Today’s Romance Novels

Today’s romance novels are not the bodice ripping, sex saturated, moaning and groaning, air head woman vs. chest beating man, empty stories of the 70’s and 80’s.  Today’s romances have evolved to complex plots, with smart, savvy heartsheroines and sensitive, flawed heroes.  The old romance books had the domineering man “rescuing” the passive woman.  Today you’ll find strong, independent women who sometimes do the “rescuing”.  While most of today’s books have the “happily ever after ending”, some stories end up “happy for now”, or “satisfied with my live as is”.  Most romances today don’t center around just the two main characters.  You learn about their families and friends, the town they live in, the world around them.  Today’s romance reader is smart, educated, thoughtful, and complex.  Today’s romances run the gambit from historical England, to the wild American West, to the military, to small town life.  They can be inspirational, suspenseful, other worldly and a whole host of subgenres – so many that everyone will be able to find the right fit for their reading pleasure.  It is a bit deceiving to label a book “romance”, when it fits quite nicely as a “literary” novel.  Below is a list of just a few of the romance subgenres.

  1. Medieval
  2. Historical (England, Scotland)
  3. American Historical
  4. Western (Contemporary)
  5. Western (Historical)
  6. Contemporary (Serious)
  7. Contemporary (Humorous)
  8. Suspense
  9. Thriller
  10. Military
  11. Paranormal(Vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters)
  12. Paranormal(Ghosts, witches)
  13. Futuristic/Fantasy
  14. Regency Romances
  15. Victorian Romances
  16. Inspirational(Historical)
  17. Inspirational(Contemporary)
  18. Erotic
  19. Chick Lit
  20. Romantic Mysteries

The Library has an excellent selection of mass market romance paperbacks located on the main level near the front windows.

Which is your favorite genre?

BOOK REVIEW – Killing Time by Cindy Gerard

Once again New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cindy Gerard delivers a story that keeps her readers on the edge of their seats.  It’s filled with red-hot, non-stop action told so vividly you think you are right in the middle of the action.  ‘Killing Time’ is the first book in her new series called One Eyed Jacks.

Mike Brown is a Navy veteran who was dishonorably discharged 8 years earlier for a mission in Afghanistan that went horribly wrong.  He spends his time languishing in Lima, Peru riddled with guilt, grief, rage , and self-destruction.  The eighth anniversary of the day that mission went sour finds Mike in a small cantina getting drunk.  A beautiful woman is at the cantina, dancing seductively and seeming only to have eyes for Mike.  He decides this is about to become his  lucky day not knowing the lady has other ideas.

Eva Salina is an attorney for the CIA.  A classified file gets anonymously delivered to her outlining the details of a secret  mission that went wrong 8 years ago – one in which her husband was killed.  She assumes whoever gave her the file wants her to investigate the incident.  After hitting one dead end after another in the States, she ends up in Peru to track down one of the three survivors of the mission.

What follows is fast paced action, luscious scenery, battles, treachery, mystery, intrigue, blood, sweat and tears, twists and turns and surprises that take you from Peru to Washington, D.C., to Quebec, to the mountains of Idaho.  The characters are tough, raw, and dangerous.  But what makes you fall in love with them is their vulnerability, their insecurities, their faults, their determination, their sense of right and wrong.  This is a book you want to allow plenty of time to read because you are not going to want to put it down.

NOTE:  To our Male Readers – This book is located in our Romance section because the publisher categorizes it Romantic Suspense.  Most Romantic Suspense novels have very, very little romance in them, but plenty of intrigue and action.  Take a chance and look through our Romance section.  I guarantee you’ll find a whole wealth of titles to choose from that read more suspense than romance.  Other authors you might enjoy are:  Susanne Brockmann, Nina Bruhns, M LBuchman, Lori Foster, Catherine Mann, Stephanie Tyler.

BOOK REVIEW – Redemption by B.J. Daniels

This is an entertaining, fast paced, contemporary western, romantic suspense thriller.  It is book two in the Beartooth, Montana series.  The books do not have to be read in order.

The story centers around cowboy Jack French, who spent two years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.  On his first night home, he comes to the rescue of a woman who is being assaulted in an alley.

Kate Lafond is the mysterious new owner of the Branding Iron Cafe.  When not working at the cafe, she is secretly looking for buried lost gold.  When a stranger helps save her from an assault, she rudely tells him she doesn’t need or want his help.

Jack wants to clear his name and find out who framed him for the crime he was sent to prison for, but he can’t get the lovely, secretive Kate out of his mind.

No one knows how Kate became the new owner of the Branding Iron Cafe.  She keeps to herself which leads the residents of Beartooth wondering what is behind the elusive Kate.  She, like Jack, is trying to resolve some issues from her past.

The author weaves an intricate tale of intrigue, romance, lies, murder, cattle rustling, and treasure hunting.   You are kept guessing the outcome of the two main characters while being introduced to some of the other town residents.  The secondary stories are just as intriguing as the main story, the characters just as complex.

This was a very enjoyable journey that highlights the wild, wild west in modern times.