I’m rather excited about this Rec League because it’s something I never knew I needed in my life until it was request. Thanks so much to Marisa for the Rec League email:
Having finally watched The Greatest Showman, I am dying for some circus themed romance. I’ve already read Water for Elephants and Amour Amour. I’m hoping there are more out there. Would love historical circus but would be open to anything. I already have The Night Circus on my to read list. Please tell me you have some suggestions!
Sarah: Making Up by Lucy Parker. The heroine is an aerialist like Cirque du Soliel
Elyse: I love The Greatest Showman soundtrack!
Isn’t there a vampire book where the heroine is in the circus?
Amanda: There’s an Anita Blake book called Circus of the Damned, but there’s no actual circus-ing going on.
Elyse: No, there’s another one!
Sarah: I cannot remember if I’ve read Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). I read so many of hers but while I do remember there was a circus, I don’t remember if I read it.
Elyse: Night Prince series by Jeananine Frost! The first book is Once Burned ( A | K | G | AB | Au ).
What romances would you recommend that have a circus theme?
It’s not quite circus (and it’s been a while since I’ve read it) but Honest Illusions by Nora Roberts has a magician father (and heroine learns the skills) and escape artist hero, with a side of being a jewel thief.
The one Elyse might be thinking of is Wicked as They Come by Delilah S. Dawson. It was one chosen by Vaginal Fantasy that had vampire bunnies and vampire deer.
A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet starts out with a traveling circus.
Not a romance, it’s a historical mystery, but Phryne Fisher runs away to join the circus in Blood & circuses by Kerry Greenwood. Such a good series.
LH Cosway has at least two – Six of Hearts and Hearts of Fire. The hero in Hearts of Fire is a sexy man-bun-wearing fire breather.
In a more problematic vein, Susan Elisabeth Phillips’s Kiss an Angel is set in a circus but the hero is an alphahole extraordinaire so that may not be everyone’s cuppa.
Stranger at Wildings by Madeleine Brent is the very first book that came to mind. It’s an older book falling loosely into the gothic romance sub-genre featuring a young woman reunited with her questionable kin, but before all that gothic stuff we meet our heroine as a trapeze performer in a small circus traveling through Europe.
Madeleine Brent was my go-to author back in the day 70s) for interesting, intelligent heroines with truly fascinating backstories and great competence pr0n. No sexytimes, but decent heroes to balance the great heroines. Brent was the pseudonym of Peter O’Donnell, author of the Modesty Blaise series. His work is well worth tracking down in either persona.
NOT a romance, but several years ago I read the first 2 books of Laura Lam’s Micah Grey trilogy, which starts with Pantomime. It’s a young adult paranormal with an intersex protagonist. (The third book wasn’t out yet and I’ve never gotten back to read it.)
Love the Blud series by Delilah S Dawson! Book 1, Wicked as They Come mentioned above, and Damsel and the Daggerman are set in the circus. Book 3 is set in a cabaret but has a trapeze act and some circus elements.
Nora Roberts also wrote Untamed, in which the hero inherits his father’s circus and falls in love with the Lion Tamer, and Less of a Stranger, which takes place at an amusement park, not a circus.
The last two Incryptid books by Seanan McGuire, Magic for Nothing and Tricks for Free, take place at least partially at a circus.
Girl on Wire by Gwenda Bond – it’s YA with a Romeo & Juliet romantic subplot, also magical realism if that’s your thing. The heroine is a trapeze artist and the plot revolves around two feuding circus families. Because it’s YA it was lighter than I expected, but a fun easy read.
Two non-romances:
Erin Morganstern’s Night Circus.
Gwenda Bond has a two book YA series — Girl in the Shadows and The Girl on a Wire with the Girl Over Paris comic mini-series set in between?
I will chime in to second Stranger at Wildings. Loved that book.
