It's Valentine's Day! There's red and chocolate everywhere, and there will be a lot of dining out and champagne and general fuzziness. Oh – and some media attention toward the romance novel since it's an annual thing, asking romance authors what the best date nights are and how to woo the unwilling maiden after you've taken over her father's business in an act of cold blooded corporate revenge.
I figure, let's give gifts! I am giving away two $50 gift cards to the bookstore of the winner's choice! All you have to do: tell me which romance novel you think would make a great gift, and for whom. Maybe it's the book that has the most wide and giddy appeal to the most readers you know. Maybe it's the book you think is one of the best kept secrets of romance publishing. Maybe it's just your favorite for a whole pile of reasons. Either way: name the book you think would make a marvelous gift in the comments, and you might receive the gift card that will enable the purchase of much of the romances! To the yay!
I will select two winners at random, and they will receive $50 to spend at the bookstore of their choosing.
Standard disclaimers apply: I am not being compensated for this giveaway. Your mileage may vary. Turn inside out before washing. Void where prohibited. Must be wearing a cowboy hat and be 18 years of age or older to win. Stop clubbing, baby seals.
You've got 24 hours, so let's start suggesting the perfect giftable romances!
ETA: We have winners! Thanks to the random integer generator, our winners are #3, Anna, and #122, Kirsten. Ladies, please contact me at sarahATsmartbitchestrashybooks.com to claim your gift cards. Thank you to everyone who entered – my books to recommend list is now miles long!
Dark Lover by JR Ward. I have given this book to several friends and converted them over to paranormal romance. For contemporary, I would recommend Susan Elizabeth Phillips – I love the WTFery baby story Nobody’s Baby But Mine.
I have been sending boxes of romance books to my best friend for the last year now – it’s been a rough one for her and she can use all the warm fuzzies she can get. One I haven’t sent her but would love to is Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chase. I really really love that book.
Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie would make a great gift for my sister, if I could only pursuade her to give romance novels a try. She loves dogs, and Fred the depressed basset hound/beagle mix is my favorite canine character of all time.
I’ve recommended this so often, I should just wear a t-shirt. This isn’t technically a romance, but has strong romantic overtones throughout the series.
“Her Majesty’s Wizard” by Christopher Stasheff. Fantasy novel, where the hero, Matt Mantrell is an literature grad student studying a parchment he found in the campus library. Just as he deciphers the document, he gets sucked into an alternate world (who knew the document was a hidden spell?). He meets a princess in the dungeon, the rightful heir to the throne, whose father was just murdered by an evil duke. She is being pressured to marry the usuper, but is fighting, hence her dungeon accomodations.
Matt, with his strong liturature knowledge, seems to be able to work magic and agrees to assist the princess on her quest to avenge and take her rightful place as queen. Great start to a fantasy/romantic series.
My favorite to loan out is Princess Academy by Shannon Hale. It’s not strictly a romance, but the romantic elements are a main part of the story. It’s a YA Newbery winner.
What Happens In London by Julia Quinn. It’s just the perfect book to enjoy with a glass of wine and chocolate. Being Finnish I also cannot resist the fact that it contains the sentence “One never knows when one might come across a lovely lady from Finland”. True that.
I would give “Kiss An Angel” by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Or if they wanted a historical “One Moonlit Night” by Samantha James
I would give Linnea Sinclair’s Games of Command, one of the sweetest love stories I’ve read in a long time, oh and a bit of sci fi action on the side 🙂
I have a few friends who are going through a rough time so I am passing out copies of Jennifer Crusie’s “Bet Me” a it is seriously one of the best and funniest.
I’d give The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook. I’d only tell someone that it’s steampunk at first; hit them with the romance after they’ve read it.
I would recommend Beauty by Robin McKinley. It’s a lovely retelling of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. I’d also recommend the Travis contemporary romance series by Lisa Kleypas—Sugar Daddy, Blue-Eyed Devil, and Smooth Talking Stranger.
I’d give Romancing Mister Bridgerton. It was my first historical romance and I found it funny and charming. I would also recommend Elizabeth Hoyt’s Raven Price. It’s one of my all-time favorites.
‘Wintercombe’ by Patricia Belle. I bought second-hand copies of this one and gave them to my sister and my mother; i think it’s out of print now, but it’s still my favourite historical romance.
I’ve also given out a good four or five copies of Pamela Dean’s ‘Tam Lin’, which is probably my favourite contemporary romance, even if it’s more a story of falling in love with literature over a four year college degree…
I can’t pick just one book. It’s like asking a parent who’s their favorite child. What would I give? It depends on the person. Need some laughs? First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones or Natural Born Charmer. Need to kick some butt? Naked in Death or Finders Keepers by Linnea Sinclair or The Iron Duke. Historical Mood? The Heir by Grace Burrowes. Fantasy? Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan. I absolutely adore the whole Warlands Chronicles.
Bet Me for friends who like contemporary, A Lady Awakened for friends who like historical, The Iron Duke for friends who like technology, and The Sharing Knife series by Bujold for friends who like fantasy.
The Duke and I by Julia Quinn. I have given it as a gift twice, to my boss and my sister. Everytime I read it, time stands still, I get lost in the book (no matter what else I may be doing) and I can’t wait for the HEA. Then when I’m finished, i can’t decide whether or not to start reading it over, or move on to the second in the series. Then I end up reading, in one marathon reading day, at least the first four books. Every time! In my house we refer to this as the ‘Julia Quinn Blackhole’ because I can never escape.
