Lady Jane's Salon

For those in the New York area, Lady Jane’s Salon, New York’s only romance reading series, will be convening tomorrow, June 1st, at Madame X on West Houston Street. Diane Gaston, Marjorie M. Liu, Amanda McCabe and Wendy Corsi Staub will be reading from their latest releases. The price of admission is five dollars or…

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Loaded Questions Interview

Over at Loaded Questions, I recently chatted with fellow academic and author interviewer Kelly Hewitt about the Pink books, grad school, and the upcoming Betrayal of the Blood Lily. (Kelly found a brilliant picture of a blood lily for illustration). If you’re looking to wile away a slow Saturday, Kelly’s site includes interviews with such…

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The Winning Couples

Hi, all! Reading through your votes for the Top Fictional Couples of All Time provided an unexpected trip down memory lane, with each couple evoking a favorite reading experience. With so many millions of books out there, it’s pretty incredible just how much of a fictional lexicon we all have in common. Out of the…

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Fun Fundraiser and Contest

Folks who study romance are just more fun. The International Association for the Study of Popular Romance is running one of the most creative fundraisers I’ve seen yet. Called “It Takes Two”, they’re asking people to pitch in a two dollar donation in honor of (here’s the good bit) their favorite romance novel couples. Tres…

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The Pre-Game Show

Courtesy of Stephanie (thank you, Stephanie!), we have a Pre-Title Entertainment: a pre-game quiz. To tide you over for those few hours until Flower Idol comes to its triumphal conclusion (for this book, at least) and the title of Pink VI is publicly announced, we have a smattering of Pink Carnation Trivia. Please feel free…

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You Know You're a Regency Junkie When….

One of the many fascinating people I got to hang out with at the PCA conference was Jessica of Racy Romance Reviews (also the coiner of my new favorite phrase, “lair kittens”). For those of you who may wonder whether you’re spending too much time at Almack’s, she just sent me a link to her…

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Got Romance?

Hi, all! Sorry to be AWOL these past few days while the flowery ideas have been flowing (or, more aptly, blooming– it’s hard to imagine a flower in flow). Thank you all so much for the fantastical garden of title ideas. The term “embarrassment of riches” couldn’t be more apt. There are still some behind…

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Romancing History

In a little over a week, I have to give a paper at the Popular Culture Association on the interplay of history and fiction. As I’ve been parsing the topic out (and managing to work myself into a muddle), I’ve posted on the topic today on both History Hoydens and Access Romance. On History Hoydens,…

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Thursday Book Recs

Recently, Tracy Grant wrote on History Hoydens about series that you can’t stop talking or thinking about, that draw you into their world, painting a complete universe so vividly that you feel like you’re living in it with the characters– and very anxious to know what will happen next. The last time I had that…

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Thursday Book Recs

It seems mildly cruel to recommend books that are out of print, but I’m about to do just that. One of the favorite books of my teens was Anne-Marie Selinko’s Desiree, the tale of Napoleon’s first love, whom he ditched for Josephine. Fear not! Desiree found a far less egomanaical (not to mention taller) chevalier…

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