Comparison to AAR's poll
Mar. 8th, 2006 05:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jmc_bksI’ve started and stopped writing this post a couple of times because I’m not sure exactly what I want to say. Yes, I voted in the AAR annual poll. Some of the books/characters that I enjoyed won and others did not. The annual poll often makes me wonder about my taste and where I fit on the continuum of romance readers, because often the books that are big winners were losers in my reading journal. Most of my votes will be predictable if you read my list of the Best of 2005. I voted for a couple of those books in multiple categories. I don’t think that anything I voted for matched the winner in any category, except one Worst category, although several that I voted for were runners up. And in several cases, books that were runners up to the books I voted for were books that won the category.
BOOKS
Best Romance: Loretta Chase's Mr. Impossible. Read it; it was okay, liked the setting, otherwise it wasn’t distinguishable from any other European-set historical, despite the location in Egypt. Rupert’s “harmless and stupid” act was irritating. Give me a man with brains who acts like it any time.
My vote: Hot Target. I voted for HT because ultimately, despite all of the problems I had with parts of the book, it has stuck in my memory. I read it in January, 2005, but it hasn’t faded from memory, unlike many other books I read last year. Plus, the romance that distinguished the book wasn’t the primary one, which was average, but the secondary story line of Jules Cassidy.
Favorite Funny: Match Me If You Can. I can only think of two funny scenes in this book. It was a B read for me, not the best of SEP’s work.
My vote: To Die For, which was the Honorable Mention.
Most-Hanky Read: A Breath of Snow and Ashes. Blah. I read Outlander and have no intention of picking up another Gabaldon book.
My vote: His Secondhand Wife. I added this book after a quick re-read. Also voted for it for American Historical, mostly because it was the only one I read last year. Had a hard time voting for most-hanky read, because very little in fiction makes me cry.
Most Luscious Love Story: Passion. Yes, it was hot, but it was my runner up.
My vote: Hot Sauce, which being a Romentics book, probably was not a widely read book among AAR’s constituents.
Best Cabin/Road Romance: Mr. Impossible. Again, don’t really see the appeal.
My vote: If Andy Warhol Had a Girlfriend by Allison Pace.
Best New Author: Lisa Valdez.
My vote: Elizabeth Vaughan. Valdez and Allison Pace were runners up for me, so Valdez winning wasn’t a disappointment to me.
Best Buried Treasure: The Music of the Night. I read this book and The Veil of Night, and both were ~meh~. I’ll have to try them again to see the appeal. Also, I’m a little confused by this category. How can something be buried if it had a lot of buzz? It seemed like TMotN did.
My vote: If Andy Warhol Had a Girlfriend. It was reviewed and then slipped away without much discussion, but when I read it, it really struck a chord for me.
Guiltiest Pleasure: Passion
My vote: Triple Play, an e-book by Rhyannon Byrd
Author Most Glommed: Anne Stuart
My vote: Rachel Caine – picked up all four of her Weather Warden series, plus two Bombshells (which I haven’t read yet).
Best Medieval/Renaissance: Return of the Warrior by Kinley MacGregor. I don’t get KM’s appeal. Warprize, the honorable mention, was one that I would have voted for in this column, except I considered it to be Alternate Reality, so I voted for it elsewhere.
My vote: The King’s Mistress by Terri Brisbin. It was a Harlequin Historical set in the time of Henry II in England, and was pretty good. I don’t read many historicals, and this was one of the few that I read and really enjoyed last year.
Best European Historical: Mr. Impossible again.
My vote: The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig. This is the follow up to her debut, The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, which is reviewed at AAR. Black Tulip has not been reviewed yet by AAR; I've done a small blurb but not a full review. I’ve read them both, but think the second is the better book, in part because I like the hero and heroine much more. In fact, I voted for them as best couple.
Best Traditional Regency: Dedication. Read it, and thought it was too busy and needed about 50-100 more pages.
My vote: The Duchess’s Second Husband by Terri Brisbin. This was the only other trad I read last year, which limited my choices.
Best American Hist/Frontier: Foxfire Bride. Didn’t read it.
My vote: His Secondhand Wife.
Best Contemporary: Match Me If You Can.
My vote: To Die For.
Best Series Novel: The Mysterious Miss M. Haven’t read it, although it is on my reserve list at the library.
