The Rec League: A Family of Strong-Heroine-Loving Series Readers

The Rec LeagueI received this email from Ilona, who comes from what may be the coolest family I've read about, and I totally want to listen to all of them talk books someday.

I need help finding a new series or several really. Normally this wouldn't be a problem but it's not just for me I swap with my family as we all love romance novels and every new girl in the family is promptly introduced to Harlequin as a right of passage (or Sci Fi novels if that's their preference) but everyone reads at least some romance and all the boys know who the authors are, and they love sci fi. My family is pretty awesome – we're a matriarchal family (the females outnumber the men so we tend to have control) so there's a lot of conversations about lingerie, chocolate and books, and the men of the family seem really quite okay with this..

My family (Aunts and cousins, sisters and occasionally my mother) all tend to get new authors from me since I spend a lot of time on twitter and follow romance author I usually find good authors there. But I'm running out of series to give them.

We've already done the Nalini Singhs, the Shelly Laurenstons, the Ilona Andrews and the Victoria Dahl books. Everyone loved Nalini Singh either love her Psy-Changeling or Archangels series, Shelly Laurenston was another big hit and Ilona Andrews is loved throughout the family.  My aunt just finished the Nalini Singhs and my cousin is all up to date and I've manged to hold her off with Meljean Brook. But the family wants more.

I'm running out! I only have Thea Harrison, Meljean Brook, Zoe Archer and Tessa Dare left to throw at them.

So I was wondering if you could give recommendations along certain lines.

My cousin works full time and has 3 young children and keeps reading too late so do you know of any good authors or series with a lot of novellas. She likes Victoria Dahl and Tiffany Reisz and Nalini Singh, and she did buy pretty much all the LK Hamilton and True Blood books. She's also a big fantasy reader.

My Aunts love love love Jayne Ann Krentz, but they also love Nalini Singh — the words “I hate you! I had to spend $300 to get the rest of the series!” was yelled at me on the phone after I introduced my aunt to Nalini Singh; right now my aunt is in the middle of Lora Leigh's breeds series then she's finishing off Shelly Laurenston's back list. So some shorter series might be in order. Sci Fi might be good.

My mother is the biggest challenge though. She's not really into romance but she does love the Shelly Laurenston series and Ilona Andrews (she hit me on the head with a book after I told her the series wasn't done yet and she had to wait for the next one). She also read all the J D Robb books.

My family loves strong heroines, humor, and good sex in our books. So any help or recs you could give would be great since they all read very fast. 

Seriously, this family could be a sitcom or a reality show and I'd DVR every damn episode and watch it twice. This email makes me grin every time I read it.

The first recommendation that comes to my mind is Jennifer Estep's Spider series, beginning with Spider's Bite  ( A | BN | K ). It's an 11-book series, mixing romance, urban fantasy, and female asskicking. Estep's YA series, Mythos Academy, might also work – and it's on sale right now. It's about a boarding school for various magical mythological creatures who must work together despite very very different skill sets. That might make the family very happy, too.

But I know you have many suggestions, and you're probably hopping in your chair right now, yes? What would you recommend for the ladies in this family? 

Comments are Closed

  1. Yaara says:

    I’ve read every single one of those books and loved them, so definitely my type of family. I’d also suggest Marjorie M Liu – both the hunter kiss books as well as the dirk & steele ones (which start off a bit old school but get rapidly better).

    *parks in comments and waits for more*

  2. Lisa J says:

    For the aunt reading Lora Leigh’s breed series, Laurann Dohner’s New Species series.  The latest book just came out this week and the next one comes out at the end of October.  This is not a short series though.

    Evangeline Anderson’s Brides of Kindred series is very good.  The books are longer stories and again, not a short series.

  3. Tameka says:

    Maybe they might like the Kresley Cole Immortals series or the Jeaniene Frost Night Huntress books.

  4. Miranda says:

    Willig’s Pink Carnation series for humor. Deborah Coates’ series (Wide Open) for kick-ass heroine fantasy.

  5. jenn says:

    Second the Pink Carnation books. Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel books are good too.

