Redbrunja Reading Update

[redbrunja]

I would really love some recommendations from my flist for either romance novels or books with a romantic subplot that you think that I will enjoy. Because my luck with books (and specifically romances) has been decidedly mixed, lately.

In order:

I made it about ten pages into The Chocolate Thief and no. Things I am not interested in:

• rhapsodic descriptions of Paris and the heroine longing to be accepted there


• orgasmic descriptions of chocolate when I’m trying to lose weight


• an arrogant alpha male who acts like a dick the first time he meets the heroine

So that’s going back to the library.

Then I read What Angels Fear, which I actually really, really enjoyed. It's a Regency murder mystery with a main character who's recently back from the war, where he was a spy. As much as I enjoyed it, though, I don't think I'll continue with the series. First, there was a lot of sexual violence in this book, and I know the next one will open with another dead girl. Secondly, while I really enjoyed the romanceand it ended on a good note for the couple, I know they break up later, so I'm going to spare myself some pain and stop now.

Also, I was excited enough about That Touch Of Magic (Lucy March) to buy it instead of waiting for the library to finish processing it and while the entertainment value was high, I was very disappointedthat the romance was between the heroine and “the love of her life” who cheated on her when he went to college and is now suddenly back in town. Because nothing says true love like getting back with the cheating ex you never got over. I was rooting for the other guy who was going to be evil. I called this in the third chapter, and then I skipped ahead to the end of the book (which I never, ever do) so I wouldn't spend the whole novel hoping I was wrong and then being disappointed. (I was totally right.)

Comments

[seren-ccd.livejournal.com]

Courtney Milan and Tessa Dare (and Jenny Crusie) are my go-to authors for romance. They're usually very well-written and smart with fun characters. Victoria Dahl is pretty smokin' hot, too, although not always quite what I wanted. She can be a bit hit and miss.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Sadly (or not sadly) I've read all of the books related to those authors. (Maybe not Tessa Dare - who's a little more hit or miss for me) but definitely all the Crusies and Milans available.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Cruel Beauty, Rosamund Hodge.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Already on hold. ^_^

[ancarett]

Have you read Julia Quinn's Bridgerton Regencies? I like all of those.

I have a friend here on LJ who's published two Regencies in the past year - Ashlyn Macnamara. They're A Most Scandalous Proposal and A Most Devilish Rogue.

I don't know if you'd like Deborah Harkness's paranormal All Souls trilogy with a heavy dose of historical magic (third book's due out this summer). I adore them.

There's an interesting steampunk series which I'm quite enjoying - Bec McMaster's London Steampunk which opens with Kiss of Steel. The women on the covers bear no resemblance to the women characters in the book but when I got back that, I really liked her romances and her plotty world-building that sustains itself across multiple books without feeling cliff-hangery.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Okay, I put pretty much every one of those either on hold from the library or on my amazon wishlist. Thanks so much!

[errant-shadows.livejournal.com]

Have you ever read anything by Mary Stewart? She's a mystery romance writer from around the seventies. Her tone is kind of grown up Famous Five, but I'm not sure you'd really consider that a selling point. And it's very PG.

But I don't really read romance, so that's all I've got.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I have. I read the first two books in her Merlin trilogy and I couldn't get into her more contemporary stuff.

[hungrytiger11.livejournal.com]

Oh I love C.S. Harris' novels (the What Angels Fear)... I will say, I actually like the later series (the fourth book on) much more than the earlier books, but that is partially because I quite like the new female lead introduced. I felt like it didn't take away from what the first woman's role was and is, and, more important to me, I loved how smart the second lady was and that a woman's role isn't just romance. Hero just rocks. That being said, the series, while not always being specifically sexual, is definitely quite violent and does tend to have huge body counts though.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Do you mind telling me why the couple in the first book broke up?

[hungrytiger11.livejournal.com]

Kat is revealed to be the daughter of Hendon (Sebastian's father) through a mistress. She is still there in the later books, though the tension caused by things don't go away and that is not the last family revelation by any means.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Oh, jeeze. Yeah, I don't think I need to stick around for that, really. Although part of is like, 'come on, Sebastian's father isn't really Sebastian's father, we know this.' Or is BIOLOGICAL Sebastien's father Kat's father?

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

We've got a big sale on at Crimson (my publishing imprint) this month. All our ebooks are $1.99 on Amazon.

You might want to check out Elizabeth Boyce's Once a Duchess, which is our bestselling title, a real blockbuster for Crimson, and has a fun fresh angle featuring a Regency couple who actually got divorced and reunite.It has some interesting class distinctions too because the heroine, a former duchess, becomes destitute and goes to work in the kitchen of a village inn as the chef. We also brought the whole trilogy out in retail trade pb, so it's at some of the bigger B&Ns too.

How to Wed an Earl by Ivory Lei is the first in another good trilogy about slightly scandalous Regency women. Penelope, the heroine of this one, is an animal rights activist and even gets a bill passed through protecting carriage horses. The author's got a great voice and would probably appeal if you like Courtney Milan or Cecelia Grant. She was one of the first authors I bought when I joined Crimson and I was really impressed with her debut talent. (Book 2 is going to have a heroine who starts a soup kitchen and book 3 has one of my fave historical tropes--the heroine disguised as a boy.)

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

We've got a big sale on at Crimson (my publishing imprint) this month. All our ebooks are $1.99 on Amazon.

Whoa, whoa, wait, you work for a publishing imprint? How have we not talked about that before? That's so cool!.

I will check out those two books. Fingers crossed that I like Ivory Lei's writing, in particular, because goddamn, do I love heroine disguised as a boy - best trope or best trope?

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

Oops, thought you knew! I'm the exec editor for Crimson Romance, a digital first pub with a massive inventory. (We're owned by F+W Media, which also owns Writers Digest and runs DigiBookWorld conference, among other stuff.) There's about 350 of our books on sale this month. http://t.co/OZyP5DQq9P

Ivory was one of the first authors I acquired and I think she could really go places!

[empressearwig.livejournal.com]

Yeah, sorry, I thought you'd feel that way about the C.S. Harris books.

If you liked the mystery aspect of them, though, you might try Tasha Alexander. They're Victorian set historical mysteries and ultimately feature an established romance. Have you read Lauren Willig? They're historical spy novels with a modern framing story. I'm not sure if you'd like Joanna Bourne or not, but they're essentially french female spies and their british counterparts who love them.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

Molly Harper, if you're interested in paranormal romance-comedy. She writes characters who are sensible, recognize a trope when they see one, and who have a five-minute discussion to clear up misunderstandings right away instead of finding themselves in a state of confused annoyance for most of the book.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I put the first book on hold!

[lokifan]

How about Georgette Heyer? Cotillion has the most fabulous beta hero and a brilliant heroine.