# Anyone a Contemporary Romance and/or Romantic Suspense fan?



## Atunah

We romance fans have a mega thread for historical romance and we have one for PNR and UF. I think we need one for 
contemporary romance which I think would include romantic suspense. 

I just heart from a reader in the HR thread that Grace Burrowes came out with a CR. She has only written HR so far as far as I know and has been pretty prolific. Curious how switching genres like that will go with her hard core fans. 

I am always looking for good contemorary romance as it is the subgenre of romance I have the most issues with finding interesting stuff. Not sure why that is. So bring them on.


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## Atunah

So I'll start with one I really liked I read recently. 


I know its considered by many as new adult romance and I guess it is. I also filed it under contemporary romance. Reason for this is that it seems really difficult to find nowadays NA or even contempo newly written that isn't a continuing saga over 3 books. So I search out romance with as usual each couple getting a book and then the next. I am not opposed to liking something that stretches over several books, I am totally gaga over the Kathleen Tuner series after all, but I will mark as such. 
Kathleen Turner is by Tiffany Snow by the way with a 5 book romantic suspense where it doesn't really end until the last book.

So back to the book I read, its the first in a series, romance series I mean with the couple getting their story in this book. I really liked this one. Former ice hockey player heroine that has an accident which makes have to use a wheelchair and she can get around with crutches a bit. I really liked both the heroine and the hero, but especially the heroine.


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## Trophywife007

Atunah said:


> So I'll start with one I really liked I read recently.
> 
> 
> I know its considered by many as new adult romance and I guess it is. I also filed it under contemporary romance. Reason for this is that it seems really difficult to find nowadays NA or even contempo newly written that isn't a continuing saga over 3 books. So I search out romance with as usual each couple getting a book and then the next. I am not opposed to liking something that stretches over several books, I am totally gaga over the Kathleen Tuner series after all, but I will mark as such.
> Kathleen Turner is by Tiffany Snow by the way with a 5 book romantic suspense where it doesn't really end until the last book.
> 
> So back to the book I read, its the first in a series, romance series I mean with the couple getting their story in this book. I really liked this one. Former ice hockey player heroine that has an accident which makes have to use a wheelchair and she can get around with crutches a bit. I really liked both the heroine and the hero, but especially the heroine.


Thanks for starting this thread, Atunah. I don't read a lot of CR but I have noticed the Tiffany Snow books and probably have a couple in my TBR pile. I need to get to those soon. One CR I read last year and liked was  I know there are more in that series but haven't gotten around to them yet.


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## Atunah

I loved On Dublin Street. I read the one after, was good too, didn't like it quite as much due to the heroine.

I also want to mention 

Its the first in a series of rockers, each of them gets their own books. I love this series. Rockstars done right. I am eagerly awaiting the next in the series.

I might be reading a few more romantic suspense novels coming up. Since Harlequin pumped a bunch into Scribd, there are some really highly recommended ones from the 90's when the line had a different name.

I read way more HR than I do CR, but I just want to find the few good CR when I do read it. It seems to get harder with a lot of the new stuff that is being put out. I don't really care when something was written, even if its a story that was written before there were cellphones for example. Doesn't bother me. If its good its good.

One thing I can't handle well in CR are heroines that collect shoes or are all into clothes and all that stuff. When the naming of the brand of the shoe starts happening, my eyes glaze over. There were a couple were she was wearing Lobatins (sp) or whatever the heck they are called. Some designer thingy. And it kept getting mentioned again and again. Or the purses and the clothes brand. Or what designer drink she drinks.

I also like Romantic Suspense a bit. I think its because there is something else going on other than just the contemporary romance so to speak.


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## Wisteria Clematis

I am the person who mentioned loving Grace Burrowes new contemporary romance:



The heroine has a lot of emotional scars but nonetheless is a kick-ass attorney (even though she struggles with feelings of insecurity in her personal life) and the hero is a beta sort of guy, a single father and so warm, loving, and hunky that I fell in love with him myself instantly. There is some element of suspense thrown in as well although it is not difficult to guess who the bad guy is but reading the story unfold did keep me on the edge of my seat. One of Burrowes greatest elements in her historicals is the witty dialogue and that is true in her first contemporary as well. I loved so many of these characters and am looking forward to the next two books in this new trilogy.

I also like to take a break from historicals every now and then but have a hard time finding contemporaries that I like. If you are in the mood to try something a little different I highly, highly recommend this novella by Mary Ann Rivers:



I promise you will laugh and cry and fall a little in love with these characters, flaws and all. I would give it ten stars if I could, just because it is so out of the ordinary but so believable and lovely. And if you enjoy it as much as I did, the author has begun a new series (the first two books are available so far) about a family of siblings who each find love which I'm also enjoying.

Thanks Atunah for starting this thread. Although I have a feeling my TBR list is about to grow even longer!


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## Atunah

Oh I loved the Story Guy. It kind of blew me away. I don't usually read novellas, but at least its a longer one. But it was so so good.

I think I own the first in her series she did after. Bought it on sale without checking anything, based on The Story Guy. It was that good.

Good to know about the Burrowes CR *Wisteria*. Wonder if she got tired of writing HR for a while. She is quite a prolific with her HR's.


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## Wisteria Clematis

Atunah said:


> Oh I loved the Story Guy. It kind of blew me away. I don't usually read novellas, but at least its a longer one. But it was so so good.
> 
> I think I own the first in her series she did after. Bought it on sale without checking anything, based on The Story Guy. It was that good.
> 
> Good to know about the Burrowes CR *Wisteria*. Wonder if she got tired of writing HR for a while. She is quite a prolific with her HR's.


I don't think she's finished with historicals! She has a new one coming out in an anthology later this week:



And I think she also has a new HR that will be released in April:



Not sure I should have posted those here--I think I am getting us off the contemporary track  I can't figure out how anyone can write so many books so quickly and have all of them be so good. I am definitely a fan.


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## Wisteria Clematis

Oh! I take it back--the one coming out this week IS a contemporary but it is set in Scotland so I just assumed it was HR. Wow. I can hardly wait to see it.


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## Atunah

Interesting. I'll check the one out set in Scotland. I like contemporaries that have something something. Setting somewhere other than the US is one of those something. 

Or wait, is that a short in an anthology though? I don't read shorts unfortunately, even from authors I like. Romance can't be put in a short. For me that is.


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## Wisteria Clematis

Atunah said:


> Interesting. I'll check the one out set in Scotland. I like contemporaries that have something something. Setting somewhere other than the US is one of those something.
> 
> Or wait, is that a short in an anthology though? I don't read shorts unfortunately, even from authors I like. Romance can't be put in a short. For me that is.


It's a two story book (Burrowes and Griffin) and about 200 pp so probably 100 pp each--about the length of "Story Guy." I know how you feel--I usually don't do short stories either but there are one or two authors I will make an exception for. I totally agree with you that romance can't be put in a short. I can count the good ones I've read on one hand and I read a lot of stuff.


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## cagnes

Thanks for all the great recs! 

I recently read these 3 new adult books from a new to me author & enjoyed them. They're part of a series called "a Sign of Love" loosely based on the zodiac. More of a theme than a series, they're mainly unrelated standalones except for 4 books that are paired together. (Leo & Leo's Chance), (Becoming Calder & Finding Eden). I think this is the 1st time I ever knowing read a series out of sequence!  That's only because this doesn't seem like a real series to me.... I was able to look past my series order OCD.  Looking forward to reading the rest of the "series".


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## Tess St John

Can't wait to check out these books!! One RS that really stuck with me was .


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## AmandaLove

Hi. I am new to kindleboards and this thread caught my eye. I love romantic suspense. The most recent one I have read is an older one by Nora Roberts. I managed to get a 'boxed' set while it was on sale but it looks like the price has gone up now. Nora Roberts seems to be pretty well known, but I was only recently introduced to her writing a few years ago.

I am also new to posting links but will give it a go. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L7GY4K8
The first one in the set that I read was called 'A will and a Way' and it was a good, fast read.

I am currently reading the first book in the Game of Thrones series (not exactly romance haha - but has plenty of suspense). It is the first time I've read a book after watching the show, and it is a strange experience for me.

I look forward to looking at the recommendations on here, especially the romantic suspense recommendations.


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## AmandaLove

Tess St John said:


> Can't wait to check out these books!! One RS that really stuck with me was .


DAMN - just had a look at this one on Amazon, but it doesn't seem to have an ebook version!


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## Atunah

AmandaLove said:


> DAMN - just had a look at this one on Amazon, but it doesn't seem to have an ebook version!


That link goes right to the kindle version. Are you in the US? Is it not available to your region?

It does look good. Don't think I read Robarts before, but she keeps popping up for RS.


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## AmandaLove

Atunah said:


> That link goes right to the kindle version. Are you in the US? Is it not available to your region?
> 
> It does look good. Don't think I read Robarts before, but she keeps popping up for RS.


Oh! Silly me - that explains it. I'm not in the US! There was a whole bunch of her books available for my region (au) but it wasn't listed there, so I (stupidly) assumed there wasn't a kindle edition of this particular book. Being in Australia sucks sometimes - I am not sure how much her ebooks are in US but in AU they are all around $9.99. I tend to read a lot of indie authors for this reason as I have no problem paying up to around $5 for an ebook, but I still kind of balk when they are between 10 and 20 dollars, and sometimes even more, for Australians. I've lost count of the amount of times a book I want has a fantastic promo price, only to find out the Australian publishers aren't matching it!!

Ps - thanks for pointing out the obvious - I feel like such a ditz haha


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## Atunah

Ouch darn. I heard AU is expensive for books. This book is 5.99 in the US store. Not that this helps you anything. 

Although, I grew up in Germany and books there have always been a lot more too with the way they had the system set up there. Pay the same no matter where you are. I been gone there now for almost 20 years, so no clue how it is with ebooks now there. Most of family I know there still read paper books, no ebooks.


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## AmandaLove

Atunah said:


> Ouch darn. I heard AU is expensive for books. This book is 5.99 in the US store. Not that this helps you anything.
> 
> Although, I grew up in Germany and books there have always been a lot more too with the way they had the system set up there. Pay the same no matter where you are. I been gone there now for almost 20 years, so no clue how it is with ebooks now there. Most of family I know there still read paper books, no ebooks.


Haha - wish everyone had that system! Personally, I think if you are buying a digital product that is exactly the same as the one in other countries, I think you should pay the same price (taking the countries dollar into account etc). Maybe one day Australia will catch up.

Most of my family also reads paper and my son absolutely refuses to read anything except paper even though he is a teenager. You would think he'd embrace digital before me, especially since he is a computer nut, but he loves the smell and feel of paper. Funny enough it was my mum who bought me my first kindle. Kindle has been a godsend for people like her (she has eye issues that make reading paper impossible). I love ebooks for their convenience.

I noticed you have a quote from Outlander in your signature. I have been meaning to read it and just noticed the au store has it for a lot cheaper than usual - only $6.92 - but I will probably wait until it becomes available at my library which has just added ebooks.


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## Trophywife007

Atunah said:


> It does look good. Don't think I read Robarts before, but she keeps popping up for RS.


Have you read any of the "In Death" series (with Roarke -- hubba hubba -- and Eve) by J. D. Robb? J.D. Robb is another pen name for Nora Roberts. I've read a few of them and thought they were quite good.


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## AmandaLove

Trophywife007 said:


> Have you read any of the "In Death" series (with Roarke -- hubba hubba -- and Eve) by J. D. Robb? J.D. Robb is another pen name for Nora Roberts. I've read a few of them and thought they were quite good.


I do want to read the series, but have put it off so far. ebooks are very expensive in Australia  The problem is there are so many good books and not enough time to read them all, and I tend to read the cheaper ones because I go through quite a lot of books. (I have trouble sleeping so I literally read myself to sleep). Every now and then we get the 'big names' for a decent price, but not very often.


