Well - the results are in for the Annual 2008 All About Romance Reader Poll. What was interesting was how many I read. It's always fun to compare what I voted for to what won. For the first time since I started voting in it, I didn't spread my votes out. Usually I try and get as many books in as I can but since one book in particular stood out more then any other - it was the one that I voted for. So I'm going to add my honourable mention books where they apply
Best Romance
AAR: The Spymaster's Lady by Joannna Bourne
Me: Broken Wing by Judith James
Best Contemporary Romance
AAR: Blue Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas
Me: Blue Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas
(a match!)
Best Romantic Suspense
AAR: Death Angel by Linda Howard
Me: Unlawful Contact by Pamela Clare
Best Paranormal Romance
AAR: Lover Enshrined by JR Ward
(Honorable Mention - Mine to Possess, Nalini Singh/Dark Desires after Dusk, Kresley Cole)
Me: Hostage to Pleasure by Nalini Singh
(I wanted to vote for Moonstruck by Susan Grant - but it didn't really fit - hopefully next year there will be a category)
Best Historical Romance Set in the U.K.
AAR: The Spymaster's Lady by Joanna Bourne
(Honorable Mention - Private Arrangements, Sherry Thomas)
Me: Broken Wing by Judith James
(Honorable Mention - Seduce Me At Sunrise, Lisa Kleypas)
Best Historical Romance Not Set in the U.K
AAR: Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chase
Me: Untamed by Pamela Clare
(This is another category I think is too broad)
Funniest Romance
AAR: Not Another Bad Date by Rachel Gibson
(Honorable Mention -
Like No Other Lover, Julie Anne Long
The Lost Duke of Wyndham, Julia Quinn
Just One of the Guys, Kristan Higgins
Me: Just One of the Guys by Kristan Higgins
Biggest Tearjerker
AAR: Blue Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas
(Honorable Mention - Broken Wing, Judith James)
Me: Broken Wing by Judith James
Best Love Scenes (in a Mainstream Romance)
AAR (tie)
To Seduce a Sinner, Elizabeth Hoyt
Your Scandalous Ways, Loretta Chase
(Honorable Mention - To Taste Temptation, Elizabeth Hoyt)
Me: Flat Out Sexy by Erin McCarthy
Best Debut Author
AAR: Sherry Thomas
Me: Judith James
(Honorable Mention - Meredith Duran)
Best Series Romance
AAR: A Most Unconventional Match by Julia Justiss
Me: I didn't vote in this category
Best Chick Lit/Women's Fiction
AAR: Just One of the Guys by Kristan Higgins
(Honorable Mentions - Queen of Babble Gets Hitched, Meg Cabot/Remember Me, Sophie Kinsella)
Me: Just One of the Guys by Kristan Higgins
(Another match!)
Best Erotica
AAR: Wicked Burn by Beth Kery
(Honorable Mention - Dangerous Secrets, Lisa Marie Rice)
Me: Wicked Burn by Beth Kery
(We're on a roll here!)
Best Romance Short Story
AAR: From This Moment On by Candice Hern in It Happened One Night
(Honorable Mention - Spellbound by Mary Balogh in It Happened One Night)
Me: Ritual in Death by JD Robb from Suite 606
Guiltiest Pleasure Romance
AAR: Lover Enshrined by JR Ward (writers note:???????)
Me: Wicked Burn by Beth Kery
Best Romance Hero
AAR: Hardy Cates in Blue Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas
(Honorable Mention - Robert Grey in The Spymaster's Lady, Joanna Bourne)
Me: Gabriel St. Croix in Broken Wing by Judith James
(Honorable Mention - Cam in Seduce Me at Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas)
(I really miss the Most Tortured Hero category)
Best Romance Heroine
AAR: Annique in The Spymaster's Lady by Joanna Bourne
Me: Haven Travis in Blue Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas
(I really miss strongest or most kick ass heroine category)
Best Romance Couple
AAR: Annique and Grey in The Spymaster's Lady by Joanna Bourne
Me: Gabriel and Sarah in Broken Wing by Judith James
(Honorable Mention - Marc and Sophie in Unlawful Contact by Pamela Clare)
Author You Gave Up On
AAR: JR Ward
(Dishonorable Mention - Julia Quinn)
Me: Susan Mallery
Worst Romance
AAR: Lover Enshrined by JR Ward
Me: Sweet Talk by Susan Mallery
So there you have it. I always find it interesting and while I certainly wish Broken Wing had won something more then an honourable mention, I don't have anything agains the winners. I love Blue Eyed Devil and The Spymaster's Lady - the two big winners.
