Funny Romance Recommendations

Bitchin' Blog Posts

by SB Sarah | by SB Sarah | March 12, 2007 | Monday at 4:38 pm | 71 Comments

Bitchery reader Maya sent me a very smart idea: we need recommendations for the funny-funny romance novels.

She wrote:

As an aspiring writer myself, I’m interested to study what works in comedic writing (I’m plenty capable of finding what doesn’t work in comedic writing myself). Has the bitchery every compiled such a list ? If not - dare I hope the question might be thrown out there ?

If someone asked me, for example, I’d lead off with

Mr. Impossible - Loretta Chase - (historical -Egypt)
Crocodile on the Sandbank - Elizabeth Peters - (historical - Egypt)
Fame Fatale - Wendy Holden - (contemporary - Britain)
Pastures Nouveaux - Wendy Holden - (contemporary - Britain)
Alice, I Think, Miss Smithers, Alice McLeod, Realist at Last - Susan Juby - (young adult contemporary trilogy, Canada)

So bring on the hilarity - what funny romance novels, historical OR contemporary, do you recommend?

Filed: Good Shit vs. Shit to Avoid

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Trollop said on 03.12.07 at 06:44 PM • [link]

Lady Be Good by SEP
Sarah Frantz said on 03.12.07 at 07:19 PM • [link]

Dare I mention Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice?
bungluna said on 03.12.07 at 07:30 PM • [link]

There’s a lot of contemporary comedy/romances out there, but for me most of them miss the mark. Here’s a list of the authors I find amusing. (Warning: I don’t have a typical sense of humor; I thought Pulp Fiction was hillarious.)

1. Lynday Sands has some funny vampire romances.
2. Anything by Jennifer Crusie is good.
3. Linda Howard’s “Mr. Perfect” was very funny.
4. MaryJanice Davidson’s books are a scream, if you like her brand of humor, (which I do!)
5. Shelley Laurenston has very funny paranormals.
6. Loretta Chase has some very funny historicals.
Jenn said on 03.12.07 at 07:36 PM • [link]

The Phallus from Dallas

Honest.
Teddy Pig said on 03.12.07 at 07:39 PM • [link]

All I got is Werewolf romance funny…

Pack Challenge and Go Fetch!

by Shelly Laurenston
Victoria Dahl said on 03.12.07 at 07:49 PM • [link]

As You Desire by Connie Brockway, my favorite book EVAH! Funny as hell with a seemingly unheroic hero who will melt your cold, cold heart. Yes, I’m a fangirl.
meardaba said on 03.12.07 at 07:56 PM • [link]

Guess what? I was born and raised in Smithers.

Everything she says is true.
Betsy D. said on 03.12.07 at 07:59 PM • [link]

Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie (or anything by Jennifer Crusie)
BevQB said on 03.12.07 at 08:03 PM • [link]

With no reservations whatsoever, I’m telling you that Katie MacAlister’s “The Corset Diaries” has THE funniest, scream-out-loud-with-laughter scene I have ever read in ANY book EVER! And when you can finally catch your breath and start reading again, she delivers a one-line response to “the corset incident” that will send you right back into screaming again. No exaggerating- my family came rushing into the room to find out what the hell I was laughing so hard about. When I told them it was a book, they gave me blank stares, shook their heads, and walked away. Cretins!

And her Aisling Grey series is a hoot! You’ll love Jim.
Emily said on 03.12.07 at 08:24 PM • [link]

If we’re allowed to break out the Austen, my votes goes for Northanger Abbey.

And, um…The Scarlet Pimpernel series. *blush* I just like ‘em, ‘kay?
Baddies snorts black PEPPER. That’s just funny.
Emily said on 03.12.07 at 08:25 PM • [link]

I also second the Katie MacAlister in general.
rebyj said on 03.12.07 at 08:33 PM • [link]

“the very virile viking” sandra hill..
always cracks me up..big eared vikings gotta be funny!
FeyRhi said on 03.12.07 at 08:34 PM • [link]

One of my absolute favourite books is is “Charmed” by Beth Ciotta. It’s a contemporary romance featuring a whimsical childrens entertainer named Lulu and an ex-marine, now professional bodyguard named Murphy. He carries a gun, she wares glass slippers and a tiara. I laughed through the whole thing.
BevQB said on 03.12.07 at 08:41 PM • [link]

Oh yeah, how could I forget MJD’s Betsy books?! In fact, they’d be a good way to study different types of humor… from biting sarcasm, to dry understated wit, to slapstick and everything in between.
Darlene Marshall said on 03.12.07 at 08:49 PM • [link]

In historicals, The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer, The Devil’s Delilah by Loretta Chase, and Pirate’s Price by Darlene Marshall.

