If you haven’t heard, The Ripped Bodice is putting on an awesome reading challenge this summer. And there are prizes! You can click the link to their site for an explanation of the rules, plus a printable copy of their bingo board. Or! You can check out their helpful tweet:
RIPPED BODICE SUMMER READ-ALONG BINGO IS LIVE!!!!
Download your bingo card and read more books this summer!#rippedbodicebingo pic.twitter.com/na9zdFGuPN— The Ripped Bodice (@TheRippedBodice) June 11, 2017
We’re playing along in our Goodreads group and offering suggestions when we can. You can also follow The Ripped Bodice on Twitter for reading recs. However, for those who aren’t fans of social media (I don’t blame you), we thought compiling a list of recommendations here would be helpful. Plus, any suggestions from the Bitchery are always welcome.
In the suggestion list, we’ve left off a couple of the easier categories like the Romance Novel Free Space, Elaborate Proposal Scene, Rake or Rogue in the Title, and Conflict Could Be Solved With One Conversation. I feel like those might be way easier to find.
For the recs, we’re pulling from books that have been mentioned here on SBTB, are well-known, or have been recommended to us!
Published pre-1980
Georgette Heyer! We have some recommendations from an older Heyer sale post.
Plus, I highly recommend you check out some of Carrie’s reviews. She frequently reviews classic romances.
Miss Buncle’s Book by D.E. Stevenson ( A | BN | K | AB )
Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon ( A | BN | K | AB )
Heroine named Rachel
This one is tough to search for and you might have to get lucky while searching through your TBR!
From our GR group:
Mclaudia suggests To Have and To Hold by Patricia Gaffney ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). She also says it’s a great book, but advises that readers check reviews for issues around consent.
Three suggestions by Willaful:
Archangel by Sharon Shinn ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
Twelve Days by Teresa Hill ( A | BN | K )
Cat used the All About Romance site and found Daughters of the Bride by Susan Mallery ( A | BN | K | G | AB ).
A hint of magic
I’m interpreting this as romances that aren’t full on fantasy or paranormal. Let’s go with magical realism!
I can’t recommended Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen enough ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ). It’s on my Keeper Shelf.
For an option with more of a central romance, there’s A Little Night Magic by Lucy March ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ). I also think the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews would qualify; the series starts with Magic Bites ( A | BN | K | G | AB ).
Rag and Bone by KJ Charles ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) has hints of magic too.
Non-mammal shifter
The easiest way to mark this square off is to go dragons!
I started the Dark Kings series and I’m enjoying it. Dragon shifters who own a scotch distillery! The first book is Darkest Flame by Donna Grant.
Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ), Dragon Actually by G.A. Aiken( A | BN | K | G | AB ), The Smoke Thief by Shana Abe( A | BN | K | G | AB ) are all great dragon shifter romances as well.
Or you know…take a page out of Elyse’s book, get crazy with it, and read Passions of the Wereshark!
Viking
The obvious recommendation for this would be the Call of Crows series, which Sarah loves! The first book is The Unleashing ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ).
Elyse has also read and enjoyed romances with vikings. There’s The Warlord’s Wife by Sandra Lake( A | BN | K | G | AB ) and a time travel romance titled Beautiful Wreck by Larissa Brown( A | BN | K | AB )!
Hero has a pet that’s not a dog or cat
This one can be a bit tough, especially to find specific suggestions. Characters who work with animals in some capacity are a good lead! Oh and…horses!
Shacking Up by Helena Hunting – hero has exotic pets!
Mr. Ridley by Delilah Marvelle – raven pet! ( A | BN | K | AB )
Hero smells like some kind of tree
It’s hard to pinpoint a book that I know for certain has this, but some general tips are to gravitate toward books with outdoorsy heroes! To help narrow things down, Google Books will sometimes let you search inside books for terms and phrases. I frequently use this for a “word hunt” challenge I do on Goodreads.