So what about anyone else? Did you vote? How do they compare?
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18 comments:
Hi Kristie. Hmm... I didn't vote but may I say that there are a few results I find puzzling. The best thing though is that I also am reminded of some titles I really should get going on checking out and find out what all the fuss is about. Broken Wing is waiting for me at the public library!
I tend to not vote in AAR polls, so I really shouldn't bitch - but ya know I'm going to anyway right?
Not a single American or western setting anywhere. Again. First their last round of Top 100 Romances (OK, so there's one LaVyrle Spencer title there), now this.
Loretta Chase? Loretta frickin' Chase? Seriously? Sigh.
But you voted for Untamed - so go on with your bad self Kristie. If I had voted (which again, I didn't so I really shouldn't be bitching) I would have cast my vote for Outlaw Bride by Jenna Kernan in that category. Awesome book.
Wendy: They used to have a category for American Set Historicals. Beats me why they did away with it. I must say it made me quite unhappy - being the Western fan that I am. Historicals NOT set in the UK - waaaaaayyyy to broad a category. Us Western fans NEED that category!
Allison: I think the book that had me scratching my head the most was Lover Enshrined. Now I haven't read it so I can't say anything about the book itself but it's very strange that it won in a favourite category (paranormal) a guilty pleasure AND a worst book. That just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And as Wendy mentioned above - the Loretta Chase book is a puzzle too. While I voted for Untamed, there were much better (at least in my opinion) books out there for this category. My honorable mention (and I should add that) would be The Duke of Shadows where a good part of it takes place in India.
But there are some good ones on the list. I can't complain about some of them.
Just as a pollster I can tell you that almost as many people voted Ward's book the worst as those who thought it was the best. So it was like a division - you loved it, you hated it. I never cross referenced the number of people who voted it fav with those who said it was a guilty pleasure but I should.
I think Ward is on the cusp of making her series work or just end for romance readers. We'll have to see how next year pans out.
Oh and also on numbers - Elizabeth Hoyt had twice the number of votes than Chase did but they were split between two titles while Chase only had the one.
And I don't know if other readers would have naturally found Broken Wing or if you my dear friend have created a storm - many people voted for this title. You go with your bad self ;)
Cindys
I'm not here for AAR officially - it is just that I try to keep my identity the same as I visit other sites.
I have been lurking here for the past few weeks and want you to know, Kristie, that I really enjoy your site. I probably visit it every day. I have Broken Wing in my TBR stack as well - all because of you. I intended to read it before voting in the annual poll but I had so little time to do so and I want to take my time with a book I think I will completely enjoy.
I'll be back. I love the list of 1000 books as well and plan on playing with it later.
Lea/AAR
Cindy: *g* I know we all have different ideas on what makes a guilty pleasure, but still I find it interesting that so many people would consider book - what 5? - of a series a guilty pleasure. It would be interesting to see why they picked it.
And I'm glad Broken Wing got a lot of votes. Personally I would have liked to see it have taken more categories :) but I'm glad so many people are finding it 'cause I kind of thought it was a not bad book *g*. Whatever contribution I might have had in people finding it I don't know - but I'm glad they have!
Lea: Hello! And welcome! I'm glad you like the blog (toilet paper stories and all :O
I hope you enjoy Broken Wing. One of the things about pimping a book as strongly as I have this one is worrying that people might not like it. So far I haven't noticed anyone who haven't actually liked it though opinions vary of course. And I hear you about trying to get those book read last minute!! I tried to get more series books in because I read very few last year and I didn't really read one that stood out for me, but I ran out of time - thus no ballot in that category. And that 1,000 book thing was interesting wasn't it? Made me feel kind of proud that I've been reading romance for so many years - thus having read quite a few on the list - not to mention just about every book in the AAR poll.
Hey Kristie:
I love the way you noted the choices from the poll and your choices.
"Broken Wing", is a tear jerker? Oh no... yikes.
I didn't vote in the poll because it was unknown to me. But I was delighted to see that "Wicked Burn", won for Best Erotica.
I'm going to bookmark the site so I can vote next time.
Thank you again
L :)
Lea: It's a tearjerker - but in a GOOD way :) Without giving away the ending - remember it's a romance first and foremost and what's the number one rule of a romance? It's the _ _ _
And long before there was the explosion of blogs - and long before I had my own - going into my 5th year (wowzers!!) there was ALL ABOUT ROMANCE and THE ROMANCE READER. Especially with the message boards at AAR, that was where I discovered I was not alone in my romance addiction - that there were others - that I had PEOPLE!! I can't tell you after years of thinking there was something almost wrong with me in my passion for romance books, how reassuring and comforting it was to discover that there was a whole community of like-minded people out there. And now with the explosion of blogs (such as yours *g*) the community is even bigger and closer.
