This Rec League came from the comments on our Hidden Gems podcast episode! DiscoDollyDeb gave us some tough parameters:
How about a Rec League where the Bitchery is asked to name relatively obscure/underrated romance writers whose work they’d love to promote to a wider audience. To keep it manageable, the number of writers recommended by each commentator could be no more than three—to keep it manageable and to make us really think about which three writers we’d recommend.
Amanda: We had a really tough time with this one, mainly because we were struggling with the definition of “underrated.”
I’m also going to alter the request (BECAUSE I CAN) and suggest a lesser known book in a well-known author’s backlist.
Aarya: This is a great question but also difficult. Sometimes what I consider to be “well-known/popular” is talked up a lot in my Romancelandia twitter circles. But in reality, a lot of people don’t know about those authors
Amanda: We obviously can’t assess which readers know about which authors, but it might be helpful to think of an author’s reach.
Tessa Dare and Beverly Jenkins are publishing powerhouses and are routinely recommended for first-time readers. I’m using that as my measuring stick.
Sarah: I’m going to be unilaterally terrible at this one. I am sorry in advance.
For example: Nicola Cornick‘s books work so very very well on me, and I love parallel timeslip and timeline books, but is that too well known a person because I’ve already talked about them?
Rachel Aaron, especially the Heartstrikers series – again, I’ve already talked about them.
Amanda: Okay my picks that I think I’ve settled on:
1. Guilty Pleasures by Laura Lee Guhrke ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). I’m not sure how popular this one was when it first came out in 2004, but I loved it. It’s so tender and the heroine is adorable. I know Guhrke has more popular titles and I don’t see this one discussed very often.
2. Juliette Cross. If you’re looking for more paranormal romance to read and have exhausted all the obvious names, give Cross a try. I love her PNR fairy tale series, with the first book being The Black Lily ( A | BN | K | AB ). She has a lot of interesting PNR concepts, but the cover for Darkest Heart is one of my all time faves.
3. Anna Hackett. Hackett has a mix of self-pub and traditionally pubbed books. Many are action/adventure oriented or just really fun bonkers romances in space. They’re great brain candy. My first book by her was Gladiator ( A ) and it was about a planet of gladiators who are separated into factions.
Aarya: Okay, I want it to be known that I am a Jeannie Lin stan for life and that everyone should read her gorgeous Tang Dynasty historicals. Start with The Lotus Palace ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) if you like romantic mysteries or My Fair Concubine ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ). She is the queen of slow burn.
But if she’s too well known, then my three picks are:
1) Priscilla Oliveras. I normally don’t read closed door romances, but her Matched to Perfection trilogy is among my favorite category romances ever. The trilogy focuses on the Fernandez sisters in a Chicago suburb. Their parents moved to the US from Puerto Rico right after their marriage. My favorite thing about the books is the sisterly bond: no matter what happens, the sisters have each other’s backs and are fierce advocates for each other. I also love the Latinx community, who rallies around and supports the sisters when tragedy strikes (CW/TW: on-page cancer and parental death in the first book). My favorite book, Her Perfect Affair ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), is about the middle sister Rosa, a quiet and unassuming librarian whose world is set aflame when she becomes pregnant after a one-night stand at her sister’s wedding.
2) EE Ottoman. I’ve only read two works – A Matter of Disagreement and The Craft of Love – and am astounded by how much love and care Ottoman imbues into every sentence. I sometimes skim books if I become impatient with overly long descriptions or conversations that aren’t leading anywhere, but that’s not the case here. Both are novella length, and Ottoman makes use of the shortened length perfectly. Ottoman is a trans author, and his books feature trans protagonists. A Matter of Disagreement has a delightful academic enemies-to-lovers romance in a historical/fantasy world (with a meet-disaster!). His books aren’t high angst, but soothing with thoughtful and gentle protagonists.
3) Charlie Adhara. I really, really, really love werewolves. So when there’s a PNR/romantic suspense series with interesting pack politics and federal agent partners-turned-lovers? That’s my cat-(wolf?!)-nip. The m/m relationship undergoes a lot of struggles in the three books, but each story ends on an optimistic and happy note. I liked the first book The Wolf at the Door ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), but loved The Wolf at Bay and Thrown to the Wolves. I highly recommend Adhara for all fans of PNR and romantic suspense.
