Becky Wade's Blog, page 44

What Readers Love Most About Romance Novels (& a Giveaway)

I recently asked this question on social media . . . .

What do you love most about reading romance novels?

The responses were numerous and fascinating! They fell into clear categories so [imagine me channeling the voice of a Family Feud host,] “The top six answers are on the board!”

Happily Ever Afters

“I love reading about people finding love and making their way to a happily ever after.”

“I love the happily ever after!!”

“I love knowing the ending will be a happy one.”

This was by far the most popular answer readers gave. Romance readers are right to expect and value this aspect of romance novels because a HEA is foundational to the romance novel genre. Readers begin a romance novel with the understanding that the author will deliver a HEA. If a novel has romance in it but ends tragically, that book does not fall into the romance novel genre.

Emotion

“Feeling those butterflies and falling-in-love feelings!

“It reminds me of the sweet feelings that kicked off mine and my husband’s now 25 year old romance”

“The feel good emotions”

“I love the warm fuzzy feeling I get from romance novels.”

Romance novels should pack an emotional punch. From an author’s perspective, making a reader feel is a very difficult thing to do. But so worthwhile.

Escape

“I read Christian romance books to relax and enjoy”

“Life is stressful enough without reading about it!”

“When I need a break, I’d rather dwell on happy thoughts than fill my head with anything else.”

“It’s my escape.”

Romance readers want their novels to sweep them away and take them on a “mini vacation” to another place. They count on these books to provide rest, a treat, a break, enjoyment.

Watching the relationship evolve

“Rooting for the budding romance throughout the story.”

“I love love. Getting lost in a story and falling in love with the characters while they fall in love with each other.”

“Seeing how they end up together – overcoming all the obstacles.”

“I love experiencing the journey of falling in love again through the characters!”

Romance readers find joy in experiencing twists, turns, challenges, conflicts, and uncertainties right alongside the hero and heroine.

Hope

“They remind me that there is still hope in wholesome and unselfish love!”

“It’s a delight to read about the joy and hope they experience even in the midst of obstacles.”

“They bring me joy.”

“They give me hope that love is real and powerful and can be shown in many different ways.”

The best romance novels bring readers encouragement because they show characters who sacrifice for one another. Who are courageous. Who are noble. Who put love before selfishness.

Smiles

“They make me laugh”

“I love the witty banter!”

“It is good medicine, making me laugh out loud at the situations characters get into.”

Not all wonderful romance novels include humor. But that aspect is greatly appreciated in the novels that do because we all treasure things that add smiles and laughter to our day.

What do YOU love most about romance novels?

Dani and I are currently offering a giveaway to celebrate our new releases! Two winners this time. One will win paperback copies of Rocky Road and One Wrong Move and a bracelet. The other will win paperback copies of both books and hand lotion. Entry box below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If the Boot Fits – Coming Soon!

Book 2 in my Texas Ever After series releases in just 5 days! I’m so excited to share this story with you. Reimagining the Cinderella fairy tale in an 1800’s Texas setting has been so much fun.

I was inspired by the classic line from Woody in Toy Story 2 – If the boot fits. What could be a more perfect premise for a western Cinderella, than to replace the glass slipper with a cowboy boot? That idea led to flipping the script and turning Cinderella into Asher Ellis – a down on his luck cowboy with a stepmother and two stepbrothers to provide for. However, I wanted to mix up more that the roles of hero and heroine. Too many fairy tales cast stepmothers in the role of villain. There are some wonderful, kindhearted, godly women who open their hearts to their stepchildren, and I wanted to honor them. So, you won’t find an evil stepmother in this version. Who plays the role of villain, then? That’s a closely guarded secret, but one I hope readers will appreciate.

Asher Ellis is a hardworking cowboy who’s been supporting his family since his father died when he was eighteen. He sends home nearly all his pay from the distant ranch where he works, and when he learns that Eli Dearing has evicted his stepmother and brothers from their home, he returns to town determined to make the man pay. Samantha Dearing longs to make a difference in the world and to be loved for who she is and not for her inheritance or the connections she brings to her cattle-baron father. Providence brings these two together, but the truth about their families and an unseen evil work to tear them apart.