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## KindleGirl

The "Fatal" series by Marie Force is an excellent romantic suspense series. LOVE Nick and Samantha.....their story and the suspense begins with  If you start this series you will not stop reading until you've finished the latest book (#, so allow plenty of time. 

Another RS series is the Bone Secrets series by Kendra Elliott. Good series and they are in Prime, so if you have it you could read them for free.

Julie James has an FBI/US Attorney series. I've only read the first one so far but have the other ones on my list to read soon. The first one was very good and had humor as well.


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## cagnes

KindleGirl said:


> Julie James has an FBI/US Attorney series. I've only read the first one so far but have the other ones on my list to read soon. The first one was very good and had humor as well.


I've only read the 1st one too & loved it... definitely plan to read the rest of the series!

I don't read all that much RS, but did enjoy these 2 by Elisabeth Naughton.
 

I love Pamela Clare's I-Team series!


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## Atunah

I literally inhaled that first in the Naughton series, Wait for Me. I own the 2nd and was about to start it soon. I mean I literally could not get my nose out of that one. My tip, don't read reviews or anything else about that. Just read it. 

Agree also on the Pamela Clare. I think I only read the first 3 so far, but I like its not the usual Seal type main characters, but reporters. 

Julie James sounded familiar, I had to look it up. I read "Just the Sexiest Man Alive" by her and remember being a bit disappointed as there was no "payoff" at all. I don't think there was even much kissing if any at all. It was just all the build up and with a title like, expectations and all that and then nothing. Not a bit of sensuality. Nichts. Nada. Nothing. In this case if felt missing. 
Fade to black can work, but for me, it didn't there. 

Are all of hers that "clean"?


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## Tess St John

Found these freebies today... and .


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## Atunah

Yay, Tess found us bearing gifts, thank you. 

I just found out that Courtney Milan today published a CR/new adult 

Every time a historical author does a contempo I stop breathing for a while. Especially if they are good.

It sounds really interesting with it being multi cultural and the description really is intruiging. Apparently amazon is slow as its not up there yet, but up at the other sites. Could only find this still not active link to the paperback

eta: NEver mind, I can't get the link to work at all. Its called "Trade Me"

Here is the link to its page on goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23566506-trade-me


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## Wisteria Clematis

Atunah said:


> Julie James sounded familiar, I had to look it up. I read "Just the Sexiest Man Alive" by her and remember being a bit disappointed as there was no "payoff" at all. I don't think there was even much kissing if any at all. It was just all the build up and with a title like, expectations and all that and then nothing. Not a bit of sensuality. Nichts. Nada. Nothing. In this case if felt missing.
> Fade to black can work, but for me, it didn't there.
> 
> Are all of hers that "clean"?


Definitely not! Each title in the FBI series is a little racier than the one before it. Only her earliest books are clean. 

I love romantic suspense but have to confess up front that it is hard for me to read any that contain very graphic violence. Sex is one thing, but torture and brutal murders just give me nightmares. One of my favorite RS novels is Linda Howard's "Mr. Perfect."



Enough suspense to keep you awake at night reading under the covers, but also great dialog and real humor.

I also enjoy Nancy Herkness. Not quite as heavy on suspense, but great love stories. She has a trilogy set in West Virginia that is great. In the first one the heroine is an artist recovering from a traumatic family situation who bonds with a 'whisper horse' and the hero is a very sexy Veterinarian.



And not a RS but just an unusual and lovely romance set in the Ozarks:


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## Atunah

So finally a link to that Courtney Milan I talked about earlier


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## Tess St John

I have to second Westeria's suggestion of . Very sexy, funny, and scary!!! It's on my keeper shelf! I'm not a fan of all of Linda Howard's books I've read, but this one was well done.

I'll check out , Atunah!!


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## readingril

KindleGirl said:


> Julie James has an FBI/US Attorney series. I've only read the first one so far but have the other ones on my list to read soon. The first one was very good and had humor as well.


I adore It Happened One Wedding. I've re-read and re-listened to that book a lot. It's become a 'comfort' read for me.


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## Wisteria Clematis

Atunah said:


> So finally a link to that Courtney Milan I talked about earlier


Oh! Thank you, thank you! Don't usually do YA but I'm going to try it because I love this author. But 400 pages!!!


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## Atunah

Wisteria Clematis said:


> Oh! Thank you, thank you! Don't usually do YA but I'm going to try it because I love this author. But 400 pages!!!


I don't think its 400 pages. Ebook is listed with 250 an paperback with 280. I started on the sample an then promptly had to buy the book to continue reading just now. 

It has 4291 locations, which seems about in line with the 280 pages of the paperback listed. 400 page books are usually more in the 6000 location range on my kindle. I basically flew through the 10 percent of the sample. But that is probably because the way its written. Love it already.

I think the heroine is 20, but to me its like a young woman having to deal with life already in her young age, rather than some teenagers. Its college so that I guess they call new adult. To me, its just life and regular contemporary romance. I moved out at 18 and started my apprenticeship at 16. Full time job from that point on, at 18 apartment rent, utilities, car payment and work. Later back to school to retrain and another trade. All by the time I was 16-24. So to me that is just being an adult. But I guess those were my days then, or maybe where I am from.


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## KindleGirl

readingril said:


> I adore It Happened One Wedding. I've re-read and re-listened to that book a lot. It's become a 'comfort' read for me.


Good to know her other books are good as well! I hadn't tried any of her others yet but I had looked at them. Another book to add to my list....


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## readingril

I've enjoyed the historicals I've read of Courtney Milan, but labeling this NA and seeing a comment it's written in first person makes me hesitate reading this book. So I figure I'll send a sample to my Kindle and go from there.


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## Atunah

readingril said:


> I've enjoyed the historicals I've read of Courtney Milan, but labeling this NA and seeing a comment it's written in first person makes me hesitate reading this book. So I figure I'll send a sample to my Kindle and go from there.


Yes read the sample. I am one that does not like 1st person, or even POV switches. Makes it very hard to find newly written stuff as it seems everything now is 1st person. I guess I'll thank Twilight and 50 shades for that. I can pick up a little older CR and they are not in 1st person. Maybe because of this New Adult craze everyone writes like that.

But, and here is the but, I don't even notice this in Trade Me. I can't explain the why's and what's, but as much as I normally don't like 1st person, I like reading this book. I don't go, this is in 1st person in my head like I do with many others. Its just there, in a good way. I think this is because its in the hand of a skilled writer and I don't want to strangle the person who's head I am in for the first time, if you know what I mean. 

So far no TSTL in sight with this heroine. Many 1st person NA have that kind of heroine and then they ask me to spend a whole book in that head.


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## readingril

Only 1st Person I've ever really liked are Lisa Kleypas' Travis series, and I liked them enough to purchase the Audible versions. 

Hopefully I can squeeze the sample in amongst my current TBR list. I can just hear those titles now... "hey no cutting in line", "hey, Reader, (s)he got in front of me".


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## Tess St John

Free CR today.... It's got good reviews, but I haven't read it...


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## Atunah

Finished 


and its really good. Its also loanable, so if someone here wants to read it, I'll loan it to you.

It is also on Scribd for those that have a subscription. And as someone that has a subscription, we still buy books we want to own. Its not a either or.


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## cagnes

Atunah said:


> Finished
> 
> 
> and its really good. Its also loanable, so if someone here wants to read it, I'll loan it to you.


I'd love to borrow it!


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## Atunah

cagnes said:


> I'd love to borrow it!


I could have sworn I had your email, but location of such is eluding me. Send me a pm and I'll end out the loan right away. Hope you like it


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## cagnes

Pm sent!  Thanks, looking forward to reading it!


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## readingril

Wisteria Clematis said:


> I am the person who mentioned loving Grace Burrowes new contemporary romance:
> 
> 
> 
> The heroine has a lot of emotional scars but nonetheless is a kick-ass attorney (even though she struggles with feelings of insecurity in her personal life) and the hero is a beta sort of guy, a single father and so warm, loving, and hunky that I fell in love with him myself instantly. There is some element of suspense thrown in as well although it is not difficult to guess who the bad guy is but reading the story unfold did keep me on the edge of my seat. One of Burrowes greatest elements in her historicals is the witty dialogue and that is true in her first contemporary as well. I loved so many of these characters and am looking forward to the next two books in this new trilogy.


I didn't like this book for a couple of reasons... the Maryland county where the story takes place doesn't exist. Yeah I know it's fiction, but please authors don't throw me out of the story that way. And without getting spoilery, part of the ending was just too Cinderealla'ish for me!

However.



Atunah said:


> Yes read the sample. I am one that does not like 1st person, or even POV switches. Makes it very hard to find newly written stuff as it seems everything now is 1st person. I guess I'll thank Twilight and 50 shades for that. I can pick up a little older CR and they are not in 1st person. Maybe because of this New Adult craze everyone writes like that.
> 
> But, and here is the but, I don't even notice this in Trade Me. I can't explain the why's and what's, but as much as I normally don't like 1st person, I like reading this book. I don't go, this is in 1st person in my head like I do with many others. Its just there, in a good way. I think this is because its in the hand of a skilled writer and I don't want to strangle the person who's head I am in for the first time, if you know what I mean.
> 
> So far no TSTL in sight with this heroine. Many 1st person NA have that kind of heroine and then they ask me to spend a whole book in that head.


I really liked Courtney's new book and I didn't think I would. Most NA seem so long ago to me (OK, I'm old), but this one did not, probably because the characters weren't acting young, they seemed to have experienced a lot of life in their own way. The 1st person perspective switches were done well, also. I'm so done with billionaires, but Blake seemed more realistic than most. I also really enjoyed his relationship with his father. Looking forward to the next book in the series... it sounds rather intriguing!


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## Atunah

readingril said:


> I really liked Courtney's new book and I didn't think I would. Most NA seem so long ago to me (OK, I'm old), but this one did not, probably because the characters weren't acting young, they seemed to have experienced a lot of life in their own way. The 1st person perspective switches were done well, also. I'm so done with billionaires, but Blake seemed more realistic than most. I also really enjoyed his relationship with his father. Looking forward to the next book in the series... it sounds rather intriguing!


I am with you on that. Many NA characters just act way to immature to me. I just can't relate to that much at all since at that age I was already having adult responsibilities, like most of the people I grew up with. 
So I liked that these characters had a more interesting life than they often tend to have in NA.

There is a sale. This is the first in a series I call romantic suspense with a twist. Or paranormal romantic suspense. Not in the sense of vampires or weres or anything like that. Its just a small part of it so far. 
I liked this a lot, fast paced and steamy.


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## Krista D. Ball

Just posting so that I can get updates as people read things


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## cagnes

These are my latest contemporary romance reads. Finished  & enjoyed it.

Just finished . SEP is one of my all time favorite CR authors & I was worried for a moment that this would be the 1st book by her that I wasn't crazy about. It started off a bit slow & weird, but got much better & I ended up really liking it!

Recently read these two & so far and I *adore* this series! Looks like I may have found another favorite CR author!


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## A.G. Richards

There are some interesting recommendations here ... thank you all.


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## readingril

I had the same opinion of Heroes Are My Weakness, it grew on me as I read it, except for the fact that the puppets reminded me of other "subcharacters", Molly's animal friends in This Heart of Mine, all of Ethan's celebrity "God" voices in his head in whatever that book was called with he and Kristy as a secondary romance. LOL I read waaaay too much! (I know there's a lot of controversy about THoM... but it's my favorite SEP book). 

I've just finished the second book by Claudia Connor in the McKinney brothers series. Much darker than the first book, but still an extremely good read from a new author. Looking forward to more in the series.


