SBTB Goodreads Group discussion

Please introduce yourself!

What genres do you like to read? Who are your favorite authors? What's the last book you've read?

Tell us as little or as much as you'd like.

Hi everyone!

I'm Amanda from SBTB. You may recognize me as the woman who ruins your budget with all the Books on Sale posts!

I'm still a fan of paranormal romances, but I really love hot contemporaries or erotica. Oh, and anything with magic! (I've been meaning to start the Darkest London series by Kristen Callihan for ages.)

Hi! I'm Suzanne (or @cerestheories). My husband Matt and I were on the podcast a few months ago talking about reading romance together.
I read paranormal, historical, some erotica, and a limited quantity of contemporary. I came over to romance from Urban Fantasy and Epic Fantasy, so whenever I see a book that's like that but with romance? I'm sold.
The last book I read was WAY DOWN DEEP, by Cara McKenna and Charlotte Stein. It comes out next week and is told entirely through texts!

Hi! I'm Brandy, and I've been reading romances since I was a pre-teen, which was about 30 years ago. My grandmother's best friend hooked me on Georgette Heyer and Grace Livingston Hill, and then I quickly latched onto older Harlequins when I found them 10/$1.00 at the local used books shop. That was around the time I started a life-long love of Diana Palmer.

I've lately been reading a lot of nonfiction about the first half of the 20th century, so I've also been drawn to romances set in that era. Other than that, I read pretty much anything that has romance in it: science fiction, fantasy, paranormal, western, mystery, historical, etc. For some reason, I tend to read historical westerns (especially ones with mail-order brides) when I'm feeling rough emotionally.

My last romance read was re-reading Kristen Ashley's Colorado Mountain series. I'm not that big on re-reading most of the time, but I've read some of Ashley's books several times. I'm looking forward to getting to the latest Nora Roberts this weekend. Her romantic suspense novels are among my favorites in that genre.

Hi everybody!

My name is Claudia and I'm northern California. I'm a married 40-something with kids, a job, and a very busy life so I sneak in reading whenever I can but not as often as I'd like.

I am passionate about history so my main sub-genre within romance is historical romance. I love historic and regular fiction too.

Historicals were my gateway drug -- when I was 16, I found my older cousin's cache. I took a long break, though, and I'm back at it for the past year or so.

I'm not a stickler for accuracy and can tolerate a modern turn of phrase here and there as long as they don't pull me out of the story. I prefer when authors don't treat history as mere wallpaper, but can tolerate some of that!

Favorite historical romance authors are Meredith Duran, Elizabeth Kingston, Rose Lerner, Cecilia Grant... I'm less fond of the really popular ones for some reason. I also love 'old skool' Patricia Gaffney, Judy Cuevas/Ivory, and Laura Kinsale. I recently found K. J. Charles and have been snapping her books whenever they go on sale.

I'm currently reading and enjoying Besotted with the Viscount by Susanna Malcolm. I'm saving the latest Alyssa Cole for my summer vacation.

Claudia

Suzanne wrote: "Hi! I'm Suzanne (or @cerestheories). My husband Matt and I were on the podcast a few months ago talking about reading romance together.
I read paranormal, historical, some erotica, and a limited q..."

WAY DOWN DEEP sounds really interesting!

Hi! I'm Darlene and I read books when I should be doing housework. Or working. Or eating. Really, just about all the damn time. I try to rate and review everything I read--it's the gift that keeps on giving to other readers and authors.

I read a lot of Regency romance, historicals, some thrillers and the occasional YA novel. I'm also a big SF & Fantasy fan and go to SF conventions once or twice a year.

I was an early fan of SBTB and it's great to see them here too.