I love playing with names in these retellings. I worked hard to create names in this story that would harken back to the Disney tale while still carrying meaning of their own. Instead of Cinderella, we have Asher Ellis – Ash being a synonym of Cinder, and Ellis playing off of Ella. The three key older ladies of the story all have names inspired by royalty as befits a fairy tale – Regina, Elizabeth, and Victoria. Asher’s step brothers are named Jonathan and Fergus. However, Jonathan goes by Jack, giving a nod to the mice from Disney’s Cinderella, Jaq and Gus. Asher’s horse is named Bruno in honor of the dog who saved Cinderella from the tower room. And don’t forget the cattle king with a foreman named Duke. 

Bruno

If you like print books, it’s not too late to grab a copy at a 40% discount from Baker Book House. Even the shipping is free! Grab it here.

Did you grow up with Disney fairy tales like I did?
If so, which movie was your favorite?

Books I want to re-read

While cataloging and arranging my home library recently, I ran across several books I haven’t read in a long while. Of course, that’s the majority of them, right? But a few I marked as ones I want to re-read. 

But first, why re-read? Because yes, I have sooooo many books waiting to be read for the first time!

1, I re-read for the sake of nostalgia. This happens when I rediscover a book that meant something to me at a specific time and re-reading it recaptures that moment, both the memory of it and the feeling behind it. 

2. I re-read to remember the reason I kept it. What books to keep is a very personal thing for me. Often I keep a book when I remember the feeling I had reading it even if I can’t remember the story or why it pierced my heart in that moment. So a re-read will help me remember, and help me decide if it’s still a book that requires space on my shelves.

3. I re-read because I’m in a different season of life. To revisit a work in a different stage of life often feels like reading a whole new book. Did you know that many books read differently in different seasons of life? Maybe I’ve experienced or seen something in the years between reads that causes me to understand characters or aspects of the story in new ways. A book with some substance, some commentary on the human condition, will change for you over time. Sometimes for the better; sometimes for worse. 

With all that said, here are a few of the books I’d like to re-read this year and why (note: I wanted to show you my copies of these books, so if you want the buy link, click on the picture!): 

…And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hoover Santmyer

Yes, I have it in hardcover and paperback! I originally read the paperback and figured I’d want to eventually re-read and I knew I wouldn’t be able to see the type in the paperback. So when I found the hardcover at a library sale . . .

This will be a commitment, given its length, but I’d really like to re-read it. It’s definitely a “different season of life” read given that it follows two friends from age 18 to their deaths in their 70s or 80s. It’s not only a great friendship read but the magnitude of the history lived is fascinating too. 

The Love Letters by Madeleine L’Engle

I remember reading this novel about marriage years ago and finding it impactful. I want to re-read it to see how it feels to me now. Will it be as gripping? As poignant? Will it, perhaps, have different things I relate to all these years later?

Queen Anne’s Lace and The Restless Lady by Frances Parkinson Keyes

These two novels were contemporary when written, and both are set in the Washington DC of the mid-twentieth century. I remember them both as being enlightening. Will they still hit me the same way? Perhaps there are new things to glean from these stories in 2024! 

The Reb and the Redcoats by Constance Savery

I remember finding this at a used bookstore and thinking it looked interesting. And remember the story being pure joy! Because I am still interested in writing a novel in this time period myself, I want to experience this one again. It’s a children’s book, and I do love re-reading children’s books. I hope it’s one I will eventually share with my grandchildren. 

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Yep, another one I own two different copies. Well, the same editions but hardcover and paperback. To be honest, the hardcover is the one I gave my daughter on her first Christmas, but for some reason it’s still on my shelf, not hers! And since that one is technically hers, years ago I bought the paperback for me and for my future grandchildren. Yes, this edition with the Tasha Tudor illlustrations is my favorite.

And I adore this story so much! I remember a friend in sixth grade recommending it to me, and I fell in love with it. In fact, I am currently re-reading it, but in a new form—an audiobook! I’m listening to the one narrated by Johanna Ward, and she is delightful! I love that her Yorkshire accent for the servants in Misselthwaite Manor sounds exactly like Mrs. Hall in All Creatures Great and Small!

Will I get to all of these in 2024? I have no idea, but I want to try!

Do you ever re-read books? If so, how do you decide which ones warrant a second (or third or tenth!) read? 

Favorite Food Websites—Do You Have One?

