Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Perhaps the appeal of one couple making it keeps readers going in their own one-couple relationship.  As a military spouse, I have friends (and adventures) from various bases around the world.  But the one constant is the love, affection, and security I enjoy with my military hero.  Granted, we have chaos and conflct, but in the end, we have each other.

Sarah wrote about “Random musing time! Unanswered questions ahoy!”  I am curious as to when you sleep!  I read your blog @ 12 am in Hawaii (5 am on the East Coast) I am pleasantly surprised to find a new post in the wee hours of the monring.  How fun to be one of the first responder today!

I tend to view it as it is the happily ever after. The only difference is I get to read it instead of have it spin off the end page into eternity. I get to enjoy the HEA and watch it bloom through seasons like my daffodils.

As long as I enjoy the writing and the characters stay true- I’m down for the ride.

Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, of course. Talk about “happy for now” and OMGWTFNowWhat! in a story!
But I love Jamie and Claire…and Bree and Roger.
Thanks for the random musing - similar wonderings had rumbled around in my brain too at one point, and you summed it up nicely.

My favourite series focusing on one couple must be Dorothy L Sayers’ Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane books.  I know that they are usually shelved under detective fiction, but as she points out in the foreward to Busman’s Honeymoon, to the couple involved the murder is an intrusion on their romance, rather than the other way round.  The development of the characters and their relationship from its incredibly rocky start in Strong Poison, through growing understanding in Have His Carcase, the cat-on-hot-coals courtship of Gaudy Night, and finally the happy-ever-after that they manage to work out in Busman’s Honeymoon are all so perfectly paced and beautifully described. Layer upon layer is revealed of these complex characters and their hard-won happiness.  Just a joy to read.

Eve and Roarke—30 books plus novellas—and I still like them as characters.  (and oh, the happy dancing that went on when I saw Nora/J.D. Robb say she hoped there would be thirty more books. Me too.)

That’s the key for me; do I like the characters, do I care what happens to them next and are they ‘growing’ but staying true to the core of who they were when I first met them?

Raphael and Elena are interesting. I care about them and I love the world the author has created for them. 

I didn’t continue on with Gabaldon’s Jamie and Claire. I didn’t like Claire and I thought Jamie deserved more. Personal preference for sure, but key to why I follow one series and not another.

Dunno, actually. Some work, some not so much.

You know how sometimes, you read a great book, and say to yourself, “Wow.  That was great.  I wish it would never end.”  That’s how I felt after reading Outlander, many moons ago. 

Today, after umpteen books, that take forever to write, so long, in fact, that I forget what happened in the last book—I wish it would end.  I mean, really.  Write some new characters!

Oh, I love this idea.

I don’t want to sound happy-ending adverse, but sometimes I dread the HEA when I’m really enjoying a book. I know I’m supposed to get that puffy-pink-cloud satisfaction as forever is promised and all adversity is thwarted, but more often than not, HEAs leave me flat. I’m not in it [“it” being the relationship’s bumpy and passionate ride] for the white satin bow neatly tying up the saga at the end. I want the drama and the messiness and gray moment after gray moment (within reason) and a chance to both detest and root for each character in turn, with a peak of temporary romantic bliss here and there. Whenever I reach an HEA I’m not ready for, I long for the conflict to come back and rile the hero and heroine up again. Conflict is vibrant, and HEA can sometimes leave me mourning. I think, “So now what? They just give each other candlelit foot rubs of the rest of their lives? They are going to be so bored, given that courtship.”

What does that say about me? Would I rather stay hot and bothered than reach a literary climax? I guess. But by and large, romance can keep its HEAs.

Just reading the words “Happy For Five Minutes Until The Next Crisis Hits” is giving me an itchy, crawling, restless feeling inside.  If the h/h’s HEA isn’t chained and padlocked at the end of a book, I feel dismayed and trapped.  Maybe it’s an issue of author trust—I’m afraid a perfectly good series will jump the shark midstream, as such series have been known to do, and leave me eternally dissatisfied. I will never start another series with ongoing characters until it’s complete, HEA forever and ever, amen, and the majority of readers are sighing with pleasure over the ultimate conclusion.

I won’t read books that end on hooks for the next book - just won’t - until the series is ended, and I can read them all at once. Just like I won’t read serials as they come out, but need to read the whole book all at once.

