Tips for selecting your romance(s) for February:

One of the best internet sources is the Romance Writers of America website. If you click on “The Romance Genre” it explains the 2 basic elements (a central love story and an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending) and provides links to the sub-genres (contemporary, historical, inspirational, paranormal, regency, romantic suspense, and time-travel romance). Each sub-genre has a link to a list of award-winning novels in the category. To further explore the works of a particular author, click on the “Authors” area for links to their websites.

This romance roundtable grew out of Suellyn mentioning a Diane Rehm show she had heard with Mary Jo Putney, a romance novelist, and Pam Regis, a literary scholar and author of A Natural History of the Romance Novel. Click here for more information.

Finally, all the big bookstores (Barnes & Noble, Books & Company, Joseph-Beth) and many of the smaller ones have Romance sections. Browsing is a great way to select books, especially if they let you have a cafe mocha while you do it!