Smitten by Books

57 Replies to “Who got you hooked on romance?”

1. For me it was The Flame and The Flower by Kathleen E Woodiwiss followed by Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers.

   I read those two books back in the 70’s and have been hooked ever since.

2. My Mom was always reading and she had many bookshelves filled with mystery novels and Harlequins. I was encouraged to read the mysteries but the Harlequins I had to sneak into the stack! I don’t remember any book in particular but in general I think this is where I began to love the hopefulness of all good HEA’s.

3. “I wanted it. I’d never seen such a pretty cover”

   lol this is how I feel about romance novels still. Every time.

   I grew up on fairy tales my grandfather used to tell my sister and I so you could say I always had a penchant for the ‘kissing books’ ;D It was a gradual thing, I can’t even pin point the first actual romance I read though I think it’s Nicole Jordan’s The Passion (which sadly is nowhere near as good as I remembered it XD!!) or LKH’s ‘Incubus Dreams’ (still good, my fave in the series actually even though I started in the middle). I’ve been reading books with heavy romantic elements in them, I think Anne Rice pushed me towards romance to. Aren’t many big readers in my family though they were more than happy to supply them LOL

4. I’m like Susan – we always had tons of Harlequins and westerns and mysteries lying around. I used to disappear with the Harlequins. I remember adoring Janet Dailey’s Harlequin Presents. I also remember reading a lot of Flora Kidd. Many years later when I started writing romance, I discovered Flora lived an hour away, just outside Saint John, New Brunswick. She passed away a few years ago, but I am so happy I got to know her.

5. I remember sneaking peeks at the Harlequins that my mom read and left in the bathroom as a preteen. She kept the read books in the garage, so I got my peeks when I could. I waited patiently for her to think that I was old enough to read one of “her” books. I can’t remember the first, but I am sure if I read it again today it would not hold the same mystic. But I rarely re read a book.

6. Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor. The book was wrote in the 40’s. It was banned in a few states for its controversial subjects. Even though it was wrote in the 40’s it is a timeless book. As easy to read today as it was then.

7. The book that got me truly hooked on romance was Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor. It was full of glitter and glamor and Amber’s passionate love for a man that would never be returned. It took me forever to read this very long book as I was still in school and had to sneak read it without my parents finding out.

8. I came to romance a little late in the game. About four years ago, I was waiting in a long line to check out summer reading books for the kids. A copy of “Scandal Becomes Her” by Shirlee Busbee was on one of the end caps. I picked it up and leafed through it while waiting in line. When I got to checkout, I tossed it in with the rest of the books. I got home and DEVOURED the book. I was back at the library in a couple of days to get all of the Shirley Busbee books I could find. Once I’d read all of them, I discovered Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series and I was hooked for good!

9. For me, it was a matter of evolution from the glitzy & glamorous books of Sidney Sheldon & Jackie Collins in the early ’60’s to Patricia Matthews and Valerie Sherwood in the ’70’s. Of course, Rosemary Rogers, Kathleen Woodiwiss and Jennifer Wilde were present and accounted for too. I think GWTW was really the first historical romace I read in 1962 followed closely by Forever Amber…an absolute classic and, IMO, a must read for any fan of historical romances.

10. When I was 12 I went on a trip with my Grandma. She had harlequin books and when I ran out of word finds to do she tossed me a book to read. I don’t remember what the name of the book was but I have been hook on the romance books ever since. My grandma reads the smaller stories and I advanced to the thicker ones. Now my book shelf is over flowing and my husband decided to get me a Nook so that way I wouldn’t leave books lying around. 🙂

11. I had always read all kinds of books but didn’t have much time for pleasure reading since I spent a lot of my time reading textbooks during my college days. However, a book was circulating our dorm and everyone was reading it and loved it. The book was Shana by Kathleen Woodiwiss. Of course, I had to read it to see what all the excitement was about. I remember staying up all night reading it. From then on, I made time during my studies for reading paperback romances. I still seek out those kinds of stories when I go to a bookstore.