That said, I like series that show one couple growing together and having their relationship deepening as their understanding of each other increases. To me, the best In Deaths have had a sub-theme of Eve and Roarke running across some fundamental difference in world view, and finding ways to overcome it. (I really, really loved Divided in Death for that reason). 

Like Robin said above, “happy for five minutes until the next crisis hits” bothers me unless I’m absolutely sure that the couple’s intrinsic relationship is strong enough to survive the crisis. I like making a commitment not just to individual characters but to the relationship as well - Sookie Stackhouse lost me when the relationship with Bill soured.

I have my own 25-year relationship that’s gone through some pretty rocky crises, but the core relationship was never in doubt, and was what allowed us to weather the crises and come out triumphant. So I look for that in my series, too.

In Romance, I’m definitely an Eve & Roarke fan. I didn’t know romances weren’t supposed to continue with the same protagonists when I wrote the sequel to my first romantic suspense.

Mostly I’m a mystery series follower, since the ongoing relationships there don’t have to follow the same “rules” as they would in a romance. I read both Kellermans, Sandford’s “Prey” series, Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, J.A. Jance and many others and enjoy following the ongoing relationships as much as I enjoy watching them solve the crimes. I think strong characters with many layers keep readers coming back.

I love the Mary Russell books by Laurie King for this reason. The relationship is barely hinted at in the first book, which is all mystery, sparks in book two, and even though they get married the relationship still changes and requires work. They get bored, each worries that the other might be restless without some external challenge. Each recognizes that they have a difficult relationship. It doesn’t stagnate.

I’ve never read a Nora Roberts/ JD Robb book. Should I start with the In Death series?

Patricia Briggs’ two paranormal series: Mercy and (especially) Alpha and Omega books.  Also Kelley Armstrong’s Elena and Clay books are awesome.

I think that’s one of the reasons I’ve been drawn to paranormals, because there are quite a few of them where the series is focused on a single pair and it’s very satisfying to see them resolve further issues.

The problem with one book and out is that it doesn’t seem that realistic (at least to me).  You have two fairly screwed up people, they fall in love, they resolve differences, then HEA.  But in real life we know that while, yes, the love of a good person may help us resolve issues and give us a reason to work to improve ourselves, it’s not a panacea and that continuing hard work is needed.  (I find it very strange that I just wrote that I read paranormals because they are the most realistic.)

Even those paranormals that focus on a single pair with each book in the series generally keep bringing back the old couples and showing how they have evolved and adapted.  The last JR Ward was as much about Wrath and Elizabeth as Rehv and Ehlana.  And Singh’s other series (with the Changelings) do a very good job of bringing back previous couples, addressing the current couple, and setting up couples for the future.  (I can’t *wait* to read Hawke’s book.)

@ Laurel: All the Eve/Roarke books are titled (Something) in Death.  The first one is Naked in Death.  While I’m sure you could probably dive in the middle and find them good, starting from the beginning was *very* satisfying, because NR doesn’t just unfold Eve and Roarke’s story, but all the stories of the supporting characters thru the series.

Laurel
Most def read JD Robb. Even if you don’t like her Nora Roberts books (I’ve only read a couple that I liked) you’ll love the In Death series. Naked in Death is the first one.

Prepare to get hooked!

I can get into the ongoing romantic plot/subplot-type stories if they evolve in a mature and organic way and don’t just throw one crisis after another at the couple for the purpose of creating ohmygodangst!!! (few devices turn me off faster than blatantly artificial conflict, especially in the form of the Love Triangle, which is why I think I soured rather quickly on the Sookie Stackhouse books, mentioned above.)

My personal favorites in this area are Falco and Helena in the ongoing mystery series by author Lindsey Davis.  She took the hardboiled PI cliche, moved it to Imperial Rome, and then gave the PI a huge extended family, a girlfriend turned eventual wife and partner, a couple of cute kids, and makes it all work.  Another favorite is the Fools’ Guild series of mysteries by Alan Gordon which started basically as Shakespeare fanfic (the first is a staight-ahead sequel to Twelfth Night) and have evolved in very interesting directions since.

@Laurel,

On what Lynette said, yes, you will definitely get hooked on it..After reading Naked in Death, I went back and got the next 6, found the following 5 in used book stores, went back to the original book store and got the other 14…I don’t have the last five as of yet but it is an honest to goodness addiction..you’ll love it!

