Like Romance Novels but Hate the Covers? Here’s one solution.

I’m going to come clean – I’m a romance reader. There, I’ve said it. There can be some  stigma about the genre, though. Smart women don’t read romance. Romance is poorly-written schlock. It’s paperback porn. And the covers – oh the covers! – don’t exactly help overcome these assumptions about the quality of romance books.

Well, I’m a smart woman. I’m not a fan of bad writing. And the porn argument is pretty sexist. One thing I can’t argue with, though, are the covers; so many of them are just awful.

Like every genre, they’re not ALL gems, but these cheesy covers dumb the books down considerably. So what’s a romance-loving, cover-cringing reader to do?

E-books! We can read the books we like without flashing the eyebrow-raising covers around. Until the publishers figure out that romance readers don’t need a disembodied torso on the cover to sell copies, I will do most of my reading with a digital book.

These are just a few books I’ve loved in which the cover (and sometimes even the title!) had little or nothing to do with the actual story. If I were going by the covers, I probably wouldn’t have picked up these books, and would have missed some great reads:

 

 

 

Lucky for me, the library has digital copies of these titles, plus a LOT more. Cheshire Library has a large collection of all types of ebooks (including romance) available to download with your CPL card to your device of choice.  Our OverDrive platform has over 1500 romance ebooks available to check out, while our hoopla platform has over 1000. Enough to keep the most voracious reader supplied with happy endings.    

Love & Laughter: 10 Romances That Will Make You Laugh Out Loud

Light, lovely, and hilarious, these books are perfect for rainy days and lazy weekends. Indulge yourself in a little humor and romance!

AnyoneAnyone But You by Jennifer Crusie
For Nina Askew, turning forty means freedom—from the ex-husband, their and stuffy suburban home, freedom to focus on what she wants. And what she wants is something her ex always vetoed—a puppy. A bouncy, adorable puppy. Instead she gets…Fred. Overweight, middle-aged, a bit smelly, Fred is light-years from perky. But he does manage to put Nina in the path of Alex Moore, her gorgeous, younger-by-a-decade neighbor.

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie KinsellaShop
Becky Bloomwood has a fabulous flat in London’s trendiest neighborhood, a troupe of glamorous socialite friends, and a closet brimming with the season’s must-haves. The only trouble is, she can’t actually afford any of it

EnchantedEnchanted, Inc. by Shanna Swendson
Katie Chandler quickly learns that office politics are even more complicated when your new boss is a real ogre, and you have a crush on the sexy, shy, ultra powerful head of the R&D department, who is so busy fighting an evil competitor threatening to sell black magic on the street that he seems barely to notice her. Now it’s up to Katie to pull off the impossible: save the world and–hopefully–live happily ever after.

Single in Suburbia by Wendy WaxSingle
Amanda’s husband has just traded her in for an affair with a teenybopper. Brooke is a trophy wife collecting dust. And Candace (Don’t call me Candy) has had too many husbands and too little love. What do these three unlikely accomplices have in common besides a Little League team called the Mudhens? A plot to reclaim a little r-e-s-p-e-c-t.

RosieThe Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
Meet Don Tillman, a brilliant yet socially inept professor of genetics, who’s decided it’s time he found a wife. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which Don approaches all things, he designs the Wife Project to find his perfect partner: a sixteen-page, scientifically valid survey to filter out the drinkers, the smokers, the late arrivers.

The Grand Finale by Janet EvanovichFinale
Berry Knudson had a talent for disaster, but when she climbed a tree to rescue a kitten, she wasn’t prepared for the scrumptious hunk undressing in a nearby window, or her dive downward that smashed Jake Sawyer’s pizza and won his heart!

dogsMust Love Dogs by Claire Cook
Divorced preschool teacher Sarah Hurlihy’s first mistake is letting her bossy big sister write her personal ad. Her second mistake is showing up to meet her first date in more than a decade. Now she’s juggling her teaching job, her big, rollicking, interfering south-of-Boston Irish family, and more men than she knows what to do with.

Recipe for Disaster by Stacy BallisRecipe
A delicious broth of a novel about a woman whose perfect life falls apart in spectacular fashion–leaving her with a house to restore, an antique cookbook (but no cooking talent), and one very unhappy schnauzer.

LadyThe Little Lady Agency by Hester Browne
To avoid embarrassing her father, a Member of Parliament, Melissa dons a blonde wig and becomes “Honey,” a no-nonsense bombshell who helps clueless bachelors shop, entertain, and navigate social minefields. She even attends parties if a client needs a “date.” But when a dashing American starts to request Honey’s services on a regular basis, it’s only a matter of time before Honey’s and Melissa’s worlds collide….

