Light, sexy period romance

[Chaldanya]

I've read two Tessa Dare in as many days.  They are a bit cracktastic, in fact I could see them being forms of fanfiction.  Really light and a lot of fun.  Need MOAR recs now.

[Lyanna Stark]

On 13/05/2016 at 7:45 PM, Contrarius+ said:

I like the "cracktastic" terminology. Yes, certainly Dare and Kinsale fit that description -- which is fine with me. I like a little crack in my romance. ;-) (The Prince of Midnight even includes a brief abduction by the Marquis de Sade! And our Hero is a partially deaf hermit ex-highwayman with vertigo and a tame wolf!)

I read Milan's Unlocked novella yesterday and enjoyed it. Started on The Duchess War. I'm desperately avoiding work this week, ya see. ;-)

@Contrarius+

Well, I got "Prince of Midnight" on your recommendation! Although not very far in, it's pretty good going. I dislike novels with a lot of slow plodding and introspection, and this is definitely not that (at least so far). Also lol tame wolf. It does feel as if it fits there tho. In some romance novels you can tell that the pets are only inserted so the hero or heroine can understand that the other part is actually a Genuinely Good Person since only Genuinely Good Persons care about pets.

5 hours ago, Chaldanya said:

I've read two Tessa Dare in as many days.  They are a bit cracktastic, in fact I could see them being forms of fanfiction.  Really light and a lot of fun.  Need MOAR recs now.

@Chaldanya

OMG are you already done with Milan's back catalogue? Try some pirate/highwayman romance by Canham. Or her "The Dragon Tree" which I was kinda all over. It has some WTF parts, but she is solid on the historical detail. Her pirate novels made me put at least 5 books about artillery in the 18th century on my wishlist on Amazon. I also want a demi-culverin in my garden, in case the neighbours are causing issues. It's always good to have the capability to give them a good broadside.

[Contrarius+]

I read the first half -- no, 2/3? -- of the Brothers Sinister series over the weekend, also Unlocked. They were fun -- good characters -- regardless of various plot inanities and mustache-twirling villains. Will be finishing the series when I get a chance.

 

Also read another Dare book, the latest in the Spindle Cove series. I think they're fairly similar to Milan, with more crack. ;-)

[Chaldanya]

@Contrarius+

I've just started Spindle Cove after reading the Castles series.  So. Much. Fun.  There's not one thing to take seriously in any of her books and I'm really enjoying it.  Yes, it's all wildly implausible but that's what I want from my historic romance fiction.

 

[ljkeane]

I've always kind of avoided Romance books, mainly because I've thought of them as being for women. That's a stupid reason to avoid a whole genre of books so when I saw this thread last year I thought I'd give a few of the recommendations a try.

I tried the first Poldark book (because it was on tv at the time) which was ok but it didn't really hold my interest. Bec McMaster's steampunky books, the name of which slips my mind, which were also reasonable but were probably cheating a bit as dipping my toe in the romance genre goes also being fantasy books. Georgette Heyer's These Old Shades which I really didn't like because of the weird classist stuff it's got going on.

I sort of left it for a while after that but with the tv show being advertised a fair bit recentIy (bit of a recurring them on why I'm picking books it seems) I thought I might try the Outlander book. That's a bit of an odd book. It sort of feels like Diana Gabaldon wanted to fantasize about sleeping with someone other than her husband but felt a bit guilty about it so she's come up with a massively convoluted scenario in which it would be totally ok for her to sleep with a hot Scottish guy and then she wrote a book about it. It's also very rapey and I don't really get why people would go back from the 20th century to become Jacobite agents. So, yeah, not really my speed.

In the vein of trying to find books with slightly less creepy dynamics between the main characters it seems like maybe Courtney Milan is worth a try? I went to her website and apparently she's a former law professor who's willing to answer questions on 18th and 19th century legal issues, so that's cool at least.