I’m in love with the Julia Spencer-Fleming books, thanks, I believe, to you, SB Sarah. I believe I first heard about them here, and tried them out, and fell totally ass over teakettle. In addition to everything you’ve noted above, I grew up in the general vicinity of the books’ setting, and love how the climate there is also a character in the book.

As Terry Odell said above, I read a lot of mystery series for the same reason - because you often not only get the mystery and it’s own version of HEA (solving it), but the chance to follow characters and their relationships, whether professional (such as between detectives and partners) or personal, or both. That’s what I love about the Eve and Roarke books too - not only their relationship and its development, but Eve’s relationships with other characters (Feeney, Peabody, Mira, Nadine, Mavis) and their relationships with each other. The crimes and how they’re solved are just the icing on the cake for me.

I love the two Briggs series, and so far, I’m really liking the Singh Raphael and Elena books. On the other hand, we’re only at book two, and I want many more, but my inner pessimist is afraid that the magic and sparkle will wear off soon (actually, what my inner pessimist says is, “and the third book can still stink.”). I like books where we can see actual change over time for one couple. That said, I don’t have the patience for the Robb In Death books. I read five or six of them, and I got bored. Not enough change over time, or maybe just not enough time—the whole series of thirty some books only covers a few years, tops, right? Anyway, whatever it was, it didn’t work for me.

I like series in general, but most authors have a hard time following a relationship over several books, not just a character. I’m still a Sookie fan, but those books are about her, and her development, not about her relationship with anyone in particular.

As Terry and Laura in PA said! The characters make it for me—and the actual construction of the tale. Reading certain authors is like getting tutoring in the difficult and intricate craft of CREATING characters that could be living in one of those interesting houses you drive past. Crais knocks my socks off with the humor and the plotting, Robb gets me with the gritty future NY and the whole cast. In the end, however, it is the AUTHOR who is more important to me than the ongoing (or not) characters.

I forgot to mention that occasional SBTB contributor PN Elrod does an excellent job with the ongoing romantic subplot in her Vampire Files series.  Jack and Bobbi are a good example of a couple whose continuing relationship has managed to stay on track and evolve despite the kinds of external forces that would likely derail many couples.

Yay! Thanks, y’all! *grins*

But isn’t HEA part of what defines a romance as a romance (as opposed to, say, a book about a relationship with lots of lovin’).  Clare and Russ (LOVE) are mysteries, so even though they are one of my favorite couples in recent literature (CAN’T WAIT UNTIL APRIL), my expectations were different because these books are not romance novels.  I’ve never read Nalini Singh (a situation that will soon be rectified…), but I have read other paranormal romance series that ended without the happy little wrap-up - and I’m all, what??  I don’t know about anyone else, but the reason I read romance is for the HEA.  I mean, for more than that - for the road to HEA, at least - but if I pick up a book that is marketed as romance and it ends with romantic ambiguity, I get all mad and stuff.  OK, not mad, but a little miffed.  Mildly miffed.

Anyhoo.  My 2 cents, for what it’s worth.  2 cents, perhaps?

I am a complete cliffhanger junkie, it’s true. My most enduring literary crush is Chas. Dickens, who wrote his novels as magazine serials, thereby inventing the OMG whuts going to happen NEXT? chapter ending. (Or in contemporary terms, “D—n me, Edith, where is the new edition of Bentley’s Miscellany?”) You either love it or you hate it. Be forewarned.

I notice all the series mentioned here (I second Elizabeth Wadsworth’s recommendation of Lindsey Davis’s books) are NOT Romance. I’ve said elsewhere that being free of the genre expectation of HEA creates a completely different experience for both the author and the reader. When you take that safety net away, there’s a dramatic tension that can’t—that shouldn’t—exist in Romance. Maybe that’s the secret to continually interesting couples. A very wise editor once told me the most memorable characters are created by authors who aren’t afraid to let bad things happen to them.

The only series I follow that has the same hero and heroine is J. D. Robb’s In Death books.  I like mysteries and police procedurals (I’ve watched CSI forever) and I like the futuristic aspects.  I don’t consider them straight romance, however.  Plus Roarke is totally yummy and Eve is a great character also!

Except for them, however, I want a straight HEA in my romances.  I like series with new couples that allow the previous couples to jump in for a paragraph or two, but I don’t want to see 5 minutes of happiness followed by 5 months of grief, even if it’s realistic.  If I want realism, I’ll read the newspaper.