In contemps, almost anything by Susan Elizabeth Phillips or Jennifer Crusie.
Bev(BB) said on 03.12.07 at 09:04 PM • [link]

Best Laid Schemes by Emma Jensen. All I have to do is mention the beagle and the monkey to my kids and they start chuckling. Best use of getting drunk for character development I’ve ever seen outside of the movies. And, no, it wasn’t until after the hero saw the monkey ride the beagle down the staircase that he decided to get drunk. I think. I may need to reread that one again. Hehehe.
Estelle said on 03.12.07 at 09:08 PM • [link]

I’m a bit particular in that I like my ‘funny’ romance books to have depth and some angst. If it’s all fluff it doesn’t quite satisfy me.

I’ll second Connie Brockway’s As You Desire, and I’ll add:

*Amanda Quick’s Mischief
*Patricia Veryan’s The Tyrant
*Loretta Chase’s The Devil’s Delilah
*Laura Kinsale’s Seize the Fire—although it does verge into extreme angst territory toward the end.

All these are historicals.
Liz said on 03.12.07 at 09:12 PM • [link]

I second Bet Me and anything else by Crusie as well.

The second Undead book by Mary Janice Davidson also had me laughing quite frequently.
Jeri said on 03.12.07 at 09:41 PM • [link]

Stupid and Contagious by Candice Crane. Fall-off-the-couch funny. If you’re a music fan, even better. It was my favorite book of last year.
Raina_Dayz said on 03.12.07 at 10:07 PM • [link]

I just read SEP’s Aint She Sweet and it really killed me in parts. I find Katie McAlister and Lynsay Sands books to be quite unreadable though. Just wanted to throw that out there as the other side of the coin. Though judging from the sale of them I did on Ebay after I couldn’t read them, alot of people disagree with me.
KRK said on 03.12.07 at 10:08 PM • [link]

Early Jennifer Crusie books are favorite funnies for me. Georgette Heyer’s Sprig Muslin is another book I laugh at (with?) every time I read it.
--E said on 03.12.07 at 10:15 PM • [link]

Bujold’s Cordelia’s Honor works as a romance novel (though it’s two books in one, and space opera). Although there’s plenty of angst and such, it nonetheless holds the “single moment that made me laugh the hardest, ever” title—twice.

(Why twice? because when Cordelia says, “I’ve been shopping,” it was the winning moment. But then half a line later, Aral says, “But of course—all Vor ladies go to the capital to shop” and that was even funnier. I suppose I should note that these lines are preceeded by a rather gruesome moment.)
Victoria Dahl said on 03.12.07 at 10:27 PM • [link]

I lurve SEP too. I just started reading her last year and I was so excited to have discovered her. The books are not perfect for me, but they are just SUCH A RELIEF with the non-PC humor, kinky sex, and characters who DON’T love dogs. Thank God for SEP.

Just read Natural Born Charmer and laughed my ass off. And what a gorgeous cover.
Jami Alden said on 03.12.07 at 11:09 PM • [link]

SEP is the best, even when the humor goes into the the realm of cringe-worthy (Portia’s blue mask, anyone?). I also love Rachel Gibson - she has a very dry sense of humor and great “guy” lines that always make me chuckle, and Susan Donovan’s books are pretty funny. Jennifer Crusie is pretty obvious, but I have to admit, sometimes I find the constant exchange of clever one liners a little exhausting.
Candy said on 03.12.07 at 11:17 PM • [link]

I’ll add to the general chorus “OMG Jennifer Crusie SQUEEEEEEE,” but in particular, I’d like to recommend Anyone But You, Strange Bedpersons, Manhunting and Bet Me.

