Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

My dad likes Elizabeth Lowell, Nora Roberts, and Linda Howard :)

Sparkles by Louise Bagshawe:

Crossing decades and continents, SPARKLES is the totally compelling story of the Massot family. Fabulously wealthy, internationally adored, the Massots own one of the last great aristocratic jewellery firms in Paris.

But where is its owner Pierre, missing presumed dead for 15 years? And what will happen to his beautiful young widow Sophie? The answers lie rooted in the past and form part of the future - in a way no-one could ever have guessed…

Heh. The soap opera in book form is alive and well!

The Proviso (book 1) by moi

and

Stay (book 2) by moi

If he reads electronically, I’ll send him a free e-copy of each. Email me! moriah at moriahjovan dot com.

Send him Linda Howard’s Kill and Tell.  That book converted my super macho husband into a romance reader.

I also made my husband read Kill and Tell as well as Mr. Perfect. I think the other one I made him read was Cry No More (?). Almost talked him into Outlander.

I think if your dude can get past the female POV, any guy could like and respect the integrity of the character of Jamie and the fact thait is a series chock full o’ history.

I immediately thought of Susan Elizabeth Phillips and especially her CHICAGO STARS BOOKS.
You got your sexxin’, your (fairly) intricate plots and your well done smarmin’.

He can also say that the books are about ball players— in case someone is stupid enough to make fun of a man with a club and a gun.

Linda Howard, hands down.
Kill and Tell as some have already recommended and All the Queens Men (the sequel). My Prefect, Dream Man, you name it.

That would be *Mr. Perfect in my previous post… Should read before submitting.

In case he hasn’t heard, Jackie Collins has a new book out, Poor Little Bitch Girl.

How about the Lisa Kleypas contemporaries?  I got my boyfriend to read Sugar Daddy and he actually enjoyed it.  Again, though, he’ll have to get past the female POV…

Jilly Cooper, if you can find her books in print. He may also like Janet Dailey. Have you thought about Danielle Steele’s older stuff, like Jewels, Toxic Bachelors, Kaleidescope, Message from Nam, Daddy, Fine Things… I could go on…

There is also Tilly Bagshawe, and my personal favorite, Kim Gruenenfelder. he might also like some of the Harlequin Intrigue category, since they are short, fun whodunit reads with lots of rumpusy-hot shenanigans and heroic deeds-o’-epicness.

I ? used book stores for some of the older titles, and out of print awesomeness that would be less expensive for you to stock up (read: books in BULK for your friend! And you!)

Elizabeth Lowell and Iris Johannsen have some romantic suspense in this vein. Of Lowell’s jewel series (Amber Beach/Jade Island/Pearl Cove/Midnight on Ruby Bayou) I thought Pearl Cove was best and it can be read out of order.

Alternately, for more 80s goodness - Judith McNaught’s Perfect? Lots of action and lots of sex.

Somebody who’s read more Suzanne Brockmann than I have might be able to make a better recommendation from her backlist, too.

How about the Victoria Dahl contemporaries?

Lori Foster has series about the MMA fighters, Back in Black, Hard to Handle and Havoc - all from both male and female POV and lots of sex and a litte bit of mystery.  My dad liked the Victoria Dahl contemporaries.

Hands down first choice: the Crazy series by Tara Janzen. Smokin hot sex, muscle cars and shoot outs, what’s not for a guy to like? Then, definitely Shannon McKenna.

Has he tried any historicals? If not, they may be just the thing to sweep him out of today’s stress. My husband really enjoyed Joanna Bourne’s Spymaster books.

Isn’t Judith Krantz along the same line?

I do love thrift shopping because there are always Jackie Collins novels to be found, btw. :)

Makes me want to go out and buy a bunch of books for him and send a care package myself.  How cute.

How about J.D. Robb’s In Death books?  I’m going through them now.  Of course they are more 1.) intricate plot/mystery 2.)sex.  Very addictive.