Oh Laurel, amen on the Mary Russell series! One of my all time favorites.
I’m not sure if this counts, but the Kushiel books by Jaqueline Carey are at the top of my list for carrying a relationship through (and for worldbuilding, and for intensity, and for character development, and storytelling, and sex, and, and, and…..)
And I have to admit, I remain a fan of Jamie and Claire, although I haven’t read the newest.

Used to love Dennis Lehane’s Patrick and Angie detective series. Wish he’d write a few more, but I guess he’s done with them.

Really loved Roxanne St. Claire’s Bullet Catcher series (even though the main duo is different in each, the old pairs put in appearances)—so much that I went through the whole backlist in record time.  Looks like those are done now, too.

Sigh.

I just started the Spencer-Fleming series and am already eager to catch up, and I have followed the “in Death” J.D. Robb series with great fidelity.

I haven’t really managed to dive into the various supernatural series, mainly because there seem to be so many of them these days, and I am reluctant to spend a lot of time on figuring out which new authors might be appealing since I’m having a hard enough time finding the time to keep up with authors I already enjoy (which tend to be authors who blend history, mystery and romance)!

One series in early stages( 3 and counting) I very much enjoy is the Lady Julia Grey series by Deanna Raybourn. Other authors of series I follow are C. A. Belmond, Lauren Willig, Elena Santangelo, and Tasha Alexander.

It really is a remarkable balance to strike, isn’t it? Maintaining a believable through-line for a couple (or couples) at the same time as the author challenges them with circumstance or a clash of values. Of course television series that try to achieve the same kind of balance exemplify how hard it can be to get it right.

Ilona Andrews’ “Magic Strikes” series ... the Laurie R. King Mary Russell books, and also the lesbian couple she writes for her contemporary detective series. Barbara Hambly’s Sunwolf and Hawk, with all their issues.

And while it’s not “romantic” (sadly) ... Kim Harrison’s series has me hooked on what goes on with Ivy and Rachel.  They are so very loving, even if not in love. The one story I read from Ivy’s perspective I hated though ... I like her mysterious, tortured, and viewed from outside (not inside!).

I think that I’m usually kept interested by the fact that the romance is not actually at the forefront of the story. There’s all this other stuff going on, and somewhere, between the cracks, love starts to seep in but nobody stops the world long enough for them to get secure and settled. Happy for five minutes, then it’s “WTF! CRISIS again!”.

Also, they never have to fall back on The Big Misunderstanding to provide drama. Also ... for all of these series (and more) the writers know when it’s realistic to highlight romance/relationships, and when people need to just get on with the world-saving.

Terri—Lehane is writing a sequel to GONE, BABY, GONE as of this October. I am HUGELY excited about this. Patrick and Angie FTW. Or For The Angst, as the case may be.

See I think I might be the exact opposite.  I get impatient sometimes with on going series that dont have a clear HEA.  I dont real life.  I want the fantasy.  HEA and move on.  :0)  BUT!!  I do always have a fascination with margin characters and LOVE when a series develops (intentionally or not) the circles around and focuses on the background characters with just enough of the older characters in the background for me to follow their relationships.  BDB for example or Nalini Singhes (sp?  sorry about that) Psy series.

I’m a huge fan of Nora Roberts and her JD Robb series.  I tend to enjoy her mass-market paperbacks more than her stand alones because she writes them as trilogies/quartets.  For me she is a master at creating a town/city/family that I want to stay as long as she’ll allow. 

I enjoy the In Death series for it’s exploration of a “real” relationship after the initial HEA.  They fight, they disagree, they come together, but always their core of love and commitment is never questioned.  The constant is reassuring without being boring.  Granted, grisly murders and investigation help keep from being boring.

The other long-standing series I can think of is Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody mystery series.  There is certainly plenty of romance to qualify.  I’ve even resisted reading her most recent entry to prolong the series.

Why is it that continuing characters is so commonplace for mystery but not romance?  (Same for fiction, see Updike’s Rabbit series.)

I too love Sayer’s Lord Peter books. And I’m a major devotee of Tracy Grant’s Charles and Melanie books (Secrets of a Lady and Beneth a Silent Moon).

Mostly I look for this kind of thing outside the romance genre though (which both my examples are).

Yes to Peter’s Peabody series!  I think many of the subequent books are more romantic that the initial HEA.

