Bitchery reader Jen writes in with a question I hadn’t thought to ask, and I’m as big a fan of historical erotica as she is:
I just finished Lisa Valdez’s Passion. I loved it. Problem is, I can’t get a hold of her ONE other book, yet. Furthermore, because I’m such a dork, I’ve just discovered there’s a NAME for the type of books I love…heretofore thought of as plain, ‘ol “historical romance.” Well, I’ve learned from reading Passion that I actually love erotica. Who knew!?! Well, I knew I liked all things erotic…the stronger the better. But, I never even realized I should seek books under category “erotica.” Duh!
So, armed with my new knowledge, I set out online, and to local stores to find new books. Forget about it. Major stores in my area mix up the THREE erotica books w/ regular romance. Half Price has a separate section, but it offers nothing LIKE Lisa Valdez, or historical romance.
Finally, my question for you…
Assuming (nay, HOPING) you’ve read any Lisa Valdez, can you recommend any other authors with a similar style? Historical romance, intriguing characters, good stories….and heavy doses of nice, strong erotic content. I’m not easily offended by any of the sexual content. But, like you mentioned in your Unmasqued review, I am quite offended by bad stories, characters, etc.
Hope you might have advice.
So – what historical erotica do you recommend? Let’s hear it.
My personal favorite is Emma Holly’s Beyond Seduction, altho most seem to prefer her Beyond Innocence. They are both good, IMO.
Also Robin Shone gives depth to her characters along with plenty of boinkin’
I really like Thea Devine. Lots of sexy, lots of kink, mostly historicals.
Pam Rosenthal—smart, sexy, and thoughtful, and she writes like a dream.
I haven’t read Valdez, but here are a few ideas.
Susan Johnson – hit or miss. Mrs Giggles has rankings of various SJ books (ranging from 1/100 to 90/100; they’re that variable).
Robin Schone – again, hit or miss. Her latest is more straightforward than her twisty Michael/Gabriel books.
There are a few collections that would give you a short intro to a few authors. One series is mostly historical; all erotic novellas—Fascinated and Delighted, and uh… Captivated?
There’s all sorts of odd stuff by Ellora’s Cave. Like Sarah McCarty’s seriously strange cowboys.
There’s a Margrett Dawson set in 1929—here’s my review. It’s not deep, but it’s unusual.
Of the Emma Holly steampunk stories, my favorite is Prince of Ice [review].
Laura Kinsale’s Shadowheart might count. Medieval Italy, political intrigue, and, er, plenty of the Historical Super-Nasty. With vambraces! Gotta love those vambraces! Rowr.
I really need to sleep. Can you tell?
Seconding Pam Rosenthal. Kristina Lloyd’s Darker Than Love features stronger stuff e.g. menage, mild BDSM. Recommend you also check out Teddy Pig’s blog – he reviews some ebooks that might fit in with what you’re looking for.
Emma Holly is my favorite erotica writer at the moment, and she did a couple of historicals (but I recommend her other books as well).
My favorite historical authors who have hot sex scenes in their books are Laura Kinsale (I second the rec for SHADOWHEART, it’s the most overtly erotic and also very, very good), Judith Ivory/Judy Cuevas (my favorite is DANCE), and Pam Rosenthal, particularly ALMOST A GENTLEMAN. There’s a Black Lace book by Anne Clare called FLOOD that I really enjoyed; I wished it had been even longer.
I’ve also found that paranormals sometimes have the same flavor as historicals, because both are set in what are essentially fantasy worlds. So I enjoyed Emma Holly’s vampire and demon novels as well.
Here’s another vote for Emma Holly, and you might enjoy the new novel by Jane Lockwood aka Janet Mullaney, Forbidden Shores.
I’m going to say Pam Rosenthal yet again, and add that Jane Lockwood (who first mentioned Pam) is another good bet). And Jane’s giving away a copy of Forbidden Shores on the History Hoydens blog this week . . . *grin*
Historical erotica or even romantica (erotic romance with a HEA) is rather hard to find. It is definitely more prevalent in the contemporary and paranormal genres.
I second the Sarah McCarty recommendation. I recently glommed through her backlist. Sylvia Day is another good writer who I can count on to deliver a good (and hot) story. Cheryl Holt can also be pretty steamy, although I just looked at her website and she says she’s not writing erotica anymore. Adele Ashworth is considered “romance” but her books can also be pretty hot.