Some good recommendations already.  How about Sandra Brown?  Some of her recent focus as much on the male lead as the female, if not more, and plenty melodramatic.  Karen Robards’ contemporaries.

I was sure someone would have suggested Jennifer Crusie before I got all the way to the bottom of the comments!  Almost any of her recent books would be highly recommended.  In historicals, it’s hard to go wrong with Loretta Chase and Lord of Scoundrels, again.

If he likes the glammy-trashy factor of Jackie Collins (I know I do), send him a copy of Valley of the Dolls. I know it gets the cold shoulder from a lot of romance readers, but I frigging love that book. Classic.

Hands down first choice: the Crazy series by Tara Janzen. Smokin hot sex, muscle cars and shoot outs, what’s not for a guy to like?

I second!  They all take place in a 24 hour period.  Real fast passed.

This is a little out there but if he likes the sex and the plot you might send him some of the paranormal series. The Black Dagger BrotherHood and Midnight Breed come to mind. Also if you are feeling particularly generous load them all up on a Kindle and send it over. That way the other military guys won’t know what he’s reading.

I second Moriah Jovan’s recommendation of her books ^^. I think they’re better written than Jackie Collins, though. But the guy has to like or tolerate Libertarian political views and discussions about Ayn Rand and Laura Ingalls Wilder ^^. And Mormon cultural upbringing.

Being German and not having had any contact with any of this, it was a bit strange (but no more than fantasy or scifi is). The characters and stories are really strong.

What about Susan Brockmann. If you want to get a variety what about the first book in J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series or maybe Bitten by Kelly Armstrong (POV may be a problem here).  I belong to Paperbackswap and would be glad to sent a few books if available to him.

Estara, the check is in the mail. ;)

My dad loves Jackie Collins and thus I had her entire oeuvre (thru the 70s/80s) growing up. I have no problem. I love both Lucky and Chances, if your friend is down w/ that sort of thing. Also, as Steph at the beginning mentioned, Elizabeth Lowell. I got sucked into her writing w/ Midnight in Ruby Bayou. The rest in that series are equally hot and spicy, not to mention well written. Might also look into Lori Foster’s Say No to Joe (my alltime fave from her). I love supporting men in their closet romance enjoyment.

Lora Leigh….to raise the tempeture.  Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series is hysterical and steamy…

I second the Jilly Cooper books, starting with Riders, Rivals, Polo, etc. These are big arsed books chock full of complicated casts of characters. The people aren’t so perfectly behaved, the plots are completely wtf and they are sooooooo satisfying to read. Most recent book was Wicked about two schools in rural England, one a public and one a comprehensive, the kids, their teachers, the parents ... all running amok and behaving inappropriately. Loved it. These books are set in England and from what I’ve heard are a tad hard to find in the US, but the Book Depository will probably have them and they ship anywhere free.

Would I be lynched for suggesting Olivia Goldsmith?

The plots they are twisty, the characters, they are over the top, the sex, it is angsty and fairly hot . . .

@Chez Oh thank you thank you thank you. Must have.

FYI, the Air Force has “Security Police” (SPs).  The Army has “Military Police” (MPs).  Common error but the AF SPs prefer to be called SPs. 

So please info Big Burly SP that he can request books through Operation Paperback, http://www.operationpaperback.org/

Readers, check out the website, too, for ways to support this most excellent organization.

I can also send him romance books donated to Support Our Soldiers (SOS) America Inc. – please have him contact me.

My husband is an AF Computer Guru and he occasionally read my romance books.  He likes Victoria Alexander (AF brat). 

Kim Adams
SOS Military Liaison
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

I’ll second the Chicago Stars books by Susan Elizabeth Phillips.  .

Love a man who’ll read romance!!

If a female POV won’t bother him, I highly recommend Zane.  Start off with Addicted

WOW!! 
First, THANK YOU to SB Sarah for posting my request.  You are tres awesome chicka! 

