A Guest Post by Kristin Holt
Silver Belles and Stetsons is currently rated 4.5/5 stars on Amazon.com (over 17 reviews)
"Ten authors, unique talents, all coming together to share good old-fashioned rugged romance in a time when life was a struggle, but the land was rugged and wild and people had to have spines of steel to survive." ~ Dii, Amazon Top 500 Reviewer on 11-4-15
One of the biggest challenges for authors and readers within the romance genre is to adequately communicate the language and heat (or sensuality/sexual) content. No industry standard exists for novels, where in television and movies, ratings are most helpful in allowing selective viewers to make an informed decision.
Every author in the anthology writes a different heat level (both language and sexual content). We all aimed to write "on the sweeter end" for this collection. Because I write "Sweet, Appropriate for All Audiences" (Rated G to mild PG), I'll provide my personal opinions of each novella's rating (similar to TV- and movie-ratings) so selective readers might make a decision they're most comfortable with.
Silver Belles and Stetsons is a fresh combination of unique Western Historical Cowboy Christmas Novellas from ten authors with very different styles. I had the privilege of reading the entire anthology in the days surrounding its release (11-2-15).
Ten Western Romance Christmas Novellas by Amazon bestselling and Award-Winning Authors. Available as a boxed set for a limited time. A savings of more than 75% if the books were purchased separately.
Bestselling and Award-winning authors bring you ten western romance novellas featuring alpha-cowboys from the past. This boxed set will take you back in time when men were rugged and handsome and the women who loved them courageous and daring.
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The Greatest Gift: A Montana Cowboy Christmas by Kathleen Ball. Amazon Bestselling and Award- Wining Author. Looking for the man who ran out on her, Ginger finds a cowboy worthy of love but he doesn't want or need love. Kristin's opinion: PG-13 (mild-moderate language).
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Stone Mountain Christmas by Caroline Clemmons, 
Amazon Bestselling and Award-Winning Author. Can Celia restore the town's Christmas spirit? "A beautifully written story about love and hope and all the emotions Christmas brings out in people." Karren Lucas Kristin's opinion: very mild PG (no language, nothing beyond kisses).
Amazon Bestselling and Award-Winning Author. Can Celia restore the town's Christmas spirit? "A beautifully written story about love and hope and all the emotions Christmas brings out in people." Karren Lucas Kristin's opinion: very mild PG (no language, nothing beyond kisses).
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Catherine’s Cowboy by Cait Braxton, Amazon Bestselling and Award-Winning Author. During a supernatural dust storm, Fate steps in when rugged army tracker Elam helps Catherine deliver her child. Kristin's opinion: PG (moderate language, mild-moderate violence, mild-moderate sensuality).
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Angel and the Texan from County Cork by Carra Copelin. 
Amazon Bestselling and Award-Winning Author. Does Angel trust marriage to the man she suspects of killing her husband or the stranger who promises to pay off her debt and set her free if she decides their marriage of convenience won’t work? Kristin's opinion: PG (mild to moderate violence).
Amazon Bestselling and Award-Winning Author. Does Angel trust marriage to the man she suspects of killing her husband or the stranger who promises to pay off her debt and set her free if she decides their marriage of convenience won’t work? Kristin's opinion: PG (mild to moderate violence).
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The Drifter’s Proposal by Kristin Holt, Amazon Bestselling Author. The baker's man is home for Christmas... "Compelling. Heartwarming. Tender." ~Diane Darcy, USA Today Bestselling Author Kristin's opinion: very mild PG (no language, nothing beyond kisses).
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The Perfect Gift by Lyn Horner, Award-winning author. 
Friendship has blossomed into young love, but it seems destined to die on the vine...until an unexpected Christmas gift promises happiness. Kristin's opinion: PG-13 (mild-moderate sensuality).
Friendship has blossomed into young love, but it seems destined to die on the vine...until an unexpected Christmas gift promises happiness. Kristin's opinion: PG-13 (mild-moderate sensuality).
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Marshal Mistletoe by Susan Horsnell. She married the wrong man. Will fate intervene? Kristin's opinion: PG-13+ to R (sensuality).
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Christmas Redemption [not yet available as a single title]
by Paty Jager, Amazon Bestselling and Award-Winning Author. Can two battered hearts find solace or will the past continue to haunt their lives? "A story of forgiveness that has a wonderful hero who has worked hard to redeem himself." Kristin's opinion: PG-13+ (mild-moderate language, sensuality).
by Paty Jager, Amazon Bestselling and Award-Winning Author. Can two battered hearts find solace or will the past continue to haunt their lives? "A story of forgiveness that has a wonderful hero who has worked hard to redeem himself." Kristin's opinion: PG-13+ (mild-moderate language, sensuality).
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A Hard Candy Christmas by Hebby Roman, Amazon Bestselling Author. Two damaged souls. Can their budding love and the healing power of Christmas bring them together? Kristin's opinion: PG-13+ (moderate language, sensuality, mild violence).