I definitely read Elizabeth George’s Lynley/Havers books for the character development. The police procedural/whodunit is nice, but I like to see how they deal with real life and their (in the beginning) class issues.

I agree with what PetitJ said about Nora Roberts and her ability to create characters and settings that make me want to linger.  I like reading her trilogies and sagas so much because we get to see what happens to the characters after the HEA.  I especially like what she did with the Chesapeake Bay Saga when she went back and wrote Seth’s story; we got to see that the other brothers were still happy, had lots of kids, and that no one had changed all that much.  That’s also why I like the In Death series so much.  She keeps the same character traits in Eve and Roarke, but the grow so much throughout the series.  It’s like being inside their marriage.

I haven’t read the two series that Sarah is talking about but I definitely understand the draw to these sorts of series.  A lot of people have mentioned the Outlander series, which I love, but I like for its time travel/historical/too many characters to keep track of traits rather than the enduring relationship of Jamie and Claire.  Sometimes they bother me.  Just my opinion though! :)

I burned out on J.D. Robb. I glommed pretty hard. I read about 5 or 6 books. But then I realized there was not enough romance for me to read it as a romance, and I kept solving the mystery, so it didn’t read as a mystery either. I also never loved the Eve and Roarke characters like other people do.

My all-time favorite ongoing romance was Mulder and Scully, though, so what do I know? :)

Count me among the Nora/J.D. fans for all of the books published under either name.

What a timely topic, since I’m currently reading Kindred In Death on my Kindle.  (Kindled In Death?)

Since we’re talking about same protagonist series, I’ll focus my comments on Eve and Roarke.  They work for me because of the very intelligent, compelling way that Nora has developed them as characters and as a couple.  Amid whatever murder mystery Eve is involved with, there has usually been some personal issue for E & R as well.  Often something from one of their pasts intertwines with the current mystery.

Their love commitment to each other is a constant.  Even when they argue, love is their strongest protection.  Watching Eve struggle with what that means and how to cope with all of the relationship things that make her itch and squirm is highly entertaining.  There have been books where one or both of them must confront something truly ugly, rising like a monster from the muck of their past.  These things further sustain our interest in them and their relationship.

I believe at some point there might need to be another conflict that provides a serious spot of personal trouble in their relationship and might even have to arc over a few titles.  A growing problem, a heightened crisis, a dynamic resolution all will keep us enthralled and make them that much more treasured as a couple.  (Can I use “treasurable” as a word?  *g*)

Years ago Robert B. Parker did this with Spenser and Susan over several books.  I think that arc will forever be some of his best storytelling.

I like some ongoing series because I enjoy getting to see the couple’s HEA playing out. However, I get frustrated when I feel like it crosses over into WTFNOWWHAT?! territory and I really dislike series that feel like the couple is always on the verge of falling apart.  That’s not why I read romance novels.

Kitty Norville and her husband/co-pack-leader Ben have a good ongoing relationship. I like the understated way it’s handled too. They’re sexually attracted to and comfortable with each other but aren’t constantly on the verge of exipiring from desire.

I love the Julia Spencer-Fleming series, and I think the reason it continues to work for me is that their relationship does progress and change. The author resolves some conflicts, but introduces new ones. (She’s also introducing new characters now, which may be an indication she realize there are limits to how far she can go with the Claire/Russ romance.)

Compare to the X-Files. I loved the unresolved sexual tension between Scully and Mulder, but eventually I got tired of it because it never went anywhere. They were stuck in a perpetual holding pattern. It was like the writers were told they could not advance the romance at all. So it was the same old thing over and over. For a while it was great, then it got boring.

I think writers can only sustain a romance over a long series of books if they are continually changing the situation. Readers do tire of holding patterns.

Julia—Thanks for that tidbit!  You (and Lehane) have made me very happy. Thought he was done with Patrick and Angie after tearing them apart in Gone, Baby, Gone and Prayers for Rain—not to mention after the huge successes of Mystic River and Shutter Island.  Maybe Hollywood wanted to make a movie sequel. Wasn’t all that thrilled with Gone, Baby, Gone as a movie, though.
  Trailers for Shutter Island looking creepier and less psychological than I remember the book being. Guess we’ll see.

I’m another fan of JD Robb and E&R. Also am a die-hard fan of the Outlander series and love the couples in that series: Jamie & Claire and Bree & Roger. Sigh. Have started reading the Singh series, but have only read the first, so guess I’ll continue on with that too. Ongoing series hook me badly - in a good way!

