I know we aren't supposed to judge a book by its cover, but what about its title? I don't let the hunky men sway me, but some of these titles have been really clever, but then the book isn't clever at all.

This is probably all marketing/PR, and after all this time, it must be hard to come up with a great title.

Have you ever read a book because of the title??

What drives me crazy are similar titles by the same author (and similar book covers to go with the similar titles).

Amanda Quick comes to mind: "Dangerous", "Deception", "Desire"...."Ravished", "Reckless", "Rendezvous"..

Anne Stuart, as well: "Reckless". "Ruthless", "Breathless", "Shameless"..

Obviously, I am much less likely to buy a book if I'm not sure if I already have it!

I also don't care for pun-inspired or "cutesy" movie-inspired titles. I think they're lame.

I will buy/read a book if it seems to have has a gothic-tinge to it: Dark Castle of Doom (lol) or Whispered Warnings, etc.

I'm with you all the way with this one -- that drives me nuts. I'm attracted to titles that are different to a point but mostly it's just the author that drives me. If it's a new author, a different sounding title draws me in and I hate the cutesypoo titles too.

I don't mind the series having similary titles, I have Kat Martin's Against the ____, I can't remember which one to read next. There's Against the Law, Against the Storm, Against the Fire--but I get the characters mixed up.

I don't like the play on movie titles--I think the book will be like the movie, which may or may not be a good thing. But the clever titles make me smile. The new one "X Marks the Scot" I thought was clever, so I might take a look at that. I thought "Bound and Determined" for an erotica was a fun title. I remember buying "Sighs Matters" by Mariann Stillings just because of the title that made me laugh out loud in the grocery store.

However, on the down side, it's like a movie trailer that
you think you've just seen all the best parts of a movie. I hate when the best part of of the book was its title. (or cover)

"Sighs Matters" - lol that's a good one!

I usually don't let the cover or the title of the book sway me one way or the other, but I was really put off by the following title: Her Husband's Harlot.

I just find it very demeaning not only to us women but to the whole romance genre.

Agreed.

Me Three!

'Sighs Matters' was written by Marianne Stillings and I really liked it. Its prequel, 'The Damsel in This Dress', was an absolute laugh-riot and quite sexy, too. Ms. Stillings also wrote 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evie'.

HR

I read Harlequin Presents so no title judging from me!

I was listening to Nights With Alice Cooper last night and he was talking about music and I think it applies to book titles too. He said that record companies always try to copy someone who has done something original and that's why many of today's singers sound so artificial.

I don't mind a book series having similar title for each book. It reminds me that it's part of a series.

Especially if the author has a lot of different series. Nora Roberts comes to mind with all her different trilogies. I also like when an author has a title and then a subtitle so you know what series it belongs to.

But the play on words with movie titles is a little tired. I guess I want an original title on an original book.

Those books by Marianne Stillings are some of my all time favorites. Not only did she write a simply great story, the covers and titles were awesome! Wish she would make a comeback.

A don't mind a series like Martinn's Against the ______. I can keep track of the reading order, and easy to spot her on the shelf.

What I am getting sick of (besides all the other things mentioned here) is Shades of Gray, as in Maya Banks newest KGI book. Since the "other" Shades book is well in our past, she and her publisher could have come up with something better and stayed out of the Shades market. Shades has been overdone in every way - the title and the book covers. It must be time for it to die a slow death!

I too am getting sick of the Shades of this and Shades of that, but the KGI Romance novel by Maya Banks had its name a long time ago. It was on her website for some time before I had even heard of 50 Shades. And the novel is nothing like 50 Shades at all. All the others I have seen you can tell that the subject matter is very similar to 50 Shades. I know this sometimes happens with similar names, but with 50 Shades it seems to be overkill. I am happy for EL James but wish others would stop copying her.

I don't really care for the cutesy ones that copy songs and or movies, it just throws me off all I can think of is the movie or song. I will say that I have had titles catch my attention, and if the book sounds good I have bought them.

And ladies you forgot my all time favorite of historical Romance titles: REBEL.
Every Romance author that writes historical Romances seems to always have a Rebel in there somewhere.

As a Romance author just starting out, I will take a lot of what you guys have said and try to remember it. Thanks for the information.