For contemporary, I’ve really enjoyed Lisa Marie Rice, Hannah Murray, Joey Hill (great introduction into the whole BDSM lifestyle with her work) and Shiloh Walker. Lora Leigh is also pretty hot, especially if you like M-F-M menage stories.
You’ll find that most romantica/erotica is published by ebook publishers Ellora’s Cave or Samhain. And when you are lucky enough for them to have made printed versions of the books, they are way too pricey, in my humble opinion.
I look forward to hearing other peoples’ opinions on the subject as I’ve pretty much read every book available from the authors I’ve listed (along with others) and I need some good recommendations myself.
-Beth
I write historical erotica. It isn’t as hard to find as some may think. I have a pirate novel coming out at EC in Nov,
Crossed Swords
. (Shameless plug, I know.)
I enjoy Celia May Hart (Aphrodisia). She has a few erotic Regencies out, like
Show Me
(excellent) and
Made for Me
. Noelle Mack has a few historicals out from Aphrodisia as well. My warning on those is she seems to like f/f or f/f/m scenes, which I am not overly fond of.
I liked Robin Schone’s “The Lady’s Tutor”, my favorite of the books of hers that I’ve read.
I think you have to know which authors of historical romances are known for pushing the genre into erotica. In my experience, books like Passion are lumped into general romance, at least in my local bookstores. I can also highly recommend anything by Elizabeth Hoyt.
Thanks so much to ALL of you. I’ve gotten more ideas than I dared hope for.
I agree, Beth, about the ebooks. Good source for erotica, but if you want ‘em on paper, the price is way too high.
And, I think emdee’s correct about the “mixing” of erotica and romance authors. That’s what landed me here. There are some great authors who push the erotic envelope (just the way I like it), but they’re hidden in w/ all the others. And, if you don’t know who to choose…
Thanks everyone, especially, for giving specific details on what some of these authors are into (i.e. f/f, menage, BDSM, etc). That REALLY helps when you’re trying to narrow the search even further.
Okay. Thanks, again everyone!
I’ve also just read Passion – feel like I’m really behind everyone else. And I hope it won’t be too long before Patience is released.
Cheryl Holt can also be pretty steamy, although I just looked at her website and she says she’s not writing erotica anymore.
I have to say… steamy, yes. Well written, no. Cheryl Holt is my standard for an “F” grade review (much like Cassie Edwards on this site). Sometimes the hot scenes distract me from the horrible misuse of words, but when I hit three winces in a single page, I had to quit reading.
That’s not to say I don’t see the appeal. I often put up with strained writing for the sake of a good hot read. I know the “can be put up with” line is in different places for all of us, but Holt’s over the line for me.
Ok, my debut book (LORD SIN) was called erotic by RT. I’m not sure it quite makes it there, but I’ll agree that it’s on the HOT end of the scale.
And yeah, Celia May Hart and Sylvia Day both write HOT historicals for either Aphrodesia or Brava (you can pretty much count on any historical put out by those tow lines to be scorching). Diane Whiteside’s “Devil” series is also historical erotica (The Irish Devil, The Southern Devil, etc.).
Oh! And if you’re looking for HOT eBooks Doreen DeSalvo’s books are great, and she has an historical on Loose-Id (Bedding the Beast).
I’ll have to give Pam Rosenthal another try. I read about 10 pages of Bookseller’s Daughter in a bookstore and put it back down. Oops.
I have recently read Passion by Lisa Valdez and have been searching for Patience. Her site says its release date was May 2007, but I can’t find it on any online bookstore. Anyone knows when it’s actually due?
I also recommend Sylvia Day and Pam Rosenthal. Cheryl Holt is worth a try although there is a definite cringe factor involved – but if you can get past that they are really good fun.
Riki – ‘Patience’ has been pushed back and I don’t think they have a new release date yet. Lisa Valdez has promised to post it on her website when she knows.
This isn’t a genre I’m versed in at all, so these recs are good for me, too. Totally second the Sarah McCarty westerns recommendation, though. Very hot, and her characters worked for me.