I love both types, the continuing and HEA romances.

I love many of the abovementioned series for the very reason that familiar characters I fell in love with change in some way. The continuing storylines just add a ‘robust-ness’ that may not be in a more traditional HEA.

I am one of those people who are actually really tired of the HEA trope, so obviously no longer a hard-core romance reader. When well written, there is nothing better for me than a series. Over a series of books, I can watch characters grow and develop. Relationships are deeper, more subtle and more realistic. The world the protagonists live in becomes more detailed and rich. There is time and room to develop secondary characters.

I don’t actually care that much about mystery part of the JD Robb/Roberts In Death stories any more, and for me the Eve/Roark relationship has gotten a bit repetitive (and please, stop with the Insta-Multiple-Orgasm!) but I continue with the series because I like the worldbuilding, and I love the way she allows the secondary characters (Peabody is my favorite) to grow and change.

As a Sci-Fi UF fan, I love Lois McMaster Bujold, especially the Miles Vorkosigan series. Also Harrison, Briggs, Ilona Andrews. How about Laura Ann Gilman? Great series with a deep core of love but also a big problem with that love they struggle to solve. Not a romance at all, but I adore Rob Thurman’s books and the way the brothers look out for each other.

C.E. Murphy has two excellent series; her Negotiator and Urban Shaman books, both with excellent worldbuilding. I’m not as carried away by her Elizabethan series.

Another author I haven’t seen mentioned is Justina Robson, whose Quantum series outlines the love between Lila, a human remade into a super-soldier and Zal, an elf tired of Gandalf jokes. It sounds hokey but it’s complex and beautiful and heartwrenching.

Probably my favorite series I’ve read in the past 5 years would by Sarah Monette’s Labyrinthine books. Felix and Mildmay totally stole my heart and I’m devastated that series is over.

submit word cent63, I think I’ve given 63 cents worth, time to shut up!

I’m in the mystery-series-with-romantic-elements camp: Lord & Lady Peter Wimsey, Holmes & Mary Russell, and Clare & Russ are all big favorites with me.

I’d add two more series.  Thomas Perry’s Jane Whitefield books are superb, and he’s got a new one, Runner.  The other is Lee Smith’s Jack Reacher books.  Yes, I know Reacher is a loner who operates without a regular or even potential mate, but there’s something so wonderful about him that I read every book with the same buzz of happy anticipation that I do conventional romances.

Just in the off chance Julia Spencer-Fleming is following this thread, is there any information about when One Was A Soldier is due out?  It really is THE book I’ve been watching among the 2010 releases, and Macmillan seems not to know its newest publication date.  (Amazon and other sites have it as Feb. 1, 2012.  Can that be true?)

It’s not a romance series but I read Robert Parker’s Spenser novels in big gulps for many years not because I was incredibly excited about the mysteries but because I loved his relationship with Susan Silverman.

I also was revisiting some Marion Chesney Regency romances I have from way back. She wrote a lot of her books in sets of six, and although each book has its own couple, there are framing characters who are just wonderful and develop romantic relationships of their own. Abby and Effy Tribble and their nabobs Mr. Haddon and Mr. Randolph are sweet, funny, and eccentric. Good world building goes a long way.

Magdalen,

I’ve been getting literally dozens of emails about the date that showed up on Amazon. Here’s what I’ve been sending out:

That “Feb ‘12” notice appeared at the same time all my books were debuttoned in The Recent Unpleasantness. The release date is still listed as mid-April at Barnes and Noble and Powell’s. I haven’t heard of any changes from my editor at St. Martin’s Minotaur. However, I did turn the book in horrendously late (due to having three busy kids and some boring health things the past year) and it has not yet gone into production. I’ve been waiting until I know something before asking my web guy to update my site.

As soon as I get a solid date confirmation from my editor, I’ll send an email to everyone on my mailing list. I’ll also post on Goodreads.

Robb’s Eve Dallas and Roarke have been longtime faves for me - however, I get a bit annoyed when nothing new happens in their relationship (or in their relationships with the other characters) in a book.  Something new may happen to the other characters, but, for me, the books are at their most enjoyable when the relationship developments have something to do with either Roarke or Eve.

