Giving New Authors a Chance - Tracy Wolff

I love books. I love books. I really looooooove books. My keeper shelf is actually five tall bookcases because that's really how many books I can't live without. Not to mention the fact every time we move (and we've moved a lot) my husband and the movers complain incessantly abou the fact that they have to move thirty or forty boxes of books. On top of that, I give away somewhere in the area of 200-250 books a year that I've read but just don't have room to keep. But what can you say-- when my day job is English professor and my night job is romance novelist, how could I not be obsessed?

Even so, despite my obsession, I'm pretty particular about the books I buy. I try to stick to tried and true authors or authors that I know I'll like. But in doing that, I end up missing out on a lot of fabulous talent that is new to the romance genre.

So, this year I've decided to change all that.

As a new author myself (my first Harlequin, A Christmas Wedding, came out in November 2008 and my first single title, Full Exposure, hit the shelves this month) I've decided to make a point of reading new and relatively new authors this year. There's so much talent in the romance genre these days-- across the sub-genres-- that it's exciting to find brand new talent and then watch where it goes. So, in the past few months, I've read a bunch of new authors and there are a few that I have really loved. Some of my favorites are: Laura Griffin, who writes really fabulous romantic suspense set in Austin. Sherry Thomas, who writes historicals filled with some of the most beautiful prose I have ever read and Charlotte Featherstone, whose historical erotica, Addicted, tells a fascinating story of love and addiction.

So, what new authors have you tried in the last few months? Are there any that really stand out for you?