What: 2011 Romance Reading Challenge
When: 1 January – 31 December 2011
Who: Naida (The Bookworm)
Rules: Read a total of 5 books in twelve months. For details and sign up, go here.

Naida doesn’t set limits on what type of romance qualifies for her challenge. However, I like to add a little to the challenge for myself. This year, I’m striving to read as many new to me authors as I can (yeah, it will help with LE’s New Author challenge). This is what I’ve come up with for 2011:

1. Paranormal Romance – Must be 1st in a series and from a new-to-me author. No young adult or category romance. – Taste of Magic (Madison, Tracy) {31 Mar 11}
2. Historical Romance – Must be a new-to-me author. Category romances acceptable. No fantasy elements or young adult. – Heiress in Love (Brooke, Christina) {20 Aug 11}
3. Contemporary Romance – Must be a new-to-me author. Category romances acceptable. Can be romantic suspense. No fantasy elements or young adult. Not Without Her Family (Andrews, Beth) {24 Jan 11}
4. Passions of a Wicked Earl (Heath, Lorraine) {24 Sep 11}
5. The Semi-Wild Card – Must be a non-category book and new-to-me author. Any sub-genre acceptable. — Bound by Shadow (Windsor, Anna) {11 Apr 11}

~~ & ~~

Once again, I’m considering this a completed challenge for my own sense of accomplishment. I could have easily pick romances that I read and reviewed and substitute them for the non-reviewed ones listed, and make it official, but  I enjoyed coming up with the different requirements, so I’ll leave it “as is”.  This is one of the few challenges I would consider doing again.

All five books were written by new-to-me authors.  I’m pleased that I stuck with the criteria I picked, though I wish I had taken the time to read a YA romance (should have been #4).  Neither of the young adult books I’ve read fit that category.

Note: Due to the excessive amount of spam, I’ve added a password plugin. Please don’t let that discourage you from commenting.