12. My first big girls book was a Heyer novel, but it didnt take long to sway towards the newer more flashier and sexier ones… I actually did buy a bunch of Kathleen Woodiwiss’ books that I remember being some of my favorites way way back when… let’s just say my tastes have drastically changed… I have since learned that maybe sometimes going back and re-reading books isn’t such a great idea…

13. I’m sad to say that I don’t remember the name of the first romance book that I read…hopefully that is a good thing:)
    I actually started out reading a lot of mystery books and it was my younger sister who read the romance and fantasy books …when I ran out of my books that I was reading and we couldn’t go to the library for a couple of days I broke down and read a couple of hers…that’s when I really got into reading historical romances but sadly I don’t remember the names …my tastes have changed over the years and now I pretty much read any kind of romance but do still have a fondness for the historical romance subgenre.

14. I signed up for a couple of book clubs when I was 12 (easier to get new books in the mail than to wait for my folks to drive me to the nearest book store an hour away). I devoured everything not caring about the genre. However, when I got Pamela Morsi’s first book Heaven Sent I new I’d found my niche and when Jude Deveraux’s The Duchess arrived I was totally hooked.

15. My introduction to romance was Kathleen E. Woodiwiss´ Shanna back there at the 1970s. In 1980´s I read some Harlequins too, but then followed about 20 years of time during which I didn´t read romance at all. I came back to my roots about 10 years ago and have been hooked on romance since. I have bought and read all my old favourite Woodiwiss books and found some new aspects on them.

16. I do remember my older sister gave me a few books when I was in my early teens but at that time I would read everything and anything I could get my hands on. When I started working and buying more books I read the gothics and then Rosemary Rogers and Harold Robins but it wasn’t until I read Kathleen Woodiwiss – The Flame and the Flower was first, that I really got hooked, especially on historicals. I still will read anything and everything but I do really enjoy my romances.

17. Mine was a Barbara Cartland, something about a lord and a gypsy (of course she was really an aristocrat who’d been kidnapped or something). I would never, ever reread it… don’t want to go down that crazy road again! 😉

    My first contemporary was one I’ve identified but then forgot again… I remember, it was Glenna Finley. Anyone else remember her? I would reread that if I came across it. It’s amazing how vividly I remember it and I’m curious. Interestingly enough, it had a mystery plot that I had completely forgotten about, even though I remember certain scenes and patches of dialog by heart, and identified it by the cover. (This was over 30 years ago.)

18. Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss is the book that got me hooked on romance. I have been reading romance for many years.

19. GWTW was the first romance I read, when I was quite young. But I didn’t get hooked on romance until about five years ago. when I transitioned from mystery/suspense to romantic suspense. The rest of the romance genres soon followed. Probably the last one I read was historical romance and now that’s my favorite.

20. I started out with Barbara Cartland books. I wouldn’t want to go back and read any of them, but I think I read all or almost all of her books as they came out. From there, I graduated to Rosemary Rogers, Kathleen Woodiwess, Shirlee Busbee, and others books. When I was around 30, I found Harlequin I have found many new authors since then, but still like to go back and read Rosemary Rogers and Kathleen Woodiwess books.

21. Started with Mills & Boon and Barbara Cartland romances but I think the newer ones, especially historical romances, are much better!

22. I have been reading romance for what seems like forever. When I was younger I would devour YA books that had romance in them. Eventually I moved onto adult romances. I am a big fan of rereading my favorite books. I will always find something new that I may have missed. I also like being able to revisist the characters and the world they live in.

23. The flower and the Flame got me hooked but I don’t remember the title of the first romance I read. A Harlequin.

24. Kathleen Woodiwiss – Shanna my olderest sister lent it to me to read while I was visiting her on “summer vacation” and had finished the book I had been reading. I was awed by the romance, adventure, passion, sweeping saga, and did I mention passion (I was early teens after all 😉 so that was BIG & even slightly 😉 educational).

25. When I was a kid I would sneak my mom’s romance books. I remember reading her copy of The Thornbirds and several of her series romances. Later I read all of the Sweet Valley High books. I was obsessed with that series when I was little.

