I’ve never tried to write a romance before. In fact, I used to promise–quite vehemently–that I could never take myself seriously as a romance writer. Not because I don’t have a TON of respect for other writers in this genre, but because, well… I’m the kind of girl who’s never been able to watch a love scene in a movie without cracking inappropriate jokes (a la Mystery Science Theater). The first time my husband went in for a romantic, surprise kiss, I literally laughed in his face. It wasn’t his fault, I later explained. It’s mine. I’m allergic to the traditional concept of romance.

You could probably blame my extremely conservative religious upbringing, or the fact that I could’ve counted my high school conquests on half of one hand, but I think it’s just as likely that I was born with a screw or two loose. (Hehe…screw.)

Now, as irony would have it, I find myself attempting to tackle a story that has love at its heart. Suddenly, I’m fifteen again. Like a virgin. Bewitched, bothered and bewildered. I have no idea what the hell I’m doing. I’m writing these characters and they keep doing things that I’d never let my characters do before now. And every time I tell myself, “this doesn’t make sense,” some new little voice pops up and says “but this is romance. Does real life romance EVER make sense?” And I’m like, ‘HOW THE HELL SHOULD I KNOW?’ Because I’m pretty sure I was too busy cracking jokes on the day they gave out romance cred to all the other girls at my school.

So. In the interest of information gathering, I’d like to ask for some recommendations.

1. What are some romance titles you LOVE that weren’t the ‘typical’ romance? (Or, in other words: Which romance stories do you feel broke the mold and did it well?)