Midsummer Moon by Laura Kinsale is one of the greatest under-rated romantic comedies, ever.

Loretta Chase is funny in a rather dry, witty sense. Her funniest are probably Lord of Scoundrels, Viscount Vagabond, Devil’s Delilah and Mr. Impossible.

Angel Rogue by Mary Jo Putney has many laugh-out-loud moments, though it gets annoyingly New Agey by the end, and she seems to have lifted some of the jokes from Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome.

The Gambler by Lois Greiman is pretty obscure but really, really amusing in a rather slapsticky way.
Sandy D. said on 03.12.07 at 11:25 PM • [link]

“You Suck: A Love Story”, by Christopher Moore. Even funnier than “Bloodsucking Fiends” (which it is a sequel to).

I blogged about it here, (with an excerpt), if you’re not familiar with the weirdness that is Christopher Moore.
Piper said on 03.12.07 at 11:27 PM • [link]

Read my first MJD recently: Sleeping With the Fishes. ‘Bout peed my pants during the intro. The rest of the book was pretty funny, too, but it lacked resolution for the main character and was obviously a series starter.
Ziggy said on 03.13.07 at 12:06 AM • [link]

Oooh, I love Wendy Holden. Glad to see her namechecked already. My absolute favourite Holden is The Wives of Bath... absolutely hilarious.
“i suppose,” he said, “that it’s all meant to be a bit ironic.”
[... but] nobody, even the most committed post-modernist, had ironic erections.

Lazy Ways to Make a Living by Abigail Bosanko is funny and genuinely beautifully written, but the love story itself didn’t really push my buttons. I enjoyed the relationships between the heroine and her sisters, though.

Hunting Unicorns by Bella Pollen: moving and funny.

I found the heroine and the plot of India Knight’s Don’t You Want Me? both irritating, but it still managed to be pretty damn funny.

Another vote for Bet Me by Jenny Crusie.
Ziggy said on 03.13.07 at 12:15 AM • [link]

Oh whoops, forgot to mention: all the books that I mentioned are contemporaries. Lazy Ways is set in Scotland, if I remember correctly. Bet Me in the States. The others are set in England.
Lindsey said on 03.13.07 at 12:19 AM • [link]

Jessica Benson’s The Accidental Duchess is hilarious, and her other titles are very funny as well.
Bron said on 03.13.07 at 01:45 AM • [link]

Anne Gracie’s The Perfect Rake. It’s not a comedy throughout - there’s some fairly serious themes as part of the story - but Gideon is one of the most gorgeous, playful, witty heros I’ve read in a long time.

(Okay, so I don’t get to read as much as some of the Bitchery… I’m trying to catch up, as much as small-town Down-under bookshops and small budgets allow!)
Chris said on 03.13.07 at 01:48 AM • [link]

No one mentioned “Bridget Jones Diary”. I like the Shopaholic series too.
DS said on 03.13.07 at 02:12 AM • [link]

Ah, Three Men in a Boat. Although it is sf I love Connie Willis’ To Say Nothing of the Dog: How We Found the Bishop’s Birdstump at Last had some very funny moments. Heyer, just about anything, I love a comedy of manners. Bits of Eileen Dreyer’s thrillers, particularly Nothing Personal, If Looks Could Kill, and her Maggie O’Brien books. Love her dark humor. And I’ve been racking my brain to no avail to try to come up with a genre romance that I thought was hilarious. The ones I can think of have already been mentioned. Just thought of a 1960’s historical novel that I thought hilarious—The Revolt of Sarah Perkins.

Ah, my word must have put a jinx on me: cannot27
Kass said on 03.13.07 at 02:25 AM • [link]

Is Georgette Heyer’s book The Masqueraders out of print? I’d swear I’m the only person on the Internet who’s ever read it, and IMO it’s her best book ever. It’s hilarious and has one of the only effective male to female/female to male duo gender switches I’ve ever seen in romance.

Miss Wonderful by Loretta Chase is the best for me, though Lord Perfect has more quotable lines in it. “Did your wife often throw things at you?”

