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The best thing about romance novels is that they have the power—that is, when they are really, really good—to convince the most heartbroken people that true love exists. That is can happen, one day, any day, out of the blue. That is can be big and messy and complex and difficult and still be love. That is can happen, no matter who you are. 

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[theduchessapproach-blog]

He sees me - for what I am.

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When you’re simultaneously defending AND criticizing romance novels

[theduchessapproach-blog]

I had a Latin teacher in high school who would give us bonus points for translating phrases into modern slang, and to this day my first reaction to ‘quo vadis’ is still the german equivalent of ‘yo waddup bro’

It would be worth devoting your life to the study of Old English, if only to translate the first word of Beowulf as “‘sup”.

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You know what I love most about @avonromance or any romance novels? They’re rarely over 300 pages and they’re filled with SUCH FLUFF and it gives me so much joy. 

Like I can read one in an hour and get just as much satisfaction out of finishing it as I could finishing a “higher quality” novel. 

I have the exact same face of peace after finishing “When a Scot Ties the Knot” as I did when I finished “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” 

Like just hugging the book to my chest and sighing because Lady X and Duke Y ended the story having a baby and a happily ever after. 

It never ceases to annoy me that romance novels are so consistently derided in literature. Because I love them. I always have. They make me happy and just because they’re a bit silly doesn’t make them any less valid. 

Basically. I’ll fight anyone who tells me that romance novels aren’t worth it.  

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Nora Roberts calls Julia Quinn’s novels, “Delightful.” The #1 New York Times bestselling creator of the irresistible Bridgerton family, Quinn offers historical romance readers new delights with A Night Like This—the second book (following the phenomenal Just Like Heaven) to feature the affairs, romantic and melodic, of the endearing, if painfully untalented, Smythe-Smith musicians. On A Night Like This in Regency England, anything can happen, especially when a beautiful pianist sitting in at the annual Smythe-Smith musicale catches the eye of a haunted, hunted man in desperate need of redemption. There is simply no author in the realm of historical romance fiction hotter than the remarkable Julia Quinn—and anyone who has ever been swept away by the love stories of Amanda Quick, Lisa Kleypas, or Jill Barnett will cherish A Night Like This.

Anne Wynter’s job as governess to three highborn young ladies can be a challenge – in a single week she finds herself hiding in a closet full of tubas, playing an evil queen in a play and tending to the wounds of the oh-so-dashing Earl of Winstead. After years of dodging unwanted advances, he’s the first man who has truly tempted her, and it’s getting harder and harder to remind herself that a governess has no business flirting with a nobleman. Daniel Smythe-Smith might be in mortal danger, but that’s not going to stop the young earl from falling in love. And when he spies a mysterious woman at his family’s annual musicale, he vows to pursue her. But Daniel has an enemy, one who has vowed to see him dead. And when Anne is thrown into peril, he will stop at nothing to ensure their happy ending…

UK edition, 400 pages

Publication date: 5/29/2012 (US)

Source 1, 2.

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It’s so freeing to be able to say, you know what, I’m not feeling this, let’s read something else. I’ve never bothered finishing books that didn’t convince me in the first few chapters, because there are so many good books I could read instead, and if I’m not feeling it by then I’m just not feeling it. DNF bad books! DNF books that are okay but just not your thing right now! DNF books that other people said you ‘absolutely have to read’! There’s only so little time in this life, don’t spend it reading stuff you don’t enjoy.

One of the best lifestyle changes I’ve made is allowing myself to DNF books.

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Like a fairytale gown ~ Softly Whispering Dreams ✿⊱╮

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When everything is going right in a romance novel:

Me [to Hero]:

Don’t f*ck this up

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The original vs the last ending of Moulin Rouge.

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Currently reading: It Takes a Scandal by Caroline Linden. 

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i just read a washington post article on romcoms aging poorly due to the pushiness (and oft-stalkery conduct) of the male characters therein, and it got me thinking about pride and prejudice, and specifically darcy saying, “one word from you will silence me on this subject forever.”

because, like, that’s the seldom-portrayed romantic dream in the patriarchal hellscape that is our world, isn’t it?

a dude being willing to say, “i understand if you don’t feel the same way about me, and i’ll leave you alone forever about this if my attention is unwanted.”

so simple, yet so wonderful in its basic human decency

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minty-bookshop replied to your post: Every single time I listen to Maahi Ve I decide I...

I cried so hard at that movie I had to take a break, stop crying, get kleenex, and then start crying all over again.