In Honest Illusions, the first part of the book covers the meeting of the hero and heroine when he literally runs away to the circus (well, a traveling carnival) to escape his abusive home and is adopted into the heroine’s family. It’s definitely a slow-burn romance (they don’t get together until about half-way through the book as the first part covers them growing up) and has about 20 pounds of plot in a 10 pound bag. (Magic AND jewel theft AND a secret baby AND blackmail AND a plane crash AND more that I won’t get into…)
And yes, I remember liking “Kiss an Angel” when I read it years ago, but I’m not sure I would feel the same now…it’s that Alpha plot that was popular in the 80s and 90s where the male lead jumps to some disparaging conclusion about the heroine, treats her badly because of it, and then gradually learns differently. I can’t recall if the groveling was adequate to make up for the jerkitude earlier in the book.
I wouldn’t necessarily call it a romance but it does have romantic elements – Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants is a fantastic read and takes place in a depression era traveling circus. But whatever you do, don’t see the movie – it was bad.
In Celeste Bradley’s One Night with a Spy (part of the Royal Four series) the heroine’s staff are all former circus performers. I don’t remember if she was too before her marriage.
Of course, in Tessa Dare’s A Week to be Wicked, Colin clams that he and Minerva are circus performers, but there are no actual circus performers in the book.
More of a mystery with a slow-burn multibook romance, but part of A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn takes place at a circus/carnival in the 1880s.
Not a romance (although I have a sense that might come later) but if you like comics, vol. 1 of Spectacle by Megan Rose Gedris just came out. It’s a traveling circus murder mystery with ghosts and the art is GORGEOUS.
What about Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus – full of magic and wonder! My other thought was more of a historical thriller by Glen David Gold – Carter Beats the Devil
The Greatest Love On Earth is a historical romance with a circus background. The heroine is a trapeze artist and the hero is a lion tamer.
There was the “The Immortal Circus” series and they are sorta romance, sorta YA, sorta left field but mostly enjoyable. I’ll throw my vote in for “The Night Circus” and “Water for Elephants” also, both fantastic.
@PamG and @June, I’m so excited to find other Madeleine Brent fans here. I thought of Stranger at Wildings right away as well. Fun book, and I love all of Brent’s work. PamG hit the nail on the head with that description!
I second The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern as well. Not a traditional romance, but it is full of imagination and (I think) a satisfying ending.
Annabel Joseph has a trilogy in a cirque-like company; given that it’s Annabel Joseph, all three books are also pretty hard-core BDSM. I enjoyed the first one the most, I think (gymnast turned silk ribbon artist, IIRC).
https://www.amazon.com/gp/kindle/series/B00XM01CI4?ref=series_aw_dp_link
Ditto for Seanan McGuire’s last few Incryptid books featuring Antimony Price: 1) Magic for Nothing, and 2) Tricks for Free. There is a romance in the plot I really like.
Classic Mary Stewart Airs Above the Ground takes place partially in a circus.
My kids have us listening to the soundtrack for the Greatest Showman everywhere we go, and they watched it in the back seat, but I actually haven’t seen it yet.
I read Susan Elizabeth Phillips Kiss an Angel a number of years ago, but I suspect I wouldn’t enjoy it too much today. If I recall, the hero is your dick-led alpha-hole and she’s too sweet for words, but there is a circus. YMMV.
The Menagerie series by Rachel Vincent is about a paranormal traveling carnival where the attractions are performing against their wills. Not exactly a romance, but certainly a slow burn potential (there are just two books at this stage).
In A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn, the male protagonist has a past with a traveling circus, and the main characters spend some time performing there while in hiding. Once again a series with a slow burn romance, though.
Another vote for LH Cosway’s Hearts on Fire; though Six of Hearts isn’t technically set in a circus, it does feature an illusionist who is closely tied to the fire-eater in HoF. It’s well worth reading both of them.
