“To bask in passion’s glow. To bathe in love’s fountain. To swim in the rivers of Eros.” “It sounds quite vile. No thank you.” It was very difficult not to laugh. She managed it, just. MUCH ADO ABOUT DUTTON by Claudia Dain The other day one of the authors in one of the many online reading groups I’m in posted a question asking readers how many love scenes they demanded in a romance. I get why authors ask this, but I feel like it’s a difficult thing for readers to answer. I know there has been a lot of debate and general discussion about how many love scenes/sex scenes put in romances, and over how the quantity and quality of love scenes in a book should be advertised to readers. I remember reading a few years ago that a favorite romance author of mine felt pressured by her publisher to include a specific number of sex scenes in her book. I felt that was unfair; not just because I think that she should be allowed complete freedom in her creative process, but also because those scenes weren’t what I found most enjoyable about her books. In the end, I took…

Today we are joined by Fresh Fiction Senior Reviewer Miranda Owen: I am a widowed lady, well past the age of innocence. Why should I not kiss a handsome man in a drawing room? A little carnality won’t hurt me.  – THE MADNESS OF LORD IAN MACKENZIE by Jennifer Ashley I find stories with a widowed heroine particularly compelling. For good or bad, marriage and living with somebody play a huge role in your life, and how you function every day. In a good marriage, your partner enhances your life – in small ways and big ways. If you have the misfortune to be in a bad marriage, it sours many aspects of your life. In different ways, stories about women who have loved and lost, as well as stories about women who have endured until being set free by a spouse’s death, are equally fascinating. In stories where there was some affection between the husband and wife, an author tries to convey the love that existed and how the wife is left to pick up the pieces. One of the first stories I read with a widowed heroine was THE MADNESS OF LORD IAN MACKENZIE by Jennifer Ashley. In Jennifer…

I began reading romance novels when I was young.  Hot, steamy Jude Deveraux historical novels from the hardcover section of my local library.  My mother had no idea they were romances; if she had, she wouldn’t have approved.  When I tried buying romance novels with my allowance from Wal-Mart, she would judge the cover as to whether or not it could be deemed acceptable reading material for me (not realizing the excerpt inside would have been a much better clue).  Years passed by, and friends would tease me about reading romances.  Store clerks would give me “the look” when the book I wanted to buy featured a half-naked man and woman locked in a torrid embrace on the cover.  I learned from all these experiences to only buy historical romance novels with pretty covers on them—you know, the ones with flowers or necklaces, or a picture of a manor house.  Or, if I really wanted one that had a sexy cover, I would turn it upside down in public, trying my best to hide everything with my hand. It took me a while to get over this.  But the older I got, the more I realized that I really didn’t…