And a general recommendation for readers who like YA books of Gordon Korman’s McDonald Hall books and Don’t Care High. They aren’t romances, but they are absolutely hysterically funny.
Renee Somebody said on 03.13.07 at 03:02 AM • [link]

I second the MaryJanice Davidson and Jennifer Crusie recommendations, and would add Alesia Holliday - especially American Idle, there is a scene on the plane that made me laugh so hard tears rolled down my face.
Julie Kenner’s Carpe Demon and the sequal (can’t remember the name offhand) were also very amusing.
I love Christopher Moore, and there are romatic plots in all of his novels.
Also, for other humor done (IMO) right, Terry Pratchett is a god!
That’s all I have right now, since I’m at work and can’t scan my bookcases :(
Estelle Chauvelin said on 03.13.07 at 03:11 AM • [link]

Vicki Lewis Thompson’s Nerd series. My Nerdy Valentine is probably my favorite over all (nerdy hero and heroine, nobody gets de-nerded in the end, and other things), but they all work for me in terms of the humor.
Darlene Marshall said on 03.13.07 at 03:25 AM • [link]

Renee S., thank you for mentioning Terry Pratchett! How could I forget Sam and Lady Ramkin, Carrot and Angua? Guards! Guards! has one of the most romantic lines I’ve ever read: “She couldn’t do worse, but then, he couldn’t do better. So maybe it all balanced out.”

Great humor, pathos and love in one package. Now, if only we could find someone for the Patrician!
dl said on 03.13.07 at 03:47 AM • [link]

A series that comes to mind…the early Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich. I don’t like them enough to purhcase, a library author for me…but very funny in places.
Nicole said on 03.13.07 at 04:30 AM • [link]

Hmmm…..for paranormals I love Shelly Laurenston. And I still admit to read MJD, though I get the hardcovers from the library. She still always makes me laugh even when her heroines all start to run together.

Susan Donovan is a favorite.

Kate Davies from Samhain Pub has some funny stories.

Beth Ciotta - loved Jinxed, but haven’t read Charmed yet, though I bought it and Seduced and Lasso the Moon because of Jinxed. Need to read them all.

I love funny stories and can’t wait to see how this list ends up.
Lynda the Guppy said on 03.13.07 at 04:32 AM • [link]

Most of my favorite funny romance books and authors have already been mentioned, so I won’t rehash. But I really liked the duo of Dara Joy’s “High Energy” and its sequel “High Intensity.” Funny AND sexy. Although the curtain thing creeped me out. All I could think about was all the dust. Blech. LOL.

And if we’re venturing into non-romance, then I have to speak of Jasper Fforde. He’s not only funny, he’s smart and very clever. His books remind me a bit of Pratchett’s, in that they are completely whacked, but some of the humor is stuff that you only pick up if you’re paying attention. Absolutely fabulous and amazingly creative.
Renaesance said on 03.13.07 at 04:33 AM • [link]

Summon the Keeper by Tanya Huff. Although not really romance it does contain romantic subplot and theres nothing funnier than a schizophrenic portal to Hell that argues with itself…and sulks.
Nicole said on 03.13.07 at 04:35 AM • [link]

Oh, Summon the Keeper is one of my all-time favorite books. SOOOOOO many funny moments.
Michelle said on 03.13.07 at 04:53 AM • [link]

I agree anything by Katie MacAlister. I loved the Corset Diaries. I wish they would make that into a movie.

Also loved Summon the Keeper.

Agree with Jennifer Crusie. Faking It is my favorite for being zany-it would also be a great movie.
Meredith said on 03.13.07 at 04:58 AM • [link]

How did I miss this thread?

I agree completely about Anne Gracie’s The Perfect Rake. I don’t get Loretta Chase, but I think that Katie MacAlister’s Hard Days Knight is hilarious, as is Men in Kilts. (Her vampire novels are atrocious. Awful. Awe-inspiringly bad, but her contemporary stuff is not too bad.)

