Posts tagged with romance
Impressively gross
I probably shouldn't snicker over this, but I can't help it. The book world has been abuzz with news about E.L. James's unexpectedly successful Twilight-fanfiction-turned-published-erotic-novel Fifty Shades of Grey, which I've been doing my best to ignore....
Tempest Rising, by Nicole Peeler
The cover art for Nicole Peeler's Jane True series is a perfect fit for the books: eye-catching, cartoonish, charmingly goth-lite. Also like the books, the covers would be improved by a bit...
Werewolves on the Titanic!
My e-mail this morning included a promotional note about Claudia Gray's recently-released novel Fateful, which I skimmed with tepid interest. The cover didn't catch my eye, and our "To Be Read" s...
Why does Anna Faris keep doing this to me?
Seriously, I like Anna Faris, and I would totally shell out cold hard cash to watch her in something that wasn't Yogi Bear, part of the Scary Movie franchise, or... this.I just discovered Faris's ...
Ruby Red, by Kerstin Gier
While most of the books I write about are sent to us by publishers or PR groups, occasionally I read something so awesome that it cries out for a review, even if I had to spend my own money t...
There Are No Stars in Brooklyn, by Meredith Gran
Meredith Gran's graphic novel Octopus Pie: There Are No Stars in Brooklyn is frequently compared to Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim series, and the two comics do share a certain hipster vibe...
The sex symbols of tomorrow?
I suspect this is one of those trends that are 99% fabrication, but the Washington Post assures me that publishers are bracing for a "flurry" of Navy SEAL-themed romance novels inspired by the dea...
A "romantic" comedy, sans romance
Another book-to-movie adaptation I will not be watching:Ugh. I hate books where infidelity is excused because the "other woman" is unpleasant, and this one looks even more irritating than most. ...
Sammy Keyes and the Wedding Crasher, by Wendelin Van Draanen
We adore Wendelin Van Draanen's books, but we understand why the director of the recent film adaptation of her novel Flipped re-set the plot in the 1950s—Ms. Van Draanen's unif...
Maybe This Time, by Jennifer Crusie
A new Jennifer Crusie novel is always cause for celebration, and Maybe This Time—her first full-length solo effort since 2004's Bet Me—is no exception. In this lively re-working of Henry James's novella The Turn of the Screw...
Gimmicky and overpriced
I am voting "no" on the romance-novel inspired gloss made by Three Custom Color Specialists. I like romance novels and I like lipgloss, but A) I've never read anything by author Brenda Novak, B) ...
Smooth Talking Stranger, by Lisa Kleypas
Smooth Talking Stranger is the third book in Lisa Kleypas's best-selling series about the wealthy, powerful, Houston-based Travis family. Kleypas's current heroine is Ella Varner, author of the p...
Wild Ride, by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer
Wild Ride is the most successful of the Jennifer Crusie/Bob Mayer collaborations to date: fast, fun, and deliciously weird. Admittedly, we still prefer Crusie's solo work, but how could anyone ha...
Wildfire at Midnight, by Mary Stewart
Mary Stewart is one of those authors whose best work (the truly awesome 1958 novel Nine Coaches Waiting) was so good that everything else she produced pales in comparison...
Rin-ne: Vol. 1, by Rumiko Takahashi
Rin-ne is the fifth major series from manga great Rumiko Takahashi, following InuYasha, Ranma ½, Maison Ikkoku, and Urusei Yatsura. Rin-ne launched in...
Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater
We here at Wordcandy admit it: we judge books by their covers. This doesn't always work for us (note our recent post on Atlas Shrugged), but we still believe that great cover art is an impor...
Girls Gone Victorian
Whoa: this is the first time I've seen someone market a romance novel (from Katie MacAlister, one of Meg's favorite authors) as "steampunk". New literary sub-genre, or just a marketing gimmick? On...
Like The Rules, but even sadder.
Huh. It turns out Lori Gottlieb's Marry Him: The Case for Settling For Mr. Good Enough isn't a joke. It's a real book (due out next week!), not just fodder for AustenBlog's "It worked so well fo...
Moon Called, by Patricia Briggs
If I had to describe Patricia Briggs's novel Moon Called in a single line, I'd probably go for something like: “A lot like Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series—only way less annoying...
Knight of Pleasure, by Margaret Mallory
One of the main reasons Nathan, Megan and I started Wordcandy was our desire to give serious (okay, semi-serious) literary consideration to genres of fiction that do not ordinarily receive their f...
Rampant, by Diana Peterfreund
The idea of carnivorous unicorns ranks pretty high on both the kitsch-o-meter and parody scale, but Diana Peterfreund's novel Rampant is neither. Instead, this surprising young adult book is...
Millie's Fling, by Jill Mansell
British author Jill Mansell never takes herself too seriously, and we here at Wordcandy are grateful for it. Her latest effort, Millie's Fling, is classic Mansell: sweet, sunny, and cheerful...
New-old Jennifer Crusie
I've always been curious about Jennifer Crusie's long-out-of-print early novel The Cinderella Deal, and it's finally being reprinted (with, sadly, a luridly pink-orange cover). Crusie has said thi...