After the success of Match Made in Court by Janice Kay Johnson, I dug the two other Harlequin SuperRomances I own out of my TBR pile. Proving that my positive reaction to Match Made in Court was not a fluke, I enjoyed both Sarah Mayberry’s Her Best Friend and Karina Bliss’ What the Librarian Did.
I found a great post by Wendy the Super Librarian at The Good, The Bad and The Unread in which she explains why she likes Harlequin SuperRomances.
SuperRomance is one of the longest category lines that Harlequin offers, which means readers not only get a strong, central love story, but there can also be secondary characters and sub plots thrown into the mix. SuperRomance has a little bit more meat on the bone, and are often emotionally charged stories featuring conflict central to the lives of every day women. The characters are what I call “normies.” Normal, real, authentic characters. I often say that the characters in a SuperRomance are people you could see at the grocery store, your son’s little league game, or walking down the street.
If you’re tired of contemporary romances in which there are suspense subplots, paranormal elements, and more sex scenes than emotional development, the SuperRomance line might be for you.
Here are mini-reviews of What the Librarian Did and Her Best Friend:
WHAT THE LIBRARIAN DID (2010) BY KARINA BLISS
The Premise: Rachel Robinson is a prim, 34-year-old librarian with a fetish for vintage clothing. She strives to keep her life respectable, and only dates boring, sensible men whom she knows she can never lose her heart over. Rachel has been hiding from her past for the past seventeen years, but some secrets are not meant to be kept.
Devin Freedman is a rock star whose life has fallen apart. Battling drug and alcohol addictions, Devin’s doctors tell him the only way for him to recover is to turn his back on his wild lifestyle and enabler “friends”. Devin quits the band and moves back to his native New Zealand where he enrols in the university in which Rachel works.
On the surface, it appears that Devin and Rachel have nothing in common, but they soon realise that appearances can be deceiving. When Rachel’s past returns to confront her, Devin is the only person she can turn to for support.
My Thoughts: Despite the rave reviews I’ve seen on many blogs, this was my least favourite of the three Harlequin SuperRomances I read back-to-back. I liked Devin but found myself becoming frustrated with Rachel on several occasions. The chemistry between them worked, but they had too many fights for my liking. It seemed as though they were constantly arguing and making up which got tiring after a while. I also felt Devin’s addiction issues were glossed over.
On the positive side, I thought a couple of the secondary characters were very well done, especially Mark and Trixie. The writing was strong and I enjoyed the New Zealand setting. Although I didn’t love this book, it was a solid contemporary romance. B-
HER BEST FRIEND (2010) BY SARAH MAYBERRY
The Premise: Amy Parker has two great passions: the Grand Picture Theatre and Quinn Whitfield. Amy has dreamed for years of restoring the old cinema her grandfather built and has finally saved up enough money to make her dream a reality. When an unscrupulous property developer persuades the local council to sell to him instead of Amy, she needs a lawyer she can trust. Luckily for Amy, her good friend, Lisa, is a lawyer. Unluckily for Amy, Lisa just happens to be married to her secret crush and best friend, Quinn. When Quinn answers the phone instead of Lisa, he insists on helping Amy out himself.
When Quinn arrives in Daylesford, Amy is stunned to discover that he and Lisa are getting a divorce. For sixteen years, Amy has kept her love for Quinn a secret because he was with Lisa. Now that they have split up, Amy realises there is no impediment to her and Quinn getting together…except for the small fact that Lisa is also her friend.
Her emotions in turmoil, Amy is forced to confront her feelings about Quinn while fighting for her professional future and the Grand Picture House.
My Thoughts: Sarah Mayberry is my favourite Harlequin Blaze author, but I hadn’t yet read one of her SuperRomances. I was reluctant to do so as she is one of the very few authors who can make sex scenes an integral part of the developing story. As SuperRomances are far tamer in that respect, I wondered if I would feel as enthusiastic about this story as I was about her Blazes.
