Category: Book Recommendations

Book Review: GMC

~ Teresa Traver/Anne Rollins ~ Leave a comment

When I was trying to revise my first romance novel, an author who critiqued my first 50 pages told me that my main character needed clearer goals. She recommended Debra Dixon’s book GMC: GOAL, MOTIVATION, AND CONFLICT. Dixon created the now-ubiquitous concept of “GMC,” originally teaching it in workshops. This book explains the concept at length.

I bought a copy of Dixon’s book, read a couple of chapters, and set it aside because I didn’t see how it was applicable. I also didn’t agree with all Dixon’s points, especially with regard to romance novels. Flash forward a year and a half, to when my editor for a forthcoming romance novel kept telling me I needed to strengthen my female lead’s GMC. I trusted my editor’s advice, so I decided to give this book a second shot.

This time, GMC made sense, and I read the book from start to finish. I guess I needed more writing experience before I could fully understand the use of the GMC charts. Having spent more time working on my fiction, I now realize how many golden nuggets there are scattered throughout this book. It wouldn’t surprise me if I reread the book in a couple of years, to refresh my memory. It’s definitely a craft book I’ll keep on my shelf.

I recommend that querying writers ignore Dixon’s advice on writing a query letter, because the structure she recommends is no longer the norm in the industry (so far as I can tell). Instead, look for more recent blog posts or articles that talk about designing a good query letter. However, Dixon’s basic formula of “character wants X [goal], because of Y [motivation], but something prevents them from getting it [confict]” is still a very useful formula for designing a pitch.

You don’t need to buy this book to get acces to GMC charts for character design. You can find those floating around the web for free. But I recommend reading the whole book, because the examples and clarifications will help you use those charts most effectively.

To sum up, I recommend this book and am glad I finally read it. I wish I’d stuck with it when I first got a copy, nearly two years ago.

Review: A LORD’S GUIDE TO MUTINY, MARRIAGE, AND MISTLETOE.

~ Teresa Traver/Anne Rollins ~ Leave a comment

I love funny, lighthearted historical romances, but I also like historical romance that does serious political work. Anne Knight’s Christmas novella, A Lord’s Guide to Mutiny, Marriage, and Mistletoe, is an example of the latter. Centered on an early nineteenth-century worker’s rights movement, many of the points the novella makes about the exploitation of workers and the need for a living wage unfortunately still apply today.

That may make the book sound heavy and educational rather than happy and emotional, but this story is a Christmas romance at heart, full of mistletoe, decorations, and even a discussion of early Christmas trees. (As always, Knight has done the research needed to bring this historical moment to life.) Though the romance takes place over the course of a relatively short time, it’s believable because the leads already grew closer to each other by exchanging wartime letters. The sexual attraction between the leads is strong, but so is the emotional bond—which isn’t always the case with romance novellas.

This is a steamy, open-door romance that features disability rep and a class difference between the leads. Note that the novella contains depictions of violence and physical injury, and discussions of deaths and corporal punishment that occur off-page.

Anne Knight is a historical romance writer worth watching, and this is one of the better holiday novellas I’ve read this year. Grab it on Kindle Unlimited starting December 11!

Disclosure: I received a free digital ARC from the author. This is my honest review.

Review: DUKE THE HALLS

~ Teresa Traver/Anne Rollins ~ Leave a comment

At this time of year, it seems like everyone who writes romance is publishing a holiday novella. Romance readers are spoiled for choice, especially if they subscribe to Kindle Unlimited. While some Christmas novellas rush the romance or feature forgettable characters, Felicity Niven’s Duke the Halls does neither of those things. It’s long enough to develop a believable romance arc but short enough to easily read in a single day.

Both the lead characters of Duke the Halls are memorable. Kit (the Duke of Kittredge) believes himself to be an “arsehole” because he frequently says the wrong thing, has unpredictable fits of bad temper, and all of his interactions with women end in disaster. (Today, Kit would be considered autistic, but in his own time that diagnosis did not exist.) Though he promised his mother he would try to find a bride, Kit’s anxiety about social interactions leads him to run away from a holiday house party at which he would have been the prime matrimonial catch. On the stage coach back to London, he meets Franny (aka Francesca Cranwell), an orphaned young woman who remains good-humored and optimistic despite a particularly cruel twist of fate that deprived her of her expected social position and inheritance.

Kit and Franny have immediate chemistry, so it’s not really a surprise that when Franny offers to teach Kit the social graces necessary to court a woman, he accepts. Their lessons include not just conversation, compliments, and dancing, but also kissing under the mistletoe that eventually leads to more than kissing . . . but their differing social positions seem to prevent their encounter from being any more than a fling. Can Kit face his greatest fear (i.e. a formal social event) to win the love of his life?

This novella contains good autism rep, leads with chemistry, mistletoe and holiday cheer, plus a couple of great steamy scenes. Recommended.

The ebook releases December 4 and will be available on Kindle Unlimited.

Disclaimer: I received a free digital ARC from the author, but this is my honest review.

Regency Romance with a touch of magic!

~ Teresa Traver/Anne Rollins ~ Leave a comment

This week, my new book list at Shepherd.com launched! It’s a list of Regency romances that have fantasy elements. You can find it here:

https://shepherd.com/best-books/regency-romances-with-a-touch-of-magic

Choosing the books for the list was difficult because there were some Regency novels I love, like Mairelon the Magician, that didn’t quite fit because they didn’t contain a romance plot. Meanwhile, C.L. Polk’s The Midnight Bargain and Stephanie Burgis’ Snowspelled didn’t make the list because they are second-world fantasy inspired by the Regency. (Both would be great reading choices for fantasy of manners fans, and both have strong romance plots.) And, of course, I had to leave some books out because there simply wasn’t room for all of them. Being limited to only five recommendations made the task less overwhelming in some ways, but harder in others. As I continue to discover new Regency fantasy writers, my personal favorite list will only grow longer.

Speaking of books on the list, I learned today that there’s a sequel to Alexis Hall’s Mortal Follies slated to release in 2024! I’ll going to have to keep an eye out for Confounding Oaths, because I really enjoyed the narratorial voice in Mortal Follies.

Finally, I’ll close with a reminder that there’s a Fantasy of Manners Facebook Group for readers and writers of both Regency fantasy and fantasy of manners. Drop in and tell us which fantasy of manners books are your favorites!