I have to say, Robin Schone – The Lady’s Tutor is erotic, if there is a bit of a squickily homophobic conclusion about the villain that I really have to forget about to enjoy the book. Without the stupid villain plot, the book would be SO much better. Anyhow.
Thea Devine is such a guilty pleasure and I’m sure lots of people hate her work, and perhaps rightfully so, but nevertheless, the recommendation stands.
Jumping on the Emma Holly, Pam Rosenthal, Robin Schone bandwagons. Not a big fan of Thea Devine or Susan Johnson—for stylistic reasons, mainly.
Julia Ross writes wonderful steamy historicals, but IIRC she recently announced she’s taking a hiatus from writing, so I’m not sure if/when she’ll have any new stuff out. If you haven’t read her stuff before, it’s more romantica than erotica, I think.
Not having read the Lisa Valdez book, take these suggestions with a grain of salt 🙂 I think Pam Rosenthal’s a given at this point, *early* Susan Johnson, especially the ones with the footnotes, “Sins and Secrets” by PF Kozak for some Choose-Your-Own-Victorian-action, Sylvia Day, and I’d also recommend checking out Black Lace’s historicals, though they can be hit or miss. Good luck!
I love historical erotica! A friend of mine had an advance copy of Jess Michael’s November release, Everything Forbidden, and ladies that puppy ought to come with asbestos oven mitts.
I LOVE Lacy Danes. Night of the Taking was the first thing I read of hers and to this day it’s still one of my favorites.
Some of my favorite Erotic Romance Historicals
Sable Grey’s Hired Hands.
Celia May Hart’s Show Me.
ANYTHING by Robin Schone
ANYTHING by Susan Johnson
Carnally Ever After by Jackie Barbosa.
The Spying Maid by Lilith Payne
Georgie and her Dragon by Sahara Kelly
Forget Jina Bacarr’s Naughty Paris!
Eeeeek I meant I FORGOT Jina’s Naughty Paris.
Nooooooooooooooooooooo! She’s one of my ALL TIME FAVS. Guess I’ll just have to re-read The Seduction yet again. *sigh*
May I present for your dining and dancing pleasure a new author debuting in Brava in January 08?
EXPLOSIVE by Charlotte Mede
Herewith the back cover copy:
London, 1818. A beautiful, brilliant woman and a cynical, aristocratic spy are forced into a desperate mission to decipher a secret code that could change the face of Europe forever…
EXPLOSIVE
Gray Dalton, the Marquess of Blackburn, wakes in a dark London cell staring down a gun barrel. Devon Caravelle, alleged mistress of a deadly French aristocrat, has been sent to ensure Blackburn’s cooperation in a secret plot to unlock the mysteries buried within Beethoven’s Third Symphony, the Eroica. It’s terribly convenient and just as Blackburn planned. And taking the lady hostage is—if not terribly gentlemanly—not very difficult. Resisting her dangerous allure, on the other hand, is. Suddenly, the man famed for his cold-blooded control, wants a woman fiercely, wildly, forever…
Devon Caravelle has loved two things in her life: music and her father. She would do anything to discover his murderer and clear his name, even if it means forcing the contemptuous, debauched Marquess to her aid. But when he turns the tables and takes her prisoner, she is not prepared for his skillful seduction or her white-hot response…
It was supposed to be a seduction each side intended to win easily. Instead, the first spark unleashes an untamed passion in a game where all rules are forfeit and every move brings them closer to an unspeakable danger…
Historical suspense that is wonderful, if I do say so myself.
I’d be happy to send finished books as soon as I get them to five people if the Bitches say it’s OK.
Kate
Thanks for the update, Josie.
Kate:
Free books thrown at Bitchery readers? Bitches are always ok with that! Bring it on!
And thanks!
From this month’s RWR, there’s an ad from LooseID for Louisa Trent’s “Courtesan,” which features, according to the review quoted, “bondage, domination, oral and anal sex, [and] physical and psychological exploration.”
If it’s anal, it’s erotica, usually. I haven’t read the book so I don’t know as to how it is.
I will say this: the following portion of the ad copy made me giggle: “His need for Sarah knows no bounds – except a rawhide lasso and gold bondage bracelets….”
Cool! Historical Wonder Woman? Rad!
Excellent, Sarah. You pick five people using your extraordinary powers and I shall send them the books.
Yr. humble (as if),
Kate