Aussie Readers discussion
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Romance Novels - Paranormal/Contemporary/Historical/etc!
Thanks Jenny, I've done the survey!
i did it as well. Thanks for the link!
Cool! so glad no one minds me just jumping in. I've been reading the book buying thread with great interest. Might yet bet lured from lurkerdom to comment :)
I've filled it in too :-) Last year we got some great stats, and surprised a lot of local publishers and bookseller chains too. Romance in any genre sells, and their readers are loyal and prolific readers. Look at the popularity of Stephanie Meyer...also Nora Roberts, Janet Evanovich etc. Then there are locals Anna Campbell, Stephanie Laurens and Keri Arthur. All New York Times bestellers :-)
I'll be filling mine in soon too! I enjoy mixing up my genres including romance! Historicals are probably my romance of choice, closely followed by paranormal.
Just finished the survey, quick and fun - hope it garners some useful stats :)
Have to say I'm a bit disappointed with the current market for romance. Seems that the readers want too much Mills & Boon and not enough Childe Harold. Can I put in a plea for old-fashioned romance where the shining knight is actually weaving a story that absorbs us apart from his duties to the heroine?
Yes, I know. I'm biased, but I do like to read stories with a bit more to them.
And no American style vampires. They bring me out in hives.
I'm addicted to Mills and Boons (love my category romances -- one hour = guaranteed happy ending), but I agree. The old sense of "romance" included notions of chivalry and adventure. I think this is still alive in fantasy novels and contributes to their appeal.
Jacqueline wrote: "And no American style vampires. They bring me out in hives. Sorry Jacqueline but I love vamps!! (and werewolves, and everything else that goes bump in the night).;D
Oh vampires are fine. Just not the American romantic and over-sanitised ones. I like Terry Pratchett's vampires, and Angua the werewolf police officer. Or proper vampires that are properly scary, dusty, undead and presumably smelly from spending a century or two in their coffins every day.I once had an econversation with a new American writer whose hero was a band-leader vampire who spent the opening chapters of her novel beating himself up for enjoying over-rare hamburgers. I sent her the recipe for steak tartare and she was completely revolted. Almost threw up online.
That's right. Only excerpts and reviews, curious as to what all the fuss was about.Already prejudiced against the genre, my interest was not helped by reviews like Goodreads K.B. Wager's ...trivial thoughts of Bella were rivaled in annoyance only by the super emasculated "vampire" Edward and the deadly dull listing of Bella's every activity from driving to school to what she was eating for breakfast.
Compare to the Eastwick witches, and Practical Magic where you have paranormal in a much more satisfying form (to me, at least).
I've done the survey. And I've only just read Twilight, last month. Very angst driven, only 3* from me, definitely YA.
Mandy wrote: "Jacqueline wrote: "And no American style vampires. They bring me out in hives. Sorry Jacqueline but I love vamps!! (and werewolves, and everything else that goes bump in the night).;D"
Me too, give me lots of blood & guts, fighting, sex, bloodsucking, other-worldly beings with attitude and muscles and I'm a happy camper. But I do tend to steer away from YA, reading about teens tends to annoy me.
Schelle wrote: "Me too, give me lots of blood & guts, fighting, sex, bloodsucking, other-worldly beings with attitude and muscles and I'm a happy camper...."Yay, Another PNR fan!! I have lots on my personal Paranormal Romance shelf Schelle. Feel free to check it out.
Mandy wrote: "Schelle wrote: "Me too, give me lots of blood & guts, fighting, sex, bloodsucking, other-worldly beings with attitude and muscles and I'm a happy camper...."Yay, Another PNR fan!! I have lots o..."
thanks mandy - my list of stuff to read grows by the day - and I'm ALWAYS happy to add to it.... was sooo excited when I started reading keri arthur and discovered it was set in Melbourne!! Wish there were more locals doing it.
Schelle wrote: "sooo excited when I started reading keri arthur and discovered it was set in Melbourne!! Wish there were more locals doing it. "Have you read Erica Hayes's books. They're also set in Melbourne and very different from other fantasy/uf romances I've read.
