The BookMatcher is Billie Bloebaum, book buyer for Powell’s in the Portland Airport, and she brings the art of handselling books based on interest to folks writing in online for her help. Today’s request is from ninjapenguin:
If so, I have kind of an unusual
request. See, thanks to your site, I have recently been introduced to the
world of well-written romance novels. (Previously I had only been cognizant
of the rather horrifyingly rape-tastic old school ones my grandmother would
leave out.) Specifically, I have started reading, and consequently, falling
hard for Georgette Heyer. But where do I go from here? See, I prefer my
romance novels *without* sex scenes. Or at the very least, without explicit
sex scenes. I prefer a discreet fade-to-black with the details left to my
imagination or just to end on a kiss or embrace as our happy couple realizes
that all the obstacles standing between them have been overcome. I am much
more concerned with the witty banter between our protagonists and the
working out of the plot than I am with knowing all the details of their
fantasies for each other. I have to hope I’m not the only one out there
with such unusual tastes. Please, Bitches, can you help?
You are SO not alone in that. Given the hotter-than-hotter direction of romance sex scenes in the past few years, often the witty banter comes to a stop while one or both admire the rigid poles holding up the hero’s tent, and I don’t mean the one at the campsite.
I turned to Billie, who had the following recommendations:
Hmmmm…Stephanie Laurens is out, then.
My first instinct is to steer her toward YA. There’s a lot of great romance
being written for that audience and most of it is, if not sex-free, then
certainly has the sex take place off-screen. The witty repartee may not be up
to Heyer’s standards, but there is also less reliance on shouting—or, well,
exclamation points, anyway. The drawback with recommending YA, though, is that
the hero and heroine are so very *young*. But, if YA is acceptable, then I can
strongly recommend both ‘Faithful’ by Janet Fox and ‘Everlasting’ by Angie
Frazier (which is flat-out one of the best debuts of 2010).
Eva Ibbotson’s novels are absolutely lovely and originally marketed to the
adult market, but again, not so much with the witty repartee. They are,
however, dreamy and romantic and completely sigh-worthy.
Patrcia C. Wrede’s ‘Marelion the Magician’ and ‘The Magician’s Ward’ were just
re-released in an omnibus edition entitled ‘A Matter of Magic’ and she did
three books with Caroline Stevermer: ‘Sorcery and Cecelia: Or, the Enchanted
Chocolate Pot’, ‘The Grand Tour’, and ‘The Mislaid Magician: Or Ten Years
After’ which are all charming Regency-set novels—with MAGIC.
Marketed strictly for the adult audience, I can recommend Mary Robinette
Kowal’s Shades of Milk and Honey’ which is *also* a Regency with magic.
Elizabeth Peters’s Amelia Peabody mystery novels are full of wit and romance
with a high level of sexy interplay between Amelia and Emerson, but always
with the actual deed happening behind closed doors. (Book 1 is Crocodile on the Sandbank.)
Also, Tasha Alexander’s Lady Emily Ashton mystery novels, especially the first one ‘And Only to Deceive’,
which is like a cross between Jane Austen and the aforementioned Ms. Peters.
And, for something completely different…’Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton which
is a comedy of manners with dragons for protagonists. Very Jane Austen, but
scalier.
She may also look into tracking down some of the classic Regency novels that
publishers like Signet and Harlequin once published on a regular basis. Most
of them are available used and are relatively inexpensive, allowing for some
experimenting to find authors she clicks with.
There’s also the Inspirational sub-genre, which tends to be fairly chaste, but
is really beyond my ken.
Or, she can just do what I occasionally do, and skip (or skim) the sexy bits
to get back to the important stuff. This opens up vast horizons of romance
reading.
Thank you, Billie! What do you recommend that’s high on the witty repartee but low on the sexual party?
I likes my sex scenes and then again, sometimes I don’t. Then I turn to Steeple Hill books, authors like Dana Corbit. I know they have a slight religious slant, but they’re still really good stories without being explicit.
Dang, you stole my answer. I def recommend Lynn Kurland, but do read them in order. It’s not critical but it is less confusing. Also, although fantasy, not romance, Patricia Briggs’s books are fade to black.
Mary Stewart (Nine Coaches Waiting, etc.)
Betty Neels (the only Harlequin author I have ever collected)
Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (space opera with romance)
Clare Darcy and Elsie Lees (older Regency)
Definitely agree with the early Loretta Chase recommendations…especially The Devil’s Delilah. That is seriously one of my favorites ever, and I think there is only a bit of kissing. After Heyer of course.