Some potential leads for outdoorsy, tree-scented heroes or books recommended in our GR group:
Under Her Skin by Adriana Anders ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
Her Naughty Holiday by Tiffany Reisz ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
In the Middle of Somewhere by Roan Parrish ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
All I Am by Nicole Helm ( A | BN | K | AB )
Queer YA/NA
After going through past reviews, queer YA books seem to be easier to find than NA, so we’d love some suggestions from that genre.
Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
Draw the Line by Laurent Linn ( A | BN | K | AB )
Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst
Dreadnought by April Daniels ( A | BN | K | AB )
Geek/Nerd elements
Thanks to our Goodreads group for these suggestions:
The Wrong Kind of Compatible by Kadie Scott ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
The Theory of Attraction by Delphine Dryden ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ), which Sarah loved and I believe is on sale!
Heat Wave by Merry Farmer ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
I’d also recommend the Slices of Pi series by Elia Winters, with the first book being Even Odds ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). Most of these recs are contemporary or erotic romance. Maybe we can get some historical romance suggestions with nerdy elements!
Baking/Sweets described in delicious detail
Baker characters seem like an easy why to mark off this square!
Buns by Alice Clayton
The Chocolate Thief by Laura Florand ( A | BN | K | AB )
Plus, there’s a huge list of romances where the character as a dessert-related profession.
Person in uniform on the cover
Characters who work in law enforcement or are firefighters!
Playing with Fire by Kate Meader ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) – I enjoyed this one and it has a firefighter heroine.
Unfortunately, a lot of the romances who have uniformed characters don’t feature uniforms on the covers. Just lots of dirty, white tank tops, it seems. Or shirtless dudes with guns, which isn’t exactly work appropriate. Also…I think a sports uniform would still qualify.
Melissa in the Goodreads group suggested The Captain’s Kidnapped Beauty by Mary Nichols ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). Which brings up a point that military uniforms also work!
Heroine inherits a business
I’m definitely stuck on this one, as most of the things I think of, there’s no inheriting going on for the heroine. I also think this is something more common in historical romances.
What do you think? Any suggestions?
Non-Regency set historical
Ah! An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole! It was a previous book club pick and was much loved by us and the Bitchery. ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
The Duke of Olympia Meets His Match by Julianna Gray is one that fits and Sarah loved. ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
Most books by Deeanne Gist would probably fall into this category and I definitely recommend reading Tiffany Girl.
American historical romances seem like the easy way to tick this box off.
Sub-genre you’ve never read before (honor system!)
A lot of our readers pick up romances across the genre, myself included, which makes meeting this category rather difficult. Some suggestions aside from the typical subgenre labels (historical, inspiration, paranormal, etc.) could be menage romances, rockstar romances, or motorcycle club romances. Think of niches!
Heroine taller than the hero
We recently did a Rec League on tall heroines. Many of them aren’t necessarily taller than the hero, but tall in a general sense. However, there might be some suggestions lurking in the comments.
Heroine smells like a food item
See the “Baking/Sweets” category! A heroine who works in food will probably smell delicious.
Suggestions from the group:
Pretty Face by Lucy Parker. The heroine smells like vanilla because of her perfume.
My Best Friend’s Ex by Meghan Quinn ( A | BN ). More vanilla smells!
Nuts by Alice Clayton ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
Broke hero
So far, I’ve seen this interpreted two ways. The hero can be broke as in poor. Or he could be broke as in “broken.”
For the former, a historical seems best given how money often plays into romances with marriages of convenience or class differences.
For the latter, dark contemporaries would be the way to go, especially with anti-hero or mafia characters.
I interpreted as the first option, but I’m finding that it’s much easier to find a Rich Hero/Poor Heroine story than the reverse.
Character on the run
Characters can be on the run of the law, a terrible ex, or maybe is just a runaway bride!
Under Her Skin by Adriana Anders ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) could fit for this category too. Be warned that this romance is rather dark.
Sins & Needles by Karina Halle ( A | BN | K | AB )
A book in Anne Bishop’s The Others series ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ) as the main character is in hiding.