Elyse:
1. I really love Charlotte Stein’s novellas. Her heroines are often plus sized, her heroes run the gamut from misunderstood jocks to virgin heroes, and they are usually super hot.
2. Eve Silver’s Dark Gothic series fulfills my love of gothics but adds the steam I craved when I was a Little Elyse reading Victoria Holt.
3. Knit One, Girl Two by Shira Glassman is my happy place novella. I’ve probably read this knitting f/f Romance a dozen times and it always makes my heart happy and tempts me to try dyeing my own yarn.
How about you? Which books or authors do you want everyone to read?
With the disclaimer that I am not tremendously well read in the genre, and am thus unsure if these authors are unknown or not, here goes.
I have to start with Marjorie M Liu, who wrote a twelve-book series of wonderful paranormals. There is an overarching storyline, so I would say that they are preferably read in order. I loved every one of them, but ‘Soul Song’ (Little Mermaid as hero, heroine supernaturally talented violinist), ‘Shadow Touch’ (mind reading/we are stuck in an evil prison & must escape) and ‘Within The Flames’ (dragons, demons and firestarters, oh my) were particular standouts. I credit Within the Flames for giving me my love for monstrous/uncanny heroines, which there are far too few of. Give us more powerful, dark heroines like we get heroes! Ahem.
Next is Tasha Suri, who I believe only has one book out so far. Her next is F/F I think? I am very much looking forward to it.
Her ‘Empire of Sand’ is a lovely fantasy romance with a beautifully drawn setting and a practical, clever heroine dealing with family tension, dreaming gods, a magical arranged marriage, and finding out about her heritage – all my favourite things!
Last is where I started really having trouble with the unknown author thing, so I picked Talia Hibbert, who everyone should have heard about by now, but as her werewolf novella ‘Mating the Huntress’ is one of the funniest things I have ever read I felt I had to mention her! Her ‘Wanna Bet?’ is more angsty but also brilliant.
I second Eve Silver, Jeannie Lin and Rachel Aaron – they are all phenomenal.
This is such a fun prompt
1. Alison Lane – The Rake and the Wallflower – Spinster bird-watching, artistic wallflower meets a bored but secretly nice rake (but really every book by her is a fun regency with a little fluff and a little depth)
2. L. Penelope – Song of Blood and Stone – an epic historical fantasy with magic and enemies to lovers sort of premise. It also deals with war and refugees… it was self-published but is being re-released. It’s also the beginning of a 3 book series
3. T.A. White – Pathfinder’s Way – another fantasy enemies to lovers that’s part of a trilogy (but does not end on a cliffhanger)
I can’t wait to read everyone’s recommendations—although my plan to reduce TBR mountain to TBR hill will undoubtedly suffer as a result! While some claim that nothing is obscure on the internet, here are three Romance writers I think deserve a much wider audience:
CD Reiss is, imho, the most criminally-underrated writer in Romancelandia. You know how sometimes you’re reading a book and well-educated, high-powered people (lawyers, CEOs, doctors, tech titans) are talking—and the things they say and the way they say them makes it sound as if they’re in 8th grade? That never happens in Reiss’s books. Her writing is sharp and skillful, full of intelligent characters who talk, think, and act intelligently. She’s also really good at showing a scene from one character’s point of view, then sometime later showing that same scene from another character’s POV, where it now appears in a completely different way. Her work can get dark (The Edge series, about two military doctors, for example, is beautifully written but gets so, so dark in places) and there’s often bdsm sex (her Submission series is sometimes referred to as “the thinking woman’s Fifty Shades), but you can rely on her books to be complex and challenging in the best ways. Where to start: I’d recommend Reiss’s King of Code series: KING OF CODE, PRINCE CHARMING, WHITE KNIGHT, and a tangentially-related novella, PRINCE ROMAN.
