You know those sets of soaps that people give as hostess gifts? I need a host gift – specifically, a web host gift. Seems the fine folks at Esosoft who work in the tech support department and answer all my crazy email have never read a romance. They helped us out big time like damn and mon dieu back in January, and for some of the folks who were working with me, this site was their first exposure to the romance genre. So I figure, it’s time for them to experience the best of the genre.
Robert, who works tech support with other awesome folks, says that he, and many of his coworkers, are fans of mystery/detective and some sci-fi. So, what romance novel would you recommend? What’s new and rocking your socks? (Note: house rule – you are welcome to pimp your own books, but please also suggest at least one other book that is not written by yourself or any of your known aliases. Thanks!)
Back when I sent Paul Tolme a romance novel, the most frequently mentioned book was Northern Lights by whats-her-name. Nora Roberts. That’s right. Anyway. What would you recommend for tech support at our hosting service? I aim to send them an awesome romance.
I’d go with the Liaden books by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller—They’re Skiffy as anything, but with a good, solid romance aspect. Also, I have yet to have anyone I’ve loaned Agent of Change to not call me three days later saying, “WHERE’S THE NEXT BOOK!?!, which I consider a recommendation. I mostly have ended up loaning it to guys, who don’t seem to mind the romance aspect since they get caught up in these things. If they read SF regularly, though, they’ve probably already read either the Asaro or the Bujold and just don’t consider them romances.
Without reading the comments first (yeah, bad aztec, bad!), Blue Smoke by that very one Nora Roberts you speak of 😀
Ooooo, Welcome to Temptation by Crusie: check
In Death: check
Northeren Lights: triple check
Catherine Asaro: check
Now, what about some Katherine Neville? The Eight, maybe?
entire39: no, I have wayyyyy more books than that.
just to fix the italics
ps. Did Paul ever read Northern Lights, and if so, what did he think? He should come back to let us know…
I recommend giving a set of the first three In Death books by JDRobb/Nora Roberts.
Agnes and the Hitman by Crusie/Mayer would also be a good choice.
Unbroken Hearts, by Anna Murray
It’s an action western/romance, fast-paced, and enough plot drive to satisfy a man, and the sweet woman wins her man.
Any book by Jodi Thomas or Linda Lael Miller . . . whatever you pick—avoid the clutch cover if this is a read for a man.
Unbroken Hearts, by Anna Murray (Amazon Kindle)
A Jodi Thomas book— the Texas series. Avoid clutch covers if this is a book for a man.
Definitely Bujold—the only living writer with four “Best Novel” Hugos—but I’m a little surprised no one’s mentioned the Komarr / A Civil Campaign duology. Bujold designed Komarr as a later-point access to the Vorkosigan saga.
Historicals: Anne Gracie and Julie Anne Long. Also Lady Fortune by Anne Stuart… why am I pimping all of these Annes?
They are all good, and it just happened that way, I swear!
J.D. Robb and L.M Bujold are definitely good bets.
Colleen Gleason’s Gardella series is a great suggestion. I also haven’t met anyone, male or female, who doesn’t like Marta Acosta’s books. I think they should also read an Elizabeth Hoyt, too, just to show how a really sexy book can be a fabulous read. My favorite Crusie is still “Welcome to Temptation.” Of course, you probably don’t have bunches of those lying around, since it’s pretty old.
I wound up with 60 author copies of Bound to Love Her. It’s fantasy, not sci-fi, but it is action-packed and light on introspection, which gives it some crossover appeal. I’m happy to send one.
I’m going to have to try a bunch of these, especially “Agent for Change.”
My guy loves Tara Janzen and quite likes Shannon McKenna (although her most recent was a little too brutal even for him, a die hard Deadwood fan!)and Alison Kent. Pamela Clare’s Unlawful Contact could be a good choice too.
Another vote for Naked in Death.
Faking It by Crusie
Katie MacAlister’s Aisling series would be good too-it has Jim the talking demon dog.
Linnea Sinclair, absolutely.
I enjoyed all the Nora Roberts titles mentioned, but I’d push Angels Fall. Or was it Angel Falls? The book’s upstairs, and I’m too lazy to check.
What about Lisa Gardner’s The Perfect Husband, Eileen Dreyer’s A Man to Die For, Suzanne Brockmann’s The Unsung Hero? (I’m picking older titles that bridge romance and mystery/suspense.)
