I received a request from Stephanie, who is looking for a reading list, so I’m breaking out the Good Shit vs. Shit To Avoid category to help her build a full and happy Kindle:
I’m a female soldier about to deploy and need to fill up the old
Kindle…..any suggestions? I’m looking for series with lots of books, in
particular, as opposed to just individual books. My favorites would be more
along the lines of stories about pioneers/Old West, but anything that
doesn’t have to do with the military or soldiers would work…I’m looking
for escapism here from my daily life……those smoking hot soldiers with
abs of steel that most of my civilian friends envision I spend my days with
are usually just kids I have to take care of and keep out of trouble (and
probably are just as annoying to me as that guy on the other side of their
cubicle wall). Thanks!
Stephanie’s favorite pioneer/old west romance is Harper’s Bride by Alexis Harrington, but she also loves YA, “unless it involves the heroine getting married or thinking about marriage before she’s out of high school.”
Do you have any ideas for Stephanie’s reading list? Let’s make her Kindle rock and rock hard. And stay safe Stephanie!
It’s not really a romance series, but for pure escapism and compulsive page-turning (with a fair amount of romance thrown in), I would highly recommend the Robert Jordan ‘Wheel of Time’ series. The 13th book (out of 14) was just published this year, and almost all of the books are long. If you google it, you will find a crazy amount of obsessive fandom out there, and for good reason. I bought the first book in 1989 or so and I’m still obsessed. There is some war/fighting in it, but it’s all on horseback with swords and magic, so I seriously doubt it will remind you of work. Good luck overseas!
Maggie Osborne was always my favorite Western romance writer! Don’t know how much stuff of hers is Kindled and it’s not really in a series, but it’s good. If you run out of books over there, I bet you can give the SBs a yelp here and get some care packages sent your way!
Sweetwater Seduction by Joan Johnston – it’s available on Kindle and it’s a great western, complete with prim school marm heroine, hired gun hero and a crazy in a good way plot. And she’s written other western historicals that I haven’t read – someone else recommended them too.
It’s more challenging that I thought it’d be to come up with a good series that doesn’t include soldiers or the military. Susan Mallory’s Fool’s Gold is a nice contemporary series – I think of it as traditional romance – interesting characters, low conflict. I was going to suggest her Buchanans series too, but my favorite book in that series (Sizzling) has an ex-marine hero who has a lot of baggage from his service, so that’s probably one to avoid.
Thanks for your service and be safe.
wild western bride by rosalyn alsobrook: this ones actually quite sweet, he owns a farm and she comes through with the orphan train, and they get married so that they can adopt two orphan brothers who would otherwise be separated.
Mail order temptress by Jane Kidder: fun and annoying at the same time lol a series of misunderstanding between a farmer and his mail order bride that was nothing he wanted but everything he needed.
those are the best western types I can think of right now.
Thank you for your service to America, and the middle east too (where I live). Stay safe!
Not romance, but the alphabet series by Sue Grafton (A is for Alibi, etc) is pretty good. Main character is a female private detective solving crimes, etc. The series is up to letter U or something like that.
Anything by C.S. Friedman (fantasy)!
Not a western, but romance: Julia Quinn writes light-hearted Regency. It’s light on the sex but great on the emotional pay-off.
Hello and Thank You for your service!
I don’t read Westerns, but Moira Rogers’ Sanctuary series (4 books and 3 prequels so far – werewolves, witches and vampires), and Wilder’s Mate (the first in a new steampunk series) have strong Western/frontier elements, not to mention hot S-E-X!
A big huge thanks to everyone who took the time out to write a response to my request. I’m absolutely floored by the amount of responses this recieved. I truly appreciate all the suggestions, including the non-romance ones I’ll be able to share with my coworkers.
In my pre-Army life I taught High School and Jr. High Lit, and was able to live among books and book lovers, so its awesome to find a community of people who adore books as much as I do now that I can no longer spend my days immersed in the pages of a novel. Thanks ladies!
Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman is really amazing. There are two other follow-up as well. They take place in the Canadian wilderness.
Oh, I had to comment. I love Mrs. Mike. It always makes me cry.
Stephanie, if you want to send me the email address you use for your amazon Kindle account, I would love to send you some of my westerns.
Thanks for serving our country.