If you read any of my WAYR posts, you know I’m a Kati Wilde fan girl. Regardless of the sub-genre she’s writing, you can rely on Wilde for strong, thoughtful heroines, alpha heroes whose self-awareness just manages to keeps them from alpha-holes, propulsive plots, hot sexy-times (Wilde has some of the dirtiest-talking heroes this side of Tessa Bailey), angsty but never melodramatic misunderstandings, and really good grovels. The bulk of her work is Motorcycle Club romance, which I realize is not everyone’s catnip, but she also has written fantasy (THE MID-WINTER MAIL ORDER BRIDE), royal romance (THE KING’S HORRIBLE BRIDE), fairy tale retelling (BEAUTY IN SPRING), and all-purpose contemporaries (THE WEDDING NIGHT, SECRET SANTA). Where to start: GOING NOWHERE FAST is a New Adult novel that even old adults will like. It’s a Pride & Prejudice retelling with the “friend’s sibling/sibling’s friend” and enemies-to-lovers tropes done just right. If you want to dip your toe into the MC romances (with the caution that they do contain violence), the kindle store usually has some of Wilde’s Hellfire Riders books bundled or on sale. In my opinion, her two best MC romances are FAKING IT ALL and BREAKING IT ALL, both of which can be read as stand-alones.
I love Sybil Bartel’s interconnected books about a Miami-based private security company called Luna & Associates. Things to know about the Bartel universe: the books are mostly set in southern Florida, the heroines are at crossroads in their personal or professional lives, the heroes are almost all former military (usually Marines), working as bodyguards, security specialists, even high-priced escorts, and they all seem to know each other. Also, and perhaps I should have mentioned this first, the guys are absolutely-gonzo-beyond-alpha alphas, sometimes crossing into alpha-hole territory—and, oh yeah, they are all really, really, really “big” (an attribute which is noted…frequently). Oh—and almost all of Bartel’s covers appear to be derived from body-builder fetish porn. The books follow a basic template, so if sexy, bossy, know-it-all men who finally fall in love and meet their match with strong women who refuse to be bossed around (except in bed) is not your jam, Bartel’s books are not for you. But if you’re looking for quick reads that include plenty of heat along with interesting plots (although, the books are romantic suspense and do contain a level of violence), you could do worse than give Bartel a try. Where to start: Technically, most of Bartel’s books are standalone, but they’re all interconnected, so probably any of the freebies in the kindle store would work, but I’d recommend ANDRE or CALLAN (the heroine of ANDRE and the hero of CALLAN we’re both raised in a religious cult in the Everglades; the cult—and the repercussions of living there—is a theme that runs through several of the Bartel’s books). I’d also recommend my absolute favorite of Bartel’s Alpha Bodyguards series, RUTHLESS, which does a great job with the opposites attract trope and has an incredibly good narrative structure allowing us to see more than the characters think they’re telling us about themselves.
Ok—I can’t resist a few honorable mentions: Julie Kriss (especially her Riggs Brothers series); Ainsley Booth (especially her Forbidden Bodyguards series); and A. Zavarelli (if only for TAP LEFT, a beautiful and melancholy story about addiction, enabling, co-dependency, recovery, and the long shadow of the past).
I concur that this is a great prompt!
My two recommendations are:
1.Anne Gracie. I’m only read her Chance sister romance series and TO CATCH a BRIDE which is part of another series which is a less well-written version of Mary Balogh’s Survivor’s Club series. However, I loved the other series and highly recommend it for fans of sweet romance with a lot of great snark and wit matching.
2. Barbara Samuel/ Barbara O’Neil The only book I’ve read of hers is BED of SPICES which was fantastic read and the rest of he backlist is on my TBR eventually . I will warn that BED of SPICES needs all the trigger warnings and it’s happy ending leans more towards bittersweet. However this was one of her earlier books and she’s since moved on to romantic suspense and contemporaries which should be lighter.
@Fairytalegirl : I also loved Empire of Sand, but i’m Pretty sure the next is not F/F, at least the main couple since the plot involves the heroine going on a journey with an excited prince ( according the summery in the Extras section of my copy), but it should still be fantastic.
