It's Valentine's Day! There's red and chocolate everywhere, and there will be a lot of dining out and champagne and general fuzziness. Oh – and some media attention toward the romance novel since it's an annual thing, asking romance authors what the best date nights are and how to woo the unwilling maiden after you've taken over her father's business in an act of cold blooded corporate revenge.
I figure, let's give gifts! I am giving away two $50 gift cards to the bookstore of the winner's choice! All you have to do: tell me which romance novel you think would make a great gift, and for whom. Maybe it's the book that has the most wide and giddy appeal to the most readers you know. Maybe it's the book you think is one of the best kept secrets of romance publishing. Maybe it's just your favorite for a whole pile of reasons. Either way: name the book you think would make a marvelous gift in the comments, and you might receive the gift card that will enable the purchase of much of the romances! To the yay!
I will select two winners at random, and they will receive $50 to spend at the bookstore of their choosing.
Standard disclaimers apply: I am not being compensated for this giveaway. Your mileage may vary. Turn inside out before washing. Void where prohibited. Must be wearing a cowboy hat and be 18 years of age or older to win. Stop clubbing, baby seals.
You've got 24 hours, so let's start suggesting the perfect giftable romances!
ETA: We have winners! Thanks to the random integer generator, our winners are #3, Anna, and #122, Kirsten. Ladies, please contact me at sarahATsmartbitchestrashybooks.com to claim your gift cards. Thank you to everyone who entered – my books to recommend list is now miles long!
I want to give Bet Me to all my bridesmaids. I think it would be hilarious to make them read a good romance and then a bad one. I have to think of a really great bad romance though.
I would give The Viscount who Loved Me by Julia Quinn. It has the most amazingly witty dialogue and two protagonists that are not perfect, riddled with self-doubt, but somehow come together and accept themselves, flaws and all.
And if historical/Regency romance is not their thing, the next best book is Open Season by Linda Howard. It makes you laugh and think being with a big, tough guy is not such a bad thing – especially when you’re coming out of your shell.
I’m thinking Courtney Milan’s Unveiled, Unclaimed, & Unraveled for my eldest daughter, who’s been a fan of historical romance since high school, and M.K Hobson’s Native Star & The Hidden Goddess for my youngest, who likes her romance well laden with magic and adventure!
I would give The Rake by Suzanne Enoch. I loved Lucien’s snarky comments!
I think Follow My Lead by Kate Noble would make an amazing gift for anyone who wants to read an awesome book
Joanna Bourne’s The Black Hawk—there’s a reason it topped the AAR poll this year 🙂
I loved Monica Burns’ “Pleasure Me” because it was a romance about an older woman and a younger man. Loved it! It gave me (an older woman) hope that there would be an younger man out there who could see past the age thing and look at me as a person who has value in just being me. (sigh)
The only romance I’ve given as a gift was Nora Roberts’s Bride Quartet, to my friend who was recently engaged. It was a hit!
I think Eloisa James is a great author to gift because her books are so funny and charming. I just read her latest, The Duke Is Mine, and loved it!
Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning. It is so addictive that my husband got hooked as well.
I also love the 90’s paranormal suspense romance , Blood Price, by Tanya Huff.
This one inspired the Lifetime tv series , Bloodties. But the books are much darker
and steamier.
Either Not Quite a Husband, or Proof By Seduction. Both of those heroes are fantastic! or maybe Nalini Singh’s series. Or anything by Julie James. Or Welcome to Temptation….(scurries of to reread some favorites)
oddly enough i was just thinking that i need to send a good friend of mine Warrior by Zoe Archer cause I’ve purposefully sent her a few over-the-top ridiculous adventure type novels with a romance side plot (they don’t deserve the title Romance, although they are technically of the genre) and I think it’s about time I pet the dog (tvtropes ftw)
Good to know someone else has heard of it. 😉 Her “Friends and Lovers” was also good.
I would recommend Natural Born Charmer by SEP, it’s funny as hell, it has a great romance that you don’t really think is going to come together and it involves old rock n rollers/goupies. I mean really, doesn’t that just about cover it all? Good book – certainly not highbrow but not too lowbrow either!
I’d definitely recommend one of the funnier (in my opinion) Julia Quinns—-probably What Happens in London or Ten Things I Love About You to get them started if they’d be up for a historical. I laugh out loud every single time I read those.
For one of my animal inclined friends I’d probably go with a Crusie or, if they’re historical inclined, Lisa Kleypas’ Love in the Afternoon.
Hands down for contemporary I’d give them ANYTHING Julie James, possibly a Susan Elizabeth Philips but more likely James to start.
And one particular friend would receive a G.A Aiken Dragon kin book, pretty much because they’re like candy and I was complaining about how Éibhear and Izzy need their own book. I mean, I carried on for (minimum) 25 minutes, agonizing over recent events in the books. I keep checking the website to see if the main characters in the next book have been revealed. I’m DYING. Anyway, she expressed interest, and since she’s my best bud, I really want to get her into romance. If she can swallow a tale about dragons that can turn into people that can fall in love with humans, then she can definitely swallow a lot of the other nutty stuff one comes across. It doesn’t get more crazy sauce than that (too often).
Anything by Julia Quinn! Most especially, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton (my fave of the series) or Ten Things I Love About You.
I would give someone a book I recieved as a gift: Beyond Heaving Bosoms! I swear one of these days I am dragging my bff (a new romance reader) to a used book store and doing the cover art scavenger hunt!
Anyone But You, by Jennifer Crusie. It’s just so sweet, in a funny, non-sickening way.
In honor of Valentine’s Day, I will recommend Heart Mate by Robin D. Owens. Ah, a fantasy world, a destined love, an alpha hero—a talking cat. What more can you ask for?