@ Moriah - Thank you for the generous offer.  Unfortunately right now no ebook reading, all paperbacks.  Thanks though. 
@TeeBee - He’s a great friend but I’m still not buying him a Kindle.  LOL Not sure how it would do in all that sand anyway.  ;-) 
@ Kim A - Yup, you’re right.  My bad.  To complicate things even more right now he’s actually FP but no one knows what the heck that is.  :-)  Thanks for the link to Operation Paperback!  I’ll pass it along. 

OK, so for the first few books I’m sending “Kill and Tell”, “Something About You” and “The Spymaster’s Lady”.  The cover on “The Spymaster’s Lady” made me think twice but I figure he can rip it off if it’s a real problem.  As I see it those three books have enough “guy” stuff in them (mystery, spies, etc…) but are different enough from one another to give him a range of options.  I have all the rest of the recommendations that were made in a *huge* spreadsheet on my desktop now and as he reads them I’ll check them off and make adjustments.  (Yes I’m a detail gal!) 

Thank you so much to everyone!!  :-)

Robin Carr’s Virgin River Series
Alyssa Day’s Atlantis Series

Jennifer Cruisie can do no wrong, but your guy might esp like “Don’t Look Down” or “Agnes and the Hit Man”.  Both were co-written by a guy and both feature lots of action plus the romance and alternate male and female POV.

Seconding Shannon Mackenna ....Extremely steamy, but loads of blokey bits. Her McCloud trilogy ...Standing in the Shadows, Out of Control ,& Behind Closed Doors are cracking thrillers.
  I’m also suggesting Nora Roberts’ Birthright, which I’ve just finished,& it was a stonkingly good read !

Maybe Christine Feehan’s Ghostwalker series?

If he’s good with historical, you can’t go wrong with Kathleen Winsor’s FOREVER AMBER. It’s like Jackie Collins in Restoration England; sex, conspiracies, evil characters, possible father-daughter incest, adultery, witchcraft, illegitimate children, thievery, prostitution, murder… Not to mention the Great Fire of London and a section about the Black Plague that is hands-down one of the most breathtaking things I’ve ever read.

Uhhhh…I don’t really have any recommendations for that type of book. It’s tres not my thing. But can someone please clue me in on finding a man that reads romance? Sounds like a gift from the gods.

My brother really likes Nora Roberts (more than I do, I go for historicals more) but loves Jennifer Crusie- I would think her books with Bob Mackie (?) would be perfect!

But then, my brother’s not nearly so butch as this guy sounds.

capcha- seen83
I haven’t seen 83 male romance readers but I have come to realize they’re out there…would be fascinating to survey likes and dislikes within romance and compare….

Bob Mackie

LOL!  I think you mean Bob Mayer.  Bob Mackie is a fashion designer.  (I only know that because I have an unnatural love of Project Runway.  Tim Gunn is my secret boyfriend.  Or he would be if I had any style.  And a penis.)

Linda Howard’s MacKenzie’s Mountain series.  Don’t miss MacKenzie’s Mission - it’s about an Air Force pilot.

MacKenzie’s Mountain - the first book - is foundational but its the only one without military/special forces overtones. 

Its not new, but there’s a reason this is a classic series!!!

Well crap, everybody already stole my suggestions, so I guess I’ll just cast another vote for Lowell, Howard, Cruisie/Mayer and Chase. Julie Garwood has always been one of my favorites too — although I like her historicals better than the contemporaries. I’d also add Jayne Anne Krentz/Amanda Quick. Also, I’d just like to note I think it’s 12 different kinds of awesome that he’s finally copped (at least to Stephanie) to being an undercover romance reader). I love it.

congress28: yes, I’m sure between all these books he’ll discover at least 28 new ways for “congress”

Stephanie - It was not your “bad” in mixing up MP vs SP ... it is a mistake easily made, especially if you watch MASH, The Unit, or even Army Wives on TV (who can forget Klinger on night duty in his pink robe?)  MASH is the only show that comes close to being accurate ... at least in attitude.  I think “FP” is Force Protection - Big Burly Alpha is probably deployed to provide just that, Protection to the Forces. 