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## Atunah

A freebie

This one I have't haven't read yet, I own it and I paid for it when it was on sale. This author and series gets consistent great reviews from my reader friends. And the books have a couple in each book so beside the other POV one to this one, they are all standalones


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## cagnes

Atunah said:


> A freebie
> 
> This one I have't haven't read yet, I own it and I paid for it when it was on sale. This author and series gets consistent great reviews from my reader friends. And the books have a couple in each book so beside the other POV one to this one, they are all standalones


Thanks for posting, that's one that I plan to read!  I've read 3 of her books so far & really liked them.


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## cagnes

readingril said:


> I had the same opinion of Heroes Are My Weakness, it grew on me as I read it, except for the fact that the puppets reminded me of other "subcharacters", Molly's animal friends in This Heart of Mine, all of Ethan's celebrity "God" voices in his head in whatever that book was called with he and Kristy as a secondary romance. LOL I read waaaay too much! (I know there's a lot of controversy about THoM... but it's my favorite SEP book).


I hadn't thought of the similarities of the sub-characters until you mentioned it... true. I did love This Heart of Mine, but it wasn't a favorite. Dream a Little Dream (Chicago Stars Book 4) is one of my favorites & I believe that's the book with Ethan & Kristy.


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## cagnes

A Novella freebie from one of my favorite CR series!


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## Krista D. Ball

Read the new Barbara Freethy Callaway book. Over the top, predictable, and pretty much perfect. LOL I have no idea why I love this series, but I absolutely do.


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## Atunah

Harpercollins seems to have some sale and there are also freebies. I just sifted out the historicals from this link to the HR thread, but there are also contempo in there
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_ex_n_1?rh=n%3A283155%2Cn%3A23%2Ck%3A%22harpercollins%22&bbn=23&sort=price-asc-rank&keywords=%22harpercollins%22&ie=UTF8&qid=1426692417

Here is all the romance free. Well free until a few pages in as its sorted by price so be careful once you hit the ones that cost money.


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## Krista D. Ball

Thanks Atunah!

I'm going on vacation next month, and I've decided I want to get caught up on all of my romances in my TBR list. But then I realized I was only going on vacation for 5 days. So now I need to make decisions.


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## Atunah

HAHAHAHAHAHAH 5 days to read all the tbr, I am still laughing  . 

You can always take them all with the kindle though and then decide what you are in the mood for. Or whatever device you decide to take with you.


----------



## cagnes

Thanks Atunah! I downloaded a bunch of the HRs & found a prequel (that I was unaware of) to a book I'm currently reading in the Governess Brides series by Christina Dodd. Don't know how I missed that book, so happy to snag it for free!


----------



## Krista D. Ball

Atunah said:


> HAHAHAHAHAHAH 5 days to read all the tbr, I am still laughing .
> 
> You can always take them all with the kindle though and then decide what you are in the mood for. Or whatever device you decide to take with you.


LOL I thought I'd mostly caught up on all of the romances I'd bought. Then I started going through my Kobo and realized...oh...yeah...there's a lot of romance books still in there.


----------



## Atunah

A NA romance freebie that is well reviewed. 


It is the first in a series but in a proper romance way. Meaning its a complete story with the 2nd being about a different couple within the same group of people.


----------



## Atunah

Been a while it looks. I finished 


I loved it, it was really good. I heard it talked about among romance places as being a good NA.
As some know I have issues finding NA romance that I like. The subgenre seems to have gone down a different rabbit hole than one I like. Its not so much the way the hero is often portrayed as a alphole, exhibit A "Beautiful Disaster", its often the lacking change of character and growth and grovel. Also often I can't stand the heroines and I have to spend a hole book in her head usually, exhibit B "Thoughtless". 
So it becomes a hunt for the stuff I like. This I really liked. I also liked the Sara Bowen one I read, The year we fell.

For me, I am at the point where I mostly ignore the NA tag. I just call them contemporary romances with sometimes a bit younger characters. Although they are often the regular contemporary age, so I just don't know. Its why I put them on both shelves usually, NA and CR. Those NA like Beautiful disaster and such, I usually only put on NA.

I have a preorder coming out tomorrow and I am really looking forward to it. 4th in a series. I had this on pre-order since April 2014 
Love this series. Rockstars, yummy rockstars. Contemporary romance. Although some seem to file them as NA, not me, I don't see NA here. 
So Deep is out tomorrow


First in the series is 


which I bought and read before it was published by Mcmillan. Mine has the old cover, or it might update to this new yummy one if I loaded the book back on my kindle, haven't tried.

Highly recommend this series.


----------



## cagnes

Thanks for the recommendations Atunah! Added those to my tbr pile.


----------



## SandiintheSun

Hi...I'm new to this thread. I mostly read New Adult and Contemporary so this was an exciting thread to find. I am so excited about all these recommendations I have to fill up my kindle!

Has anyone read the Night Owl series by M.Pierce? That series is great and the final book just came out: http://amzn.com/B00HY070CU

I've also been reading some dark romance (it takes a stomach) by Vanessa Waltz, but I've enjoyed it. Has anyone read anything by her?


----------



## Wisteria Clematis

So I just finished  Rock star heroes aren't usually my thing and I often avoid books written in the first person, but this is the first title in the Stage Dive series that Atunah highly recommended so I gave it a try. Loved it! Just downloaded the second one because I am dying to read Mal's story.

Thank you Atunah! I can honestly say I never would have found this author on my own. And the hunk on the cover almost made me want to keep flashing back to him on my kindle


----------



## Atunah

Yay, so glad you loved it. I haven't gotten around reading Deep yet. I think the first is still my absolute favorite, although I really liked the other 2 I read also.

Mal is totally nuts . You'll see. Lead is also really good as its deals with a bit more heavier stuff on the rockstar side.

That new cover really is great. I bought and read the book when the cover was this










It was self published when I read it. I can't for the life of me though remember now who put it in front of my eyeballs. According to my review, I actually was able to form words to write one, I saw my reader friends "yakking" about it all the time. So it must have been on my goodreads feed and/or on amazon romance forum. 
Funny thing is when I look at my goodreads friends and those I follow, the ratings are all over the place, including some DNF's . Just shows that even if you have reader friends that like the same stuff you do, it still doesn't mean we'll agree on everything.

So I am glad you liked this, cause it would have been totally ok if you didn't.


----------



## Coleen Kwan

I have been glomming on Sarina Bowen's Ivy Years series. I recently read her adult contemporary Coming In From The Cold

which I enjoyed, but not as much as her Ivy Years books mainly because the hero is often unlikeable.


----------



## Wisteria Clematis

I just finished 

I really think it is one of the best things she's written in a long while. The romance is sweet, but it is also a great character study. The hero is a little bit beta but just to die for, and the heroine is so spunky you just want to cheer for her. The supporting characters (family members) are great too. Setting is a small town in the smoky mountains in Tennessee. There was a bit of suspense although it wasn't that hard to guess who the bad guy was---I held my breath anyway because I didn't really know what he would do next. It was the dialog and relationships that made this one so special. I am pretty sure it is a freestanding novel but wish the author would turn it into a series (I can't believe I'm saying this!) because I'd like the heroine's brother Forrest to have his own HEA.


----------



## Atunah

I have a great freebie today. I floved this book. I think they call this NA, which is that thing I have such issues with finding good stuff nowadays. So for me, I just call them contemporary romance with college age characters. This has no whiny heroine jumping from one to the other guy in a triangle, it has no hero that loves to beat everyone that looks at the girl to a pulp. No alphole. I thought this was really well done. Heroine a former hockey player that had a bad accident and her disability is not overlooked, it is woven into the story I thought well done. Lots of feels. 
Its the first in a series, each book about different characters.


----------



## Atunah

Freebie

This author has another series with Montlake. This is the second in a different series. After Math is the first, seems to be NA romance.

And this one on sale for *1.99*

It won book of the year RT awards. I haven't read it.


----------



## Wisteria Clematis

I am a big fan of Sherry Thomas's historical romances--particularly the trilogy about the Fitzhugh family. But I put off reading her first contemporary story when it was released a while ago because I didn't want to be disappointed and shifting to current day can be tricky for any author. I like my favorite writers to stay inside my comfort zone .

 I can't believe I waited so long to give it a try. The plot is totally improbable but once you suspend disbelief this is such a great story. The characters are not perfect--they have human flaws--but they are really, really likeable and you find yourself wanting so much for them to find their HEA. Like in her historicals, the dialog is one of the best parts. Some of the exchanges just had me laughing out loud. And just FYI the Hero is the great-great grandson of a pair who were featured in one of her earliest historicals:


----------



## Wisteria Clematis

Wisteria Clematis said:


> I am a big fan of Sherry Thomas's historical romances--particularly the trilogy about the Fitzhugh family. But I put off reading her first contemporary story when it was released a while ago because I didn't want to be disappointed and shifting to current day can be tricky for any author. I like my favorite writers to stay inside my comfort zone .
> 
> I can't believe I waited so long to give it a try. The plot is totally improbable but once you suspend disbelief this is such a great story. The characters are not perfect--they have human flaws--but they are really, really likeable and you find yourself wanting so much for them to find their HEA. Like in her historicals, the dialog is one of the best parts. Some of the exchanges just had me laughing out loud. And just FYI the Hero is the great-great grandson of a pair who were featured in one of her earliest historicals:


I forgot to say that it is also a very steamy read! Beautifully done, but don't pick this one up unless you don't mind getting your fingers burned!!!


----------



## Trophywife007

Cool!  I have Private Arrangements for some reason and I've got a couple of her historicals on my list, too (from Overdrive) so I'll have to get around to this new one.  Thanks!


----------



## Wisteria Clematis

Atunah said:


> Finished
> 
> 
> and its really good. Its also loanable, so if someone here wants to read it, I'll loan it to you.
> 
> It is also on Scribd for those that have a subscription. And as someone that has a subscription, we still buy books we want to own. Its not a either or.


So this one finally made it to the top of my TBR pile. I kept putting it off because I'm not into YA and don't usually enjoy first person stories. But I love Courtney Milan's historicals and I trust Atunah, so.....

It is going on my keeper shelf (my metaphorical kindle cyber keeper shelf). A really lovely romance and great characters. Not so sure I'm interested in Maria's story which comes next, but I definitely want to read the third volume with more about Tina and Blake. I adored Tina's little Chinese activist mom who prided herself on creating the world's ugliest cakes for Walmart and would pay for immmigration lawyers for her neighbors before paying her own electricity bills. She was a hoot! And Adam, Blake's dad, was quite a character too. The greatest compliment I can give this book is to admit I wish I didn't have to wait for the next two--I want to read more about these families right now 

I owe you one, Atunah. I might not have picked this one up if you hadn't mentioned how much you liked it.


----------



## MariaESchneider

Romantic suspense isn't something I read often, but I won two paperback books by Sandy Parks from fb.  Repossessed and ... well, that's the first in the series and since I am reading it, I remember the name.  I blogged the books last week and noticed the ebook for it is on sale for 99 cents.  For me, what makes the romantic suspense is the mystery factor and whether or not the heroine has an interesting job/role.  In Repossessed, the main is a pilot and there's a good mystery thread running along.  My only complaint is there are multiple POV and I'm not a fan of such.  Anyway, so far so good.


----------



## lmroth12

I am not into Contemporary Romance but love Romantic Suspense. My faves, however, are still Victoria Holt and Phyllis Whitney. They combined realistic heroines (read that as: they would never be mistaken for super models) with lovers who had LOTS of character flaws, and who didn't show up to rescue the heroine from her problems. Plus, the mysteries required that you pay attention carefully while reading, and frequently there were family situations to be resolved in the midst of all the other activity. Never feeling like a formula, never making you feel like you wandered into a fantasy world of "perfection", and sometimes leaving you with tears in your eyes or a lump in your throat, as well as a chuckle or two along the way.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

I liked Victory Holt and Phyllis Whitney as well. . . . .also Mary Stewart . . . . totally agree with your assessment that they're romantic without being sappy and predictable and the 'mystery' was always pretty well crafted . . .complex without being over done.  Plus they women never acted like the too-stupid-to-live sorts you see so much of . . . for their day, they were adventurous but without being overly 'feminist'. Much like a grown up Nancy Drew who'd learned to be careful about things.


