Sharing the Love

I’ve mentioned before how much I like working where I do. I’ve recently found another unexpected bonus – turning readers into romance readers! Yes – I’ve been able to share some of my books with some coworkers. It started with Janet Evanovitch. I overheard one of the case managers telling another case manager how much she enjoyed Ms. Evanovitch’s books. Of course I jumped into the conversation. As I have a number of her books – including a three-in-one of One For the Money, Two For The Dough, Three to get Deadly, I brought this one in. The case manager loved it and managed to all 14 in about 2 months – she agreed with many reviews I’ve seen that Fearless Fourteen wasn’t as good as the earlier ones.

Since she loved them so much and we discussed them at work in front of others, they got curious too and wanted to try them. One other coworker is now on the 8^th book and another one is on book 2. I look forward to many great discussions.

And if that isn’t grand enough, there is another coworker who took out Lisa Kleypas’ Blue-Eyed Devil from the library because I had told other people I work with about it. She wasn't exactly a romance fan but she was curious. And she loved it. But she hadn’t read Sugar Daddy first. So with some trepidation I lent her my copy. My reluctance was due to the fact that Lisa sent it to me personally and autographed it for me. I would have cried if something had happened to it. But I did trust this coworker and all was good as she loved it too and wants to read Smooth Talking Stranger after me once it comes out.

Since she loved the Lisa Kleypas books so much I tried to think of another book she might like and came up with To Die For by Linda Howard. I warned her though that many other readers didn’t like Blair – even though I adore her.

Well – my coworker loved it too and now wants to read Drop Dead Gorgeous. The only problem is she is a casual employee and I don’t see her every day. She left To Die For on my desk on a day off and I haven’t seen her since. But I’m looking forward to seeing her again so we can talk about it.

All of this is rather unusual for me. I have one friend who reads a lot of romance books I loan her – and she realizes how important they are and takes proper care – but she’s not at all into ‘discussing’ them. The most I can get out of her is I loved them. She takes about 7 or 8 at a time and by the time I get them back, she doesn’t really remember that much – whereas me on the other hand can still remember many a book I read over 10 years ago.

So it’s unusual to be able to talk face to face with someone about the romance books we’ve read and for me – a large part of the fun of reading is talking about it after. That’s why I visit romance message places and LOVE blogging. I love sharing the books I’ve loved and in return reading about books other bloggers have loved. After being on a romance reader island for so long, where there was no one to talk about them with, discovering this wonderful online community has changed my world.

And now that I’m starting to find a few people in my work place – it’s just wonderful.

Does anyone else feel this way? After years of being frustrated at not being able for example to share what makes Blair Mallory such a hoot, or who to choose – Joe or Ranger (Joan – the one who has now read the whole series is a Ranger fan) or what a great hero Hardy turned out to be, do you feel that your life is now enriched because you have someone – either online or in person to share this special love with now?