Krista emailed me about a problem she’s having, and oh, I can so relate:
I have a problem. I recently read Karen Marie-Moning’s Fever series, and
since finishing it, have lost my will to live. The hero (I use this term
loosely) is absolutely my favorite of all time, and I feel like I’ve just
been dumped. I’m not looking for someone to replace him, just something to
numb the pain. A rebound sorta thing, ya know? Someone to show me that there
can be life after Barrons.I have searched the website for a review, thinking surely one has been done
for this series, but I fail to find it if one exists. If you haven’t read
the series, I recommend it highly, despite the after affects it had on me
(for real.) My only advice is to not throw it out the window during the
first few chapters. It gets better.So, if you have read the series, my question is: Do you have any suggestions
on what to pick up next, during this Life After Barrons period of my life?
Oh, book rebound! That feeling you get when you read about a character that so rocked your world, you’re not sure what to read next?
Alas, I haven’t read the Fever series, but I do remember book rebound, that feeling where you’re not sure what to read next, and you’re let down that you’ve finished reading about an amazing character and a story that pretty much embedded your socks in the drywall.
I remember that feeling after finishing The Windflower. I remember clearly thinking to myself, “Well, that’s ruined me for historical romance forever.” And it was awhile before I could pick up another book without measuring it against the complete absorption I experienced with Windflower.
*deep sigh* Sometimes there’s almost a penalty for discovering truly superb romance, you know?
So: got any recommendations for book rebound for Krista? What book or series gave you rebound feelings? And did you find a cure?
Barrons is a keeper, that’s for sure, but I also love Bones in Jeaniene Frost’s series. Start at the beginning…Halfway to the Grave.
Sniff, sniff, sniff, (wipes tear from eye) I am so glad to read this…I thought I was the only one here hung up on Barrons…
I never understood the attraction to Barrons – or to Mac either. I like the books. I love Monings’ writing, but Mac is a whiny little baby even after all that heartache and Barrons is an asshole who thinks nothing about putting her life at risk even after he falls in love with her. He tells her nothing. If he would just talk to her she could’ve survived so much better.
Even though he’s an evil rapist, out of the whole series, I prefer the pseudo-V’lane over Barrons.
I could have written this about book rebound from the Fever series. just read them all last week and adored them. Made me wonder why I never read them in the first place.
always69 – really?!
Can’t help with the rebound cure, but I distinctly remember reading the first 5 In Death books right before 6 came out and being depressed for WEEKS. Roarke was SO perfect. SO handsome. SO rich. SO in love with Eve, and really how could ANY man compare to that?
The other series that got me was the Harry Potter series. I spent so many years invested in Harry and Ron And Hermione and all the others and the quest to defeat Lord Voldemort that when it was over I remember scouring the internet like a crack addict looking for my next fix from JKR. But…there HAS to be more! Just a little! A sentence! A note! ANYTHING!!!! The Harry Potter series is the only series of books that ever made me hate the fact I read so quickly. I finished each of the books in one day, and I wished to be one of those people for whom each book lasted WEEKS because then that sense of magic and wonder would last just that little bit longer.
*sigh*
Okay, someone pass the chocolate.
I agree with JamiSings. I thought the ending was pretty anti-climatic.
I love the chemistry and banter between the heroes and heroines in all of the Ilona Andrews books. Eileen Wilks’ Lupi books with Lily Yu and Rule Turner are also auto buys for me.
I second the Jeaniene Frost nomination, especially if you can get them on audiobook. Even narrated by a woman, Bones is an awesome hero, while still having some interestingly human flaws. I listened to the first four in two weeks, and have been quietly losing my mind for the last month while I wait for the fifth one at the library.
I agree so many unanswered questions at end of shadowfever .like dani and the deal with grey woman and velvet hates Mac and (he is Faye and won’t for get) so happy she doing the spin off.and other books hello JR ward the black dagger brother hood
I have to agree with the other rec’s for Ilona Andrews’ “Kate Daniels” series also if you want something lighter I’ve just discovered Darynda Jones’ “Charley Davidson” series, only 2 books out so far. Sooo funny. I had that whole, unable to stop, snort and all laughter thing goin on in some parts and that does not happen to me very often. (Which is a good thing I guess cos it aint pretty!)
Oh this first happened to me when I was about eleven years old. I burned through Margaret Sutton’s Judy Bolton books (which were written in the 1940s – 1967) in about ten months, and was devastated to learn there were no more (Sutton was still alive when I read them, but something like 80 years old at that point). Then I went through the whole thing about a year later, when I read Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising Series (that, by the way, I would recommend for anyone still mourning the graduation of Harry Potter).
I haven’t read any Karen Marie-Moning, so I can’t recommend a good rebound book, but if you are looking for decent urban fantasy reads (and it’s not my favorite genre, so I’m really picky about them) I’ve been enjoying Laura Anne Gilman’s Paranormal Scene Investigation series (well, there are only two books so far, but it appears to have plans to be a longer series); C.E. Murphy’s Walker series; and Kat Richardson’s Greywalker series.
Oh and also, loved loved the Windflower and am still sad the Curtis’s never wrote a book about Cat.