Beach read, set in a beach town
Jude Deveraux’s Nantucket Brides series is cute and light. It also has some ghosty elements. ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au )
Mary Kay Andrews does a lot of beach-setting books as well!
Austen retelling
Goodreads has some great lists, including Jane Austen retellings in adult and young adult categories.
Some individual suggestions:
For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Scribd ) – a YA, scifi novel based on Persuasion.
The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su and Kate Rorick – based on the Emmy-award winning YouTube series. ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
Fitzwilliam Darcy, Rock Star by Heather Lynn Riguard ( A | K | G | AB | Scribd ). It spawned this bananas awesome guest review!
An anthology
The Sight Unseen anthology just came out, where the authors of each story are kept secret. Sarah did a recent podcast with some of the authors. ( A | BN | K | AB )
The Knitting Diaries ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) is a sweet anthology that Elyse liked!
Gambled Away ( A ) is an anthology with historical settings across the world.
Whew! Are you playing along this summer? What categories have you stumped and what would you recommend for other readers?
For the Austen retelling, I would suggest “The Pursuit of Mary Bennet”. It shows her in a much more sympathetic light than you generally see, and she gets her own HEA. “The Companion of His Future Life” is good (although sometimes cringe-worthy) if you want to explore what might have happened if Mary, not Charlotte Lucas, had married Mr. Collins.
I have suggestions!
A Hint of Magic
– DAUGHTER OF MYSTERY by Heather Rose Jones – f/f – Margerit unexpectedly inherits a fortune, and a bodyguard, Barbara. There’s a magic system, but this is much more a romance of manners
– do Susanna Kearsley’s time-slippy novels count?
Queer YA/NA
– TREASURE by Rebekah Weatherspoon – Alexis goes to her sister’s bachelorette party, gets a private lap dance from a stripper who goes by Treasure. The next week, Alexis meets Trisha in her college class. Definitely NA
– QUEENS OF GEEK by Jen Wilde – three friends go to a Con. One, who is there to promote her film and is bi, meets a woman vlogger she has a crush on. They’re 18 and 21, so that’s NA, right? (Also works in the Geeky/Nerdy slot)
Baking Sweets in Delicious Detail
– HOW SWEET IT IS by Melissa Brayden – f/f – Molly O’Brian runs a bakery in her home town, is mourning the death of her girlfriend four years on, when girlfriend’s younger sister, Jordan, comes back to town.
Character on the Run
– THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH by Amanda Quick – heroine runs to 30’s Hollywood after her NY socialite employer is murdered
Oh! If you’re gonna read THE SECRET DIARIES OF LIZZIE BENNET, go with the audiobook. It’s read by the actress and it’s fantastic!
Heroine bequeathed a business: The Dangerous Edge of Things by Tina Whittle
Rachel is the heroine in Mary Balogh’s Slightly Sinful.
Ok, for historical romance with geek/nerd elements, I recommend One Good Earl Deserves a Lover by Sarah MacLean. The bespectacled (yas!) heroine is out to get ruined by the ginger (yas!) accountant at her brother-in-law’s gaming hell. She’s a science geek, he’s a math nerd. Second in a series, but can be read as a standalone.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13424032-one-good-earl-deserves-a-lover
Also nerdy: Talk Sweetly to me, by Courtney Milan, and How not to fall, by Emily Foster (Amanda gave this one a B). More fantasy and less romance but still very good: Marie Brennan´s Memoirs of Lady Trent – there are dragons and a lady scientist!
On the inheritance front: “It had to be you” by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. The heroine inherits a football team (!) and butts heads (and, eventually, other body parts) with the head coach.
Contemporary heroines seem to inherit a lot of ranches. Found one in the RITA reviews: Lone Heart Pass by Jodi Thomas. Another possibility from the RITA reviews, a bar this time: Barefoot at Midnight by Roxanne St. Claire (though heroine is a DNA test away from establishing herself as an heir and the review was a DNF, so who knows if she successfully staked her claim).