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Christmas Cowboy by Margaret Tanner. 
Will a miracle Christmas baby unite two tortured souls, or will it forever keep them apart? Kristin's opinion: PG-13+ to R (mild-moderate language, sensuality, moderate violence).
Will a miracle Christmas baby unite two tortured souls, or will it forever keep them apart? Kristin's opinion: PG-13+ to R (mild-moderate language, sensuality, moderate violence).
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Thank you to Zina Abbott for hosting our anthology today!
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Kristin Holt writes Sweet Victorian Romance set in the American West. She writes frequently about old west history and contributes monthly to Sweet Americana Sweethearts.
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Copyright © 2015 Kristin Holt, LC
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Thank you so much, Zina, for hosting SILVER BELLES AND STETSONS today! thank you kindly for your support.
ReplyDeleteWarm regards,
Kristin Holt
Zina, thank you for sharing your blog. Kristin, you did a wonderful job of highlighting our novellas and the anthology. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks, Caroline. I appreciate you stopping by.
DeleteThank you for hosting us today. It was nice seeing the ratings on each story.
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by, Paty. I so appreciate your kind support. It was my genuine pleasure working with you (and all of the authors) on our anthology.
DeleteHappy Holidays,
Kristin
Thank you for hosting us today. It was nice seeing the ratings on each story.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful collection. Best to everyone on this endeavor. Doris McCraw/Angela Raines-author
ReplyDeleteThank you, so much, Doris. I thank you, too, for stopping by and lending your support.
DeleteCheers!
Kristin
Doris, what a nice thing to say! You made my day. I want to Zina for being such a gracious host. I also want to thank Kristin for taking her precious time and rating each of our books. You did a great job, capturing the essence for readers so they can decide what the individual stories are like.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Hebby, for your very kind words. =) I sincerely enjoyed every last story in our collection. It was my pleasure reading them all.
DeleteZina, thanks so much for hosting Silver Belles and Stetsons today. Lovely post and we appreciate your support!
ReplyDeleteCarra
Thank you, thank you, Carra!
DeleteHi Zina, thank you for hosting Silver Belles And Stetsons. Great post Kristin.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks, Margaret. So glad you stopped by.
DeleteThank you for hosting us!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Kathleen. It's great to see you here. =)
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting us today, Zina. Much appreciated!
ReplyDeleteHi Zina and Kristin! Lovely post. How nice to get another perspective on the steam/violence level. Thanks for that, Kristin. This is one thing that is quite hard to rate, especially if the books are labeled sweet to steamy. What might be steamy to one reader could be erotic romance to another. Same with sensual...what is 'sensual' really. Personally, I liked the days when romance books were labeled "sweet" "erotic romance" and "erotica". Pretty straight-forward and I think all readers can figure out what they're getting with those labels. Now, not so much. I have no idea what steamy and sensual mean. How about you?
ReplyDeleteNice blog, Zina,
Cait Braxton (Keta Diablo)
Thanks for stopping by, Cait, and for sharing your thoughts and personal preferences. Many authors and many readers (particularly those who classify themselves as 'selective') find the lack of a true rating system (like TV and movies have) with hard-and-fast explanations of each rating. I agree with you completely that a book's rating is very subjective. What is 'sweet' to one will be 'steamy'/'too sexy' to another. As an author whose brand is "sweet", it's one of my ongoing challenges: to meet the expectations of my readers while figuring out what they want. I've written two in depth articles about what sweet romance is, what it's not, the answers I've come up with my scouring the internet as well as polling readers online. With such a wide range of opinions among readers and a significant difference among finer points (such as language--where to draw the line?) and does sexual conduct between a married couple make it still 'sweet'? I've been enlightened by the responses of various readers. I find it fascinating... and to me and my brand, essential.
DeleteWith the release of our anthology, I had many of my readers contact me and ask if the whole anthology was "sweet". I let them know they'd find a range of content, from sweet to sensual and the consistent factors are cowboys, old west, and Christmas. I left it up to them to choose.
I don't have any idea whether links will post in the comments section, but in case of interest, the two blog articles I wrote about the challenges with defining books' ratings and what is 'sweet', anyway?, are here:
http://sweetamericanasweethearts.blogspot.com/2015/11/just-how-romantic-can-sweet-romance-be.html AND
http://www.kristinholt.com/archives/161
I'm always gathering feedback from readers and writers of romantic fiction about their personal list of what makes a romance 'sweet', Rated PG, Rated R, 'spicy', 'erotic', anything else, any label of their choosing. Some readers truly don't care... they read it all and love it all. Others *do* care. If anyone would care to share additional personal opinions or feelings, feel free to either reply here or (better yet) email me: Kristin@KristinHolt.com, or contact me through my website: http://www.kristinholt.com/contact-kristin THANK YOU! ~Kristin Holt