53 Responses to “In Defense Of Category”

1. Fun question HelenKay! I do love the category romances, though I don’t get a chance to read them as often as I like. But they are quick, short reads that you can finish in a day, and sometimes that’s all I need for my book fix.

   I love Harlequin Presents for Lucy Monroe’s stories. There are some others, like Carole Mortimer and Sandra Marton, but Lucy is never hit-or-miss - I love every single one. She turns the outdated view of the older, rich hero with the naive, virginal younger heroine on its ear and brings smart characters to the table. I love them.

   Silhouette Intimate Moments for the military romances of Suzanne Brockmann and Catherine Mann. Sexy, full of adventure, and intense emotion. Gotta love that.

   Harlequin Blaze - hot, sexy, hot, fun, and last but not least, hot. Jennifer Labrecque is one of my fave authors.

   by Stacy ~ on April 11th, 2006 at 6:42 am
   
   

2. Hi,
   What a very nice prize.

   I prefer the full sized novels, more substance but do enjoy SIM, Blaze, Harl. American as well - have read quite a few. Good for quick reads as Stacy pointed out.

   Blaze & Temptation - hot hot hot

   SIM - nice stories - run the gamut from sexy, to warm and fuzzy - Brockmann, Sala, Dallas Schulze to name just a few

   Harl Amer - good stories - Loved the Randall Series by Christenberry

   Also Code of the West series by Anne McAllister.

   by Pat on April 11th, 2006 at 7:57 am
   
   

3. Congrats on the book release HelenKay.
   I do like some catagory. I enjoy Vicki Lewis Thompson(Blaze-Temptation), Charlene Sands(Har.Historicals), Brenda Novak(Superromance), Bronwyn Jameson(Sil.Desire). To name a few favorites. I guess for me its more about the author than the catagory. If I like a authors writing I’ll read all there books and some catagory writers write other books that are great too. I enjoy stories with alot of adventure,excitement and romance in all genres and the catagory books can’t give it all like other books so I tend to read them more though. If that makes sense?

   by Dena on April 11th, 2006 at 8:03 am
   
   

4. I enjoy the Silhouette Bombshells, especially Rachel Caine. I also enjoyed the Luna books by Laura Gilmore. And I have almost everything Alison Kent has written.

   by Sandy L on April 11th, 2006 at 8:05 am
   
   

5. Great to see so many people out there loving category! Honestly, the first contemporary romance I ever read was a category–Rita Clay Estrada’s THE IVORY KEY, a classic Temptation. Who knew I’d some day write for the line? When I read romance, I love category. For the RITAs, I got to read a few Flipsides…what a shame that line is gone. The stories were great. Most of my favorite single title authors started in category–Suzanne Brockmann, Merline Lovelace, Gayle Wilson, Julie Kenner, Vicki Lewis Thompson to name a few (like you, HelenKay, I’m a romantic suspense reader first and foremost.) And of course, most of my friends write category and I read their books and I love them. My keeper shelf is filled with category books!

   Bummer that you had to deal with Clueless…we all do, don’t we?

   by Julie Leto on April 11th, 2006 at 8:09 am
   
   

6. I think my favorite category author of all time has to be Kathleen Korbel (Eileen Dreyer). Oh, and Ruth Wind (Barbara Samuel). Neither one of them write many of the shorter books any longer, but I always snatch them up when they do because they write some of the best emotional reads I’ve found in the short format. Love them! (Okay, also love Judith Duncan, who also doesn’t seem to write much anymore.)

   by Alison Kent on April 11th, 2006 at 8:20 am
   
   

7. Congratulations on the book release!
   I do enjoy category romances. I buy several a month. My favorites are:

   Harlequin Intrigue - Kelsey Roberts, BJ Daniels
   Harlequin Next - Charlotte Douglas
   Harlequin Super Romance - Anna Destefano, Brenda Novak
   Harlequin Presents - Helen Bianchin

   I used to enjoy the Silhouette Shadows series, which were paranormals. They’ve done away with this line, but I hear they are launching a new line called Silhouette Nocturne in the near future.