 

[Chaldanya]

@ljkeane

I would actually give Courtney Milan a try. Her Brothers Sinister series actually has a decent sub plot based on women's rights running through them.

[Lyanna Stark]

Interesting point about Gabaldon. There are some theories knocking about that what is sometimes known as "old-skool" romance novels, or the bodice rippers, basically employ the exact strategy you describe: in many ways it is a way for women through romance novels and the rapey heroes therein get over their own shame and/or anxiety about sex, since women are supposed to not really be interested in that sort of thing (if they are simultaneously "good girls"). As this stigma has lessened, romance novels have evolved, too. You still find the occasional rapey one, but they are mostly confined to paranormals (and God knows why really) while most mainstream stuff is far clearer on what consent actually entails.

Romance novels can be difficult, since a lot of them suffers from quite a lot of cheese and tropes. They also almost always use a female gaze quite a lot of the time, which some (albeit not all) male readers can find strange or unsettling at first. Personally I have a long hate/love relationship with them, going back to my teens when I borrowed a shopping bag full of Harlequins from a friend of mine and went 0.o at the rapiness in them. I couldn't quite put into words back then why it disturbed me so, but I decided romance novels were Not For Me. I was only much later I sort of returned to them, but it's a mixed back, to be sure.

However, I know my SO really liked Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Cruise. Not a historical tho unless you consider the 1990s historical Her Faking It is pretty funny as well. Cracky, but funny, even if I ended up almost preferring the supporting characters and their stories to the main one.

 

16 hours ago, ljkeane said:

In the vein of trying to find books with slightly less creepy dynamics between the main characters it seems like maybe Courtney Milan is worth a try? I went to her website and apparently she's a former law professor who's willing to answer questions on 18th and 19th century legal issues, so that's cool at least.

 

 

Milan's historicals, especially the Brothers Sinister are interesting in the sense that they always have some sort of subplot which is focused on issues in society at the time. Most of the subjects she are dealing with touch on women's rights, but there are other issues as well, such as untreated PTSD, racism, poverty, social stigma, etc. Interestingly, since the novels are in a series, you get to see the former hero/heroine through other people's eyes occasionally, and I found it really delightful that the hero of novel one was only regarded as really attractive by the heroine in novel one. To other people, and the heroine in, say, book 4, he was just some tall dude who looked concerned and seemed a bit awkward.

 

@Contrarius+ Damn you got getting me to read Prince of Midnight I normally confine my reading of romance novels and thrillers to commuting hours, but now it's just got crazy enough I feel I have to continue reading it in my spare time to actually know how it ends! Have to hand it to Kinsale that she can craft some mightily annoying but sympathetic characters (although these are borderline too angst-ridden for my taste). I also like these two annoying misfits far better than the ones in Midsummer Moon, which was just so cracktastic it sort of defies words. If Tessa Dare inserts pet lobsters, the Kinsale inserts random pet hedgehogs for extra WTF. At least Monseigneur de Minuit has only a wolf and no lobsters or hedgehogs in sight. I don't know what it is with romance novels and weird ass pets tbh.

[Contrarius+]

Ijkeane -- Dare and Milan are definitely both good for non-creepy relationships, though I don't know whether you'll enjoy them. I just finished another in the Milan books this morning, and I'm a little in love with Milan right now for the real science and medicine she inserts throughout this series. I mean, real genetics studies by real Victorian scientists -- in historical romance! makes my little heart go pitterpat. ;-)

 

Lyanna -- glad you're having fun with Kinsale. I love angst, so angstitude is no negative to me. :-)

 

I grew up sneering at romance novels as Not Worthy Of My Notice. Then I slowly got seduced by them starting just a few years ago, mostly because I've always been a huge fan of character in whatever genre I read. Now I accept the crack and have a much easier time going with the flow.

[Chaldanya]

Just reading A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant.

There's no firey passions from first sight but a genuine growth of affection between the main couple.  It's a delight to read after the cracktastic knicker dropping from Tessa Dare.

