Reading: A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole
Watching: American Idol! (Can’t help it, I’m addicted)
Listening to: The Battlestar Galactica Soundtracks
Making me smile: Hubby’s back from a work trip!
Since this is a blog for people who love to read (and write!) category romance, I thought I’d share 5 things I love about category:
1) SIZE: It’s not how big it is, it’s what you do with it! Category books are shorter so I can squeeze a great story in between work, writing, family, shopping, cleaning, blogging, Tweeting etc etc. And I love to read and write Nocturne Bites, which are short stories and the perfect length to fit into a busy day.
2) NO DISAPPOINTMENT: I hate when I pick up a book thinking it’s going to give me what I want and instead all my favourite characters are dead by Chapter 3, the guy doesn’t get the girl and the hero turns out to be a wimp! With category, I know the books will deliver what they promise (and no, that doesn’t mean the stories are the same).
3) RANGE: I get a huge, new selection of books EVERY month! An obsessive-compulsive reader’s dream.
Desire = wealthy alpha heroes and thrilling settings
Medical = hot guy in scrubs or a white coat (need I say more)
Romance = warm happily-ever-afters that leave me smiling
Nocturne = intense alphas in dark, sensual, action-packed stories
Spice = Bold, naughty and HAWT!
Historical = get whisked away to amazing places from the past
SuperRomance = big stories of love, life and family
4) EMOTION: No matter which genre of category romance you pick up, you’re guaranteed emotion. You’ll feel the intense ups and downs of falling in love—whether the characters are doctors, tycoons, vampires, businessmen, firemen or rakes. I once heard a reader describe category books as her illicit drug—her quick hit of intense emotion! I thought that was a great way to describe them.
5) PRICE: They’re cheaper! Yep, they’re shorter, but I get the same satisfaction regardless the length of a story, so that’s more bang for my buck. And the Harlequin and Mills and Boon websites offer discounts or bundle ebooks for great deals.
So how about other readers out there? What do you love most about category romance?
Gosh Anna, I think you have summed it up so well. I pick up a cata book over another because it is a faster read that I know will give me satisfaction guarenteed.
ReplyDeleteHi Anita --
ReplyDeleteSounds like my top 2 are your top 2 as well!
I'm the same, I'll download a category over a longer book when I don't have enough time (which seems to be always) for a long read.
Excellent wrap up, Anna! It's the Happily-ever-after that's the biggie for me. I know that the hero and heroine can go through all sort of trials and grow and change and that it'll all be worth it in the end because they will win and be worthy of their love!
ReplyDeleteYep, I definitely love the reward of those happily-ever-afters!
:)
Sharon
Anna, that's a great list that sums up all my thoughts too.
ReplyDeleteMy only problem is that so many fabulous category books are released each month that I have trouble keeping up with all the great authors and titles! My TBR pile is ever-growing. I think I need to take a holiday and just read full-time... ;)
Hi Sharon --
ReplyDeleteHooray for the HEA! Whenever I branch out and read something else, I always feel robbed if there's not a happy ending.
Hi Rachel --
ReplyDeleteI completely understand the problem of the teetering TBR pile!! Although mine is electronic now, I still know it's there...and growing.
Anna,
ReplyDeletewe really need to have a couple of clones who can do the housework, go to work etc while we read and write - the important things in life LOL!!
And great summing up of the category books =)
Great sum up Anna.... like the more bang for your buck! :) I think you have summed up my feelings on category. And the HEA is such a biggie. You know you're going to get it - you don't know how but it's always there waiting.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Rachel though, with so many category books released a month, it's so hard to keep up. Make that I don't keep up. I am so way behind with all my reading but especially category as I buy them and put them on to read later pile. Huge, I tell you, huge.
BTW - Battlestar Galactica soundrack? cool :)
Hi Mel --
ReplyDeleteA clone or two sounds good (-: Sometimes I'd even let my clone do the writing (you know those days when each word feels ripped from you).
Hey Eleni --
ReplyDeleteI always like more bang for my buck!!
I LOVE the BSG soundtracks (all 3 seasons). I write to them often.
A big resounding yes from me. I am reading a brilliant new category book form a debut author - check in on Thursday when I post of hoeroes, what makes them yummy -to find out what it is.
ReplyDeleteHi Tracie --
ReplyDeleteOoh, I'm intrigued...both by the new author and by your post on heroes!
Nice one, Anna!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, too. People often ask how come I can read romance when they're so predictable - always ending the same. That's precisely why I read them - I know I won't be disappointed. There's always the HEA, or the HFN. It's what I want to read.
They also ask why I read them when the characters are often a little unreal - especially in the Nocturnes. Again, exactly why I pick them up. I got the hubster if I want a real-life man!
LOL! Love to get loads of bang for my buck. Possibly more bang in certain lines... :)
I notice cooking isn't in your list of daily activities. Welcome home, hubby!
Hi to the LoveCats!
Hey Emily --
ReplyDeleteYou touched on another reason to love category...the guaranteed larger-than-life characters! I guess some lines have more "real" characters than others, but you have to love those alpha heroes.
Nope, no cooking for me! I married a man who's great in the kitchen and loves cooking. It means I can stay out of there!!