Check out the RomVets, www.romvets.com. They are female veterans who write romance (PC Cast, Sylvia Day, Cindy Dees, Larissa Ione, Merline Lovelace, Cathy Maxwell, Lindsey McKenna, Terry Spear, and many others).  I would recommend any of their books - they have been there, done that!

Becky - my boys and I enjoy watching Project Runway (they laugh at the fashions).  Would be interesting if the designers had to make an outfit from an Army/Navy surplus store.

I’d also recommend anything by Cherry Adair, especially her T-FLAC series books. She’s always got a ton of action, twisted plots and seriously hot sexxoring. My career AF uncle loved one of her books I had him try.

Oh, oh, glancing over at my bookshelf, I came up with another name of the Collinsesque school:  Sidney Sheldon.  Now, his last few books were just “meh” but get in the Wayback Machine and go pick up copies of Bloodline, Master of the Game, If Tomorrow Comes, The Sands of Time.  All strongly romantic potboilers.

Outlander - Gabaldon - it has WTF, with time travel and over the top villains and yet it works. It doesn’t have a modern war (which I would avoid - otherwise go with Brockmann and St. Claire). It does have strong male and female leads, neither character is a push-over and the minor characters are interesting. The series keeps going so you know it will hold him for a while. Plus, there is some sex. Here and there.

If he really wants to go for broke on the sex and on the absurd to outrageous plotting, he may need some Laurell K. Hamilton or Christine Warren or Shelley Laurenston. (Very different authors but if you try to describe them to someone who hasn’t read any of them, the books will sound similar. Like “a house has walls and a roof.”)

Anyway, if he doesn’t mind plot holes at all, there is always JR Ward. Nothing says “this is not reality” like some JR Ward.

Jill Shalvis’s baseball books, DOUBLE PLAY and SLOW HEAT. I’d also recommend her ‘Instant’ trilogy but they’re only out in trade paperback right now. But that’s the only thing wrong with them. :)

All Elizabeth Lowell’s books published in the previous century up to and ending with MIDNIGHT IN RUBY BAYOU (2001) are highly recommended, whether historical or contemporary. After MiRB, not so much. *sigh*

Nora Roberts’s NORTHERN LIGHTS is from the hero’s point of view. (One of my faves of hers.)

I’d second (or third or whatever we’re up to) the recs for the Jenny Crusie/Bob Mayer collaborations and Tara Janzen’s Crazy series.  Also yes for crackalicious Shannon McKenna if he likes the sexxoring and a bit of WTF.

Another vote for SEP

How about Anne Stuart’s Ice series?  Lots of plot and supervillians and plenty of sexy business too

Tell your Security Forces Airman (that’s how we say it in the Air Force *G*) to try out Merline Lovelace’s books.  She’s a retired AF Colonel, and sets a bunch of her books at Air Force bases she’s been stationed at.  It’s kinda cool to know that the scenery is gonna be exactly as described in the book…

there’s an older gentleman that sits across from me on the bus and he has read beatrice small, kathleen woodiwiss (sp) and i think he was on a new book..i don’t know the name of the author but i remember seeing a lot of leg on the cover :)

Isn’t PC Cast retired AF? Her books are paranormals, but they have their fair share (at least) of intricate wtf-ness. Not heavy on sex or smarm, though, as I recall.

The 2176 series by Susan Grant et al starts out with 2 female pilots getting accidentally sent to the future. He may find that interesting. The books may be OOP? Not sure. Dorchester released them.

Stephanie,

You can’t go wrong with Linda Howard and Jennifer Crusie :)

Also, you might consider sending him a reusable book cover, preferably a macho one (a book store I used to frequent sold these gorgeous tooled leather ones), as he could then read the books without getting snide comments from his buddies or having to tear off the covers.  I think more men would read romance novels if they weren’t so embarrassed by the cover art.