Another vote for Bet Me, as well.
Becca said on 03.13.07 at 05:12 AM • [link]

historical: Patricia Veryan’s Mistress of Willowvale. I couldn’t look at a pancake for months without cracking up after first reading this one.
Rosa said on 03.13.07 at 06:20 AM • [link]

Carl Hiaasen’s book Sick Puppy is definitely a romance. You just know the moment the hero shows up that he’s so messed up SOMEBODY’s gotta love him. And it always cracks me up.
charity said on 03.13.07 at 06:51 AM • [link]

I have to disagree with all the people recommending anything by Katie MacAlister. I don’t find her funny but it’s obvious that she tries. Nothing is more cringe-worthy than a failed joke. I couldn’t even finish reading The Corset Diaries for that reason. But from the comments above I guess to each their own.

I’ve noticed that their are two types of humor in books. The kind that makes you smile and the kind that makes you laugh out loud.

My list of the latter:

Lamb by Christopher Moore
Fluke by Christopher Moore
True Story by Bill Maher
Comedy Writer by Peter Farrelly
Naked by David Sedaris
Dress Your Family In Cordoroy and Denim by David Sedaris
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

Humor in books is really hard to pull off. I can’t think of one romance novel that actually made me laugh out loud. Julia Quinn’s Romancing Mr. Bridgerton and The Viscount Who Loved Me both had scenes that made me smile though.
Sheena said on 03.13.07 at 07:39 AM • [link]

I second Georgette Heyer’s The Grand Sophy, and I’d like to throw in Cotillion and Frederica by her as well. I have read The Masqueraders, but tend to get it slightly confused with The Talisman Ring (don’t ask me why), and though I love the father, I can’t make myself really warm to Prudence. I also echo any Jennifer Crusie, but I’d like to plump for Welcome to Temptation as the one which makes me laugh the most.
Invisigoth said on 03.13.07 at 07:42 AM • [link]

I second The Corset Diaries. Hey! That book also mentions condoms! (ref to an earlier topic—BC in romancelandia). The story is over the top and hilarious and has a scene that I swear Katie Macalister spent way, way too much time researching by watching Tom Jones (the movie with Albert Finney, not the singer).
Lady Rhian said on 03.13.07 at 08:06 AM • [link]

I no longer remember the name of the book nor the author, but I am hoping some bitchery reader can provide me with both of a book written in the 80s. The heroine’s name was Joanna, and the hero kidnaps her at one point. She constantly gets the name of things wrong. Where most heroines would call the hero a rake, she calls him… a hoe!

They part early in the book and meet later, both in disguise. She gets angry at him and again calls him, “You hoe!” and he says, “Joanna!”

She: How did you know it was me?

Him: Nobody else calls me a hoe.
Shelley said on 03.13.07 at 12:45 PM • [link]

I enjoy Katie MacAlister’s Aisling Gray series but didn’t find some of her other books that funny.

The earlier Stephanie Plum books are great, and I think Linda Howard does humor well, too. Mr. Perfect is one that comes to mind.

And I might as well toot my own horn. My books tend to have a lot of humor:
Romancing the Alien (the Talking dogs books), Summer in the City of Sails and Snap! to mention a few ;-)
jordana said on 03.13.07 at 03:12 PM • [link]

I made the mistake of reading Lamb by Christopher Moore while I was confined to not moving for a couple of weeks due to back trouble. It is a mistake to read a book that makes one laugh so hard that you cry about every page when every movement makes you cry from pain. It is NOT a good combination.

But I second it as a great humor book that although it is not offically a romance, it does have a romance occuring in it.
kate r said on 03.13.07 at 03:22 PM • [link]

Cotillion by Heyer
almost anything by Barbara Metzger
EF Benson
DEFINITELY Pratchett and Chase
PG Wodehouse
Evanovich’s old short category romances (not the stuff she’s re-releasing as full length)
some Emma Jensen
Connie Brockway
Alice in Bed Catherine Schine
skapusniak said on 03.13.07 at 03:34 PM • [link]

In the funny Heyer stakes, I’m nominating Sprig Muslin, over and above The Grand Sophy now I’ve finally managed to bring ‘the name of that one I can’t quite remember’ to mind.

