Today in the party room is Greta! She’s a blogger and a reader, here to give us a different view on romance books. For chatting today, I’ll be doing a drawing of the commenters for some free books from Greta. So chat it up.
Up for Grabs:
~ A Hint of Wicked by Jennifer Haymore
~ Desire Unchained by Larissa Ione
~ Out of Control by Shannon McKenna
Thanks for having me here!
I’m not an author but I am an avid reader of romance novels. I get carried away when I read a romance novel and I’m always introduced to a new world. When I’m reading a romance novel I can put away thoughts of aging parents, work issues, money issues, and every all the other stuff that stresses me out.
My love of romance started when my Grandma and I were at a used bookstore when I was in early teens, I became bored while she was searching through the Grace Livingston Hill books so I wondered around and discovered a teen section in the book store.
There I discovered the first romance novel – P.S. I Love You by Barbara Conklin and Double Love by Francine Pascal (the first book of the Sweet Valley High series)
A couple of years later my mom and I started reading Silhouette Desires & Silhouette Intimate Moments and Silhouette Special Editions where I discovered such amazing authors as Diana Palmer, Nora Roberts, Annette Broaderick, Lee Major, Elizabeth Lowell, and Linda Howard who wrote my absolute all-time favorite book ever Mackenzie’s Mountain.
Eventually because of my interest in Criminal Justice while in college I started reading Harlequin Intrigues and for years those were the only books and only romances that I read: Rita Herron, Debra Webb, Jessica Anderson, Kelsey Roberts, and Delores Fossen.
About three years ago – I surfing Amazon and looking for something just a little different and ended up purchasing Colter’s Woman by Maya Banks and Blackmailed by Annemarie McKenna, and A Little Harmless Sex by Melissa Schroder and was introduced to a whole neeeeeeeew world ïŠ
I mean ménage trios or more never heard of the concept until I read Blackmailed, and never thought authors would be brave enough to actually write stories like that or that I would enjoy them as much as do.
In the past three years I’ve discovered such amazing authors as Jaci Burton, Amy Knupp, Larissa Ione, Stephanie Tyler, Eden Bradley, Lauren Dane, Cynthia Eden, Shelly Laurenston, Shayla Black, Jordan Summers, S.J. Day, and the list goes on and on and on and on.
So now that I have thoroughly bored you, why do read romance novels? Are you new to romance novels or have you been reading them so long they are just a part of who you are?
Check out Greta’s blog and see who she has guesting for her here.
I thought I was new to romance, but just realized I’m not! I noticed your first was a Sweet Vally High and I read the entire series in my early teens!
Hey Greta,
I’m an avid reader as well…I actually call myself a chronic bookaholic :P because books are an addiction that I absolutely refuse to get rehab for!!!
Reading to me has been such a blessing!!! Growing up, we moved around a lot and by a lot I mean I went to over 15 schools in my lifetime and that doesn’t include high school or university…My biological donor as I like to call him would pretty much drag us around all over the place and the library was a refuge for me…A place where I could lose myself in the wonders of other worlds and other peoples’ lives….where there would always be a Happy Ending!!! I loved it!!! I craved it!!! I needed it!!! Books have saved my sanity and I highly doubt that I would function as well as I do today without the blessings that books have brought into my life..
Here’s a bit of history behind my love affair with reading romances…I first read a romance when I was about 7 or 8 years old…it was Agatha Christie’s “The Man in the Brown Suit”… I absolutely adored the hints of romance through-out the story and the sweet ending. Going from that I progressed to reading Sweet Dreams (I don’t know if you’ve heard of it but it was really popular when I was little. I always liked to read material that was slightly advanced for my age…like most things I prefer my romance a little older than happily ever afters involving princes & princesses at that age) I was addicted to reading about Nancy Drew and Ned’s relationship…the hint of that relationship kept me reading that series for a good while. By that time, I had discovered my Mum’s stash of Barbara Cartland books and I fell in love with the idea of the strong, stoic hero who would rescue the damsel in distress…
By the time I reached my early teens I was gobbling up romances in any way or form…because I was afraid that my Mum might censor my Harlequin books..I would head on over to the library on my lunch breaks every day from school and read them that way…I slowly got courageous enough to start bringing them home and hiding them behind my school textbooks…and fill my need to read them…the wonderous worlds that Jessica Steele, Ann Major, Nora Roberts, Sandra Brown, Linda Howard, Diana Palmer, Jayne Ann Krentz, Anne McAllister, Lori Foste, Christine Feehan, Katie MacAllister, Angela Knight and so many many more created and fostered….Of course by that point, my Mum head caught on to my sneaky ways and given up in trying to monitor my reading material…teehee :P
A couple years later, I discovered the works of Lora Leigh and my world just exploded to another doorway…I discovered super sensual and hot erotic romances…I mean I had been reading Blaze romances but this was a whole other world…I gobbled up everything I could find from her and then I started to explore other authors…Jaci Burton, Annmarie McKenna, Maya Banks, Jenny Penn, Cameron Dane, Anne Kane, T. A. Chase, Melody Aaron, Evangeline Anderson, Eve Vaughn, Celia Kyle, Mackenzie MacKade, Nicole Austin…you name it and I’ve probably either read their work or am planning to!!! I’m also constantly on the look-out for new authors and new titles…
I don’t think that I would exist without the joy that books bring into my life daily.