I love Kelley Armstrong’s Otherworld (both “Women of” and “Men of”) stuff, but my favorite characters are the werewolves.  And Jamie - I’m loving her relationship with Jeremy.

Patricia Briggs’ werewolves are also favorites of mine, although I’m currently enjoying her Alpha and Omega main characters more than the main characters in her Mercedes Thompson books, I think maybe because of Charles.

For me, the big thing is that there has to be some kind of interesting relationship progression from one book to the next.  The main romantic couple has to overcome new relationship hurdles, or figure out how to deal with new relationships (not new romantic relationships - I tend to prefer it when it’s one couple over the course of several books, as long as the author doesn’t let things get stale).  When it gets to the point where nothing new happens, I start loosing interest.  I’ve kind of gotten to that point with Janet Evanovich (the humor is just barely enough to keep me going, but I may have to give up on Stephanie Plum entirely one of these days), and I’m kind of worried that I’m getting to that point with J.D. Robb.  Then again, I’m behind by a couple books, so maybe new and exciting things have happened between Eve and Roarke that I don’t know about.

Most of the ongoing relationship series I have read and enjoyed are also mystery/detective fiction. Having a new case to solve is a good device for giving the same characters a new story that will threaten them/their relationship. J D Robb, Dorothy Sayers, Laurie King, all as mentioned by others.  I’m just about to start Deanna Raybourn’s and Julia Spencer-Fleming’s series.

One thing that interests me in all of these is the exploration of balance in the relationship—power balance between the h/h, balance of the personal and the professional, and all those things that really DO challenge HEAs in real life.  I like watching it work and keep working.

I’ve only read the first two books in Ariana Franklin’s medieval series that begins with Mistress of the Art of Death, but it looks like another of this type. I also enjoy both of Anne Perry’s Victorian detective series—I have a huge reader-crush on Thomas Pitt.

Eve and Roarke, Harriett and Peter for me too. How about the Sharing Knife series by Bujold, Dag and Fawn? Three books, but I hope for more

I loved the first book in the new Angel series from Singh, and while I’m totally up for more of Raphael and Elena, I also want stories on the other characters.  The short story “prequel” about her boss was nice, more please.

I demand my HEA, but if it takes a few books to get there, that works too.  As long as they do eventually get there.  An open-ended series with multiple relationships for the heroine (or hero, if he’s the focus) is not my first choice. Katie MacAllister’s dragons have been good for the limited-run with the same couple.  And I’m totally sucked into KMM’s Fever series, but then I know the next book is the climax (heh) for our girl Mac. 

Even series with changing protagonists and revisits from characters of former books can get stale if the main story arc doesn’t ever resolve.  And I detest when an illogical or jarring curve is thrown into a series with no other discernible purpose than to keep it going.  Better to wind up with a satisfying conclusion for all our triumphant couples and start a new series or offshoot.

I love the In Death books and the Amelia Peabody series. Also Briggs, Ilona Andrews, and a bunch of others that’s already been mentioned in this thread. When done right, I enjoy watching characters and relationships grow and change.

But I also tend to be wary about starting a new series, cause I’m a wimpy reader and I hate it when a character suddenly gets killed off. I expect deaths in certain books (I’m always surprised that there are any characters left alive at the end in books by G.R.R. Martin or David Weber), but most of the time the deaths seem gratuitous and just pisses me off, e.g, Karin Slaughter, Charlaine Harris, Elizabeth George. Which is why most of my reading tend to be romances. :p

I don’t seem to have this problem with TV shows though. I adored Battlestar Galactica, which had some of the most depressing episodes ever. And was a huge fan of Buffy/Angel even though Joss Whedon had a tendency to kill off everybody.

Oh, hells to the yes for Kelley Armstrong’s Elena and Clay series ... absolutely amazing, and each makes you want more. The other women in the “Women of the Otherworld” series are also intriguing, and I like how Armstrong cross-references the characters throughout the series.

I’m also enjoying Jennifer Rardin’s Jaz Parks and Vayl series at the moment. They definitely don’t end with HAE, and there’s lots of fighting and gore and such. As well, the characterization is developing nicely over the course of the books and it’s been fun to see how the Vampere Vayl manages to bring new elements of humanity and inhumanity to Jaz.

The “... in Death” series is intriguing - oh look, a new series to invest in!! Yay for at least 30 new books to read!