There’s something in the spectacle of ‘Uncle’ Gary and Amanda (quite the force of nature) desperately outdoing doing each other in the telling of ‘enormous bouncers’ about the other to frustrate their respective plans for Amanda’s fate that’s inately hilarious. Then it all gets *completely* out of hand with the advent of Mr.Hildebrand Ross with tales Queen Katherine’s blackened (possibly using pitch) heart. With eventually Lady Hester, having been—quite improperly—summoned to their rescue, being forced to lament upon the fact that she was really quite shatter-brained not have broken into Widmore’s strongbox before setting out to save them…

...and that’s before she attempts not be seen by poor Barnabas Vinehall. Or Amanda’s Major turns up.
self promoter said on 03.13.07 at 04:15 PM • [link]

everything I’ve written even the stuff I didn’t intend to be funny.
June said on 03.13.07 at 05:10 PM • [link]

Although I agree with Crocodile on the Sandbank (and all Elizabeth Peters books for that matter), I found the second in the series “Curse of the Pharoahs” the funniest. Amelia and Emerson’s interactions with a very young, lispy, precocious Ramses are some of the funniest scenes in that book.

Also second Summon the Keeper by Tanya Huff.
smileytumpkin said on 03.13.07 at 06:40 PM • [link]

I can’t believe no-one has mentioned Jilly Cooper : don’t you get her books in Americaland? The 600 page blockbuster ones are all very well but the best ones are the short ones from the early 1970s with a whiff of Brand New Sexual Revolution about them. Prudence, Imogen and Emily are all snortingly funny, even if they do rely a bit overmuch on puns.

I’m just loving La Cooper’s work.

(Oh - and Devil’s Cub has got to be the funniest Georgette Heyer).
Darlene Marshall said on 03.13.07 at 07:14 PM • [link]

Here’s another nod to Devil’s Cub. I love to re-read the scene towards the end with the heroine and the elderly English “m’lord” in the inn to laugh and study Heyer’s craft.
Melissa said on 03.13.07 at 10:59 PM • [link]

I have to recommend Julie Garwood’s The Gift
. Sarah’s adventures on Nathan’s ship made me laugh out loud when I first read them, and they still make me smile umpteen readings later.
Marta Acosta said on 03.14.07 at 12:06 AM • [link]

You mean besides my own “hilarious” (Romantic Times) novel? Someone else mentioned Connie Willis’s sci-fi comedy of manners, To Say Nothing of the Dog, which I loved. Several people have mentioned “the weirdness that is Christopher Moore,” and he’s fabulous. All of his books have a romantic love story. I know Sophie Kinsella gets dissed for her completely unrealistic plots, but she’s writing comedy and her Shopaholic books make me laugh out loud. Jane Austen’s books are very funny, especially the eccentric secondary characters. I’m with the people who mentioned Jasper Fforde’s The Eyre Affair. Jennifer Weiner’s books aren’t comedies, but there are always funny scenes. I’m also a fan of Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse novels.
skyerae said on 03.14.07 at 12:08 AM • [link]

I have to agree with Mr. Perfect. The cucumber scene was great. When I lent it to my mom to read and she burst out laughing I knew exactly where she was.
Riki said on 03.14.07 at 12:10 AM • [link]

I just finished re-reading â€œThe convenient Marriageâ€ by Georgette Heyer. I found myself laughing out loud more than once, especially towards the end.
Heyer is one of the few that gets me actually giggling, not just smiling broadly and enjoying myself.
The first Heyer I read was Devilâ€™s Cub. I remember reading it in bed at night, and laughing so much I woke up my sister who slept in the next room.
Little Miss Spy said on 03.14.07 at 01:22 AM • [link]

Devil’s Cub was my first too! And I was absolutely enthralled! I love its dry and dark humor. Ah! Now I must go off and read it again. Alice i think, etc. Series are really quite funny. I felt like it was looking in a mirror. Except that I don’t do Hobbit outfits.
rdrchick said on 03.14.07 at 12:24 PM • [link]

On Mrs. Giggles rec I read Out of This World by Ann Wesley Hardin. Freakin’ hysterical from start to finish. All her books are.