Sorry for the double post, but I meant exciled prince. Stupid autocorrect.
Elia Winters, especially her Slices of Pi series (3 books) – Elia’s characters are truly diverse, and the couples (both m/f and m/m) address consent and other issues in respectful and positive ways. Some of her characters engage in light BDSM.
*limbers up typing fingers*
Mina V Esguerra ought to be far better known. Her mostly Manila-set contemporary romances are really, really good–often morally gnarly with real dilemmas and deeply involving. I’ve read everything of hers, much in a massive non-stop glom. Towards the lower heat end generally.
Brigitte Bautista is another Philippines author, whose You Me U.S. blew me away. A startlingly real f/f romance that’s one of my standout reads of the year.
Therese Beharrie is autobuy. Immensely warm, loving books with angst but not too much, and great South African settings. Again, mostly low heat, which seems to be a theme in a lot of underappreciated writers.
Kris Ripper is criminally under-known. Kith and Kin is a powerhouse queer family story, and Fail Seven Times is a terrific menage romance. Both made me cry a *lot*, in a good way.
Kilby Blades should definitely get more exposure. Her Snapdragon is a storming sexy romance (in two parts: you need the follow-up Chrysalis for the whole story). Angsty, funny, sexy.
…I’ll stop now. (But Elin Gregory’s Carstairs Affars series with 1920s m/m spy romance! Or Piper Huguley’s Migrations of the Heart series, with a set of Black sisters in early 20th century US! Or Jackie Lau’s Canada-set romances with Asian MCs and food porn! And 100% agree on EE Ottoman, who is fantastic.)
So this is a total tongue in cheek recommendation — and maybe better suited for another Rec League? But how about authors who were BIG at one point but you don’t hear about them anymore? I’m specifically thinking about Kristen Ashley. I mean she was ubiquitous but I never hear her discussed anywhere.
I’ve got two for you.
Alexandra Christian – She writes paranormal and sci-fi romance and sometimes dips into erotic horror. Awesome characters and fun action.
Lucy Blue – Historical paranormal romance with vampires and angels. And a quirky romantic historical mystery series.
Erin Knightley is an author I don’t hear about that much who writes wonderful and creative Regencies that are I guess closed door. I first read a novella of hers called Ruined by a Rake that’s a favorite and then a novel that was part of her Prelude to a Kiss series involving a Baron. He has migraines, she plays the piano and is part of a group of women with unusual talents including one who spent most of her life living in I think China.
Elizabeth Harmon, contemporaries can be hit or miss for me but I’ve yet to be disappointed by a book of hers and the settings are always creative and I believe the characters know their stuff. Russians on Ice is the series and one is even set in a romance reality show setting that is one of those books that I loved far more than I expected. I love how she writes about figure skating and she’s inspired me on a fic that I’m working.
For a third, I think I’ll mention well known author but book I don’t hear about as much. Carla Kelly and Summer Campaign-Regency with a fake romance that leads to one of my favorite romances. I reread this book all the time.
Pamela Sanderson’s Crooked Rock series is quietly wonderful. It’s centered around an urban Indian center and characters all feel like real people who are dealing with real problems but are optimistic too (at least by the end of the books).
In the past year, I’ve had to switch a lot of my reading to physical books instead of electronic. I’m newly appreciative of books that come in mass market format. One series that is easy to find that I’ve been reading a lot lately is Laura Griffin’s tracers series. They are like an episode of CSI in romance book form. They suck me in and keep me entertained for the duration. They don’t have a lot of emotional weight but I’m always happy to dive into the next one. I do wish there was slightly more diversity in the characters.
For historical romances the author that comes to mind as being underrated is Rose Lerner. Her books just make me happy while reading them. Likable characters with well-written dialogue and engaging plots. I especially liked Sweet Disorder about a bakery-although it made me hungry.
Joanna Chambers, especially her historical m/m Enlightenment series set in Regency-era Scotland. Three books (Beguiled, Provoked, Enlightened) follow the same couple over several years; there’s a fourth book, Unnatural, about another couple. When I reread them last year, I found myself thinking about the characters for weeks afterwards. Plus, there’s no fake-sounding Scots dialect.
