February brings more new releases and a good reason to eat chocolate (as if we need a reason!). Chocolate and books — what could be better than that? Around my house, Valentine’s Day is all about the kids. They get lots of sweet treats and exchange Valentines with their classmates. Plus, my son’s birthday is the day before. Do you celebrate Valentine’s Day? If so, how? With someone special, with friends, with kids or as a family?
This month’s topic is TITLES. As with covers, a title should “fit the book” and express something about the story. Many are spot on and catchy, some are down-right silly and a few leave me scratching my head wondering what on earth someone was thinking. I like the ones that play on movie, TV or song titles (Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series comes to mind). Many use alliteration — I like those. Recently, I’ve noticed that a lot of book titles (historical mostly) are especially long. I don’t necessarily have a problem with them (though they can be a mouthful) but have heard others balk at them. To me, it’s all about what is inside that counts. What about you?
Does a title have any influence on whether you buy a book or not? Do you like the longer titles or do you prefer shorter or one word titles? And finally, what are some of your favorite titles? Tell us and one random poster (living within the United States) will win a book!
Until March, happy reading!
Historical
Gallant Match by Jennifer Blake
Wanted in Alaska by Kate Bridges
So Enchanting by Connie Brockway
The Earl’s Untouched Bride by Annie Burrows
The Courtship Dance by Candace Camp
The Courtesan’s Wager by Claudia Dain
The Viking’s Defiant Bride by Joanna Fulford
Seducer by Kayla Gray
Fallen by Cindy Holby
The Sins of Lord Easterbrook by Madeline Hunter
Scandal by Carolyn Jewel
Tempting Fate by Alissa Johnson
The Rake’s Unconventional Mistress by Juliet Landon
The Concubine by Jade Lee
A View to a Kiss by Caroline Linden
When a Stranger Loves Me by Julianne MacLean
A Highlander of Her Own by Melissa Mayhue
Highland Warrior by Monica McCarty
Devil of the Highlands by Lynsay Sands
Night After Night by Kathryn Smith
The Runaway McBride by Elizabeth Thornton
Kisses Like a Devil by Diane Whiteside
Give Me a Cowboy by Jodi Thomas, DeWanna Pace, Linda Broday & Phyliss Miranda
Lords of Desire by Virginia Henley, Sally MacKenzie, Victoria Dahl & Kristi Astor
Contemporary
Red Sky by Renee Alexis
Tangled Up in Love by Heidi Betts
Hot Flash by Kathy Carmichael
Second Chance Pass by Robyn Carr
Road to Seduction by Ann Christopher
The Devil Inside by Kate Davies
Trouble in Mudbug by Jana DeLeon
True Colors by Kristin Hannah (Mainstream Fiction)
Too Good to be True by Kristan Higgins
More Than He Can Handle by Cheris Hodges
Secret Love by Brenda Jackson
Bring on the Blessings by Beverly Jenkins
Montana Creeds: Logan by Linda Lael Miller
Her Kind of Hero by Diana Palmer
What I Did For Love by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Instant Attraction by Jill Shalvis
Flirting With Temptation by Kelley St. John
Falling in Love by Pauline Trent
Under the Influence by Nancy Warren
Fireside by Susan Wiggs (Mainstream Fiction)
Romantic Suspense
Dark of Night by Suzanne Brockmann
Seeing Red by Susan Crandall
Evil Without a Face by Jordan Dane
Cut to the Quick by Dianne Emley
Bare Nerve by Katherine Garbera
The Prime Objective by Ginna Gray
The First Sin by Cheyenne McCray
Dead Right by Cate Noble
Kill For Me by Karen Rose
Shattered by JoAnn Ross
A Perfect Darkness by Jaime Rush
Crash into Me by Jill Sorenson
Fragile by Shiloh Walker
Paranormal/Urban Fantasy
Magic’s Design by Cat Adams
Men of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong (UF)
Night’s Pleasure by Amanda Ashley
Ravenous by Sharon Ashwood (UF)
The Thirteenth by L.A. Banks
