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My romance autobuy authors AKA they can do no wrong in my eyes

by on December 28, 2012 in historical romance, reading, review

I am pretty well-read in the Trashy Books genre, but I got to thinking I would make a list of the authors I consider my heavy-hitters. The ones whose new books I MUST read. I love my SF, fantasy, and YA, but for romance I find myself reading mostly historicals. They are like my candy. (The funny thing is, I’m much more into the Victorian era than the Regency but the market being what it is, and me being willing to read anything with long dresses… this list is what it is.) So if anyone is new to romance and looking for my recommendations… here! Here!

They Can Do No Wrong (aka “You just get me!”)

Mary Balogh (Favorite: Slightly Scandalous, Slightly Dangerous, The Notorious Rake. Or… geez, OK, the woman has written like 100 books, how do you pick?)

Tessa Dare (Favorite: A Week to be Wicked)

Loretta Chase (Favorite: Mr. Impossible, because Egypt)

Courtney Milan (Favorite: Proof by Seduction)

Kate Noble (Favorite: Revealed/Follow My Lead)

 

They Can Do Some Occasional Wrong (but I’ll probably buy it anyway)

Miranda Neville

Sarah MacLean

Julia Quinn

Connie Brockway

Laura Lee Guhrke

Carla Kelly

 

New Authors I Really Enjoyed This Year (just for a bonus!)

Juliana Gray

Heather Snow

 

Alanna’s big list of stuff I can’t resist in books

by on April 28, 2012 in historical romance, reading, SFR

What are the characters/scenarios you just cannot resist in a book? Like, you read the blurb and go, “I MUST HAVE THIS IN MY LIFE RIGHT NOW.” Everyone’s got different ones. And I’ve realized some of mine are really specific and weird. I’ve decided to create this list and maybe keep updating it.

I am thinking of also creating a companion list of Stuff I Really Really Don’t Care About In Books and Usually Won’t Read. At the top would be vampires. I just don’t give a shit about them.

  1. Bluestocking heroines
  2. Friends to lovers romances
  3. Nautical settings
  4. Archaeologists
  5. Historicals set in Egypt
  6. Historicals set in India
  7. Smugglers (either the historical or space variety)
  8. Pirates (ditto, see above)
  9. Post-apocalyptic ruins
  10. Space station settings
  11. Enemies to lovers romances
  12. One night stands that turn into something more
  13. Historicals with a female character who’s not a virgin
  14. Historicals with a widow who actually had a decent first marriage
  15. Suffragettes
  16. Badass heroines who physically fit the role (ie: not too skinny and model-like to pick up a sword)
  17. Thieves (Somehow I always end up playing a thief in RPGs)
  18. Beta heroes (like, the guy who is the right hand man to the big alpha guy)
  19. Heroines with unconventional careers in historicals
  20. Bars in space (you can see my Star Wars influence in this list…)
  21. Heroine doesn’t end up with the completely obvious character but with someone else instead (When Tamora Pierce had her main character marry someone else who was not the prince in Lioness Rampant, my sixth grade mind was blown.)
  22. Interracial romance in a historical (I never see this in a mainstream, print-published historical, and I really wish I would, because it would be all kinds of interesting and awesome. *Except in one of Tessa Dare’s books, there is a secondary romance, but it’s the only one I know of. Besides those cheesy old-school Native American ones I read growing up, and you know, yuck.)
  23. …. To be added!