N

[Chaldanya]

Do yourself a favour and read Awakening a Lady by Cecillia Grant.  A well measured thoughtful romance novel.  It's not love and passion at first sight and thus the author is well able to craft a believable passion and relationship towards the end.

Also, there's a pig, isn't there @Lyanna Stark?

N

[Lyanna Stark]

2 hours ago, Chaldanya said:

Do yourself a favour and read Awakening a Lady by Cecillia Grant.  A well measured thoughtful romance novel.  It's not love and passion at first sight and thus the author is well able to craft a believable passion and relationship towards the end.

Also, there's a pig, isn't there @Lyanna Stark?

N

I am about half way through, and in addition to it being a very unusual romance novel with lots of extremely snarky and embarrassing (for the characters) dialogue, there is indeed a most intrepid pig.

Obviously I cannot speak for the ending, but at about the half-way mark, there is already respectable character growth, the hero is a clear non-arsehole (except maybe to pigs, but in his defence the pig needed some sorting out) and the heroine is a fairly difficult and complex person, while still being sympathetic. In many romance novels the reasons why the happy couple fall in love is basically hand-waved off with "and they found each other hot", but Grant has really worked hard on her Feelings in Progress and it's a really nice change. You can really tell the characters are gradually coming to genuinely like and respect each other, and why that would be so. It also incorporates some of the best facets of Milan's stuff, in that it features at least partially women's issues and does so fairly seamlessly.

And of course, the pig plays a part.

 

EDIT: Oh, and it keeps making me want to talk about myself in third person, as one does.

 

[Chaldanya]

59 minutes ago, Lyanna Stark said:

I am about half way through, and in addition to it being a very unusual romance novel with lots of extremely snarky and embarrassing (for the characters) dialogue, there is indeed a most intrepid pig.

Obviously I cannot speak for the ending, but at about the half-way mark, there is already respectable character growth, the hero is a clear non-arsehole (except maybe to pigs, but in his defence the pig needed some sorting out) and the heroine is a fairly difficult and complex person, while still being sympathetic. In many romance novels the reasons why the happy couple fall in love is basically hand-waved off with "and they found each other hot", but Grant has really worked hard on her Feelings in Progress and it's a really nice change. You can really tell the characters are gradually coming to genuinely like and respect each other, and why that would be so. It also incorporates some of the best facets of Milan's stuff, in that it features at least partially women's issues and does so fairly seamlessly.

And of course, the pig plays a part.

 

EDIT: Oh, and it keeps making me want to talk about myself in third person, as one does.

 

This is what I like about this book. And I believe the author makes a point to write complex women and not the usual heroine found in historical romances.  

You know one will be buying the other two books in the series

N

[Lyanna Stark]

26 minutes ago, Chaldanya said:

This is what I like about this book. And I believe the author makes a point to write complex women and not the usual heroine found in historical romances.  

You know one will be buying the other two books in the series

N

Got the 0.5 novella already here.

The character growth and how angular the characters are really appeal to me. They are occasionally quite hurtful and mean, or weak or obnoxious, and that makes it all more interesting.

Even disregarding the pig!

 

[Chaldanya]

@Lyanna Stark The novella is free on kindle for the uk - guess what I'm in the middle of doing?

OT: started the Bec McMaster effort - so far so good (not far into it) will post more thoughts in the UF thread shortly.

[Lyanna Stark]

3 hours ago, Chaldanya said:

@Lyanna Stark The novella is free on kindle for the uk - guess what I'm in the middle of doing?

OT: started the Bec McMaster effort - so far so good (not far into it) will post more thoughts in the UF thread shortly.

Ah yes, it's marvelously awkward, the interaction, isn't it? Once could get used to that awkwardness, even without the presence of pigs. 

One could get used to reading about those very awkward siblings, so concerned with propriety.