My vote: Her Body of Work by Marie Donovan. I do read categories, but most of the ones I read last year were older ones from my continued glom of Robyn Donald and Susan Napier.
Best Romantic Suspense: Black Ice by Anne Stuart, which was at best a C read for me. I didn’t find the hero attractive at all. It worked as a suspense novel, but not as a romance novel.
My vote: Hot Target
Best Alt Reality/Paranormal: Dark Lover. Loved this book. It was my runner up. Ward's second book, Lover Eternal will probably be on my ballot next year; despite some problems I have with the book, it is very good -- I couldn't put it down.
My vote: Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan
Best Chick Lit/WF: The Givenchy Code by Julie Kenner. This was my runner up vote. I've also read the follow up book, The Manolo Matrix, which I liked better than TGC.
My vote: If Andy Warhol Had a Girlfriend
Short Story: Falling for Anthony, Meljean Brook in the Hotspell anthology. My runner up.
My vote: Reno’s Choice, Lora Leigh
CHARACTERS
Most Tortured Hero: Bastien Toussaint. Didn’t like him at all.
My vote: Will from P.B. Ryan’s Murder on Black Friday
Strongest Heroine: Eve Dallas. I like Eve Dallas, but I don’t think of her for this category, mostly because it doesn’t seem fair to keep voting for the same person year after year.
My vote: Nell Sweeney from Murder on Black Friday
Best Hero: Rupert from Mr. Impossible.
My vote: Jules Cassidy from Hot Target. He made the book.
Best Heroine: Blair Mallory.
My vote: Betsy Taylor from the Undead series. Yes, she’s irritating and snarky, but she seems closest to real to me of all of the heroines I read. Not that I would necessarily want to be her friend in real life.
Best Couple: from Mr. Impossible again.
My vote: Miles Dorrington and Henrietta Selwick from The Masque of the Black Tulip. Friends to lovers. And I like their mental processes as they fall in love.
Best Villain: It Happened One Autumn. This was a forgettable book. I know who the villain is, since he’s the hero of her next book, but he wasn’t particularly villainous, I thought.
My vote: The Devil in Undead and Unappreciated. Loved the shoes.
WORST
Most annoying lead: Blair from To Die For.
My vote: Viola Hammond from The Marriage Bed. Whiney and unwilling to accept any responsibility for the problems in her marriage.
Author Given Up On: Julie Garwood
My vote: MATCHED!
Authors Others Love: Nora Roberts. I do love her. So there!
My vote: Diana Gabaldon. Talk about info dumping and Mary Sue heroines. Plus, Jamie Frasier? Doesn’t seem like all that to me.
Most Disappointing Read: It Happened One Autumn. It was okay, but I had no expectations, so there was no disappointment for me.
My vote: Breaking Point by Suzanne Brockmann, the runner up in this category. Max & Gina’s story was stretched over how many books? What a waste.
Worst Read: tie between Passion and What Do You Say to a Naked Elf. I liked Passion, so I disagree. Couldn’t finish WDYStaNE, and passed it on quickly.
My vote: Just Friends to … Just Married. TSTL, selfish heroine. I voted for the book that I liked least all year, among all of the books that I finished. There were probably other books with continuity problems, language problems, etc., but this is the one that got an F.
Purplest Prose: Passion. Well, yes, it was a little lilac, I would say.
My vote: A Fine Passion by Stephanie Laurens
If I were a nicer person, I would link to reviews of all of these books, so you could read about the books in more detail. But I'm not. Plus, I'm running late. If I have spare time later, I'll add the links, but don't count on it.
Finished at last! My $0.02!
BOOKS
Best Romance: Loretta Chase's Mr. Impossible. Read it; it was okay, liked the setting, otherwise it wasn’t distinguishable from any other European-set historical, despite the location in Egypt. Rupert’s “harmless and stupid” act was irritating. Give me a man with brains who acts like it any time.
My vote: Hot Target. I voted for HT because ultimately, despite all of the problems I had with parts of the book, it has stuck in my memory. I read it in January, 2005, but it hasn’t faded from memory, unlike many other books I read last year. Plus, the romance that distinguished the book wasn’t the primary one, which was average, but the secondary story line of Jules Cassidy.
