Archive for 'cross over genre'



REVIEW: Red by Jordan Summers

Dear Ms. Summers:

I know you’ve written books for Ellora’s Cave, Kensington and Harlequin, but I was unfamiliar with your work. I was excited to read Red due, in part, to its post apocalyptic setting and I was intrigued by the idea of: “What if Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf turned out to be the same person?” However, as much as I wanted to like this book and its promising female protagonist, I just could not.

Gina Santiago, or “Red”- because of all the blood she spills-is a member of the International Police Tactical Team. IPTT is an elite law enforcement group designed to maintain order within and between the various Republics that make up this futuristic world. While on a patrol mission that goes awry, Gina literally sniffs out the dead body of a severely mauled woman. All signs point to it being a wild animal attack, but Gina has a feeling that there’s something more going on. She requests leave from the team Commander and goes to the nearest town of Nuria to begin her own independent investigation.

Morgan Hunter is the local sheriff …

Am I Cheating on Romance?

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As was reported last week, urban fantasy is on the rise. More and more UF books are being published and these books are increasingly being marketed toward the romance reader. These books are commonly referred to as part of the cross over genre. There is a boon and a curse for romance readers with the rise of urban fantasy. The boon is that we are getting rich, fully developed other world stories. The curse is that fantasy/magic/ghost romance books that would have been acceptable in the past no longer are palatable. I find myself searching out more and more urban fantasy / fantasy stories from non traditional romance publishers like EOS, Tor, Roc/Ace (the latter being my favorite). I admit it, I am cheating on the romance genre.

My early straying
Perhaps one of the earliest cross over books was Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series which melded time travel, romance, and historical fiction and gained readers who appreciated each aspect. One of the mothers of the cross over genre would have to be Laurell K Hamilton. She spawned a whole sub …