   There are some great authors in category romance. I love these books because they’re a quick read, and with a young child, my reading time has greatly diminished.

   by Sandra M. on April 11th, 2006 at 8:30 am
   
   

8. Wasn’t there also a series called Silhouette Dreamscapes? I bought few books from that series when I was in the States few years ago, but when I later tried to find out if any new books had been published in that series, the entire series seemed to have vanished. I really liked those books and so did one of my friends.

   I do have some favorite category romances, especially I like Intrigue and Desire, even though they’re too quickly read, but there’s plenty of adventure and romance.

   by Minna on April 11th, 2006 at 9:18 am
   
   

9. I enjoy some category romances. Just finished Shadow Force by Linda Conrad recently and it was great. The next book is on my must read list when it comes out. I also am a fan of Diana Palmer and Anna DeStefano. I love alot of books from the Luna series and I also enjoy some of the books from the Love Inspired series. Category romances are a great way to add variety to my reading pile. There are so many to choose from that it is a veritable feast. Probably why my TBR pile is so out of control.:smile:

   by Cherie Japp on April 11th, 2006 at 9:32 am
   
   

10. My experience is a lot like Julie’s, except a little backward. Now that I think of it, “a little backwards” may be the mantra for my life… Anyway, I started reading romance by picking up (being handed, actually) PERFECT PARTNERS by Jayne Ann Krentz. Fell in love with JAK and the book. So, I then read her entire (not kidding) backlist, which included about 100 category romances (seemed like 100 - and, yes, I still have every single one). Somewhere along the line I picked up an anthology with JAK in it. From there I found Linda Howard and a few others. To skip ahead to the end of the story - I kept finding these romance authors I loved, would read the single titles, then jump backwards to their previous category romances. Tami Hoag, Sandra Brown, Carla Neggers, Nora Roberts and a host more.

    Like, Dena, my choices in category now tend to be author driven. But, they are also Line driven. I never hesitate to pick up a Bombshell or a SIM. For some reason I haven’t read too many Blaze - which makes no sense, I know. I’m hoping people will give me some author ideas here in the comments. From the April 2006 releases, I’ve already picked up: RUN FOR THE MONEY (Bombshell) by Stephanie Feagan, FLASHBACK (Bombshell) by Justine Davis, FACING THE FIRE (SIM) by Gail Barrett (because I saw it on AR, by the way), THEIR MILLION DOLLAR NIGHT (SD) by Katherine Garbera (again, because I saw it here and because it’s about Vegas) and SHARE THE DARKNESS (Blaze) by Jill Monroe. Isabel Sharpe and Jeanie London both have ones I’ve been looking at as well. Yes, I am on a category kick at the moment.

    Diana Palmer…all I can say is that those Long, Tall Texans are a pleasure every time.

    by HelenKay on April 11th, 2006 at 9:53 am
    
    

11. I too read category romances…those who don’t are missing some great stories! As far as authors I like Linda Conrad, Jayne Ann Krentz, Alison Kent, Diana Palmer, Kathy Garbera and lots lots more authors:smile::smile: Some of the category romances are shorter in length but that just means that I can read a lot more of them in a short about of time:grin:

    by Kathleen on April 11th, 2006 at 10:20 am
    
    

12. I enjoy reading Medieval & Time Travel Romance the best. I prefer to read the full size novels, but I have read lots of Harlequin Romance books from different categories that I liked. Every now and then I want a verity in my romance so I will switch to a different type of romance to read. I haven’t read any of the vampire romance yet. I have several in my to be read box. Of course I have Medieval, historical, erotica, contemporary, paranormal & romantic suspense. I have a little over 500 romance books, you might say I have my own little romance library. LOL I enjoy going in and picking out my next book to read and being able to choose. It wasn’t always like that.

    When it comes to romance books I like them all. Medieval is my favorite by far. I think it’s the time period. I’ve always loved movies in that time period too. When I am reading one of my romance books I just get lost in it, no matter which type of romance it is. LaVyrle Spencer is the first romance aurthor I read. I read ever one of her books before I moved on to another author. That was just a little over 4 years ago. I have 148 different authors in my shelves now. My TBR pile is forever growing

    by Tammy G. on April 11th, 2006 at 10:23 am
    
    

13. I don’t get much access to category romances, but of the few that I have been able to try:

    Lucy Monroe for Harlequin Presents, because they are wonderful stories and have a fresh feel to them.