26. The first romance novel I read was A Quick Bite by Lynsay Sands. I was in high school and I remember my friend telling me that she had read an awesome vampire novel. We had never read adult romance so it was completely different, and we were teenagers so we were all giggly! Ah, it was fun. I didn’t even know it was a romance novel back then. I didn’t know much about the genre. I moved onto contemporary and historical romance when I first started college, and they’re now my favorite genres. I do read paranormal romance from time to time, but it’s not my favorite genre anymore.

27. For me it was Charlaine Harris Southern Vampire series. I read them all within a week and I haven’t stopped reading.

28. Johanna Lindsey got me hooked…and I still go back and re-read her older titles, they’ve stood up well through the test of time. 🙂

29. Going way back to the beginning, the authors who got me started reading romance were Janet Dailey and Judith Krantz. Hundred of authors and books later, I am still hooked!

30. My first romance was Julie Garwood’s “The Bride.” I was hooked after that. I was introduced to romance by my older cousin’s best friend. She had boxes and boxes of romances. I reread a few of Julie’s historicals every year. I wish she would write more.

31. I don’t remember the name of my first romance book, but it was written by Barbara Cartland.
    I never reread a book on purpose.

32. Well the first romance that I ever read was Eternity by Jude Deveraux. After that I read a couple of Harlequins, An Insatiable Passion by Lynne Graham and Shattered Trust by Jacqueline Baird. I didn’t read much before that. I still read books by those authors, but they didn’t quite hook me. What got me hooked to Romance, Historical in particular, was Suddenly You by Lisa Kleypas. It’s one of my all time favorite books. I read that and never looked back!

33. TWILIGHT by Stephenie Meyer got me hooked back in about 2006, I think 🙂

34. Jennifer Crusie’s “Anyone But You” – it had a dog on the cover.

35. The books that got me hooked on romance were Georgette Heyer’s. I found them at the library and read every one that I could find. I definitely don’t want to go back and read some of the books I used to read – there were all those “Indian” romances that I can’t believe I used to love. Now rereading Georgette Heyer, that’s on my to do list.

36. I started reading romances quite young; I was curious what my older sisters found so interesting in those books with the pretty covers! Vaguely recall I started off with Barbara Cartland’s books though I don’t remember the title now.

37. Kathleen Woodiwiss and Rosemary Rogers were my first romance writers that I remember reading. Since then there have been many but they remain on the top of my list.

38. I have always been reading since I was old enough to read. If I could get my hands on a book I would read it. I got into romance books when I was about 16. My family could not afford buying books so I got mine from a second hand store that would let me trade one for one. They mostly had romance books. I got hooked by Hannah Howell’s Highland Knight. After I read her book I went back looking for more of her books. Since then I have been into romance/paranormal books. I always have a book around me somewhere. I was known as a bookworm in school.
    Thanks for the contest.

39. My first romance book was Carly Phillips book THE BACHELOR. I heard Kelly Ripa talking about it on the show Live With Regis and Kelly and thought it sounded good so I gave it a try. After that their was no turning back, so I went and borrowed my Mom’s collection of Judith McNaught books who I still reread.

40. The book that got me hooked on reading was when I was in grade school and it was The Secret Garden but my first “romance book was Don Quoixte by Cervantes! Talk about true love and seeing only the best in a person you love. I read it in highschool 45 years ago and it was only the beginning of my adventure of reading stories about love. Since than I’ve become a devoted lover of historical romance and even took my husband who is a lover of history to England and Scotland. He was amazed at the “tour” I planned for us and how much of the countries history that I had learned.

    Whenever I’m reading an author’s book now I wonder if they ever visited a location and knew that they just had to write a story based there. I occasionally stray to an occasional contempory or mystery book (or have to read historical books or books like the DaVinci Code) so I can talk to my husband about the books he loves but I always go back to my beloved historical fiction to find a new adventure and romance.

41. My mom’s battered copy of Danielle Steele’s Zoya and I’ve never looked back.

42. For me it has to be Gone With the Wind. I read it in my early teen years and have been hooked on romance books ever since. That was many years ago.

43. My very first romances were Georgette Heyer, then in high school I discovered the hotter romances of Jennifer Wilde and Joanna Lindsey. I’ve never looked back.

