They were all historical romance novels.
3 were by NYT Best Selling Authors--I recognized all these authors, in fact, I'd previously read books by all three of these authors
1 author had only published 3 books--I didn't know this author
3 were single title length novels--these books are long--around 90,000 - 110,000 words
1 book was a Harlequin Historical (HQH)--75,000 words max.--Harlequin Historical series release 6 books a month.
2 stories took place in Regency England
1 story took place in Scotland, post-Battle of Culloden
1 story took place in Texas--post Civil War
2 of the NYT Best Selling author books were total duds -- and a totally forgettable waste of my time
1 NYT Best Selling book had 4 romances intertwined within one story -- WOW!
1 HQH was INCREDIBLE!
Those are a few stats about these books, but I have a few observations I want to make.
- Just because an author is a New York Times Best Selling author, it doesn't mean that all the author's books are excellent. It just means they sell a lot of books, which puts them on the list.
- Sometimes a longer word count doesn't mean a more exciting book. It can mean that the author dithers around about nonsense for far too many pages.
- Don't assume that if you've never heard of the author before that the book can't be good
- Don't assume that a Harlequin Series book isn't as good as a single title novel--sometimes they are better because they have to be written more tightly, which increases the pacing.
- Because I love or hate a story, it doesn't mean you will have the same reaction.