I originally started reading Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series first because she promised that it wouldn’t affect her writing of her Psy-Changeling series (which it hasn’t), and second because it wouldn’t be an ongoing series. However, once the first book, Angels’ Blood, was released, read, and had become an instant favorite of mine, Ms. Singh said on her website that Elena and Raphael’s story wasn’t finished with the first book and would need a second book. I was thrilled, but just as long as it was only one more book. But after reading Archangel’s Kiss, I sincerely hope there are more books for Elena and Raphael.
The only other ongoing series I read is Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series which would normally be a double no-no for me because it’s written in first person and ongoing. However, Ms. Gabaldon makes the first person (Claire’s POV) work without it becoming alienating as I usually find this narrative to be imo. It also helped that she worked in third person for Jamie, Roger and Brianna’s POVs. Ms. Gabaldon’s narrative style notwithstanding, I probably wouldn’t have read these books had my grandfather not loaned the first four books to me.
Despite my love of these series, I still remain reluctant to try other ongoing series especially as they’re becoming more popular.  I feel these two work because of the strength of the writing and, more specifically, the character growth.

Julia Spencer-Fleming reads this board! Yay!  I am waiting with bated breath for One Was a Soldier to hit my library.
BTW, the latest/final book in the Sharing Knife series, Horizon, came out last year, and the mass-market has just hit the shelves. According to the B&N website.  Amazon does not have the mass-market paperback listed. Can they be playing games with HarperCollins now?

codeword: reason62. 62 reasons to start shopping elsewhere for books… likea local independent Or borrow form the library.

not technically romance, but i’ve been rereading naomi novik’s temeraire series, and that has the same two protagonists in each of its books and is an on-going series. *grins*

GOD i can’t wait for the next book! *goes digging for any news*

While I no longer consider myself a pure reader of romance, (I now read more UF/SciFi than pure romance) I started my love of series with romances. Jo Beverley’s Mallorian Series for example captivated me. I think the first series that really showed me how watching a couple grow could hold the attention was Roberta Gellis’ series about the knights/and ladies of one family during the middle ages. She combined a well written historical, with sex, politics, and heartache. (One of the main characters dies after several books, and the remaining spouse eventually remarries.)  Thing is we the readers are invited into the exploits of these characters, and if they are fav’s we want to go back. Roberts (as J.D. Robb), Bujold, Harrison, Singh, Andrews, Briggs, Carrey, Brockmann, all seem to understand this, and build on that initial relationship with every book.

What I also have to say is, there is nothing sadder than when you realize that you as a reader have either outgrown a series, or have become disappointed to the point that you put the books on ‘from the library list’ or worse, “To tired to read’ list. For me that means that I have lost a world that for a few hours I can escape to.

@nekobawt : Tongues of Serpents comes out in July! Australia for Laurence and Temeraire.

To Julia Spencer-Fleming—

Thanks for the reassuring word.  I might have chalked it up to the Amazon - Macmillan debacle, only Sarah Tanner at Monkey Bear Reviews actually called the Macmillan rep and got an equivocal answer that did not support the notion that the book would be out soon.

I was trying hard to be stoic and mature about it (I even blogged about how I just hoped everything was okay chez Spencer-Fleming but that of course your life was none of my beeswax), but I’ll confess here that I was not happy about the prospect of waiting two years.  But it’s just because I adore Clare & Russ.  Nothing stalker-y.  Really.

I will sleep much better now.  Thank you!

First, it’s really satisfying and encouraging to see so many readers enjoy on-going series. Especially mine!

I’m a big fan of the on-going. The incredible and sorely missed Robert Parker’s Spencer, and his Jesse Stone, Sandford’s Davenport—and I hope Deanna Raybourn continues her marvelous Lady Julia and Sebastian as I haven’t had nearly enough.

I am not a huge fan of ongoing series which follow a single couple.  I usually get bored after the first book.  It’s as though the authors can’t quite get the focus right… the balance between having enough tension between the couple to keep things interesting, yet not enough that one wonders what on earth they are still doing together.

The single exception to the rule (at least so far) is In Death.  I swear I can not get enough.  And it’s not just Eve and Roarke, it’s Peabody and McNab, Charles and Louise, Mavis and Leonardo.  Every single couple continues to change and grow and I find their stories as fascinating as I find the main murder plots. I have the first book in Nalini Singh’s Archangel series on order, so I hope Sarah’s right and is just a good for me as ID. :-)