I love to cook, and especially loved to bake. Life has been a blur lately, so I haven’t gotten to do much of either, but that doesn’t stop me from browsing sites for new recipes and ways to improve my cooking skills.

Here are some of my favorites . . .

KATHLEEN ASHMORE

Kathleen has lots of GF recipes and generally healthier—and delicious—fare. Plus I love how her recipe videos are simple and to the point.

COLLARD VALLEY COOKS (TAMMY & CHRIS)

Tammy is a hoot and her food is truly Southern delicious! If you’re looking for comfort food (or something distinctly Southern), you’ll find it here.

RECIPETIN EATS (NAGI)

Where to start on Nagi… She’s an amazing cook and comes up with some very different dishes. And she’s a doll! You’ll love her site.

So do you have any favorite foodie sites that you visit for inspiration? Or just because you love recipes and cooking/baking like me? And have you visited any of these before? Please share, I’m always up for more!

Love from Nashville,

Tammy

So many books, so little time

When I turned fifty, I realized–with a start–that I would not live forever. That I probably had more time “behind” me than in front of me. I began to look at the books I write in a new way–considering that I have a limited amount of time in which to write, the books I choose to write should matter. REALLY matter. Of course, the Spirit can and does use anything, but I asked Him to guide me so that I spent my remaining time wisely.

Then I realized something else–I have the spiritual gift of teaching, which I only use a couple of times a year, mostly when I’m invited to teach at a writers’ conference. So why not use some of my writing time to write down everything I’ve learned in more than forty-one years of writing work?

So I began to write these brief little writing lessons. I publish them myself and write them when I can fit in the time between projects.

Now it’s years later and my desire to train up the next generation has only gotten stronger. So I’ve just started a newsletter, Write Well, for people who are seriously interested in writing. There are two editions–paid and free. The free one comes out once a month; the paid newsletter once a week. Why am I charging at all? Because 1) my husband is retired and I’m supporting the family 2) because people take things more seriously if they pay for it and 3) because the newsletter takes time away from my book projects.

Of course I still have a FREE, always free, newsletter for readers. If you haven’t signed up, you can sign up for the “VIP reader news” on my website. It’s filled with book news, and I always respond to anyone who responds to it. I love and appreciate reading communities!

Receiving an author’s newsletter can be fun, and I encourage you to sign up for any newsletter from the writers on this blog. I know they’ll appreciate it, and you’ll be kept informed about new releases and all sorts of interesting inside information.

And if you know someone who is seriously interested in writing, please point them toward my newsletter. And thank you!

Inspired by Scripture

This Sunday feature is brought to you by ClashVerseoftheDay.com. You may sign up to receive a beautiful photo with Scripture in your inbox each morning or view the verse each day online.

Book Club Reads

Do you belong to a book club? I’ve found that a book club expands my reading a lot simply because I’m not always reading my own choice. I’m not always reaching for my favorite genres or authors.

Years ago (circa 2007-2008) I participated in a book club. I don’t remember for how long the club lasted or how many books we read. But I do remember two of the selections: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and Good Grief by Lolly Winston. I gave both of those books 5.

In November 2022, I was invited by another writer to participate in a book club made up entirely of novelists. Those of us participating live all over the country, so we meet by Zoom. While I haven’t liked all the books we’ve read (intensely disliked a couple of them), this experience of reading along with other authors has been so enjoyable. It fascinates me to learn why someone likes or dislikes something when I felt the opposite. Or for that matter when someone agrees with me, that fascinates too, because sometimes it is for a different reason. Not to mention, novelists often see things in a different way from those who don’t write fiction.

Since the book club began, here are the books we’ve read and the ratings I gave each one:

A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman (5)Jacob T. Marley by R. William Bennett (4)The Breaking of Ezra Riley by John L. Moore [book not in audio; didn’t read]The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman  (4)The Messy Lives of Book People by Phaedra Patrick (4)West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge (4)Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister  (2)The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks (3)The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck  (4)Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (1)The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi  (4)The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard [DNF]The Exchange by John Grisham (2.5)The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz (4.25)The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (1.5)People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (3)

If this helps, here is my personal rating system:

Robin’s Ratings:
5 = Out of this world. Amazing. Unforgettable. A personal favorite.
4 = Loved/really enjoyed it. Will recommend to others.
3 = Liked it. Glad I read it. Engaging/entertaining/interesting.
2 = The book was okay, but I’ve enjoyed other books so much more.
1 = For whatever reason, I didn’t like it and can’t recommend it.

