New contest: “Everything I Know About Love, I Learned From Romance Novels” by Sarah Wendell

This contest is now closed. The winner is Kim!

I’m giving away a signed copy of Smart Bitch Sarah Wendell’s Everything I Know About Love, I Learned From Romance Novels!

This book is exactly what the title says—it talks about what romances have to teach us about love, and not just in the abstract. Sarah has brilliantly edited together hundreds of quotes from romance writers and readers into a hilarious and touching (I cried a few times, not gonna lie) celebration of reading romance and the community of romance readers. Reading this book brought home for me how proud I am to be part of this community, and how much romances have given me throughout my life.

Smart Bitches was one of the first sites I regularly spent time on, when I was discovering the romance community. I’d been reading romances for years and years at that point, and even written one, but apart from one or two friends and my mom, I’d never known anyone else who did. And I was so thrilled to find out there were loads of us out there and that I could talk to them! (And that I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like “forced seductions”! Man, this was a long time ago.) So this book felt like coming full circle for me. Thank you Sarah and Candi for everything!

I’ve been posting some of my favorite quotes from the book over at my tumblr (and I still have plenty to go)…here’s one of the best:

Reba, a fan of the genre, says that one thing she enjoys “about romance novels is the [depiction of a] woman struggling for independence in a world that does not recognize her value. Historicals are especially good for this, but I think they only highlight things that women recognize exist to this day. To wit, even our literature is seen as ‘less than,’ despite strong writing, compelling storytelling, and regular inclusion of universal truths (or as universal as truths can get, anyway).”

Just comment on this post to enter, and make sure you enter your e-mail address—it won’t show up to other commenters, but I’ll get it and then I can easily notify you of your win. As always, if you want to be alerted when a new contest goes up, I recommend signing up for my newsletter.

NB: this is a copy I got signed at the RWA National Conference. Ms. Wendell isn’t involved in the giveaway and the book isn’t personalized. So if you want to tell her how much you loved her book, this isn’t the place. That would be her website. (But this IS the place to tell ME how much you loved it!)

21 thoughts on “New contest: “Everything I Know About Love, I Learned From Romance Novels” by Sarah Wendell”

  1. Love the title of this book. I would love to win and read this book. I have seen it on other blogs and have heard good things about it. Thanks for the giveaway and would love to win.

  2. I’d love to read it, and of course would love to win it!
    I absolutely love romances, even more now than when I was younger…but they have such an (undeserved!) bad rep. I have to say, one of the best things about having an e-reader–besides carrying the equivalent of a small library with me wherever I go–is that no one knows what I’m reading unless I tell them…and I don’t have to worry about some of those cheesier covers! 😉

  3. Sounds like a very good book. I have never read this author before. Thanks for the chance to win her book.

  4. I would like to know if I’ve learned anything about love from romance novels! This book sounds good. I’d enjoy reading what Sarah learned. Thanks.
    Meljprincess AT aol DOT com

  5. While I learned somethings I surely did not learn everything! Maybe this book can prove me wrong. I started reading, sneaking, Harlequin romances at 12.

  6. This book does sound like a lot of fun. In my experience, it’s probably right on the mark. I just wish I had started reading romances when I was a teen, rather than when I retired. 🙂

  7. I think one of the first romances I read was Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwess and that started me as a Romance Reader years ago…I do say I learned a lot about love along the way from these books. This book sounds like it would be fun to read.

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