Sunday, April 23, 2006

Summer reading

So, I've been on a mildly trashy contemporary romance novel kick, and I thought I'd admit to it here :-) These books are so quick to read, and fun, and there are so few surprises that they're comforting in a way. And as the weather gets warm, they're just perfect sometimes. So, if anyone is looking for cute, fluffy reads, Susan Donovan's He Loves Lucy and Rachel Gibson's Sex, Lies, and Online Dating are both very cute and enjoyable. I can also recommend almost anything by those two authors, as well as Jennifer Crusie and Janet Evanovich (who also does the Stephanie Plum books but has been cranking out the romance lately).

4 comments:

Holly said...

Allison--Do you like Evanovich's romances? I read the first one when it was "re-released" and wasn't that impressed. I guess I thought it would be more funny like the Plum books. It's been several years so I don't remember it at all anymore, but i haven't read any of the other romances. Have they gotten better? I just don't know how writers can crank out books like she does.

allisonmariecat said...

I think her romance novels (besides the "Full..." series with Charlotte Hughes) are all re-releases from her pre-Plum days when she did Harlequin-level romance novels. They're...meh. Not fabulous, okay for a plane ride or the beach. I kind of like the "Full..." series (I think the first one is Full House)--they have more of the humor. And then she has her Nascar-based series. I read Metro Girl, and it was cute. I think she has another one out, but I don't buy those in hardcover :)

At this point, I think she has a formula down for the Plum books, she's only a co-writer on the Full series, and she's probably putting more of her energy in the Metro Girl series now. Still three new books a year is a little scary...

Holly said...

ooh, I enjoyed Metro Girl. I didn't realize that was going to be a series. I'll have to check that out! I think I'm going to stay away from her romances. ;-)

allisonmariecat said...

For really funny romances, have you read Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie and How to Trap a Tycoon by Elizabeth Bevarly? Hilarious.

The next in the Metro Girl series is Motor Mouth, and I guess it doesn't come out till October. I guess she figures she can't keep the Plum books coming forever, so she wanted to bring in a new heroine.