This Rec League comes from a comment made by DiscoDollyDeb in a Books on Sale post:
I sense another Rec League topic being born: Romances where the heroine imparts the knowledge/is the boss/has the billions/acts as the mentor. Not just competence porn (although that’s obviously part of it), but—by dint of knowledge/experience/wealth—is in the position of imparting the wisdom.
A fantastic idea, don’t you think?
Sarah: Gentleman in the Street by Alisha Rai ( A | BN | K | AB ) – she schools the hero on many levels. Ahem.
Elyse: Veronica Speedwell series!
Sarah: Act Like It by Lucy Parker – she teaches the hero how to be more a person and less a grumpy tool.
But wow, I’m struggling at the moment to come up with “she’s the boss” romances. That’s a really good question.
What heroines would you suggest? Let us know in the comments!
@PamG–“Want to see what I bought?”
Cordelia Naismith is one of the best heroines of all time! I always recommend Shards of Honor and Barrayar to people looking for quality SF with astounding characters.
All Hail Cordelia Naismith!
I just read “A Scandal to Remember” by Elizabeth Essex, another book with a very nerdy heroine. She’s a conchologist(studies mollusks). The hero is a Lieutenant in the British Navy, and he’s the expert when it comes to ships. But when they are shipwrecked in the South Pacific during a scientific expedition, it turns out that she is the one who has packed everything a person would need if they’re stranded on a desert island. He falls asleep from exhaustion after days of struggling to reach land. When he wakes up, she has scouted the island, located a fresh water source, set up camp, pitched a tent and built a fire(using the steel and flint she packed), and has caught and cooked them a lobster for dinner! It’s great.
convinced! checking my library right now! 🙂
I read “Shards of Honor” because I wanted to start the Barrayar series at the beginning, in spite of my friends telling me that it wasn’t her best work. I thought they had to be wrong — this was a damn good book, and Cordelia rocked.
Then I read the rest of the series and found out that my friends were right. Bujold is amazing.
I’m making notes on some of the other suggestions on this thread. Thanks!
Still more Loretta Chase: all four of the books in the Dressmaker series have female characters who are always 10 steps ahead of the men, but especially _Scandal Wears Satin_, where the heroine comes up with a clever plot to save the reputation of the hero’s sister.
Deidre Martin also features smart female characters: _The Penalty Box_ stars a sociology professor who is writing a book on sports and male identity and an ex-hockey player; _Chasing Stanley stars a female dogwalker having to train a Newfoundland and its owner, a hockey player.
Kathleen Gilles Seidel in _Again_ features the head writer of a soap opera and one of its actors.