Never Been Witched by Annette Blair
Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs (UF)
Undone by Rachel Caine (UF)
Carolina Wolf by Sela Carsen
Vanished by Maureen Child
Kiss of a Demon King by Kresley Cole
Kiss of Fate by Deborah Cooke
Unfallen Dead by Mark Del Franco (UF)
My Man Michael by Lori Foster
Would-Be Witch by Kimberly Frost
The Warlord’s Daughter by Susan Grant
The Vampire’s Revenge by Raven Hart
Oh Goddess by Gwen Hayes
Divine Fantasy by Melanie Jackson
Dream Warrior by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Sizzle and Burn by Jayne Ann Krentz
Coyote’s Mate by Lora Leigh
Dragon’s Lair by Denise Lynn
Grave Sins by Jenna Maclaine (UF)
MacGowan’s Ghost by Cindy Miles
Darkness Unknown by Alexis Morgan
Evermore by Alyson Noël
Marked by Passion by Kate Perry (UF)
Spiral Hunt by Margaret Ronald (UF)
The Magic Knot by Helen Scott Taylor
Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand by Carrie Vaughn (UF)
Pride by Rachel Vincent (UF)
Mortal Sins by Eileen Wilks (UF)
Dogs and Goddesses by Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart & Lani Diane Rich
Erotica/Erotic Romance
The Bikini Diaries by Lacey Alexander
Private Property by Leah Braemel
Escape to Ecstasy by Jodi Lynn Copeland
Being Wicked by Lacy Danes
Submission by Cherie Feather
Addicted by Charlotte Featherstone
Night of the Hawk by Vonna Harper
Sexile by Lisa Lawrence
Wicked Beast by Tawny Taylor
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cyclops8
on Feb 11th, 2009
@ 12:14 am:
It’s the blurb that sells me on the book. A clever title will definitely catch my eye, but I don’t buy the book just because I like the title. I don’t have a preference between short or long titles. Some of my favorite titles include “The Perils of Pleasure,” The Edge of Desire” and “Killing Fear.”
heidenkind
on Feb 11th, 2009
@ 3:42 am:
Alliteration is definitely the way to go with titles. I think one of my favorite titles is “The Silver Metal Lover.” Great book, and a very poetic, musical title that definitely fit the story.
Sherrinda
on Feb 11th, 2009
@ 7:04 am:
I don’t know that being long or short affects my buying a book. I like the title to express the flavor of the book, but really, the book cover is what really is a deciding factor (I know, I know…don’t judge the book by its cover) Some of my favorite titles are With Every Breath, Dancing Through Time, From This Moment On, If I Had You…all by Lynn Kurland.
PJ
on Feb 11th, 2009
@ 7:14 am:
What a terrific lineup of books! Thanks, Andrea!
A title may catch my attention but it has nothing to do with whether or not I buy a book. It’s all about the pages between the covers. A recent title that sent my imagination into overdrive was Seduce Me at Sunrise. Now that’s a concept I could definitely get into!
PJ
on Feb 11th, 2009
@ 7:20 am:
Oops, forgot to answer part two. I send Valentines to the kids in my life and make Valentine cookies and chocolates for the nurses at the hospital where I volunteer. The dogs send a Valentine to my step-mom. She has advanced Alzheimers but still recognizes her grandpups so they write to her on a regular basis and send lots of funny photos of themselves.
Jennifer
on Feb 11th, 2009
@ 9:20 am:
A good title gets my attention, but I only buy a book if I’m intrigued by the backcover blurb and want to read more.
My favorite title is a teen book by Melissa Marr called “Wicked Lovely”.
Kati
on Feb 11th, 2009
@ 9:59 am:
Excellent list as always, Andrea! I’ve read all my February releases except for Promises in Death, which is in a couple of weeks, yay!
Oh, titles TOTALLY influence my buying. If there is a pun in the title, I’m staying far, far away from the book. That and a cartoon cover are a dead give away of “ha-ha” romance for me. And Miss Kati doesn’t do “ha-ha” romance.