----------



## kai_andersen

Atunah said:


> That link goes right to the kindle version. Are you in the US? Is it not available to your region?
> 
> It does look good. Don't think I read Robarts before, but she keeps popping up for RS.


If you like Karen Robards, you should check out her Dr. Charlotte Stone series (currently up to #3). It's a mix of suspense and paranormal, and there are central characters running through the entire series, aside from Charlotte. I'm totally hung up on this series due to Charlotte's romance with this sexy ghost. Yeah, that gets me every time. LOL Should be interesting to see how the author resolves that and gives them a good ending.


----------



## kai_andersen

Atunah said:


> As some know I have issues finding NA romance that I like. The subgenre seems to have gone down a different rabbit hole than one I like. Its not so much the way the hero is often portrayed as a alphole, exhibit A "Beautiful Disaster", its often the lacking change of character and growth and grovel. Also often I can't stand the heroines and I have to spend a hole book in her head usually, exhibit B "Thoughtless".


I totally understand what you mean. I avoid such NA's as well, and for a time, I didn't think much of the genre as a whole. Then I came upon this book -- Make It Count by Megan Erickson -- and it's nice!! Surprise! The hero isn't the dark damaged kind (which I hate); he's a geek -- that's totally cool. And the characters are normal, college kids going through the problems of people that age. Good book. But the sequel didn't quite tickle my fancy, and I hadn't read the 3rd yet.

Another book -- Isn't She Lovely by Lauren Layne. Love it, too.

You might want to check them out.

Oh, and I've heard a lot of good things about The Deal too. It's on my TBR.


----------



## Atunah

Thanks Kai for your suggestions. I'll check them out. 

We all need to pull out a tape measure and see who's TBR is the biggest.


----------



## readingril

Atunah said:


> We all need to pull out a tape measure and see who's TBR is the biggest.


Mine's got issues... I keep rereading old favorites!


----------



## Ann in Arlington

I manage my TBR list by reading a few . . . . and then buying a half dozen more as a reward.


----------



## Atunah

Ann in Arlington said:


> I manage my TBR list by reading a few . . . . and then buying a half dozen more as a reward.


Ah, the spoiling of the TBR method. Just give it more, even if it didn't ask for it. 

I kept thinking of a way to manage my TBR, or how to get to book that been on it for a while and so on. Then I thought, why bother. Does it really matter? I mean as long as I get to read books I enjoy its all good. If someone here suggest a book and I check it out and I like it, its all good. Its not like the other books on the TBR are getting mold on it. They'll still be there. TBR is really a wishful thinking of immortality at this point for me. With the rate I am adding to it, compared to what I am taking out of it, there is no realistic change I'll ever empty it in my puny human lifespan. And wouldn't it be really sad to have an empty TBR list anyway.


----------



## readingril

Those TBR critters seem to have insatiable appetites!


----------



## Wisteria Clematis

So....I just finished reading the Sweet Water trilogy by Lisa Clark O'Neill. I read the first one in a single day--couldn't put it down. Heroine has decided to open a book store with her best friend in the small town where they both grew up, and hero is a reclusive author who has just moved in next door. These books are romantic suspense--enough suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat but not enough to scare you witless--and heavy on the romance. All the characters (some really great secondary characters) are the kind it would be fun to know in real life--lots of witty conversations and humorous moments along with the suspense. Even some laugh out loud funny moments that reminded me of the kind of humor found in the Charley Davidson books (Atunah I think you would like this author). Anyway I got so sucked in that I had to immediately download the rest of the trilogy and find out how my other favorite characters found their HEA. Highly recommended.


----------



## Atunah

My ear perked up.  

Putting it on a wishlist for now for later. I blew my book budget for the moment.  

Sounds really good though.


----------



## Wisteria Clematis

Atunah said:


> My ear perked up.
> 
> Putting it on a wishlist for now for later. I blew my book budget for the moment.
> 
> Sounds really good though.


I think it can be loaned...are you interested? I've never tried that before so you might have to give me directions.


----------



## Atunah

Wisteria Clematis said:


> I think it can be loaned...are you interested? I've never tried that before so you might have to give me directions.


I'd be interested. I just finished a book and was waffling what to read next. I'll pm you my email. That is all you need. You go to the book page and on the top it should say loan to someone, or such phrasing. And along the way you'll put in my email and I'll get a notice. I have 7 days to claim and when I do, it goes poof from your kindle for 14 days. Then you get it back. Or I can return it early to you when I finish.

THank you, that is sweet to offer.


----------



## Wisteria Clematis

Atunah said:


> I'd be interested. I just finished a book and was waffling what to read next. I'll pm you my email. That is all you need. You go to the book page and on the top it should say loan to someone, or such phrasing. And along the way you'll put in my email and I'll get a notice. I have 7 days to claim and when I do, it goes poof from your kindle for 14 days. Then you get it back. Or I can return it early to you when I finish.
> 
> THank you, that is sweet to offer.
> 
> Done! Hope you enjoy.


----------



## Atunah

Thanks Wisteria. I just started and I am really liking the tone of it. I am only 5 percent in and I am already smiling a lot, so that's a good sign. I think I'll like this kind of humor.


----------



## cagnes

Wisteria Clematis said:


> So....I just finished reading the Sweet Water trilogy by Lisa Clark O'Neill. I read the first one in a single day--couldn't put it down. Heroine has decided to open a book store with her best friend in the small town where they both grew up, and hero is a reclusive author who has just moved in next door. These books are romantic suspense--enough suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat but not enough to scare you witless--and heavy on the romance. All the characters (some really great secondary characters) are the kind it would be fun to know in real life--lots of witty conversations and humorous moments along with the suspense. Even some laugh out loud funny moments that reminded me of the kind of humor found in the Charley Davidson books (Atunah I think you would like this author). Anyway I got so sucked in that I had to immediately download the rest of the trilogy and find out how my other favorite characters found their HEA. Highly recommended.


Sounds interesting, I'll add them to my tbr pile. Thanks!


----------



## Jen200

I have added them to my wish list.  I noticed the second one is in KU.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## Atunah

Jen200 said:


> I have added them to my wish list. I noticed the second one is in KU.
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Oh it is, only the second, that is bizarre. If I like the first, at least I know where to find the second.


----------



## KindleGirl

This Sweetwater trilogy sounds like a good one. It sounds like just the kind of books I like. I've already sent myself a sample of the first one. I have KU trial for the next month so that may work out for the second one. I love recommendations!


----------



## Jen200

Wisteria Clematis said:


> So....I just finished reading the Sweet Water trilogy by Lisa Clark O'Neill. I read the first one in a single day--couldn't put it down. Heroine has decided to open a book store with her best friend in the small town where they both grew up, and hero is a reclusive author who has just moved in next door. These books are romantic suspense--enough suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat but not enough to scare you witless--and heavy on the romance. All the characters (some really great secondary characters) are the kind it would be fun to know in real life--lots of witty conversations and humorous moments along with the suspense. Even some laugh out loud funny moments that reminded me of the kind of humor found in the Charley Davidson books (Atunah I think you would like this author). Anyway I got so sucked in that I had to immediately download the rest of the trilogy and find out how my other favorite characters found their HEA. Highly recommended.


I just finished the first book. I loved it. I am starting the second one now.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## Atunah

I just finished 


Thanks again Wisteria for loaning it to me. I enjoyed it very much. I loved the humor in it and the how I felt I was there in that community. Great sense of environment. And all the characters including all the side characters came alive.

Looking forward reading the next in the series. Its in KU, the second one only as I can see. But handy for me.


----------



## Wisteria Clematis

Atunah said:


> I just finished
> 
> 
> Thanks again Wisteria for loaning it to me. I enjoyed it very much. I loved the humor in it and the how I felt I was there in that community. Great sense of environment. And all the characters including all the side characters came alive.
> 
> Looking forward reading the next in the series. Its in KU, the second one only as I can see. But handy for me.


Glad you enjoyed it too


----------



## Wisteria Clematis

I have great news for anyone who is a fan of the early romantic suspense novels of Mary Stewart. I have been waiting in vain for any of her titles to appear in kindle format--I would dearly love to reread them but can't quite bring myself to attempt reading my yellowed old paperbacks. I have just noticed that three of her early titles are now available for kindle, published by the Hatchette Group. I hope this means more will be coming soon! The three that have been kindlelized so far are:







I am such a happy camper!!!


----------



## Ann in Arlington

Cool! I was pretty much raised on Mary Stewart! Though, those aren't the covers I remember. 

My favorites were _My Brother Michael_ and the one that was set on the island of Corfu . . . . blanking on the title right now.

I think I'm going to splurge on these three, though, and have a re-read. <hums happily>


----------



## readingril

Different covers, for sure. I have a couple of falling apart pbacks upstairs, My Brother Michael, and Touch Not the Cat.


----------



## A.G. Richards

KindleGirl said:


> This Sweetwater trilogy sounds like a good one. It sounds like just the kind of books I like. I've already sent myself a sample of the first one. I have KU trial for the next month so that may work out for the second one. I love recommendations!


You took the words right out of my mouth, KG!


----------



## Wisteria Clematis

Curiouser and curiouser.....I checked Mary Stewart titles to see if any more have been converted to kindle yet and behold! Now the three titles that were listed are no longer even available. That is really disappointing.


----------



## William Woodall

I like love stories, but I have a hard time finding really good ones.

I noticed some of you have complained about the high price of ebooks, and I couldn't agree more. I get most of my reading material from Smashwords, which has grown to be a huge site for indie books. Some of those are wonderful and others not-so-wonderful, of course, but if you want a plentiful source of free and cheap books then it's a hard site to beat. Not to mention, prices are the same worldwide.

The site is at www.smashwords.com, for those of you who are interested in checking it out.


----------



## Atunah

Wisteria Clematis said:


> Curiouser and curiouser.....I checked Mary Stewart titles to see if any more have been converted to kindle yet and behold! Now the three titles that were listed are no longer even available. That is really disappointing.


I just noticed that too. I never read a Mary Stewart so I was looking forward and send a sample to my kindle. Now they are gone. I looked at it seems like publishers changed. No clue though why there wouldn't be a ebook. I can't read paper anymore so either I am going to lose out or the publisher is. Oh well

As I was sitting there staring at my kindle what to read next, I picked up a CR. I had this one in my archive for a while, I bought it with the settlement money some of us got. I am like 38% in and holy moly. This is how you do a romance, without bang wham mam right off the start. I mean there is more tension here with all the clothes on, than I have seen in a lot of new romances. Wowser. That is how you do it. The emotion is there, the everything. I have no words. A doctor decides to go onto a reservation to practice for 2 years. There she meets chaos and, Rebel. I can't even.





So so good.


----------



## cagnes

Atunah said:


> I just noticed that too. I never read a Mary Stewart so I was looking forward and send a sample to my kindle. Now they are gone. I looked at it seems like publishers changed. No clue though why there wouldn't be a ebook. I can't read paper anymore so either I am going to lose out or the publisher is. Oh well
> 
> As I was sitting there staring at my kindle what to read next, I picked up a CR. I had this one in my archive for a while, I bought it with the settlement money some of us got. I am like 38% in and holy moly. This is how you do a romance, without bang wham mam right off the start. I mean there is more tension here with all the clothes on, than I have seen in a lot of new romances. Wowser. That is how you do it. The emotion is there, the everything. I have no words. A doctor decides to go onto a reservation to practice for 2 years. There she meets chaos and, Rebel. I can't even.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So so good.


Sounds like my kind of book, thanks for the rec!


