Thursday, September 16, 2010

Review of October's Series Romance Title Themes


Because I am so irritated at Ingram for not having blurbs with their series romance offerings for October (which I usually share on Twitter for the edification of the world), I thought I would do a review of the month's titles and themes. Series romance (Harlequin, Silhouette, etc.) is traditionally one of the worst (and I say that in a loving way) genres in terms of lack of descriptiveness, repetitiveness, and grammatical ineptitude in titling. Which is why I LOVE THEM. This month's catalog features over 100 titles, some of which are dull and run-of-the-mill, but many of which put them in a specific subgenre—with some overlap, of course.

Themes for October:

Christmas (which seems a long way away from mid-September, but if you consider that libraries should be ordering these in time to get them processed and on the shelves by the time holiday fever really strikes, it's not completely insane): 
Christmas Countdown
A Cop in Her Stocking
Covert Christmas: Open Season\Second-Chance Sheriff\Saving Christmas
His Holiday Bride
Mistletoe Prayers: The Bodine Family Christmas\The Gingerbread Season 
Royal Holiday Baby
Silent Night Stakeout
The Spy Who Saved Christmas
Western Winter Wedding Bells: Christmas in Red Willow\The Sheriff's Housekeeper Bride\Wearing the Rancher's Ring

Work-related:
Boardroom Rivals, Bedroom Fireworks!
Cinderella & the CEO
From Boardroom to Wedding Bed?
Innocent Secretary...Accidentally Pregnant [which wins my vote for Most Terrible Title this month]
Juggling Briefcase & Baby
Not Just the Nanny
Taming Her Billionaire Boss

Greeks and Shiekhs:
Boda Con el Magnate Griego = Marriage with the Greek Tycoon
The Good Greek Wife?
El Jeque Seductor = The Seductive Sheik
Powerful Greek, Housekeeper Wife
Saved by the Sheikh!

Cowboys:
Betrayal in the Badlands
Boots and Bullets
Cattle Baron Needs a Bride
Cowgirl Makes Three
Elly: Cowgirl Bride
Prairie Courtship
When the Cowboy Said I Do
Wyoming Lawman
Yukon Cowboy

Secret Children:
For the Sake of the Secret Child
A Miracle for His Secret Son

WTF? (my other top picks): 
Chantaje en la Cama = Blackmail Into the Bed
His Virgin Acquisition
Majesty, Mistress...Missing Heir
Public Marriage, Private Secrets
The Reluctant Wrangler
Ultimatum: Marriage

If you’ve made it this far, you might as well participate in the other part of my exercise, which is to have my “revenge” on Ingram for not posting blurbs by creating some of my own. If you’d like to play, select a title from the list above and create a blurb for it in the comments, like so:

His Virgin Acquisition. Randolph Edward Burgess IV was a savvy businessman . . . he thought. But when the fruits of his latest hostile takeover arrive in the form of the nubile and possibly underage daughter of his chief nemesis, the fashion-forward ChloĆ« Vernon, he knows he’s got a lot of accounting to do to make everything reconcile.

The Reluctant Wrangler. All Ted Gunther ever wanted was a chance to open his own decorating firm and make the houses of Spivey, Texas look their most fabulous. Unfortunately, as the son and brother of the region’s foremost horsemen, he is stuck throwing rope tricks . . . until a beautiful city-slicker, Natasjia Donner, who also happens to be an angel investor of some note, breezes into town with her nervous male assistant in tow.

3 comments:

Maisey said...

;) Sorry they didn't post a blurb for His Virgin Acquisition...I happen to have one right here *rummages in purse* ah! Here it is:

Daring proposal...

When Elaine gives her business presentation to Marco De Luca she thinks she can be cool, calm and collected. She's wrong! The fierce tycoon can see straight through her shapeless suits and scraped-back hair to get right under her skin...

Ruthless awakening!

She may have proposed marriage as the perfect business arrangement, but suddenly Elaine's not quite so confident. Marco's made it clear that he's no modern man- if he takes a wife, he wants a ravishing beauty by his side, obedient and willing, day...and night!

(I liked yours though! I sort of want to read the book!)

Maisey Yates

Amanda said...

Silent Night Stakeout

All Catholic elementary school teacher Stacy wanted was for her classroom's performance of Silent Night in the original German to go off in peace, but a threatening anonymous note angry at the Nazification of Christmas sets her week on edge.

Police cop Evan--bitter and disillusioned--volunteered to work the normally quiet week of Christmas in the small town of Maybe in rural Idaho. He meant to spend the week drinking, not watching after a bunch of Catholic schoolchildren and their foolish teacher.

Indeed, Evan finds Stacy painfully naive on their first meeting, but the sound of children singing the refrain "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht" begins to warm his bitter, dark soul.

Can they protect the lovely children from extremists?

Will the German rendition of Silent Night go off without a hitch?

What lessons does innocent Stacy have up her modestly long sleeves to teach Evan?

Will the Silent Night Stakeout bring noise and passion into their simple lives?

Cassandra Mortmain said...

Amanda, you really need to write Silent Stakeout. It would be a huge best-seller-- just make the schoolchildren Amish instead of Catholic!