Welcome to our Spring Fling Giveaway! For the entire month of May, we’re going to be giving away a whole lot of books. Each week, we’ll host a couple of giveaways and then we’ll wrap everything up in the last week of the month. All you have to do is join in the discussions we’ll be having each week and you’ll be entered to win some fabulous books.
Want to know what books we’re giving away? We’ve put together a Spring Giveaway Bookshelf on Goodreads to show you all of the books that you’ll be able to win just by stopping by our blog and chatting with us about books. Check it out:
Each winner will get a box full of books. It will be random and you won’t know until you open up your box what books you will be getting. You can take a look at the bookshelf we created of the books we’re giving away for a peek at what you might get. But the joy of this months festivities is the surprise that will be waiting for you when you open your boxes.
What happens after the I Love You’s? This is something I’ve been pondering for awhile. For most romance novels, the story ends with the I Love You’s. We don’t get to see too many couples after they walk down the aisle. We miss seeing them after a baby is born, when mom is tired and pissy and has stretch marks. When dad is just as tired and pissy, and has lost a bit of hair and rounded out in the middle.
understatement).
What about you? Do you like reading books where the couple is already married? Or do you prefer the close the page after I Love You and move on? Please Note: You must include a valid email address with your comment to be eligible. Us and Canada only*
Each contest ends on May 30th at 11:59PM. You can enter any and all giveaways we hold throughout the month but you will only be allowed to win one. We will be holding two giveaways a week and each winner will win roughly about 25 books each. Winners will be announced the first week in September.
Thanks for stopping by. There will be plenty of chances for you to win some fabulous books so stay tuned, you won’t want to miss out.
-Rowena, Holly & Casee
*we don’t normally limit the contests we sponsor ourselves, but in this case the sheer number of books makes shipping international cost prohibitive. International readers: If you have a friend in the states willing to mail your prize, feel free to enter
I think if done right reading about married couples rediscovering (or discovering) that they love each other is just as satisfying a journey as falling love before marriage. In fact, I think it may be a harder experience after the fact. I love the In Death books for that reason – watching a happily married couple compromise and negotiate their differences. In the same vein, I also enjoy reading about a marriage in trouble (or an estranged marriage). Private Arrangments and Not Quite a Husband are my two favorites.
sotheara_keatATyahooDOTcom
I’m not a big fan of reading about married couples, I like the journey to the altar. An epilogue is a nice way to tie everything up for me. If it’s a series I love to read bits and pieces of former characters throughout the series.
I guess for me I like the HEA and want it kept that way. I’m married, have stretch marks, hubby is in a long drawn out battle with his middle but thankfully has a headful of hair so I’d rather read HEA then real life;-)
sspaw at optimum dot net
I prefer to read about unmarried couples.
patoct@yahoo.com
I like both tropes. As long as it’s well written, it doesn’t really matter.
penfield716(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
I like the whole exciting courtship part not reading about married couples
msboatgal at aol.com
Oh this is such a good question!
I like it both ways–with some couples you just know they’ll thrive, and thought it would be nice to visit with them later on, I don’t feel the need to see how they deal with every day after the last page (or, gah, epilogue)
But I confess that I enjoy very much stories in which the marriage is not the end–my oft trotted out example if the incomparable Morning Glory, by LaVyrle Spencer. Elly and Will marry about half way through the book, when there is still soooo much story to tell!
I also enjoy series in a connected universe where we see previous couples enjoy their relationships and, occasionally, solve issues that still exist. One of the best examples of this last, for me, is in Suzanne Brockmann’s Troubleshooters series. In book one, Tom and Kelly have their HEA–except that Kelly still refuses to marry Tom until book six!
I like both.
kissinoak at frontier dot com
I like reading about all kinds of couples. They could be strangers or already married so long as they have chemistry. I’ve always been fond of second chance storeis and often that means a couple is or was once married. They tend to be emotional and that appeals to me a lot.
Cambonified(at)yahoo(dot)com
As long as it’s good and holds my interest, it doesn’t matter if the couple is married or not.
mittens0831 at aol dot com
Yes, I like reading books where the couple is already married, especially if there are some problems that they need to work through before they can be happy together. Just getting married doesn’t mean the story is over. I’ve read a lot of great books that start with a married couple. For example, Lord and Lady Spy by Shana Galen, that was a fantastic book and started out with a married couple with lots of secrets.