I was doing laundry in the cellar the first time I saw it on TV, wasn't supposed to take that long, then four hours later I come back up still crying! I watched once more to show some friends and I haven't had the strength to do it again. It's too much.

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And again with JUST THE COVER. I think there will be a readership for this lesbian regency romance. Here’s what Sonya Taaffe says about it:

It is set in a meticulously historical, wittily written 1822 that does not in the slightest elide the many ways of being queer in England of that time; it has horses, cross-dressing, family drama, pistols at dawn, a pianoforte at all hours, and a completely viable remix of “Sweet Polly Oliver” down to the nursing, minus the heteronormativity. It has Jewish characters like you won’t find in Heyer. It has high-quality smut. It has protagonists I love even better than the supporting cast, and I treasure those wherever I find them.

ebook and paperback both available!

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Get a Head Start on New Avon Titles Hitting the Shelves Next Week!

Alisha Rai returns with her third, and final, installment of her Forbidden Hearts Series with Hurts to Love You.

Evangeline Chandler is the youngest heiress to the Chandler fortune and has the money to buy anything she wants… but what she wants can’t be bought. Her older brother’s long-time friend Gabriel Hunter, who is also the son of the family’s housekeeper, temps her to break all of the rules regarding who may be a potential suiter. At the same time, as Eve has matured, Gabe hasn’t been able to restrict himself from wondering what it would be like to engage the primal urges he feels towards her. During a large Chandler wedding mishap, Gabe and Eve find themselves trapped together in an empty cabin toeing the line between right and wrong. 

Start reading to find out what happens between the tattooed bad-boy and the supposed well-behaved youngest Chandler today in Hurts to Love you!

Will a longtime friendship turn into something more following Ranger’s return to Cupid, Texas?  

Ember Alzate is a master matchmaker, however, she can’t seem to find love for herself. Throughout generations, the Alzate family relies on one simple qualification for finding “the one”, which is hearing a sweet-sounding humming in your head. Ember has put her own love life on pause until her longtime best friend, Ranger Lockhart, turns to her to help him settle down upon his return to Cupid, Texas. What Ranger has known, and what Ember will not admit to, is that they belong together. Ranger admires Ember for her curves, sass, and outrageousness… everything that the other men believed needed to be tamed.

Enjoy a sneak preview of Lori Wilde’s newest installment of her Cupid, Texas series…How the Cowboy was Won available next week!

Next week, Lenora Bell delivers historical romance fans another steamy installment of School for Dukes with What a Difference a Duke Makes!

Mari Perkins is as resourceful as they come. After falling victim to a theft of everything she owns, concurrently causing a damaging late arrival to the premier governess staffing agency, she believed that she had lost all chances to salvage a life for herself. However, when she overhears that the Duke of Banksford, Edgar Rochester, couldn’t hold down a governess due to his unruly children, she grasps the opportunity with both hands. Upon meeting the wickedly handsome Duke, Mari realizes that this position might pose more of a challenge than she previously thought.

Get a head start on whether the Mari is able to keep her hands off of her enticing employer in What a Difference a Duke Makes by Lenora Bell!

Eva Leigh continues her newest series, The London Underground, with Counting on a Countess.

The scandalous ways of the newly minted Earl of Blakemere, Christopher “Kit” Ellingsworth, has nearly left his estate destitute, until a wealthy mentor leaves him a sizable fortune with his passing. Acquiring this wealth would solve all of Kit’s problems, if it didn’t come with one stipulation… the notorious bachelor must marry within one month. To Kit’s luck, the bold and beautiful Miss Tamsyn Pearce is in town at just the right time, and under potentially perfect circumstances.

Get a head start to see if Kit is able to woo the morally focused, yet illicitly criminal, Tamysn in Counting on a Countess…available next week!

Tess Diamond reappears with her third romantic thriller, Be a Good Girl. 

Fifteen years ago, in a small rural town, everyone thought a local woman was murdered by the nefarious serial killer Doctor X. Doctor X has been serving his dues to society for some time now, however, the deceased woman’s best friend, Abigail Winthrop, does not believe her town is safe from her friend’s true murderer. Abby tries to turn to the FBI, however, she is countlessly turned down as the case has long been closed. Thankfully, Abby remembers a previously close friend – and the boyfriend of the deceased at the time of the murder –  happens to be the head of an elite FBI unit, Special Agent Paul Harrison. Paul and Abby pair up together to solve the murder… and incidentally re-ignite their controversial attraction towards one another.

Start reading Be a Good Girl… available next week!