Back in 2006, I fielded a question for Lovely Salome, better known as Carrie Lofty, asking which Nora Roberts novel she should read first. A sort of precursor to the “Which One First?” feature, done six years ago.
Now that Nora Roberts has written approximately 14,576,469,354.7 books since then, I think it's time to update that list. Another reader is asking for help. Meet Jordan:
I've really loved all the the “What Should I Read Next” of old school romance posts you have done! As a recent convert to the romance genre (Hi, my name is Jordan and I've been a Romance reader for 5 years now. *Hi Jordan*), those have been really helpful since digging through authors who've been publishing for a while is pretty intimidating.
I would love to see more of those, and personally I'd love one for Nora Roberts. I'm a hardcore J.D. Robb fangirl, probably because I slowly migrated from scifi/fantasy and mystery over to romance, but Roberts' more mainstream stuff (contemporary and historical) is just so plentiful – I don't know where to start!
That thread from 2006 still contains some of my favorite Nora Roberts' novels, but there are so many more (SO MANY MORE).
So, which is your favorite? I'm going to make this really hard. REALLY.
You can only name two at the most. TWO. That's it.
Which are your two favorite Nora Roberts novels that you'd recommend to Jordan?
I have a question: my understanding was her suspense/romance books were JD Robb and her “traditional” romance (without any violence) were published under Nora Roberts. Is that the case? I don’t want to accidentally stumble into a Suspense/romance (with the triggers). Is it easy to tell these apart?
Nora Roberts also write contemporary romantic suspense along with contemporary romance and some contemporary romance with paranormal elements. (Whew!) Titles such as : High Noon, Honest Illusions, Divine Evil, Carnal Innocence, Three Fates, Montana Sky, Carolina Moon, Black Hills, Angel’s Fall, Birthright, Tribute, etc., are all stand alone RS titles.
You’ll need to look at the descriptions to know whether you’re getting straight contemporary romance or RS. Many of Robert’s RS titles do not have triggers, but a few do.
Did Nora Roberts write a book titled Envy? I know Sandra Brown did and it’s one of my all time favorite books on audio.
+1 for your Guild reference 😀
I “discovered” Nora Roberts via her cross over novel with her JD Robb alias – Remember When. Then I started reading NR books.
My favourite is Birthright (my first) and I would also recommend Angels Fall (and a heap of others but sticking with the rules).
And just a warning if you start any of the trilogies, make sure you have access to ALL the books in the series – they’re like Tim Tams – you don’t stop at one. And for some reason libraries/book stores aren’t open at midnight when you NEED that next book.
Honest Illusions was one of the first NR books I ever read, back in high school/early college when I was first discovering romance. And as much as I looooooooooove the Quinn series, I’m gonna have to go with the Dream trilogy.
OMG!!How could I have forgotten this one!!! Must ditch (ummm—really tough decision—*flip coin*) Carnal Innocence to fit in Hidden Riches….
Minimal love for the Stanislaskis? I was verrrry skeptical of NR, believing that someone this prolific had to be churning out pap, but then I read “Luring a Lady” in about two hours one afternoon and had the entire series checked out from the library within a week.
And bonus love for “Dance of Dreams”, whose dancer hero is sometimes a jerk and always a prince.ey
The Witness and Midnight Bayou.
Goodreads told me that I have read 91 books by Nora Roberts, so I guess you could say I am a fan. But she is probably the only one of my favorite authors that I wish would write slower so I can finally read all her backlist.
I have read all of Nora’s series and I can pick a favorite from each one except the MacGregor Series. Its the best; all the books are good in a different way. But if I had to pick one…The MacGregor Brides. You can get three tastes of Nora Roberts in miniature.
For a stand alone novel, I am picking Angels Fall.
If it is romantic suspense you are looking for, I would recommend Northern Lights, and if it is straight contemporary, the Chesapeake Bay series. If you looking for something with some fantasy, the Three Sisters series …. I know that is more than 2 books, but there are so many to chose from.
I would pick Three Fates and Birthright. But if you love dogs, go for The Search. And if you like a male point of view go for Northern Lights – it also has dogs!
You are asking us to recommend a writer using only 2% of her currently published works.
Cruel, unusual and…can’t be done without cheating (w/apologies to Shiloh Walker).
PS I don’t say a book titled Envy in NR’s booklist (available as a .pdf on her website, updated up to 2013), so color me skeptical.
This is extremely hard and having us pick only 2 – very bitchy. I love Born in Ice and The Winning Hand (from the MacGregor series). Both books make me smile, laugh, wisftful, and of course, want to fall in love.
Ack! I love Nora’s novels with strong family/friends dynamics (although I think her newest books have become super recycled and she’s not as current as she’d like to be with language, social norms, etc). I think my favorite family set is the Stanislaskis… but I also love love LOVE the old school suspense novels. Although I’ve probably read Carolina Moon the most, I recently reread Private Scandals and it is phenomenal. There should be a trigger warning, I think, but if I remember correctly, this is one novel where Nora really delivers powerful, amazing characters (which she can be so good at!) that are incredibly real and raw, dealing with super intense situations.
If anyone is looking for supplemental readings (I’m sorry, I can’t help it!), I fell in love with the amazing dogs in The Search.
errrmmppp! correction: only 1% #can’t do math
Cam is one of my absolute favorite heroes. All the men in that series were amazing, although I am not a huge fan of Ethan.