Virginia
I send the first 3 In Death books by J.D Robb as gifts for Christmas or birthdays a lot.
So I think In Deaths would be good. I send the first 3 because then they are hooked and start reading them all.
Appeals to men as much as to women. I’ve seen both get totally hooked.
Absolutely Naked in Death and the whole In Death series. Also, Nora Roberts’ Carnal Innocence, Carolina Moon and Divine Evil, to name just a few. I also loved the Night novels,
Fast Women by Jenny Crusie is one of my favorites. Agnes and the Hitman was fun too.
And Suzanne Brockmann’s Navy Seals novels are favorites of mine. Both the Troubleshooters and Tall, Dark and Dangerous series.
And maybe suggest some mysteries that have a romance subplot. I love Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters and pretty much all the Amelia Peabody mysteries. Also the Vicki Bliss series.
The Stephanie Plum series, another mystery capper with romance thrown in to spice things up.
And how about the vampire series from Laurell K. Hamilton and Charlaine Harris. The first books in these series are great reading and might be authors that are unknown to these techie gods.
For a gift set, I’d totally do Nora and Jenny and I would probably throw in an Emma Holly novel too.
Restoree and The Ship who Sang by Anne McAffrey.
So wide the Sky by Elizabeth Grayson. This is a western. The heroine had been captured by native americans. After one escape attempt, they brand her face. Years later, she is rescued. One of the rescuers is her first love, an army captain. However, he can’t cope with her years as a captive. This is a romantic story, but men really can get into the story. It also tells the story from a male point of view.
I would recommend Tami Hoag, Dust to Dust. My dad has given me grief all my life for reading romance. But he loves Tami Hoag. He read her earlier novels after reading her mysteries. There is a romance in this story. Actually, there is a very good romance.
LaNora’s/Robb In Death series! Yes. Wonderful introduction and guys like them, too. *Roarke – swoon* I LOVE Lori Armstrong’s Julie Collins series (Blood Ties, Hallowed Ground, Shallow Grave), new one coming this fall can’t wait! *bounce* *fans self at thought of Martinez* *nodnods to Robinjn* He is HAWT!
Wow…there’s so many out there to chose from. Katie McAlister’s Aisling Gray, Guardian series was funny. Jim the demon Newfoundland is hysterical if you’ve ever been owned by a Newfie. The Rowena Cherry books were interesting, as are the Anne Bishops. For men, though, as an introduction…I think I’d stick with Naked in Death and Blood Ties.
Do NOT include any Cassie Edwards, unless you want to show them what not to read. (Sorry. plagiarism issues aside, I find her stories an affront.)
*busily scribbles down titles to add to her TBR list*
young28 – OMG, I wish!
Northern Lights. Definitely.
Another vote for Bujold here. And for the mystery side, Elizabeth Peters with the early entries in the Amelia Peabody series. (I like the later ones, but the first couple have a very strong romance element.)
Along with so many others Naked in Death sounds like the perfect choice. I also agree with Driven by Eve Kenin.
The Patricia Briggs Mercy series is a good bet, I think. Also Crusie’s AGNES AND THE HITMAN.
Mystery-wise, I really loved Tracy Grant’s DAUGHTER OF THE GAME. It’s exemplary.
If they’re sf fans, it’s likely they’ve already read Bujold.
I still recommend The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger to all my friends, male or female, romance enthusiast or not. I’ve never had one person say they didn’t like it—it has a bit of everything.
Tossing in my two cents to the nominations:
Welcome to Temptation by Jenny Crusie
Gabriel’s Ghost by Linnea Sinclair
Naked in Death by J.D. Robb
I don’t think Gabriel’s Ghost was specifically in the recommendations, but it’s the one she won the RITA for, and it’s my current favorite. (I haven’t read Games of Command yet considering my 60+ TBR pile, but I’m hearing excellent, excellent things.
I would first recommend Meljean Brook’s Demon Angel and the rest of the series, especially for a male reader who is into SF.
And whenever I go to the car dealer for car maintenance, I tend to see men reading the In Death series, as well. But I don’t know how that series will play for steadfast SF readers. In any case, I’d go for the first few books in the series.
