Light, sexy period romance

[Ormond]

For some reason I misread that as Norman Mailer first and went like WTF dude?? :lol:

Anyways, can you specify which series you mean and why it is any good?

Uh, Lyanna, I think that post was a very bad joke. Here is a link to a page about John Norman after a relevant quote from it:

A major feature of the Gor books is their lengthy descriptions of men enslaving women, and the suggestion that female slavery is in some sense a natural order. The controversy over this stance has led to Norman being disinvited as a participant at one WorldCon, but it has also sparked a huge "Gorean" subculture — especially in online forums such as Second Life, which have a huge Gorean community.

http://io9.com/5783833/john-norman-the-philosopher-who-created-the-barbaric-world-of-gor

[Lyanna Stark]

Uh, Lyanna, I think that post was a very bad joke. Here is a link to a page about John Norman after a relevant quote from it:

A major feature of the Gor books is their lengthy descriptions of men enslaving women, and the suggestion that female slavery is in some sense a natural order. The controversy over this stance has led to Norman being disinvited as a participant at one WorldCon, but it has also sparked a huge "Gorean" subculture — especially in online forums such as Second Life, which have a huge Gorean community.

http://io9.com/5783833/john-norman-the-philosopher-who-created-the-barbaric-world-of-gor

Hah, I guess it shows that I've never taken any interest in the Gor books or the Gor community either. But I agree, a bad joke and a pretty tasteless one too. :ack:

I guess a lot of people find it amusing to take the piss out of the romance genre, even though one would think people normally inclined towards reading SFF genre fiction may be somewhat more considerate of other stigmatised genres.

[lady narcissa]

Just out of interest, why don't you like them? :) (I have not read any of Eloisa James' novels, just curious as to why. )

You know its been about five years since I last read one of her books and I don't remember the specifics of what I didn't like about most of them. My general impression is that they were just nothing special romances to me. I remember learning about her for the first time and buying her first three books and not keeping them. Then I tried those same three books again a few years later after I met her because I so liked her in person that I couldn't believe I hadn't liked them. But I got rid of them for a second time so I guess not.

The only book of hers that I didn't like that I remember more specifically...the hero in that book had been a secondary character in the preceding five books in the series. He was very entertaining, pretty much took over the other books, and was generally more interesting than the main characters. But then in his own book he got a personality makeover and it was a huge disappointment. In making the switch to hero of the novel I guess she felt he had to give up all the things that made him such a fun secondary character. After that I tried one of her latest series but that didn't stick with me either and after that I just stopped reading her.

I guess a lot of people find it amusing to take the piss out of the romance genre, even though one would think people normally inclined towards reading SFF genre fiction may be somewhat more considerate of other stigmatised genres.

Yeah that has always been my issue with the negative comments I've seen over the years here on this board. But I guess even the band kids feel the need to make fun of the kids in glee club.

[Whitestripe]

FWIW, I don't particularly care for Eloisa James either. She gave a reading/talk here (sponsored by the English Dept) on campus about the romance genre. I read up on her and tried one or two of her books, but I just didn't care for them at all. (I DO find her a very interesting person, though)

Another person who is actually a scholar and writes romance-ish novel is Deborah Harkness (but with witches and vampires, who do not sparkle or read minds but do walk around in the sun). I really liked Harkness's All Souls Trilogy in a total beach read kind of way. I'm a sucker (ha!) for a vampire novel and part of it was set in Madison County, NY which is in my backyard and I wanted to see if she got the local color right. (she did, mostly) While I did have a HUGE problem with folks touting the Harkness books as the Next Great American Novel (they aren't), they were entertaining and somewhat original. I think she does history better than, say, Diana Gabaldon, who needs an heavy-handed editor.

[lady narcissa]

Whitstripe, I'm with you, I think Gabaldon with her later books needs a heavy handed editor. But then I think GRRM needs one too as do a number of best selling authors with long running series who seem to be able to write and publish without being edited. All of them suffer from books that are just too long with too many unecessary details that would greatly benefit from being cut down.

I don't categorize either Gabaldon or Harkness as romance authors. While there are romantic elements to their novels and both series feature a couple meeting and coming together there is way more other stuff going on in the stories - history, science, time travel, etc. - that the balance tips them more firmly into the historical fiction category. Especially once you get past the first book in both series. Any book that includes 300 pages of detailed description of the food and the fauna and the clothing and the conversations of a family picnic in early Colonial America is not a romance novel.

Eloisa James is not alone in her educational background and academic experience. There are quite a number of professors, professionals with PhDs, lawyers, etc. who are published romance novelists. The genre in its authors and readers is packed full of incredibly intelligent, educated, and successful females.

