{"id":162101,"date":"2022-03-08T09:08:59","date_gmt":"2022-03-07T22:08:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/?p=162101"},"modified":"2022-03-08T10:46:23","modified_gmt":"2022-03-07T23:46:23","slug":"amy-in-romancelandia-21-celebrating-the-leading-ladies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2022\/03\/08\/amy-in-romancelandia-21-celebrating-the-leading-ladies\/","title":{"rendered":"Amy in Romancelandia #21: Celebrating the leading ladies!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Amy<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Hello lovelies and welcome back to Romancelandia where it\u2019s International Women\u2019s Day. And there\u2019s no more perfect place to be than here, with us, where we specialise in books written largely by <\/em>women and mostly for <\/em>women. Books that privilege women\u2019s experiences and are dominated by the female gaze. Where no woman has to throw herself under a train or wear a scarlet letter around her neck for daring to reach for the emotional bullseye that is romantic love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or is love and its pursuit only considered important\/worthy if it’s written by men?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this IWD, I was asked to recommend books with strong female characters but I find myself pondering what is strong? What is strength? I guess we immediately think of kick-ass female characters fighting zombies\/dragons\/criminals\/bullies or ferrying secret cables across enemy lines, or freeing the persecuted and speaking out about injustice or untruths regardless of their safety. And yes, these female characters are compelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But \u2026 what about those who helplessly sit by their child\u2019s bed watching them die? Or those on the land working\/fighting just as hard as the man to earn a living? Or those who say no, I\u2019m not taking this any longer because I deserve better<\/em>, and walk away from whatever it is that\u2019s toxic in their life? Those who want to change their stars and quietly, diligently, determinedly work their way towards their goals?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s nothing flashy <\/em>about these female characters \u2013 nothing loud. No one throws a parade for them. They\u2019re quiet and the body count\u2019s a lot lower but they are just as compelling. Readers root for them just as much as the other type.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe there\u2019s this persistent narrative out there that romance doesn\u2019t have strong female characters because the stories are more character\/emotion driven than action\/plot driven. Perpetrated often times by people who have never read a romance novel and consider it a badge of honour that they never will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, that is a whole other column but suffice to say this is ignorant and, simply put, wrong. Romancelandia have them all from the ass-kicking zombie slaying ones to the ones who have the courage to love\/start over again after incredible loss\/trauma. Romances just chronicle that particular moment\/period of time in a character\u2019s life where they finally meet the one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And anybody who thinks it\u2019s not an act of bravery to fall in love, to make oneself completely vulnerable to another human being, has never known what it is to truly love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So come on down on this International Women\u2019s Day, I have tequila shots and great recent releases written by great women authors featuring women characters, all strong in their own ways. As per usual, I have a selection of both Aussie and overseas authors and they\u2019re all available via Booktopia in either print or digital, so just click on the covers if something takes your fancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Australian Romance Authors<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Summer at Kangaroo Ridge<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

by Nicole Hurley Moore<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"9781760875558\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Carrington family own the only pub in the small country town of Kangaroo Ridge in rural Victoria. It’s been many years since the five Carrington siblings became orphans, but with the help of their aunt Maddie, twins Sebastian and Tamara stepped up and looked after their younger brothers and sister. Seb and Tam gave up their own teenage years to make sure the family stayed together, and because of their experiences they have turned into very different people. Now, seven years after the accident, Seb is silent and stoic. Tam, on the other hand, wants to kick over the traces and catch up on the life she missed out on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy it here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dressed By Iris<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

by Mary-Anne O\u2019Connor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"9781867225447\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

1930: Seventeen-year-old Iris Mitchell dreams of designing clothes, but there’s little spare cash for fashion in their shanty-town home. The gift of a single purple ribbon from would-be boyfriend John Tucker, however, creates an unexpected opportunity \u2026 and when Iris’s brother Jim joins the Sydney Harbour Bridge construction, the large, dirt-poor but loving Mitchell family can move to the city. Iris will be torn away from John, but he’s Protestant and she’s Catholic, taboo in their world, so perhaps it wasn’t meant to be \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy it here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Crown of Shadows<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

by Keri Arthur<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"9780648768715\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

