Guest Blogger, KristiJ
by sue on Sep.25, 2009, under Book Chat
I’ve been blogging over five years now. I started for the same reason many of us have. The friends I have don’t really read romance, certainly not to the extent I do and I needed an outlet to share an important side of who I am.
And this leads to the topic Jane suggested when she contacted me about doing a blog for the Borders Blog. What can happen when an enthusiastic blogger reads or watches something she simply must share with others?
The ‘stalking bloggers’, and ‘encouraging’ them first started with Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas. 
I read this one many years ago, and it had a profound affect on me. In the world of dukes and earls, here was this hero with snaggled teeth who’d had a variety of professions; and was now the owner of a gambling hell who was just as fascinating as the nobility. So when I noticed a new crop of readers were discovering this book years later and there were some who hadn’t read it, I popped in whenever the opportunity arose and suggested (hounded) them to read it. And low and behold many did and enjoyed it as much as I had years ago.
Surprisingly, this seemed to work and well, in all honesty it created a bit of a monster. Because the next thing that knocked my socks off came in 2007 with the BBC series North and South. I’d heard of it for a while and was a tad confused as to why the BBC would want to remake another miniseries based on the John Jakes novel about the American Civil War. But since I work on a time delay sometimes, the light dawned finally that the North and South people were talking about was NOT a remake of the Civil War drama, but something different entirely.
This North and South series was based on a book by Elizabeth Gaskell, a contemporary of Charlotte Bronte and Charles Dickens and her story had nothing to do with the American Civil War. Instead it was the story of the daughter of a Vicar who decides to leave the Church in the rural South of England and move his family to an industrial town located in the Northern part of England. Well that was a horse of a different colour so I decided to take a gamble and order a copy. When I watched this four hour, four part BBC drama I realized that for perhaps the first time, a series had captured all that was special and endearing about romance novels. Me, being me, couldn’t simply blog about it, hoping that other bloggers who happened across Rambling on Romance might be interested enough and watch. Nope – that wasn’t good enough. Instead, with the help of fellow bloggers Sula and Katiebabs, The North and South Crusade whose aim was to get as many romance readers as we could to watch it, was launched. We had a month of posts devoted to this amazing series. There were clips from YouTube. Authors got involved such as the truly wonderful writer Lisa Kleypas of Dreaming of You, Carrie Lofty and Sabrina Jeffries. I kept track of the people who watched it, dubbed them the Crusaders, kept track and linked their North and South posts on the sidebar of Ramblings. I was ecstatic by the number of bloggers who’ve joined in, watched it and loved it. This was two years ago and it’s still going. The pace has slowed down, but the Crusade does still live on and on and on and will as long as there are those who love reading romance
The monster slept for a while, only to awaken when I read a book by debut author Judith James and was totally blown away. Since I’d already done a “Crusade” and not wanting to repeat myself, I did things differently this time. I emailed many bloggers about this fabulous book; that they just HAD to read it. This one became the “Quest”; getting people to read Broken Wing by Judith James. 
And again, much to my amazement, many took up the Quest and this may even have had a part in the sales of this wonderful story.
And this brings us to, the latest venture, The Great Western Drive. When I first started reading romance, there were many books in this genre to choose from. But as the years passed and the market tightened, there has been a real drop in the number of Westerns published. So now there was a new passion to follow. With keyboard in hand, I contacted a couple of fellow Western lovers, Wendy, SuperLibrarian and Sybil of The Good, The Bad and The Unread. I just meant to ask them for a list of recs, but being the Western lovers they are, through a series of emails, The Great Western Drive was born and became a group effort amongst the three of us. The goal was to a) remind those who, like us, loved Westerns to remember them and b) get romance readers to try this oft forgotten genre. And again, the three of us were thrilled with the results. As with The North and South Crusade and The Quest, there are links that are still being compiled.
One thing I’ve discovered through my experiences is that good old-fashioned enthusiasm for something you really love works! I’ve caught it from others and others have caught it from me. So the moral is don’t hold back; when you read or watch something that really captures your heart, share it with others. Passion is catching!
So: what books are you passionate about? What authors? If you could convince a romance-doubter to try just one author, who would it be?
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The Good, The Bad and The Unread » The Great Western Drive Winners
September 26th, 2009 on 3:30 am[...] we can say it is in honor of KristieJ’s nift guest post up at Sue’s TrueRomance [...]
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About Sue & Borders True Romance Blog
Sue G - Borders True Romance Host - Borders Romance Buyer, reads romance. For her JOB. No, really. You can email Sue at sgrimshaw at bordersgroupinc dot com.