Historical nerdiness: The Luckiest Lady in London by Sherry Thomas has a big, hard telescope and math tutelage for calculating orbits of heavenly bodies. I’ll have to find the one where the hero dismantled the host’s fancy lamp at a party rather than socialize (curse my memory for names). I’m 99.6% sure a member of the Bitchery Repository of All Romance Knowledge will come up with it before I find it, though.
Heroine Inherits Business: The Royal Rake by Molly Jameson. Evie inherited her tea shop from an aunt in Bath. Also meets the ‘baked goods described in detail’ and ‘man in uniform on cover’…I feel a bingo coming on!
I think I remember josh in The Hating Game smelled like cedar.
Hero on the run – “Perfect” by Judith McNaught. Zach is on the run after being wrongly convicted of murder. Who can forget the scene where the heroine Julie falls apart watching Zach get arrested because she betrays him. Oh how I wish McNaught was still writing treasures like this..
Oh please find the lamp-dismantling title! That sounds awesome!
Historical Not Set In the Regency — there’s a lot of Beverly Jenkins to be had there (she loves her some Civil War and Reconstruction/Old West), and isn’t the Maiden Lane series by Elizabeth Hoyt Georgian? Pretty sure it’s Georgian. I believe there is also a new Julia Quinn that is set against the Revolutionary War, I think it’s called The Girl With the Make-Believe Husband. Jenn Bennett also has her Roaring Twenties series, which are paranormals set in the 1920s. I’m also reading Let It Shine by Alyssa Cole, which is set in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, so that would work.
The Entire Conflict Could Have Been Solved With One Conversation — Seven Minutes In Heaven by Eloisa James. Seriously. The whole thing. It would have been about 50 pages long.
Geek/Nerd Elements — The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You by Lily Anderson and Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett (the main characters are both movie geeks, and every chapter starts with a different movie quote).
Queer YA — Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli.
Found it! The lamp dismantler is in To Charm a Naughty Countess by Theresa Romain.
Heroine is trying to help Hero find a rich wife, and he’s at a party dissecting a Carcel lamp on a pianoforte, making himself look like a crackpot no woman would want to marry.
Nerd/geek – “Nobody’s Baby But Mine” by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Dr Jane Darlington is such a nerd that she wants a “dumb” jock to father her baby so it will be “normal”. She writes math formulas on everything -including her baby. Loved the scene where she removed all the marshmallows from every box of the hero’s stash of Lucky Charms cereal.
I just finished one that would fit ‘character on the run’ — Dangerous Deceit by Alissa Johnson. Set in Victorian times. I believe Alissa Johnson is so underrated, I don’t understand it!
As part of the newish series of Austen rebelling, I really liked ‘Eligible’. Darcy is a seemingly cranky brain surgeon and Lizzie is a magazine writer.
For ‘person in uniform,’ I’d go with two newish Carla Kelly books, Marrying the Captain and Marrying the Royal Marine.
Heroine inherits a business: Meredith Duran’s Luck Be a Lady. H wrestles for control of her family’s auction house and enters a MOC.
Can’t believe no one’s mentioned this yet for the “hero has pet other than dog or cat”. How could anyone forget Stieg Engstrom from Shelly Laurenston’s Crow book The Unyielding with his pet goat, Hilda?
This sounds like so much fun! Does it have to be new reads or do re-reads count? I’ve got a few suggestions for some of the tougher categories, and all are books that I absolutely loved!
Heroine inherits a business: I’m pretty sure the first three Lucky Harbor books by Jill Shalvis count since the three sisters inherit an inn. Not sure it qualifies as a beach read in a beach town, but I think so… Also, Liora Blake’s True Divide.
Broke hero: lots of Tessa Bailey (Thrown Down, Asking for Trouble) and Cara McKenna (Hard Time) would work.
Character on the Run: Jackie Ashenden’s Take Me Deeper.
Hero smells like some kind of tree: I had to search my kindle, but I found it in Sara Rider’s For The Win (cedar in Chapter 6!).