I’m not sure that there IS a cure for Barrons love – and I’m not sure I’d be willing to take the cure even if it existed! He was a psychotic, smug, selfish, clever, scheming, sexy bastard with no redeeming qualities at all, except that he loved Mac. If you like Anne Stuart heros, you’ll love Barrons!
I do second (6th? 7th?) the suggestion of the Kate Daniels series to take the edge off. Curran is a very enjoyable hero, but unlike Barrons, he actually possesses honour & integrity, and is a trustworthy friend and leader. Very different to Barrons whom no one except Mac will ever be able to trust.
HOWEVER, if you are a non-USAian reader, check the availability of the Kate Daniels series before you start!! I can only access the first 3 in Australia, and it may be the same in your country. And they don’t consummate their relationship until book 4. I don’t know what the female equivalent of blue balls is, but I was certainly left with it after 3 books of foreplay and then … nothing!
I will feel the same way after the Night Huntress series comes to an end.
And I did feel a little bummed when I would no longer read more new Barrons. So I did a reread of the first couple of books then took solace in Bones.
Don’t know who will cure my pain when I no longer have any new Bones books to read.
What a timely topic – I am new to the Fever Series and have been listening to them as audio books. Have just started the 4th book Shadowfever and they switched narrators from Joyce Bean to Phil Gigante (oh, god – what a voice) and Natalie Ross. Normally a switch in narrators bugs me, but I am hooked on Barrons & Mac and am dreading the end of the series. This is my first Phil Gigante audio book so maybe to get over my Barrons rebound (and I don’t know of that is possible) I’ll find another book he reads and live vicariously thru his voice.
I was OBSESSED with the Fever series, especially Barrons, and I’m not sure if anyone will be able to live up – possibly Christian if he ever gets a book of his own. I’ve probably re-read those five books as many times as I’ve read other books (this year). Anyhoo, I don’t have any suggestions above and beyond what has been listed above, but JD Robb’s Roarke is at the top of my list.
Susan Blexrud, I second you for Bones and Cat. Especially in the first book. I LOVE Bones….. that sounds dirty…..
What Bri said! Curran FTWIN!
I have never recovered from Dorothy Dunnett’s Lymond Chronicles. Oh Francis! You have ruined me for all other historical heroes forever, I suspect.
I went straight to something totally the opposite; Terry Pratchett makes a nice palate cleanser.
I echo the Night Huntress recommendation. In fact, I don’t know what I will do when Cat and Bones take their final bow. I have a major crush on Bones and the audiobooks are completely addicting. I may just have to go listen to one of them again, right this minute.
I know this feeling so well – and now I am going to have to check out Karen Marie-Moning, because I haven’t yet tried her. I have to say that for me, my rebound books are almost always Nora Roberts re-reads… she is also my slump-buster read… I think part of it is she is – for me, anyway – pretty much in a class by herself, and thus avoids the inevitable comparison. She’s like a combination first love and reset button for me. Which sounds a bit weird now that I’ve typed it, but I’m sticking with it.
So many good ones to choose from!
Darynda Jones—First Grave on the Right, Second Grave…
(first person POV, Charley Davidson, the grim reaper)
Kresley Cole—Immortals After Dark series
(kick-ass Valkyries and the immortal hunks who love them)
Diana Gabaldon—Outlander
(to keep it Celtic)
Ilona Andrews—Kate Daniels series
(magic bites and so does Kate)
Joanna Bourne—The Spymaster’s Lady +
(hot spies, some of them French, and the most exquisite prose)
After reading an awesome series, I pick up any ofJanet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum novels. Those books are a total change of pace and they always make me laugh out loud.
I haven’t read this series (though now of course I must) but I sure know the rebound problem. I love 19th century fiction, and it’s terrible when you realize you’ve gone through all of a favorite writer’s work and you know there will never ever be any new ones. I try to ration them for this reason, but have a strong tendency to book binge anyway. And then the mourning just takes time. But the best advice I ever got, this improves just about any situation in life including this one, is to lower your expectations and drink more. If I’m coming off a book high I intentionally read something I know will be mediocre but acceptable, so that I won’t judge something quite decent too harshly. And also, you know, drink more.
I had severe rebound after Meredith Duran’s Duke of Shadows. I was pretty sure I could never read historical romance again.
So I didn’t – for awhile. I went completely off-genre, and found some really awesome books in the process.
I Love You, Beth Cooper had me howling on the bus (I wish I were kidding – people actually got up and moved away from me). My sides hurt from laughing for weeks after finishing.
S*** My Dad Says was a great auto/biography and it worked as a re-gift for my dad too.
Song of Scarabaeus is a great new science fiction story from Aussie author Sara Cready (and it has a frisson of sexual tension that’s just delicious).
Hope this helps!
Smart bitches don’t misspell “effects” (the after affects (???) it had on me). Just saying. Maybe you are just trashy women reading trashy books.
I’m so disappointed in the hairpin for guiding me here.
The JZB song Phil G does on the soundtrack – my own mother wanted a copy of that (she didn’t know about the books and they weren’t something she’d read anyway) it’s just that sexy.