    Susan Kearney for blaze, *sigh* for the toe curling alpha heros.

    Category romances are fast reads for me and give me that lift to my day when I need love to conquer all (but have a very limited time to find that fullfillment).

    by little lamb lost on April 11th, 2006 at 10:45 am
    
    

14. I don’t subscribe to any category series these days, but I do buy the ones by my fav authors. I appreciate that they are a quick read, entertaining, and usually a breath of fresh air, especially after a heavy, more intense book. They also don’t take up just bunches of space so I can hang onto my favorites. My fav category authors are Lucy Monroe, Isabel Sharpe, Alison Kent, Jill Shalvis and Kelsey Roberts. I might not read any category for several weeks, and then will gobble up five or more in a row.

    by Laurie on April 11th, 2006 at 11:18 am
    
    

15. Great post HelenKay and thanks for standing up for category. Sorry you had to deal with the clueless wonder…but as much as I hate to say it, you probably ought to get used to it. Sigh.

    I honestly don’t read much other than thrillers and true crime novels these days (I’ve got a bloody streak for a romance writer, I know) but some of my favorite romance authors all started in category and I know when I want a quick feel-good experience, I reach for slender books with the red covers (red = passion. ) Vicki Lewis Thompson is my all-time favorite category author. But I also know I’ll love any book I pick up by Virginia Kantra, Tanya Michaels, Alison Kent, Susan Kearney, Roxanne St. Claire and any number of others.

    by Leslie Kelly on April 11th, 2006 at 11:21 am
    
    

16. I love, love, love true crime (the books, not the actual crimes). Really, my hubby thinks I’m not well. He’s also made it quite clear we are never moving to the Pacific Northwest since I tell him all about the serial killers who have lived (and hunted) there throughout history.

    Ignoring true crime for a second, here is a bizarre admission - I adore Alison Kent and her SG5 Brava series - yeah, that’s not the bizarre part. Adore as in am-stalking-her-for-Ezra’s-story adore. Yeah, it’s amazing she hasn’t blocked my emails. Now - here’s the bizarre part - I’ve never read her in category. Why would that be, I wonder? Maybe my love for the Smithson men doesn’t allow for other Alison heroes? Don’t know. For those who love Alison (Walt, not you), if I were to start working my way through her category romances, where should I go first?

    by HelenKay on April 11th, 2006 at 11:29 am
    
    

17. Four Men And A Lady. Hands down my favorite Alison Kent book. Still! She broke soooo many rules with that book and I remember when it first came out (close to the time my first was coming out) I was so darn impressed that she could pull off writing a book where there were practically 4 heroes! And the heroine was just fabulous.

    And HelenKay, believe it or not, yesterday I finished reading In Cold Blood. I had somehow never read that book. I rented Capote and watched it, wondered how I’d missed that book, so I ordered it. Very engrossing. It captured the horror of the crime without any of the photographs, crime lab reports, autopsy lingo, etc., that I’ve gotten used to in more contemporary crime books. It really deserves the fame.

    by Leslie Kelly on April 11th, 2006 at 11:57 am
    
    

18. Yes, I love Diana Palmer category books - how could I forget. LOL.

    :smile:Also, I agree with Alison - Kathleen Korbel is v.g. - A Rose for Maggie was so very touching. Will never forget that book. A definite recommend if you can find a copy!!!!!

    by Pat on April 11th, 2006 at 12:08 pm
    
    

19. HelenKay,

    As a huge fan of everything Alison, I would suggest (for category) the Girl Gear series - lots of great fun and friends/lovers relationships there. I’m salivating in anticipation of Ezra’s story too - and the one after that, and the one after that . . .

    by Laurie on April 11th, 2006 at 12:30 pm
    
    

20. I read the Silhouette Bombshells–sort of, it’s tapered off lately.

    But I don’t read categories as a rule, mostly because they are hard to find here and I already have a very long single title wish list. The short length is another minus, because I read very fast. On top of that, these days the very fact that they are romances are a huge minus, because it’s not what I write, and until Nocturne is launched, most categories don’t catch my eye (I read mostly paras).