Geek/Nerd elements: Completely Yours by Erin Nichols and Cathy Yardley’s Level Up.
Good luck to everyone participating!
Ok, sorry for the double post, had troubling posting. I’d appreciate it if one of the Smart Bitches would be so kind as to delete the first one (missing question mark).
Also, as to the “broken” hero, I think any, if not most, of the heroes in Kristin Ashley’s Unfinished Heroes series would work. Especially Deacon.
@Josie: I think they can be re-reads. The only qualification is they have to be read or reread during the summer time frame.
@kitkat9000: Done!
@Amanda: Thank you!
A HINT OF MAGIC: I recommend old school Jude Deveraux, specifically “Remembrance” and “A Knight in Shining Armor.” Magic that’s never fully explained allows the heroines to time travel and find their true loves.
BROKE HERO (poorer than the heroine): see Elizabeth Hoyt’s “Thief of Shadows.” Winter Makepeace is the son a brewer and runs an orphanage that his family founded. He falls for wealthy and titled widow who is one of the orphanage’s patrons.
GEEK/NERD: I recommend Loretta Chase’s “Dukes Prefer Blondes”, while seconding Sarah McLean’s “One Good Earl Deserves a Lover.” In the former title, the hero is an unbearable intellectual to all but the stunningly beautiful daughter of a duke. This could also double as a “BROKE HERO,” since the hero starts out as an untitled lawyer.
NON-REGENCY SET HISTORICALS/CHARACTER ON THE RUN: check Beverly Jenkins’ “Destiny” series, particularly “Destiny’s Captive.” The series is set in late 19th century California, as it transitioned from a Mexican to a U.S. territory. The heroine in the latter title is a Cuban sword-fighting pirate who is wanted for aiding rebels.
AUSTRN RETELLING: you can’t go wrong with “Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies.”
Pardon the typos. Typing on my phone while multitasking is never a good idea…
Broke hero: Loretta Chase’s THE LION’S DAUGHTER has a hero who basically gambled away his family’s fortunes and is ashamed. His remorse really hits me in the feels.
Heiress heroine: RAVISHING THE HEIRESS by Sherry Thomas – – delicious MOC.
THE SURRENDER OF MISS FAIRBOURNE by Madeline Hunter, heroine inherits auction house. Very interesting re: running auction house early 19th century.
For Vikings: I’d recommend Asa Marie Bradley’s Viking Series. I think Book 1 might have been reviewed here already, and I’ve only read Book 2 (Freebie from RT) and I really liked it. Unlike Laurenston’s book the Vikings are immortal and their romantic partners are humans. Also like the Laurenston books, there is a longer running storyline through the books, but in book 2 I got enough of the backstory for it not to derail things.
HEROINE WHO INHERITS A BUSINESS: Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts by Lucy Dillon. Heroine inherits a house and a rescue kennel from her aunt.
Ugh — make that Austen retelling!!
VIKINGS: First to Burn and/or The Second Lie by Anna Richland.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22850589-first-to-burn?from_search=true
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25462883-the-second-lie
I have queer NA recs!
Heidi Cullinan wrote a blog post with mm NA recommendations few years ago – https://heidicullinan.wordpress.com/2013/08/16/love-lessons-lets-write-a-college-romance/
A lot more have come out since:
Heidi Cullinan’s Love Lessons series (#2 is my fave, even though it takes a hard left turn into angst-ville the last 3rd of the book)
Amy Jo Cousins – Bend or Break series – mostly mm with an mf with a bi heroine (The Girl Next Door – my fave). There’s also an ff novella that’s set in the 90s (the others are contemp) – BDOC – it’s a fun rivals to lovers where the protag woos her love interest by trying to beat her in a pub quiz and then in the role playing game Assassin.
