporary romantic suspense. The heroine, Abigail Lowery, lives just outside a small town in the Ozards. She’s a freelance programmer who designs security systems, and who’s strangely wary of people around her. In fact, Brooks Gleason town’s police chief is intrigued by the unusual amount of attention she pays to her personal security – she has a dog who’ll protect her, and firearms for those who aren’t scared off by the dog. He’s even further intrigued by how little she reveals about herself, and how cynical she is about love. He’s convinced she needs protection – even if he doesn’t know what she needs to be protected from. Whatever it is, Brooks thinks that he’s clearly the one for the job.
No doubt, The Witness will be yet winner for the legions of Nora Roberts fans, who’ll continue to support her until she puts out her 300th novel. The energetic 61-year-old Roberts continues to churn out books at an amazing rate. Based on her current rate of output, that should happen sometime around 2032, when Roberts is in her 80s.
About that Night: Charming Contemporary Romance
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Title: About that Night
Author: Julie James
Pages: 304
Genre: Contemporary Romance
If you read my earlier blog post There’s Something About “Something About You”, you’ll already know that I’m a big fan of Julie James. About that Night is James’ third and latest addition to her FBI/US Attorney series, and it is, if anything, even better than Something About You and its successor A Lot Like Love.
If you’ve read A Lot Like Love, you won’t be a stranger to Kyle “The Twitter Terrorist” Rhodes, who made an appearance as a supporting character in that book. Kyle gets his own book with About that Night. Kyle and our heroine, Rylann Pierce, first met nine years ago at a college bar. Sparks flew, and there was some harmless flirtation and scintillating conversation. Kyle ended up walking Rylann home, and asking her out on a date the next day. Unfortunately, the date doesn’t take place due to a tragedy in Kyle’s family, and although Rylann is disappointed, she understands… but she’s never forgotten Kyle.
Nine years later, Kyle and Rylann meet again under somewhat inauspicious circumstances. Rylann’s moving home to Chicago to escape a failed relationship, and to take up a position as an Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA). Rylann’s boss (Cameron Lynde, see Something About You) decides to give her a nice easy case to get her feet wet, and sends her to deal with the Twitter Terrorist (a.k.a. Kyle). Kyle, the son of a billionaire, and a top executive at his father’s IT firm, had it all going for him, until he was dumped on Twitter by his model girlfriend… which led to the chain of events that gave him his unfortunate moniker. In one night of drunken stupidity, Kyle hacked into Twitter and took the site down for two days – earning the ire of Twitter users around the world, and worse still, the FBI. Once Kyle sobered up, he turned himself in, and was sentenced to 18 months at a maximum security prison. It’s a harsh sentence, but then the previous US Attorney wanted to make an example of Kyle. Fortunately, Kyle’s twin sister Jordan negotiated a reduction of his sentence to time served (see A Lot Like Love), and all Rylann has to do is to make sure the arrangement is approved by a Judge.
Of course Kyle is sucker punched when Rylann shows up in court – he’s never forgotten her. And when Rylann approaches for help on another case where he could be the star witness in a case against a corrupt law enforcement officer, Kyle finds it hard to say no, despite the antipathy he feels for Rylann’s office. More time together equals more sparks than nine years ago, but Rylann’s fighting the attraction tooth and nail – because well, Kyle’s her witness… and an ex-con bad boy!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading About that Night. It was full of awesome witty dialogue (why don’t I ever think of such clever things to say) and funny scenes. (Look out for the line about the cactus in Tijuana!) James has a real talent for writing laugh-out-loud lines, and I found myself smiling all evening and giggling uncontrollably periodically. James has also created a wonderful hero in Kyle. It would have been easy to portray him as a two-dimensional rich kid who accidentally falls foul of the law. But James instead creates a complex hero. Kyle is a brilliant IT geek, wealthy but down-to-earth, and willing to take responsibility for his actions. He’s also a good son and brother, a charismatic CEO and successful executive… and definitely a romantic and accomplished lover. (Kyle’s idea for his and Rylann’s first date… swoon.) Oh and did I mention that he looks like Sawyer from Lost?
