Comments on: A JQ Welcome to Gayle Callen … er, Julia Latham!

By: Kathryn

Kathryn — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:16:53 +0000

Shanna! I had read the odd Harlequin Romance, but Shanna was the first full blown romance that swept me away, and I was a teenager too when I read it. And, yes, I loved the pirate island scene and setting and the fight between Shanna and the barmaid. Great post and good reading memories!

By: Julia Latham

Julia Latham — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:24:42 +0000

Shirley, I must confess, I’ve never read Barbara Cartland–but Mary Jo’s The Rake and the Reformer is one of my favorites! Talk about a tortured hero. And the alcoholism seemed handled so realistically. Great book.

By: Shirley Karr

Shirley Karr — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:41:51 +0000

Hi Gayle!

My first romance was a pair by Barbara Cartland and … well, I didn’t try the genre again for ten years.

My aunt gave me a stack of old Georgian novels by Slyvia Thorpe, which I read over and over. After I stayed up all night to read The Rake and the Reformer by Mary Jo Putney, I admitted I was hooked on romance novels.

By: Julia Latham

Julia Latham — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:41:45 +0000

Hi Jane! Oh, that’s a familiar title, and I think I read it, but I can’t remember! I just went to check her site–it’s so cute. Each of her books seems to come out of the bookshelve when you run your mouse over it. The view from the window changes slowly as if you’re looking out on a real day. Very cool.

By: Jane

Jane — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:20:12 +0000

Hi Julia,
My first romance was Julie Garwood’s “The Bride.” It remains one of my all time favorite books. The hero, Alec, also made me fall in love with books that featured a Scottish hero.

By: Julia Latham

Julia Latham — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:39:00 +0000

Thanks, Robyn! Oh, Morning Glory! I haven’t read that one in years. I should go track it down…

By: RobynDeHart

RobynDeHart — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:21:50 +0000

My first was A Rose in Winter by Woodiwiss and I knew as I was reading it, that it was what I wanted to write myself. It’s like something just clicked inside me. I think I was 17. Shortly after that one I read Spencer’s Morning Glory and to say I was hooked would be an understatement. Great blog, Gayle, and thanks for joining us today!

By: Julia Latham

Julia Latham — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:05:21 +0000

Hi Serenissima! Flame and the Flower was probably the third of hers I read! Yes, I know, forced seduction, but he got his comeuppance in the end. Sigh…
Glad you liked Viscount! Thanks for letting me know!

Quilt Lady, I read Gone with the Wind, too! Ah, Rhett Butler–what a man!

Dorothy, I think I read The Wedding. Julie Garwood’s medievals really helped me fall in love with the genre.

Laura, glad you like the cover! The cover gods have smiled on me at Avon!

Valarie, isn’t it amazing when someone tells us we can’t read a book–we want it! Shanna was worth waiting for.

Fedora, I love Jennifer Crusie! What sassy heroines and to-die-for heroes. That lady can write.

I’m really enjoying these first-book revelations!

By: Fedora

Fedora — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:52:59 +0000

Hi, Gayle/Julia! To be honest, I can’t remember the very first romance I read–I did read a bunch of YA stuff, including ones from the Silhouette First Love line. The first “grown-up” one I read was lent to me by a friend from geometry class, and I no longer remember the title or author. I devoured everything at our library after that, and did take a bit of a reading break after college. Jennifer Crusie’s Crazy for You re-hooked me, and I’ve been a romance-reading fiend ever since…

By: Valarie P

Valarie P — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:16:12 +0000

The first true romance I read was SHANNA by Kathleen Woodiwiss. I was 13 when the book came out and I remember my sister was visiting and she bought the book, but told me I was too young to read it, talk about waving a red flag, naturally I had to have it. She kept that book hidden from me and it was a couple of years later that I found it used, read it and was hooked. From that book I never again read the Victoria Holt type books that I was reading up to then and I devoured everything I could find and have been hooked on romance ever since.