----------



## Wisteria Clematis

Atunah said:


> As I was sitting there staring at my kindle what to read next, I picked up a CR. I had this one in my archive for a while, I bought it with the settlement money some of us got. I am like 38% in and holy moly. This is how you do a romance, without bang wham mam right off the start. I mean there is more tension here with all the clothes on, than I have seen in a lot of new romances. Wowser. That is how you do it. The emotion is there, the everything. I have no words. A doctor decides to go onto a reservation to practice for 2 years. There she meets chaos and, Rebel. I can't even.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So so good.


I haven't read a good CR in a while---going to download this one! Thanks Atunah.


----------



## Atunah

It was really good. Well, for me it was.  . Not saying more


----------



## cagnes

Atunah said:


> It was really good. Well, for me it was. . Not saying more


I clicked the buy button & will start reading it tonight.  I'm behind on my goodreads western challenge & need to get busy reading more westerns!


----------



## Atunah

Ohhh pressure. I hope you guys like it. I think you will.


----------



## passerby

Post removed.


----------



## adelaiderose

I'm a huge contemporary romance fan and I'm thrilled that there is a thread dedicated to it. Recently, I've become a very big fan of Lauren Blakely's stories. In my opinion, her characters are well-developed and her stories have just the right amount of heat.


----------



## passerby

My all-time favorite has to be _Cry No More_ by Linda Howard. Awesome book!

Vanessa


----------



## Wisteria Clematis

Just finished a contemporary that was lots of fun. A good, light read--heroine is a disaster magnet, kind hearted and impulsive and always landing in some kind of trouble. Hero is a sexy alpha, and very engaging minor characters as well. Some laugh out loud funny moments, and steamy sex scenes. This is a relatively new author, and I'll definitely be on the lookout for her next book.


----------



## Wisteria Clematis

Another first time author who is going to be someone to watch. Some hysterically funny dialog (Atunah I'm thinking of you) and really engaging characters. Set in the contemporary theater world. I'm definitely snapping up Lucy Parker's next book whenever it comes out.


----------



## readingril

Act Like It is definitely a keeper for me!


----------



## Atunah

I have that on my reading next list on my kindle. I received it from a generous soul as a gift in the gifting thread. I am now looking forward to it even more than I did already.


----------



## Atunah

This author always seem to be highly recommended. 
FREE


----------



## TriciaJ82

Atunah said:


> This author always seem to be highly recommended.
> FREE


I didn't love the beginning but it definitely picked up. I do want to read the others in the series. I have a deal to share:


.99

That is .25 a book by a best selling author. I was originally going to post Killing Kelly for .99 but I found the bundle  I have read most of them and they are quite good.


----------



## readingril

I've only ever read her Civil War series, which I adore.

from my Galaxy S6


----------



## TriciaJ82

Another bundle deal to share. These are fun beach reads.


.99


----------



## Atunah

This one been getting great reviews from reader friends. I haven't read it yet, but its on sale for 
99 cents and is written by 2 great contempo writers. Really like the theme on this one so I'll click this one. I have a few slow shipping credits saved up.


----------



## TriciaJ82

Atunah said:


> It was really good. Well, for me it was. . Not saying more


 Love it!  



Wisteria Clematis said:


> Another first time author who is going to be someone to watch.


I read this and loved it! My only complaint is it wasn't longer



Atunah said:


> This one been getting great reviews from reader friends. I haven't read it yet, but its on sale for
> 99 cents and is written by 2 great contempo writers.


I just purchased this one tonight and I wasn't sure at first but I am now 30% in and loving it. There are some laugh out loud parts that make it a fun read. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this one, particularly at .99 The only draw back I can see is that it does change POV between the hero/heroine and that can be a deal breaker for some. I am not a fan of that style but it seems to work for this book. Ugh now I have to be an adult for a little while and get some chores done. I would rather keep reading.


----------



## readingril

Wisteria Clematis said:


> Another first time author who is going to be someone to watch. Some hysterically funny dialog (Atunah I'm thinking of you) and really engaging characters. Set in the contemporary theater world. I'm definitely snapping up Lucy Parker's next book whenever it comes out.


I read somewhere that this is also Lucy Parker:


----------



## Atunah

readingril said:


> I read somewhere that this is also Lucy Parker:


I heard that too. Why does someone need two names for the same genre?


----------



## readingril

I dunno but I bought Artistic License for free! It was in my KU-Want-to-Read list already so it was on my radar before I saw that.


----------



## TriciaJ82

If someone hasn't picked it up before Artistic License is available for free again.


----------



## Atunah

Found this over on dearauthor.

http://programminginsider.com/cable/ae-networks-partners-harlequin/

A&E Tv network is getting together with Harlequin to make some movies of series and popular books.

I figured it will be more likely, if they are making anything romance, it would be contempo and RS, as suppose to historical and sci fi.  It does say on the top, mystery, romance, thriller and suspense. So who knows. Like we need more thrillers. Sigh.

There really really need to be more regular romance movies on TV. When I say regular, I mean not inspirational, not chick flick with no HEA. I am so desperate to watch some romance movies that I have to watch Hallmark channel. Now don't get me wrong, some good stuff there, but its a bit hard to find not so, how to put it, inspy, homey stuff.

I read reviews on those movies on a site, hallmark movies and a movie I watched and actually liked, had the heroine being divorced and living with her new boyfriend and drinking wine. Folks were going off on it in the comments about what a slut she was and its not good values and such things. . They barely kissed for crying out loud. That movie was a few years old and most of the newer hallmark stuff is very very perky and cutsey it seems now.

That is what I mean by finding stuff. Like the books we like to read, just in movies. I am not saying they have to do the monkey like Claire and Jamie, just more like normal you know. There is plenty of "clean" stuff out there in this genre on TV. Very little that is you know, normal level. Anywho, I am looking forward to some of those movies. If they actually getting around making them.


----------



## readingril

I'd probably attempt to watch... if someone could pry my Kindle outta my hands (and hide it).


----------



## Wisteria Clematis

Kylie Scott (who wrote the 'Stage Dive" series) has a new book out which is the first in a brand new series:



It's getting good reviews.


----------



## Atunah

I loved the Rock series starting with "Lick" by this author. I have this one on waitlist at the library.


----------



## worktolive

My library doesn't carry it   so I'm debating whether I should buy it at full price or wait for it to come on sale. They usually discount the first book of a series right before the second is released. Kylie Scott is one of the few authors I will consider buying at full price. I absolutely loved Stage Dive. Mal is one of my favorite book boyfriends and I heard that he makes a brief appearance in this one. Since it's only $4.99, I may just break down and get it.


----------



## TriciaJ82

I love rock stars! I will definitely have to check out this author Nalini Singh also has a rock star series that is amazing. They were all 5 star reads for me. I will admit that there is a novella between 1 and 2 that I skipped but I didn't miss anything.

Book 1


----------



## TriciaJ82

Sale:


1.99

I already own it and it definitely an enjoyable read


----------



## Atunah

I just finished an awesome book



5 star read from me. Its set in London, among stage actors. And it was not first person, yippeee, it was an adult CR, not some wishy washy emo drama lama in 1st person where there are so many out there now. Its amazing how hard it is to find good CR that is not written in 1st or is not about whiney young, or adults acting like young whiney ones.

I would read more CR if I could find more like this. Loved the setting, all british.

So now I am starting another one that looks to be a hit.



Set in Sidney and again, normal 3rd person. These are the kind of reads I am looking for in CR. Anyone that read those has other recs, I am all ears.


----------



## crebel

Sorry, I posted to this thread instead of the Historical Romance thread - I have deleted and moved my post!


----------



## worktolive

Atunah said:


> I just finished an awesome book
> 
> 
> 
> So now I am starting another one that looks to be a hit.
> 
> 
> 
> Set in Sidney and again, normal 3rd person. These are the kind of reads I am looking for in CR. Anyone that read those has other recs, I am all ears.


Act Like It is on my never-ending TBR pile. Every time it gets recommended, I bump it up, but the problem is that my copy is in ePub and that means reading on my iPad, so it usually gets bumped right back down again. As for Ainslie Paton, I've read 2 of her books (Grease Monkey Jive and Unsuitable) and have at least 2 or 3 others on the pile. I loved both of the ones I read. It's so refreshing to read romances by non-US authors because they often don't follow the standard conventions that we are used to.

If you are looking for smart, adult characters and good banter, I'd recommend anything by Jennifer Crusie, Julie James, or Jill Shalvis. If you haven't read Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie, do yourself a favor and grab it! I think you've read the Stage Dive series by Kylie Scott, but if not, you should give it a try. I loved Hollywood Dirt by Alessandra Torre which features an actor who goes to Georgia to shoot a movie and meets a local girl who is utterly unimpressed with him. Another stand-alone romance that I recommend to everyone is Good Time Bad Boy by Sonya Clark. The hero is a washed up 40 YO country singer and the heroine is a very mature 26 YO waitress, but he's the one that has some growing up to do while she's the one who has her act together. It's one of those lovely, quiet romances that just focuses on the characters and their growing connection.

Let's see, other authors I'd recommend are Marie Force, Ruthie Knox, Meg Benjamin, Melissa Cutler, Sarah Morgan, Sarah Mayberry, Shannon Stacey and Claudia Connor. Oh, and Victoria Dahl - I really loved her Tumble Creek series.


----------



## readingril

While I'm a fan of many of the authors mentioned above, my first recommendation is Julie James. She writes smart professional women and heroes that have stuck with me.


----------



## Atunah

I read two by Julie James, had to check. One I didn't really like that much was "just the sexiest man alive" I almost didn't read another by her based on that one. Then I read "Something about You" first in the FBI series. I did love that one. 

I read Bet me and another by that same author a few years back, Kylie Scott, just need to read the last in the Stage Dive, awesome series. I own Hollywood Dirt so yay on that. 

I'll look up the other names. Ruthie Knox keeps getting rec'ed to me. And I own 5 of her books already   .
Sales, get me everytime. Or I should say, they used to get me everytime. 

thanks for all the names, making a list for adult CR so I know where to go in the future. Awesome.


----------



## crebel

GeorgeFox said:


> Another great contemporary romantic suspense novel is The Mystery Of An Old Murder by Laura Brett (all five star reviews on both Amazon and Goodreads!)
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Old-Murder-Laura-Brett/dp/1532957173?ie=UTF8&keywords=mystery%20old%20murder&qid=1463759482&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1





GeorgeFox said:


> Have you checked out the books by JENNIFER VICTORIA CHURCH? They fall right into the romantic suspense category. Her books The Gypsy's Prophecy (https://www.amazon.com/Gypsys-Prophecy-Jennifer-Victoria-Church-ebook/dp/B01B8PLM8O/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1463759421&sr=8-4&keywords=jennifer+victoria+church) and The House With The Haunted Oak (https://www.amazon.com/House-Haunted-Jennifer-Victoria-Church-ebook/dp/B01B8P1RSO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1463759421&sr=8-2&keywords=jennifer+victoria+church) are quite suspenseful.


None of these books fall into the Contemporary Romance or Romantic Suspense categories, not even close.


----------



## worktolive

Atunah, if you see anything that's lendable and want to try it, I'd be happy to loan if I have it. I've been reading about 2/3 contemporaries lately so my library is huge.  

I agree on Julie James. I started with her FBI series so I was hooked right away, but I think Just the Sexiest Man Alive was her first book, and wasn't as good as the later ones. Also, I mentioned Marie Force - have you tried her Fatal series? It's about 50/50 between romance and suspense and it's really good. I also like her Gansett Island series.