Hmm… decisions, decisions.
Well, for folks interested in historical romance, I would gift Meredith Duran’s “Bound by Your Touch” and “Written on Your Skin”—two novels that tell overlapping stories. That is, they are separate plots, but the heroes know each other, the action is taking place more or less at the same time, and there are scenes that appear in both books from different perspectives. Also, they are tons of fun, and avoid a lot of potential cliches.
For contemporary, I think I would have to go with Jennifer Crusie—probably “Bet Me,” unless I was giving the book to somebody who really loved dogs, in which case, I would give “Anyone But You” (Fred!)
It’s hard to pick just one… But as a gift, I would give Julie James’s “Practice Makes Perfect” for a few reasons—One, I live around Chicago and she does a great job with the Chicago setting which would help a lot of people I know; Two, I have found that contemporaries can be easier for people to get into; Three, she uses great dialogue (The banter reminds me of 40s rom-coms); Four, it is a great read!!! I may need to reread it tomorrow… 😉
Gone With the Wind. This book has everything in it, love, romance, hatred, war, starvation, survival, wit, charm, selfishness – and that’s just Scarlett. What, you don’t think it has an HEA?!? Sure it does you don’t think Scarlett will ever give up on Rhett do you? And there is no other woman for Rhett. Sigh.
I’ve given Unlocked to a few of my friends to break down the romance stereotypes. It’s cheap, short (easier to convince them to read it!), and so perfectly written it will make any skeptic a convert to the genre.
Soulless by Gail Carriger because everyone needs some steampunk and vampires on Valentines Day
I would give the audio version of Natural Born Charmer, by Susan Elizabeth Phillips and read by the fabulous Anna Fields, to anyone looking to roll on the floor laughing or any romance skeptic. As long as they promised not to drive while listening.
I’d still opt for Outlander – history, romance, time travel, love and loss.
Anything by Jennifer Cruise!
For paranormal I’d suggest Patricia Briggs, both Mercy Thompson series and the Charles & Anna series. Just love everything about those.
I have given Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander and Patricia Briggs Moon Called on a few occasions. But for Valentines’s I think The Bride by Julie Garwood.
Hmmm, I have given a number of copies of The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley. It’s a bit gothic, a bit time-travel, a bit modern romance—it’s got everything, including a most satisfying HEA. What’s not to love?
I’d love to give away The Duke and I to my best friend! She never read a historical romance, and since that was my first I wish it would be hers too! Great place to start, I think!
I, too, have given Outlander to a lot of people. I find it’s a great romance-for-the-non-romance-reader. Gets ‘em every time.
I’d like to give Spirited Away by Cindy Miles (I really liked her books, they were light paranormal romances, adorable but not silly), Dreaming of You (Gamblers, #2) by Lisa Kleypas (tortured hero!) and maybe even Heart’s Blood (Whistling Tor, #1) by Juliet Marillier (a lovely Beauty & the Beast re-telling) , to Richard Armitage, so that he can read them aloud… to me… What? I can dream 🙂
I would give Kresley Cole’s A Hunger Like No Other – she got me started on the paranormal romance genre. Before that, I had read a few really bad vampire romances and I didn’t understand the draw (even though I was an Angel/Spike fan). This one changed my mind!
I’d give The Compass Rose by Gail Dayton. It has an amazingly complex world that is built so beautifully, without the infodump. And the romance? How about multiple romances all blending together? I love this book, and it’s exploration of “non traditional” love stories.
For someone who has never read romance, I would give the classic “Bet Me” by Jennifer Crusie. The dialogue between Min and Cal is the perfect example of banter-as-foreplay that just builds throughout the entire book. It’s the first one I read and a great introduction to the genre.
Loving Scoundrel by Johanna Lindsey to anyone who does not believe that books with dumb covers can be awesome. I love that the heroine is totally true to herself and makes the hero follow her, and there’s a lot of humor as well.
Silver Storm
by Cynthia Wright
Why= Because my friend and I cut our (historical romance) teeth on pirate romances and she would get as much a kick out of Silver Storm as I did.
Shannon McKenna, “Behind Closed Doors”. I was hooked from then on!
I think a recent read that I truly enjoyed, Darlene Marshall’s Sea Change, would be a great gift for a friend of mine who doesn’t read romance. The heroine is definitely not a young miss having her first season in London, but a doctor-in-training aboard a privateer’s ship. My friend would appreciate the unique setting and the humor.
Most of my friends have been long-time married like me, and might like a little inspiration for their Valentine’s Day from the spicier romances. Historical? Kresley Cole’s MacCarrick brothers, perhaps. Paranormal? How about Rhyannon Byrd’s Primal Instinct series. Contemporary? Julie James’ A Lot Like Love was steamy without being over-the-top. But you say you want over-the-top? Well, Lora Leigh’s Nauti Boys series is pure hot mess erotic craziness.
The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook, I first read about it on this site (b/c of DocTurtle’s review—where is the next installment), and I practically ate that book in a day. I can’t get that crazy world out of my head, can’t get the romance out of my head, and can’t get all that FUN they had out of my head, so I think it’s a great book for anyone who likes fantasy, steampunk, or romance.
I made my two very-much-non-romance-reading-ever best friends read Agnes and the Hitman. And they both loved it. I would say that would be my go-to gift. It’s one of my favorites.