By the end of the 1990s, the clinch cover was not the only option for romance books. For the week of Monday, September 26, 2022, to Sunday, October 2, our Covers of the Week features plain romance covers without couples or clinches.
Barbara Riefe’s Tempt Not This Flesh was yet another inexplicable bestseller for the gender-bending author whose real name was Alan Riefe. 2 stars
It’s a new month! We’ve created a wrap-up of Sweet Savage Flame’s posts in August 2022 for your convenience.
Did you know about the romance illustrator who hid his wife’s name in his signature? It was artist Walter Popp. This was because, for many years, he and his wife Marie painted the covers together!
This review is of Defiant Ecstasy Book #2 in the “Ecstasy/Gray Eagle” series by Janelle Taylor. Defiant Ecstasy begins by filling in details of what occurred at the end of the first book, Savage Ecstasy. 4 Stars
We all could use a good joke to cheer us up when we’re down in the dumps. Sometimes we take life–and romance–too seriously. We know the romance genre can get a bit ridiculous at times. So it’s perfect that today, August 16, is National Tell a Joke Day here in the United States. It’s a great opportunity to laugh about love and relationships and romance novels.
It’s a new month! We’ve created a wrap-up of Sweet Savage Flame’s posts in July 2022 for your convenience.
Judy York has been a book cover illustrator for nearly thirty years. She produced artwork for many publishers, including Ballantine, Berkley, Dorchester, Harlequin, and Zebra.
Once More With Feeling is the second outing from the Silhouette Intimate Moments line. Nora Roberts’ category romance tells the love story between two musicians, one a rising star and the other an established musician, who knew each other in the past. Now they must try to make beautiful music together again–literally. Only later does the situation take a turn for the metaphorical. 3.5 Stars
Many famous and popular authors of mainstream fiction got their start writing series or category romance. Category romances are a staple of the industry. The following 7 authors got their start with Silhouette, Harlequin, Loveswept, or Dell Candlelight romances.
Night Fire by Catherine Coulter features one of her few truly nice guy heroes. This romance was a pleasant surprise–despite it dark themes–due to charming Burke Drummond. 4 stars
It’s Flashback Friday, and Sweet Savage Flame looks back to 1997, a quarter of a century ago. We look at fashion, events, tv & movie and books! Let’s focus on popular trends in romance novels for 1997.
Who is your favorite author of old-school, vintage, or retro-contemporary romances? Whether series or full-length romance, we want to hear your choice!
It’s a new month! We’ve created a wrap-up of Sweet Savage Flame’s posts in June 2022 for your convenience.
So you’re in a reading slump. What can you do? In many cases, losing your reading mojo is a normal experience for people who read books on a regular basis. We know a few methods to reignite your love of fiction.
It’s June and what would June be without a rainbow? The rainbow is a symbol of the Divine, hope, and of love. This week we’ve got romance covers with rainbows!
Celia Scott’s Rumor Has It is a modern-day Cinderella story where the fairy godmother is not an actual person but a false rumor that transforms a frumpy heroine into a glamorous new woman who finds her prince. 5 stars
This A- Z list of bookish preferences originated on Perpetual Page Turner’s book blog in 2013 and was reignited as a book tag in 2020. I haven’t been tagged, but I thought this was a fun list to complete.
In romance novels, heat levels can range from as tepid as room temperature to as hot as the sun. Sweet Savage Flame has created a list with what we think are 6 different levels of heat in romances. These range from no heat to closed and open-door love scenes to pornography.
We’re wrapping up our month-long feature on weddings and brides on covers. For the week of Monday, June 20 to Sunday, June 26, 2022, let’s hear it for historical brides!