    And well, there’s the rather bad experience I had with the earlier categories. La Nora’s early stuff, for example.

    PS HelenKay, don’t add me in the draw. Thanks!

    by May on April 11th, 2006 at 12:43 pm
    
    

21. I wanted to point out, because I think several of the posters here are mistaken on this point, that Luna is NOT a category romance line. Just because it’s published by Harlequin, does not make it category.

    My favorite category lines were always Temptation, and then later, Blaze. My autobuy authors are: Jill Shalvis, Leslie Kelly, Vicki Lewis Thompson, Julie Elizabeth Leto, and Isabel Sharpe. Some of them have been cutting back a lot on their category output in the last few years, and I haven’t found any new writers i like as much taking their places. Though the new book out by Jill Monroe right now, SHARE THE DARKNESS, has been fab so far!

    by Diana on April 11th, 2006 at 12:53 pm
    
    

22. I do enjoy reading some of the category romances because they are a quick read that I can finish in a day. Some of my favorite authors are Lucy Monroe, Alison Kent, Jill Shalvis, Suzanne McMinn, Anna DeStefano and Bronwyn Jameson. There are plenty of other wonderful authors that write category romance that I haven’t thought of.

    by Maureen on April 11th, 2006 at 1:04 pm
    
    

23. I love category romances because they are fun and quick reads. I don’t think I could pick just one favorite author or book. Heidi Betts, Vicki Lewis Thompson, Bronwyn Jameson, Suzanne McMinn, Lucy Monroe, Alison Kent, Cheryl St. John, Anna DeStefano, Tanya Michaels, and many, many more are some of my favorites. I enjoy each author’s work for many reasons.

    by Jennifer Yates on April 11th, 2006 at 1:25 pm
    
    

24. I don’t read as many categoricals these days. My favourite category romance author is Kate Walker.

    by Jenny on April 11th, 2006 at 1:50 pm
    
    

25. As to why Kate Walker is my favourite category romance author, she has a way of drawing me into the emotions of the protagonists and her stories always feel substantial and well developed.

    by Jenny on April 11th, 2006 at 2:03 pm
    
    

26. I do enjoy reading category romances. I really enjoy reading Sihoutte Desires and Blazes. I was sad when the Temptation line was discontinued. I have several authors that I enjoy reading: Bronwyn Jameson, Linda Conrad, Katherine Garbera, Kristi Gold, Maureen Child, Kathie Denosky, Heidi Betts, Metsy Hingle, Tori Carrington, Alison Kent, Joanne Rock , Carly Phillips.
    Category romances were the first romance books that I read.

    by Crystal B. on April 11th, 2006 at 2:12 pm
    
    

27. Silhouette - Kathleen Korbel
    JoAnne Rock, Carly Phillips, Vicki Lewis Thompson, Jill Shalvis to name
    a few. I like medical romance stories as well. I just love romance.

    by Robyn on April 11th, 2006 at 2:39 pm
    
    

28. I have your address, HK. I believe I will have to drop something into tomorrow’s mail for you. Bwahahahahaha.

    (Thanks everyone for mentioning me in such great company!)

    by Alison Kent on April 11th, 2006 at 4:26 pm
    
    

29. I haven’t found many romances that i dont like. I have read many different category romances but i dont stick with one type for too long. I tend to keep diversity in my reading so i dont get bored with any one category. I think I would have to say that the paranormals and the historicals are my favorites but i do love the modern day romances as well as any others i can get my hands on.

    by Billie L on April 11th, 2006 at 4:39 pm
    
    

30. for Alison lovers that are not me:
    Yeah, Four Men and a Lady is probably a great start, and the banter that takes place between the heroine and the guy that turns out NOT to be the hero is very good. The Badge And The Baby, also written around the same time, is more “traditional” and as such doesn’t have enough of what Alison does best, I think. When I first met Alison, I had no idea which sub-genres were which, and ended up reading several Regency romances… until I figured out that many were too much alike for my taste. And by “alike” I mean where the character traits were all too similar. The conflict between the two seemed to follow a distinct path.