Cher 🙂
SaintJohn @ aol.com
Stephanie,
The included link to Dating A Cougar is my first published novel and the kindle edition is free at Smashwords. You can get it at Amazon, but don’t pay for it there. Just go to Smashwords.com. I have put the link in my post.
This romance is about older characters falling in love and many readers have found it funny. The hero is a medically retired Marine and reviewers have really liked him. Please consider adding my novel to the list to take with you. I would be honored to think I was able to entertain you and make you laugh at little, give you a little something back for what you are doing.
Thank you for your service to our country. My best wishes for your safe return.
—Donna
There’s a lot here but they’re all fun reads and perfect for escape. I starred the ones that I reread.
YA:
** The Sky is Everywhere, Jandy Nelson
** Anna and the French Kiss, Stephanie Perkins
– Matched, Allie Condie
– Forest of Hands and Teeth, Carrie Ryan
– Chime, Franny Billingsley
– Jane, April Lindner
– Wicked Lovely series, Melissa Marr
Regency:
** Wallflower series, Lisa Kleypas (#1 is the best)
– Love by Numbers series, Sarah Maclean (starts with Nine ways)
** The Perfect Mistress, Betina Krahn
– Adventurer’s Club series by Suzanne Enoch
Vampire Love
– Gardella Vampire Chronicles, Colleen Gleaso-n
– Sookie Stackhouse series, Charlaine Harris
– Anita Blake series, Laurel K Hamilton (only the first 8)
Just Fun:
– Parasol Protectorate Series, Gail Carriger
(Soulless, Changeless, Blameless and 2 more coming soon)
– Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowel
Thanks for doing what you do!
I think all my recommendations have been mentioned already, but I’ll reiterate.
Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton’s are definitely a loveable group.
Karen Marie Moning’s Highlanders and Fever series are both freaking phenomenal. She is THE reason that I read romance, and talk about delicious men and spunky women. And both will DEFINITLEY take you out of the everyday and into another world. Highlanders. I’m not sure you can ever go wrong with them.
Definitely the Evanovich series. I still find them hilarious, even after finishing 16 books.
For some paranormals: Katie MacAlister’s Aisling Grey or Dark Ones books. Aisling is a 4 book series, Dark Ones are connected books and there are 9 + some novellas.
Susan Elizabeth Phillips also has a phenomenal set of books that get me every time. The Chicago Stars series is 7 books, but every single one of her books are amazing. I re-read them yearly.
I don’t have tons of Westerns that I know of. Lisa Kleypas’ Sugar Daddy, Blue-Eyed Devil, and Smooth talking Stranger are all set in Texas and have a sort of contemporary outlaw feel. Ellora’s Cave also has a lot of Westerns, and you may be able to find them for your Kindle if you match from the EllorasCave DOT com website.
Hope that helps. Please stay safe and THANK YOU for your service. I do not get a chance to say that enough. 🙂
I also give a big vote for Linda Lael Miller’s series, which include both old and modern westerns (often connected, which makes it even more interesting). Diana Palmer has also done some westerns. Joan Johnston’s series are also good—try Sisters of the Lonestar series (Frontier Woman; Comanche Woman; Texas Woman) for old west, and Hawk’s Way and Bitter Creek series for modern westerns. I also loved Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series (okay, all her books), and since the characters are so strong and witty, they’re especially good if you need a laugh.
Another thought – Zoe Archer’s Blades of the Rose series. It has a kind of Victorian Indiana Jones flavor, plus magic and hot sex. Good escapist fun, and the third book (Rebel) is set in the Canadian wilderness. There are a few battles in each book, with magic and 19th Century weapons, but no military. Discovered this series on this blog, so happy to pass on the recommendation.
provided91 – may you be provided with 91 excellent book recommendations and 91 blessings for your safety
Another vote for the McKettricks. *le sigh* And the Bridgertons.
I would caution you on the Outlander series if you are trying to avoid violence in your reading. I only read the first two and stopped b/c they were so violent.
Stay safe.
I second (or third) the McMaster BUjold books- the Sharing Knife series is a bit more in the romance vein than the Chalion series. Tamora Pierce is also good.
On a somewhat dfferent plane- the Kylie Chan series (starts with White Tiger) is good- martial arts and magic in Hong Kong. Romance is involved, but of a forbidden and separated kind. And it appears to be on Kindles.