----------



## Wisteria Clematis

worktolive said:


> Act Like It is on my never-ending TBR pile. Every time it gets recommended, I bump it up, but the problem is that my copy is in ePub and that means reading on my iPad, so it usually gets bumped right back down again. As for Ainslie Paton, I've read 2 of her books (Grease Monkey Jive and Unsuitable) and have at least 2 or 3 others on the pile. I loved both of the ones I read. It's so refreshing to read romances by non-US authors because they often don't follow the standard conventions that we are used to.
> 
> If you are looking for smart, adult characters and good banter, I'd recommend anything by Jennifer Crusie, Julie James, or Jill Shalvis. If you haven't read Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie, do yourself a favor and grab it! I think you've read the Stage Dive series by Kylie Scott, but if not, you should give it a try. I loved Hollywood Dirt by Alessandra Torre which features an actor who goes to Georgia to shoot a movie and meets a local girl who is utterly unimpressed with him. Another stand-alone romance that I recommend to everyone is Good Time Bad Boy by Sonya Clark. The hero is a washed up 40 YO country singer and the heroine is a very mature 26 YO waitress, but he's the one that has some growing up to do while she's the one who has her act together. It's one of those lovely, quiet romances that just focuses on the characters and their growing connection.
> 
> Let's see, other authors I'd recommend are Marie Force, Ruthie Knox, Meg Benjamin, Melissa Cutler, Sarah Morgan, Sarah Mayberry, Shannon Stacey and Claudia Connor. Oh, and Victoria Dahl - I really loved her Tumble Creek series.


Oh! I second Jill Shalvis, she's a go to author when I need something light and fun to read. Worktolive, a couple of these authors are new to me so thank you for that! Otherwise we have pretty similar tastes 

Other romantic suspense authors I can recommend are Suzanne Brockmann, Elizabeth Lowell (really liked her 'Donovans' series), and Lisa Clark O'Neill (especially the 'Sweet Water' books). For general contemporaries you could try Nancy Herkness (the 'Whisper Horse' series), Kristan Higgins, or Virginia Kantra (the 'Dare Island' books). And of course they are slightly dated now but intended to be contemporary--any of Georgette Heyer's mystery novels that feature either Hannasyde or Inspector Hemingway.


----------



## Wisteria Clematis

Julie Anne Long's first contemporary romance is finally here! After all of her Pennyroyal Green books (which I mostly loved) I'm anxious to see what she does with this genre.


----------



## Atunah

Anyone have any good way to search for CR/RS that is either set in britain, england or other, or has a british hero in it? 

I just tried searching in the kindle store and it is horrible. Nothing but scam book and shorts and things calling themselves books with like 130 pages. I searched for contemporary romance england. Holy moly what a mess. No matter what I sort it at, can't find a darn thing this way. 

Thing is, I do like some wittiness (not overly cutesey though), but often they tend to lean towards chick lit when they have that with many of the usual authors, settings in the US. I don't like chick lit stuff at all so that is why CR is so difficult for me to find. Some might be that I cannot relate to the heroines that like to go shopping, collect shoes and purses. I didn't grow up in the US so college stuff is just not something I can relate to either. I'll read it if its well done. 

I also don't like NA, so it makes it even more difficult.
Its just tough right now with the lists being populated by all the things I hate. Bikers, fighters, billionaire bdsm, stepbrothers, a-holes, emo NA, abuse CR (some call it dark), etc

Going to see if I can find some goodreads listopia's on this. 

They really need to clean up the amazon kindle store. Romance categories are just flooded with garbage.


----------



## worktolive

Atunah said:


> Anyone have any good way to search for CR/RS that is either set in britain, england or other, or has a british hero in it?


I never try searching, and this is why. It's virtually impossible to get meaningful results. I just read lots of book blogs and keep lots of lists. 

I would recommend Sue Moorcroft. I read a really good, very British romance by her called Starting Over. So different from American romances. She's published by a company called Choc Lit. They publish mainly British authors, both romances and Chick Lit.



Other authors that write romance with British settings are Jane Lovering and Linda Gillard. Also LH Cosway - her settings are Irish. Her books border on NA, but I really wouldn't classify them in that category although her MCs are usually in their early to mid-20's.

I also recently started a series by Janet Elizabeth Henderson that's set in a small town in Scotland. I started with the second book in the series, which is called Goody Two Shoes, but I know you would want to start with the first book which is called Lingerie Wars. The book I read was quite funny - I would classify it as small town romantic comedy, but definitely not chick lit.



The only problem with all of these is that you are unlikely to find any of them at your local library, but Choc Lit's prices are good, and others are self-pubbed and in the $3.99 range.


----------



## NightWriterCT

For romantic suspense - two books that raised the bar for me (as both a reader and a writer) are by Susan Isaacs:

Shining Through



and

After All These Years



I can't count how many times I've read them. They're both just so good.


----------



## Wisteria Clematis

Finally sat down and read Julie Anne Long's book cover to cover.



OMG! A five star read for me--it may even be better than some of her Pennyroyal Green historicals. I started it a little skeptically because the plot didn't sound too great---hot actor's truck breaks down in small mountain town, he meets beautiful young waitress, etc. But it never got trite at all, the characters were all so great. How can you not love a woman who rescues dying plants and nurses them back to life on her front porch, telling them every day they're doing great? Or a sexy hero who brings her a dying azalea instead of roses because he intuits how much she would love being able to save it? Or the gin-drinking, rifle-toting ninety-two year old woman next door? There is a whole host of eccentric and wonderful characters in this book and I fell in love with most of them! The romance is both sweet and incredibly hot, there are real and serious issues the hero and heroine deal with, and their HEA warms the heart. I am now seriously looking forward to the next book in this new series, and I know who I want the main character to be.


----------



## Atunah

Thanks worktolive for all the CR options to look at. Its just easier to have something to start with. Searching really is useless at this point.

Wisteria, I added the Julie Anne Long right to my library after reading your review. I always get concerned when a HR writer jumps to CR. I don't want to lose them. Darn, or is it loose. I know crebel tried to give me a mental "bridge" the other day and its already fallen out of my brain. I am loosing it 

Anywho, The Long title is on my reading list. But holy hell that is a horrible title. Yikes. I would never touch that with a 10 foot pole if it was an unknown author, unless of course it would be recommended.

So I just finished 


And I really liked it, a bit short. So I read 2 of this author now, since someone said that she also writes under Lucy Parker.

Both of these books have one thing in common, they are not based in the US. I think for me I just tend to like those better, or at least have some non american characters in it. I can't explain it, it just is.


----------



## Wisteria Clematis

Yep, it is a god-awful title. I don't know what she (or her editors) were thinking. I would never have picked it up either if she wasn't a favorite of mine already. But it is really good! Speaking of editors however--I'm wondering if she even had one for this book. There were several typos throughout....not enough to detract from reading it, but enough to be surprising in a book by a major author. Things spell check wouldn't catch--like using the wrong pronoun ('she' instead of 'he') or 'there' instead of 'their.' Again....not to the annoying point. You're gonna love some of these characters!


----------



## TriciaJ82

A really great freebie and first in the series.


----------



## readingril

Wisteria Clematis said:


> Yep, it is a god-awful title. I don't know what she (or her editors) were thinking. I would never have picked it up either if she wasn't a favorite of mine already. But it is really good! Speaking of editors however--I'm wondering if she even had one for this book. There were several typos throughout....not enough to detract from reading it, but enough to be surprising in a book by a major author. Things spell check wouldn't catch--like using the wrong pronoun ('she' instead of 'he') or 'there' instead of 'their.' Again....not to the annoying point. You're gonna love some of these characters!


Had to dust off the thread to add my 2cents.

I've never read a Julie Ann Long historical, and reading this recommendation ages ago I put it on hold @ Brooklyn. So flash forward to the book coming available - I thought why did I put a book on hold with this stupid title and a synopsis that sounds like half the contemporaries out there? Hold that thought - the snappy dialogue between the H and h had me laughing from the start! Only issues were with the editing as said above. Definitely looking forward to the next book in the series, and maybe I'll read a historical by her in the meantime.


----------



## TriciaJ82

Just as a heads up it looks like Judith McNaught's books will be available 11/1! I am excited to reread old favorites


----------



## Atunah

Snap up this freebie, its a Nalini Singh. First in the Rock series


----------



## TriciaJ82

Atunah said:


> Snap up this freebie, its a Nalini Singh. First in the Rock series


I love this series! I already own the first 3 otherwise I would have grabbed it. They just got better and better. I do have to admit I skipped book 1.5 and I don't feel I really missed anything since it is a novella.


----------



## Atunah

TriciaJ82 said:


> I love this series! I already own the first 3 otherwise I would have grabbed it. They just got better and better. I do have to admit I skipped book 1.5 and I don't feel I really missed anything since it is a novella.


I look forward to reading this one. I will also skip the novella, as I always do. Just don't like them. I don't even read them in the JD Robb series and I flove that one. Glad to hear you didn't miss anything. That is something that drives me nuts when its almost required to read the shorts in some series.


----------



## worktolive

It's true, you don't have to read the novella, Rock Courtship, but it's actually pretty sweet. David is totally in love with Thea, the band's publicist, but every time he asks her out, she shoots him down. Still he keeps trying and he's so charming about it. The guy chasing the girl is one of my favorite tropes, so I loved it. It's pretty long for a novella also.


----------



## cagnes

Atunah said:


> Snap up this freebie, its a Nalini Singh. First in the Rock series


Thanks, just downloaded!

Just wanted to mention 2 new contemporary romance books that I really enjoyed. The 1st is a new series by Samantha Young, her Dublin Street series is one of my favorites. 
 Good start to a new series, can't wait for the nest book!

The other is a great debut novel that I was able to borrow from overdrive... . Looking forward to reading more from this author!


----------



## Atunah

I got The Hating game on waitlist at library. Looking forward to it if you enjoyed it. A friend on goodreads said they hated the heroine. Curious. I still have a few ahead of me.

I have this RS freebie. Deborah Camp also writes HR going back to the early 90' and I have read some of her back list titles there and liked them



ALso a sale on Ainslie Paton. Its 71 cents, odd price. But the author seems to be australian so that might explain the odd price. Its published through harlequin and its the first in a 3 book series, standalone series as far as I can tell. Full lenght. 

I read white balance by this author and liked it fine. I gave it 3 stars as there were a lot of errors in it. repeated words, just a lot of editing issues. But that book was self published and this on sale here is with Harlequin, Escape wich I think is an australian arm, so one can hope it wouldn't have such obvious errors. They were really reallyl bad in white balance, I man really bad. Which was sad as the story was really good. Hero in that book was from NZ. So I hope that book is also set outside the US. For some reason I am drawn to CR that are not in the US.


----------



## worktolive

Atunah said:


> I got The Hating game on waitlist at library. Looking forward to it if you enjoyed it. A friend on goodreads said they hated the heroine. Curious. I still have a few ahead of me.
> 
> ALso a sale on Ainslie Paton. Its 71 cents, odd price. But the author seems to be australian so that might explain the odd price. Its published through harlequin and its the first in a 3 book series, standalone series as far as I can tell. Full lenght.
> 
> I read white balance by this author and liked it fine. I gave it 3 stars as there were a lot of errors in it. repeated words, just a lot of editing issues. But that book was self published and this on sale here is with Harlequin, Escape wich I think is an australian arm, so one can hope it wouldn't have such obvious errors. They were really reallyl bad in white balance, I man really bad. Which was sad as the story was really good.


I just got The Hating Game from the library and read it last week. It was entertaining. I would rate it a B.

I love Ainslie Paton and I already own the other two books in this series, so I was happy to see the first one go on sale. I recently read one of hers called Damaged Goods, that featured a hero with erectile dysfunction as a result of injuries he suffered in a car accident. That was a pretty unique storyline for a romance. One reason I enjoy her books is that she takes the usual tropes and finds a way to give them a different spin. I believe this one was also self-published but I don't recall any major grammar issues - maybe she's found a good proofreader. Of course, I've also gotten much more lenient on editing since so many self-pubbed books have at least some issues.


