Gold Standard...

To say we SHOCKED a lot of people in our lives this month is an understatement. What? Not everyone secretly writes a contemporary romance and releases it to the world?! The gaping surprise has started wearing off and now the questions …when?how? And the best part, we un-closeted a new army of romance junkies, all asking for next read recommendations with a feel like ours. Yay!! But to be honest it hasn’t sunk in. It’s overwhelming and humbling to think that we have a feel. Period.

So we struggled (seriously struggled, argued a tiny bit, and almost created two lists- because there are just too many) and put together our list of absolute must reads from authors who nail the feel - scratch that - we think have created the feel. If Beautifully Awake has anything close to a feel, it’s because of these talented writers.

We are calling it our “Gold Standard” ... can’t help ourselves, the medicine factor just seeps out.

So in no particular order because honestly THAT would be impossible, here is what we suggest…

Sylvain Reynard
Gabriel’s Inferno/Rapture ... what doesn’t the Professor TEACH? And all things ITALY are just plain awesome.

Tina Reber
Love Unscripted/Unrehearsed ... teaches you what it feels like to fall in LOVE with a character, literally. Butterflies, flushing, stupid perma-grin ... all of it! He wrote her a freaking song people!!!

J.A. Redmerski
Edge of Never/Edge of Always(a TBR that we’re stupidly excited for)... teaches you what a book HANGOVER is. You know when you can’t stomach the thought of picking up another book, because you just can’t imagine getting past what you just experienced. She does THAT.

Katja Millay
Sea of Tranquility … teaches you how to knock it out of the park/take your breath away/kick you in the gut in a single sentence. No joke- a SINGLE freaking SENTENCE. Who can do that?!?

Tiffanie DeBartolo
How to Kill a Rock Star … teaches you how to build a story at a seamless pace until you reach the point of no return and you’re left a MESS- don’t let your kids see you, don’t look in the mirror, an UGLY cry.

Tarryn Fisher
Love Me With Lies series … teaches you what it means to be physically/emotionally TORTURED (in such a good way it’s not even funny). You want to throw your phone against the wall because you HATE a character so much you LOVE them- what???

Colleen Hoover
Hopeless … teaches you how to seriously WRITE. You can’t put it down, you ignore your children, you even fake a bathroom break just to finish it. She perfects the GASPING moment (not to mention her amazing slam poetry in Slammed-- seriously?!?)

Olivia Cunning
Sinners on Tour series … teaches you that
umm,is it WRONG how much I love this book? feeling. HOT doesn’t begin to cut it. Cherry pop- need we say more?

Kristen Ashley
Any & All- but if we had to choose- Chaos series … teaches you the definition of ALPHA and makes you want to hop on the back of a bike just to have him BREATHE EASY. (KA should be its own literary term- just sayin’)

Andrea Randall
In the Stillness … teaches you that RAW honesty can be beautiful.

Toni Aleo
Assassin's series … teaches if you’re going to write a sports romance, it should be about HOCKEY. Umm, just cause.

A. Meredith Walters
Find You in the Dark/Light in the Shadows ...teaches you the power of FORGIVENESS and what it means to love UNCONDITIONALLY.

Alice Clayton
The Redhead series … teaches you the importance of SASSY humor and to LAUGH your ass off in the most fantastically yummy way. (Makes it totally acceptable to pee your pants- hehe:)

Renee Carlino
Sweet Thing … teaches you that not all heroes have to be alphas and the SWEET and CHARMING ones can rock your world, too.

So this is the kind of list new authors like us can only dream of being part of one day (well that, and being on a Target book shelf of course). We think it's a great place for anyone new to the genre(or old-if you missed any of these)to start. And luckily we are giving ourselves the liberty to ADD at any time! We will include it on our website so check back often. If we read a book with a NEW feel we promise to let you all know.
xo RM
Sylvain Reynard
Tina Reber J A Redmerski Katja Millay Tiffanie DeBartolo, (Paul Hudson) How To Kill A Rock Star) Tarryn Fisher Colleen Hoover Olivia Cunning Kristen Ashley Andrea Randall Toni Aleo A Meredith Walters Alice Clayton Renee Carlino