After her mom’s disappearance six months ago, Bethany Aodhan has been running their tavern in old Deva \u2014 something her family had been doing ever since a light-fingered pixie lost them the job of guarding the treasures of the old gods eons ago. Then her brother, Lugh, is attacked, his best friend murdered, and the tavern firebombed. A confrontation with a former lover leads to the discovery of another murder and a missing jewel from a godly relic, and Beth learns that the Eadrom Hoard \u2014 one of three godly hoards now guarded by the elves \u2014 has been stolen. But this is no ordinary theft. Beth & Lugh \u2014 with the help of two sexy elves and a cantankerous old goddess who knows far more than she admits \u2014 race to find the missing artifacts before those intent on unleashing chaos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy it here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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International Romance Authors<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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In Step<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

by Jay Hogan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"9780995132689\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Kicking this off just across the pond with a Kiwi author!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karma. You reap what you sow, and Kane Martin isn’t looking for forgiveness. But the arrival of Abe Tyler in Painted Bay has Kane dreaming of the impossible. The sexy, silver fox choreographer is determined to pull Kane out from the shadows, but Abe’s career isn’t about to shift to Painted Bay, and Kane’s life is in neat little boxes for a reason. A past he isn’t proud of. A family he’s walked away from. A job he doesn’t deserve. A secret he’s ashamed of. But life’s dance can make for unexpected partners and learning to trust and keep up with the footwork is the name of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy it here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bound by Her Rival\u2019s Baby<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

by Maya Blake<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"9781867245230\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Stepping into Castor Xenakis\u2019 mansion, it\u2019s clear Glory Albright is completely out of her depth. Yet, if she\u2019s to fund her sister\u2019s urgent medical treatment, she can\u2019t fail. Glory must make a bargain with the gorgeous playboy whose name is synonymous with scandal. After everything cynical Castor has witnessed, there\u2019s almost nothing he\u2019s surprised by. But na\u00efve Glory\u2019s offer to sell him her virginity floors him! Of course, her offer is out of the question. Instead, he makes a counter-proposal: become his convenient bride!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy it here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hook Line and Sinker<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

by Tessa Bailey<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"9780063045699\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

King crab fisherman Fox Thornton has a reputation as a sexy, carefree flirt. Everyone knows he\u2019s a guaranteed good time\u2014in bed and out\u2014and that\u2019s exactly how he prefers it. Until he meets Hannah Bellinger. Hannah’s in town for work, crashing in Fox\u2019s spare bedroom. She knows he\u2019s a notorious ladies\u2019 man, but they\u2019re definitely just friends. In fact, she’s nursing a hopeless crush on a colleague and Fox is just the person to help with her lackluster love life. Armed with a few tips from Westport\u2019s resident Casanova, Hannah sets out to catch her coworker\u2019s eye\u2026 yet the more time she spends with Fox, the more she wants him instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy it here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Amy\u2019s Favourite of the Month<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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As an extra treat each month, I recommend one of my fave authors\/reads to you and this month I\u2019m running with Keri Arthur whose latest release can be found above. Keri is a Melbourne author who personifies persistence and grit in publishing in the same way her female characters personify the kick-ass heroines I was talking about earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Keri

Keri Arthur<\/p><\/div>\n

Keri was writing urban fantasy and paranormal romance in worlds populated by werewolves and shapeshifters back when there was no such thing as self-publishing and before those were genres most people had ever heard of – certainly no traditional publishers were touching it. But she persisted, finally getting published first by a small indie press and then onto the big league with Bantam\/Dell in the US where her Riley Jenson Guardian series \u2013 set in Melbourne – became a massive hit landing on the NYT<\/em> bestseller list multiple times as she helped to shape and rode the paranormal\/urban fantasy wave to great success.<\/p>\n\n\n

She\u2019s received several nominations in the Best Contemporary Paranormal category of the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Awards and has won RT\u2019s Career Achievement Award for urban fantasy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And she\u2019s one of ours. An Aussie mega-star female author. She is also incredibly down-to-earth with a great sense of humour and a wicked laugh to go with it and I\u2019m thrilled to be acknowledging her on this International Women’s Day. It is a great shame wider literary circles do not simply because she writes in genres not deemed as worthy of note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s it from me until next month \u2013 take care, stay safe and happy reading!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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About Amy<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Amy Andrews is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling Aussie author who has written eighty plus contemporary romances in both the traditional and digital markets. She\u2019s sold three million books and been translated into over a dozen languages including manga. She has won three Ruby awards and is a triple RITA finalist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her other life, she was a paediatric intensive care nurse for twenty-one years. Amy lives near the sea with her husband of thirty years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"International<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Books by Keri Arthur, Tessa Bailey, Mary-Anne O\u2019Connor and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[6677],"tags":[527,11259,729,14478,14475,14474,14394,14480,14476,14477,3041,7913,14479,14473,4577,4633,14472,14481],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162101"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162101"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":162162,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162101\/revisions\/162162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}