----------



## Atunah

I don't really notice a lot of the grammar stuff to be honest, but this was really bad. It wasn't really grammar. Here are just 2 examples I highlighed in my goodreads review.

reac,t

She was his only his assistant,

There was a LOT of this stuff in my copy. It kept throwing me out of the book as those non comma things look weird. And those double words and sentenses I have to read 2 times and go huh? Maybe the one you read didn't have those issues. I was just baffled that it was never fixed as the book has been out some time. 

But as I really liked the setting and the story a lot, I got the sale I posted. I do like it when authors are able to come up with fresh stuff in CR. I am also glad there are still CR that are not whiney babies dressed in NA coats. I want adults, real CR, not teenage angst in the body of a 25 year old. You know what I mean.


----------



## worktolive

Editing issues tend to drive me crazy because I DO notice them, but I like cheap books, so I've had to really relax my standards, otherwise many of the self-pubbed books wouldn't meet them. Sometimes, I'm tempted to ask the author if they want me to proofread. I would do it for free just for the satisfaction of correcting the errors!  

I just read a sample yesterday of a self-pubbed book that had too many errors even for me. When you are only a couple of pages into the book and have already spotted several obvious errors, that's not a good sign. Those are the books that I just cross off the list. These days, considering how huge my TBR mountain is, it's almost a relief to have a reason NOT to buy a book.


----------



## cagnes

Free today! I really enjoyed this one.


----------



## Atunah

Thanks cagnes, snapped it up.

I been not reading a lot of CR lately as its hard to find the ones that have a more slower burn and more romance, as suppose to gung ho lets jump each others bones and the insta lust. Readers like you guys help a lot with that.

I read a couple of fantastic ones just recently 
#1 and #2 in a series
 

I really loved Idol the first, such a great setup. But I absolutely adored Managed. Holy moly slow burn. So much sexiness without actually going there right away, if you know what I mean. Witty and just smart written. At least I think so. This is how you do sexy CR and still have a great romance with lots of build up. Sigh. I wish they were all like that. 
I had purchased the first on sale for 99 cents recently, and as I got to the end, I bought the 2nd right from my kindle I loved it so much. I read them back to back.

Both are loanable by the way


----------



## worktolive

I read Idol a couple of weeks ago and loved it, but because I've been trying so hard not to buy new books, I was holding off on getting Managed. I'm sure I'll give in and one-click by the end of the month though!


----------



## Wisteria Clematis

This one is on sale right now for $1.99. For all my HR friends---it is by Elizabeth Hoyt writing under the pen name of Julia Harper (it looks like she has written several contemporaries under this name). I had no idea! Have not read it yet myself but for that price I will give it a try.


----------



## Atunah

Wisteria Clematis said:


> This one is on sale right now for $1.99. For all my HR friends---it is by Elizabeth Hoyt writing under the pen name of Julia Harper (it looks like she has written several contemporaries under this name). I had no idea! Have not read it yet myself but for that price I will give it a try.


Ok, since I absolutely love Hoyt with historical, its certainly worth a shot to try her CR. 
I didn't know either that she wrote CR, course its a different name and all that.

I finished a Nora Roberts recently. Its kind of a big thing as I think I only read one of hers all the way through and dnf on another about some paranormal sisters. Can't recall. I adore her as JD Robb, so go figure. I read "The Obsession". Which was pretty good, with some issues. My eyes glazed over at all the construction and remodeling pages and pages. And the baddie was kind of a wuss at the end and not in character, for me at least. Great dog character in it though.


----------



## TriciaJ82

Second in the series:


1.99

They technically can be read out of order but the characters intertwine (they are siblings/friends) so its better to start with the first, Heartbreaker.


----------



## Atunah

Any of you heard about this Passionflix site that is taking current CR books and turning them into movies? The first will be Hollywood Dirt, which I own but haven't read yet. 

They are still on the coming soon thingy but I signed up for their early discounted subscription email list. I just gave them my email so they can email when the pre-sub is live. I am not brave enough to pay for a "founder's thingy that is like a 2 year sub and has some other perks. I have to see how that turns out yet. They have a few in production and Brenda Jackson is also up at some point with a series. Looks to be only CR so far. I hope this works out as there isn't really anything else out there for streaming like it. 

I don't count Hallmark stuff in this as they tend to be a tad too "homey" for my taste, if you know what I mean. Although I do watch some of them for lack of any other romance movies. There is also Pixel via youtube that is cheap and they make movies kind like Hallmark, maybe not quite as homey. 

But this is neat as its based on actual books and known authors. I really hope they do a good job.


----------



## readingril

That sounds quite interesting - but I'm not ready to necessarily shell out any money in advance. Maybe if it looked like they'd have a movie a month - but that would be a pretty ambitious schedule.

This begs the question - what (romance) book - contemporary or otherwise - would you most like to see on screen?


----------



## worktolive

It sounds interesting, but I tend not to watch TV or movies much - takes too much time away from my books! 

You should read Hollywood Dirt. It was really good. Very grumpy hero and a heroine who doesn't put up with his nonsense. Good banter. It had a similar feel to Act Like It by Lucy Parker if you read that one. I would rate both of them 4.5 stars.


----------



## Atunah

I did read "act like it" and I loved it. I have Hollywood Dirt somewhere in my next to read collection. Its just that I keep adding books to that collection. 

I like to watch some good romance movies once in a while. I don't really watch a lot of shows anymore, most of the stuff being made now is not for me anyway. So I am just exited to see if this thing can be something. So I signed up for prenotification. Wont cost anything until I actually sign up for the monthly streaming fee. So there is time to see how it turns out first. 

I'd love to see some other subgenres, but I don't expect them to make anything other than CR or RS. Historical, PNR, SFR, all those just cost too much money as special effects are needed, costumes, etc. With contempo stuff all the money can go into the scenes, actors, places. I also think that overall CR is more popular with the masses than other subgenres.


----------



## TriciaJ82

1.99 reg 7.99


----------



## BiancaSommerland

I recently went through every novel I could find by Santino Hassell. Love his writing style and he has some books with Megan Erickson which are awesome as well.

Just finished this one:










Not loving having to wait for the next! lol


----------



## Tristan Cruz

This thread is the exact genre I write in. Romance, Mystery, Suspense, Contemporary.


----------



## AlexLMichaels

Atunah said:


> We romance fans have a mega thread for historical romance and we have one for PNR and UF. I think we need one for
> contemporary romance which I think would include romantic suspense.
> 
> I just heart from a reader in the HR thread that Grace Burrowes came out with a CR. She has only written HR so far as far as I know and has been pretty prolific. Curious how switching genres like that will go with her hard core fans.
> 
> I am always looking for good contemorary romance as it is the subgenre of romance I have the most issues with finding interesting stuff. Not sure why that is. So bring them on.


Okay so, these are absolute best:
Real by Katy Evans
Knight by Kristen Ashley
Rules of Entanglement by Gina L. Maxwell.

In fact, just about anything from Kristen Ashley.


----------



## Tristan Cruz

I'll have to check these out.



AlexLMichaels said:


> Okay so, these are absolute best:
> Real by Katy Evans
> Knight by Kristen Ashley
> Rules of Entanglement by Gina L. Maxwell.
> 
> In fact, just about anything from Kristen Ashley.


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## Atunah

Well this thread kind of dropped into a hole.  

So I am reading one of the Bone Secrets books in the Kendra Elliot series, the 2nd to be exact, (Chilled). And I noticed the coolest thing about the chapter headings. I don't know what that would look like on a app, but on my Oasis2, when you get to a new chapter, it always does a page refresh. Otherwise I think its every 6 pages or so. I don't know. But new chapters always do a refresh. So they hid some kind of a image around the text where it says "chapter thirteen" or whatever chapter. So when you go there, for a split second you see what looks like cracks in ice,snow. You can't see it otherwise. Its the neatest thing I have ever seen in a ebook. On e-ink. This is a Montlake book and amazon imprints have always had really nice chapter headings and are just overall so well formatted. But I don't recall every seeing anything like that. The book is set in winter during a plane rescue so the cracks, or what looks l like cracks to me, are such a nice touch. 

A nicely formatted book is just such a pleasure for me. 

I'll have to see what those "cracks" look like on my phone. 

eta: so on the phone, when I set backround to white it has the cracks there as light grey all the time. So I don't think they designed this for e-ink, just that they put some image there to always show. But on e-ink its too light so it only shows up when the page refreshes. So the effect there is unintended. So cool though. They could do all kinds of things with this that would show like this on e-ink. As long as the image is just the right color, or grey. 
When I put the back round to sephia on the phone though, the image looks like a block of white on the top and doesn't look that great anymore. Not that I read on tablets anyway.


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## Atunah

Maybe a good freebie will be a good lure. 



This author has quite a few books out and they all seem to get good reviews among folks I follow on goodreads and on amazon. Different type of characters for CR. And normal length, not short.


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## cagnes

Atunah said:


> Maybe a good freebie will be a good lure.
> 
> 
> 
> This author has quite a few books out and they all seem to get good reviews among folks I follow on goodreads and on amazon. Different type of characters for CR. And normal length, not short.


Thanks, downloaded it!  I have some of her books on my tbr pile, but haven't read any of them yet. Well, I have read the Rugby series she co-wrote with Penny Reid and loved those. Book #4, "The Varlet and the Voyeur" is scheduled to release in June, can't wait!


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## Atunah

cagnes said:


> Thanks, downloaded it!  I have some of her books on my tbr pile, but haven't read any of them yet. Well, I have read the Rugby series she co-wrote with Penny Reid and loved those. Book #4, "The Varlet and the Voyeur" is scheduled to release in June, can't wait!


Funny, me too. I already owned the first of that Rugby series and also Painted Faces. Now I have a 3rd and have not read either of them 

To many books. But I'll get to them. Its the motto. No croaking until all books are read.


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## Atunah

This is a first in series by Pamela Clare. I love her historicals and her I-team RS. Have not read these. 
Its free:


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## cagnes

Atunah said:


> This is a first in series by Pamela Clare. I love her historicals and her I-team RS. Have not read these.
> Its free:


Good find, I love this series!  Just finished Holding On, the latest book in this series, it was a 5 star read for me!


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## A.G. Richards

Some great recommendations here. I'll check them out as soon as I can. Many thanks!


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## Wisteria Clematis

Haven't read too many contemporaries lately but this one has been getting universally great reviews so I was curious. New author, and it is written in the first person which I don't usually care for. Long story short--I enjoyed it a lot! It had me laughing out loud. Plot is rather improbable but characters--especially the heroine--are really entertaining. Hard to put down once you start, funny and sexy.


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## Atunah

Wisteria Clematis said:


> Haven't read too many contemporaries lately but this one has been getting universally great reviews so I was curious. New author, and it is written in the first person which I don't usually care for. Long story short--I enjoyed it a lot! It had me laughing out loud. Plot is rather improbable but characters--especially the heroine--are really entertaining. Hard to put down once you start, funny and sexy.


Sold . I have read this author before, while back. I think it was more of erotic romance, but also lots of humor in it. I loved that one. I also love this premise. reading the reviews its a no humor more serious hero and a more quirky herone. I like that premise in HR too. You know the grumpy stiff serious duke and the charming heroine that melts his heart. Am I getting some of that here? Anyway, I like the premise and I trust your opinion.

I am always looking for CR I like. And I feel really picky and most don't live up to some of the reviews. But then I don't know those folks, but I know you.


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## Wisteria Clematis

Atunah said:


> Sold . I have read this author before, while back. I think it was more of erotic romance, but also lots of humor in it. I loved that one. I also love this premise. reading the reviews its a no humor more serious hero and a more quirky herone. I like that premise in HR too. You know the grumpy stiff serious duke and the charming heroine that melts his heart. Am I getting some of that here? Anyway, I like the premise and I trust your opinion.
> 
> I am always looking for CR I like. And I feel really picky and most don't live up to some of the reviews. But then I don't know those folks, but I know you.


