There is a whole generation of romance readers and writers who suffer from what I like to think of as 'Thorn Birds' Fever.

By the time I was 10 or 12, I had discovered the lure of the romance genre - and the dusty copy of 'The Thorn Birds' on my parents' bookshelf.

The best romance writers know there's nothing that builds conflict or makes a gentleman of a rogue more quickly than responsibility.

I think we can all agree that Colin Firth falls into the George Clooney category of 'Men Who Age Like Fine Wine.'

First, I thought we'd already established that I am not a gentleman. That ship sailed long ago. And second, you'd be surprised what gentlemen do...and what ladies enjoy."

~Lord Bourne

One of the most common criticisms of romance is that the genre is too prescribed: If every romance novel ends happily ever after, don't the stories lack complexity? Don't the readers get bored?