[Whitestripe]

Lady Narcissa, I agree with you that Gabaldon and Harkness do not write romance, but their books do have some of the elements of the genre.

According to this article romance author is a very popular second career for lawyers. Maybe if Zabs ever gets tired of taxes... ;) I just hope she lets us help her pick her pen name.

[Angalin]

Heyer is always a good bet (but no sex). I'd start with These Old Shades and The Devil's Cub myself. If you like Heyer, you can also try Elizabeth Chater.

If you want a doorstopper, Forever Amber. Also, Through A Glass Darkly (and it's sequel Now Face to Face, which is less good and its prequel, Dark Angels, which is better). Have you read Outlander?

The Poldark saga by Winston Graham is wonderful (at least the first 3 books, the next three books are quite good, then there's a steep drop off in quality).

Early Mary Balogh can be fun, though she gets preachy and boring the longer she's written. Carla Kelly can be light and fun. Neither writer is so great on the actual history.

In a slightly different vein, Madeline Hunter, Elizabeth Hoyt, Loretta Chase.

If you want to go old school, there's always Rosalind Laker.

Anyhow, huge mix here in terms of quality both of writing and history.

I love Heyer, will have a look for Elizabeth Chater.

The BBC's Poldark is airing on PBS this year with the delectable Aiden Turner starring. (The music in the trailer irritates me.)

Another person who is actually a scholar and writes romance-ish novel is Deborah Harkness (but with witches and vampires, who do not sparkle or read minds but do walk around in the sun). I really liked Harkness's All Souls Trilogy in a total beach read kind of way. I'm a sucker (ha!) for a vampire novel and part of it was set in Madison County, NY which is in my backyard and I wanted to see if she got the local color right. (she did, mostly) While I did have a HUGE problem with folks touting the Harkness books as the Next Great American Novel (they aren't), they were entertaining and somewhat original. I think she does history better than, say, Diana Gabaldon, who needs an heavy-handed editor.

I still wonder if Harkness based her hero on an academic friend of mine... in any case, her attention to historical detail was appreciated. Some things seemed off about the plot (no, not the sun-friendly vampires), but I couldn't tell you what.

According to this article romance author is a very popular second career for lawyers. Maybe if Zabs ever gets tired of taxes... ;) I just hope she lets us help her pick her pen name.

Yes!!

[Lyanna Stark]

*bump* for this since my commute these days are made up of a. reading e-books with b. SHM playing very loudly to make me wake up (I hate mornings, and yes it is a very odd combination) . This made me trawl around Amazon for something readable and I accidentally stumbled across a period romance that doesn't feature any dukes, duchesses, earls or viscounts and only has a lord something as a supporting character: Honor Among Thieves by Elizabeth Boyce. Instead of features a penniless daughter of a very dead baron who is forced to steal corpses to try and pay back her dead family's debtors with the hero being a surgeon. Makes a nice change when it's not just some nicely dressed lady being OMG ruined!!!11 by some arsehole guy who then comes around cos Reasons. Instead it's a tad gruesome and I am always a sucker for a bit of a progressive, women's issues bent, which this novel has, to a degree.

My only complaint is that stuff set in London should be in British English when possible. Don't swap trousers, pants, breeches, or trews (like WTF really??) and whatever other leg and underwear it's possible to put male protagonists in. In general, my only complaints with a lot of novels that are period pieces are the jarring back and forth in language usage. Either stay with BE, or stay with AE. Either use trousers, or pants, or whatever highland kilts or whatever the hell they're wearing, but be bloody consistent. The same goes for when characters think all old-school in one paragraph and then switch to thinking of concepts and words that were probably not invented at that point in time (I had a rant and rage about this regarding a historical computer game as well. If it's a Medieval polish swamp, nobody is going to talk about "mutating cells", no really they are not). I see this time and time again, and it ought to be such a simple thing to fix. The same goes for the usage of "fall" and "a few blocks away" in a Regency or Victorian setting. I just jars like woah.

[TrishB]

A few months late with the reply, but that won't stop me.

Joanna Bourne

Meredith Duran

Cecilia Grant

Rose Lerner

Jeannie Lin

Courtney Milan

Theresa Romain

Sherry Thomas

My fave is Bourne, mostly because she includes a plot to go along with the romance and seems nit-picky about her history. The books range from Paris in 1794 to London 1818, though not sequentially within the "series". Milan's books are set in Victorian England and she adheres to some historicity, while throwing some bits out the window for her plot on occasion. (Generally explained in the afterword.)

[Lyanna Stark]

A few months late with the reply, but that won't stop me.

