Amazon.com Announces the Top 20 Most Romantic Cities in the US

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--(NASDAQ:AMZN)—Just in time for Valentine’s Day, today Amazon.com unveiled its annual list of the 20 most romantic cities in the US—with Knoxville, Tenn. taking the top spot. Amazon also launched a new feature this year—50 Great American Love Stories—an editorially chosen list of essential reads about love in all its forms, state by state.

“From novels of romance and consuming passion, to twisted tales of love gone wrong, to portrayals of the complicated bonds between family and friends, these books are all, one way or another, about love.”

After compiling sales data of romance novels and relationship books (Kindle books and print books); romantic comedy movies (digital and DVDs); a collection of romantic music from Dean Martin, Barry White, Luther Vandross, Maxwell and Miguel (CDs and MP3s); along with sexual wellness products, from Jan. 1, 2012-Jan. 23, 2013 on a per capita basis in cities with over 100,000 residents, the top 20 most romantic cities in the US are:


1. Knoxville, Tenn.						11. Round Rock, Texas
2. Alexandria, Va.						12. Clearwater, Fla.
3. Miami, Fla.						13. Las Vegas, Nev.
4. Orlando, Fla.						14. Salem, Ore.
5. Cincinnati, Ohio						15. Erie, Pa.
6. Vancouver, Wash.						16. Everett, Wash.
7. Dayton, Ohio						17. Rochester, N.Y.
8. Murfreesboro, Tenn.						18. Clarksville, Tenn.
9. Columbia, S.C.						19. Tallahassee, Fla.
10. Pittsburgh, Pa.						20. Billings, Mont.

According to Amazon’s “romantic” data:

For the second year in a row, Knoxville took the first place spot.
According to Amazon customers’ purchase habits, Boise, Idaho is the least romantic city in the US.
For the fourth year in a row, Miami is the sexiest city in the US, winning the top spot in the sexual wellness category. Cambridge, Mass. and Alexandria, Va. round out the top three.
The big movers and shakers this year were Round Rock, Salem and Billings, who didn’t make the top 20 list in 2012.

Amazon’s 50 Great American Love Stories feature includes the Amazon Book Editors’ picks for enduring tales of love of all kinds, set in every state in the union. It includes classic tales of romance like Gone with the Wind and The Age of Innocence, along with modern classics like Cold Mountain and The Fault in Our Stars, and even the controversial thriller Gone Girl.

“With 50 Great American Love Stories, we wanted to pay tribute to all the ways love shapes our lives,” said Sara Nelson, Editorial Director of Books and Kindle at Amazon.com. “From novels of romance and consuming passion, to twisted tales of love gone wrong, to portrayals of the complicated bonds between family and friends, these books are all, one way or another, about love.”

Customers can see Amazon’s Editors’ Picks by clicking on each state here: www.amazon.com/americanlovestories. To browse Amazon’s selection of Valentine's Day gifts in books, music, movies—and contribute to your city’s romantic rating—visit: www.amazon.com/valentines.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc., a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Kindle Paperwhite is the most-advanced e-reader ever constructed with 62% more pixels and 25% increased contrast, a patented built-in front light for reading in all lighting conditions, extra-long battery life, and a thin and light design. The new latest generation Kindle, the lightest and smallest Kindle, now features new, improved fonts and faster page turns. Kindle Fire HD features a stunning custom high-definition display, exclusive Dolby audio with dual stereo speakers, high-end, laptop-grade Wi-Fi with dual-band support, dual-antennas and MIMO for faster streaming and downloads, enough storage for HD content, and the latest generation processor and graphics engine—and it is available in two display sizes—7” and 8.9”. The large-screen Kindle Fire HD is also available with 4G wireless, and comes with a groundbreaking $49.99 introductory 4G LTE data package. The all-new Kindle Fire features a 20% faster processor, 40% faster performance, twice the memory, and longer battery life.

Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.cn, www.amazon.it www.amazon.es and www.amazon.com.br. As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment and data center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.