Favorite Funny: Match Me If You Can. I can only think of two funny scenes in this book. It was a B read for me, not the best of SEP’s work.
My vote: To Die For, which was the Honorable Mention.
Most-Hanky Read: A Breath of Snow and Ashes. Blah. I read Outlander and have no intention of picking up another Gabaldon book.
My vote: His Secondhand Wife. I added this book after a quick re-read. Also voted for it for American Historical, mostly because it was the only one I read last year. Had a hard time voting for most-hanky read, because very little in fiction makes me cry.
Most Luscious Love Story: Passion. Yes, it was hot, but it was my runner up.
My vote: Hot Sauce, which being a Romentics book, probably was not a widely read book among AAR’s constituents.
Best Cabin/Road Romance: Mr. Impossible. Again, don’t really see the appeal.
My vote: If Andy Warhol Had a Girlfriend by Allison Pace.
Best New Author: Lisa Valdez.
My vote: Elizabeth Vaughan. Valdez and Allison Pace were runners up for me, so Valdez winning wasn’t a disappointment to me.
Best Buried Treasure: The Music of the Night. I read this book and The Veil of Night, and both were ~meh~. I’ll have to try them again to see the appeal. Also, I’m a little confused by this category. How can something be buried if it had a lot of buzz? It seemed like TMotN did.
My vote: If Andy Warhol Had a Girlfriend. It was reviewed and then slipped away without much discussion, but when I read it, it really struck a chord for me.
Guiltiest Pleasure: Passion
My vote: Triple Play, an e-book by Rhyannon Byrd
Author Most Glommed: Anne Stuart
My vote: Rachel Caine – picked up all four of her Weather Warden series, plus two Bombshells (which I haven’t read yet).
Best Medieval/Renaissance: Return of the Warrior by Kinley MacGregor. I don’t get KM’s appeal. Warprize, the honorable mention, was one that I would have voted for in this column, except I considered it to be Alternate Reality, so I voted for it elsewhere.
My vote: The King’s Mistress by Terri Brisbin. It was a Harlequin Historical set in the time of Henry II in England, and was pretty good. I don’t read many historicals, and this was one of the few that I read and really enjoyed last year.
Best European Historical: Mr. Impossible again.
My vote: The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig. This is the follow up to her debut, The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, which is reviewed at AAR. Black Tulip has not been reviewed yet by AAR; I've done a small blurb but not a full review. I’ve read them both, but think the second is the better book, in part because I like the hero and heroine much more. In fact, I voted for them as best couple.
Best Traditional Regency: Dedication. Read it, and thought it was too busy and needed about 50-100 more pages.
My vote: The Duchess’s Second Husband by Terri Brisbin. This was the only other trad I read last year, which limited my choices.
Best American Hist/Frontier: Foxfire Bride. Didn’t read it.
My vote: His Secondhand Wife.
Best Contemporary: Match Me If You Can.
My vote: To Die For.
Best Series Novel: The Mysterious Miss M. Haven’t read it, although it is on my reserve list at the library.
My vote: Her Body of Work by Marie Donovan. I do read categories, but most of the ones I read last year were older ones from my continued glom of Robyn Donald and Susan Napier.
Best Romantic Suspense: Black Ice by Anne Stuart, which was at best a C read for me. I didn’t find the hero attractive at all. It worked as a suspense novel, but not as a romance novel.
My vote: Hot Target
Best Alt Reality/Paranormal: Dark Lover. Loved this book. It was my runner up. Ward's second book, Lover Eternal will probably be on my ballot next year; despite some problems I have with the book, it is very good -- I couldn't put it down.
My vote: Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan
Best Chick Lit/WF: The Givenchy Code by Julie Kenner. This was my runner up vote. I've also read the follow up book, The Manolo Matrix, which I liked better than TGC.
My vote: If Andy Warhol Had a Girlfriend
Short Story: Falling for Anthony, Meljean Brook in the Hotspell anthology. My runner up.
My vote: Reno’s Choice, Lora Leigh
CHARACTERS
Most Tortured Hero: Bastien Toussaint. Didn’t like him at all.
My vote: Will from P.B. Ryan’s Murder on Black Friday
Strongest Heroine: Eve Dallas. I like Eve Dallas, but I don’t think of her for this category, mostly because it doesn’t seem fair to keep voting for the same person year after year.