I would get The Duke and I and give it to one random person at work. It has the best balance of humor, romance and depth to dispel anyone’s preconceived romance novel notions.
It doesn’t typically land in the romance category but I love “The Time Traveler’s Wife”, but in my mind it is a love story. It involves romance, waiting to find the right person (at the right time of *their* life—something most novels don’t cover), and trying to spend as much time as possible before time takes you away.
I also love “Moonstruck” by Susan Grant. It turns alot of romance trophes on its head: for instance—the woman is the “alpha” and the man is the “sensitive” one (although he’s plenty strong). Also, I really appreciate how the two really talk to each other about their lives and work out things emotionally. Of course I liked how they worked out other things too 🙂
Although I know its not her best, I’d give my friend Cruisie’s Maybe This Time and see how an accomplished romance writer can take a classic and run wild with it. I’d probably throw in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies into the mix as well just to mess with her.
I’m really new to reading romance (only 2 yrs) but have completely devoured a ton of books! The 1st one I ever read was Sarah Maclean’s Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake – it got me hooked to romance and would give it to anyone who wanted to try out reading romance.
Courtney Milan’s Unclaimed! I want to read the entire series again now.
Laura Kinsale: Flowers from the Storm is my all time favorite and I’d give another copy to my BFF and force her to give romance another shot. Because that book is beautiful and amazing and too often quickly dismissed. The edition with the Fabio cover is a whole different kind of beautiful, but I love it, too!
I tend to give out books that I am thinking about, and for the past week or so I have been making my way through the first series of Being Human and it has made me want to read Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson books. (And the British version of Being human is so much better than the American version: George is so adorable, and they eat digestives)
As the designated book lender in my circle of friends, I usually start people out on Julia Quinn. (Though one friend did tell me she was dismayed by the amount of baby-epilogues. Luckily, because of so many recs here I finally read Bet Me, so that’s also going to be on the list of starter romances. And it’s nicely baby free, if you’re not so inclined).
I know this is echoing what both SB Sarah and Jane L have been saying for a couple of months now, but I think A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant is a great gift for someone who may be feeling a tad ho-hum about historical romances. It’s just different and enjoyable without involving paranormal activity, supernatural forces or time travel (not that there’s anything wrong with any of those, of course!) In fact, if someone is looking for a historical romance with all the items I just listed, I would suggest No Proper Lady by Isabel Cooper. It’s been described as “Terminator meets My Fair Lady”. The romance itself is actually not that convincing (IMHO) but there were enough fun elements in the book for me that I enjoyed it.
If I am giving the book to a female, I’d give Bet Me by Cruise. If it was a male, probably Welcome to Temptation by Crusie or perhaps Agnes and the Hitman. I’d like to ease the boy into romance disguised as mystery or adventure with awesome, witty writing.
Choose *just* one book? Sigh. Don’t know that it’s possible. I like giving older (90’s) Amanda Quicks (the single word titled ones, like Surrender or Deception) to historical-minded folks and Jennifer Crusie (esp. Welcome to Temptation or Agnes & the Hitman) to contemporary folks. The humor and characters in those books make those books definite gateway drugs into romance IMO. The most current book on my shelves that I’m thinking is gift material Lucy March’s A Little Night Magic. I can’t pin down what it is about that book that I love, but when I finished it my first thought was trying to determine who to give it to….
I am on a major Courtney Milan kick, so I’ve been recommending Unveiled to all of my good friends. It’s one of my favorite romance novels. Ever. Ash Turner. All I can say is *sigh*.
For me personally Tempted Tigress by Jade Lee. I like that the heroine isn’t perfect but she’s attractive towards the hero, and that the hero himself isn’t perfect either. It shows how two imperfect and broken people make a perfect pair. I also like the fact its an AM/WF book and that the heroine has dark eyes and hair and its also very well written.
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While Still We Live is a brilliant novel (published in England as The Unconquerable). Just amazing. And Helen McInnes is a great, classic, romatic thriller writer, in the class of Mary Stewart.
Outlander. I’ve given it as a gift several times!
On the Edge by Ilona Andrews for people who like just the right balance of humor, adventure and romance. I like that they write heroines who are flawed but not too stupid to live.
I really love What Happens in London by Julia Quinn. I’m not too keen on her Bridgerton series, but this was brillaint. Perfect for someone looking for a light-hearted, humorous read.
In the Midnight Rain by Ruth Wind (aka Barbara Samuels) is my recommendation. It’s about a biographer who is doing research on a blues singer in a small town and meets her mysterious online chat friend who promises to help her. Attraction flares, lots of heat and angst ensues. Great setting and characters all around.
@Deborah
OMG, that looks freakin’ hysterical. I may actually have to read it.
For a new romance reader, I recommend Sarah Maclean’s Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake. I gave this to a friend of mine who was – underscoring the WAS – not convinced romance was a genre she could enjoy. Before giving her the novel, she said most enjoys ‘serious’ fiction – whatever that means (i think it was men going all macho and solving crimes and doing courtroom crap which in reality could get them cited for contempt). In any case, she loved it so much she went and got the other two books in Ms. Maclean’s book list. No word on whether she got the latest release, I’ll have to ask.
I’m waiting for her to ask me about other books like Ms. Maclean’s. I honestly have no idea since I’m not a veteran reader myself, but at least I got somebody to scour the shelves with me at the local bookstore to laugh at the covers while we pick new reads!
The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley, I read it recently and it was so AMAZING! And I think you can give this to almost anyone cause it’s pretty clean. I mean, it didn’t even give me a twinge of embarassment when I lent it to my mom 🙂