Recommendations - Romance

Oh romance, my favorite genre of books by far. There are SO many good ones and yet, SO MANY terrible ones. I wonder why that is? Anyway, it can be dangerous to start reading romance without recommendations because of the risk of getting one of the truly awful books. Although people's tastes differ so it might always be chancy. I prefer historical (especially Regency-era, Scottish highlands, and the post-civil war American west) but I also really love Navy SEAL and spy books, also time travel. So I am not consistent I suppose, but here are my favorites - probably by author but I will list my favorite book or series:

Romance

1. Suzanne Brockmann - she writes lots of books generally contemporary action-ey, but the best by far are her Navy SEAL books in the Troubleshooter and Tall Dark and Dangerous series. They are all awesome, I have read them all many times. Particularly my FAVORITE, which  might be my favorite romance novel of all time  Out of Control. Read it!!! Unless you hate great books. Then don't.

2. Julia Quinn - she writes historical, Regency era books. Her best is the Bridgerton series, about all of the brothers and sisters in one family. So very good. But all her books are great - What Happens in London and Ten Things I Love About You are her most recent books (I think) and both are a good mix of funny and serious and awesome. They are generally all connected, at least set in the same world with the same characters so favorites from previous books pop up now and again and I love that!

3. Mary Balogh - she has a bunch of books that are not good, and then, she has the Slightly series - which is so good, that no matter how many times I read it I love it and read it over again. It is about a family - the oldest brother (Wulf) is a DUKE! And they all have unusual names and it is awesome. All the books have the word slightly in the name - Slightly Married, Slightly Wicked, Slightly Scandelous, Slightly Tempted, Slightly Sinful and Slightly Dangerous. Slightly Dangerous is the BEST, but it is only the best if you read the other ones first so you get the full effect. There are also two prequels that are good (but not quite as good) which are One Night for Love and A Summer to Remember. There is also a connected series, the Simply series, which is almost as good - Simply Unforgettable, Simply Love, Simply Magic and Simply Perfect. Again, if memory serves, the last one in the series is the best - but you have to read the entirety of the Slightly and Simply series first to get the full effect.

4. Lisa Kleypas - she also has books that are not good - all of her contemporary books for example - but then she has two series that are wonderful. And they are interconnected (surprise surprise) something that I completely love. The first one to read is the Wallflower series - Secrets of a Summer Night, It Happened one Autumn, The Devil in Winter, Scandal in Spring and A Wallflower Christmas. They are all good, really good. Then comes the Hathaway series - Mine Till Midnight, Seduce Me At Sunrise, Tempt Me At Twilight, Married By Morning, and Love In The Afternoon. Also all good. It is best to read them in order. But I sometimes read them in order of which is my favorite.


5. Julie Garwood - one of the first romance writers I ever read - and still one of my favorites! She has two different sub-genres: historical and contemporary mystery/action/suspense. Both are good, but I definitely favor the historical ones, especially any set in the Scottish highlands (Ransom, The Bride, The Wedding) or the westerns (For The Roses, Clayborne Brides, Come the Spring - a series) - they are the best! Frequently the books interconnect, but they can stand alone too. You can be pretty safe picking any book she has written.

6. Janet Evanovich - she writes/has written a number of stand alone (meaning not in a series - shockingly) that are excellent and uniformly hysterically funny. Seriously, laugh out loud funny. There are quite a few - Hero At Large, Thanksgiving, The Grand Finale, Foul Play, Manhunt, Love Overboard,  Back to the Bedroom, Smitten, Wife For Hire, Rocky Road to Romance, The Naughty Neighbor. She has also written a couple of other series, both alone and with a partner that are pretty good - The Full series (Full House, Full Tilt, etc) and the Alex Barnaby series (Metro Girl, Motormouth, Troublemaker) that are worth a read too. Not to mention the Stephanie Plum series - which I will not mention. Until later that is.

Other Romance Favorites:

     - Lynn Kurland: She writes about time travel which is surprisngly fantastic! They generally interconnect 
        by family, so good ones to start with are Another Chance to Dream and A Dance Through Time.

     - Nora Roberts: Perhaps the most prolific romance author of ALL TIME - seriously, she has written a
        million books! But her most recent stuff has been totally disappointing. The best best Nora Roberts
        books are not too old, but not too new. The middle is where it is at. The best series are: Ardmore -
        Jewels of the Sun, Tears of the Moon and Heart of the Sea, Chesapeake Bay: Sea Swept, 
        Rising Tides, Inner Harbor and Chesapeake Blue, but there are lots of other good ones.