I have to put my word in for Mary Stewart, too. I concur with AgTigress and Sandra…. her older books were my first romances with a mystery touch (or mysteries with a romance!), and have been the standard for good books since my early teens (and I’m over fifty now). I do love all kinds of romances, and some explicit sex, too, but Mary Stewart is hard to beat. I’d recommend Touch Not The Cat and The Ivy Tree. And the Merlin trilogy (The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, The Last Enchantment) were masterful.
I love it all when it’s well written.
But you could look up http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/
to get some synopsis’ before you buy.
Georgette Heyer as you mentioned.
Victoria Holt but those are more gothic, but still some of the best ever written.
Julie Caille, early Loretta Chase and Kay Hooper.
Phillipa Gregory, Dorothy Garlock, Virgina Coffman, early Mary Stewart.
Heyer (and Bujold) fans who like romantic sf would love the Liaden series by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. I’d suggest starting with LOCAL CUSTOM (a Secret Baby story done *right*)
Hi Hapax, I have always had slight qualms about Shan’s conception because Anne set out to get pregnant without asking her partner if that is what he wanted. I know it all works out and I love the Liaden universe books but this quibble in the back of my mind is always with me when I re-read Local Custom. I don’t know anyone else who reads the Liaden books so I haven’t ever been able to check this out. What do you think?
Well, I have to say I’m feeling as if my recommendation of Mary Stewart somehow got misinterpreted as a slam of Mary Stewart. Just to reiterate, I loved her books. I liked them so well I braved the upstairs adult stacks in my library to get them. Several times. I have not read them for some 35 years, and have an image of them being rather atmospheric in tone, from when I first read them at 10 or 12 years old. I often find that books I read as a child suffer visits from the suck fairy, so I am cautious about recommending them without a re-read. Thus, the bit about the possibility of the Mary Stewart books being dated. It wasn’t meant as a slam, just the reality of childhood nostalgia sometimes adding a rosy glow.
You’ll be happy to know I visited my library and checked out three of Stewart’s books today, one of which I read as a kid and two I’d never heard of. (They were written in the 80s and 90s when I was busy with other genres.) BTW, why the offense at my suggestion that these might be appropriate for YA? If you read them as a kid and I read them as a kid, doesn’t that argue that they’re appropriate for YA? I don’t really define YA as only books with YA protagonists. Do you?
I’ll third the recommendation for Julie James! I just finished “Practice Makes Perfect,” about two up-and-coming lawyers who secretly have the hots for each other until they find out that only one of them is going to make partner. It’s cover-to-cover witty banter and sexual tension and pretty much no explicit sex. (There was one sex scene, and it faded to black.) A great romance novel for readers who love the humor and tension and conflict, but don’t need to read a description of the hero’s cock :).
I can’t believe no one mentioned Barbara Cartland yet? What? She wrote about a million books, all trad regencies, and while I’ve only read a few of them I can’t recall any sex scenes – mind you the last one I read was written in about 1985 so there wouldn’t have been, but your local library should have scads of them.
I’ll also recommend Anne Herries, Margaret Moore, Elizabeth Rolls, Nicola Cornick, Mary Nichols, Ruth Langan, Juliet Landon, Deborah Hale, Terri Brisbin – these write mostly historicals for harlequin – but also if you’re looking more recent (70’s / 80’s) with no sex, WHAT ABOUT BETTY NEELS????
It’s usually fade to black before the first kiss with Betty, never mind any nookie.
Also try Essie Summers, Helen Bianchin, Jacqueline Baird, Anne McAllister. You should be able to find samples in most decent second hand bookstores as all these ladies have written very, very many books. Some of them have been recently re-released as e-books too.
spamword turned27 – yes, I did, but it was a while ago 😉
Gwen Rowley! Was delighted by the discrete fade-to-blacks in her Knights of the Round Table: Gawain, am sure the others are similar.
nice to know i’m not the only one who was looking for some sexless/low sex reads. (if i’m not getting any, i don’t want to read about others who are…) thanks for all the great suggestions!
