I have a few weeks to dedicate to gathering my comps, which are books in my genre that overlap Dash Away in setting (Christmas time, small town, a holiday trip to England), plot (celebrity/common person romance, forced proximity, British/American couples), theme (accepting one's struggles, being confident in who you are), or style (commercial, closed-door spice, HEA).
To that end, here are some of the books I am reading:
My judging criteria:
* Romance, preferably celebrity/ordinary person, although I'll also read holiday, small town/Hollywood, librarian, and British/American tropes, with closed door spice and a HEA ending.
* Published in recent years
* Rated highly and sold well
* Enjoyable read (in my opinion)
Katherine Center's The Bodyguard, published in 2022 will make the cut. It'll also be on my favorite novels of the year list. So will Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan and Abby Jimenez's The Happy Ever After Playlist. I'm in love with these authors and their work! It is taking a lot of willpower to not keep reading their other novels immediately.
One great part about finding my comps AFTER finishing my novel is that when similar details pop up in the comp novels, I know for sure I didn't subconsciously lift them from other writers' texts. But it sure is daunting to read so many fun stories and imagine my own book in their company.
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