For historical romance, Elizabeth Essex. Especially if you like the Napoleonic era and ships.
I thought of a million other authors who I love, and it was physically painful to only choose three. I second the recs for Tasha Suri, Mina V. Esguerra, Brigitte Bautista, and Rose Lerner.
Tamara Morgan/Tamara Berry doesn’t get half the credit/reads she deserves. I loved her Penelope Blue books and adored her first foray into cozy mystery as Tamara Berry. Her writing is smart, funny, and incisive, the kind that makes you take a step back to appreciate it.
Cara McKenna and Anne Calhoun get/got a lot of love here and in my reading circles, but not nearly enough in the world at large. Calhoun has since left writing and McKenna hasn’t published anything in several years – I’d love for them to come back.
Mostly just signing on in *nodding enthusiastically* support. Most of the authors I was going to rec have already been mentioned.
I have love for Bianca Sommerland’s DARTMOUTH COBRA series (she’s not unknown, but I think she slowed her pubbing down for a couple of years and might’ve lost some reach?). There’s M/M, ménage of most varieties, F/F, and BDSM. It’s explicit. Also, characters/relationships develop over time in subsequent books. (This is not for you if you aren’t down with explicit on-page.)
For those who like PNR, Suzanne Wright is pretty popular, maybe (?), but I don’t have a good feel for it since I started reading her back in the needs-a-better-copy-editor phase. Her heroines are snarky, can fight, and are *not nice.* For the most part. Vamps and shifters, depending on the series.
Sarah, if you love timeslip novels, I think you’d really like Everett Maroon’s The Unintentional Time Traveler. It (obviously) has some time travel, and some beautifully done queer elements that I can’t really expound on without spoiling. It’s one of those books I couldn’t put down even at like 3am, and then couldn’t stop thinking about after I finished it. (The author also has a great memoir out about being transgender called Bumbling Into Body Hair.)
Only three? 🙁
For category romance….Anything by Jeannie Lin, who makes every word on the page count. I always feel I’m getting 2x the book after reading one of her books! (I’ve read everything she’s published thus far.)
Historical Romance…Alissa Johnson is, by far, the best underrated writer, imho. Her latest, the Thief-Takers series, is a must read, especially bk 2 A Gift for Guile for Ester Walker-Bales is no “flouncing” run-of-the-mill historical Miss. But she does throw knives!
Contemporary…Penny Watson doesn’t get enough romance love. Apples Should be Red, should be read by every romance reader, and for those who want more romances that feature older characters– description copied and pasted from Amazon blurb:
Recipe for Thanksgiving Dinner:
Start with 62-year-old politically incorrect, chain-smoking, hard-cussing curmudgeon.
Add 59-year-old sexually-repressed know-it-all in pearls.
Throw in a beer can-turkey, a battle for horticultural supremacy, and nudist next-door neighbor.
Serve on paper plates, garnished with garden gnome.
Tastes like happily ever after.
…Ok, that’s my three, although I’ll cheat here and 2nd the recs for EE Ottoman, Talia Hibbert, and fellow Canadian Jackie Lau!
This is a great, if hella expensive, thread. I have added like 6 books to my TBR already and have not yet even read all the comments so my wallet is going to be crying. I too struggle with the definition of underrated here, but I would put Kennedy Ryan into this category even though I think people who follow romance Twitter know who she is. Her books are so unique and she writes beautifully about some super raw topics. Trigger warning for Long Shot for abuse. But even with that, one of my favorite books of the year so far. I also don’t hear a lot of romance readers talk about Naomi Novik, and I think her books Uprooted and Spinning Silver are AMAZING and while the romance is not the central focus, I think would still appeal to readers of the genre. Finally, I just love Ruthie Knox’s books and I don’t hear a lot of talk about her, although maybe that’s because she hasn’t had a new release in a while? Her characters are so layered. About Last Night is my very favorite of hers but the whole Truly/Madly/Completely series is good.