Here’s my list:

The Spoils of Time Trilogy by Penny Vincenzi-these are three ginormous books about the secrets and lies of an English family with a publishing house dynasty. Start with No Angel,then continue with Something Dangerous and Into Temptation. All of them are available in paperback in the US.

Adored/Tilly Bagshawe-a great throwback to the Hollywood Wives type of novel,only much better written(in my opinion). She also has another book set in the horse racing world called Showdown which is a fun read as well.

Flavor of the Month/Olivia Goldsmith-I know someone else mentioned OG and for over the top soap opera thrills,you can’t go wrong here.

Lace/Shirley Conran-a little more Judith Krantz than Jackie Collins but that line"Which one of you bitches is my mother?!” is a grabber there,folks.

How about Roxanne St. Clair’s Bullet Catcher books?

Public Secrets by Nora Roberts. He might like that one. Not really smarmy or too sexy, but has some of that soapy feel to it.

My DH is a big fan of the JD Robb books (HIGHLY recommend) and Victoria Dahl’s contemporaries (which he actually re-reads). Other winners: La Nora’s stand-alone titles, Linda Howard. Also Patricia Briggs and Kat Richardson.

Hope that helps.

(ha. spam word is meet27. as in I should meet 27 guys like this…)

Susan Elizabeth Phillips wrote 2 Hollywood glitz and glamour novels in the late 80s and early 90s, before she started writing the Chicago Stars books.  These 2 novels are GLITTER BABY and FANCY PANTS.  They might appeal to someone who enjoys reading Jackie Collins books.

Also, has anyone mentioned Judith Krantz?  Krantz is definitely in the glitzy melodramas.  I remember reading MISTRAL’S DAUGHTER and PRINCESS DAISY as a young teenager and watching the TV miniseries.

I can’t believe I forgot the Crusie/Mayer collaberations! Totally recommended!! And I can see a guy digging the BDB books, too.

Absolutely the Cranky Agnes Crusie/Meyer collaboration and Lord of Scoundrels.

I’d add Dark Protector, the first Paladin book by Alexis Morgan - immortal warriors, sword-fighting, and sex in Seattle, and Witchling, first in Yasmine Galenorn’s Otherworld series (more urban fantasy than romance but an intense read with sex, violence and magic - and character development and plot too!). If your AF friend likes the series books, you can send the rest of the set - and there are enough of both to keep him and his buddies reading for a long time! Lots of men read those two series, by the way.

I wouldn’t send more than one of any author though - not a whole bunch of Crusie or Nora Roberts, for instance - in case it doesn’t click. I’ve been deployed, and my reading/attention/book wants were very very different away than they are at home.

Hey, my word is “united57” as in, united SB’s could send 57 books a day to any APO!

I cast a vote for Tara Jantzen’s Steele Street series. It includes hot sex, car chop shop, secret ops and did I mention the hot sex?

Yeah, we’re out there. ;)

Sounds like some good recommendations, I’m going to check out “Kill and Tell”. (Read “Lord of Scoundrels”, that was pretty good.)

I would second Cherry Adair’s books. Full of danger, excitement,  explosions, sexy sexiness, and his and her POV’s.

I think more men would read romance novels if they weren’t so embarrassed by the cover art.

More women, too.

Over the top WTFness with hot sex and smarm is Tara Janzen. I freaking love those books. Nora Roberts has always been my fave, but she has a tendency to recycle, so I’d be leery of sending a bunch of those right away. SEP, Jennifer Crusie are really good, and I have to say, if he can tolerate Historicals, send him Liz Carlyle’s Never trilogy. Very soapy, very hot sex, and very interesting characterizations with that sort of smart assed rapport between them. (Plus, the writer is super nice!) For something different, I would also recommend Carol Berg. There’s usually a romance element, though she writes fantasy.

Another mix of fantasy and romance is Lois McMaster Bujold’s Shards of Honor (and sequels) which mixes in military elements that might be of interest.

I second all of Katherine C’s suggestions, especially Krentz, Garwood and Crusie/Mayer.