You have to go cold turkey (or try to). I fortunately found a lot a substitutes in the interminable wait between books four and five. So I’d second Ilona Andrews and the Kate Daniels Series (Curran is great and the Curran POV mini books they’ve release on some scenes are fun.) Bones and Cat from Jeaniene Frost is also great reading. I also tried JR Wards Black Dagger Brotherhood. For lighter fun titles I’d recommend GA Aiken / Shelley Laurenston and Darynda Jones.
There is life after Barrons and you can always curl up in your “I am your dirty dreams” top and read another author and still be close to him
Read the Fever series and loved it. Another of my favorites is The Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward, there are many in this series to keep you going for a while, anything from her is a good cure. Her novella The Story of Son really stuck with me. Her male characters are all amazing and I’m in love with all of them 😀 but I”m sure these books have crossed your path before.
Happy lusting
Echoing what everyone else has said: switch genres for a little while. Read some single titles – less chance of getting hooked on the characters that way!
I know it’s tv rather than books but when I finished The West Wing I actually spent the weekend in bed because I was so miserable it had ended. I avoided tv drama for a while after that and just watched a lot of comedy instead.
With books I tend to get more upset when my favourite authors die than when a series ends. Diana Wynne Jones and Eva Ibbotson have both passed away this year and it’s so hard to imagine that there will be no more of their books.
Going in a different direction to distract yourself (leave Barrons for dream time), try the Linda Winfree Series Hearts of the South series. Each story is about a different couple so you aren’t’ too invested in one person, but more invested in the ‘world’. It is a great series that makes you run to get the next one. Heart wrenching and warming all at once with realistic H/h.
I felt this way when I finished the Outlander series. It’s great when a series has such a strong pull, but it’s frustrating as well. As someone here suggested, try something entirely different, Janet Evanavich always works, or for another paranormal you might try Nora Roberts’ The Circle Trilogy. OR…
The second book in the series comes out next week. Good luck filling the hole in your reading heart!
But, Barons is so damn ryde. I remember thinkging recently there was another guy who felt like Barons. But, I can’t recall what I read yesterday. Cat and Bones Series by Jeaniene Frost is good, KMM;‘s HIghlanders are good. I am heavy into Anita Blake right now and LKH’s Merry Gentry series – between the two there are enough guys to go around.
Good Luck Fangs, Wands and Fairy Dust
email: steph @ fangswandsandfairydust.com
Twitter: @fangswandsfairy
The prescription for book rebound is …. Turnip Fitzhugh ! I strongly recommend The Mischief of the Mistletoe ( or indeed any other of Laren Willigs series)…. You need a Chap to get over the overwhelming sense of “what next ?” that rebound leaves in its wake -& Turnip’s just the character for the job !! Failing that, as with others here, I recommend Nalini Singh’s Psi series
< happy sigh >
Good reviews about Karen Marie—Moning’s Fever series.
I read Kresley Cole—Immortals After Dark series and I was impressed. I recommend it.
Wow, just wow. I guess I have to read them. I’m a huge Moning fan but I never read these because they were such a departure from her Highlander books. I was afraid she wouldn’t jump genres well and avoided them. BUT I did buy at least one of them. lol
To the book shelf!
Capcha word = normal35. I am 35, but far from normal on my best days.
@eggs: I think you summed it up perfectly, especially the part about Anne Stuart. You know you shouldn’t like them…heck, you’d run from these guys in real life.
But on the page they’re so deliciously f*ed up and they’ll do anything for that one woman they love. I mean, damn, the IYD number…sigh
I started reading one KMM book (a long time ago) about a highlander who leaped bareback on his horse, flashing his jewels to the watching heroine – and I cringed in sympathy about how much that must have hurt. The book hit the wall at that point, and I never read another by her.
And I’m not that into urban fantasy, but I have to admit all the glowing praise of the Fever series has me intrigued. But I remember also fury at the way the last book ended…
is it worth while for a non-KMM fan to get into these books?
Thanks to SBTB I found the Windflower, a book I had been looking for since college (20 years ago). I second that feeling of being sad when I finished. And the excitement after finding the title for the book 20 years later.
Although I’m not a big reader of romance, (most would be just a blaze here and there,) but if there’s books that I enjoy and then I realize I have to wait a very long time for the heroes to appear again, I usually move on to different book series or try to find something similar in nature. I never experienced withdrawals like that before. I guess I don’t attach to heroes or heroines that often. Closest I can think of is Harry Potter series, (I got into the series around the time the fourth book was released,) and in-between releases I started to read other fantasy books such as Dragonlance series and at one point Forgotten Realms. Unfortunately I couldn’t stand books 5-7 of Harry Potter, but by then I was cured of the mania.
Word: kind75 I would guess there’s 75 kinds of books that I like.
I just finished this series as well and am having the same problem moving on to another book. Barrons has to be my favorite hero..just love him!
I went through withdrawal after reading the Hathaway series by Lisa Kleypas. Serious withdrawal. I looked through my own library and the public library and NOTHING appealed to me. It was sad because that series helped me rebound after reading the Pink Carnation series. I think both series would be good rebound books… and thanks to this entry and all the great comments, I now have more new books to get obsessed about.