So! You want to buy me a book and you want to know which one

 

This can be a tricky question you are asking.  I’m a picky eater and unfortunately a picky reader too.  The first ones up are by a small group of authors that I either pre-order if that is an option or I’m on their mailing list and the second I see the book is out, I snap it right up.  And I do believe I have the entire back lists of all these author.  These include, in no particular order

 Pamela Clare   Carian Cole   Scarlet Cole   Lisa Kleypas

Julie Kriss,   LH Cosway   Ellen O’Connell

There’s no sense in getting a book for me by any of these authors as chance are I already own it or will have it on Day 1

Now that’s not all my autobuy authors.  I have rather a large group, but with this next group of authors,  I tend to check the price and read the synopsis.  Chances are about 95% I will still get the book, but it’s not as instantaneous.  This list is much larger.  Again in no particular order

Mia Sheridan   Brenda Rothert   Emma Scott   Vi Keeland

Penelope Ward   Jo Goodman   Kristin Callihan   A. Meredith Walter

Brittainy C Cherry   Jane Harvey-Berrick   Lisa B Kamps   Elle Kennedy

Aly Martinez   Courtney Milan   Sara Ney   Winter Renshaw   Samantha Towle

 

So you might not want to get me a book from any of these authors as I may or may not have a copy.  Since that’s the case, I’ll instead use tropes rather than specific authors as I’m sure I could add a few more authors to the list above.

Royalty

I don’t care for romance books that have royal characters, either real or made up.  I see them and pass right by.  When you think of it though this is a rather odd eliminator as what are fairy tales at heart but romance stories for young girls.

****

Vampire

I have read vampire romance but never been a real fan of them.  I read the first two books of the Black Dagger Brotherhood by JR Ward for example and while I enjoyed them well enough, the enjoyment didn’t reach the height it did for many romance readers. I read a couple of Christine Feehan Dark series and it was the same thing except they creeped me out.  So no, don’t waste your money on Vampire books.

I don’t have the same issues with werewolves or other shifter type heroes but keep in mind, I don’t really read a lot of them.

****

Billionaires

I see these books and pass right by them.  As with other tropes, I may read them if a favoured author has written any but that’s pretty much the only exception.  To go along with this I could also add any high falutin’ white collar romances.  Give me a good carpenter or auto mechanic and I’m on board, but a lawyer or doctor – not so much.

****

Aristocracy

(Simon, Duke of Hastings excluded of course)
Here I’m referring more to historicals.  Again, I won’t ignore books by favoured authors such as Lisa Kleypas but I’m so much more drawn to a non-titled hero such as Derek Craven then I am to Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent.  So if the hero is a boxer or the owner of a gambling establishment, then I think you are safe but a duke or a viscount or earl, you shouldn’t risk it.  There are exceptions but it’s too confusing to explain them all.

****

Angel or demons

Not interested so again a money waster.  I know they are popular now and I did read one years ago, Angel for Hire by Justine Davis that I adored but that was a rarity.