Joanna Bourne

Meredith Duran

Cecilia Grant

Rose Lerner

Jeannie Lin

Courtney Milan

Theresa Romain

Sherry Thomas

My fave is Bourne, mostly because she includes a plot to go along with the romance and seems nit-picky about her history. The books range from Paris in 1794 to London 1818, though not sequentially within the "series". Milan's books are set in Victorian England and she adheres to some historicity, while throwing some bits out the window for her plot on occasion. (Generally explained in the afterword.)

I've read quite a few of Milan's novels and they're really good reads, especially since all her heroes are nice guys, like really nice. Unlike most romance novels, they actually go out of their way not to be abusive, mean or awful. They don't try and pressure the heroine into sex, secret babies, elopement or abductions. Instead you end up with flawed protagonists who actually communicate with each other and are (woah) mostly nice to each other through out. Shocking. :P (In fact I'd say some, or most, of them are outright feminist in their approach.)

[TrishB]

I've read quite a few of Milan's novels and they're really good reads, especially since all her heroes are nice guys, like really nice. Unlike most romance novels, they actually go out of their way not to be abusive, mean or awful. They don't try and pressure the heroine into sex, secret babies, elopement or abductions. Instead you end up with flawed protagonists who actually communicate with each other and are (woah) mostly nice to each other through out. Shocking. :P (In fact I'd say some, or most, of them are outright feminist in their approach.)

That's really a big part of my enjoyment of Milan. You can actually like her characters. I'm very much a late-comer to the romance genre, despite reading everything else as a kid. Well, everything as defined by my parents' bookshelves and SFF, and old mysteries. Romance was off-putting with gilded fuchsia covers. Little did I know.

One other thing that left me surprised was more recent. On Twitter, I asked about romances in a certain vein. At least 3 of the authors in my above list started discussing what I might enjoy.

p.s. I know I am on Westeros.org. I don't have to like the characters in books, but sometimes it is a refreshing change.

[Lyanna Stark]

That's really a big part of my enjoyment of Milan. You can actually like her characters. I'm very much a late-comer to the romance genre, despite reading everything else as a kid. Well, everything as defined by my parents' bookshelves and SFF, and old mysteries. Romance was off-putting with gilded fuchsia covers. Little did I know.

One other thing that left me surprised was more recent. On Twitter, I asked about romances in a certain vein. At least 3 of the authors in my above list started discussing what I might enjoy.

p.s. I know I am on Westeros.org. I don't have to like the characters in books, but sometimes it is a refreshing change.

I completely agree with you and my experiences were similar. When I was around 14 or so I had a run-in with a huge plastic bag of borrowed Mills & Boon/Harlequin and found them quite off-putting and decided from there on that romance was not my Thing.

You don't have to answer, but what novels were you recommended on Twitter? I don't have a Twitter account so I am left with second-hand information at best. :p

Oh, also found this article which deals with both this and that, but it discusses among other things that men who read romance may be ridiculed for it.

[Lyanna Stark]

Because I can't find the "bad covers" thread, this can definitely go in here.

[End of Disc One]

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?

[Lyanna Stark]

Hey, I am not one to judge people's kinks. :P Besides, people even write songs about it! :blink:

[Elder Sister]

Hey, I read Pride and Prejudice fanfiction for kicks. I am sure not going to throw stones up in here. :D

[Astromech]

While perusing the shelves of my local half-price bookseller, I came across a certain novel on the clearance shelf (yes, I can be that cheap)that immediately caused to me do a double-take: G-Spot: An Urban Erotic Tale by Noire. I chuckled a bit and moved on until I came across the title, Thug-A-Licious, by the same author. Now, I really didn't want to run the risk of someone actually witnessing me reading the blurb on the back on these books, so I had to wait to google this author when I came home. http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16576.Noire

 

And here I thought people were basically reading Tudorotica. My mind is blown.

[Lady Blizzardborn]

I highly recommend Julia Quinn, Tessa Dare, Ruth Langan and Donna Cummings.

 

If anyone is interested in steampunk or time-travel stories there's a new-ish author named Angela Quarles.  I've read a couple of her stories and liked them.  She's got a novella called Beer and Groping in Las Vegas.  I really liked her Must Love Breeches, and she's got a new one out called Must Love Chainmail that I want to read for sure--love me some medieval stories.

[C.T. Phipps]

I've not read this one personally but a couple of friends recommended it to me.

 

http://maryrobinettekowal.com/novel/noble-family/

[DreamSongs]

If you want some smutty fantasy, try Anne Rice's Beauty trilogy. They were written under the the pseudonym A.N. Roquefort (or something very similar).