Mary here! I will date myself by explaining my "gateway" authors were Kathleen Woodiwiss and Judith Krantz when their books were originally published and I was a new college graduate! Between career and family my path wandered from romance but the last few years I got sucked back in! So my favorites...historical (Burrowes, Ashley, Quick, Dare, Quinn, Kleypas, Milan, Garwood, Chase), romantic suspense (Garwood, Zanetti, O'Fallon, Roberts, Brown, Brockmann, Howard, Walker, Krentz, Richland, Eden), pnr (Zanetti, Ashley, Kenyon, Adrian, Callahan, Reus, Humphries, Tyler, Hunter, Eden), dabbled in steampunk (McMaster!!). Oh and series with overarching romance thread (Robb, Harris, Alexander, Raybourn, Gardner, Rollins, Huber). And, Amanda, loved the first book of the Darkest London, now tracking down the rest of the series in my used bookstore hunts! Right now, I am taking a walk on the wild side and reading Lincoln Child's latest, Full Wolf Moon.

I'm Megan. My gateway was LaVeryl Spencer. I read all kinds of books - romance, mystery, biography and history. I lean more to historical romance with a contemporary here and there. I am a great big fan of SBTB and the podcast. Sarah and I share a birthday - she was born the day after I graduated from high school. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ For anybody who knits or does crochet, the SBTB group on Ravelry is also fun.

Megan wrote: "I'm Megan. My gateway was LaVeryl Spencer. I read all kinds of books - romance, mystery, biography and history. I lean more to historical romance with a contemporary here and there. I am a great bi..."

Thanks for mentioning the Ravelry group, Megan! Elyse runs it and if anyone is interested, Megan or Elyse are welcome to throw up a link.

Hi, I'm Missy! I got sucked into the genre via the classic Gothics--Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart, Phyllis Whitney, et al, and then was part of an underground reading group of Nice Catholic Girls who passed around battered copies of Rosemary Rogers' oeuvre (oh, the scandal!) I've branched out since then, *koff*, but I still do love a good historical, though I think Roberta Gellis spoiled me for attention to detail.

The last romance I finished was Sonali Dev's most recent, and I'm currently reading Eloisa James' My American Duchess.

Amanda wrote: "Suzanne wrote: "Hi! I'm Suzanne (or @cerestheories). My husband Matt and I were on the podcast a few months ago talking about reading romance together.
I read paranormal, historical, some erotica,..."

It was SO GOOD. Really refreshing to read something so unlike the rest of the romance I read. (Format-wise)

Hello Everybody!
I am a longtime fan of SBTB and my gateway drug was Georgette Heyer. I also love (and constantly re-read) Sharon Shinn, who writes brilliant fantasy / romance. The last romance I read was .

Amanda wrote: "Megan wrote: "I'm Megan. My gateway was LaVeryl Spencer. I read all kinds of books - romance, mystery, biography and history. I lean more to historical romance with a contemporary here and there. I..."

The group is here: http://www.ravelry.com/groups/smart-k...

Lots of book and yarn talk!

Hi everyone! I'm Leanne. My "gateway" into romance was YA fantasy like Lloyd Alexander, Tamora Pierce, Diana Wynne Jones, and Patricia C. Wrede. My librarian mom brought home those books for me when I was a kid, and as I grew older, I realized that the thing I always loved most about them was the romance. That plotline above all others captured my interest the whole way through.

Imagine my surprise when I grew up and realized that romance was an entire genre on its own, full of books waiting to be read! :) I love character-driven romances with some humor thrown in. I enjoy the classics like Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer, and I just recently discovered Eva Ibbotson's The Morning Gift (thanks to SBTB), which I adored. I'm off to read all her historical romance now!

Hi all, I'm Sonia. My gateway was Rosemary Rogers in my early twenties. My mother was introduced to her by a cousin as a fellow opera fan and Miss Rogers started taking her to the opera every once in a while, even I got to go once.. Of course, I felt I had to read one of her books and I've never looked back.

Now, I'm a librarian and although I read in all genres, I always have a romance or two going. Right now I'm reading an ARC, Hope Ramsay's Here Comes the Bride and listening to Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie.

My favorite romance author is Loretta Chase and my favorite book of all time is Outlander. Love the SBTB website and the podcast is a must listen for me every week.

