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?
Sharon Shinn writes in several different genres and I can’t recall any sex scenes. I love her books.
spamword: again79
There is nothing I want to repeat 78 times!
I totally agree with the suggestion of HQ Romance, and also some of the Super-romances. They are a bit of a mixed bag in terms of tone and content – I’d avoid anything with a baby on the cover or in the title, personally – but several of the authors who write for these series do an excellent line in witty banter. Look out for Trish Wylie, Jessica Hart, Karina Bliss, Fiona Harper.
Showing up late to third the recommendations for Carla Kelly, who is just amazing. She has recently had some re-releases, I think, and maybe a new title.
I second the Dorothy Sayers recommendation; Gaudy Night, Strong Poison and Busman’s Honeymoon are the most romantic of the Lord Peter mysteries. Patricia Wentworth also wrote many British country house type mysteries, always with a romantic subplot. The most romantic of her books, which I adore, and is one of my comfort reads, is “Nothing Venture”. It’s a marriage of convenience story. Well worth picking up used on Amazon.
J, Carla Kelly has been putting out new releases steadily. The most recent 3, “Marrying the Captain, “Surgeon’s Lady” and “Marrying the Royal Marine” are connected, with 3 sisters as the heroines. Her next one is due out in January, “The Admiral’s Penniless Bride” . And her books are better than ever. I hope she keeps writing forever.
SIng Death that did not include any sex.
Oh my God, you guys are amazing! I’ve been away at at theater festival and just came across this. It’s funny, but I’ve actually read several of the fantasy/sci-fi/mystery titles listed here, but never really thought of them as “romances” because I mentally categorised them as the other genre first. Anyway, I now have a ton of books to put on my TBR list. Thank you so much. You guys ROCK!
I know I’m late to the party (I’m often behind on reading posts!), but still thought I’d throw my two cents in. An author I adore is Lucy Walker, who’s romances are usually set in the Australian Outback and were written in the 1950s to 1970s. They’re quaint little stories, and the most recent one I read contained only about three chaste kisses. Haven’t come across a sex scene yet.
I’ve only read partway through the comments, so sorry if this has already been recommended.
I just finished reading Jo Beverley’s EMILY AND THE DARK ANGEL, a reissue from the early 90’s. It’s delightful, charming and funny, and doesn’t get hotter than a kiss. (Though there are references to “pudding”. I’m never looking at/reading about pudding again the same way for the rest of my life. *giggle*)
Others of Jo Beverley’s sweet Regencies that have been reissued are LORD WRAYBOURNE’S BETROTHED, THE STANFORTH SECRET and THE STOLEN BRIDE.
Any of Elise Lee’s books except Roommates. Especially The Passions of Medora Graham, also the early regencies of Anne Stuart, not the more recent ones.
Try “Suffer a Sea Change” by Celeste DeBlasis. I think it is from the 80’s and may be impossible to find anywhere except a library or used bookstore. I reread it regularly (skipping certain tedious parts). There is a lot going on there with some seriously preposterous Evil Drug Smugglers and other subplots, but the intense scenes (nothing R rated!) between heroine and hero (who both have Serious Baggage) really make this book for me.
Has anyone else read it?
@Lisa P: Amazon has 20 copies of Suffer a Sea Change available for $.01 + shipping. I’m tempted to buy one based on your recommendation.
Not sure I would pay $4 shipping for it (but then I already have a copy…) LS Kilian, if you try it, I hope you like it. As I said… some parts tedious, some OH PUH-LEEZE and eye rolls, but that hero-heroine interaction outweighs it all for me.
And if you try it and don’t like it… better luck with someone else’s recommendation… there are plenty of good ones here!
I’m late to the party, but I want to play too:
Elizabeth Cadell’s books were written mostly post WWII-the sixties, so they’re practically historicals now. My favorite is Fox from his lair.
Frances Murray wrote some excellent historicals with very good dialogue. Try The burning lamp and The heroine’s sister.
Laura London/Sharon and Tom Curtis’s regencies are lovely. Try The gypsy heiress or The bad Baron’s daughter.
I would also like to mention that Jan Cox Speas’ books, My lord Monleigh, Bride of the MacHugh, and My love, my enemy have been reissued in trade paper. I don’t like the covers as well as the mass markets that I bought in the mid-70’s, but I’m so glad that someone brought them back into print.