His Fair Lady by Kimberly Gardner – mf, trans. Part of the Exception to the Rule series, which I think is all NA
Edie Danford has a queer NA series that starts with Uncovering Ray (gender queer protag)
The Prescott College series by JA Rock and Lisa Henry is mm NA. Unlike a lot of their work, these aren’t dark. The 2nd book has a protag who’s a survivor of CSA and its one of the best treatments of that subject that I’ve read. (Ymmv but it rang really true to me).
Have to put a plug in for Magic University by Cecelia Tan – queer NA series. Imagine that Harry Potter went to college, studied sex magic and then saved the world. The first book isn’t very obviously queer, so it may not be practical for this challenge.
Santino Hassell’s Sunset Park (mm) counts as NA, think. The protags are both mid 20s and still figuring out adulting.
Broken Triangle by Jane Davitt and Alexa Snow (mm) has one of the better portrayals of early 20 somethings that I’ve read in romance. It’s a friends to lovers story and opposites attract story of two friends who work at the same bat. It’s not a ménage. There’s a bit of a love triangle but it’s dif than other NA triangles I’ve read.
And I double and triple the rec for Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon.
@cleo – the protags in Broken Triangle work in a bar not a bat!
NON-MAMMAL SHIFTER: If you don’t mind a shifter that also changes gender try Wriggle and Sparkle by Megan Derr. Kraken and Unicorn shifters.
Broke heroes and uniform on cover can easily be found in the MM section, if that subgenre is to your taste.
Popping back in since I thought of another queer YA. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. Rowell also hits the Geek/Nerd Elements with Fangirl now that I think about it.
Ahhh so many great recs! To me, the non-regency historical category is the easiest because that’s my particular catnip. Be it Elizabeth Hoyt (Georgian), Sherry Thomas, Courtney Milan, Lisa Kleypas (Victorian), or all the American stuff already mentioned, there’s just so much good historical in interesting time periods. I can’t believe Lisa Kleypas hasn’t been mentioned yet – I just happened to be reading Devil in Spring when I first saw the bingo sheet, and not only is it set in the 1870’s, but Gabriel also smells like cedar. Two boxes checked right there! (Also, is cedar the new sandalwood? I’ve seen so many cedars mentioned here.)
Question: I was thinking to dip my toe into steampunk for the new category… Can anyone recommend a good one, please?
Inherits a business– “Welcome to Rosie Hopkins Sweetshop of Dreams” by Jenny Colgan. Her Little Beach Street Bakery books would sort of work too.
I love love love this thread/contest!
I’d love more recs for elaborate proposal and for “a conversation would have solved everything”–I know these should be easy to find but I feel like I haven’t encountered them in recent reading. BET ME by Jennifer Crusie is a great example of the latter (and also the former in a way) but I’m trying to challenge myself to not use any re-reads.
A question: I clicked through to the Ripped Bodice site and the broke hero category is actually named “broke AF hero”. Any clue what that means? Does this change the meaning of the category at all?
@Julie – for steampunk, my go to recs are Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protecterate series, starting with SOULLESS. Woman in Victorian England can de-supernatural-fy the vampires and werewolves that also inhabit this Victorian England. Then she meets a werewolf laird… (Also fits the Non-Regency slot)
Also, THE NATIVE STAR by M.K. Hobson – Emily Edwards, living in 1870’s California, performs a love spell gone wrong and must flee. She meets Dreadnought Stanton, fleeing from New York, whose out to prove himself and stop some evil magic! (Also fits Non-Regency AND Heroine on the Run)
@Katty: “Broke af hero” means “broke as fuck hero.” Which is why I’m interpreting it to mean that the hero isn’t wealthy.
I have so many recs swirling in my head, but for “Heroine Inherits a Business,” how about Simply Irresistible by Jill Shalvis?
Excellent, thanks @KateB! I was looking for Jeannie Lin’s Gunpowder Alchemy but NYPL doesn’t have the ebook, so I will try these instead, and then resort to paper books if I have to.
@Katty – it stands for Broke As Fuck, so doesn’t really change the interpretation, except in my opinion it clearly refers to financially broke as opposed to emotionally etc.