Tag Archives: Mary Balogh

Three-Day Quote Challenge: Day One

Posted in Favourite Romance by

Willaful from A Willful Woman nominated Miss Bates for this challenge and Miss Bates sends her heartfelt thanks. The idea is to post favourite quotations over three days and nominate three more bloggers to the challenge. Miss Bates is going to take her cue from LizMc2 from Something More and echo that she’s not sure she knows nine bloggers either.

Notorious_RakeMiss Bates will use the three-day quote challenge to write about, what else, her favourite genre, romance! And one of her literary obsessions, the opening line to a novel, especially a romance novel. Opening lines can make or break a novel for Miss Bates. The author has to grab her from the start. She’s giving a nod to the opening lines of some of her favourite romances. The first is from a much beloved romance author, Mary Balogh and her Notorious Rake:

The thunderstorm was entirely to blame.

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Miss Bates’ Favourite Christmas Romances

Posted in Connections, Impressions by

Christmas_IvyMiss Bates loves Christmas: stars, trees, lights, baking, candle-lit church services. Carols! She decorates; she cuts out gingerbread people. She even mails Christmas cards. And, with Mrs. Bates, they haul a beautiful sapin de Noël up the narrow staircase to her apartment and spend happy hours with tinsel, glitter, garland, and ornament. Early December finds her ribbon-cutting the season by bringing out her Christmas tea mugs. Every year, on November 25th, the feast day of St. Catherine, patron saint of spinsters (also lace-makers) Miss Bates embarks on a month-long reading of Christmas-themed, Christmas-set romances. The genre presents her with a plethora of choices and the covers are sentimental favourites. She’s read some duds and she’s read some wonders. Here are her wonders; if you’re a Christmas-romance fan, you might have read them, or you might consider reading one, or two 😉 this year. Continue reading