Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Day 5 - Guest post by Cynthia Eden + Giveaway


You Never Forget Your First…

Happy Blogoversary, Jo-Anne! It’s great to be here at Strange Candy Reviews, and I sure am excited to talk about my “first”—well, my first romance book, that is.
It’s been over twenty years since I picked up my first romance book at a local K-Mart. I was browsing the aisles, a twelve-year-old girl who was looking for something new (yep, I started reading romances early), and I found a Harlequin Romance that caught my eye: THE ASKING PRICE by Amanda Browning.
I read the book eagerly. There was angst. Romance. Betrayed lovers. Drama. And…a happy ending. One book, just one, and I was addicted. This book didn’t just change my reading habits; instead, it changed my life. Suddenly, I knew (yes, at 12) what I wanted to be: a writer. I wanted to pen stories that ended happily. I wanted to write about love and danger and drama—I wanted to have the thrill of creating stories and sharing them with readers.
This book (that, yes, I still have on my keeper shelf even though the pages have long since yellowed), changed my life. It made me happy. It made me dream. And it made me write.


Do you remember your first romance novel? Share it with me! One random commenter will win her/his choice of either DEADLY HEAT or DEADLY LIES (my romantic suspense novels published by Grand Central’s Forever line—I promise, you’ll find danger and a happy ending in these pages!).
Thanks for checking out my post!

Cynthia Eden
BOUND BY BLOOD--.99 eBook Available Now

NEVER CRY WOLF—Available 6/28/11 from Kensington Brava

So leave your answer and email for your chance to win a copy of either Deadly Heat or Deadly Lies by Cynthia Eden. All entries from this post are also entered into the $50 Book Depository gift card giveaway!

29 comments:

  1. Hum...I really don't remember it. I do remember it was a paperback, bought at a used books store with several other volumes. ;) From then on... I just started to get poorer. LOL

    kah_cherub at hotmail dot com

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  2. That's a very good question. Unfortunately, I can't recall what the first Romance book I read was. Especially considering Romance is currently my favorite genre. I do however, recall the book I read 25 yrs ago that ignited my love of reading. It was Watchers by Dean Koontz.

    rjofus AT gmail DOT com

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  3. Oh I remember what it was and I still have the book!

    It was Once in Paris by Diana Palmer. After reading that book I was hooked! Hooked and tell ya. I went and bought a whole bunch of diana Palmer's books and after reading them went out and found other romance books to read.

    I've never stopped reading them and that has been almost 15 years ago.


    miztik_rose AT yahoo.com

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  4. I remember reading a couple of teen romance books when I was about 10 or so at my grandparents house, they belonged to my teenaged aunts. I think one of them was called Waiting Games and the other was Sooner or Later. They were connected and I really enjoyed them but I did not start reading romances again until about 1 1/2 years ago...and I don't see myself stopping!

    manning_j2004 at yahoo dot com

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  5. My 1st romance novel was Star by Danielle Steel I read it in 8th or 9th grade. It only took me I think 3 days and I was really proud of myself for reading a book in 3 days, this was the start of my reading passion. I also stayed up till 3am to finish it and I pretty sure it was a school night, oops :D

    myworldofbooks18 at hotmail dot com

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  6. Cynthia--What a great story! My first romance was Gone With the Wind, when I was 12. Thanks for visiting with us today.

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  7. I have always been a romance fan. I actually started gravitating to the little bits that I would get in the paranormal books that I read by RL Stine and Christopher Pike. I wished there was more romance in them. Finally I came across LJ Smith whose books were more romance with paranormal elements. Eventually I came across a teen romance series called Love Stories which featured a different story by a different author each month. I loved those.

    iqb99@yahoo.com

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  8. I don't remember the name, but it was a Harlequin that my mom had.

    meredithfl at gmail dot com

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  9. Karla, I used to spend hours in the used bookstores. I'd go in with this long list of authors, they try to find their backlists. :-) I think that bookstore owner loved me--or, um, at least she loved my lists!

    Oh, Chris, I love that book!!

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  10. Mary, Diana Palmer was one of the early ones to hook me, too. I used to devour her Long, Tall Texans (I call that my cowboy phase).

    I hope you don't stop, June! Keep reading 'em forever!

