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September 23, 2009

Telling Titles

Thursday Thirteen

After a long break, I’ve started reading category romances again. I’ve been enjoying the Blaze, Presents and Desire lines. I know some people scoff at the titles, but I have to say it’s a quick way of knowing which classic plots a book contains without having to read the blurb. I can grab them off the shelf and think – yeah, I’ll like that one, and have them in my shopping basket so quickly no one notices! :grin:

Here’s a list of some of the Desire titles I’ve been reading…

Thirteen Desire Baby Titles

1. One Night, Two Babies (Silhouette Desire) by Kathie DeNosky

2. Claiming King’s Baby (Silhouette Desire) by Maureen Child

3. The Oilman’s Baby Bargain (Silhouette Desire) by Michelle Celmer

4. Billion-Dollar Baby Bargain (Silhouette Desire) by Tessa Radley *

5. The Magnate’s Baby Promise (Silhouette Desire) by Paula Roe *

6. Having the Billionaire’s Baby (Silhouette Desire) by Sandra Hyatt *

7. Valente’s Baby (Silhouette Desire) by Maxine Sullivan *

8. Secret Baby, Public Affair (Silhouette Desire) by Yvonne Lindsay *

9. The Tycoon’s Pregnant Mistress (Silhouette Desire) by Maya Banks

10. Quade’s Babies (Silhouette Desire) by Brenda Jackson

11. Baby Bequest (Silhouette Desire) by Robyn Grady *

12. Pregnant On The Upper East Side? (Silhouette Desire) by Emilie Rose

13. Baby Benefits (Silhouette Desire) by Emily McKay

Note: All the authors marked with a * come from Australia or New Zealand.

What do you think of these descriptive titles? Like them or hate them?

23 Comments

  1. Cari Quinn

    I think Desire likes babies. LOL

    I tend to like sexy titles, but some of them skate a little too close to making me laugh. But it really is true that you can’t judge a book by its cover (or title in this case…)

  2. Ella Drake

    I enjoy category romances & pretty much ignore any nay-sayers!
    One of my favorite Blazes was written by Sarah Mayberry, Australian living in NZ. I adore Anything for You. It’s best friends falling in love & really, really enjoyed it. Think I must go read it again!

  3. Ms Menozzi

    Okay, now Cari has me wondering about the sexy titles… LOL!

  4. Shelley Munro

    Ella – Sarah Mayberry is one of my favorites. I’ve read most of her releases.

  5. Inez Kelley

    You seem to have BABY on the brain. ANything you want to share with the interweb? hmmm

  6. sandra cox

    Hmm, seems to be a prevailing theme here:) grin.
    Have a good one, Shel.

  7. ChrisQ

    I’m not so much into category romance.
    But have a great and happy T13! :)

  8. Stephanie Adkins

    Great list, Shelley! I really love the Blaze series. :) Happy Thursday!

  9. Alice Audrey

    You like the secret baby plot?

  10. Adelle Laudan

    They seem pretty generic. Hope you’re enjoying reading them. Happy T13!

  11. cass

    Sugar, are you trying to tell us something? lol. Should I be shopping for nappies and booties?
    Inquiring minds wanna know. lol.

    ((hugs))

    My T13 is up over at the MMC blog:
    http://midnightmooncafe.blogspot.com

  12. Helen Hardt

    The Presents titles are the worst, LOL. But I do love reading them! I like all three lines, but I think I prefer Desire and Presents to Blaze — this coming from an erotic romance author :grin:. Sometimes the build up is better than all the sex, for me at least.

  13. Elise Logan

    That’s a lot of babies.

    Can’t say its my fave trope, but then, clearly a lot of people like the baby tropes.

  14. Amy W.

    I have to say I’m not a fan of the baby plots. Occasionally I like the book but not often. I like the American Romance (go figure) and the Super Romance lines myself. My mom is a die hard Blaze and Historical reader. Has been since I can remember.
    Have a great day!

  15. Sophia Parkwood

    I won’t even comment on the baby theme. :wink: I too love that you can tell by the title if you want the book or not. Because you know when you have a baby you have to grab the first book you see, no blurb reading allowed! Happy Thursday!

  16. Heather

    I love books by Desire authors Maureen Child, Kathie Denosky and Bronwyn Jameson, but HATE the trite titles and believe they contribute to the negative stigma of category romance. I have to agree with Helen Hardt, too, in that Presents titles are usually the worst.

  17. Flicka Holt

    Confession: I have never read a baby book. :eek:

    And I haven’t really read that much category at all, but there’s a part of me that just *loves* those descriptive titles!

  18. Shelley Munro

    Inez – no. Things are quite safe when it comes to babies, but I am missing our little dog…

  19. Shelley Munro

    Helen – the Presents titles are the worst, but I hear that’s also the biggest selling line.

    Elise – no, babies aren’t my favorte either, but I think a skilled writer can do great things with any classic plot line.

  20. Shelley Munro

    Heather – I think you’re right about the titles contributing to the sniggering, but the thing is the marketing ploy works. Readers are buying.

  21. Julia Smith

    Shelley – we’re on opposite scales for reading with our Thursday 13’s today! Me with my heartrending plague book, and you with your category descriptive titles. LOL!

    I agree with Heather – ‘I believe they contribute to the negative stigma of category romance.’

    Romance writers defend their genre from ridicule while Harlequin gives books titles like Mistress To The Merciless Millionaire, Taming His Tempestuous Virgin and The Tuscan Tycoon’s Pregnant Housekeeper. I wish I could say I’d made them up – but no such luck. Those are real books. I’m certain the writers working hard on their stories never intended them to have titles like that.

    Meanwhile, Shelley, as you point out, the readers buy the books with the descriptive titles. Do writers want to have elegant titles or brisk sales?

  22. Linda Henderson

    I real all the lines and I don’t mind the baby books.