May I recommend some space opera or fantasy selections that cross over the romance territory. E.g., Billie’s description fits Lois McMaster Bujold’s “Komarr”, part of the Vorkosigan saga. Mrs. Bujold also has an interesting essay, “Writing Sex”, on her website (http://www.dendarii.com), that deals with challenges of writing out sexual scenes and their perception by readers
darn it won’t let me reply, how do you quote a URL please
I’ll try again
No idea when but it’s with the printers I thinnk, let me check, . . . ah darn, I read it wrong, her publishers are being difficult, see her post here
http://shanna-s.livejournal.com/397207.html
She needs help to get them to take on the next one. I’m devastated now 🙁
You may all appreciate her thouoght’s on Romance heorines though
http://shanna-s.livejournal.com/401855.html
I would agree with the recs for Stephenie Meyer and for Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day. And for wit without explicit sex, I’d rec Waiting for Cary Grant.
If you’re looking for contemporary series romance…about 99% of all the books in the Harlequin Romance imprint have sexual tension, but no sex scenes at all. If there is a sex scene, it’s like a short, vague paragraph.
Rebecca Winters, who writes for several Harlequin imprints, also goes as far as calling her website, “Clean Romances”. http://www.cleanromances.com/
Megalith, I certainly was not criticising what you said about Mary Stewart; I knew you were recommending her, and agree heartily. I don’t think anyone else was criticising you, either. We just remember different things about her books, different aspects. I re-read Madam will you Talk?, Wildfire at Midnight, Thunder on the Right, Nine Coaches Waiting, My Brother Michael, The Moonspinners, This Rough Magic, Airs above the Ground and The Gabriel Hounds pretty regularly, and the element which always strikes me most strongly is the excitement, danger and adventure, much more than the romance. I don’t care for either Touch Not the Cat or The Ivy Tree, and in general, I much prefer her 1950s-60s books to the later ones (I can’t stand anything Arthurian at any price, so I haven’t read those at all), but that’s just my taste. A good writer is a good writer, and she is definitely a very good writer.
You raise a very interesting point about ‘Young Adult’ fiction, though (if SB ever wanted to do a post about this, I would be really intrigued to see if I could ‘get’ it and the comments of those who know a lot about it). Adolescence itself was hardly a widespread classification until the 20th century. The aim for any child after puberty was to be a full-fledged adult as soon as possible: neither childhood nor adolescence was seen as desirable in its own right, and the sooner one was ‘grown-up’, the better. Many young people had to take on adult responsibilities at ages that we would consider shockingly young, and this still happens in many countries. But even though we had ‘teenagers’ in the 1950s (which was the decade in which I was a teenager), we didn’t have many books, let alone a whole genre, devoted to their supposed tastes. One read children’s books, and then, as soon as one could understand them, adult books. I was reading Swift and Dickens at the age of 11, and I had a passion for adventure stories, so I had worked through Rider Haggard, John Buchan, Conan Doyle and so forth by the time I was 12. I confess that I am still slightly puzzled by the perceived need for YA books, especially as they seem to be read by adults too.
Certainly Mary Stewart could, and should, be read with pleasure by anyone from the age of about 10, but they were written for adults. Those two facts are not, to me, a contradiction; I don’t really see a dividing line from the author’s point of view. The division lies with the readers, who either are, or are not, interested in adult themes at a given age in childhood and adolescence.
For a great mystery/romance series, you could try Julia Spencer-Fleming’s series; the first one is In the Bleak Midwinter. They are set in upstate New York (the Adirondack State Park) and there is a lot of sexual tension between the main characters but no actual sex. I haven’t read the latest one yet, and it seems like that may change, though …
You might also like Elswyth Thane’s series of Williamsburg novels, although these were written in the 40s and 50s and are quite … umm, politically incorrect now. The one set in the Civil War has a fair bit of racism, I’m sorry to say. However, my fave is the one set in the Edwardian period and the beginning of the first world war—The Light Heart. Thane has a wonderful romantic ghost story, too—Tryst.
Megalith, I certainly didn’t mean to criticize either. AgTigress has provided a much more reasoned and thoughtful response than I could have. I’ll just say that my opinion of Mary Stewart as not YA has nothing to do with the age of the reader, but entirely with the content of the books.
To me (and your definition may vary) a YA book is a book that is written specifically for the teen market with teen-age protagonists, who may or may not be facing situations common to teenagers. I do not mean to say that YA books cannot be read and enjoyed by “adults”.
As AgTigress noted, in the 50’s and early 60’s a teen’s (or tween’s) choices were often limited to childrens’ books or adults’ books. I was 11 when I first read Stewart. I would have serious reservations about a 11 YO reading many of the currently published romance novels. So, Stewart may well serve as a bridge between childrens’ books and much more explicit “adult” fare. But by my definition, she is still not a YA author.