Also, Bujold’s Sharing Knife and Sharon Shinn’s Archangel, but neither of those is specifically Romance, so I’d put those later on the list.
How about Ugly Duckling by Iris Johansen? Its got spies fighting or The Hunt -Susan Siezmore or Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn, Dead Witch Walking- Kim Harrison or something by Catherine Mann- she writes military themed romance.
Bujold is a good choice, so is the Linden Universe….
How about some Mercedes Lackey? It’s fantasy that morphs into romance…Besides who can resist a Snarky Unicorn?
The Obsidian Mountain Trilogy
The Outstretched Shadow: Volume One
To Light a Candle: Volume Two
The Fall of Darkness: Volume Three
As a primary SF&F;reader who occasionally dabs into romance, I would be careful recommending supernatural/SF-y romances to hardcore SF&F;readers. Frankly the worldbuilding in most of those I have read suck big time.
Writers who write SF&F;with romance elements (Bujold, YES!, Briggs, early Hamilton, maybe even Lackey, although I am currently re-reading old favorites and the constant teenage whining is actually getting on my 35 year old nerves and actually spoiling my memories of those books) might be a better bet.
Bujold tried to merge the genres in her last series (The Sharing Knife books) and has some interesting comments on how difficult an exercise it was, and how the readers’ response varied based on expectations built through primary reading genre (SF fans vs. romance readers). For those who are interested scroll down to the… seventh paragraph in the interview after http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/2008/04/sharing-knife-passage-by-lois-mcmaster.html[url=http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/2008/04/sharing-knife-passage-by-lois-mcmaster.html]this review.
Uh, weird things happened with that link. Trying again.
I would recommend just about any Linna Sinclar book OVER the Zombie Blues books. I found I had a hard time convincing myself to finish that book, and I had been SOOOO looking forward to it coming out.
I would also recommend Shards of Honor over A Civil Ccampaign. I love both books, but I think Shards has more of a hard edge to it that will make it appeal more to men who think of them selfs as sci-fi/ computer people (I was a total sci-fi person until a couple of years ago when a friend badgered me into reading some Stephanie Laurence-and I found I really liked having explicit sex in my books :grin:)
I would also recommend The Eight -I have never read anything else by her, but my mom picked that book up somewhere, and in my ever present search for new books(the library just did not get books in FAST enough, and i did not get enough money to by my own) I scammed it from her when it was new. I have loved it ever since, never really thought of it as a romance, though of course it is.
Diana Galbradon is just excelent writting, and LOTS of it!
Also, Agnes and the hitman had me falling down laughing and getting very funny looks from others on public transportation.
Pippy
If they’re into sci-fi and urban fantasy, how about the Crimson City series? It’s actually by multiple authors (one book per, not multiple authors writing each book) and although they’re definitely romances, there’s a lot of action too.
Amazon search results
EmmyS just beat me to it – The Crimson City series by Liz Maverick, Marjorie Liu, Patti O’Shea, Carolyn Jewel and Jade Lee. Great mix of romance, sci-fi and the worldbuilding is great.
Along the same lines, Liu’s Dirk & Steele series.
I’d second the Kushiel series.
And may I suggest that you pick a book that doesn’t look like a romance, but more closely resembles a sci fi or general fiction title?
Maybe Unmasked by CJ Barry? And if they like it, they can move on the Unmasqued: An Erotic Novel of the Phantom of the Opera. Or Unmasked: Erotic Tales of Gay Superheroes.
Another good one I just finished was La Vida Vampire by Nancy Haddock. Vampires, a hunter society, murder, a mysterious wizard, and a shapeshifting dolphin best friend who we never see (although apparently this is the first in a series so presumably he’ll show up then.)
This one has a lighter feel than some modern vampire stories – not laugh-out-loud funny, but not all dhark and dhreary, either…
It might be interesting to give him the first book in J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series – there’s more male POV in this series than most… I wonder if it would appeal to a man.
I can’t believe I forgot the Liaden books by Miller and Lee. Definitely sci/fi romance.
I also can’t believe that I forgot Sharon Shinn with her Angelica series or her stand alone books like Jenna Starborne, Summers at Auburn Castle and others.
Rush of Wings by Natalie Pheonix (or is it Natasha?)
I agree with all of those that have said the IN DEATH books. Romance with mystery and a little glimpse of what the future might be.