INDUSTRY: Interview with...Riverina Romantics

I thought it might be of interest to showcase some of the great book bloggers and bookstores that specialise and help promote the romance genre.

I've been lucky enough to be interviewed, hosted or promoted at many of these places and found it intriguing to interview them about their passion and love of books and authors.

Please welcome my first guest - Jodie from Riverina Romantics...

Book Blog: Riverina Romantics - A blog dedicated to lovers of sexy and seductive romances. We read. We review. We have a good laugh.

Web address: www.riverinaromantics.blogspot.com 

Review preferences: We are different from other review sites. We don't take a lot of review requests. We read the stories we want and review them if we love them. I started the site to help promote authors in a positive light and won't publish reviews less than three stars.

What inspired you to begin your blog? I started reading when my first son was born. Since then my addiction to romance grew. I began writing reviews on Goodreads and I still remember the sensation I got when someone 'liked' my review, (Yeah, I need to get a life). The next step was to start a blog. I love interacting with readers and authors and discussing the books I love.

Do you have a favorite part of the job? The freebies are nice. The blog actually costs us money to run. Sometimes we pay for the giveaways, then there's the swag and postage. So getting to read free review copies is a great bonus.

What hazards come with the territory? Because we don't post low scored reviews we don't really have a lot of hazards, although the blog does take up a LOT of time.

Replying to emails, scheduling posts, organising reviews, chatting with publishers and authors - it's all a great big time suck. But well worth it. I've made some great connections and met a lot of really inspirational people (online, of course).

Top 10 books:
These are in no particular order:

1. Anything by Cindy Gerard
2. Hot Head by Damon Suede
3. Defiant by Pamela Clare
4. Dreams of a Dark Warrior by Pamela Clare
5. The Darkest Pleasure by Gena Showalter
6. Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
7. Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward
8. A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole
9. Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James
10. Beyond the Highland Mist by Karen Marie Moning

Auto-buy authors: Cindy Gerard, Kresley Cole, Gena Showalter - although I'm a little behind at the moment.

Things that make you go "Ahhh" in a book? When the emotional connection between two characters is so palpable that you get shivers.

Most memorable author interview? I love interviewing Cindy Gerard - for the simple reason that she is my favorite author. She is such a sweet person and a great inspiration. Interviewing her was the highlight to my blogger life.

You can also follow Riverina Romantics on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter!