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Hey, I didn't realize we got a romance thread! Here's what I've read lately: Peter Cabot Gets Lost a gay 1960s roadtrip enemies-to-lovers romance -- a pretty light, fun read. tbh the setting made it feel 'timeless' for lack of better word? Using a map instead of GPS for directions, using payphones instead of cell phones, etc. Under the Whispering Door story about a ghost learning to be a better person (it's also gay). I definitely liked it better than The House in the Cerulean Sea, which struck me as a little saccharine. The beginning's a little rough, but the emotional moments got me more than I was expecting them to. The romance is definitely not as central of a focus as you might expect though. Archangel's Light uhhhhhh it's the 14th book in the Guild Hunter series, and the first one that has two men as the couple (so I don't recommend starting with this one). It's a little light on the romance which only becomes apparent in the last 10% of the book (and they only kiss. lmao), but I kind of respected the focus on laying out their friendship, since there's an actual payoff to that in the final scenes. T. Kingfisher's Saint of Steel series: Paladin's Grace, Paladin's Strength, Paladin's Hope I actually started with Paladin's Hope (aka the gay one, the other ones feature heterosexual couples) and then went backwards, mostly because the author's previous attempt at a romance novel (she's written a fair amount of fantasy + fairy-tale retellings) had a Big Misunderstanding that really got on my nerves. I'm happy to say that these novels definitely do not suffer from this problem. If steampunk-ish worlds and romance heroes who are berserker paladins of a dead god sound interesting I recommend checking this out. And also check out the author's non-romance works, they're also good. quote:So, I don’t know if anyone here listens to podcasts but I got turned on to (hah) the Bonkers Romance podcast by Heaving Bosoms, and some of these books they talk about as ‘aftercare’ (it makes sense if you listen to the podcast) are as much pure insanity as the book being reviewed. EDIT: a suggestion for the OP -- I think Bridgerton and Julia Quinn should probably be mentioned somewhere, since that might currently be the most prominent romance-novel piece of media that isn't also an Austen adaptation kurona_bright fucked around with this message at 02:19 on Nov 30, 2021 |
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Nov 30, 2021 02:10
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I have not read Den of Vipers, but reading that description made me think of another romance I read recently, Run Posy Run. It's a mafia romance... which I don't really read, but the summary intrigued me. And it was good, except that I really wanted the hero to eat poo poo for a little longer. It also made me discover that maybe I am a prude, because there are several love scenes that happen around other people and I kind of had to mentally gloss over those. It's also a little more brutal than most of the books I like to read -- but I guess that's par for the course for the genre?
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Dec 3, 2021 08:59
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I do like reading this sort of thing but several things have to hold true: 1) the mean person has to have a reason for being mean. maybe the other person really hosed them over. 2) the mean person can't cross a line. this line is very nebulously defined in my head, sorry, and probably depends on the book. 3) the mean person can't be mean for too long. 4) the mean person has to make it up in some way. it doesn't have to be flashy, but it has to be emotionally meaningful. This is really important, because honestly this is one of the main reasons I read these sort of romances
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Mar 2, 2022 03:44
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StrixNebulosa posted:If I want to read a romance novel outside of my usual paranormal wheelhouse, where should I start? I don't like comedy, I do like murder mysteries, I love animals, and I'm curious about historical settings. Got any good recs? Funnily enough, my knowledge of murder-mystery romances mostly feature queer relationships. This is probably entirely the fault of Josh Lanyon, who has been writing gay murder-mystery romances for over two decades at this point, to the point where it was its own little subgenre for a while. I think either the standalone Snowball in Hell (which is also set in the 1940s) or Fair Game (which is contemporary-ish) would be fine enough places to start. If you would rather read a lesbian romance, I enjoyed Proper English (set ~1900s) by KJ Charles well enough. When it comes to heterosexual mysteries, it's been a while, but I think I remember liking the Lotus Palace Mystery series by Jeannie Lin well enough, which takes place in Tang Dynasty China. I also liked Nobody's Sweetheart Now (1920s England) by Maggie Robinson, but it's really much more of a mystery book than a romance. When it comes down to an actual-to-goodness Regency murder-mystery, I think your best bet is probably Murder on Black Swan Lane by Andrea Penrose or the Lady Sherlock series by Sherry Thomas (who has written a _lot_ of historical romances), but again, they seem to be more mysteries than romances (I also haven't really finished reading either of them, so take my opinion with a grain of salt). I've already typed a lot of words here, so I'm going to wrap up by saying if you're interested in reading a 'classic' romance with a Pride-and-Prejudice-esque dukes & high-society setting, Loretta Chase's Lord of Scoundrels is probably one of the most beloved (but I would recommend Lord Perfect above that one tbh). Honestly, these kind of books are like 95% of all historical romances published, so you can probably just pick a book at random off this reader poll list as see if you like it not: https://allaboutromance.com/aars-top-100-romances/ (edit: you may want to look up warnings before you dive into any of them though, some of them are unfortunately very old-school in the bodice-ripper way) kurona_bright fucked around with this message at 23:48 on Mar 18, 2022 |
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Mar 18, 2022 23:43
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I have unfortunately bounced off of Whyborne-Griffin like twice so far, I’ll have to give it another shot sometime. Salt Magic, Skin Magic is a book I haven’t reread, but I definitely remember liking (Lee Welch has another fantasy romance out as well - Seducing the Sorcerer, if people are interested). If people are looking for another historical paranormal series, there’s the Magic in Manhattan series by Allie Therin, which is set in 1920s new york. I think the first book is a little rough — not bad, but I definitely found myself liking the later books more. And if someone just wants a full-on fantasy romance with dragons, check out Reawakening by Amy Rae Durreson; it’s the first of a series and to be honest, I just really like Durreson’s work. I’ve reread her Frost of Cares (a wintertime ghost-story) several times at this point. kurona_bright fucked around with this message at 15:07 on Mar 23, 2022 |
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Mar 23, 2022 15:05
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Casual Encountess posted:are there some gender flipped romance novels that are of reasonable quality? like instead of the quiet lady librarian getting into some steamy romance with an aloof and cold but handsome businessman, its some himbo trying to pursue like buffy the vampire slayer? idk im not tied to paranormal or anything. i am just a queer thembo and id like to read about people like me being romanced and most of what ive read is more spank bank sexy than something interesting romantically. ive read a bunch of m/m stuff in pursuit of this but it didnt quite hit for similar reasons The immediate book I thought of with your request here is Meljean Brook's Heart of Steel: quote:As the mercenary captain of the Lady Corsair, Yasmeen has learned to keep her heart as cold as steel, her only loyalty bound to her ship and her crew. So when a man who once tried to seize her airship returns from the dead, Yasmeen will be damned if she gives him another opportunity to take control.  (also, it's steampunk)The first book definitely falls more into the traditional dynamic you said you're not interested in (aloof, powerful hero; heroine wasn't a pushover but still), and on top of that, it has a truly uncomfortable scene (cw:sexual assault) where a sexual encounter between the two leads starts off consensual but then the heroine wants out and the hero doesn't realize (they're both drunk i think). He's horrified afterwards but nobody (including me) was happy. I can't really recommend it, personally. I don't remember anything like that in the second book (also, in universe, I don't think any scenes between Yasmeen and Archimedes could even play out that way, just because of who they are). Also, it's been years, but I remember liking it at the time. I'm fairly certain you could read the book as standalone... but you might want to pick the book up at a library instead of buying it, in case I'm wrong. FURTHER EDITS: The Greenhollow Duology is a very good time, I agree. Definitely a good read if you want more of that spooky historical feel. Strix, I hope you have a good time with those two books! I've only read Miss Wonderful once but I don't remember disliking it, which I think is a good thing. Mr. Impossible's dynamic is fun, but if you have strong feelings over British colonialism & Egyption historical sites at that time you'll probably have to brace yourself. Also maybe for the depiction of Egypt. That book is very Of Its Time and may not read well in 2022. (Lord Perfect for the most part holds up at least) kurona_bright fucked around with this message at 19:01 on Mar 25, 2022 |
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Mar 25, 2022 18:10
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StrixNebulosa posted:So I was reading the Duke and I and I discovered a friend of mine is also reading it, and she warned me about That Scene and... I zoomed ahead in a fit of angry curiosity and read the whole thing and what the gently caress, Julia Quinn! Why was there a rape scene in a light and airy comedy regency romance novel? Yup, that scene is bad. And I haven’t watched the Netflix adaptation, but apparently it’s still there
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Mar 27, 2022 22:18
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I saw another post talking about this thread (well, complaining, really). As a result, I figured I'd give some recs for contemporary m/f, in case anybody reading this thread isn't interested in the m/m fantasy stuff we've talked about before. You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle is a relationship-in-trouble story where the couple is engaged, but the relationship is effectively miserable and both of them know it. But all of the (nonrefundable) reservations have been made, and whoever breaks up is the one who will have to pay the bill, so the two of them start actively trying to make the other's lives hell in order not to be stuck with the check. I liked this one because the relationship felt awful in the beginning. But they start rebuilding what they lost and figure out the different ways they failed each other, and that was pretty good. Impressive for a debut novel imo Twice Shy (also by Hogle) starts off with the heroine inheriting a huge property from her great-aunt after said great-aunt passes away, allowing her to leave behind her frankly terrible job. Unfortunately, her aunt also left the property to a grouchy groundskeeper, and it turns out that the two of them have very different ideas about what they want this property to be. The property's kind of a mess at the moment, so the two of them start working on fixing the place up and (surprise!) start forming a connection. I also really liked this one, unsurprisingly. While the couple start off on the wrong foot, they're not as pettily mean as in You Deserve Each Other. It's a pretty slow book, and melancholic at times, particularly when the heroine reflects on how she and her great-aunt drifted out of touch. Bet Me by Jennifer Cruise starts with the heroine overhearing her awful ex (who just dumped her) bet another man that said man can't get her into bed. Said man did not actually agree to the bet, but he ends up asking her out anyways, and it's a pretty awful blind date, so they agree to never see each other again. But they keep on bumping into each other, and start seeing different sides of each other. This is probably my favorite Jennifer Crusie book and is an extremely good time. It's also a much faster-paced book than the Hogle books I recommended, and I'm especially fond of Crusie's distinctive writing style -- here's the opening paragraphs: quote:Once upon a time, Minerva Dobbs thought as she stood in the middle of a loud yuppie bar, the world was full of good men. She looked into the handsome face of the man she’d planned on taking to her sister’s wedding and thought, Those days are gone. The last book I have to recommend is a little different, in that it's not a comedy and it's not a personal recommendation -- it's because KJ Charles, an author that I really respect (and whose name has come up several times in this thread), liked it. It's The Kingmaker by Kennedy Ryan, and the first book in a trilogy. From what I understand, this story is more zoomed-out than the previous books mentioned in this post -- there's at least two substantial time jumps involved. I've been meaning to get around to reading this -- when I have, I'll post an update. kurona_bright fucked around with this message at 08:52 on Apr 29, 2022 |
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Apr 29, 2022 08:17
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The main thing that bugs me about Psy-Changeling is that you have a world where a third of humanity literally represses all emotions and sexual expression outside of pure reproduction (until test tube babies are invented at least), where the major city featured predominately in the earliest books is San Francisco, but queerness ends up relegated to 1-paragraph blink-and-miss-it references scattered throughout the books. That and the heroes in the Psy-Changeling series not really deviating from Possessive Alpha Male (regardless if they're shifters or Psy) was the reason why I haven't touched the Trinity follow-up series (even if I have read pretty much everything leading up to that). Her Guild Hunter series is a little better about this imo, but that one also straight up has books where it's literally all about the plot and there's no new romantic couple being introduced, so there's more room for side characters to breathe. For all my complaints, the fact remains is that I still read 14 books and several side stories about the Psy-Changling series. There's still a lot to like there.
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Jun 14, 2022 04:41
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I've actually read that latest Guild Hunter book! My post is earlier on in the thread somewhere. tbh it's a very heavy focus on the two leads' history together, and the romance part happens in the last 10% of the book. also there's no sex, lol. I didn't have a bad time with it but it's clearly as tame as possible to not piss off the existing readerbase (which didn't quite work, you only have to scroll a little bit down on its goodreads page to see thinly-disguised homophobia). I tried shotgunning a bunch of Psy-Changling books during the winter holidays earlier this year, in an attempt to re-read the entire series so I could get to Allegiance of Honor (and by extension, the Psy-Changling Trinity series. Yes, I know it's supposed to be a 'fresh start' series but whatever). Unfortunately I bounced off of them, but that's also because these books are _long_ for romance books imo. I think the one featuring Dorian is still one of my favorite ones of the bunch. On books I have read recently: A Lady for a Duke. This is historical romance down to its bones, featuring a trans woman who took advantage of being reported dead at Waterloo to live a new life. It's got some identity stuff going on at the beginning with the hero (who was the heroine's childhood friend) and is kind of angsty, but it's very sweet. It's maybe a little optimistic in how well everyone in-the-know takes Viola's identity, but also, it's a romance. Persuasion by Jane Austen, spurred almost entirely by me seeing this tumblr post about it, which made it sound like it would perfectly hit a bunch of emotional notes that I like. And it did! ...to an extent. The book is almost entirely from Anne's perspective (so we don't get to see Wentworth's internal monologue), and the language is (obviously) more formal than that of today, which blunted the emotional effect for me. But I still had a good time with it, and the scene with the letter at the end worked for me, as did an earlier one where Anne is doing her best not to cry as she plays the piano for dancers at a gathering. I recommend anybody interested in reading it to get the annotated version, since the historical footnotes were really useful imo
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Jun 19, 2022 09:43
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For books that start with an existing relationship between the two leads, the immediate thing that springs to mind here are marriage/relationship-in-trouble stories. You can google some up if you like, but I have a couple of suggestions: You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle This one is about an engaged couple who have completely lost the spark in their relationship. Neither of them want to be holding the bill for the nonrefundable wedding reservations, so they start tormenting each other to try to get the other to call it off. I think I posted about this earlier in the thread, but it's a little impressive that I ended the book actually believing in their relationship, because the first third-to-half of this book made me think they should just call the whole thing off After the Billionaire's Wedding Vows by Lucy Monroe Okay so I haven't actually finished this book but a podcast I like put it on their Best of 2021 List! ...and yes, the plot is literally what's in the title here, because this is a pure genre romance, and so it's very to-the-point and should be a pretty fast read. Murder Most Actual by Alexis Hall I haven't read this one either, but one of my favorite authors has written a glowing review. It's a murder mystery featuring a lesbian couple trying to rekindle their marriage while trying to figure out who the heck is killing people. The other thing that comes to mind that might scratch your itch are romance series that center around a single couple. The first book in these series generally are still get-together books, but the remaining books usually complicate/expand upon that relationship. These are all MM though: Adrien English Mysteries by Josh Lanyon This is a mystery series featuring a bookseller and a closeted cop (yes, this becomes a problem) that was published in the 2000s. It's been a long time since I've touched these, but at the very least the goodread reviews from the last couple years say they hold up. They get together by the end of the first book, but the two really don't reach that ideal romantic ending until the end of the fifth book, so perhaps that might also be what you're looking for. If you try this and like it, feel free to either dig around Lanyon's back catalogue or ping me for more recommendations, because there's like 3 more mystery romance series starring a gay couple that I could go on about lol The Wolf at the Door by Charlie Adhara Yes, it is a werewolf series, so keep that in mind going in. I also haven't read any of these books (the first is on my TBR list), but the reviews seem pretty positive. I think I could go on some more but I feel like I might've already gone overboard already. I hope at least one of these sounds like something you're interested in!
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Jul 12, 2022 11:17
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Cool, I hope you have a good time with them! Unfortunately, I did a little checking up on the Adrien English series and found that the books have aged much worse than I remembered. There's some reviews complaining about authorial racism throughout the series, but the author also has a character use the n-word (uncensored) in the second book to show how 'backwards' he is. There's also a scene from chapter 15 of the first book where the protag sleeps with a guy out of self-preservation -- he technically gives consent, but it's also pretty clear he's not enthusiastic about it. The only excuse I have for not mentioning this is that it's been over a decade since I read these books, and that I read them when I was a dumb teenager. If any of this is a dealbreaker for you, i totally get it and apologize -- I think you should be able to return it to Kobo for a refund. All of the other books I mentioned in my initial post should be fine, since they came out within the last five years. kurona_bright fucked around with this message at 04:45 on Jul 13, 2022 |
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Jul 13, 2022 04:40
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Pan Dulce posted:Any recommendations for M/F paranormal books? I've read Juliette Cross' Stay A Spell series and love it and kind of want a hot, sweet vampire or werewolf novel. Please, no dark romances and no Black Dagger Brotherhood. Mating the Huntress by Talia Hibbert was a pretty light & fun werewolf romance. It's technically Halloween-themed but I don't think that should matter If you're willing to branch out from werewolves into shifters, Nalini Singh's Psy/Changling series and Thea Harrison's Elder Races might work for you. There's generally some death and bad stuff happening in the books, but the romances between the leads are generally more lighthearted imo (granted, I've only read the first book of the Elder Races series)
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Jul 16, 2022 03:35
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I don't generally go for queer awakening stories, but these were the ones that came to mind for me. Hopefully someone else has more suggestions? Our Dreams at Dusk: This is not romance. It's not even traditional prose. It's a manga by a queer author (in 4 volumes) about a high school boy struggling with his sexuality stumbling across what is essentially a queer community center. While the protag is in high school, the story also explores the lives of other visitors to the center, many of which are adults who still haven't figured everything out. It does feature societal homophobia, liberal uses of 'homo', and one notable use of the f-slur (in the second volume), but I really recommend giving it at least a good try. Band Sinister: ...I realize that KJ Charles has come up a lot in this thread. But I don't think this one has been mentioned, and hey, this is a historical romance featuring a rather uptight, anxious, sheltered hero getting shoved into a completely new and bewildering environment, and finding it in himself to expand his horizons and fall for (perhaps unwisely) a rather scandalous gentleman. There are sex scenes, but you can probably skim them and still make sense of everything else.
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Sep 20, 2022 03:58
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Would it be all right if I took a look as well? The blurb sounds interesting to me.
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Feb 3, 2023 06:55
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newts posted:I would love to have more eyes on it! Here’s a link for you: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kjMkGAOi_FrL13g5j7jqr2RxefsCdWggIz57O_ER2XM/edit?usp=sharing Thanks for the link; I've downloaded and will take a look shortly. 
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Feb 4, 2023 02:20
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Google Jeb Bush posted:have you considered the locked tomb trilogy It's on the TBR! But no promises for when I'll actually get around to it, though... So, I'm only a chapter into the posted book (sorry!), but I figured I'd post my thoughts because I figure this might be useful information anyways: - I generally don't read cop romances these days. This might color some of the other thoughts I have, but I do think the first chapter was good at two things: 1) Hinting at the worldbuilding you've got going on. I like the bit about the ghosts and the magic and the plants. And the reveal about the ghost makes me interested to see how it all plays out. 2) Introducing Zuraw, and somehow managing to make me interested in the guy after he assaults a guy in his own home, wrecks the kitchen, and makes himself a cup of coffee, uninvited. It's a bit of a rough introduction, and idk if you want me to be questioning my own sanity at the end of the chapter, but I think it works for a couple reasons: - While Jack isn't happy about any of this, he's not terrified. From his point of view, the damage is annoying but simple to clean up, he's not actually hurt, and the interrogation seems more of an inconvenience than anything. If I think about what's actually going on here, none of it looks good to me, but since Jack's not bothered, I'm more willing to shrug and let it go (probably helped by the fact this is in first-person POV). - I'm willing to read LIs being assholes as long as certain conditions are met (see the list that got quoted): - Zuraw's not being awful for too long -- the way he slumps as soon as Jack lists off those who can vouch for him does a lot to ease my irritation towards him. - If you're willing to look past that initial bit, he doesn't really do anything else. He's being a dick, but not unreasonable; and again, Jack doesn't seem to give a poo poo, so why would I care? - He has a reason for being a dick; he's upset about his partner being murdered - This isn't one of the items from my list, but you've done a good job of making me believe Zuraw's hot, and more importantly, making me believe that Jack thinks he's hot. Shoutout to his dimples, somehow non-ironically. So while I personally think you could tone down his intro a bit and still establish Zuraw as a hot angsty rear end in a top hat, I'm not sure it's absolutely necessary; the teenage version of me that read Adrien English books wouldn't have turned a hair. While there's almost certainly other people who have stronger reactions than I did to that sort of thing, it just kind of depends on how much tweaking you want to do, personally. I'd obvs have to read the rest of the book to give a better opinion, but I think this first chapter did a good job of making me want to read more. I'll try and finish the rest of the book sometime this week and give more impressions then. still, the tiniest quibble about this line: "The sneer turned into a creepy smirk..." -- maybe I am internet poisoned, but if you put "creepy smirk manga" in google image search the first couple of images match the mental image I got. idk if that's what you actually want to be evoking here kurona_bright fucked around with this message at 09:15 on Feb 7, 2023 |
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Feb 7, 2023 09:06
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