On NPR’s All Things Considered on Saturday, Candy Tan and Sarah Wendell, creators of the web site, Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, spoke to romance-book skeptic Rebecca Roberts about their new book on the genre.
 |
| Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches’ Guide to Romance Novels |
| Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan |
| Price: |
$15.00 |
| Paperback: |
304 pages |
| Publisher: |
Fireside – (2009-04-14) |
| ISBN-10: |
1416571221 |
| ISBN-13: |
9781416571223 |
|
When challenged to come up with a reading list of current titles (no fair resorting to Jane Austen to try to win over a skeptic!) to introduce Roberts to the best of the genre, the women first recommended Lord of Scandal as a “100% excellent” historical, filled with “snappy dialog” and a heroine who is “a half-step in front of the hero at all times.”
 |
| Lord of Scoundrels |
| Loretta Chase |
| Price: |
$6.99 |
| Mass Market Paperback: |
384 pages |
| Publisher: |
Avon – (1995-03-30) |
| ISBN-10: |
0380776162 |
| ISBN-13: |
9780380776160 |
|
They told Roberts that the hottest romance category right now is paranormal, best represented by Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark series; “full of Norse mythology and the women are just incredibly empowered and fascinating characters.”
 |
| Kiss of a Demon King (The Immortals After Dark, Book 6) |
| Kresley Cole |
| Price: |
$7.99 |
| Mass Market Paperback: |
432 pages |
| Publisher: |
Pocket – (2009-01-20) |
| ISBN-10: |
1416580948 |
| ISBN-13: |
9781416580942 |
|
But Roberts audibly shuddered at the thought of vampires and werewolves and their ilk, so Tan and Wendell went on to recommend the following, all of which feature strong heroines and heros, excellent plots and are “utterly believable.” The titles are featured on the site “Save the Contemporary,” created in conjunction with Dear Reader.com.
 |
| Smooth Talking Stranger |
| Lisa Kleypas |
| Price: |
$24.95 |
| Hardcover: |
352 pages |
| Publisher: |
St. Martin’s Press – (2009-03-31) |
| ISBN-10: |
0312351666 |
| ISBN-13: |
9780312351663 |
|
 |
| Instant Attraction |
| Jill Shalvis |
| Price: |
$14.00 |
| Paperback: |
320 pages |
| Publisher: |
Brava – (2009-02-01) |
| ISBN-10: |
0758231237 |
| ISBN-13: |
9780758231239 |
|
 |
| Talk Me Down |
| Victoria Dahl |
| Price: |
$6.99 |
| Mass Market Paperback: |
352 pages |
| Publisher: |
HQN Books – (2009-01-01) |
| ISBN-10: |
0373773560 |
| ISBN-13: |
9780373773565 |
|
 |
| Flat-Out Sexy |
| Erin McCarthy |
| Price: |
$14.00 |
| Paperback: |
304 pages |
| Publisher: |
Berkley Trade – (2008-11-04) |
| ISBN-10: |
0425224074 |
| ISBN-13: |
9780425224076 |
|
This entry was posted
on Monday, April 13th, 2009 at 9:58 am and is filed under Fiction, Romance.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
August 2nd, 2010 at 10:18 am
[…] After Dark series. Earlier this year, the creators of the web site Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, told NPR that the series is the best representative of the genre, “full of Norse mythology and the women […]