  6. Erica H says:

    For humor, strong heroines, and good sex in contemporary- I would suggest Julie James, Jill Shalvis,, and Kristan Higgins.
    For paranormal- Darynda Jones, Lynsay Sands, Kresley Cole
    For historical- Julia Quinn, Sarah Maclean, Lisa Kleypas especially the Hathaway series

    What an awesome family!

  7. Patricia M. says:

    These are ones I have read that might work: Larissa Ione’s series; Keri Arthur’s Riley Jensen series, Christine Warren’s books; Robin Owen’s Heart Mate series; Carrie Vaughn’s series and for humor,  Sandra Hill with her time traveling Vikings.  This may be obvious but Shelly Laurenston also writes as G.A. Aiken: same kinds of books and humor but with dragons.

  8. Olivia says:

    Just some authors to throw out there, which sound like the ones you’ve read…Cherry Adair (her T-Flac series has some psychic ones), Christine Feehan, JR Ward, Lynn Viehl (both paranormal and a new series mystery/steampunk paranormal series if the U.S. had lost the Revolutionary War). Kerrelyn Sparks for her paranormal series, and of course, Lynsay Sands or Vicki Lewis Thompson.

    Many of Lori Foster’s older series include shorter books, and are being republished now in anthologies.

    I don’t read much fantasy anymore, but my favorite is Mercedes Lackey Valdemar series, mostly fantasy with some romance.

    Sorry if that’s a lot, I totally just cataloged all my books on an app, so now I have easy access to it all, not sure whether that’s a good thing or not šŸ˜€

  9. Olivia says:

    Oh and for the cousin who liked True Blood, there’s also Molly Harper, and Kimberly Raye’s Dead End Dating series (and her contemporaries are hot too!)

  10. June says:

    Definitely Patricia Brigg’s Mercy Thompson books and maybe Bec McMaster’s London Steampunk series (Kiss of Steel, Heart of Iron, etc.). Love both of those series. 

    Also, for your mom—maybe the Vampire Empire series by Clay and Susan Griffith? I liked their take on vampires.

  11. Patricia M. says:

    Also, Kelley Armstrong’s books are paranormals with strong females.

  12. kkw says:

    Seconding Erica H.
    Jeaniene Frost and Jacqueline Carey seem like they’d suit.  Maybe JR Ward?
    I just glommed a Rachel Bach space trilogy from a previous rec thread that’s scifi with a kickass heroine and a strong romantic element.
    Jennifer Crusie doesn’t do series really, although I think occasionally there are overlapping characters, but she’s certainly one of the funniest authors going.
    Janet Evanovich?
    Courteney Milan is all about strong heroines.  She does what seems to me like way too many novellas, so maybe your cousin would give her a shot.

  13. Patricia M. says:

    If you like Tessa Dare, what about Courtney Milan or Sherry Thomas?  Or Laura Kinsale, Liz Carlyle, Elizabeth Hoyt, Carla Kelley or Meredith Duran?  Some of Kasey Michaels early Regencies were very funny also.

    For paranormals, there is also Kim Harrison (terrific series that is just winding up), Cat Adams, C.E. Murphy or Jacquelyn Frank.

  14. Cat says:

    kkw already mentioned Jennifer Crusie – I wonder if your mother would like Agnes and the Hitman? It’s not much like JD Robb, but is very funny.

    Maybe also the Kate Burholder series by Linda, though if I recall aright there is a erlationship but no sex. The level of darkness can be a bit Robb-like though.

  15. Olivia says:

    Okay few more, Rosemary Laurey has a short vampire series, Maggie Shayne’s Wings in the Night series has some novellas, but still a large series (which was just brought back and there are new books now!!), Katie MacAlister, Jennifer Armintrout, Raven Hart…

    and if you’d like recommendations for small town series, kind of like Victoria Dahl, there’s Hope Ramsay, Jill Shalvis, Katie Lane, Marcia Evanick, Marilyn Pappano, Emma Cane, Carly Phillips, Susan Andersen, JoAnn Ross.