This is the third and last time I am going to try to post this – if you don’t write the test word below absolutely correctly your post gets wiped rather than just get a second chance at the test word. Therefore sorry about the brevity.
My three suggestions are:
Robyn Carr
Jodie Thomas – historical westerns/recent contemporaries
Pamela Morsi – historical and recent contemporaries.
I read two older Lorraine Heath books that have sexual tension but no sex scenes until the last couple of pages – Texas Destiny and Parting Gifts – sweet and gentle and really not explicit. The last scene in Bet Me is not that explicit – JC just writes so well that I think we think we read more than we really did!
DS wrote:
Good news – they are coming back into print. Amazon shows 23 titles.
I like Rosamund Pilcher and Maeve Binchy, too.
I’ve been rereading some old favorites – some hold up, some don’t. The racism and sexism of Gone With the Wind is interfering with my enjoyment, but the same racist elements in Elswyth Thane don’t seem to bother me. Maybe it’s because there is some mutual respect between her black and white characters in spite of their situation.
I was disappointed in rereading Mary Stewart. Obviously I’ve changed, cause she hasn’t, but she doesn’t do anything for me now.
Sex/no sex? Doesn’t matter much either way. For me it comes down to the quality of the writing more than the amount of spice. I like spicy Thai food, *and* I like a sandwich on white bread with mayo now and then. I would hate to think I could only have one or the other, but would rather have everything from Little Women to Story of O[/i[ on my shelves to choose from.
@Cathy B
Amen! The minute I read this post in my e-mail, I thought, “Barbara Cartalnd! She only does the fade to black, and she wrote a million books.”
I cut my romance-reading teeth (eyes? ew.) on her novels.
However, to be perfectly honest, they are pretty formulaic and only served as gateway romances to the steamier stuff.
Nonetheless, I’d totally recommend them, even if it’s just to view her awesome author’s photograph (on the back of each novel), and for an appreciation of one of the most prolific writers in the genre.
Loretta Chase´s regencies, not the very first couple maybe, but then just about everything. My favorite is probably the Sandalwood Princess. witty banter aplenty.
This is a little off topic, but on iTunes there are two books by Ms. Heyer read by Richard Armitage:
Venetia (which by the way I am going to my daughter if I have one, I don’t care if it reminds people of window blinds) and Sylvester.
He did a great job and they were so much fun to listen to while driving.
I found The Blue Castle at Project Gutenberg Australia
http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200951h.html
I’m going to read this one myself!!
Another shout out for Mary Stewart—I would imagine those of us of a certain age all cut our teeth on Ms. Stewart’s romantic suspense novels. No sex, but lots of cigarette smoking!
Also have to second (third?) Barbara Michaels’ novels, and Victoria Holt’s, although Holt is pure gothic—haunted houses in Cornwall, batty housekeepers, secrets, grudges, etc. Her language feels a bit stilted, too. Stewart is a very fine writer, regardless of genre, and that makes all the difference in the world.
I think there are good mystery series containing romantic subplots—Julia Spencer-Fleming was mentioned, and her series is one of my favorites. I think Sayers’ Gaudy Night contains a couple of the most romantic scenes I’ve ever read, and they are as chaste as the day is long. The marriage proposal scene, in Latin, is priceless.
@Sharon
I think the scene in the punt is one of the most erotic I have ever read. No one was touching, hardly any dialogue, and both of them had all their clothes on the whole time, and it still made me fan myself. Not a dirty word or action to be had, but soo hot.
As for the proposal, the minute you mentioned it, the words sprang into my head:
“Placetne, magistra?”
“Placet.”
http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php/weblog/comments/bookmatcher-romance-without-sex-scenes/
Loved the Harriet Vane/Lord Peter romance, but I still think The Nine Tailors (mystery) is her best book, a real classic.
Eva Ibbotson’s novels were delightful.
Barbara Michaels, Joanna Trollope, The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery.
Don’t read Tasha Alexander unless your idea of romance is boredom, imho.
Melissa Bank’s short stories might fit the bill, also.
We have to remember that explicit sex only entered the popular romance novel in the 1970s, and pretty cautiously, at that.
Anything originally published before 1960 (in the UK) is going to be safely sex-free (the crucial date is the prosecution of Penguin Books for the publication of Lady Chatterley’s Lover in paperback, as a test-case under the 1959 Obscene Publications Act). I don’t know the magic date in the USA, but as America is seldom more liberal than we are, it won’t be any earlier.