    When I meet people and have to explain romances to them, not being a writer myself, I probably don’t do the Romance genre many favors. (and I know many of the readers of this talkback are authors, so I know I’m doomed here) In short, I explain by saying that while some of the situations in romances may seem interchangable, the books aren’t because of what the author does with the characters and the characater conflict. I explain that it’s the interaction between the characters and the resolution of that character conflict to a happy resolve that many romance readers look for. Most non-romance readers get it after that. Too many times, people will see a romantic comedy at the movies and automatically assume that romance novel plots are just a subset of those, when the exact opposite is true.

    by Walt on April 11th, 2006 at 4:45 pm
    
    

31. I like all categories too!!! It does not matter to me if a book is long or short..I will read anything and everything if the excerpt of the book sounds great And if the book happens to be really short, then that just means that I get to read MORE books in a shorter amount of time!!!

    by Maureen E on April 11th, 2006 at 6:38 pm
    
    

32. I enjoy books with action,suspense, and romance (also military). Therefore I like SIM, Harlequin Intrigue, and especially Bombshell.

    by Joyce on April 11th, 2006 at 6:41 pm
    
    

33. I love category romances and read several a month. I read longer novels as well but I am not about to give up my categories.

    Blaze - Alison Kent, Joanne Rock, Carly Phillips, Janelle Denison Tori Carrington to name a saml few
    Special Edition - Susan Mallery, Marie Ferrarella
    Desire - Leanne Banks, Cindy Gerard
    Intimate Moments - Linda Winstead Jones, Catherine Mann, Merline Lovelace
    and before they were discontinued Loveswepts and more recently Temptation

    I love romance novels! I read them anywhere and everywhere and I could care less what anyone thinks about my choice of reading material.

    by Sharon on April 11th, 2006 at 7:02 pm
    
    

34. Wow..look at all the posts. Congratulations on your release. Funny on your conversation. I tend to use the word “thing” often and my husband always wants to know which “thing” I’m talking about. haha! Funny to see a turnaround on that.

    I read books in almost every Harlequin line out there in addition to single title stories. I like to mix them. Debra Webb’s Colby series of books are at the top of my list. Lots of suspense and tension between the hero and heroines in her stories. They are almost always page turners for me. I also like the Blaze and Temptation books and my favorites are the ones already mentioned here.

    by KimW on April 11th, 2006 at 7:38 pm
    
    

35. I read catagory books quite often. currently my favorite lines are Bombshell and Blaze but I read some in the other lines as well. Temptations were my all time favorite line ad I found many authors that I still read from that line….Alison Kent, Stephanie Bond, Jill Shalvis, Julie Kenner, Leslie Kelly, Lori Foster. also read Donna Kauffman, Catherine Mann, Lindsay McKenna, Lucy Monroe, Jane Porter, Kate Walker, Anna DeStefano, Holly Jacobs…I am sure I am frogetting several.

    Many of these authors have branched out into single titles as well or just started writing them instead of catagory….nothing wrong with that…longer shelf life = more income for one plus.

    I have never understood those people who feel that catagory books are less of a book because they are catagory. Hey “the queen” herself, Nora Roberts started out in catagory romance as did Jayne Ann Krentz and many others.

    This is a great way to find new authors. For the most part the books are well written and highly entertaining. So I really just don’t get why some people snub their nose at these books.

    by Barbara on April 11th, 2006 at 7:39 pm
    
    

36. Great question!

    I started out reading category romances, mainly Harlequin Romance. I started reading them pretty young (like 10 or 11) because I found books specifically written for my age group really condescending. As I matured, my tastes changed and I moved on to Harlequin American Romance, Harlequin Temptation, Silhouette Desire, Harlequin Blaze and from there to Brava, Ellora’s Cave and others. I can’t even imagine how different my life experiences would be without the “things” I have been reading in the past (gasp!) twenty years. I have learned so much and traveled to so many places that a girl from small town would never usually know about that I can only be happy that I stumbled on category romance as a girl. (BTW - my teachers were always very impressed with my vocabulary and I fully credit the books I was reading!)