    Robyn DeHart has some nice novellas out right now (e-books)

    Last ones! Minda Webber (nice light hearted paranormals), Michele Bardsley (absolute favorite), and Stephanie Rowe (I haven’t read her newer paranormal, but love her Immortally Sexy series).

  16. sandyl says:

    Faith Hunter’s Jane Yellowstone series has a strong heroine. She is a “skinwalker” who shares her body with a mountain lion (I think).  The Toby Daye series by Seanan Macquire features a changeling who is a knight in faery. Both are excellent.

  17. Patricia M. says:

    The Outlander series, to name a classic.

  18. Mochabean says:

    Pretty light on the sexytimes, but Seannan McGuire/Mira Grant’s stuff might work for this family…kick ass female characters and her books make family a really important part of the characters lives.

  19. Storyphile says:

    OMG I have so many to recommend…

    First off, so many other good recommendations here, I second or third or whatever on C.E. Murphy, Cat Adams, Courtney Milan, Patricia Briggs, Jeaniene Frost, Lyndsay Sands, Kresley Cole, Marjorie Liu.  In no particular order.

    I want to add:
    Did you know Shelley Laurenston writes fantasy dragon romances as G. A. Aiken?  Yes.

    I adore Eileen Wilks for paranormal romance/urban fantasy.  Also Sherrilyn Kenyon.

    If you want to go a little darker fantasy, maybe a few horror elements: Karen Chance, Anne Bishop and the older Tanya Huff Blood series if you can find it (predates Harris’s True Blood by quite a bit.)

    If you want something more lighthearted, I love Lynn Kurland’s Twelve Kingdoms series.

    For shorter and spicier works with lots of humour: Mary Hughes the Biting Love series, Vivi Andrews the Karmic Consultants series, and anything by Dana Marie Bell (everything is good, but I’m especially loving her True Destiny books based on Norse mythology).

  20. Olivia says:

    Okay, I lied, missed the last paragraph about your mom…there is Karin Slaughter, more mystery/suspense than romance, and I love everything Karen Rose writes, Maggie Shayne has some good suspense, so does Lisa Jackson, Julie Garwood. I haven’t read any of her books yet, but there is also Roxanne St. Claire.

  21. Bea says:

    This is very SF/F centered, as that’s my genres. Most of the books are romantic, but not so much with the sex. (I came to the romance genre late in life…)

    First—BUJOLD (she’s like the Force)
    Fantasy: Sharing Knife, Spirit Ring, Chalion (unless the books *have to* be from the female POV, if so, just “Paladin of Souls”)
    SF: Cordelia’s Honor, if the POV can be male with lots of strong women… the Miles Books

    Andre Norton (there’s like 85 books, in various series and standalones and most are YA)
    Norton with Rosemary Edgehill: the Carolus Rex duology (alternate history w/romance)

    Judith Tarr (historical fiction with romantic elements: King and Goddess, Eagle’s Daughter); fantasy version of the Crusades: the Alamut books, the Hound and the Falcon
    Tarr also writes as Caitlin Brennan for Harlequin and Kathleen Bryan for Tor

    Anything by Jo Walton

    Anything by Patricia Wrede (also some great YA stuff in there)

    Harry Turtledove (alternate history) some of his women are unpleasant, some are facing unpleasant things with strength and grace, some are just awesome all around. Not really “light” reading, though “Agent of Byzantium” (male Protag) comes closest

  22. Tabs says:

    I would definitely recommend Larissa Ione’s Demonica books. 

    For the sister who is time constrained, I’d suggest Elle Kennedy’s Out of Uniform books.  The first 8 or so are novellas and the last 4 or so are full-length. Super hot and sexy and fun.

    Also, Jessica Sims’ shifter shifter books have a nice mix of full-length novels and novellas and her Billionaire books as Jessica Clare are fun too.

    Moira Rogers has a bunch of shorter paranormal series that are all category length that are super fun and sexy. And if the ladies like really dirty there’s always Kit Rocha who writes kick-ass erotic dystopians with feminist themes and extremely well-developed female characters.