Let me know how you get on with McMaster (especially perhaps the second one, or maybe the third).

1 hour ago, Mandy said:

I'm in.  There's a pig, you say?? Am I the only one who reads books set specifically in, say, VIctorian England in an accent?  Do those of you across the pond read UF set in American cities in American accents? 

Depends how it's written and how distinct the voices are. Unfortunately, even Cecilia Grant made some mistakes with her otherwise very good British English (honor, color, fall (it's AUTUMN)), but they were few enough that it only annoyed me a little bit and after all, one gets used to things (this you will understand once you read the book  ).

It's much harder to imagine proper English being spoken when the author litters a text featuring 19th century London with "sidewalk", "traffic", "a few blocks" and other Americanisms. "Fall" instead of "autumn" is one of the more common, and very sloppy, ones. I am not even British, and if I can pick out more than ten errors in the first few chapters, then there are bound to be far more of them.

[ljkeane]

Speaking of accents; overall I thought Bec McMaster's books were reasonable but I did find the Oliver Twist style Cockney accents really annoying.

I've read a few of Courtney Milan's books, the whole Brothers Sinister series was available for about £6 which was pretty reasonable, I quite enjoyed them in a light, easy read way. That the relationships depicted were decidedly less creepy than many of the other romance books I've read so far, as advertised, was nice. Reading through the series I like the underlying theme of progression towards women's suffrage and the implication that the 'period' depicted in period romances wasn't actually that good of a time to live in. It does make feel like there's a bit more going on than in some of the other books I've tried.

[Kalbear]

On 7/6/2015 at 11:10 AM, End of Disc One said:

I keep seeing this topic come up, and I keep thinking it means something different. Something not very sexy at all. Surely I'm not the only one?

 

Gods, so much this.

Has anyone suggested the Sharon Green Jalav series for trashy fantasy with BDSM?

[Lyanna Stark]

25 minutes ago, ljkeane said:

Speaking of accents; overall I thought Bec McMaster's books were reasonable but I did find the Oliver Twist style Cockney accents really annoying.

 

Yep, I thought Blade's cockney was over the top some of the time. She also occasionally slips up and uses Americanisms, although most of the time it's not as annoying as to get grating. Callahan's Darkest London series is FAR worse in this regard. It's so littered with Americanisms and modern language usage I wanted to get my red pen out and start making corrections.

McMaster also gets points for creating a world that is interesting, with real political tension, social struggle etc. It's not just a world where hot people fall in love and live happily ever after: far from it. It's got some really grim aspects and danger is real (with death a quite possible outcome), not just Peril. I was disappointed in the last installment though, which felt rushed and out of focus compared to what I felt were well paced novels in no 1-3, which managed to balance plot, pacing and romance in a good way.

22 minutes ago, Mandy said:

That is unfortunate.  Where were her proofers?  Jeeez. I catch a mistake in every other book I read and I think... how did this NOT GET FIXED?!?  I did sign up to be a proofer for Ilona Andrews' most recent Kate book, but I wasn't chosen.  She could probably smell the rabid fangirl on me.

 

Better luck next time!

Overall, I wonder if a lot of American writers of historical romances get American proof readers, who won't necessarily notice all the non BE stuff.

[Lyanna Stark]

16 minutes ago, Mandy said:

I think we need to discern the difference between paranormal romance, romance, and erotica.  There is a difference, and if I wanted to read fap material, I'd go look up fap material.  I don't want erotica when I'm looking for romance or paranormal romance.  

Not to mention that a lot of erotica is outright painfully embarrassing and just wrong. 

[Contrarius+]

On 5/25/2016 at 4:16 AM, Chaldanya said:

Just reading A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant.

There's no firey passions from first sight but a genuine growth of affection between the main couple.  It's a delight to read after the cracktastic knicker dropping from Tessa Dare.

N

I really liked how awkward the sex was during most of that book. It wasn't supposed to be erotic -- and by golly, it wasn't!