Although most of the news of 2009 centered on the ongoing military conflicts and the current economic crisis, fortunately for our sanity, everything was not just about war and money; there was a lot going on in the romance fiction world, as well. The details could easily fill a book, but in the interests of your time and my word count, consider, instead, this highly selective, slimmed-down version of the year’s romance fiction highlights.
1). Technology continues to impact the entire publishing world, changing the way books are published, sold, distributed, and read.
Digital romance will remain big in 2010
A decade ago, e-books were merely a blip on the publishing radar. Now most publishers already have, or are in the process of, making books available in downloadable digital format – and romance is leading the way. Most romance publishers now offer many of their current and backlist books in digital format. Ebook readers (Kindle, Sony, plus many due out in early 2010) are growing in variety and popularity, and anecdotal evidence shows that romance readers, often-early adopters of technology, are beginning to get on board.
Amazon reported that ebook sales beat print sales on Christmas Day. It may have been a fluke driven by the fact that Kindles were popular Christmas gifts, but it does underline the fact that ebooks are becoming more generally accepted.
New formats are developing and gaining traction – e.g., stories delivered via cell phone, abbreviated “twittered” stories, vooks (video and text), to name only a few. Price, accessibility, and copyright issues continue to be major topics of discussion – and are often bones of contention.
2). Harlequin fell from grace with a number of writers late in 2009 when it teamed up with ASI Solutions to launch Harlequin Horizons (quickly renamed DellArte Press), a subsidy/vanity press.
Is self-publishing hurting the Romance genre?
Self/subsidy/vanity publishers do not meet the Romance Writers of America’s (RWA) criteria for approved publishers, so (as of this writing) Harlequin Books has been removed from RWA’s approved list and is no longer eligible for a wide range of privileges, including certain conference perks and award eligibility. RWA was joined by a number of other writers’ organizations that took similar actions.
3). Urban Fantasy Romance continues to sizzle, becoming more creative with each new writer, as demons, vampires, shapechangers, guardians, and assorted alien folk interact with humans in a variety of contemporary (usually) settings.
4). Post-apocalyptic stories are generating interest, as are steam punk romances.
5). Historicals, especially those with Regency, Georgian, and recently Victorian settings, are still attracting readers; and Historicals set in the Old West, the Historical Romance of choice a number of years back, are enjoying a new surge in popularity.
6). Sex still sells, and a growing number of writers who got their start with erotic romance ebook publishers such as Ellora’s Cave and Red Sage are now writing for mainline romance publishers, ramping up the steam factor in the print world. (Then, of course, there are readers who skip over the sex scenes to get on with the story.)
7). Books linked by character and place becoming the norm, and while each story usually is complete in itself, most have characters in common that reappear from time to time.
A Few Good Reads
Best Romances of 2009 lists are everywhere; and since many of these are available online, I won’t repeat them. However, Library Journal‘s annual best books compilation (which includes genre romance) and Booklist‘s Top Ten Romances might be of particular interest to librarians and are well worth consideration.
A few of the many additional titles that I particularly enjoyed last year are listed below:
Caskie, Kathryn. The Most Wicked of Sins. Avon, 2009.
Told to mend her wild ways and find an acceptable fiancé immediately, Lady Ivy Sinclair, whose besetting sin is envy, takes sets out to make her current suitor jealous – with totally unexpected results. This is the second in Caskie’s “Seven Deadly Sins” series.
Dark Legacy
DeStefano, Anna. Dark Legacy. Love Spell, 2009.
A heroine with a mind-link to her crazed twin sister is drawn into a nightmare as she struggles to save her sanity and her life in this dark psychological romantic thriller.
Goodman, Jo. Never Love a Lawman. Zebra, 2009.
An abundance of engaging characters, a cleverly crafted plot, and skillful writing make this romance set in an old Colorado mining own another winner for Goodman.
Jeffries, Sabrina. Wed Him before You Bed Him. Pocket, 2009.
This final volume in Jeffries popular “School for Heiresses” series is a charmer and ties up most loose ends; however, fans new to the series should read the earlier volumes first.
Layton, Edith. To Love a Wicked Lord. Avon, 2009.
Fans of romances filled with spies, deception, and a sense of fun will enjoy this adventurous story that is slightly reminiscent of The Scarlet Pimpernel and is Layton’s final book. She died in June.
Putney, Mary Jo. Loving a Lost Lord. Zebra, 2009.
Loving a Lost Lord
A noblewoman invents an absent husband in order to avoid an unwanted marriage, and ends up in a game of pretense when a man with no memory washes up on her estate’s beach. Laced with exotic touches, warm humor, and enchanting characters, this exceptionally well-written story is the first in Putney’s projected “Lost Lords” series.
Wiggs, Susan. Lakeshore Christmas. Mira, 2009.
The latest in Wiggs’ popular “Lakeshore Chronicles”, this Holiday charmer gives the annual Christmas pageant a new twist, saves the public library, and brings love to a most unlikely couple – all with a bit of angelic help.
– Kristin Ramsdell is a librarian at California State University, Hayward and is a nationally known speaker and consultant on the subject of romance fiction. Besides writing articles about the romance genre, she writes a romance review column for Library Journal and is the author of Romance Fiction: A Guide to the Genre (Libraries Unlimited, 1999) and its predecessor, Happily Ever After: A Guide to Reading Interests in Romance Fiction (Libraries Unlimited, 1987). She was named Librarian of the Year by Romance Writers of America in 1996.
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As an inspiring romance writer and diehard Harlequin reader, I heard it through the publishing grapevine that Harlequin’s imprint, DellArte Press’s first release is a women’s fiction and it received rave reviews. I can’t wait to read it to see if it lives up to the hype.
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