Otherwise I love Manhunting and Faking It by Jennifer Crusie, and Dakota Cassidy is a scream too!
latebloomer said on 03.14.07 at 06:25 PM • [link]

Here are a couple that no one has mentioned or maybe even heard of—more’s the pity: The Ideal Bride, and Courting Trouble, by Nonnie St. George. Both books are wonderful spoofs of the romance genre, while also being sweetly romantic and great stories to boot. Courting Trouble is especially funny, and follows two characters introduced in The Ideal Bride.

You’ll likely only find these books at Amazon or Alibris or, with luck, in your library, but you won’t be disappointed.

Also, the beginning of Katie MacAlister’s The Trouble with Harry, in which a young girl is trying to get Daddy to explain “women’s troubles” to her—oh, so funny. God love him, he’s ready to put a bullet in his brain before he finally makes his escape.
Marta Acosta said on 03.14.07 at 10:34 PM • [link]

Here’s a question for Georgette Heyer fans. I bought some of her old hardbacks with lovely covers: Black Sheep, Bath Tangle, The Nonesuch, and Spring Muslin. Do you have any suggestions about the order in which they should be read? I was glad to hear that Sprig Muslin is a fave.

Thanks for your advice.
SaucySam said on 03.15.07 at 08:14 AM • [link]

I am a huge Katie Macalister fan and I think her books are a great example of comedic writing as well.

I know it is not romance but I would recommend Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman or Good Omens by Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (anything by Pratchett is funny). I just read Anansi Boys and thought it was hilarious and I think that Good Omens is the funniest book ever written!

I am also a big fan of a young adult series called Confessions of Georgia Nicolson by Louise Rennison. The first book is called Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging. They are very cute, and I think I made everyone on a bullet train in Japan think Americans are lunatics because I was having fits of laughter reading one of those books.
Maya said on 03.16.07 at 01:19 AM • [link]

Wow. Let a couple of days go by, and not only have the uber-bitches taken my humble little suggestion and run with it, but the bitchery has come up with 60+ gems. Thanks, everyone. What an excellent, excellent reason to procrastinate with my own writing - obviously, I now have to go do a lot of ‘research’.
I’m so happy !
Sheena said on 03.16.07 at 02:26 AM • [link]

Marta - I don’t think it really matters which order you read those ones in, they’re all unrelated. It’s only when you hit the stories about the Alastairs that it helps to read them in sequence, that is: These Old Shades (which is the only Heyer that ever makes me cry, when the hero finally proposes), Devil’s Cub, Regency Buck, and An Infamous Army. But out of those you mention, Sprig Muslin I think is the best, I wouldn’t lose any time becoming acquainted with it. I must admit that Lady Hester is one of my favourite Heyer heroines - she’s older, not outstanding in appearance and underestimated by most people but has integrity and a good sense of humour. When she breaks out of her downtrodden life it’s wonderful. And I just adore the relationship between Neil and Amanda.
Tania from Canada said on 03.17.07 at 07:18 AM • [link]

I fangirl over Terry Pratchett. And I recently started reading some Wodehouse, and it is hilarious.

But funny straight-up romance? Hmm. Julia Quinn generally amuses me, but I seem to go angsty in my romances even though I also seem to enjoy the humourous ones more.

Also, I can never find Loretta Chase! I’ve looked in my library and every bookstore I can find around here, and it’s like she doesn’t exist. A pity, since she’s so highly recommended everywhere I’ve looked.
SharpBluntBimbo said on 03.23.07 at 04:28 PM • [link]

I dunno why, but I love Hanah Howell’s books. Medieval jokes, I heart me some medieval jokes. Very subtle humour. I forget which book it is, but the best one from her was about ‘the man with no chin’ as the villain.. I snorted countless times.

I second Confessions of Georgia Nicolson by Louise Rennison.

Katie MacAlister is a hit and miss for me, but Men in Kilts is one of my fave re-reads. Karen Marie Moning has her funny moments, and overall her books are very well-written. Julia London’s Hazards of Hunting a Duke.

Oh, not to forget Jeremy Clarkson - very obvious, sometimes cheap humour, but I will love him til the day I die.

Guess I better start reading Heyer and Pratchett..