44. The first romance books I read were Harlequin Presents and Harlequin Romances in my teens. I was in a store and randomly picked one up. I think I was going on a vacation at the time (a long car trip) and I wanted something to keep me occupied.
    I loved them then and years later I still read those series romances. I don’t have my old (first) books anymore but sometimes in used book stores I’ll pick one up and reread an oldie. I still enjoy them. Authors I remember are Carole Mortimer, Anne Mather, Penny Jordan, Sally Wentworth, etc.

    SINS OF A VISCOUNT looks so good! I’ve never read a Samantha James book. Thanks for the giveaway!

45. My grandmother read Harlequin Presents, many, many years ago. I read some of them, but they were just for something to read. Fast forward 18 years or so, and I picked up Julie Garwood’s THE PRIZE. After finishing it, I went on a search for her other books. She had not yet started writing contemporary suspense romances. I read all her books and started sampling other authors who wrote historical romances. Thank you, Julie Garwood for showing me what I was missing.

46. It’s been so long ago that I really don’t remember my first romance. I do know that I was reading books like Step to the Music by Phyllis Whitney and The Singing Boones by Dale White when I was in 5th/6th grade, so I started early liking romance in my books.
    After that, I remember reading some Barbara Cartland and Zabrina Faire (Florence Stevenson) and then going on to Georgette Heyer. I got rid of all my Barbara Cartland’s a long time ago — re-read some of them and could not believe what I saw in them!!! However, have kept all my Heyer’s — they just seem to improve with age!
    I also remember reading tons and tons of Harlequins — Kerry Allyne and Essie Summers, Janet Dailey and Violet Winspear — I have kept all of my Essie Summers (she is the reason why I would love to visit New Zealand) but have given away almost all the rest of my early Harlequins.
    Now I read almost every sub-genre of romance there is — and have branched out to SF and fantasy, westerns and mystery and even some horror.

    Willaful — I still have a number of Glenna Finley titles — have not re-read any in a while, but I do remember when I did read them that I thought they were a cut above the short contemporary romances that I was reading at the time. I will have to dig them out and see if they still are as good as I thought they were!

47. Pingback: Who got you hooked on romance? | Reader, I created him

48. The first romance that got me hooked was The Flame and The Flower by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss. The woman who I was babysitting for had shelves of romances by Rosemary Rodgers, Jennifer Wild, Shirlee Busbee, Bertrice Small, Jennifer Blake, Johanna Lindsey etc. It was the late 70’s’. While babysitting, I read some of them, then used my babysitting money to buy those same ones and more. I also loved reading Victoria Holt, Phyllis A. Whitney, Velda Johnston, Georgette Heyer, and Caroline Courtney which I stumbled upon in the library. Back then, I was embarrassed to be seen buying a romance novel because of the stereotypical clinch cover. Often I would buy a completely different type of book with the romance novel thinking that it would lend my purchase credibility and avoid any censorious comments. I also waited patiently for a woman clerk to ring up my transaction. Sometimes that proved tricky when male clerks were assigned to the cash registers.

    Then in college, I thought I was too academic to read such books, so I put most of my collection into shopping bags and gave them to the school secretaries. However, I had the foresight to keep some of my collection–books that I figured would be hard to replace: my Caroline Courtney Regency Romances and my Warner Library of Regency Romance. After I graduated, I’d visit the bookstores and started reading romance again. I then painstakingly searched for those book titles I had given away and managed to find new copies. I remembered visiting bookstore after bookstore, scanning the shelves, and placing book orders or joining mail order book clubs.

    The romance genre has evolved since then. Occasionally, I reread a romance classic but I don’t have a lot of time to reread. I’d rather use that time to write or surf the net or read new romances.