Borders True Romance Blog is a community, developed for you, the romance reader, to find out more about the books you love; the authors who write them & where to buy them :) Borders.com
Previously published as Wishes No Matter How Fast You Run. . .The newborn baby boy is beautiful, perfect, and hers for the asking. All Kate Summers has to do is agree to one condition--she must disappear from Boston and never breathe a word about the adoption to anyone. Or How Far You Go. . .Fifteen years later, Kate has built a good life for herself and her son, Jon, in Hopewell, Oregon. Still, she is haunted by the fear that he will somehow be taken away. Then Daegan O'Rourke arrives in town and strikes up a friendship with her and Jon. But Daegan has his own past to hide--one with shocking ties to hers. A Killer Will Always Find You. . .Someone is watching Kate, watching her son, and is willing to go to any lengths to claim him. And the one man Kate is tempted to trust has dangerous secrets that could change her world forever. Soon the past Kate thought she could outrun will explode, unearthing a legacy of lies and treachery, and a fury powerful enough to kill. . .
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February 21st, 2010 on 4:51 pm
More great pictures of Julie Henderson here. She is so hot!
September 27th, 2009 on 12:02 am
Hi Kristie
Awesome post. I absolutely love Beth Kery, Lisa Marie Rice, Jaci Burton, Shiloh walker, Christy Reece, Lauren Dane and so many others.
September 26th, 2009 on 1:34 pm
My favorites are Diana Gabaldon, Laura Kinsale, Lisa Kleypas, Kathleen Woodiwiss (her early novels). For newer authors, the ones who have caught my attention recently are Judith James (because of Kristi’s rabid endorsement), Meredith Duran, and Lisa Marie Wilkinson. I was puzzled when KJ posted back in April that she was going to read the book by Wilkinson, and then not another word was mentioned about it. I had loved Fire at Midnight and was expecting Kristie to endorse this new writer with the same fervor she had Judith James. I can only assume she read the book by Wilkinson and didn’t enjoy it as much as I did. I also loved The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie by Jennifer Ashley, but I haven’t really been able to get into Hoyt’s work, which is simply a matter of different people enjoying different books.
September 26th, 2009 on 6:37 am
KristieJ is one of my favorite book bloggers and I’m so happy she was here - and bummed that I was offline all day and couldn’t be here yesterday. Hi KristieJ!
@rstewie Oh, Lord yes. I’m with you on the Julia Spencer-Fleming series. I’m half fearful of where it’s going to go and I’m still on the edge of my seat because I love the setting, the characters, and the realism of it.
SonomaLass Carolyn Jewel is amazing, I agree.
Of course, I haven’t had nearly enough coffee to think of what I’m most passionate about. I think at this moment it’s coffee.
September 25th, 2009 on 11:36 pm
I bought North & South recently on DVD - mostly on recommendations from you and other bloggers about how awesome it is + Richard Armitage = WIN! I haven’t watched it yet, but I’m looking forward to spending some cozy time on the couch drooling.
As for fave authors, I’ve pimped out JD Robb/Nora Roberts to a few people and I’m raving about Outlander at present. There are so many authors I follow - it probably explains why there are +80 books in my TBR pile. At present, I’m reading Nalini Singh and I’m wondering why it took me so long to get to this one. I devoured the first 2 books but it’s taken me ages to pick up Caressed by Ice. Madness I tells you!
September 25th, 2009 on 9:34 pm
I would recommend Robyn Carr’s Virgin River Series. She gets inside her characters and doesn’t leave them alone until she has extracted the best (and sometimes the worst) of their personalities. I picked up Virgin River on a whim and have never looked back.
September 25th, 2009 on 8:14 pm
I love your passion — altho I’ve yet to watch N&S, maybe when my dd is home we can indulge together. I caught up on so many Western faves after your last drive.
It must amaze fledgling book bloggers when you reach out to them — and draw them into the fold.
Can’t wait to see what you’ll fall for next. As for the question, Heyer for historicals, Crusie for contemps … altho if the Edwards is as fun as it sounds, and given our national craze for food food and more food, maybe that would make a great entry book. For snobs, I’d just go with Outlander because it is very difficult to categorize, and it’s so absorbing.
September 25th, 2009 on 5:34 pm
Hi Kristi J!!! I’m a Questor, A Crusader and just read a book for The Great Western Drive (Never Love a Lawman by Jo Goodman, just haven’t posted the review)
Thanks for all you have done for the romance community!!!!
AND thanks to you I would have never seen The Outsider… SIGH….
September 25th, 2009 on 2:16 pm
If I was going to recommend one author to someone starting out reading romance it would probably be Diana Palmer. She writes a great story but I don’t think it would scare anybody off from romance books. Then after they got more serious about romance books I would probably recommend someone like Maya Banks or for suspense Rebecca York or Debra Webb.
September 25th, 2009 on 2:16 pm
Hi Kristie,
I’m another huge fan of Lisa Kleypas and I’m so looking forward to reading her newest Tempt Me at Twilight! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on that one. Wow! So many great authors…I love Deborah Smith, Linda Howard, Julie Garwood, Nalini Singh, JR Ward, SEP, Jennifer Crusie, Sabrina Jeffries, Liz Carlyle. I’m another fan of North and South and the GREAT Richard Armitage!
September 25th, 2009 on 2:14 pm
I keep recommending Carolyn Jewel to people, because she seems to be under a lot of people’s radar. I also love Hoyt, Duran and Thomas — anyone who likes those three would like Jewel’s historical romance SCANDAL. And she’s got a new one, INDISCREET, coming out soon.
