Over the past several months, a number of publishers have been re-releasing older titles. These re-releases have ranged from new covers for older titles in ongoing series (
Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld and
Karen Marie Moning's Mackayla Lane novels, both from Bantam) to re-packaged classic romance novels (like the lovely editions of
Georgette Heyer from Sourcebooks) to the "bundles" that Harlequin does of older series titles from best-selling authors like
Nora Roberts. There are three re-release efforts, though, that I am particularly happy about, because it means that some of my favorite authors are now going to be more easily available to readers.
First, Sourcebooks is bringing back as much of Laura Kinsale's backlist as they can get the rights to. They started this a couple of years ago with mass market editions of a few of her titles. I was glad to see the books back in print, but disappointed by the blandness of the titles. However, over the last few months, they've re-packaged these books once again and brought them out in beautiful trade paperback editions for $9.99. Although Kinsale's writing makes all of her books "keepers," the gorgeous covers on these make them stunning additions to any bookshelf. The titles released so far are: Uncertain Magic, Seize the Fire, The Prince of Midnight, and Midsummer Moon.
Next up is Macmillan, who is releasing a bunch of Jennifer Crusie backlist titles in beautiful new trade paper editions. So far, they've done Tell Me Lies, Welcome to Temptation, and Crazy for You. I'm sitting here with fingers crossed hoping that they decide to bring back Fast Women, Faking It, and Bet Me in these covers. Especially Bet Me, which is one of the best romances I've ever had the pleasure to read.
Finally, Avon is re-releasing C. L. Wilson's Tairen Souls series in anticipation of the fifth and final volume. These books were originally published by Dorchester, and Avon, thankfully, hasn't changed the covers. The final book, Crown of Crystal Flame, will be published next month, so I would highly advise seeking out the original quartet and giving them a read. They're epic fantasy romance with magic and fae and giant flying felines called tairen.
Now, can someone talk to Random House about bringing back Laura London's The Windflower? This book makes almost every list of best-ever romance novels, but a copy can't be found for less than $45 for a used mass market, unless you're lucky enough to know someone who owns one.