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  11. LOL, Kristina, I used to stay up late reading on school nights, too, but I just had to get to the end! I completely understand!

    LSUReader, Gone With the Wind always makes me cry. Not light little tears either, but those ugly, choking sobs. :-)

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  12. Ack!! Danielle!!! Christopher Pike led me to romance, too! His book Remember Me hooked me and then I had to have more.

    Meredith, I bet those Harlequins have addicted many folks!

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  13. Hmm....i think the first romance novel i read was Yesterday's friends by Pamela Evans. I was probably 14 years old when i read it and the first book of another genre than YA that i read.

    Clarissa Pereira
    claroxide@yahoo.co.in

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  14. I came to romance late. . . really late. Like 3 years ago late. But since I picked up Outlander, I've torn through hundreds, maybe thousands of those lovely little paperbacks with the oh-so-hot hotties on the cover. It changed my life, too. Hopefully (fingers crossed) it will keep on changing it.

    lms347 at hotmail dot com

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  15. i really wishi could remember the title. i know i still have it and it was a harlequin i was 12 lol i always read chapter books but we went to a salvation army and they didnt have any of my "normal ones" so i seen this cover and picked it up and next thing i know i have a few more since they were 5 cents at the time. i fell in love with it. so much so on my bday i asked my mom only to go there and buy some more. so we went and i got a bag of 70 from there shelfs and read and bought ever since...then 4 years ago i got into paranormal romance and i just keep going. they let me get away from my stress and reality for a while..when i crack open a book i become the character and i get lost in my imagination with the writers words.

    babydoll82959307(at)aol(dot)com

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  16. I remember my first, even though it's been more than 25 yrs. It was "Skye O'Malley" by Bertrice Small. One of my best friend had "borrowed" the book from her mother. All the girls in our group read it and were titillated for weeks. After that there was no stopping my already voracious reading appetite. From those early historicals, through contemporary, to today's paranormal novels, I still fondly remember my first.

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  17. Oops, forgot e-mail.
    1xenageek@gmail.com

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  18. I think it was 1978 or 79 and I was staying with my aunt who was always reading romance. We went to the library and I picked up BOLD BREATHLESS LOVE by Valerie Sherwood. Yummy pirate guy how could I go wrong ;)

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  19. I can't remember the name of the first romance,but it was historical and native american and so horribly sad, (maybe that why i can't remember the name then again it could be cause it was so long ago :). Am so sad Beverly Barton is gone, she was a auto-buy for so long.

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  20. Cynthia, I read all of her Long Tall Texan books as well. I still have her on Auto Buy whenever she releases a new book because I still love her stories.

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  21. Thanks for sharing your first, Clary!

    LOL, Lisa, better late than never!

    Lindsey, I am with you! The books are a great way to escape life's stresses for a little while.

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  22. Xenageek, isn't it great when folks get addicted to books? And it just seems like one really good book can hook you. I went from contemps to historicals to paranormals, and then back again. :-)

    Victoria, you can't go wrong with pirates! No way!

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  23. Tresa, I hate that she has passed, too. Such a wonderful and talented author.

    Mary, she's made me cry a few times!

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  24. I can't remember the title or the author, but I know it was a Harlequin book. And after that I bought and read everything I could get my hands on :)

    marieimy (at) gmail (dot) com

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  25. To be honest, that was so long ago that I can't remember exactly, but one of the first romances I ever read was Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers. Back then, romances were either sweet, chaste Harlequins, or wild bodice rippers.

    Jen@delux.com

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  26. Way to long ago to remember but it was probably by Emilie Loring as she was the first adult writer I read after getting to old for Nancy Drew.
    (\___/)
    (='.'=)
    (")_(")

    alterlisa AT yahoo DOT com
    http://lisaslovesbooksofcourse.blogspot.com/

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  27. my first romance book ? i think it was Danielle Steel, forgot the tittle :)

    uniquas at ymail dot com

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  28. I think my first one was one by Diana Palmer... not sure which, though. Then I read The Color Purple... and The Godfather. 1, 2 and 3. lol

    cris_mv at hotmail dot com

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  29. Does Romeo and Juliet count as a very first romance novel read? I read it when I was 12 years old (thats nearly 10 years ago lol) Awesome guest post! Thank you for sharing!

    moonlightgleam(at)gmail(dot)com

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