Author Addiction is a monthly feature which is the brain child of Kaja and I in an attempt to feature authors we love who we may not necessarily have featured all that much on our blogs otherwise. This month Kaja and I are declaring our love for Sarah MacLean, which is pretty easy to do because she is an author who I’ve only recently discovered and already love immensely.
I don’t know why or where or when I decided to read historical romance, but for whatever reason I did. I think it may have come from lots of bloggers I love including a few historical romance books on their list of favourites, just sneakily added in there with little mention or fanfare, and the fact that other bloggers were out there reading something made me feel a little bit like I was missing out. It was around Christmas that I first bought a couple of books for my kindle, as they were a part of the Christmas sale they had on. I must have thought that at 99p a book what harm would it do if I don’t like it? It wasn’t until this year I even picked one of them up though.
I’ve mentioned a few times that romance is my go to genre when I’m in a rut for no other reason than the predictability and reliability of this genre helps act as a kind of reading palate cleanser. I think I was in need of a bookish break and on impulse decided to give one a try. I loved it, obviously, and then it was a slippery descent into the genre. Sarah MacLean was one of the first authors I sampled a book from. I’d hunted through lists and recommendations across the internet, after I’d read those couple of books I’d bought, and she kept cropping up time and again, so I bought one of her books.
The first book which I read by her was Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake and it was the perfect book to introduce me to her as an author. It was light and fun and it was nothing like you think it will be. I think that Nine Rules To Break will always have a special place in my heart for being the book that truly made me love the genre. MacLean writes smart characters and her writing makes you laugh out loud – it literally makes you lol – and the romance, the romance is perfect. We all know romance novels tend to be predictable, that’s what I like about them, but MacLean’s books may have a world of predictability to them, but they are still unique. Her characters are smart and intelligent and instantly draw you in and her stories are gripping and make you want to keep turning the page because you’re hooked.
I am a newbie to the world of historical romance and I have read a few books from a handful of authors in the genre, but certainly can’t call myself well read. As such, the fact I have read about half of MacLean’s back catalogue already shows how excellent her writing is. She helped dispel some of my notions about the genre and also she showed me that romance, whilst it is often predictable, does not have to be boring or badly written.
I love that MacLean has made all of her books be linked as well. In case you aren’t aware, she has two separate book series, Love by Numbers and The Rules of Scoundrels, what you probably don’t realise is they are all set in the same place and the characters are the same in both of them. I love books which are set in the same place, and romance novels are the best about giving different characters from a previous book their own story. I don’t know if it’s simply that it feels a bit like you know the characters already when you’ve known them from a previous book, or if it’s that I like going back and it feels like you’re entering the same story and revisiting old friends whilst still getting the joy of reading something new. I don’t think I care why I like that, but I simply do. It’s also great because that means you can pick up any book in either series and it doesn’t matter where you start.
I don’t know if I’m really doing MacLean and her writing justice. She is an excellent author I want to push on you all, but then I know it’s hard to commit to reading a book when you’ve not experienced the genre. For any of you out there who love romance but are eager to find someone new to read, Sarah MacLean is the author for you. And for those of you who love historical romance and you haven’t read any of her books, first of all for shame, but second of all give her ago. You will not regret it.
I don’t know if any of this will have successfully persuaded you, but regardless it was fun to write and remember why I love her as an author, so I certainly can’t regret it. Also, I discovered Maclean has a blog, a tumblr, and several columns she's written where she has recommended various romance reads, that is enough for me to love her.
I hope you’ve enjoyed what I’ve written, please give MacLean a chance, her books are wonderful and you will undoubtedly enjoy what you read. And whilst you’re here do go check out Kaja’s post over at Of Dragons and Hearts, because she always manages to write her thoughts far clearer than me. And if you want to stop by next month we'll be taling about the author Tessa Dare.
Have I managed to persuade you to get reading? Let me know down below if I have, and if you have any good historical romance recs they are always appreciated.
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