I’ve been reading romances since the seventies and am a regular reader of this and several other romance sites, so it’s difficult for me to determine which authors are obscure and underrated. Then there’s my poor memory….
My first suggestion is Kim Fielding who writes male/male romances; they might be contemporary, historical, or paranormal. Some of my favorites are Astounding!; Motel. Pool.; Rattlesnake; and The Tin Box.
This is wicked hard. I came up with eleven contenders just by looking through the lists of collections on my e-reader. I figure I need some additional filters, so I’m excluding anyone I’ve seen on well known lists, anyone I’ve picked up primarily because of recommendations by the Queen SBs or the SB followers on this site, anyone that I haven’t reread for pure love and/or comfort.
1. Rosalind James–any of her contemporaries set in New Zealand. Her Escape to New Zealand series focuses on Rugby players. Yum! She specializes in alphas who are rarely alpha-holes and heroines dealing with realistic working- or middle-class problems. James one of my favorite comfort authors.
2. Gretchen Galway–the Oakland Hills series. I really enjoyed the first one of Galway’s books I read, Love Handles, and scrambled to read anything else I could find by her. Love Handles is a workplace romance with complicated family dynamics and like much of her work, tends to be romantic comedy.
3. Jami Albright–Brides on the Run series. Again my affection for rom-coms triumphs. I enjoyed the first book in this series, Running from the Rock Star, but I absolutely adored the second, Running with a Sweet Talker. While the latter was hilarious, it also had great chemistry and character growth as well.
It really kills me to stop after three authors, but I won’t cheat. Sigh. . . . I would like to point out that many of these particular books are very affordable as well as fun. I’m very careful about filling my e-reader with freebies due to frequent quality issues, but Love Handles was $0.00 when I first stumbled on it and still is.
I second Anna Hackett, Juliette Cross, Alissa Johnson and Eve Silver –those are all great suggestions in this super fun thread!!
For Fantasy Romance lovers, I want to recommend Kylie Griffin’s Light Blade series, starting with Vengeance Born. It has strong female characters, measured and emotionally self-aware heroes who prioritize consent and an engaging world where religion and race play a large part in the world building and overall plot arc.
For Contemporary/Romantic Suspense, Rachel Grant’s Evidence series, starting with my favorite, Concrete Evidence. This series follows female underwater archeologists working for the U.S. Navy and the subsequent mysteries, adventures and sexy times that ensue. Grant is a former archeologist, and her experience gives a level of detail and overall competence to the MC’s that sends these books into above average territory for me, without bogging things down or sacrificing great chemistry.
For Regency, I really want to push Maggie Fenton’s The Duke’s Holiday. This is the book that got me into the romance genre as an adult and for me, this is almost a perfect lighthearted regency. The hero is a stuffed shirt London Duke with OCD who faints at the sight of blood pitted against a village bluestocking who manages her family’s prize-winning brewery. The backdrop is an idyllic small town described in loving detail, including their annual foot-and-ale race where the inhabitants compete while downing a pint of said ale every few hundred yards. Throw in library shenanigans, the ever-necessary evil villain complete with a kidnapping and the fact that the book is laugh out loud funny and that’s why it has been a comfort re-read for me ever since.
Enjoy!!
I just have two but they’re long. Disclaimer that I mostly read YA and fantasy with romantic elements. All of these books are closed door.
Sherwood Smith: I already reviewed her Inda series here a couple years ago but I will never miss an opportunity to hype Sherwood Smith. She has written several excellent romances, both fantasy and historical, adult and YA, all of which have strong, complex women and lovely female friendships. Although the protagonists are often royalty, there is plenty of discussion of class and privilege and we get many views of the lives of regular people. My absolute favorite is The Trouble with Kings. Music-loving, socially-anxious princess is abducted repeatedly for her enormous inheritance, gets fed up, and decides to get proactive. Does not go as planned. Features a wonderful, Pride and Prejudice style romance. A Posse of Princesses is about a sheltered princess attending a match-making party for a prince. When the mean girl princess appears to run off with a foreign prince, the heroine and her new-found friends realize it’s a kidnapping and set out alone to rescue her. Sasharia en Garde has a 6 ft tall, frizzy-haired, beak-nosed, fencing-pro, LA girl who’s really an exiled princess from a magical world. She and her mother return to their kingdom to challenge the usurper, but she has to contend with a ridiculous pirate and the usurper’s mysterious heir. Shades of Scarlet Pimpernel.
