Swap Info:

Looking to try a book in a new-to-you genre? Or looking for an excuse to read a book off your Mt. To Be Read? Every month, we'll explore a different genre by reading a single book and sharing our thoughts with our partner. July's genre is romance novels. Whether you're new to the scene or just using this swap to read one you've had your eye on for a long time, this is the swap for you.

Genre Definition:

(Wikipedia) Novels of this type of genre fiction place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." There are many subgenres of the romance novel including fantasy, historical, science fiction and paranormal.

In North America, romance novels are the most popular literary genre, comprising almost 55% of all paperback books sold in 2004. The genre is also popular in Europe and Australia, and romance novels appear in 90 languages.

Swap Instructions:

Choose any romance novel and read it! There are tons of online suggestion guides that might help. I'll list some favorites of the CL mods here at the end of this post to get you started.

Send an email or swap-bot message to your partners with the following info:

• Title & author of the book you read
• Why did you choose this book?
• A brief summary of the book
• A brief review--what did you think of it?
• Your experience with the genre (have you read a lot? a little? was this your first?)
• Your thoughts about the genre overall and if this book was a good representation of it
• Would you read more of this genre in the future?

Some suggestions from your group mods:

• Blue Smoke by Nora Roberts
• The Collector by Nora Roberts
• Virgin River series by Robyn Carr
• Thunder Point series by Robyn Carr
• KGI series by Maya Banks
• Coulter/Kendrick series by Catherine Anderson
• Body Check by Deirdre Martin
• How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire by Kerrelyn Sparks

These are just suggestions, in case you need suggestions. Feel free to choose a book from this list or from anywhere else as long as it could be considered part of the genre.

Let me know if you have any questions/comments. Group rules & ratings apply.

Previous genres covered so far: picture books, biographies, young adult fiction