My favorite is Three Fates, which I re-read once a year.
I also really like Birth Right.
Montana Sky
man thats hard.
series: the Irish jewels
standalone: The Reef (not sure if it’s mentioned here, but an oldie and a goody)
I loved a lot of her books. But the only one that ever got me so worked up that I HAD TO WRITE HER!!! and say ‘thank you!!!’ was:
Northern Lights
I adore Blue Smoke. For my second pick, probably “The Witness.”
Favorite series, though, is the Chesapeake Bay, with Inner Harbor as my favorite.
Angels Fall and the Cordina Series.
OMG. My local library’s e-media site has three NR bundles with five books in each.
Snoopy Dance!
My favorites are the ones where she departs from the norm a little.
My downright favorite is Lawless, her wild west story.
I also loved Night Shadow which has a superhero!
My favorites would be True Betrayals and Carolina Moon.
Wow – can’t believe no one mentioned Sacred Sins – one of my favourites. AAnd – Carnal innocence (no – private scandals) It’s too hard
I’m going with the book that hooked me on Nora when I was in college: JEWELS OF THE SUN. I mainly had picked this up because I was in the market and the cover looked pretty and it was SET IN IRELAND, and I was all, I NEED THIS BOOK because I was eighteen or nineteen and I had this fantasy that I’d travel to Ireland, meet a really hot Irish guy, etc., etc., etc. So I bought it, read, and then spent that whole summer reading everything she wrote. She’s such a gobbleglom author. Also, I think if there was one author who made me want to write contemporary romances, it was Nora Roberts.
Oh, and the other one I’d rec? Sea Swept, the start of the awesome Quinn Brothers quartet.
Also, I’m cheating because this category is awesome. I forget the title but the hero is a MacGregors and he hires this librarian/bookseller to redo his library and THERE IS HOT LIBRARY SEX. Need I say more?
I’d say Sea Swept (which will inevitably lead you to read the rest of that series, although, in my opinion you can skip book 4, which isn’t that good) and Northern Lights, although I could mention several more.
Both books have strong characters and good, solid stories, and the first is a great example of one of her really strong points, which is the ability to write realistic non-romantic interpersonal relationships where unrelated people have come together to form a family.
This is the best thread ever! I’m having such fun seeing all the love for Honest Illusions (which I don’t remember being all that blown away by, but I’ll happily give another go) and The Witness that I was going to skip, having not enjoyed Blue Smoke, Angel Falls or Blackwood Hills all that much, but which I might now try!
Anyway, my tips, The Right Path (an early, fantastic remake of Mary Stuart’s This Rough Magic) and Birthright—love the strong smart heroine (archeologist!), the secondary characters are fully developed and fantastic, and her strong, smart ex-husbThis is the best thread ever! I’m having such fun seeing all the love for Honest Illusions (which I don’t remember being all that blown away by, but I’ll happily give another go) and The Witness that I was going to skip, having not enjoyed Blue Smoke, Angel Falls or Blackwood Hills all that much, but which I might now try!
Anyway, my tips, The Right Path (an early, fantastic remake of Mary Stuart’s This Rough Magic) and Birthright—love the strong smart heroine (archeologist!), the secondary characters are fully developed and fantastic, and her strong, smart ex-husbThis is the best thread ever! I’m having such fun seeing all the love for Honest Illusions (which I don’t remember being all that blown away by, but I’ll happily give another go) and The Witness that I was going to skip, having not enjoyed Blue Smoke, Angel Falls or Blackwood Hills all that much, but which I might now try!
Anyway, my tips, The Right Path (an early, fantastic remake of Mary Stuart’s This Rough Magic) and Birthright—love the strong smart heroine (archeologist!), the secondary characters are fully developed and fantastic, and her strong, smart ex
gah! the screen froze then printed twice… sorry!
Jewel of the Sea or Born in Fire. Both are first books of terrific trilogies.
Yup. Exactly.
Oh, the McKade brothers. They’re short, so they should surely only count as two.
I have NEVER read a Nora Roberts book, I’m sad to say. Not sure why I’ve avoided her exactly. Maybe because she seems too prolific?
Meant to post yesterday, but circumstances prevented. Anyway, I’m sure this has already been mentioned, but I must strongly urge Northern Lights. It’s the one I keep coming back to year after year, and I do it in audiobook, partially because they got a man to do the narration. Second pick would be Birthright because it’s got a very strong suspense element.
Want a magical experience? Start with Jewels of the Sun, first book in the Gallaghers of Ardmore series, set in Ireland.
After you finish the series, read Sea Swept, the first book in the Chesapeake Saga.
You’ll then be so in love with NR stories it won’t matter what comes next.
She may be prolific but her stories are amazing. NR has great discipline so don’t let the volume lead you down a stereotypical path.
The Donovan Legacy (an omnibus edition of Captivated, Entranced, and Charmed). It’s technically only one book! 😉 Then read Jewels of the Sun.
I am still pretty new to Nora Roberts myself so I’m excited to see what other say here! For me, the books I’ve read of hers have been mixed. The one standout though was Angels Fall. A rare romance that’s NOT just about uber-hot, perfect people. Interesting story, decent mystery. Great book!