Megan Whalen Turner: Definitely not a romance author but her books have some of my all-time favorite romances ever. They are historical fantasy set in a Greek-like world with fascinating political intrigue and intricate twists in every book. MWT is queen of writing an unreliable narrator in a satisfying and fulfilling manner. Her books also contain nuanced and moving portrayals of trauma, disability, and healing, both emotional and physical. The first book, the Thief, has no romance, and although it is delightful, it could theoretically be skipped. Books 2 and 3 feature the most incredible enemies to lovers romance and redemption of a villain(ess) I’ve ever encountered. I could not believe where it was going when I first read it. At the end of Book 2, I still had reservations, but Book 3 utterly erased those. We get to see them living together as a couple and their love and trust is so stunning. That book also contains not just one but several of the most romantic scenes in fiction, in my opinion. For instance, the line: “Her queen danced like a flame in the wind and the mercurial king like the weight at the center of the earth.” Book 4 has a slightly less dramatic, but still lovely romance. Both relationships feature younger, less experienced heroes and older, more powerful women. Thick as Thieves, the most recent book, is an m/m road-trip adventure romance between a soldier and an escaping slave. It reminds me a lot of the discussion surrounding the Good Omens show now, in that there is nothing explicitly romantic, but it is difficult for me to read it as anything else. The romance as I see it is incredibly sweet and moving, with Kamat guarded, insecure, and arrogant by turns and Costis relentlessly good-natured and kind.
The one I never see recommended by anyone but myself is Jillian Stone. I adore her Gentlemen of Scotland Yard historical series, especially:
An Affair With Mr. Kennedy – she’s an artist/teacher who has rented half of his subdivided townhouse; he’s obviously a detective with Scotland Yard. There is a lovely exchange between him and her mother, a doctor, while she’s stitching him up.
A Private Duel With Agent Gunn – He’s a former soldier suffering from “soldier’s heart” (later shell shock and now PTSD) trying to track down a group of bombers, she’s a ballerina who is more than meets the eye.
A Lesson in Chemistry With Inspector Bruce, a delightful novella about the head of the budding forensics department and his bomb sniffing dog finding love. Wait… no, with a woman. And another dog. I’m stopping now.
Her Phaeton Black series is just bawdy bonkers fun, and her contemporary, The Do It List was hot and left me wanting more. I know there were more GOSC planned, but she’s apparently abandoned them in favor of a Zombie series, another with werewolves and a new one with Fairies.
Anna Cowan has written one book, UNTAMED, and that book came out in 2013 so it seems possible she will not write another. This is too bad because the writing is lovely (“She was like something new and badly understood that was going to change everything. Like electricity.”) and although it is m/f there is a genderfluid feel (although nothing is ever said overtly) and lots of non-heteronormative behavior (guess who gets penetrated their first time). Also nice class touches like a duke who has no idea how to chop wood or fix a fence because why would he.
I second the recommendation for Erin Knightly’s books. I’m planning on doing a reread of the Prelude to a Kiss series soon.
Another author whose books I really love is Susannah Nix. She did a series featuring sciencey women that were really good–Remedial Rocket Scientist, Intermediate Thermodynamics, and Advanced Physical Chemistry. I really love Advanced Physical Chemistry–it features a knitting group and a plus size heroine.
I also have a soft spot for Katie Ruggle. Her jam seems to be first responder sorts–she has a couple of series that I have read, both set in the mountains in Colorado that have some elements of suspense. One series features a K-9 unit in a small town with women on the run from nasty people, and the other features first responder types and a dead body in a reservoir.
