An awesome librarian (is there another kind?) forwarded me a link to this article from the Reference & User Services Quarterly (THAT IS THE SEXIEST NAME OVER OMG *PANT*) article from “The Alert Collector,” which offers five librarians’ suggestions on building a romance genre collection: Core Collections in Genre Studies: Romance Fiction 101. (Also, the sexiest title ever, and thank you Mr.MS. Wyatt (my apologies) for not writing something that referenced heaving bodices or man-titty).
From the article:
The RUSA Collection Development and Evaluation Section (CODES) voted to create a new juried list highlighting the best in genre literature. The Reading List, as the new list will be called, honors the single best title in eight genre categories: romance, mystery, science fiction, fantasy, horror, historical fiction, women’s fiction, and the adrenaline genre group consisting of thriller, suspense, and adventure.
I will start composing sonnets to the awesomeness of this decision in a moment, but first, I want to say, HELL YES and FUCK YEAH. I personally loved the genre fiction section - which totaled three shelves - at the library at my college, and only allowed myself to take one book per week, even if I finished it in one night. Otherwise, I’d get no other reading accomplished.
So to the RUSA, with your sexy, sassy name: MMMMMMWAH. Great idea. And to accomplish this task, they gathered five librarians to profile a subgenre of romance: contemporary, historical, suspense, paranormal, and Regency.
And to Ms. Wyatt (I think you wrote this part) I’d like to nominate you for the I-Just-Invented-It Award for Asskickingly Non-Condescending Description of Romance and buy you the beverage of your choice:
Romance novels are built around the relationship between hero and heroine and the conflicts within that relationship. They are ultimately positive and optimistic novels that involve the reader on an emotional level. Fans of this genre love the snappy dialogue, well-crafted scenes, connection between the characters, and details of the character’s lifestyles.
WORD UP TO YOU MA’AM. One note though to Dudesse of Excellence. Ms. Wyatt: You list some great web sites as references, but what about us and Dear Author?! DUDE! Epic fail!
Now, minor hissyfit notwithstanding, let us moving on. Here are the selections recommended for building a balanced romance novel bookshelf representing each of the aforementioned subgenres - with my commentary and assorted linkage.
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Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, of course. Talk about “happy for now” and OMGWTFNowWhat! in a story!
But I love Jamie and Claire…and Bree and Roger.
Thanks for the random musing - similar wonderings had rumbled around in my…
Well, if you’re cool with m/m, you can’t get much more adorable sexy sweetness than Ann Somerville’s Fluffy Tale.
(yeah, she never calls the kem ferrets, but we know the truth)
Cool, thanks! I’ll totally check it out.
I know little about Urban Fantasy, but if you are looking for a strong women who takes no prisoners, consider Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire, lightning, dance, volcanoes and violence (no relation to Pele of Brazil). Hawaiian mythology explains…
I tend to view it as it is the happily ever after. The only difference is I get to read it instead of have it spin off the end page into eternity. I get to enjoy the HEA and watch…
Perhaps the appeal of one couple making it keeps readers going in their own one-couple relationship. As a military spouse, I have friends (and adventures) from various bases around the world. But the one constant is the love, affection, and…
by Candice Hern
by Carla Kelly
by Allison Lane
by Barbara Metzger
by Evelyn Richardson
by Jo Beverley
by Mary Jo Putney
by Susan Wiggs
by Julia Quinn (SB Sarah notes - I’ve mentioned before that this book is among my very favorite historical romances, bar none).
by Robin Schone (I thought Schone was considered erotica?)
by Jennifer Crusie (Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes. Is it fair to call a contemporary romance “Seminal?” All references to man pudding aside, this is one of the best I’ve read.)
by Rachel Gibson 
by Jennifer Greene
by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (featuring SEP’s new signature headless dancing woman cover - woot!) 
by Nora Roberts (I could not wish a worse challenge on a librarian than picking one Roberts novel to recommend as representative of contemporary romance. But I do like this one (and I like Born in Ice even better because it features a strong independent heroine excelling at traditional domestic responsibilities as an innkeeper).
by Suzanne Brockmann (Which is also the 
by Sandra Brown
by Julie Garwood
by Elizabeth Lowell (I am so amused to see Garwood and Lowell in suspense instead of historical, which is the subgenre I associate them with)
by Mary Stewart
by Christine Feehan (I loved this one, especially because of the heroine, but 
by Jayne Ann Krentz
by Robin D. Owens
by Linnea Sinclair
by Anne Stuart (Though out of print, the description provided by Welch cracks me up: “they join forces…[as] they master their new superpowers.” I got to get me a copy!) 