  23. Beth Not Elizabeth says:

    Jenn Bennett the Arcadia Bell Series and the Roaring Twenties. Great paranormals. The Arcadia Bell Series has awesome kick ass heroine, Roaring Twenties the heroines are pretty feisty, too.

  24. Lozza says:

    I think the cousin would like Kit Rocha’s “Beyond Series.” The world-building is fantastic (it’s post-apocalyptic-y, which I’m not normally into, but it’s perfect and detailed and manages to be gritty without being totally hopeless). I think it’s usually classified as erotic romance, but if the cousin is into Tiffany Reisz, I think she’ll like it… these books are hot and dirty (in the best way!)
    They also feature female characters who are all really strong in vastly different ways, and they explore strength and power as it relates not just to physicality but also to different types of leadership and friendship and dominance/submission, etc. The characters and relationships are also really refreshingly mature… there’s such a focus on consent and communication and fostering good healthy relationships (both sexual and platonic). It probably makes the most sense to start with the first one, but you can pick them up later (my favorites are probably the third book and the fifth book).

  25. LauraL says:

    First of all, can you all adopt me? Not many read-for-fun girls in my family.

    For your mother, I’d recommend Robyn Carr’s Virgin River series, which finished at maybe 18-19 books. The Thunder Point series is great, too, but still going strong. The heroines are strong in many different ways. Lots of humor, but not real hot on the sexy times meter.

    A series that has really captivated me is The Highland Guards by Monica McCarty. Alpha heroes, strong heroines to tame them, and sexy times set in 14th century Scotland. Her heroes have been described as “SEALs in kilts” and there is a contemporary vibe despite the Medieval setting.

  26. laj says:

    WOW! So many great recs. I would add Suzanne Brockmann’s Troubleshooters and Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series. Also the guys might like Novik’s Temeraire series, my sons gobbled them up in a flash!

  27. KellyJo says:

    My recommends have already been listed. But I would LOVE to be in this family. I was gifted the love of reading from my mom and my aunt. Sadly, I am the only reader left. My husband reacts to books like I react to spiders.

  28. cleo says:

    For SFR, try Linnea Sinclair – she has at least one series, and several stand alones. My fave is Games of Command.

  29. azteclady says:

    Virginia Kantra’s Children of the Sea and Alyssa Day’s Warriors of Poseidon come to mind.

    Seconding Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark, Suzanne Brockmann’s Troubleshooters, Meljean Brook’s Iron Seas.

  30. cleo says:

    Also, The Parasol Protectorate books – kind of steampunky, Victorian alt history with werewolves and vampires and a kick ass, yet proper, heroine.

  31. Heather Greye says:

    For the SF, I would say Linnea Sinclair’s Dock Five Universe. She also has some really fun standalones.

    Some older SF with some romance that I really enjoyed were the Mageworlds books by Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald. The Price of the Stars is one of my favorite re-reads.

  32. azteclady says:

    Oh my good lord, how did I forget? Shiloh Walker’s FBI psychics series, and new urban series as JC Daniels,  and Ann Aguirre—anything by her, seriously. Her Razorland is most excellent YA, and her Sirantha Jax and Corine Solomon are both excellent, and then she wrote a short romantic suspense series as Ava Gray.

  33. Kate says:

    I wholeheartedly agree with the others who have mentioned Bec McMaster’s London Steampunk series, Kristen Callihan’s Darkest London series, and Kresley Cole’s Immortals after Dark. All have strong heroines with great sex!

  34. Moody says:

    I think I saw some of these mentioned by others but here are the ones that pop in my head when I’m looking for strong female characters:
    Kit Rocha’s Beyond Series;
    Ilona Andrews – Kate Daniels of course, but The Edge series also has hard core ladies;
    Patricia Briggs – Mercy Thompson and Alpha/Omega;
    Anne Bishop – Black Jewels series;
    Eloisa James – Duchess quartet has some of my favorite historical heroines;
    Lauren Dane – Brown Siblings and Delicious series; and
    Stacia Kane – Downside Ghosts.

    I’m taking some notes of my own for future reading!

  35. azteclady says:

    Zoe Archer!!! How did I forget her? The Blade of the Rose series, and then the Chronicles of Ether series.