    Many of the authors that I started reading in category romance, I followed to their other works. They include Nora Roberts, Linda Howard, Sharon Sala, Stephanie Laurens, Tara Taylor Quinn, Alison Kent, etc.

    Over the years, I have had to defend my reading choices to everyone I meet, from my father to my teachers to my boss to my friends. Some of them have been converted from “Clueless” to romance readers. I have gradually stopped apologizing for what I read. I used to be embarrassed if someone saw me reading a steamy novel, but now I read them proudly in public.

    by Susan on April 11th, 2006 at 8:28 pm
    
    

37. I, as an avid romance reader am astounded over the people actually liking Lover Eternal with cheating between the pages. I’m confused. For me, a romance should have no cheating, nothing even remotely resembling cheating… because for me, my romance books should have believeability and yet take me away to that fantasy place that I crave when I reach for a book.

    by Anne on April 11th, 2006 at 8:46 pm
    
    

38. Anne - Normally I would agree with you. I have some bedrock principles my main characters can’t violate. Fidelity - up until LOVER ETERNAL - was one of them. In fact, LOVER ETERNAL is the only time I can remember where I tolerated infidelity. I thought Ward’s execution of that issue was smart and true to the character. He wasn’t out for a booty call or physical pleasure. He did it to live and control the beast inside him - for those who haven’t read the book, I know that sounds really dumb, but he is a vampire and he really does have a beast inside him. Truly, I thought it worked here due to Ward’s direction and sound writing in what comes before and what comes after. The way the relationship evolved really worked for me.

    I should do a blog entry on this subject: what constitues a line an author can’t cross in a romance if she wants to keep you as a reader. I remember reading a book for PBR by Kassandra Sims, one also about vampires and a mix of other fantasy elements, where I really struggled because the heroine took pleasure in killing innocents. For me, it so violated my need to have the hero and heroine hold life as sacred that I couldn’t get past the issue. People can die and get killed or be seriously injured. My hero and heroine even can kill people, but if they do there has to be a reason (even if the reason is a mistake) and they have to carry the death with them. It has to mean something. Wendy and I ended up disagreeing on the book. She read it a few times and decided Sims’ risk was well done, new and worked. I read it twice and re-read the end a third time and could not get over my disconnect with the heroine and her actions. So, I found a bright line - caring about human life (I’m not talking about an abortion debate here - I’m talking about holding life as a precious “thing” and carrying the scars of killing). Infidelity pre-Ward was a bright line in romance for me, too. Really, it still is. LOVER ETERNAL may be the only time I allow for the aberration, but there is no question I did in Ward’s case.

    And…not to give anything away but the infidelity issue comes up in Crusie’s newest DON’T LOOK DOWN.

    by HelenKay Dimon on April 11th, 2006 at 10:22 pm
    
    

39. hi helen
    i love the tempation line, but no more, now the authors come to blaze or another series.
    Oh my gosh i love catagory romance.
    I love blaze series so much. I think i like all the authors, espically alison kent , leslie kelly, jill shalvis and vicki thompson. The authors and their stories are just so hot and erotic. I love erotic stories from them and the stories itself. I just read so many lblaze books, they are my favorite.
    I sometimes read desire lines form harlequin and HQN books too. the books there are from my favorite authors i just mentioned.

    by KIM H on April 11th, 2006 at 10:30 pm
    
    

40. My current favorite catagory romance author would be Jill Shalvis. Every story she writes has chemistry, wittyhumor, sexy characters. They’re so entertaining! I literally zip right through them.
    My oldest favorite is “White Lies” by Linda Howard. It was told in a diary format with her “husband” injured and unable to talk. It had everything too: sexual tension, suspense, a twist at the end. You feel like you’re experiencing the event as it happens. Can’t beat that!

    by Laurie G on April 12th, 2006 at 6:36 am
    
    

41. Many of my favorite authors write categories, like Tina Leonard, Alison Kent, Susan Mallery, Catherine Mann, Lori Foster, Julie Miller, Cathie Linz etc.