Right. No pressure or anything---I'll try not to let you down.   I think you'll like it though. It really made me laugh! And its hard not to love the heroine.

I must be a better enabler than I ever suspected!


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## Atunah

Wisteria Clematis said:


> Right. No pressure or anything---I'll try not to let you down.   I think you'll like it though. It really made me laugh! And its hard not to love the heroine.
> 
> I must be a better enabler than I ever suspected!


It was a really good sell. A really good one. You might have to get your own enabler avatar.


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## worktolive

I haven't read this yet, but I read her previous book, Most Eligible Billionaire (when I picked it up, the title was Most Eligible B*stard). I'm guessing the author had a bit of trouble with that title being blocked.  It was a fun read although the heroine had a bad incident in her past, so there was some emotional heft to it.

I've been reading lots of contemporary these days because there's just so much of it to choose from. I'm especially drawn to books with what I call "caretaker alpha" or nice guy/beta heroes who are all about caring for and being willing to show their feelings for their heroines, their families, random people on the street, etc. It's a welcome antidote to the incessant real world headlines.

My latest in this vein was Untouchable, by Talia Hibbert, one of my current fav authors. The first book in the series, A Girl Like Her also had a wonderful, kind blacksmith hero. Another that I just read with a lovely, painfully shy (and virgin) hero who just wanted nothing more than a family of his own was Whatever You Need by Barbara Longley.


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## Wisteria Clematis

I am sorry to report that Julie Anne Long's newest book --"Malcolm and Isabelle"--which is a sequel to her Pennyroyal Green series but set in the current time is so replete with editing errors that it is almost unreadable. There are mistakes on almost every page of the kindle edition: words missing; incorrect pronouns (like  'his' instead of 'hers' when referring to the heroine); misspellings, etc. The first couple of pages like that I just ignored, but then it started pulling me out of the story every time it happened. I wasn't able to make it past chapter two. Hopefully all these errors will get corrected and amazon will issue an update, but until that happens my advice is not to bother trying to read this unless you have a very high tolerance and don't find this kind of thing distracting. Either this book went to press without an editor even looking at it, or there is a brand new copy editor out there somewhere who needs to make a career change.


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## Atunah

Wow, one would think a trade published author would know who to hire when self publishing something. Or at least check it first before hitting publish? Whats crazy is that even though some of the reviews mention some editing issues, most still give it 5 stars just because. So when you look at the overall rating its super high. Sorry, but I don't care about how much I like an author and their work, I am not going to wade through such a mess as you have told us about. Talk about being taken out of a story. 

And its been out since October 15. Plenty of time to fix it. Its just plain disrespectful.


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## Trophywife007

Wisteria Clematis said:


> I am sorry to report that Julie Anne Long's newest book --"Malcolm and Isabelle"--which is a sequel to her Pennyroyal Green series but set in the current time is so replete with editing errors that it is almost unreadable. There are mistakes on almost every page of the kindle edition: words missing; incorrect pronouns (like 'his' instead of 'hers' when referring to the heroine); misspellings, etc. The first couple of pages like that I just ignored, but then it started pulling me out of the story every time it happened. I wasn't able to make it past chapter two. Hopefully all these errors will get corrected and amazon will issue an update, but until that happens my advice is not to bother trying to read this unless you have a very high tolerance and don't find this kind of thing distracting. Either this book went to press without an editor even looking at it, or there is a brand new copy editor out there somewhere who needs to make a career change.


I just checked it out on Amazon and there's a "Note from the Author" stating that an updated version is available, if anyone is interested.

https://www.amazon.com/Malcolm-Isabel-Pennyroyal-Green-Julie-ebook/dp/B07HMF1DZ8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1543358980&sr=8-1&keywords=malcolm+and+isabel


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## Wisteria Clematis

Trophywife007 said:


> I just checked it out on Amazon and there's a "Note from the Author" stating that an updated version is available, if anyone is interested.
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/Malcolm-Isabel-Pennyroyal-Green-Julie-ebook/dp/B07HMF1DZ8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1543358980&sr=8-1&keywords=malcolm+and+isabel


I checked in 'content and devices' but there is no update listed yet.


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## Atunah

Some might be interested in this. Judith McNaught is releasing her first novel in a decade



Although you may have to wait a bit. It says release in December 31st 2045  Hang in there. We are not croaking until we read all the books, so we are good to go.


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## cagnes

Atunah said:


> Some might be interested in this. Judith McNaught is releasing her first novel in a decade
> 
> 
> 
> Although you may have to wait a bit. It says release in December 31st 2045  Hang in there. We are not croaking until we read all the books, so we are good to go.


LOL, I wonder how they came up with that date, that's crazy! Judith McNaught would be 101 when it's published!


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## Atunah

They sometimes put those crazy placeholders there. They haven't nailed down a date, but want it out there visible I guess. Since its S&S its probably out next year December. Some already preordered as its about rank 7000 in the store now.  . Hope they make sure their expiration date on the CC is til 2045


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## Trophywife007

I think I'll wait until someone here reviews it first.


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## Atunah

I'll get on it. Just give me 27 years. I'll let you know then.  

If the internet survives that long that is. By then we'll all be living in the Matrix and just upload all the books to the brain.


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## Ann in Arlington

Atunah said:


> By then we'll all be living in the Matrix and just upload all the books to the brain.


Where's the fun in that?


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## TriciaJ82

Atunah said:


> Some might be interested in this. Judith McNaught is releasing her first novel in a decade
> 
> 
> 
> Although you may have to wait a bit. It says release in December 31st 2045  Hang in there. We are not croaking until we read all the books, so we are good to go.


I hope the description is just a place holder for the real one If not, it is a rewriting of her short story originally called Double Exposure. (A Gift of Love is the book title) It came out in 1996, the same year the full length sequel came out, Remember When. I loved Remember When and I think I enjoyed double exposure but I don't remember much about it.


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## Wisteria Clematis

Contemporary romances can be hit or miss for me but oh boy. This one is five stars plus. I literally could not put it down, and as soon as I finished I felt bereft. I loved every character and didn't want to leave them. It will make you cry a little bit and laugh a lot. It could also fit in the 'women's fiction' category but is first and foremost a romance.....actually four romances (the main characters are three adopted sisters and their adopted mom). They are all completely different from each other and I fell in love with each of them. The guys they end up with pretty darn cool as well. Set mostly in the Scottish highlands. Highly, highly recommended!!!


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## TriciaJ82

The Lucy Parker collection (first 3 in her London Celebrities series) is on sale for 1.99



It is completely worth the blind buy or if you only have one or two of them. I bought it to read book 3. Books 1 and 2 were a solid 4/4.5 for me, particularly the second.

ETA: The 4th book is due to be released 4/22 The Austen Playbook, featuring Freddy.


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## Atunah

I loved the first one, but haven't gotten to the 2nd one yet. So that is a great deal to get 2 and 3 for that sale price. 

Thanks for that listing Tricia.


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## Wisteria Clematis

If you are looking for an entertaining, easy read to get your mind off the World.....I heartily recommend this one! Heroine is an accountant who gets in a tizzy when numbers don't balance down to the last cent, but loves escaping by reading regency romances. When she accidentally discovers a sinister embezzlement plot she seeks help from a high powered financial management firm and finds her hero. Lots of fun dialog and really likeable characters....this is the first in what will eventually be a series of three (the hero's two partners will be next). A little suspense thrown in as well. This was a five star read for me, I really needed the distraction right now.


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## Atunah

I'll be trying it for sure. I am desperate to get out of this reading funk. I haven't finished a book since June 20th.  

I been collecting samples from other recs I got in the historical romance and the other romance threads. And this is in KU also, so that's a plus.


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## Wisteria Clematis

Next one in the series comes out the first week in August. It’s now on my list! Anxious to hear what you think of this one. Sorry the link came out so gigantic....the link maker was out of control.


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## telracs

i'm working through Nicole Burnham's San Rimini series.  The Knight's Kiss was my favorite of the set so far.


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## Atunah

Wisteria Clematis said:


> Next one in the series comes out the first week in August. It's now on my list! Anxious to hear what you think of this one. Sorry the link came out so gigantic....the link maker was out of control.


I am about halfway through, which is more book I have read in over a month. So thats good. Plus its about adults and not written in first person. So so much contempo is now written in first and it often reads like teenagers. I can watch teenagers better than reading about them. Not sure why.

So far so good. Its light, easy to read and I am curious where its going. Will be nice to actually finish a book again for once.



telracs said:


> i'm working through Nicole Burnham's San Rimini series. The Knight's Kiss was my favorite of the set so far.


Checking them out, thanks.


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## Atunah

I finished the Money Man and "Arabella" by Heyer. Since the heroine in Money Man talked about Mr. Beaumaris so I had to read that too.  . Finished 2 books in a row, wohooooo. 

Now checking some samples I get across the different romance threads...........


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## telracs

i had a hard time getting into Money Man, i found the heroine a bit annoying (too OCD and insecure for my taste), but i soldiered through to the end.

i have considered looking  at the Heyer book, but i'm not big on regency books.


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## Atunah

telracs said:


> i had a hard time getting into Money Man, i found the heroine a bit annoying (too OCD and insecure for my taste), but i soldiered through to the end.
> 
> i have considered looking at the Heyer book, but i'm not big on regency books.


yeah, its verrrry regency. So if you don't like that period, you probably not gonna like that one. I think a lot of the contemporary regency writers take their cues from Heyer. Lots of "cant" in her books about regency stuff. Dandies, language, etc. I still like Demerel better but Arabella was still very good to me. But I like Regency. So... 

Money Man kind of cleared my cobwebs. It was easy to read, nothing too complicated so it worked for me there. I don't read a lot of contemporary romance in general. And its been quite some time since my last. I just wanted to jump start my reading again. Its depressing when you cant finish anything anymore.

This year has been garbage.


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## telracs

got the last of Burnham's San Rimini books and devoured it.  i especially liked that it dealt with more mature characters instead of the twenty somethings you frequently get in romance.


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## Atunah

telracs said:


> got the last of Burnham's San Rimini books and devoured it. i especially liked that it dealt with more mature characters instead of the twenty somethings you frequently get in romance.


I just looked up her books and I own the first in the previous series so I'll read that first, as I got it as a freebie in 2016. It looks like the 2 series are very losely connected. Different royals, but some sllight crossover. At least reviews mention it. But since I already own that one, I'll get to that and work my way through both series if I like it. 

I like royal type romances, heck, I like the ones that area shown around christmas. There is one cute one with Sam Heughan who plays Jamie on outlander. 

Anywho, royals, I am in.


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## telracs

Atunah said:


> I just looked up her books and I own the first in the previous series so I'll read that first, as I got it as a freebie in 2016. It looks like the 2 series are very losely connected. Different royals, but some sllight crossover. At least reviews mention it. But since I already own that one, I'll get to that and work my way through both series if I like it.
> 
> I like royal type romances, heck, I like the ones that area shown around christmas. There is one cute one with Sam Heughan who plays Jamie on outlander.
> 
> Anywho, royals, I am in.


the san rimini series incorporates characters from the first series (actually, the first book of the second series does not have any royals as main characters, it has a secondary character from the royal scandals series crossing into san rimini)

the 4th and 6th books of the original series branch off a bit and i don't recommend them (i think you can safely skip them).

oh, and make sure you get the 3 novella set. i don't love the first story in it, but the second and third are good.


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## TriciaJ82

It has been a minute since I have last posted here so I don't know if this is still the appropriate place. I know a couple of years ago several of us enjoyed the Lucy Parker books. (London Celebrity series) Her newest book Battle Royal is on sale for 1.99. I enjoyed it as much as I did her earlier books. It seems to be a standalone. The plot is about competing bakeries vying for a contract with Buckingham palace.

Battle Royal


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