  36. Judy W. says:

    YES, YES!  They must read J.R. Ward Black Dagger Brotherhood. Can I second and third that. And Kresley Cole, Immortals After Dark (like crack) especially if they loved Nalini Singh. Sherrilyn Kenyon will definitely break their bank with her hefty backlist. And, Jeanine Frost to cover the vampire theme.  To help out the Jayne Ann Krentz fix have they tried Susan Elizabeth Phillips? Start with the older books as they are better.  For the historical angle after Tessa Dare check out Julie Anne Long and they GREAT Pennyroyal Green series.  Good Luck

  37. HM says:

    Damn being on the westcoast, most of the authors I’d recommend are already mentioned by everyone above for sf, fantasy and romance..

    I really like Patricia Briggs and she’s got a backlist of medievalish fantasy stories that are not connected to Mercy Thompson books.

    Also second the Valdemar Series by Mercedes Lacky – several of the trilogies I’ve read over and over.

    And Lois Bujold’s Cordelia is not to be missed.

    Seconding all of Moodies recommendations.

  38. Liz says:

    Jumping on a few bandwagons here – I have to second (or perhaps fifth) Jeanine Frost’s Night Huntress series, JR Ward (and I do really like her angel series as well as BDB), Kit Rocha (and if you’re looking for kickass heroines, start with book 2).  I’d also recommend Joey Hill, who has series with witches and vampires, along with her Nature of Desire and Knights of the Boardroom series.

  39. Heather S says:

    I must recommend, for paranormal romance, the Kitty Norville series by Carrie Vaughn (the first book is “Kitty and the Midnight Hour”) and Rachael Vincent’s werecat series (which is 8 books long and done).

    For the strong-female trope in sci-fi, I can never recommend the Abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix enough (“Sabriel”, “Lirael”, and “Abhorsen”, respectively).

    Also, for sci-fi, a good friend HIGHLY recommended Brandon Sanderson’s Arclight Archive (The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance) as truly perfect sci-fi fantasy awesomeness.

  40. Hannah says:

    For paranormal romances/urban fiction I’d recommend:
    1.Sherrilyn Kenyon – most of her books are considered to be paranormal romance (I think) except for her Young Adult series ‘The Chronicles of Nick.’
    2. Lori Handeland is also a favorite of mine – her ‘Nightcreature’ novels are mostly about werewolves.
    3. Kelley Armstrong wrote some pretty awesome novels (‘Otherworld’) about werewolves with the addition of witches, etc. The series did start to bore me when she began to focus almost exclusively with the witches, but the beginning of the series was great.
    4. Deborah Blake’s ‘Baba Yaga’ novels.
    5. Patricia Briggs also writes some kick-ass heroine novels – ‘Mercy Thompson’ (although her other series are pretty good too!)
    6. Rachel Caines ‘Morganville Vampires’
    7. Lydia Dare also writes some pretty decent paranormal romance.
    8. Jennifer Estep’s ‘Spider’ series is amazing – with a kick-ass female assassin that’s the best in the business – where can you go wrong?!
    9. Diana Pharaoh Francis is another amazing author – I don’t think she can write a bad novel! Her ‘Horngate Witches’ novels are paranormal romance with another kick-ass heroine, and her most recent novel is the start of a new series ‘Trace of Magic.’ I’d recommend anything she writes šŸ™‚
    10. Jeanine Frost’s ‘Night Huntress’ novels are very very good. The heroine is half-vampire and on a mission to kill all full blooded vamps she finds, until she meets one she can’t kill. The series is over now, but she has offshoot series starting up that I’d also recommend.
    11. Yasmine Galenorn
    12. Nicole Hamlett was a pleasant surprise to me – her ‘Grace Murphey’ novels were pretty awesome and unexpected – it brings in a lot of Greek mythology.
    13. Molly Harper writes some fun and sassy paranormals.
    14. Kim Harrison’s ‘Hollows’
    15. Faith Hunter’s ‘Jane Yellowrock’ series
    16. Rebecca York
    17. J.R. Ward – ‘Black Dagger Brotherhood’
    18. Rachel Vincent
    19. Carrie Vaughn – ‘Kitty Norville’ – it’s about a werewolf named Kitty – where can you go wrong?! haha
    20. Lilith Saintcrow – a little darker than my usual tastes, but I still enjoyed it
    21. Jennifer Rardin – the books started out amazing with a kick-ass heroine. The author ended up committing suicide and I believe you can tell that she was losing it a little the longer the series progressed. I still enjoyed them though.
    22. Kalayna Price
    23. Chloe Neill
    24. Karen Marie Moning
    25. Richelle Mead – ‘Georgina Kincaid’ and ‘Age of X’ and ‘Dark Swan’
    26. Seanan McGuire
    27. Shea MacLeod
    28. Katie MacAlister
    29. Robin LaFevers