Thanks for giving such a wonderful interview. It was a pleasure to meet another fellow book lover and reader!!!
Happy Reading!!!
Anna Shah Hoque
s7anna@yahoo.ca
:yay
Hi Greta!
Man, I’ve been reading romances for some time now that I couldn’t tell you why I read it. I’ve always been an avid reader, grade school I read Tom Swift series books and Black Stallion, all that the school had.
I remember some other girls were reading romance books and I was juvenile enough to say “I’ll never read those smut books.” Well, junior high, waiting for my mom to get off work at Woolsworth, I browsed their limited book offering. I seen Virginia Henley’s The Dragon and the Jewel, and it called ot me.
Mom bought since I really couldn’t find anything in the school’s library to satisfy my reading need. That started it. Friends of hers and my dad’s once knowing I read romance gave me books by the bagfull of books where I found authors like Cassie Edwards and Johanny lindsey.
Hey Kami!
Hi, Greta, I enjoyed reading your post.
I started my romance adventure with Barbara Cartland! My grandmother’s friend gave her a ton of books and I rooted through like a pig in mud. LOL
I enjoy reading romances in many forms, paranormal, erotica, menage, M/M, futuristic and contemporary. Enjoy them all.
Thanks.
Hi Greta and Nikki!
I read my first romance in fourth grade. A book report was due the next day, I couldn’t find anything I wanted to read, and I grabbed one of my mom’s old Harlequins. I don’t remember the title, but it was about a sheep farmer in Australia. I read it in a couple of hours, did a great book report (if I do say so myself *g*), turned it in, and my mom was called to the school to discuss my inappropriate reading material. After that, she went out and bought Sweet Valley High for me. I read those, R.L. Stine, and Christopher Pike for a couple of years, then moved back to Harlequins and Silhouettes. When I was in eighth grade, my mother got a job at a book warehouse where she could get books super cheap. And that’s when I discovered Julie Garwood, Cathrine Coulter, Linda Howard, Elizabeth Lowell, and Sharon Sala. That was it for me. I don’t think I’ve read anything except romance in the last decade.
Hi everyone – Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be in and out today – while watching the race and doing some updated on my blog :)
Oh Man – Rao I went through I huge Cassie Edwards period. I still buy her books every now and then :)
Hello Gretta
Funny you mentioned ps I love you That was one of my first RB had read Kathleen Woodiwiss & Jude Deveroux
I enjoy being taken to a time and place
I have huge list of keeper Janet Chapman linda laul miller,Amanda Quick,Ciji Ware Island of swans OMG the best, Mary Jo Putney Julie Garwood my list is endless……….
Latly Paranormal has taken a grab Sherrilyn Kenyon Karen Marie Moning Brenda Joyce Lynsay Sands Katie Macalister Jacquelyn Franks.
Have a good one ladies.
I started reading Harlequin’s in the 7th grade. I would take them to school and open them into my text book so I could read in class. That was 1977 and now that’s about all I read. I love the sense of adventure in some books, the sensuality of exploring one’s fantasy’s, and the happiness of the happily ever after.
Hi!
Quite the blog. I think it’s neat that a reader/blogger wrote the blog AND is giving away great giveaways. Thanks!
I am 50. I probably started reading romances when I was 13 or 14. The man across the street actually started me on them. He read them himself and knew I loved to read (having frequented the library almost every day of my life once I could walk there by myself). He drove me to the used book store miles away so we could stock up together on books.
Once I grew up, I continued reading and reading and reading. I probably read 200+ books each year (x35 years is an awful lot of books). I pass them on to girlfriends who just love to read them too.
As to why I read them? There’s a multitude of reasons. They take me to faraway places I’ll never see for myself. They almost always have a HEA ending and are guaranteed to give me sweet dreams! They’re “easy” — not too hard to understand, quick page turners, and bring smiles and/or tears easily.
Thanks again!
Hi Greta!! That’s awesome on how you got started on reading romance novels!
I got started when I was in the early months of my first pregnancy and had to quit my job. Reading was a way of keeping my mind busy and then I began to either connect or fall in love with the storie that I read. Now it’s pretty much impossible for me not to be reading something… all of the time!
If you love reading so much, how come you’ve never ventured out into reviewing? You get to meet so many new authors along with your favorites… and the best part is you usually get ARC’s so you know what’s going on before everyone else :)
It was great meeting you and reading your post!
Crystal
Adkins
sorry that is supposed to be stories :b
Hi Greta! I love your blog and all your reviews! I’ve been definitely reading romance novels for a while and am still at it! There’s just so much to read now and so little time!
