People have been asking questions about what readers are looking for, but after taking a peek at what’s been selling in early July at Posman Books, the answer is not as clear as people might like.
There is constant debate between whether readers prefer darker or lighter historical romances, but after seeing how well both Loretta Chase’s Silk is for Seduction and Meredith Duran’s A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal are doing, it’s rather clear that readers enjoy both. And of course, the beautiful writing contained in Grace Burrowes’s The Soldier is definitely worth a look.
The debate in contemporary centers around what kind of story readers are looking for. Various forms of the contemporary are constantly and consistently told don’t sell, yet authors like Stephanie Bond (Baby Drive South) and Christie Ridgway (Can’t Hurry Love) sell alongside Rachel Gibson (Any Man of Mine) and Julie James (Someone Like You). Which means that readers enjoy both the city and the small town stories. And Romantic Thriller readers everywhere are fretting about the rumored cliffhanger at the end of Cindy Gerard’s With No Remorse.
The question in paranormal is one of size. Do readers want big huge, world building paranormals or small ones? Heather Webber’s paranormal mystery Absolutely Positively stands as a lovely example of the latter. But then at the same time, sales at Posman books show that readers love L.A Banks’s Surrender the Dark, and adore the world building in Ava Gray’s Skin Dive as well as in Lara Adrian’s Deeper than Midnight. Maybe, like in historical, there’s room for them both. One example of a book which has beautiful, yet self contained world building is Michelle Rowen’s Something Wicked and the rest of the Living in Eden series.
Where do you stand on these questions? What kind of books would you like to see in the future? Let me know. Then read, enjoy, and come back at the end of the month, when we round up what’s coming out in August.
Stacey aka @nystacey