Kat at Book Thingo wrote: "Schelle wrote: "sooo excited when I started reading keri arthur and discovered it was set in Melbourne!! Wish there were more locals doing it. "Have you read Erica Hayes's books. They're also set..."
cool - thanks - I'm off to have a look....
Schelle wrote: "Kat at Book Thingo wrote: "Schelle wrote: "sooo excited when I started reading keri arthur and discovered it was set in Melbourne!! Wish there were more locals doing it. "Have you read Erica Haye..."
Just added Erica Hayes books to our group bookshelf. Her books look great - I'm off to buy them too! Keep the recommendations coming Kat.:)
I love Keri Arthur's books. being a melbournian i know exactly where she is talking about. i haven't read the shadowfae chronicles yet as i haven't been able to find them in my local bookstores,now that i know they are set in melbourne i want them even more now.... i'm off for a book hunt! as a last resort i'll get them online.
It's interesting to read about the general distaste/backlash against the Twilight series in general - still there's no denying the profound success that it has found.I think sometimes as authors you're faced with the choice of producing work that you're proud of in a literary sense vs appealing to an extended audience. A bit like choosing wholesome rye bread over evil white :D
I think there's a bit of tall poppy syndrome attached to all of the big successes. Same thing happened with Harry Potter. I never got the impression from either of those two authors that they wrote with a mass audience in mind. Like most writers they seemed to just have that inescapable urge to tell the stories in their heads. For myself I love romance stories in all their re-incarnations, from William Shakespeare to Margaret Mitchell, from Stephenie Meyer to Sherrilyn Kenyon, from Jane Austen to Susan Elizabeth Phillips there is something about a love story that just makes me happy!
Personally I love hearing about their lives prior to their success - that in a way is a bit of a romance story for me.
Just a note for fans of romance who are reading this thread. I've been working hard on the group bookshelf and have sorted nearly half of the romance novels into their own Romance and Paranormal Romance shelves so far. Check them out to find some great new authors!
I did the survey, although I felt a bit out of the loop when I was answering some of the questions, e.g. in the subgenre question, why was there no option for m/m romance?If we are talking Australian romance novels, I have read a couple of books by Anita Heiss which I quite enjoyed. Although I suppose she is more "chick lit" than "romance".
K wrote: "I did the survey, although I felt a bit out of the loop when I was answering some of the questions, e.g. in the subgenre question, why was there no option for m/m romance?If we are talking Austra..."
Thanks for that K. I didn't know Anita Heiss but I've added her to our bookshelves now. Not sure about the mm books but maybe cause they're mostly only published in US?
Just reading Sherrilyn Kenyon's latest No Mercy. It's a welcome return to form after Bad Moon Rising.:)
Mandy wrote: "Just a note for fans of romance who are reading this thread. I've been working hard on the group bookshelf and have sorted nearly half of the romance novels into their own Romance and Paranormal R..."You're a gem Mandy - thanks!
oh and for any of you following series and having trouble keeping it all organised - go check out fictfact - awesome way to keep track!!
Mandy wrote: "Just reading Sherrilyn Kenyon's latest No Mercy. It's a welcome return to form after Bad Moon Rising.:)"I said to myself "no more" after Bad Moon Rising. Maybe I will see if No Mercy is available at the library, because I defo don't want to fork out more money!
Just wanted to point out this very noble and worthwile way to pass a bit of time. Fill out this Goodreads Listopia List: Book Character You Most Want To Sleep With.!! :DFor the record the books I chose were:
A Hunger Like No Other A very 'wolfy' werewolf catches his little witch.
Lord of Scoundrels The ultimate damaged man saved by his love for a woman.
Games of Command A Scifi retake of Beauty and the Beast.
Demon Bound Irreverent ex-military, now turned immortal guardian, falls for a 'creepy' girl.
Angels' Blood Hauntingly beautiful and detached archangel finds his humanity in the guise of a kick-ass urban fantasy heroine.
The Mane Attraction Love Shelly Laurenston's shapeshifters. Laugh out loud funny, extremely sexy and very alpha.