I love, love, love Harlequin Presents just for the incredibly cheesy titles. But I realize there are a lot of people who don’t feel that way.
My other big titling pet peeve is ridiculously long titles. I can not for the life of me keep Kresley Cole’s titles straight because they’re so long. And they’re all like: “Wicked Something on a Night’s Something-or-other” I tend to call them “The One With Nathan Kamp on the Cover” or “The One with Bowen in it”. It feels kind of like her publisher is still kind of playing around with the “identity” of the books as the titles keep changing format and the covers seem to change stylistically on a regular basis. Doesn’t really matter to me, if she writes it, I read it. But it does seem like her titles are having an identity crisis.
Gannon
on Feb 11th, 2009
@ 10:14 am:
Great list for February, Andrea!
Sometimes a title will catch my eye, but it doesn’t necessarily influence me. One of my favorite titles is Lorraine Heath’s “Between the Devil and Desire.” Love that one.
Kati, I know what you mean about Kresley Cole’s titles. Way too long!
Donna
on Feb 11th, 2009
@ 11:05 am:
Great List Andrea!!! I look forward to seeing it every month so I have an idea of what’s coming out…I used to look forward to the one from Borders but they never list the ones at the end of the month anymore….
I sometime look at the covers of the books and then read the back and I dont’ care for long titles My fav title is Fancy Pants…
Donna
Karin
on Feb 11th, 2009
@ 12:59 pm:
Titles don’t affect my decision on whether or not to buy a book, but they can occasionally catch my eye. I know I have plenty of books with both long and short titles, but I think I tend to gravitate toward the shorter ones just because I like the succinctness of them. Of course, like many others have pointed out, the title needs to match the content of the story.
For me, Jane Austen had some fabulous titles, especially Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice. Both titles are nice and short but really relate to the content of the story between the cover.
Another thing I enjoy about titles is when books in a series have something in the title that ties them together and makes it easy for a reader to identify that they’re part of a series. So far, Gena Showalter’s Lords of the Underworld series does this really well by having ‘The Darkest’ as the opening and a single word following that ties to the hero of the book.
As for Valentine’s Day, it’s not my favorite holiday. I think it is way too commercialized and I prefer to spend it at home just relaxing.
Maureen
on Feb 11th, 2009
@ 2:17 pm:
I like a title that means something to the book like one of my favorites Mrs. Drew Plays Her Hand which is what a good part of the story is about. I have noticed that a lot of titles are generic and use the same words so with so many other things to think about I often cannot remember names of books, even ones I really enjoyed.
orannia
on Feb 11th, 2009
@ 2:23 pm:
Great list Andrea – thank you!
Hmmm, I like short catchy titles….and come to think of it I prefer titles that are less obvious. I was looking through your very thorough list of February releases and I really liked ‘Give Me a Cowboy’ (by Jodi Thomas, DeWanna Pace, Linda Broday & Phyliss Miranda). It just caught my attention
As for Valentine’s Day….I’m so not a fan. Perhaps if I had ever had a reason to celebrate it I might be less fervent but….and I really feel for those people who have just separated from a partner and are alone on Valentine’s Day.
Oh, and I don’t reside in the US so please don’t include me in the competition
heidenkind
on Feb 11th, 2009
@ 3:52 pm:
Karin–Pride & Prejudice is definitely one of the greatest titles of all time.
Buffie
on Feb 11th, 2009
@ 4:02 pm:
Look at all the books!!! Did anyone else notice how long the paranormal section is? Definitely a tread there!
Personally, I tend to like shorter titles . . . The Wedding, The Kiss, In a Bind, Her One Desire. But the title really doesn’t sway me one way or the other when purchasing a book. But I have been known to purchase a book solely on the cover
What? You gals know me!
Andrea
on Feb 11th, 2009
@ 4:56 pm:
Thanks, everyone!!
I’m so lovin’ everyone’s opinions in regards to titles! It seems as if most are in agreement that longer titles are not a favorite. Makes you wonder why they continue to produce them, huh? I guess someone likes them. LOL :p
Maria and Marisa, you both have again WOWed me with this month’s video!!! Thank you so much!!