Me Me Me, or rather Mine Mine Mine, the books that, hilariously, “have no sex.” Yeah, right. No thrusting body parts:
THE RULES OF GENTILITy (HarperCollins)
My Little Black Dress books available from bookdepository.com, free shipping (no US distribution):
A MOST LAMENTABLE COMEDY
IMPROPER RELATIONS (altho this does contain a wedding night scene where the heroine, inexplicably, thinks of sausages bursting out of their skin in the frying pan).
Also my latest JANE AND THE DAMNED (HarperCollins) has no explicit sex b/c my editor was nervous about blow by blow sex scenes starring Jane Austen and assorted vampires.
Ditto to Lara on the Laurie King Mary Russell series. It was the first thing that sprang to mind when I read the post and some of my all time favorite books EVAH.
It’s got all of my requirements: smartly written, romance as a subplot but not unimportant, subtle, and crazy juicy double meanings to go back and enjoy on rereads.
I love many of these older authors, dated or not, and specifically second Jane Aiken Hodge, only because of the single mention. Another old favorite is Madeline Brent, historical romances with strong heroines, fascinating backgrounds, some pretty harrowing adventures, and really good writing.
I think the adjective “dreamy” could apply to Mary Stewart’s description of setting and scenery. Her adventure is exciting and suspenseful, but her sense of place is lush and evocative. I can’t remember all the action in her novels, but I can close my eyes and teleport to Greece or the Isle of Skye thanks to Stewart.
One final comment— I, too, read a number of Cartlands in my palmier days, until I encountered one that totally ripped off These Old Shades. Unfortunately, my shocked post-adolescent memory was unable to retain the title of this masterpiece, but I swore then that I would never read another of Cartland’s books.
I fifth the recommendations of Wrede and Peters (my own favorite Peters heroine is Jacqueline Kirby, but there is no such thing as a bad Peters/Michaels book).
And having said that, anyone who’s a Peters fan—and in particular a Vicky or Jacqueline fan—should absolutely not miss the brand new novel Coronets and Steel by Sherwood Smith. It’s an unabashed modern-day riff on the Prisoner of Zenda idea, in which Our Heroine goes hunting for her family history in eastern Europe and finds a lot more than she expected. There are kidnappings (and escapes from kidnappings), ghosts (mostly for atmosphere, but definitely for real), banquets, castles, peasant cottages, a masquerade ball, scheming nobles, gorgeous men, actual swordfights (Our Heroine is a trained competitive fencer), and plenty of smoldering chemistry.
Fair warning: the book is first in a series, and while it stands alone the ending stops well short of HEA. But the banter is spectacular, the characters are engaging, and the balance of swashbuckling and snark is just about unbeatable. Smith has done very good YA romance prior to this (see particularly Crown Duel, preferably in the later revised edition), but Coronets and Steel is her first fully contemporary book, and it is, as the expression has it, totally made of win.
Aspen Mountain Press is unrolling a new Regency and Historical line. The Regency line is sweet romance only, no explicit sex. The Historical line is spicier.
http://www.aspenmountainpress.com/historical/aurora-regency/cat_69.html
They aren’t out yet, but soon.
As far as YA goes, I don’t know if you can go past Sarah Dessen. Her books are beautifully romantic and have no explicit (or, for that matter, implicit) sex scenes that I cna remember.
Bujold, seconded (or fifthed.)
Madeleine Brent, from the 70s and 80s – libraries probably still have copies. Unusual and historic settings, well-written, sexual tension with fade-out.
Fiona Hill. Intelligent, funny, sweet. Real characters who can surprise you.
I only recently started reading Heyer myself, and I gotta second the Patricia C. Wrede books. I’d read them long before, and Heyer kept reminding me of Wrede.
That said, this list is exactly what I need! I’m really excited to see it.
Hmm, I also thought of Elizabeth Peters books as mysteries. Still, all excellent and entertaining.
I agree with the person (people) who suggested Kristen Higgens but not “The Next Best Thing” there was 2 descriptive-ish sex scenes in there.
I would encourage inspirational romance authors as sex before marriage is quite frowned upon within Christian novels.
My last thought on this topic, for now anyway, is judge the book by the cover. Hot man titty, probably graphic sex scenes. Picket fence in front of house with flowers and a dog or cat but no people, sex scenes are probably limited if they exist at all.
Oops, one more, Jennifer Crusie is my favorite author for witty banter, but she has sex scenes, so unless you are okay with skimming past them…