5 rather blatant romance novel covers that I feel I should be embarrassed about requesting...but am so not

List by Tosca

"I am ever a gentle maiden," she shouted. "Damn if I'm not."
― Julie Garwood, Honor's Splendour

Our post quote is so romantic I could just cry *sniff sniff* I'm kidding! It's hilarious, right? I read romance books. Seriously. I read contemporary romance (think big, buff men in uniform or umm out of uniform as they usually are on the covers), paranormal romance (shapeshifters, demons, angels, psychics, etc.), historical romance (cads and rakes and prim misses with stays and corsets), Harlequin Mills & Boon romance (bazillionaire, megajillionaire tycoons from exotic places like Auckland heh), erotic romance (the kind I hope they never make audiobooks of because there's no way I can get through them without blushing and/or giggling) and pretty much anything else you could slap a romance label on. Our staff often comment on my choice of books. Well, not the books, so much as their covers, and were I anyone else who hadn't come to terms with my reading tastes a long time ago, I'm sure I'd be embarrassed of requests turning up for me with covers that look much like the one attached to this post (Jaci Burton's Taking a shot). As an adult, there's not much that embarrasses me. As a teen, well, everything had the potential to unman me (so to speak). I used to cringe when out and about with my mother, who had a penchant for wearing odd fluoro coloured socks. I wasn't ashamed of my mother. Just her socks. My dad would stand at the end of our driveway every night at about 5:30pm and yell out, 'Tosca, Tosca, jellymeat for dinner!' (just like the catfood tv ad from the 80s) to let me know tea was ready. Neighbourhood kids used to think it was hilarious, and I'd get more than my fair share of ribbing. I was always mortified. No matter how many times I asked dad not to do it, he'd be out there the next night doing it all over again. Considering that dad used to wear his sisters' dresses and chase them around their neighbourhood, I think I got off lightly. One of my siblings used to have this irritating habit of telling on me to my parents, and then delivering the following message in a horrid singsong voice in front of my friends, "Mum wants you and oohh you're gonna get it!" Once, during an intermediate school assembly, I had to walk up on stage to collect an award and tripped up in front of some 200+ people. I remember another time, in high school, I accidentally whacked one of the 1st XV players in a place no man ever admits to being whacked out loud when I was using big arm gestures *cringes* (Something I still do today). For the rest of the school year, if he saw me coming he'd turn bright red, about-face and run in the other direction. I've had so many, many moments like these, and if there's one thing I've learned from them, well, that and from being one of 9 children, you learn to get over yourself pretty quickly. You also learn to develop a sharp wit, a barbed tongue and, even better, a thick skin. As a result, not much phases me these days. But if anything was going to, it'd be my strange, deep and abiding love of in-your-face (clothed or half-clothed) mantastic romance novel covers. And so I end this week on a light note, with five such books that turned up for me just today...

Are you ever embarrassed by your requests?



The perfect play / Jaci Burton
The last thing event planner Tara Lincoln needs is the jet-set lifestyle of a football pro like Mick Riley; even though their steamy and passionate one-night stand proved that Mick is an all-star--both on the field and in the bedroom. Tara played the game of love once and lost big, and she doesn't intend to put herself out there again, especially with a certified heartbreaker. But when Mick sets his mind to win, nothing will stop him. And he has the perfect play in mind to catch this sultry vixen.

Bad boys in black tie / Lori Foster, Erin McCarthy, Morgan Leigh
Good with his hands / by Lori Foster -- Miss Extreme Congeniality / by Erin McCarthy -- Last call / by Morgan Leigh. What's a single girl to do when a sexy bad boy comes calling? Foster, Leigh and McCarthy each contribute stories in which the heroines struggle with the prospect of Mr. Right vs. Mr. Right Now.

Tosca's comment: To be fair, it isn't the cover that I feel should have the potential to embarrass me, after all, it's actually quite conservative - it's the library sticker (which doesn't show here) which makes me hesitate. It reads: "WARNING! Sexually Explicit Content." And if that doesn't announce to the rest of the world what I'm reading then nothing does. Oy.

Wild cat / Jennifer Ashley
Heartbroken from the death of her mate three years ago, Shifter Cassidy Warden is tracking down his mysterious killer - one who could bring danger to all Shifters. But Detective Diego Escobar rekindles the flames of her mating desire. And once the fires begin, nothing and no one can put them out...

Tosca's comment: Wild Cat is book 2 in Ashley's Shifters Unbound series, the first being Pride mates. I read book 1 while in Akaroa for a conference a couple of years ago. From memory, I had to leave behind a pair of shoes in order to fit it in my case. The sacrifices we make for romance books!

Slade / Sarah McCarty
Slade needs a cure, but what he finds is a savior in the latest paranormal romance from the national bestselling author. As the backbone of The Renegades' defense, vampire technological genius Slade Johnson hasn't met a problem he couldn't solve. But when Slade is tasked with saving the life of his nephew, he must get in bed with the one woman who has the power to destroy them all: his enemy...his mate. Book 4 in McCarty's Shadow wranglers series.

Tosca's comment: I've read JT Edson and Louis L'Amour and nowhere in those western novels did they write about half-naked, abtastic men roaming the prairies. I would've remembered if they had.

Tied with a bow / Virginia Kantra, Lora Leigh, Eileen Wilks and Kimberly Frost
Number one New York Times bestselling author headlines an all-new anthology - and brings her bestselling Breeds along for the ride. New York Times bestselling author Virginia Kantra presents a haunting tale of a fallen angel. USA Today bestselling author Eileen Wilks returns to the shapeshifting Lupi for another magical tale. And national bestselling author Kimberly Frost introduces a new paranormal world of muses and vampires.

Review comment:

"This sizzling quartet of holiday-linked erotic paranormal romances is just the thing to warm up a wintry night; perfect for readers who like their reading with a sexy, otherworldly edge." (Library Journal)