2022 BOTM FEEDBACK

[Joanna Loves Reading, Bluestocking of HR novels]

Hi all,

Thanks for the feedback and participation in the survey. After looking at the results we have decided all themes in the survey should stay. All received a higher than 3.0 average, so more for than against. We also found that many of the ones with a lower average had more excitement (more 5's) than some hovering in the middle.


The two that had the most excitement and highest average were Humor and Marriage of Convenience. Since we have had Marriage of Convenience as a theme for two years in a row, we're going to kick off the year with Humor. So, the January 2022 theme will be Humor. That will give us time to vote on the remaining ones for the year.


Based on comments received, we are adding these five themes to the list of proposed themes:

> Support Network: Books featuring one of both MCs with a strong support network either in the form of friendships or family.
> Matchmaking: Books where the MCs utilize a matchmaker or matchmaking service to find love. Includes books where an MC is a matchmaker.
> Irish: Books set in Ireland and/or have Irish MCs.
> Surprise Reveal: Books where one or both MCs have a secret that is shocking or surprising. Includes hidden pregnancy, secret child, and celibate hero.
> Forced into Marriage: Unlike Marriage of Convenience, there is no choice but to marry for at least one of the MCs.

This brings our total number of themes up to 36.


The next step is voting on the themes. We will put a vote out for members to choose their top 8 themes out of 18 of these themes. Depending on the results, we are planning for the the remaining three spots to be wild cards (after Humor + top 8 voted on). It will depend on if there are ties or possibly a natural break in the data. We'll give more details on how the wild card selections are chosen if we do in fact have wild cards.


We should have the voting survey up in a day or so, and I will add the themes and definition to the locked tropes/themes thread.

Please let us know if you have any questions. Thank you!

[Sandra]

Thanks Moderators, you are soooo great!!!

[Merry in and out for the next few days]

Agree Moderators are fantastic! Appreciate all the time and effort!

[🐝 Shaz 🐝]

👏👏👏🥂💐
Thank you mods

[Missy]

Thank you, mods, for all of your time and hard work.

[Mamacita aka MawMaw]

[Joanna Loves Reading, Bluestocking of HR novels]

Thank you all! Made my day :-)

[Joanna Loves Reading, Bluestocking of HR novels]

Here's the theme voting link:

https://forms.gle/itZEGpuzzCA1b6rP6

You do not have to choose 8, but cannot choose more than 8. Let me know if there is anything you think is amiss.

[Sam I]

Joanna Loves Reading wrote: "Thank you all! Made my day :-)"

You really are the best! I am happy I get to be the person you bounce things off of!

[Joanna Loves Reading, Bluestocking of HR novels]

Sam (AMNReader) wrote: "Joanna Loves Reading wrote: "Thank you all! Made my day :-)"

You really are the best! I am happy I get to be the person you bounce things off of!"

Right back at you! I really enjoy doing this with you 😊

[Jan]

Thanks to mods from me too for all your effort organising this. I have voted and look forward to the results!

[Oleander]

Thank you Mods! Look forward to what you come up with

[Merry in and out for the next few days]

I voted. I am posting this so that later I will remember

[Mamacita aka MawMaw]

Question... Some of the themes seemed to be missing? Is it because we just did them in 2021?

[Joanna Loves Reading, Bluestocking of HR novels]

Mamacita aka MawMaw wrote: "Question... Some of the themes seemed to be missing? Is it because we just did them in 2021?"

Yes, and we only include half of the options from year to year. Typically the previous year has been excluded but last year was a bit of anomaly, not quite sure why.

[Joanna Loves Reading, Bluestocking of HR novels]

The results are in and we have a list of themes for 2022.

2022 Theme List for Group Reads

January - Humor
February - Scottish
March - All's Fair in Love and War
April - Around the World
May - Enemies to Lovers
June - LGBTQ+
July - Suspense / Mystery
August - Proximity
September - Second chance at love
October - Old Skool / Bodice Ripper
November - It's All About the Money
December - Forced into Marriage



Humor was selected based on high interest in the Feedback Survey, but the final 11 were decided based on the vote. We did not have any wild cards due to how the vote turned out. Our top vote-getters were Forced Into Marriage, Scottish, and Enemies to Lovers. The order was chosen at random.

Let us know if you have any questions! Here's to a fun 2022!

[Jan]

Thanks Joanna. Looking forward to lots of good group reads for 2022. Thanks to you and the other mods for all your work organising this :)