If you’ve read any of James’ books, run out and get About that Night – it’s the best one she’s written. If you haven’t read any of James’ books, you don’t know what you’re missing out on… Give About that Night a try and I know you’ll fall in love with her writing!
Fifty Shades of Grey: Why the Kinky Romance Trilogy’s a Hit
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The verdict’s in. E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy is a hit. It’s at the top of Amazon’s charts, and everywhere you turn, there’s an article in the paper or an interview on television about the runaway phenomenon.
The trilogy isn’t new – the first book (also entitled Fifty Shades of Grey) came out in the middle of last year, and the last book in the trilogy, Fifty Shades Freed, was published in January this year. Even before the media hoopla, the books were making waves in forums and blogs. There was a lot of chatter and word-of-mouth recommendations. Then came talk of a movie adaptation of the book, and finally controversy as to whether James’ book was a rip-off of Twilight. (The story began as Twilight fan fiction, and a number of readers have pointed out the many similarities between the characters, plot, and setting in response to my earlier blog post titled Seeing Twilight in Fifty Shades of Grey.)
If you haven’t had the opportunity to read the books yet, the books follow the relationship between Christian Grey, a successful entrepreneur in his late twenties, and young English major Anastasia Steele. Christian’s charm and calm exterior hide a painful past, and yes, some unusual sexual preferences. Anastasia on the other hand is an innocent on the cusp of womanhood. She’s just twenty-one and a final year University student, bookish, naive, and completely unaware of how attractive she is. Christian and Ana are attracted to each other, but she’s flabbergasted when Christian asks her to enter into a BDSM contract with him to be his submissive… and so the story goes. (See this post for more on all three books in the series.)
It’s indisputable that the trilogy’s a hit, but what is it that’s made it so successful? I think what’s so attractive about the books is the sheer romance and fantasy involved. What woman doesn’t enjoy a bit of romance and fantasy right? Now, I admit there have been those who’ve criticized the books for portraying an unhealthy relationship, saying that Christian and Ana could provide a bad example for readers. My response to that is – I think we need to give readers a bit more credit. There are hit TV shows that portray unhealthy relationships but relationship experts don’t have any issues with Sookie Stackhouse bedding two vampires because, well, it’s fantasy. It’s not real. Just as Christian and Ana are not real… no matter how much I’d like them to be. I admit that I was completely sucked in while reading, and yes, I admit to fantasizing about having my very own Christian to sweep me off my feet – even if he is a neurotic, insecure man with trust issues. (But then, there are many men who have similar issues.) Reading the Fifty Shades books are a fun escape from reality – and just that. It’s a fairy tale romance with a bit of bite – nice!
Speaking of biting… I suspect some of the success is related to the risqué BDSM elements. BDSM romances are generally quite a niche market, though Cherise Sinclair, Joey W. Hill, and other authors who write this specialized form of erotica seem to be doing pretty well, and are wonderful writers in their own right. However, their work isn’t as well publicized as the Fifty Shades books, and it’s likely, given all the publicity that they Fifty Shades books are getting, readers who didn’t previously know about BDSM romances are finally twigging to these books, and finding the idea mysterious, erotic, and just a bit forbidden – and very attractive. And that translates into book sales.
But the key reason for the books’ success I fear, could well be something much more mundane. It’s technology. I blame the Kindle (and the Nook, and the iPad)! It’s only in recent times that I’ve read the term “mummy porn”, and I can only guess what it’s supposed to mean. The books aren’t porn (and no, I can’t define porn, but I know it when I see it) but they are pretty steamy. The anonymity of being able to download the books to an e-reader is a big plus for those ladies (and gentlemen) who would otherwise be reluctant to be seen with an erotic romance novel, and makes the books much more accessible. The books’ steep run up the bestseller charts are certainly proof of that!
See also: If You Like the Fifty Shades of Grey Books You’ll LOVE These