    For Young Adult novels with excellent plots, I’d recommend:
    1. Kristin Cashore – ‘Graceling’ novels
    2. Jennifer Estep – ‘Mythos Academy’ series
    3. Julie Kagawa – ‘Iron Fey’ series and her ‘Blood of Eden’ series was also very good
    4. Patricia C. Wrede – Especially her ‘Enchanted Forest Chronicles’
    5. Veronica Roth (even though the 3rd book annoyed me with how indistinguishable the character voices were)
    6. Tamora Pierce – her ‘Lioness Rampant’ novels and ‘Immortals’ are the best she’s written imo
    7. Lauren Oliver – ‘Delirium’
    8. Marissa Meyer – ‘Lunar Chronicles’ bring in traditional faerie tales like Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, etc and put them into a futuristic world – excellent!
    9. Richelle Mead – ‘Bloodlines’ & ‘Vampire Academy’
    10. Sarah J. Maas – her first novel was clear to me she was a new author, but I could see her grow as the novel progressed, and her subsequent novels are really good!

    For Science Fiction/Fantasy I’d recommend:
    1. Dave Duncan – ‘King’s Blades’ novels
    2. Robert Jordan – ‘Wheel of Time’ (the series is finally done!)
    3. Terry Goodkind – ‘Sword of Truth’ series
    4. Terry Brooks – ‘Sword of Shannara’ series
    5. Robin Hobb – all her series are great imo, but I really loved her ‘Rain Wilds Chronicles’
    6. Anne Bishop also writes some amazing books. She has started a new series that I’m in love with (‘The Others’) but her tried and true series for me is the ‘Black Jewels Trilogy.’ Incredibly strong female characters and amazing world building – be warned, there is some horrific stuff that happens.
    7. Orson Scott Card – ‘Ender’s Game’ was pretty revolutionary when it came out, and I really enjoyed his ‘Seventh Son’ series as well
    8. Jim Butcher
    9. Brandon Sanderson (especially ‘Mistborn’)
    10. R.A. Salvatore – ‘Drizzt’ books starting with ‘Homeland’
    11. Patrick Rothfuss – one of the best up and coming authors I’ve read in a VERY long time
    12. Terry Pratchett – ‘Discworld’ (some of his other stuff is VERY weird imo)
    13. Anne McCaffrey – ‘Pern’ novels (all about dragons and space travel!)
    14. George R.R. Martin – ‘Song of Ice and Fire’ – which HBO’s show ‘Game of Thrones’ is based on
    15. Mercedes Lackey – her ‘Valdemar’ books are very good – I wouldn’t necessarily read them in chronological order, but instead read them in the order she published them (maybe). I did think ‘Brightly Burning’, ‘Last Herald Mage’ and ‘Heralds of Valdemar’ were the best, but they’re all good. Her ‘Dragon Jouster’ series is also pretty fun, as is her ‘Bedlam Bards’ and ‘Diana Tregarde.’ The ‘Five Hundred Kingdoms’ novels are a pretty fun take on fairy tales, and very well written. The ‘Halfblood Chronicles’ are also great. ‘The Obsidian Mountain’ trilogy is probably one of my favorite series of all times – the beginning of the first book is a little slow, but it picks up quickly.

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