Hi Everyone! I'm Alex. I can't remember what the first romance I read was, something I "borrowed" off my mom's bookcase for sure. I read a lot of Georgette Heyer books (almost her whole backlist I think!) in my teens and historical romance will always be my comfort reads. If I'm feeling super stressed (I'm in nursing school so it happens a lot) I reread one of my fave Heyer's and it just makes everything better. I also like contemporaries and romantic suspense but I'm a lot more picky about them. I recently finished Shadow's Seduction by Kresley Cole as part of the Vaginal Fantasy book club and Devil's Submission by Nicola Davidson. Some of my favorite authors of the moment are Meljean Brook, Stephanie Laurens, and Deanna Raybourn.

Hi newcomers! Welcome!

I find it so interesting how many readers started with historical. I did too, but I don't read many of them these days. Meanwhile, my mom was a big paranormal romance reader. She had boxes filled with Laurell K. Hamilton, Sherilyn Kenyon, & Christine Feehan.

Hi all! I'm Helen and I tend more towards sci-fi, fantasy, shifters, the paranormal with romance as a by-line ... such as Ilona Andrews Kate Daniel series. Though I have to admit that I'm (slowly) making my way through Lyn Kurland's Macleod/De Piaget series again ... my gateway was Clan of the Cave Bear and The Mammoth Hunters by Jean Auel.

Hi, I'm Liz. I mostly read historically but will occasionally go on paranormal or contemporary kicks. Recently, I've been alternating between Mary Balogh and Kristan Higgins.
The first romances I read were the Wallflower series by Lisa Kleypas. A friend who devours romance like people devour food introduced me. At the time we lived across the hall from each other and I desperately miss living near her bookshelves.

Hi everyone, I am Flor. I usually read historical, usually Scotland based, but at times I have to branch out. I just finished The Hating Game by Sally Thorne and loved it. I want to read it again soon, or atleast reread a few scenes. The tension between the characters is so good and I want to read more about them. I heard about this book via the podcast and am so happy I did. So good.

Hi all! I'm Melissa and I'm pretty new to the romance genre. I'm most interested in historicals and have read a few Georgette Heyer and am 3 books into the Wallflower series by Lisa Kleypas which is fantastic :)

Hi, I'm Julia aka mizzelle. My gateway books were probably sf/fantasy -- Anne McCaffrey, Mercedes Lackey, etc. I flirted with romance genre on several occasions, but didn't start reading heavily until I randomly picked up an Amanda Quick Arcane Society book for a trip. I still mostly read historicals, although sites/podcasts like SBTB have really helped expand my horizons.

Hi, I'm Kate! My gateway books were a combo of Georgette Heyer, Barbara Michaels and Tamara Pierce.

I'm a fairly omnivorous romance reader and usually go by author over genre. My favorites include: Ilona Andrews, Lisa Kleypas, Penny Reid, Meredith Duran, Linnea Sinclair, Susan Napier, Rainbow Rowell and Meljean Brook.

Hi I'm Lori and I only really got into the romance genre a few years ago. However, my grandmother was a big fan of historical romance and she gave me a few books by authors she liked when I was growing up. And I read a lot of V.C. Andrews in junior high, although I think those books deserve their own genre called "crazysauce catnip."

Some of my favorite romance authors are Kristan Higgins, Cara McKenna, Tessa Dare, Amanda Scott, Deanna Raybourn, and Victoria Vane. I'll read just about any romance sub-genre if it sounds interesting. Likewise my reading habits in general tend to be all over the place genre-wise. I've found myself drawn to romance more lately because they are usually easy to read, happy, and the best genre for escapism.

Lori wrote: "..."crazysauce catnip.".."

Haha, Lori! There is a new Goodreads tag for me to use!

Hi I'm Melissa and I am a long time reader of the site/listener of the podcast. I read across the romance genre, but mostly historical romance. I also read cozy mysteries, mainly for the contemporary romance running throughout those series. Currently stationed in England and experienced my first RT convention last month in Atlanta.

Melissa wrote: "Hi I'm Melissa and I am a long time reader of the site/listener of the podcast. I read across the romance genre, but mostly historical romance. I also read cozy mysteries, mainly for the contempora..."