And that's me being sentimental *sniff*
Best Paranormal Romance
AAR: Lover Enshrined by JR Ward
Worst Romance
AAR: Lover Enshrined by JR Ward
Now that right there is full of teh funneh!
I wonder if that's ever happened before?
hey KJ! Thanks for putting these results out there. I love your own votes. I actually was really into the SPYMASTERS LADY, so I'm glad to see it won!!
Obviously I need to get wicked burn.
Argh! I did vote and only got two the same. I never read Spymasters Lady, so I can't comment on that one. You can tell by the votes that many people didn't read anyone but the mainstream big authors. Broken Wing was great (thanks for the recommend on that one!) but it didn't have a chance against the bigger names. I thought Toni Blake's 'Letters from a Secret Lover' blew away the contemp category, but again people gravitate to the really big authors. But overall I am not disappointed with the winners, they are just not my top picks. I guess I should read Spymasters Lady one of these days.
I'm with Bev... It's very strange to win best as well as the worst and author given up.
Hi, Kristie — Thanks for the votes! Your support means so much to me and has for many long years. Your "pimping" is always very sincere, whether it's for my books or BROKEN WING, which I should read when I'm not writing a contemp. And I was personally very happy that you felt both UNTAMED and UNLAWFUL CONTACT were worthy of remembering. :-)
I hope you're doing well!
I should hurry up and read Joanna Bourne. LOL
Being the huge dork that I am :
2006 Poll
Most Luscious Passion Lisa Valdez
Guiltiest Pleasure Passion LV
Worst Passion LV
Oh, she won for Best New Author also.
I knew it had happened before! To Brockmann!
2004 Annual Poll
Best Romance Gone Too Far Suz Brockmann (I'm pretty sure I would have voted for it cause I loved that one)
Best Couple Gone Too Far SB
Worst Read Gone Too Far SB (Honorable Mention to Into the Fire by Anne Stuart - I remember seeing that and immediately grabbing the book out of my TBR pile - to tie with a book I loved it had to be good. And it was Anne ;))
Thanks for letting my inner geek shine ;)
CindyS (AAR pollster today - tomorrow I'll just be Cindy again ;))
I didn't vote in this one, I never do. LOL, I have particular taste, so my choices never have a choice of making it ^_^;
However, I'm glad that Just One of the Guys won!! :) Yay!
by the way, I agree with you Kristie... Worst Romance, definitively Sweet Talk.
Thanks for posting the results. You got some right! I had no matches :).
I do have The Spymaster's Lady. I gotta read that one now :).
Bev: *g* well - according to Cindy's research, it has happened a number of times, strange though it seems to me :)
CJ: I really enjoyed Spymaster's Lady too so I wasn't upset or anything to see it take so many. In a different year, I probably would have voted for it in number of categories too~ And you do need to try Wicked Burn. It sure was a hawt one *wicked grin*
KarLynP: Wasn't Toni Blake's Letters from a Secret Lover great??? I totally forgot about it. I still would have voted for BED - but if I'd remembered, I'd have put it down as an honorable mention - in fact I think I will edit and add it!! And high five on enjoying Broken Wing!! I'm glad you liked it! The more well known authors do seem to get the lion's share of the votes - but that's only natural I suppose - they aren't big name authors for nothing. And I do recomment The Spymaster's Lady. I DID enjoy it.
Aymless: Nodding - I think so too. Though JR Ward is HUGE and I've seen opinions on both sides of the fence on Lover Enshrined.
Pamela: Thank YOU for writing such wonderful books that made it a thrill to vote for. I'm awed that both you and Lisa Kleypas got my vote or honourable mention in two such different categories.
Ames: *chuckle* You should. There are so many books though in so little time though aren't there?
Cindy: "2006" And then she up and disappeared. And I'm glad you let your inner geek out!! It's interesting that it has happened before.
Nath: They used to have a category for Most Disappointing and Sweet Talk would have been a better choice for me in that category. But whatever :-( I really didn't care for it at all, at all. Any you should vote - it's fun. I think there are a lot of books that people vote for that don't have much of a chance - but it's nice to just mark them down on a ballot and then highlight them as your own choices.
AmyC: I usually have 2 or 3 that match. It is interesting isn't it - to see what books are actually chosen.
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