I worked summers at my hometown library and started reading the Harlequins because the turnover meant I was forever reshelving them. I’ve always been a voracious reader and didn’t find the Euro-centric slant any more distracting than the plots of the sci fi and horror books I loved. I stopped reading romance when I went away to college. It seems odd now, but I never bothered to join the public library in my college town.

I came back to romance for pure escapism in my late 20s (I’m 32). I’d suffered severe reading burnout after processing thousands of pages of info for my Microsoft certification and had gone to Borders on a mission to find some mindless fun. How to Marry a Marquis caught my attention–the whole Rules and How to Marry a Millionair slant– and I soon found other sensual regency authors that I liked. I rediscoved category at Waldenbooks, preferring Temptation and Desires, in that order. I would only buy other series books that piqued my interest in some way: physically disabled heriones, truly odd couples, unusual professions, etc.

I’m reading very little romance because so much of it is the same. I have no more auto buy authors because

I’ve thought about this, too. While writing all my Blazes, I’ve had 2 or 3 twenty-somethings underfoot *g*. I hear them talk, hear their friends, eavesdrop shamelessly to pick up their interests, etc.

While I don’t need to identify with a heroine in order to enjoy a book, my problem with most Hs involves the writer’s voice. Most of the characters are in their twenties, but they sound like my 50 and 60 yo bookstore customers. It’s possible for a book to reflect contemporary culture without resorting to product placement (Erin McCarthy’s “The Pregnancy Test” (Kensington/Brava) is a great example).

I don’t think it’s necessary for every heroine to be in her early twenties either – I really enjoy books with heroines in their 30s, 40s, etc. Lastly, there are more women than men in colleges today, but that’s not reflected in the vast number of H’s heroines. I understand that, as an online romance reader, I’m probably in the minority;).

Many of my (Harlequin buying) customers really enjoyed Pamela Britton’s “Dangerous Curves.” I think it’ll be interesting to see whether H’s Nascar line succeeds.

I think Harlequin’s problem is the Presents line. Seriously. When non-category readers *think* about Harlequin I *think* they see a gawd-a$$ awful HP title like “Virgin For Sale” swimming through their minds. I do think these types of stories have their place in the romance world, but honestly do they have have to be marketted in such a cheestastic way?

I used to read across most of the lines, but these days I mainly stick to HSR. Even though the vast majority are “family stories” and are set in small towns, I find they have a meatier emotional undercurrent to them.

The line I’m really upset about is Desire. This used to be my favorite line, but I haven’t bought a new one in AGES. Honestly, a girl can handle only so many “Dynasties”, continuing series and sheiks before she wants to ram her head into a wall.

Also, I think as online romance readers we have to remember that we are a minority. Not every romance reader is active in the online community, and I suspect these are the folks who are eating up the secret baby, Greek tycoon, 35-year-old virgin heroine books. But I could be wrong….

But it doesn’t make them inclined to try the categories.

Alison, I think those storylines people brought up (sheiks, etc) are still escapism. But they need a much more modern spin on it.

The storyline–at least my take on it–behind Desire is a rich guy sweeping the heroine away.

It’s still relevant. Just needs to be ‘modernized.’