Not exactly a circus, but a traveling carnival:
oops, sorry about that https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16130371-carniepunk?from_search=true Carniepunk anthology (Rachel Caine et al.)
and this goodreads list: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/75939.Love_is_a_Circus_Romances_with_Circuses_
Amour Amour, and also Infini, by Krista and Becca Ritchie! They are both set in a Cirque de Solei type setting in Vegas. I read Infin before Amour Amour, which I loved. Though after reading both, I’d put Amour Amour on top. The secondary characters are wonderful, especially Timo and John <3
And though it takes a few chapters to get into the Vegas show world, I ended up loving the sense of place and the fleshed our world they inhabited.
Yay for this Rec League category… I’mma read these books again THEYWERESOGOOOD!
Denise Rosetti has a series, Phoenix Rising I think, with 4 books or more. I believe books 2 and 3 are set at a circus/fair. Those books are either M/M or F/M/M. Wish I remembered them better.
I did read Midnight Wolf by Jennifer Ashley last night and the characters spend part of the book with a traveling fair.
Elyse already mentioned the first Night Prince story, “Once Burned”. The sequel also has scenes in a carnival. Contemporary PNR with vampires and a heroine who gets to hit the bad guys. (which is rarer than it should be)
Ellie mentioned the historical spy tale “One Night With a Spy” by Celeste Bradley. I can confirm the heroine used to be a circus performer. And there’s a length of time when she and the hero travelled with a circus as well. I did have a problem with this one because hero had a “Projected Incompetence Field*” around him.
*Projected Incompetence Field (PIF):That thing when the hero is always the most competent person of the room, by virtue of making everyone else act like newborns in their presence. Particularly effective on badass heroines, who become empty-headed damsels-in-distress when the hero enters a room.
I love that I’ve already read a number of these books referenced. Apparently I secretly love the circus. Another good one is “Last Kiss Goodnight” by Gena Showalter. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13310549-last-kiss-goodnight
Bone Deep by Bonnie Dee: WW 2 Era, hero escapes from a side show. Great book! MF
Counterbalance by Aidan Wayne Quick read. MM Chinese acrobat and a crew member
Owl and the Japanese Circus by Kristi Charish Badsss heroine thief, Japanese Circus Casino! What? Aweome.
Not a circus, but a theme park — Jenny Crusie & Bob Mayer’s Wild Ride.
Anne Stewart had a reformed cat thief hero, Patrick Blackheart, who starred in a couple of Harlequin Intrique books (Catspaw, Catspaw II) and a novella back in the late 80s/early 90s. In the second book, Ferris Byrd, Blackheart’s fiancee, is worried that Blackheart is paying too much attention to young attractive woman, who is part of a circus hired for a local museum’s fund raising event. I think there are now ebook version of the Catspaw books.
The Magic Carnival series by Trudi Jaye. An introductory novella, The Ringmaster’s Heir, is free through her website.
The Ringmaster’s daughter Rilla Jolly has lived her whole life under the bright lights of the big top, using her natural showmanship to help create the magic of the circus for the thousands of people who flock to their travelling show every week.
However, what no one outside the carnival realizes is that the Jolly Carnival really does have magic, and at every stop, they secretly grant a wish to one lucky punter.
But now something dark and evil is threatening their charmed existence and no one other than Rilla seems to realize how deep the problems go, or how much it will take to fix them.
Second vote for Owl and the Japanese Circus by Kristi Charish! Indiana Jane feel, urban fantasy, and the books get better as the series progresses
THE NIGHT CIRCUS!!!! – by Erin Morgenstern – it is one of my all time favourite books and it is filled with the most beautiful and intense word pr0n ever. The author is also an amazing artist and created a tarot deck to match the book called the Phantomwise tarot (how cool is that?!?! http://www.phantomwise.com/ )
Also second Amanda Bouchet’s Kingmaker Chronicles – absolutely loved the way she weaves in Greek/ Roman mythology – though the circus only makes occasional appearances…
Roughneck by Alexandra Sellers, an old Silhouette Intimate Moments. It’s been years since I read it but I remember liking it at the time.
https://www.amazon.com/Roughneck-Silhouette-Intimate-Moments-Alexandra-ebook/dp/B0056H7PFK/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1529032825&sr=1-52