The Last Hellion Another Loretta Chase novel (bow to the queen of historical romance) where a total misogynist is bowled over by a virginal do-gooder.
Mr. Impossible More LC. This time an Englishman (all brawn no brains) falls for an prim bluestocking.
Lover Awakened Zadist's story - need I say more.
Magic Bites Curran - Powerful leader of the Weres falls for the beautiful and fiesty Kate.
We were kicked off the general thread for talking about boys (LOL) so I thought I'd post some pictures of our favourite crushes here:
That is a hot shot of Eric Bana. :)
Thanks Mandy, just went and voted in the poll :)
Gail "cyborg" wrote: "That is a hot shot of Eric Bana. :)"Oh god I ADORE ERIC!!!! yuuuummmmmmmmm!!!!
Wow that book and the film trailer look amazing. Is the film already out?
My cousin is currently writing a book about first settler's in Australia focusing around a fictional family and society back then. Really really interesting and exciting considering one of the characters is based on me *squee*. She's been researching this for years and years and writing for a long time, so it's going to be very exciting to finally see it finished!!
Just thought I'd give her a little plug!
Is it gratuitous and pluggy to mention the giveaway for the Australian UF/PNR novel Danann Frost Falls from Grace is closing in less than two days? And is it bad to say that I want Aussies to win it, because that will make the postage cheaper? ;-)Oh, and vaguely on-topic for other bits of this thread: I met Eric Bana once, and completely and utterly failed to sell him a laptop.
Carmel@42: thanks for the suggestion of The Vintner's Luck, will look at procuring a copy for SWMBO as she'll need distraction sooner or later (probably the movie, as she doesn't seem to like reading while she's writing).
Carmel wrote: "Mark wrote: "Carmel@42: thanks for the suggestion of The Vintner's Luck, will look at procuring a copy for SWMBO as she'll need distraction sooner or later (probably the movie, as she doesn't seem ..."Did you see there's a sequal to The Vintner's Luck called The Angel's Cut? And apparently she's writing a third as well.
Carmel wrote: "I purchased my copy from Dymocks for full price at the time, I initially tried to get a second hand copy but they were impossible to find."...and under AUD14 at bookdepository at the moment, including postage. Unless a book is printed on Unobtainium and I have to go second-hand, my first instinct these days is to at least check the price at bookdepository.
I've read a few new Paranormal Romances lately that are a bit under the radar! You might like to try:Pretty When She Dies: A Vampire Novel
Queen of Shadows
Eternal Seduction
They're all excellent!:)
I found these books in the SOS Serious Overload of Series group where the mods do a great job of sourcing new releases.
Mandy wrote: "I've read a few new Paranormal Romances lately that are a bit under the radar! You might like to try:Pretty When She Dies: A Vampire Novel
Queen of Shadows
[book:E..."
thanks for the recommendations! have added them to my 'to-read' list :)
Hi - just found and joined this group. I am reading Lara Adrian at the moment. I am so excited to have found you.
Sharon wrote: "Hi - just found and joined this group. I am reading Lara Adrian at the moment. I am so excited to have found you."Woo Hoo! We're excited you found us too Sharon.:DD
Sharon wrote: "Hi - just found and joined this group. I am reading Lara Adrian at the moment. I am so excited to have found you."Woo Hoo! We're excited you found us too Sharon.:DD
Aussie Readers
Books mentioned in this topic
A Hunger Like No Other (other topics)Magic Bites (other topics)
Twilight (other topics)
Lover Awakened (other topics)
Water for Elephants (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Nora Roberts (other topics)William Shakespeare (other topics)
Jane Austen (other topics)
Sherrilyn Kenyon (other topics)
Margaret Mitchell (other topics)
More...
The survey is aimed at any and all AUSTRALIAN romance readers. It closes 15 October, but if you have a chance to look at it before then, here's the link. http://australianromancereaders.wordp... It took me barely five minutes to fill in and wasn't yucky at all (except for trying to remember my age -- that old? really?), so if you read romances, why not have a look.
[edited because I stupidly linked to MY survey answers. New link should take you to ARRA survey info and link.]