Hi Melissa! How'd you like RT?

Hi! I'm Laura (@RabbitRodney on Twitter). I read mostly contemporary and historical but have lately picked up a few mystery, YA and (non romantic) suspense books. The last book I read was Dear Aaron by Mariana Zapata. (Loved it.)

I wanted to get some ideas for #RippedBodiceBingo so I'll see you guys over there. *waves*

Bunny wrote: "Hi! I'm Laura (@RabbitRodney on Twitter). I read mostly contemporary and historical but have lately picked up a few mystery, YA and (non romantic) suspense books. The last book I read was Dear Aaro..."

Welcome, Laura!

Be sure to follow them on Twitter (@TheRippedBodice) for recs! Plus, I'll be compiling some recommendations and putting those up on the site next Tuesday (6/20)!

Amanda wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Hi I'm Melissa and I am a long time reader of the site/listener of the podcast. I read across the romance genre, but mostly historical romance. I also read cozy mysteries, mainly fo..."

It was amazing and wonderful, but also very overwhelming and tiring. I couldn't do it every year, but I am going to try to go again when I am back to living in the US for good.

Hi there! My name is Ruby and I'm very excited to have discovered the SBTB group on GR. I love historical and contemporary romance primarily. I fell in love with romance at the age of 11 and have been reading them on and off ever since. Back in the day I devoured books by Jude Deveraux, Judith McNaught, Amanda Quick, Julie Garwood and Johanna Lindsey but nowadays I adore Lisa Kleypas, Elizabeth Hoyt, Tessa Dare, Samantha Young, and Mary Balogh. The last romance I read was A Bed of Spices by Barbara Samuel which takes place in Medieval Germany and features a Jewish hero which I found interesting. I really like reading plot-lines that are outside the norm and which introduce new themes and character types. Happy reading, everyone!

Hi my name is Sarah. I only started reading romance in earnest when my friend and I went to The Ripped Bodice one day. And now that's all I really want to read. I get updates from SBTB every Friday, which is awesome.

I'm currently reading Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase which is sooo good. And The Rake and the Recluse by Jenn LeBlanc which is also really good. My current favorite author is Santino Hassell, I devour his books. And I'm loving the Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn. I read a lot of m/m, but I enjoy all sub-genres really, with any combination of love interest.

Sarah wrote: "Hi my name is Sarah. I only started reading romance in earnest when my friend and I went to The Ripped Bodice one day. And now that's all I really want to read. I get updates from SBTB every Friday..."

Sarah, have you tried the Cat Sebastian series? If not, you might like it! M/M Regency historical romance.

Hello, I'm Aishwarya. I love paranormal and regency (both the bodice-ripper and the non-bodice-ripper kind) romance but I'm down with any kind of historical and contemporary romance as well. As someone mentioned up above in the comments (hello!), I'll read just about anything if it sounds interesting. However, when I feel down, I always default to a romance novel.

Um, some of my favorite authors are Jane Austen (who doesn't love P&P), Georgette Heyer, Ilona Andrews, Eloisa James, Lisa Kleypas, Sarra Manning etc. I have a HUGE sweet spot for Beauty and the Beast retellings. The last romance novel that blew me away was The Hating Game by Sally Thorne. I was up all night re-reading it recently and it holds up so well, even though this is my third re-read.

And I'm so excited to have found this group! I've been following SBTB reviews for a while and it's great to have a group on GR as well, with even more reccos.

I'm Nancy, and I've been reading romance since I was about 12 (so a long, long time). I started with my grandmother's HQs and HQ Presents. She had a circle of friends who shared these, initialing in the back when they'd read a title. Grandma would leave them at our house if she was the last one. They were tamer than the Old Skool legit bodice-rippers my mom read: Bertrice Small, Kathleen Woodiwiss, Johanna Lindsay. I moved on to those, but bought my own Signet Regencies too.