My Heart May Be Broken but My Hair Looks Great by Dixie CashHair
Debbie Sue Overstreet and Edwina Perkins-Martin have never encountered a problem that couldn’t be fixed with a strong margarita, a whole lot of hairspray, and an ear for gossip. No doubt about it, hearts are definitely going to get broken, but if these gals have anything to do with it, the hairstyles around town are still gonna look great!

August is National Romance Month and Read-a-Romance Month

romance

August is National Romance month and Read-a-Romance month and the Cheshire Library has a wonderful collection of romance titles for  you to enjoy – from books to movies!

There is a separate romance section of mass market paperbacks on the main level of the library, located near the front windows.  There you can find many genres of romance including contemporary, suspense, paranormal, inspirational, and historical.  There’s quite a variety so come on in and browse the collection.  You’re sure to find a title or two that appeals to you.

You can also browse this blog for posts on romance titles.  Just type Romance in the box under Search All Posts and it will give you a list of all the posts related to romance.  One of my favorites is Today’s Romance Novels.

Read-A-Romance blog celebrates the month in a big way.  Each day of August, authors will be posting something on the blog.  Below is a calendar listing the authors for each day.

 

You can also access more information about Read-A-Romance month on their facebook account here.

NPR comes up with a list of their 100 Swoon-Worthy Romances each summer.  You can access the list here.

The Cheshire Library also has a nice selection of romantic movies for you to enjoy.  A few are listed below:

Romantic Movies

Officer and a Gentleman

Pretty Woman

Bonnie and Clyde

Love Actually

Chocolat

Life Is Beautiful

A Walk To Remember

Notting Hill

Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Casablanca

Hope you enjoy the rest of your summer with these romantic selections!

 

 

Amazon Picks Their Top 20 Romance Novels of 2013

best booksEach October, Amazon’s editorial team collects all their favorite books, looks at upcoming 2013 works, and casts ballots for Best Books of the Year.  In the Romance category,  Amazon originally selected J.R. Ward’s Lover At Last: A Novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood as it’s top pick of 2013 so far, but in the end, Nora Robert’s Whiskey Beach beat it out as the best Romance novel of 2013.  Here are the final picks in the Romance category – in best-selling order:

Dark Witch by Nora Roberts

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Rush by Maya Banks

Endless Knight by Kresley Cole

No Good Duke Goes Unpunished by Sarah Maclean

Fueled by K. Bromberg

Convicted by Aleatha Romig

Heart of Obsidianby Nalini Singh

Three Little Words by Susan Mallery

Destiny’s Surrender by Beverly Jenkins

The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

The Best Manby Kristan Higgins

Lover At Last by J.R. Ward

Once Upon A Tower by Eloisa James

Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare

Tangled by Emma Chase

Love Irresistibly Julie James

The Heiress Effect by Courtney Milan

To see Amazon’s full list of best picks, click here.

On Our Shelves: New Paperbacks

We’ve got three new Mysteries and three new Romances for your reading pleasure.

Poisoned Prose (A Books by the Bay Mystery) by Ellery Adams – When Olivia Limoges and other Oyster Bay patrons of the arts sponsor a retreat for famous storytellers, one of them is going to have a very unhappy ending.

Final Catcall (A Magical Cats Mystery) by Sofie Kelly – Small-town librarian Kathleen Paulson gets plenty of entertainment from her extraordinary cats, Owen and Hercules. But when a theatre troupe stumbles into more tragedy than it bargained for, it’s up to Kathleen to play detective.

Rubbed Out (A Memphis BBQ Mystery) by Riley Adams – Even Lulu Taylor—proprietress of Aunt Pat’s Barbeque Restaurant in the heart of Memphis, Tennessee—needs to get out of the kitchen now and then. But at the Rock and Ribs festival, she finds more than a taste of trouble.

Cowboy Justice (Catcher Creek) by Melissa Cutler – Transforming their parents’ rundown ranch in the small town of Catcher Creek, New Mexico, into a tourist destination is the toughest challenge the three Sorentino sisters ever faced. But now one of them has another fight on her hands – to keep from falling for the sexy town sheriff – again.

Anything But Love (A Cupcake Lovers Novel) by Beth Ciotta – For Reagan Deveraux, Sugar Creek, Vermont, and the Cupcake Lovers are a dream come true: A cozy little town where family and friends come before everything else. She’s never experienced anything like it—especially not growing up with her mother, a fickle, fame-hungry heiress. But Rae’s plan to hide out in anonymity for a year until she can claim her inheritance—and her independence—changes with one kiss from gorgeous pub owner Luke Monroe.

Blue Forever (Men in Uniform) by Nina Bruhns – Dashing and devilish Major Kiptyn Llowell is the opposite of reasonable. But when his top secret mission on exotic Hainan Island, China, goes belly up, Kip throws himself on the mercy of the eminently sensible (and irresistibly sexy) DeAnne Lovejoy to hitch a ride to his rendezvous point. But he gets far more than he bargained for.