I also find myself recommending Guy Gavriel Kay a lot to romance readers who say they love fantasy. He writes some of the best fantasy around, and he is SO good at the romantic aspects! I love Jacqueline Carey, too, and Jane Lindskold; I often recommend their fantasy series to romance readers.
September 25th, 2009 on 2:09 pm
Kristie already let the cat out of the bag - I tend to be pretty passionate about historical western romances. I would say the two authors I tend to recommend the most from that sub genre are Maggie Osborne (who has, sadly, retired from writing) and Cheryl St. John.
I’m also a massive enthusiast for category romance, and I’m always recommending Harlequins to people. Specific lines (hello Harlequin SuperRomance and Harlequin Historical!), specific authors, specific titles. Doesn’t matter. I’m pretty shameless.
Great post Kristie!
September 25th, 2009 on 11:26 am
For me it would be author Robin Schone. Her book, SCANDALOUS LOVERS, and A LADYS TUTOR are wonderful historical novels unlike many typical Regency historicals. They are quite passionate and intensely emotional.
September 25th, 2009 on 12:07 pm
How about Gabriel’s Woman?
September 25th, 2009 on 12:31 pm
Oh, I love Robin Schone…I can never find hers at my bookstore, though. I’ve managed to get most of her backlist, but A Lady’s Tutor has proven illusive.
September 25th, 2009 on 8:01 am
Passion is catching — especially when you have the opportunity to chat with others that enjoy what you enjoy equally as much!
Blogging with you all certainly has become a passion as it is great fun to see what you all are enthusiastic about.
I think all time fav’s like Rachel Gibson; SEP; Stephanie Laurens; Debbie Macomber; Linda Lael Miller; Sherrilyn Kenyon; Christine Feehan; Suzanne Brockmann; Linda Howard; Julie Garwood; would relate to readers that are not prolific in the genre . . . & encourage them come back for more.
September 25th, 2009 on 7:54 am
I’m passionate about a lot of authors, when I think about it. Which is really great, because for a while there it was touch and go for me.
I love Laura Kinsale’s historicals. I also catch any releases by Elizabeth Hoyt (Serpent Prince was fabulous), Liz Carlyle (Two Little Lies…and most of her others), Meredith Duran (Written on Your Skin), Loretta Chase (Lord of Scoundrels), Jennifer Ashley (The Madness of Lord Ian) and Sherry Thomas (Delicious). There’s more…but I’ll refrain.
My favorite paranormals are Meljean Brook (love how dense the story & writing is), Kresley Cole (her characters are so much FUN and she isn’t afraid to make a heroine mean), Lora Leigh’s Breed series (which are like crack to me), and Angela Knight (Jane’s Warlord is my fave).
I don’t usually like Rom-Sus but Julia Spencer-Fleming’s series is Teh Awesome.
I also don’t generally read straight contemporaries, but I do enjoy Suzanne Brockmann’s SEALs.
I’m not sure it falls under Romance, too, but I love Jaqueline Carey’s Kushiel series.
Backlists I recommend are all the above, and also Connie Brockway (All Through the Night and As You Desire in particular–her writing is so delicate and evocative), Linda Howard (Son of the Morning, Shades of Twilight and most of the other older ones that are just so hawt), and I’ll read anything by Robin McKinley (Sunshine is an annual read for me).
September 25th, 2009 on 7:57 am
You’re in luck! Lessons in French by Laura Kinsale is on sale Feb 2010!
Sue
September 25th, 2009 on 5:06 am
Gee what a hard question, only ONE? Contemporaries for sure and I cannot name one, so dont hit me:
SEP, Linda Howard, Catherine Anderson, Rachel Gibson, and lots more but don’t want to be chastised. LOL.
I seem to see mostly historicals, vamp, paranormal and the like as giveaways on a lot of sites - so I must be in the minority. But I know a lot of people do like contemps. Just a comment…nothing more.
Pat L.
September 25th, 2009 on 4:38 am
Nice Topic !
Contemporaries : SEP all the way. She’s the queen of romantic comedy. Her books are impossible to resist, she made me a contemporary romance addict
Historical : Outlander of course. This is a marvellous *sigh*. Or also anything by Lisa Kleypas and early Bridgerton books by Juloa Quinn. For nice medieval I’d go with Julie Garwood.
Those are for me the “classic” of the genres. There are a lot of great “new” author I could heavily recommend : Robin Kaye, Marie Force, Louisa Edward…
September 25th, 2009 on 7:55 am
Great choices — have to agree with you on them all!
Sue
September 25th, 2009 on 4:35 am
Well, Kristie, as someone who read Broken Wing and watched North and South on your advice, I am very happy you don’t hesitate to trumpet your faves. You have excellent taste.
I am absolutely planning to read one of the Western Drive recs ASAP. Can’t wait!
September 25th, 2009 on 3:03 am
Hi Kristie,
I remember the various quests that you organise well. I’ve got a few books that I would recommend to fellow romance readers, but haven’t been driven to really talk about them with such passion as you had. Something that we could all learn from you. Thanks for sharing. You’re right. Passion is catching.