Barbed1951 at aol dot com
I really enjoy romances that feature and already married couple. I love arranged marriage tropes in historicals and I also love books where the couple is estranged and is trying to get back together. I also enjoy series that feature an ongoing couple. For example, I loved Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series with Alexia and Conall, her werewolf husband (very sad to see that series end), and I’m really enjoying Marie Force’s Fatal series which features a DC cop and a Senator who fall in love in the first book, and then continue on through more books. It’s really fun to see their relationship continue to develop.
jen(at)delux(dot)com
I don’t like reading about married couples.I like to read about how they fell in love.After reading that I don’t mind going back and reading what they’ve been up to after their HEA.
elaing8(at)netscape(dot)net
Initially I wasn’t as interested in what happens after a marriage, but since reading Sherry Thomas’s works (2 of which are troubled marriages), I think they can be even more interesting than reading about a couple’s courtship. Courtships tend to be a lot more idealistic where the couple are still basking in a new love and a novel experience. To get to see how they interact after the honeymoon phase will really tell you if they’ll live happily ever after, I think. The rose-colored glasses come off, so to speak, and now they have to work to build a strong relationship, knowing the worst of each other.
abbydillon16 AT yahoo DOT com
I love knowing what happens later. What happens after they’re married. Are they still as crazy about each other when the washer breaks down the same week the car blows a gasket AND the twins have the measles?
That’s what I love reading about. How do they get through it?
Oops, I forgot to leave my email.
goddessani@gmail dot com
I like a mixture of both types of books. They both have their pluses!
I can read both A’s long A’s the story fits, Ty for the giveaways whoo
Kimh
Most books I read don’t cover the time when the couple is in a fully committed relationship that they both acknowledge (except for an epilogue sometimes). But I do enjoy it when I read more about a couple in an excellent relationship. One series I can think of is Catherine Coulter’s Savich & Sherlock (this reminds me that I think I have a few newer ones to read).
sallans d at yahoo dot com
it really depends on the story, generally a couple already married (unless just married due to circumstances & virtually strangers) doesn’t appeal, but in some cases where the couple is estranged for a long period & are put back together by circumstances it can be enjoyable to “watch” them work things out & rediscover that love that bound them together in the first place.
Two of my favorite romance tropes are marriage of convenience and troubled marriage. So I do like romance stories that start after the wedding.
I must say this is a super contest.
Thanks.
Gmapeony
gmapeony@yahoo.com
I usually don’t read romances where the hero and heroine are already married. If they are married then they are usually estranged and have to fight to make the marriage work. I usually read books where the couple meets and falls in love.
geishasmom73 AT yahoo DOT com
Like all other stories it really depends on the story but when there are real issues and the couple has learned from their mistakes I do like to read stories about already married couples.
mce1011 AT aol DOT com
This comment has been removed by the author.
I prefer to read novels where the couples are unmarried. I like to read about their journey in getting together and falling in love.
Thanks for this super awesome contest!
cnoriega84 AT gmail DOT com
It’s not that I don’t like books after the ‘I love you’, I just haven’t read any that I can think of. I love Jennifer Ashley, though, and I have that book on my ever-growing book shelf. It sounds amazing and I’m looking forward to reading it 🙂
justforswag(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
I actually like seeing the journey the couple takes as they fall in love and it makes it a more satisfying read.
janie1215 AT excite DOT com
That’s why I like books where strangers marry and are forced into courtship AFTER marriage. C’est tres romantique!
annfesATyahooDOTcom
I love a story about rekindling love, especially if it’s a marriage drifting apart, but only if no one has committed a sin I can’t forgive, such as infidelity (physical or emotional). It’s my fantasy world and I can make the rules. 🙂
I like both types, but prefer the I love you ending.
marlenebreakfield(at)yahoo(dot)com
I don’t prefer to read about married couples. I like it best where the couple are just getting to know each other and the sparks seem to fly. Please enter me. Thanks!
ayancey(at)dishmail(dot)net
Some of the most gut wrenching and emotional stories can come from the “already married, now we have to work it out” books — and I do enjoy wallowing in that emotion!
But, I also enjoy the “journey to the alter” stories.
As someone else commented, as long as it is well written and grabs my interest, I will follow the author wherever she wants to take me.
Lynn (dlynnpauley at yahoo dot com)
I do like seeing what happens after the marriage. Mostly, I love characters and their growth. You mentined JDRobb’s In Death series. I’ve been reading these books for a long time. What keeps me coming back is Eve and Roarke–such wonderful characters!
mochfly(at)swbell(dot)net
I’d have to agree w/ the JD Robb, In Death series love. I like this series so much b/c we saw the progression of Eve and Roarke from meeting to marriage. One of the biggest appeals to me about reading about an established couple is that they now have to work so much harder to maintain and nourish their relationship/marriage. It takes work, dedication, faith and compromise. While I do enjoy the standard meet and fall in love, I do like to read about longer relationships.
efender1(at)gmail(dot)com
I like reading books where the couple’s already married to see how their lives are going.
bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com