Have you read any of the books my book club has read? If so, do you disagree with my rating? And if you have a great suggestions for my book club (fiction only), please share!

PS  If you would like to read my reviews, you can find them on Goodreads. Feel free to send me a friend request or follow my reviews there if you would like.

~robin

How I Write With Chronic Illness

Writing my latest release, One Wrong Move was so much fun, yet it wasn’t easy. I have Lupus, and while it’s under treatment and doing well in a lot of areas for which I’m very thankful, chronic pain comes with it. And motor skills are not what they should be. I have trouble with my hands in particular. Both of which make writing interesting. 

Long hours of sitting and either typing or writing by hand often flare my pain.
I was diagnosed six years ago and have written a handful of books in that time span. Writing isn’t always easy, physically, but I keep pushing through.    

Why? Because instead of seeing writing as a job, I view it as a tremendous blessing.

I’ve come to realize perception is half the battle. If I focus on the Lupus and the pain, it’s difficult, and I get in a funk. However, if I shift my focus and realize God’s got me every step of the way and in so many areas that could be affected by Lupus and aren’t, I’m utterly grateful. Trust me, I’m not always great at keeping my focus or my gratitude where it needs to be. Sometimes, I’m downright awful about it. There are those days of frustration and whining on my part. Just being fully transparent. But thankfully, they are few and far between. 

I’m thankful for my supportive family and for my amazing editor, who has been so kind at the slower writing pace that I’ve been on and who cares about my health. I truly have the best publisher, and it’s a joy and an honor to work with them. But there’s one more group of people who keep me going, and that’s YOU—my readers. 

I don’t know if you realize what a blessing you are. Your thoughtful emails are such a blessing. The encouragement keeps me going. Taking the time to read and review my books is so generous and means so much.  And interacting with you on social media during the week reminds me why I write. I write to glorify the Lord but also because I want to share stories with you. 

Most of all, I’m thankful for a loving Lord whose mercy is new every morning. I know He will equip me for what He’s created me to do; even on the hard days, He’s there. 

He’s also placed a deep love for storytelling in my heart. He’s fostered it in me from a young age. It started with Agatha Christie, Nancy Drew, and Scooby-Doo. When I was very sick when I first got diagnosed with Lupus, I wasn’t sure if I could or should continue writing, but God pulled me out of the muck, and the mire set my feet on a rock and poured the love of story even deeper into my soul. He kindled a fire within me that has not diminished, and I’m so grateful. 

Stories allow me to enter a different world, to get caught up in the characters and get sucked in, grabbing my attention and redirecting my focus off the Lupus symptoms and into the story world. It gives me purpose, and when I’m determined to direct my thoughts on that, it makes the pain fade into the background. 

I know several fellow authors with chronic illnesses and chronic pain, and I admire them so for keeping at it and producing amazing stories. They’re an inspiration to me. Knowing they keep at it helps me to do the same. Some days, it’s with a heating pad or an ice pack. Some days, I’m on the couch with my laptop because it is the least painful option, but the blessing is that I know a story is waiting.

I hope this encourages you today, and if you have a chronic illness or chronic pain, my heart goes out to you. I hope my stories and the stories of my author friends brighten your day as they do ours. And thank you so much for your amazing support. 

Reader Question: 

What was the last book you read that pulled you right into the story world? 

Best,
Dani

The Royal Visit

When I learned that the Duke and Duchess of Kent and their baby daughter, (Princess Alexandrina Victoria, the future Queen Victoria) visited Sidmouth—the town where my ON DEVONSHIRE SHORES series is set and in the same year I set the first book, I knew I wanted to include them in Book Two, A Winter by the Sea.

The royal couple and their entourage rented Woolbrook Cottage (on the same lane as fictional Sea View) for the cold and snowy winter of 1819-1820. They arrived with too many attendants to accommodate in the house they’d rented, so some of their staff had to be lodged elsewhere. That part is true, and I thought it would be fun to send a few of the duke’s staff to stay at Sea View.

As the book opens, the Summers family are expecting a quiet winter. Instead the Duke and Duchess of Kent and their baby daughter rent the neighboring house, and the sisters are called upon to host three of the royal couple’s male staff. And they soon realize they’ve invited secrets and the sweet possibility of romance into their home.