****

Motorcycle Gangs

I know these type are very popular with many a romance reader but on the whole, not so much for me.  When I see a freebie or one on sale, I tend to skip it.  And while Charlie Hunnam is indeed very fine to look at, I never watched and never wanted to watch Sons of Anarchy.

~~~~~~~

On the other hand, here are some suggestions as to books I do go for

SciFi

 

I love a good SciFi romance so unless the hero has scales or is lizard like, I’m willing to give it a try.  And of course, just like everything else, there is an exception. I love Radiance by Grace Draven and I think he might be on the more lizard-like of the scale.

****

Westerns

Though I haven’t read as many lately, I do love this genre so it’s another good choice should you wish to buy me a book.  Reformed outlaws are the best.  Who doesn’t love a bad boy whether in a contemporary or historical book eh?

****

Medievals

Back in the day there were a lot of medieval being written (and read by me) but there don’t seem to be as many these days.  Hopefully they will make a resurgence

****

Sports romance

I’m a big sports fan so I love this trope.  The only sport I’m not interested in really is basketball.  I don’t follow that sport.  Though as will every type of book, there is an exception. I loved Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan.

Bowlers though are one you can stay away from.  I don’t think professional bowlers are inherently sexy.  To be on the safe side and being Canadian, hockey players are the best bet.

Blue collar romance

As mentioned up above, I’m a huge fan of blue collar type heroes

****

Unjustly imprisoned

I really and I like really like this trope.  It would be interesting to get inside my brain to try and figure out the reason why

****

Rock Stars

This is another trope I can’t seem to get enough of reading.  Three of my auto buy authors have written books about rock stars and I’ve read all of them multiple times.  So you are pretty save on getting me one of these.

 

So there you have it.  I think it’s a good wide choice of what and what not to get me in the way of romance books.

 

******DISCLAIMER******

Just in case you aren't 100% sure and wondering what is up with this blogger, this is 100% not serious - well, it is in the types of books I prefer - but I neither want, hope, expect, anticipate etc anyone getting me any books.  It's a total leg pull.

TBR Challenge for June

Rock Star by Roslyn Holcomb

Published in 2006

I’ve had this one in the TBR pile for a while now and kept meaning to read it. Yet again, I’m glad Keishon’s challenge has spurred me to read a book that might have lingered a bit longer in the TBR pile.

I bought this one when I heard good buzz on it and to also to be honest, because Of Karen Scott’s series of articles and posts about racism and AA authors. She helped raise my level of consciousness to the fact that while I didn’t avoid books written by AA authors, neither did I seek them out. Mostly it’s because we don’t hear that much about them.

Blurb from the authors web site:

How does a hedonistic, hellbound L.A. sophisticate like bad boy rock star Bryan Spencer woo young, gifted and black sweet home Alabama belle Callie Lawson? What type of magical voodoo draws him to her magnolia-scented bosom? Seduced by the unhurried pace and a lifestyle that is the antithesis of his own, he finds that he cannot break away from the seductive spell of a woman who soothes the deepest recesses of his tortured soul. Bryan, guitar god extraordinaire, is compelled to retreat to the small town when he is devastated by the loss of his best friend and band mate. The peaceful tranquility, not to mention unaccustomed celibacy, is slowly driving him mad until he meets Callie Lawson, budding tycoon, aficionado of black entrepreneurship and owner of the local bookstore. He quickly discovers that Callie is one of the few people he’s met who doesn’t have her own agenda for befriending him. Far from the cloying adulation he is accustomed to, Callie is totally focused on her own career goals and is reluctant to have anything to do with a ‘long-haired rocker from California.’ Bryan overcomes her misgivings with an old-fashioned courtship that belies his L.A. rocker origins. He introduces this Sunday School girl to some truly high-powered sex and decadence. The question is which one wins: Southern Sunday School or L.A. sin? Just when they’re certain everlasting love is firmly in their grasp, they are rent asunder by treachery and betrayal of the most staggering kind. They must defy egregious stereotypes and false perceptions to embrace their own sweet Alabama love.

I really enjoyed this book. Reading it, she did an excellent job in describing the intense longing between Callie and Bryan. I could relate to Callie in wondering what this hot, famous rock star who could have had any woman, saw in a small town girl like her. But as I got into the book, I could see it. She has a sweetness and an honesty about her and doesn’t hesitate to break his rock star at times, inflated bubble. She doesn’t kow-tow to him the way so many people do. And she sees him for who he really is inside – not the outer ‘famous’ layer.

For his part, Bryan is also a well written character. For him, it’s not about his rock star status, it’s about the music. Music was his solace when he was a young and neglected child. He’s totally and completely smitten with Callie, and as I’ve said before, I love that in a hero.

The conflict between them is two-fold. First of all, Callie is a small town girl at heart and really doesn’t want to be a part of Bryan’s wild, hedonistic LA crowd. She has made quite a success for herself doing what I’ve always dreamed of doing myself – opening and successfully running a books store. The second conflict that comes into play is their different races. For Bryan, it’s a total non-issue. He sees only Callie for the warm wonderful ‘real’ person she is, not the colour of her skin. On the other hand for Callie, it was a different story. Before I started the book, I read at the back ‘about the author’ and how she herself is in an interracial marriage and has experienced many of the same issues Callie does in starting and maintaining a relationship with some one of a different race. It really helped when reading later in the book, all the issues Callie encountered from both races. Oddly enough, she seemed to almost get it worse from other black women.

At this point, I’d like to say I find it rather sad that there still is a barrier in real life between two people who love each other but come from different races from other people. To me, love is love and if two people feel that deep connection to each other – and if they make each other happy and better people, that’s all that counts.

Callie certainly makes Bryan a better person.

The love scenes were a tad purple in places, as if the author was a bit uncomfortable writing them, but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of this book at all.

I checked to see if the author had any other books I could read and was disappointed that she doesn’t. I think Tonya, Callie’s best friend and business partner would make a great heroine for her own book. She’s also a writer of suspense books in her spare time and there is a hilarious scene where she is doing research and has tied Callie up to see how easy it would be to escape when Bryan walks in on them.

Roslyn Holcomb does have a short story, on her web site though, somewhat like an epilogue and I read and enjoyed it. She also gets a bit into the relationship of Twist, a fellow band mate and Naysa, their sassy fashion designer.

Overall, this was a tender, raw, poignant story of two people fated to be together despite all the odds and all that might separate them. I hope she is planning on more books, because I will be reading them.

Grade: 4 out of 5

Once again my TBR challenge book proved to be a real winner!