I needn’t have worried. While the sex scenes in Her Best Friend are less explicit than I’ve come to expect from a Sarah Mayberry book, she more than made up for it with sizzling chemistry and angst. The book packs quite an emotional punch. Amy is reluctant to take her relationship with Quinn to the next level because she knows she will hurt Lisa, and she’s convinced Quinn doesn’t love her as much as he did Lisa. Quinn does love Amy, but doesn’t gloss over the fact that he has not spent the past sixteen years pining for her as she has for him. He was very happy with Lisa for many years, and would have stayed married to her had she not betrayed him. However, the emotional development in this story was very well done, and I was convinced at the end that Quinn and Amy would be happy together. I definitely want to read more of Sarah Mayberry’s SuperRomances. B
Have you ever read a Harlequin SuperRomance? Which is your favourite Harlequin/Silhouette/M&B line?
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Without naming names, my Anatomy of a Bad Book post at Promantica is about a Harlequin SuperRomance.
I think it’s the author that makes the difference, not the line. Length, degree of raciness, etc. — those are details. If they writing is good, the book is good.
Generally speaking, though, I’m not as impressed with Harlequin/Silhouette as I was 20 years ago. Back then, I had several authors (Barbara Delinsky, Kristin James, Glenda Sanders, Gina Wilkins) who were auto-buys. Now? No one is an auto-buy, although I’ll give Janice Kay Johnson & Sarah Mayberry another shot.
Pretty much what you said about What The Librarian Did, but my grade was a half-a-notch higher at a B. I’ve got the Mayberry on my Sony Reader….I think. Pretty sure I downloaded it. Need to double-check.
Ahhh, good times digging up that post I did for TGTBTU. Not bad Wendy, not bad at all. And it reminded me of another author to recommend to you – Ellen Hartman. Next time you need a rock star fix I suggest His Secret Past. If memory serves, the author handles the addiction angle well. That one got an A from me.
My go-to author for Supers is Janice Kay Johnson. I parcel her books out so they won’t all be gone any time soon. I also like Judith Arnold.
I have these Super authors on my TBR, mostly thanks to the recs of others: Inglath Cooper, Judith Duncan, Kathryn Shay, Beth Andrews, Carrie Alexander. I think the Shay was SuperWendy’s rec!
I enjoyed one by Ellen Hartman (HIS SECRET PAST–hero was an ex-rock star) and would like to try more by her. I also remember reading several by Jan Freed a while back – not keepers for me, but I remember enjoying them. I read one of Mayberry’s Supers and liked it, but it wasn’t a keeper for me (I have several more of hers on my TBR, though).
I find a lot of out-of-print categories on BookMooch.com.
LOL, Wendy, it must have been you who recced me that Ellen Hartman, too!
I’ve read a few, but to be honest I didn’t enjoy most of them.
@Magdalen: I’m a fan of Sarah Mayberry and I enjoyed the one book of Janice Kay Johnson’s that I’ve read so far. I agree with you, though, that it’s the author who counts more than the line. I’ve loved several Blaze titles, for example, and I’ve read others that sucked.
@Wendy: I stumbled upon your old post on SuperRomances when I looked up your Super reviews on The Good, The Bad, and The Unread. Thanks for the Ellen Hartman rec. I’ve ordered a copy of His Secret Past.
@Victoria Janssen: Thank you! I have two of Kathryn Shay’s books to try, and one by Beth Andrews. I’m off to look the others up.
@heidenkind: Like Magdalen said above, it really depends on the author, and also on what sort of contemporary romance appeals to you. I’ve been burned too often by Harlequin Presents to think favourably of the line, yet readers who share my taste in books swear by a few of their authors.
I love sampling the different lines at H/S. I really have very few autobuy authors there, though. I tend to be driven more by plots and to some degree by imprint when picking my series books. Intrigue used to be my favorite line, but they’ve shifted to lots of interconnected series books and way too many special forces/spy characters in their books. Not my favorite kinds of mysteries.
Lately, I’ve been enjoying SuperRomance, Harlequin Romance and Blaze. I like books to have likable characters, smart dialogue and a real plot. Also, if there are babies or spies, my chances of picking up the book unless I’ve already liked something by the same author are pretty slim.
@Lynn Spencer: “I like books to have likable characters, smart dialogue and a real plot. Also, if there are babies or spies, my chances of picking up the book unless I’ve already liked something by the same author are pretty slim.”
Snap! I have yet to try a Harlequin Romance but I like the sound of the Jessica Hart book Super Wendy reviewed over at TGTBTU.