The duke’s time in Sidmouth was brief and punctuated by dramatic events, which I hope you will find as interesting as I did. One of those events was that a local lad out shooting birds shot through the nursery window where Victoria was sleeping, narrowly missing the baby and showering glass down onto her cot (or onto her nurse, depending on the account). In my fictional version, rough-and-tumble youngest daughter, Georgiana, plays a part as well.

Julie at the former Woolbrook Cottage, where Victoria once stayed.

In 2022, my husband and I stayed at Woolbrook Cottage, now the Royal Glen Hotel. We slept in the room the Duke of Kent himself used, and saw the nursery window where Victoria slept and the local lad shot through, now marked with a colored pane of glass. In this video, I am attempting to indicate the window while I talk, and my poor husband did his best to adjust so I almost pointed to the right spot. You can see it better in the next image, courtesy of the hotel website.

We enjoyed our time there, and this small brush with history. When was your last brush with history? Do you enjoy visiting historic places?

Well, We Did It!

Well, we did it! It was a L-O-N-G journey figuring out what should come next after we sold our Chinook camper last summer, and as often seems to happen in our marriage, I went kicking and screaming all the way. But we flew to Florida two weeks ago and just like that, we have an RV again! (Is anybody surprised? )

I took a cold shower the first morning because we couldn’t figure out the hot water system, but now that we have the camper home and are figuring out how everything works, I think we are really going to like this rig! It’s a 2018 Hymer Aktiv 1.0. At under 20 feet long, this is the smallest and shortest of our campers so far. It will park anywhere a regular van could park and Ken says it drives like a dream. I haven’t driven it yet, but I think I would feel very comfortable driving it on the highway. (We were thrilled to find that it gets almost twice as many miles to the gallon of gas as the Chinook did.)

We named our first camper van Meriwether after explorer Meriwether Lewis. We never named our next camper, but just called it “the Chinook” since that was a pretty cool name already. I wanted to call our new camper van “Journey” because it was such a journey for us to come to agreement about what to buy, how much to spend, when to buy it, etc. Ken wasn’t crazy about that (he’s probably just going to call it “the camper”) but at 2 a.m. on our second night in the new camper, I was thinking about our other vehicle at home, a Honda Odyssey minivan and suddenly I just knew what this one should be called: Meet the Iliad (and the Odyssey). We think our adventures in the Iliad are going to be epic! (See what I did there? )

The inside is very compact but very cleverly arranged to make it live nice and big! Both front seats swivel to face the back and create a nice seating area for working, eating, playing games, etc. (That TV has already been taken out and sold since on the rare occasions that we watch a movie while we’re camping, we just stream it on one of our laptops. We’ll probably put a bulletin board where the TV was—a place to pin postcards, family photos, tickets, etc.)

Above are the views from our almost queen-size, very comfy bed. At our campground at Manatee Springs State Park near Orlando, FL, we felt right at home when we looked out our “bedroom” window to see deer grazing near the Iliad.

The previous owners are no longer camping so they left us tons of great supplies, including that pretty basket below, towels, dishes, and a great Cuisinart 4-cup coffeemaker, along with many of the hoses and other equipment we would have had to buy. I’m having fun making the camper our own with pretty bedding, new rugs, and a Walmart pillow I added beads to to get a little pop of red. I can’t wait to put it all together once the camper is clean and organized and ready to go on our first trip.

Poor Ken is suffering a common camping malady called “I bonked my head ten times-itis.” But don’t feel too sorry for him. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him so happy. And that makes me happy.

I’m also thankful that I was able to write several thousand words on our trip home. It was a good test because this camper is our office when we are on the road and I’ll be on deadline all summer with my next novel. After a little two-day “shakedown” trip to make sure everything is working as it should, our first real trip will be to Texas where our two sons and their families live. After that we have trips planned to Kansas, North Carolina, and New England in the fall. Let the adventures begin!

How do YOU like to travel? Are you a camper, a road-tripper, an Airbnb-er, or comfy hotels all the way? Or maybe, like me, you’re more of a homebody and would really just prefer to stay home. (God knew I’d need a husband who would drag me out of my comfort zone, and I must admit, the traveling has inspired many a story!) I’d love to hear your stories!