Romance Quiz: What’s Your Favorite Genre?
Although there are countless delightful genres in the world of romance, many readers have a particular favorite. It’s the genre that you usually find yourself reaching for; the one that you most often imagine yourself living (and loving) in, and the one that features the most appealing heroes and heroines. If you’re on the fence about your favorite, though, this handy quiz just might help you find it. And even if there’s no question of your strict genre allegiance, why not give it a whirl anyway? Your results might just surprise you.
1. You arrive at a party—one you’ve been looking forward to for months! Walking in the door, you look across the room and immediately spot your crush:
a) Leaning against a pillar, sipping claret while disdainfully watching as the gossipy townspeople you know and love dance the quadrille.
b) Struggling mightily not to shapeshift into a werewolf the moment he sees you, which would ruin his only remaining nice suit.
c) Quaffing a longneck and kicking the mud off his boots after a hard day’s work on the ranch.
d) Looking charmingly disheveled and nervous as he leans over to ask the DJ to play a song you once mentioned liking.
e) Landing on the roof in his private jet and heading towards you; a dirty martini in each hand, and a dirtier glint in his eye.
2. You are getting dressed for a night out on the town. Standing in front of the mirror, you put on:
a) A silk chemise, a corset, stockings, a petticoat, an evening gown trimmed with ribbons and lace, and velvet slippers; topped off with elbow-length gloves, your finest mantle, and your sauciest parasol. Before walking out the door, you pinch your cheeks for extra color.
b) The small caps you use to disguise your vampire fangs. And daring red lipstick.
c) The cute, short, flowered shift Pa told you to never, ever wear out of the house.
d) A perfect little black cocktail dress that’s been sitting in the back of your closet forever! Finally, the chance to wear it to a party where you know you’re going to run into your sexy nemesis, who just opened up a competitive bakery across the street. Sure, he’s gorgeous, but he’s got some nerve.
e) The stunning designer gown, shoes, and mink jacket that your billionaire sort-of boyfriend just had delivered to your shabby walkup apartment. In fact, he seems to have thought of everything except undergarments. Hmm.
3. Which of the following character names makes your heart skip a beat?
a) Lord Wickedshire
b) Slash
c) Chase
d) Jake
e) Dalton
4. Your face turns bright red with embarrassment when you recall how:
a) You nearly stepped in front of a speeding carriage and had to be rescued at the last minute by the insufferable Archduke Ferdinand Lehneis, who recently moved into town and has been giving you haughty glances whenever you encounter him. (In truth, you find the way his fevered gaze burns into yours rather delicious, but you would never ever admit it.)
b) You shapeshifted into a puma right in the middle of a heated encounter with the handsome half-demon you’ve been lusting after forever, and you’re pretty sure he’s not going to forgive you for all those claw marks.
c) You tried to show off in front of the sexy new ranch hand by jumping the wildest stallion in the paddock, but you lost a stirrup and nearly fell out of the saddle right in front of him.
d) The new neighbor in your building showed up at your door with a loaf of banana bread and a stuffed animal for your daughter. You told yourself you wouldn’t start dating again until she was 21, but that was before you met Mr. Just-Down-the-Hall-with-the-Biceps-and-the-Oh-Sure-I-Love-Kids.
e) You’re pretty sure everyone at that work presentation noticed the beard burn on your face and neck from the unforgettable night before, which you spent with a guy you met at a bar across the street who apparently just so happens to be your brand new boss. Awkward.
5. Your idea of a leisurely afternoon involves:
a) Sitting in the parlor to welcome visitors, and then maybe taking a trip into town to buy a bit of ribbon for trimming your hat.
b) Hunting rebellious werepires with your trusty (and attractive!) partner and sidekick, with whom you’ve been noticing a little bit of sexual tension lately, although that’s probably just all in your head.
c) Going for a relaxing afternoon horseback ride, and maybe taking the long way so you’ll just happen to pass the farm where the boy next door, your former childhood sweetheart, has just moved back in with his parents after a decade in the big city to take care of his ailing mother. He always was a goodhearted boy…only, you’ve begun to realize he’s not a boy anymore.
d) Hanging out on the couch in your PJs, flirting over IM with your best guy friend, who is comforting you after yet another bad breakup. Nobody understands you the way he does. Of course, you guys don’t feel that way about each other. No chance.
e) Handcuffs and hot wax.
And Now For Your Score:
Mostly a’s: You’re a regency romance buff at heart. If there are dukes, lords, and ladies, count you in (also if there are counts). You’ll take a heroine who is decked out in a bodice and a hero with a hansom carriage any day.
News to you? Here are some authors you may enjoy: Loretta Chase, Julia Quinn, Eloisa James
Mostly b’s: Paranormal romance is your jam. It takes more than boring plain old people in a love story to hold your attention, but throw in a vampire or a shapeshifter or two, and we’re golden.
Authors you may enjoy: J. R. Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Nalini Singh
Mostly c’s: The wild west (or, even the tamed west) has forever captured your heart, and you simply can’t pass up a story that features tumbleweeds, tumbles in the weeds, tumbles in the hay, sexy ranch hands, and dusty leather chaps. (Although if your focus is more on the chaps, you might be a tie between western and erotica.)
Authors you may enjoy: Lorraine Heath, Lorelei James, Linda Lael Miller
Mostly d’s: You’re a contemporary romance reader, and you prefer that your heroes and heroines send each other steamy (or confusing) text messages and find themselves thrown together unexpectedly on business trips.
Authors you may enjoy: Sarah Mayberry, Jill Shalvis, Bella Andre
Mostly e’s: A bedroom door closing or a candle blowing out are not quite enough description for the consummate erotic romance fan. (Get it? Consummate?…I’m sorry.) No, you like a little sass, a little sauce, a little saltiness in your books, with no apologies (and none required).
Authors you may enjoy: Lora Leigh, Sylvia Day, Maya Banks
What’s your favorite romance genre?