Marie
on Feb 11th, 2009
@ 5:50 pm:
A book with a great title and cover can catch my attention, but it’s the back blurb that has the most influence whether I buy the book or not. It doesn’t really matter if it’s a long or short title, as long as it’s a bit different from everything else. Some of the ones I like are: At Last Comes Love, Dark Desires after Dusk and Darkness Uknown.
Teresa
on Feb 11th, 2009
@ 6:13 pm:
I agree with Marie the title and the cover catches my eye, but I have to like the back of the book before I buy. I don’t care if the title is short or long just that it’s a good book.
pambook
on Feb 11th, 2009
@ 6:54 pm:
A cover or catchy title might make me take a look for an author I’m not aware of, but blurbs and excerpts make the decision to buy or not. I agree about Kresley’s titles, often when referring to her books I have to look it up to get it right, so easy to mix them up, lol. I wonder if the longer titles are partly due to coming up with one not used before, after all, there are only so many one-word or shorter titles. If you have a book list, search through and see how many different books have the same title, quite a few on mine.
Danielle D
on Feb 11th, 2009
@ 7:00 pm:
Great list — but I love the music too!!! A title doesn’t influence me when I’m buying a book it’s the storyline.
mindy
on Feb 11th, 2009
@ 7:49 pm:
thank you for the giveaway the title does not influence me but the ease of finding it does, as long as a title does not get lost in the picture on the front i am set to go
kim v
on Feb 11th, 2009
@ 9:08 pm:
A great title sticks in my mind and probably influences my buying decision.
Thanks for the giveaway.
kimspam66(at)yahoo(dot)com
cheryl k
on Feb 11th, 2009
@ 10:03 pm:
I like short titles but a good title will definitely catch my eye, that and a good cover. I love the simple series titles like Debbie Macombers Dakota Home series.
Laura
on Feb 11th, 2009
@ 11:12 pm:
Hi Andrea,
I choose my books by author, not title. So it doesn’t really matter too much to me. But…I do love the simple one’s best. Example: Until you, Love me forever, Love only once. I think they have a nice ring to them, don’t you?
Marilyn
on Feb 12th, 2009
@ 12:56 am:
authors,not titles influence my decision to pick up a book.I prefer short titles though.
kh
on Feb 12th, 2009
@ 1:37 am:
nice. no never they do not. just love good books
Andrea
on Feb 12th, 2009
@ 8:13 am:
Thanks to everyone who posted! I’ll be back in a little while to announce the winner!
kim
on Feb 12th, 2009
@ 8:28 am:
I like shorter titles like Talisman (which I am rereading now). I also like how Dean Koontz uses one word titles for most (all?) of his books.
deerdoe
on Feb 12th, 2009
@ 6:52 pm:
andrea, who won ???
Donna
Cyndi
on Feb 12th, 2009
@ 8:03 pm:
Titles are definitely the ‘first impression’, my preference is shorter, catchier titles, but I have to say it is the blurb, inside the cover/on the back, that really cements my decision to buy or not to buy. ‘White Chocolate Moments’ is one of my favs…and yes, white chocolate had quite a bit to do with my decision to buy.
Andrea
on Feb 12th, 2009
@ 8:15 pm:
And the winner is…
Danielle D!!
Congrats, Danielle! Please send your full name and snail mail address to alphamail@romancenovel.tv . Again, thanks to everyone who commented. Be sure to stop by next month for another chance to win a book!
Kathy D
on Feb 12th, 2009
@ 9:07 pm:
titles and cover art work is what catches my eye when looking for a book…. thank you for the contest
Danielle D
on Feb 12th, 2009
@ 10:23 pm:
Thanks Andrea, I’ve sent you an email.
Marie
on Feb 13th, 2009
@ 1:46 pm:
A catchy title is good to get my interest, as well as the cover art. But I don’t buy a book without reading the blurb on the back and that is what is ultimately determines it.