I still like Regencies, especially Julia Quinn, Carla Kelly, Mary Balogh, Tessa Dare. But I've been on an extended contemporary romance kick, and I'm enjoying Kristen Callihan, Penny Reid, LH Cosway, Molly O'Keefe, and too many others to list here,

Currently, I'm rereading Kylie Scott's Lick (book 1 in the Stage Dive series), and Meghan Quinn's My Best Friend's Ex. I'm thinking about doing The Ripped Bodice's bingo game to get more variety in my reading this summer, but my TBR pile (real and virtual) is so high already, I may just read whatever grabs my attention next.

Love the recs, love the camaraderie, love everything about SBTB!

I'm happy to see this group! I'm Megan, I read a little bit of everything, both inside and outside the romance genre, though I tend to gravitate toward contemporary romance.

This year I've been making a dent in Shelly Laurenston's Pride series. I've enjoyed her dragons series and of course the Crows, but I'd been saving this series for when I really needed it. And it's been making my 2017 a little brighter.

I'm always trying to put my finger on why I like Laurenston's books when I dislike a lot of the individual elements if found in other books by other authors. I think it's a little bit wish fulfillment--the women are fearsome, unconditionally but not in uniform ways--but also that the women are allowed to have complicated relationships with each other (read: they can hate each other, they can be cruel to each other, there's no fake expectation that of course all heroines in a successive series of romance novels would get along) and under what terms they DO cooperate tends to impact the plot in some way.

Also, there are some wonderfully hilarious scenes.

Yes! I read the first book in Cat Sebastian's m/m regency series and loved it!

Sarah wrote: "Yes! I read the first book in Cat Sebastian's m/m regency series and loved it!"

If you like Cat Sebastian you should look into JK Charles, m/m Regency and Victorian, and the research! Sooo good!

Hello,
I've been mostly lurking but once in a while commenting on SBTB books since 2007. I've only been reading romance since 2002. A fellow grad student gave me my my gateway book, Outlander and I was hooked . I'll try almost anything and I am currently reading Roan Parrish's Small Change. My favorite authors range from J.D Robb, Mary Balogh, to old Penny Jordan's HP's; Lucy Parker and on the paranormal/ sci fi, Patrica Briggs (one of my favorites) and Ilona Andrews. I'm on goodreads to add to my TBR mountain which is always growing. Finally I love your Blog!!

Dear goodness, I am so impressed with this challenge! You must keep us all updated !

Hello. I'm N. I've been a fan of SBTB for a long while. I've moved to Geneseo a while ago. But now that I have some free time and an ongoing job search, I have some free time to focus on my book backlog.

I've gotten into romance through my mother. She tried to get me into Outlander with a library copy of the novel. But I didn't finish it since I was embarrassed about the early scenes as an young teen, so I tried out used romance novels from my local used book store.

I figured out that I'm into Science Fiction, Fantasy and non-fiction. But I love moody stories. Like Poppy Z. Brite, Haruki Murakami, Margaret Atwood and David Wong.

I hope to re-try out Outlander sometime now that I'm not embarrassed about Romantic scenes in general.

SBTB has been great for helping me get into books I wouldn't have gotten into. In my attempt to understand the love of Romance Novels, I became more of a bookworm somehow.

I'm glad I can get closer to my mom through sharing books with her. Rainbow Powell is a pretty cool lady.

Hey all! I'm Amanda (or chezamanda). I'm 31, bi af, and recent Oregon transplant originally from Ohio. At the moment I'm still looking for a regular job but have my MLIS.

I've been reading published romance off and on since I was in my preteen years (and tons of fanfic in between). Historical romance and erotica are my main jams but I'm always on the lookout for something new. Outside of romance I'm big into memoirs and essays as well as some mysteries and suspense.

I just fished a couple Spice Briefs - I don't think these are a thing anymore but we have a bunch on my library's eCollection. One was about an American woman meeting a hot Italian guy on a train and wasn't too bad until it mentioned the guy was wearing sandals. I don't think the author ever mentioned him taking them off before getting down with the heroine. Please remove all sandals before entering the Bone Zone.