49. I was a late bloomer lol xD

    The first romance I read was when I was 17 (3 years ago) and it was ‘Slightly Dangerous’ by Mary Balogh and I fell hook, line and sinker! Started off with Mary Balogh and slowly expanded. Don’t know what it is but they are just sooooo good! 😀

50. It was Kathleen E Woodiwiss’s Forever in Your Embrace

51. My very first historical romance book that I read was THE WOLF AND THE DOVE by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss. What a great read! I fell in love and have never looked back! As I kept reading my romance books I was able to collect all of her books.
    The joy!! Talk about being in heaven! LOL!
    Yes, I do go back and reread my favorite’s and no, they do not disappoint me. I just keep in mind the year they were written in. Some of the books make me grin, like, ok, did I really read this?! Still, they’re wonderful reads! I do compare my old books to my new books, the writing is different, but I will always treasure my oldies but goodies!
    Have a wonderful day!

52. Georgette Heyer & Barbara Cartland when I was a teenager, then in later years there was Catherine Coulter, Mary Balogh, Julie Garwood & so many more. Tho I read every genre of romance, Regency has always been my favorite.

53. One day I went to the library & they had a stash of romance novels in the corner. Their policy was: Take one home – Bring one in. So I did take one home, loved it! I took it back to the pile and selected another. This time one by Elizabeth Boyle about a girl called Emmaline. What can I say there was just, Something About Emmaline 😉 Been hooked ever since, but the library didn’t have enough books so I started buying more and more and well… now I have a bookcase full of them. They are all keepers 😀

54. I didn’t start reading romances until less than 2 years ago. I blame Lynsay Sands. I read her PNR vamp books, then her historicals, then the ones she wrote with Hannah Howell, then Hannah Howell’s books, then I just went crazy in romance books. Mainly historicals and PNRs but with some other genres thrown in for variety.

55. I was first hooked on romance when I read Lori Foster’s novel Truth or Dare. From there I hopped back and forth between paranormal and contemporary several times, branching out but still continuously hooked on romance. It was only this past year I started reading historicals – and they truly have become my favorite sub-genre. It began with The Perfect Mistress by Victoria Alexander, and then I moved on to several other authors including Eloisa James (whose story When Beauty Tamed the Beast captured me). However it was in reading Loretta Chase’s The Lord of Scoundrels that I became truly, thoroughly hooked on historicals. In the past 5 months, I’ve read over 60 historical romance novels on my Kindle alone.

56. My mother read Harlequins when I was in high school so I would read them but then I didn’t really read romane until my kids were young and I would bring them to the library. I started reading Lavryle Spencer’s stories and then Nora Roberts and then a whole bunch of different authors. I have re-read some of the stories I first read, some of them I still enjoy and other stories not so much.

57. The book that got me “hooked” on historical romance was Don Quixote, Man of la Mancha by Cervantes which I read in high school. When the musical was released on Broadway my husband and I loved the song in it The Impossible Dream so much that we picked it to be played at our reception as “our song”. We have tried to live our lives together by the sentiment expressed in that song and celebrated our 41st anniversay this year.

    If you aren’t familiar with it the lyrics are:

    Anonymous said…My favorite historical movie is Shakespeare in Love.

    The film I would love to see up-dated is Man of la Mancha which was adapted from a book by Cervantes and before being a film was a play on Broadway titled Man of la Macha. It is a story about a knight and his “true love”. He sees only the best in her and forgives all her faults.

    I think Tiffany would do a great job on rewriting this for today’s audiance and show that true loves does overcome all.

    My husband and I loved the song The Impossible Dream from the musical so much that we had it played at our wedding reception 41 years ago and we have tried to live our lives with this song in our hearts.

    Lyrics:
    To dream … th e impossible dream …
    To fight … the unbeatable foe …
    To bear … with unbearable sorrow …
    To run … where the brave dare not go …
    To right … the unrightable wrong …
    To love … pure and chaste from afar …
    To try … when your arms are too weary …
    To reach … the unreachable star …

    This is my quest, to follow that star …
    No matter how hopeless, no matter how far …
    To fight for the right, without question or pause …
    To be willing to march into Hell, for a Heavenly cause …

    And I know if I’ll only be true, to this glorious quest,
    That my heart will lie will lie peaceful and calm,
    when I’m laid to my rest …
    And the world will be better for this:
    That one man, scorned and covered with scars,
    Still strove, with his last ounce of courage,
    To reach … the unreachable star …

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