    I also love the idea of the multi-author series like the Fortunes.

    by Danny on April 12th, 2006 at 9:14 am
    
    

42. Some of my favorites are Brenda Novak, Gayle Wilson, Diana Palmer, Cheryl St. John, Metsy Hingle, Alison Kent,Donna Kauffman, Tara Taylor Quinn and of course, Nora Roberts. There are so many more that I enjoy reading, too. I can’t begin to list them all!

    by Carol on April 12th, 2006 at 10:06 am
    
    

43. I like Maureen Child, Beverly Barton, Jane Porter, Cheryl StJohn, Carolyn Davidson, Linda Winstead Jones, Virginia Kantra and a lot more. I’ve read from each of the categories and i enjoy them all. I like having a variety to choose from

    by marelou on April 12th, 2006 at 5:29 pm
    
    

44. My favorite category romances are by Suzanne Brockmann, Nora Roberts (her older books), Sherryl Woods, Christine Rimmer, Judy Christenberry to name just a few.

    by Helen Mac on April 12th, 2006 at 6:32 pm
    
    

45. I haven’t read that many category romance books. One very good book was Explosive Alliance by Catherine Mann. It is a military romance with lots of action.

    by Karen G on April 12th, 2006 at 9:08 pm
    
    

46. Category romance? Why, yes..! Justine Davis, Linda Howard, Suzanne Brockmann, Sharon Sala, Nora Roberts, Lindsay McKenna, Jayne Ann Krentz, Sandra Brown, Cheryl StJohn, Susan Mallery, Catherine Mann, Rachel Lee… I’m forgetting several, I know, but those are the ones that come to mind without standing up and checking the bookshelves.

    by azteclady on April 12th, 2006 at 9:27 pm
    
    

47. While I haven’t read a lot of category romances lately, I certainly do once in a while and have favorite authors who write them. As an author I’m like you…I’m astounded sometimes by the amazing things people will say to an author right in front of their faces. You’ll be at a book signing and someone will say very rude things about what you write. But luckily there are far more individuals who are just impressed that you’ve wrote any kind of book. They don’t care. They realize writing a book isn’t an easy thing to do. If it was, everyone would be writing books. Here’s to all categories of romance, all subgenres of romance. It’s all great stuff as far as I’m concerned.

    Denise A. Agnew
    www.deniseagnew.com

    by Denise A. Agnew on April 13th, 2006 at 10:38 am
    
    

48. I love the romance genre …. period. I think it’s a shame when we as readers exclude entire subgenres, categories, etc. I do not want to read the same thing every time I pick up a book. I embrace the variety and creativity within this genre. There are so many amazing authors that write category romance : Alison Kent, Vicki Lewis Thompson, Anna DeStefano, Joanne Rock, Linda Conrad, Jamie Denton just to name a few. These ladies are amazing storytellers, and I for one love a good story. I guess that’s what it comes down to for me. If the story is there, so am I. I’m with Denise, there are so many wonderful writers within the romance genre. Let’s celebrate them all! So keep telling your stories ladies, and I’ll see you at the bookstore.

    by Zara on April 14th, 2006 at 11:52 am
    
    

49. I love: Sherryl Woods, Nora Roberts, Sharon Sala, Dallas Schulze to name only a few.

    by Karen T. on April 14th, 2006 at 11:55 pm
    
    

50. I enjoy reading: Suzanne Brockmann, Sherryl Woods, Beverly Barton, Christine Rimmer, Diana Palmer, Linda Howard (The Mackenzie’s - YAY).

    by Helen L. on April 17th, 2006 at 10:54 pm
    
    

51. And the winners are…Stacy (from comment #1) and Sharon (from comment #33). Congrats! Email me (helenkay@helenkaydimon.com) with your three 2006 category picks and contact info, and I’ll get them out to you.

    Thanks to everyone for commenting. It’s good to know so many people are reading category romance.

    by HelenKay Dimon on April 19th, 2006 at 7:42 am
    
    

52. wtg

    by KIM H on April 19th, 2006 at 10:35 am
    
    

53. Congrats Stacy and Sharon!

    by Carol on April 19th, 2006 at 11:32 am