My vote: Nell Sweeney from Murder on Black Friday
Best Hero: Rupert from Mr. Impossible.
My vote: Jules Cassidy from Hot Target. He made the book.
Best Heroine: Blair Mallory.
My vote: Betsy Taylor from the Undead series. Yes, she’s irritating and snarky, but she seems closest to real to me of all of the heroines I read. Not that I would necessarily want to be her friend in real life.
Best Couple: from Mr. Impossible again.
My vote: Miles Dorrington and Henrietta Selwick from The Masque of the Black Tulip. Friends to lovers. And I like their mental processes as they fall in love.
Best Villain: It Happened One Autumn. This was a forgettable book. I know who the villain is, since he’s the hero of her next book, but he wasn’t particularly villainous, I thought.
My vote: The Devil in Undead and Unappreciated. Loved the shoes.
WORST
Most annoying lead: Blair from To Die For.
My vote: Viola Hammond from The Marriage Bed. Whiney and unwilling to accept any responsibility for the problems in her marriage.
Author Given Up On: Julie Garwood
My vote: MATCHED!
Authors Others Love: Nora Roberts. I do love her. So there!
My vote: Diana Gabaldon. Talk about info dumping and Mary Sue heroines. Plus, Jamie Frasier? Doesn’t seem like all that to me.
Most Disappointing Read: It Happened One Autumn. It was okay, but I had no expectations, so there was no disappointment for me.
My vote: Breaking Point by Suzanne Brockmann, the runner up in this category. Max & Gina’s story was stretched over how many books? What a waste.
Worst Read: tie between Passion and What Do You Say to a Naked Elf. I liked Passion, so I disagree. Couldn’t finish WDYStaNE, and passed it on quickly.
My vote: Just Friends to … Just Married. TSTL, selfish heroine. I voted for the book that I liked least all year, among all of the books that I finished. There were probably other books with continuity problems, language problems, etc., but this is the one that got an F.
Purplest Prose: Passion. Well, yes, it was a little lilac, I would say.
My vote: A Fine Passion by Stephanie Laurens
If I were a nicer person, I would link to reviews of all of these books, so you could read about the books in more detail. But I'm not. Plus, I'm running late. If I have spare time later, I'll add the links, but don't count on it.
Finished at last! My $0.02!
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no subject
Date: 2006-03-09 12:09 am (UTC)What do you think of the Romentics? I've wanted to get one but have been unimpressed enough with the actual mechanics of the writing in the excerpts that I've never actuaaly shelled out for one of their books. What do you think?
no subject
Date: 2006-03-09 12:26 pm (UTC)Hot Sauce is the only Romentics book I've read so far, so I can't speak for the publishing line generally. But I really liked it -- picked it up after reading the Smart Bitch review. (I'll hunt down the link to the review and post it later.) Parts of the romance were a little irritating, for instance I wanted to slap Brad a couple of times a la Cher -- snap out of it, you're being TSTL, but the story grabbed me. I don't remember the language being particularly good or particularly bad. The story itself grabbed my attention. It was the first gay romance novel I'd ever read and the first book (other than a couple of Emma Holly books) to describe m/m love making, which was much hotter than I expected. It struck me as much sexier than the Emma Holly books, which sometime seem a little cold/sterile.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-09 02:10 pm (UTC)IAWHAG was my runner-up for the Cabin/Road category. I really loved the "road" element.
I bought the Terry Brisbin book just because the blurb sounded interesting, though I hadn't really read much about it. It's good to hear you liked it.
Which of the Rachel Caine books haven't you read? None of them or just the Bombshells? I have the first two (I think) in the Weather Wardens series. I think it's Jay who loves that series.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-09 02:17 pm (UTC)Which Brisbin book did you buy? Medieval or trad?
no subject
Date: 2006-03-09 03:54 pm (UTC)Oh, and if you're interested in more M/M books, check out Matthew Haldeman-Time or Evangeline Anderson's The Assignment or Stephanie Vaughan's Crossing the Line or Jumping the Fence. ;)
no subject
Date: 2006-03-09 05:35 pm (UTC)Matthew Haldeman-Time
Date: 2006-03-09 05:53 pm (UTC)Re: Matthew Haldeman-Time
Date: 2006-03-09 06:12 pm (UTC)