Lisa – I used to do that at school as well. I’ll even admit to doing it church one night :b
Crystal – I do a few reviews and I am lucky enough to receive some wonderful ACRs but I work full-time so I have to limit the number of ARCs that I get. Besides my TBR mountain is turning into a mountain range.
I’ve been reading romance for a while now, and its strange to think at one point I never liked to read AT ALL! I can’t imagine my life now without a good romance book in my hands. Would be unlivable…. ;)
I enjoyed your post! Not boring at all! I could talk books all day! :yay
:) Wonderful blog post. As I was reading through the authors you had found in recent years, I realized that I had found them as well…all except two! So I’ve got them wrote down and will be traveling to Amazon this evening.
I love the happy endings in Romance…It seems in real life they are a little slow in coming, but I always know in a few hours, these characters will have theirs. :)
I started reading Sci-fi books in high school. I just discovered paranormal romance about two years ago. I also love mystery novels. I read to escape, I find that it’s better than TV. I love going to Greta’s blog because there I am introduced to new authors.
Hi Greta, I have been reading romance for about 38 years now, since my teen years. I read to excape the real world. When I read my trobles are all gone. I travel in books, I have been all over the world and back again in books, what better way to travel! My first romance novel would have been Gone With the Wind and I was hooked.
Hey Jeanette, Rachie G, Quilt Lady, Jen E. Chelsea B thanks for dropping by also thanks for visiting my blog regularly. Things are finally slowing down with the EDJ so things will get back on a regular schedule real soon.
I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t reading, but I didn’t startreading romance until my early teens. I got started with magaznes my aunt subscribed to-True Story I think it was called. It was a collection of stories about romance and by today’s standards, pretty tame. But I was like twelve at the time. Now, there is not much I don’t read, and I am always finding new authors and books to read. Menge, sometimes even more than that, as long as it is well written, I’ll read it. :b
Wow, I’m glad I’m not the only one up late. Greta, you hit the nail on the head, to get away from stress or to de- stressify as I say…and I too love Manage and I loved Colter’s Woman. For me when I read its like a TV in my head I can picture everything and if I’m interupted it’s like I hit the pause button, but if I do it too many times the characters look at me and say “WTH! get back to reading, we’re tired of sitting around!”
Zina
Hi, Greta! Just popped over from your blog to say hi! I’ve been reading romance on and off (mostly on) for eons now! I started with the Sweet Valley High and Silhouette First Loves and “graduated” to grown-up ones in high school. Took a bit of a break during college but got rehooked not long after and have been reading madly ever since! I read for the pleasure of the story and the HEA and for a bit of escape. I have found a ton of new-to-me authors in the last couple years and now have a TBR I know I’ll have trouble making a dent in even if I had a couple years to read straight :) Doesn’t stop me from adding to it though ;) Thanks for the great post!
Hi Greta :yay
I really love your blog – without you I would never have met great authors!
I started reading when… I don’t know – it seems I read my whole lifetime.
Wish you all the best!
Hugs,
Ina
I read a lot of romance in high school and college and then stopped until about 2005 when I changed jobs. Then I found paranormal romance and began reading Sherrilyn Kenyon and Angel Knight. Then in 2007 found ebooks and found even more great romance authors.
Greta, I totally understand about the TBR pile… mine has probably turned into enough to fill the grand canyon!
You know, I did not read much until a few years ago. We took a family vacation and drove to Washington DC. I decided to pick up some books from the library to keep me sane, considering I was the designated care giver to our 4 kids on the trip, while my husband was the driver. Ever since, I was hooked. I didn’t start reading romance until 2 years ago. I found a coupon for a romance book from Borders and thought, what the heck, I will give it a try. It was a paranormal anthology with Angela Knight and Lora Leigh, and a couple others which I cannot recall right now. Heck, I cannot even think of the name of the book right now. Well, I fell instantly in lust with the book and started to gobble up everything I could! :=
I do love your blog and check it out all of the time! It has introduced me to some great new authors!!
Thanks so much
Amy M
A friend of mine got me into reading again when she introduced me to Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-hunter series. My favorite genre to read is Paranormal and I’m alwys looking for new authors and series to read! tWarner419@aol.com
I read romance to escape from my everyday life. I just feel so overwhelmed sometimes and its my release from stress.
Deidre
Greta reminded me that I hadn’t done the drawing for her winners. :b
So, here goes.
Up for grabs is…
~ A Hint of Wicked by Jennifer Haymore
~ Desire Unchained by Larissa Ione
~ Out of Control by Shannon McKenna
The winners are…
Ann
Jen E
Lindsey Ekland
Guys, email your address to me @ contests@nikkiduncan.com and I will get it to Greta. If you have a preference of the book, let me know that to and I’ll see what Greta can do. It will be a first respond first dips kind of thing. Like shotgun in the car.
OMGosh I am so excited Thank you so much Nikki & Greta.
Congrats to Jen & Lynsay.