I also have an upcoming RITA Reader Challebge review for Rita Herron's All the Dead Girls on SBTB. Keep an eye out for that one. I'm working on my first submission for a queer fairytale anthology and an erotic romance with my roommate.

Amanda wrote: "Hey all! I'm Amanda (or chezamanda). I'm 31, bi af, and recent Oregon transplant originally from Ohio. At the moment I'm still looking for a regular job but have my MLIS.

I've been reading publi..."

Welcome fellow, Amanda!

And whenever you get some details about that fairytale anthology, give me a shout. Super interested in that!

Amanda wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Hey all! I'm Amanda (or chezamanda). I'm 31, bi af, and recent Oregon transplant originally from Ohio. At the moment I'm still looking for a regular job but have my MLIS.

I've bee..."
Sure! Right now the submissions are open and the publishing date is sometime in the fall. More info here: https://dalecameronlowry.com/ninestar...

I'm doing a m/m Little Mermaid story based on this gif set of Diego Luna. It's very inspirational. http://chezamanda.tumblr.com/post/162...

Amanda wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Hey all! I'm Amanda (or chezamanda). I'm 31, bi af, and recent Oregon transplant originally from Ohio. At the moment I'm still looking for a regular job but have my ML..."

Well that sounds insanely awesome! I'm definitely going to keep an eye on this.

I'm Cleo and I love genre fiction! I've been part of the bitchery for several years now - commenting less than I used to but still lurking regularly.

My gateway to romance was a random category romance that I borrowed from a friend when I was 14 (more than 30 years ago). All I remember is that They Had Sex! Other gateways include Judith Krantz, Jude Devereaux, Amanda Quick/JAK, Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Jennifer Crusie. Cruisie is the only one in that list that I still regularly read.

I love genre fiction and I've read almost every genre except horror (because I'm a wimp). My root genres are sff and romance, with a side helping of mystery.

At the moment I mostly read queer romance (being queer / bi) - I discovered mm a few years ago and now I'm enjoying the expansion of queer romance into the rest of the QUILTBAG identities (more bi heroines please!). Favorite current authors include KJ Charles, Aleksandr Voinov, LA Witt, Marie Sexton, Heidi Cullinan, Rebekah Weatherspoon, Alyssa Cole, Amy Rae Durreson, Kris Ripper, Santino Hassell and Amy Jo Cousins.

I'm Gail and I've been reading romance since my teens, I started with Nora Roberts and still read all her non-paranoramals. I've been lurking with the occasional comment on the bitchery blog for years and was lured into the Goodreads group with the Ripped Bodice Bingo thread.

At the moment I've got actually got two book bingo challenges going. I'm lucky that my local library system does an adult summer reading program book bingo program complete with raffle prizes (I have managed to win something every year because being a voracious reader stuffs the entry box). That plus the Ripped Bodice stuff will keep me entertained for a few months.

My catnip are contemporaries (especially snarky ones like Jennifer Crusie) and fairy tales but I end up reading a pretty wide range. All time favorite authors include Jennifer Crusie, Loretta Chase, Emma Holly, Nalini Singh, JD Robb, Ilona Andrews & Jayne Ann Krentz. My TBR pile only grows, no matter how much I read :)

Ahoy-hoy. I'm Coral aka Antipodean Shenanigans. I've only been reading romance for a couple of years, after being inspired by Kelly Faircloth's articles on Jezebel.

I read a pretty even mix of historicals and contemporary. Lisa Kleypas, Elizabeth Hoyt, Kylie Scott and Tiffany Reisz are favourites.

I love an enemies to lovers story, nautical historicals, and am shamelessly addicted to rock star romances.

This is my first time doing a Goodreads group. I'm looking forward to more book recs and finding cool peeps to follow.

Cleo wrote: "I'm Cleo and I love genre fiction! I've been part of the bitchery for several years now - commenting less than I used to but still lurking regularly.

My gateway to romance was a random category r..."

Hi Cleo,

Have you read any books by Roan Parrish? I discovered her because of this bingo challenge, and now I'm devouring her books! Check them out, and see if they appeal to you.