LOL, no, it’s not April Fool’s Day and Rachel isn’t playing tricks on you – it’s me, Patti, from Caught in a FAB Romance. *waves* Well, I used to be there, but… I’ve come over to the Dark Side *evil laugh* I’m sneaking over while Rachel is at the RT Convention (who me, jealous?) to tell you about a new a weekly feature I’m pretty excited about here at Parajunkee’s View called “Romancing the Weekends” – that’s right kids, I’m going to be reviewing straight-up Romance books – Contemporary, YA, and some Historical.
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a married mother of three with a sooper-sekrit day job. I love to read whenever I get the chance; at any given time if you peek inside my purse you’ll find my kindle and at least two print books. I’m still kind of a newbie to the romance genre though – the first romance novel I ever picked up was…wait for it…Twilight! Obviously, I loved it, and started reading more paranormal romance. Eventually I fell under the lure of non-paranormal romance… and I was hooked!!! I especially love reading a good Alpha Male – I have a list of fictional boyfriends and am always looking to add new heroes to my list…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/photeric/2595991343/
Let me introduce you to some of my favorite Romance reads:
Contemporary:
Rachel Gibson’s Chinook Hockey books - anyone who knows me knows how much I LURVE the hockey romance books 
Deirdre Martin’s Blades Hockey books - oh so good!!!
Kristan Higgins: Just One of the Guys is one of my all-time favorite contemporaries.
Victoria Dahl has two contemporary series that are both very good.
Shannon Stacey’s Kowalski series was a surprise favorite of mine last year.
Julie James - I love her lawyerly contemporaries!
Molly Harper - And One Last Thing… I unashamedly stalk this author. Her paranormal series are great, but I especially loved this sweet and funny contemporary romance.
Alice Clayton’s Redhead Series - so freakin’ funny. And sexy. And funny.
Gwyn Cready’s A Novel Seduction and Seducing Mr. Darcy are two of my favorite contemps – so much fun.
Historical:
Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series - *swoons* This historical series has a place of honor on my “keeper” shelf. They’re huge books but oh so good.
The Bride by Julie Garwood – shopping with my daughter, she pulled this one off the shelf and asked me to read it. In a moment of weakness, I said “okay” and bought it. I should let her pick all my books.
Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase was one of my first historicals and it’s wonderful.
YA:
Simone Elkeles’ Perfect Chemistry series is fabulous; kind of a modern West Side Story. Without the dancing.
Stephanie Perkins- such a great writer – her books pull me in and remind me what it’s like to be a teen. And her heroes are so sweet. *sighs*
And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a new-to-me YA author – Cath Crowley. I am telling you – do not open her books unless you have plenty of time to read, because you’re not going to want to go anywhere once you get started, and you’re going to be thinking about them long after you’ve finished.
(This is how I like my romance books to end; I’m a sucker for a Happily Ever After)
So, that’s a little about me and a few of my favorite romance reads. Feel free to say hi in the comments – it’s lovely to meet you all. You can also find me on Twitter (@lovesfabromance ) I hope you’ll come back and Romance the Weekends with me!
Latest posts by Patti (see all)
- While it Lasts by Abbi Glines – May 11, 2013
- Bare It All by Lori Foster – May 4, 2013
- Time for a Quickie: Some Mini-Reviews – April 28, 2013
- Five Summers by Una LaMarche – April 27, 2013
- Same-Sex Sunday: Tigers & Devils by Sean Kennedy – April 21, 2013
- The Summer He Came Home by Juliana Stone – April 20, 2013
- Bite Me Your Grace by Brooklyn Ann – April 13, 2013
- The Geek Girl and the Scandalous Earl by Gina Lamm – April 6, 2013
- Review and Giveaway of The Wanderer by Robyn Carr – April 1, 2013
- LUSH by Lauren Dane – March 30, 2013
You have some great favorites and I can’t wait to check you out over the weekends.
Thanks! I’m looking forward to it
I will absolutely be back for this! Mention the word “romance,” and I’m in.
Plus, I have loved every single one of the books on your list that I’ve read (which would be most of them), so our tastes seem to match.
They are pretty good reads, aren’t they? Glad to meet another romance lover!
Ohhhh I want to read Lord of Scoundrels and I want to read it now.
Glad you didn’t disappear on me totally, shug. The internetz lurves you.
Have you read it yet? It wasn’t what I expected and I loved it!
It’s so great to see that you are still hanging on to the blogging world! I can’t wait to come back to see more. I’m a stalker of Parajunkee anyway and it will nice to stalk you here as well. LOL
Thanks – I’m so excited to be here!!
Patti! I am so glad you are going to be doing reviews here. I’ve always loved your reviews. Can’t wait to see what you have in store.
Thanks! I’m so excited to be back; I’ve really missed chatting about books.
That “Alpha Hero” image is beyond fabulous! I want to pick it up and use it — but before I dare I want to know where it came from, if it’s creative commons/free use, and who I can credit as artist! Can you help me out with finding out where you got it from?
It is a great image, isn’t it? I found it via google, I don’t know who the owner is:
http://sidneybristol.com/2011/10/24/the-poor-abused-alpha-hero/
I’ve sent her an e-mail and will let you know if I find out
Okay, got it:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/photeric/2595991343/
Fabulous! Thank you!
You have some great favorites! I love hockey romance novels, and Rachel Gibson and Deirdre Martin are my favorites for those. Really love Rachel Gibson’s Chinooks series! I am also a big fan of Stephanie Perkins. I cannot wait for her third book to come out! It’s so far away!
I’m going to have to check out the books on your list that I haven’t read yet, because it seems like we have very similar reading tastes and I’m probably gonna end up loving them too. You can count me in for Romancing the Weekends! ;D
Yay – another hockey romance lover!! *high fives* I haven’t read Stephanie Perkins; I’ll have to give her a try.
Woo-Hoo, Patti!
Sooooo looking forward to your ‘Romancing the Weekends’.
Lovely favourites list – I especially like ‘Outlander’ having pride of place on your historical romance list
Thanks
It’s nice to be back. <3 <3 <3 Outlander!!
I’m loving it! I am so pumped about the weekend now!
Thanks, me too!
yay! You’re back! And talking about romance. Woo hooo!
I’m so excited to be here! I love romance