100 Favourite Romances

Following on from my previous post and its subsequent enthusiastic responses, I'd like to compile a list of 100 Favourite Romances. When we use these "definitive" lists of classic fiction, etc., on our blogs I often wonder who first came up with the list and why they'd chosen particular books to be in it and not others. I've not seen one that's centred on romances (although they may well exist), so I thought I'd create one. Not just for a fun "tag" list for everybody to pass on, but also as a handy checklist that you might use to swell your TBR pile! (I, for one, have considered on more than one occasion that there are probably lots of seminal romance novels that I should have read but haven't.)

I want to hear the choices of readers, writers, aspiring authors, editors, and everybody else who'd like to have their say. So, how shall I go about this? Well, the best way I can think of is this...

• If you are interested in contributing to the 100 Favourite Romances list, send me your top five personal choices for addition. If you really can't keep to five, more will be accepted -- but no more than ten! The titles you nominate can (and hopefully will) encompass all the different arms of the romance genre, from classical literature to category romances, "bonkbuster" doorsteppers to modern-day chick-lit, and everything in-between.
• As the nominations come in I will compile a database of sorts that will include every title that is nominated -- no restrictions -- and tally up any multiple votes for particular titles accordingly.
• After, say, a month of taking nominations, I'll collate and count and compile, and will therefore come up with a list of the top one hundred most favourite romance novels as nominated by everybody who loves romance and who was kind enough to share their opinion. I'll post the list here on my blog and after that, it will be open for tagging!

So, if you'd like to take part, just click here to send me your choices. Please note this link will take you to the contact form on my website. Spamwise, this is the safest method because like most other people, I don't want my email address to get picked up by a trawler bug. Please feel free to include your name, location, the "capacity" in which you are contributing (e.g. as a reader, author, editor, etc.), and also let me know if you'd like to be emailed when the list is completed. (Also, be assured that I won't be doing anything else with anybody's contact details -- I don't even have a newsletter yet!)

This is really exciting and I can't wait to see what everybody comes up with. Please do post links back to this post on your own blogs/sites and spread the word so we can get the most comprehensive list possible. Thank you -- and may the nominations begin!