***EE Ottoman uses they pronouns!!! Aside from the pronoun misuse I endorse the recommendation
Another rec I haven’t seen on this list yet is Elizabeth Boyce. Wonderfully complex and original historicals. One family saga has grave robbing, an alcoholic heroine, and making friends with elephants in Thailand (3 different books)
Oops ignore above, I double checked Twitter profile and I am behind the times *facepalm*
@Cat C: No worries at all! We’d rather be safe than sorry in regards to pronouns, so never feel bad for calling it out if you aren’t sure.
I’d have to go with the Rodeo series by Kari Lynn Dell. Great characters, excellent understanding of various aspects of the rodeo industry, and in one book, a compassionate, dignified portrayal of a hero with autism spectrum disorder. I found out about them by following Robin Bradford on Twitter. How they’re not more popular I don’t quite understand.
Ha! Finally thought of another one! Jasmine Haynes. She writes erotic romance, but while there’s plenty of explicit sex, there are also actual personalities involved. They have jobs that they love or hate or are becoming competent in. They have kids, spouses, problematic spouses, exes, friends and found family. And lots of dirty, kinky sexy times. Lots.
Amal Awad – She wrote “Courting Samira”, a Muslim contemporary romance set in Sydney, Australia. The heroine works as an editorial assistant at a bridal magazine, she’s 27, and thereby teetering on the absolute outer edge of marriageability. One more year, and Pluto has a better shot of becoming a planet again than she does of getting a proposal.
Here’s another vote for Ruthie Knox. I love all of her books, but Ride With Me is my favorite. She makes me feel everything along with her characters. It’s on the short list of books I’ll reread at any time.
Molly O’Keefe doesn’t get the attention she deserves. Her characters are so layered and complex, nothing is black and white. Her work as M. O’Keefe is grittier and sexier, if you want a more visceral story.
Layla Reyne is a recent discovery for me, but I find both her characters and plots to be compelling and entertaining. Her romantic suspense deftly twines both the romantic and suspense plots without either getting bogged down by the other.
Oh, and Amanda Stevens! She wrote the Graveyard Queen series (set largely in South Carolina), which has romance and lots of spooky ghostness because the heroine is a cemetery restorer who can see ghosts. The first book is “The Restorer” and it’s so good; the first three books all take place in Charleston, SC, and there’s a strong sense of place and you get to learn a bit about Gullah culture, too. There are six books total; the first three were published, then a 4 year gap of nothing, and then the next three were published over the course of a year or so. It’s important to read them in order to know what’s going on, because they really tie into each other, but they make for some awesome summer reading.
Lynne Conolly(sp?), her Richard and Rose series is luscious.
Linda Winfree, Hearts of the South series. Tick Calvert is in the top 5 for me when it comes to flawed but amazing heroes. She wrote for a while, stopped for a while, wrote 2 new books and now seems to be gone again.
Another fan of Cara McKenna, I hope her muse finds her again….
I am a long time Robin Owens fan who has created such a wonderful magical world in her Celta series with really powerful emotional journeys for her heroes and heroines oh and magic cats.
I adore Matthew J. Metzger who writes gay romance often with transgender heroes. His work is lyrical wonder. I loved Married Ones and Life Underwater
Lets see and older Science Fiction Series romance with great world building The Challenge
by Susan Kearney
@Teev Based on your rec, I bought Untamed and I am loving it so far. So, thank you!
(Nips off to see if my favorite Edith Layton Signet SuperRegency has been eprinted yet. My paper copy literally went through a fire.)
My second nomination would be self-published SFF author Andrea K. Höst, who often has a fun romance in her books.
I really liked Tiger Eye: The First Dirk & Steele Novel by Marjorie M Liu.
Patricia Veryan – Georgian historical romance. I liked them all.
Lauren Esker’s Shifter Agent series. Book 1 is Handcuffed to the Bear. Strangers/shifters that have to work together to survive in the Canadian wilderness. While waiting for the next book she was busy writing others, which I’ll have to check out.
I agree with the recommendations for Anna Hackett, Megan Whalen Turner “The Thief (The Queen’s Thief Book 1)”, Rachel Aaron’s Hearstrickers series.
I’m looking forward to some of the recommendations found here.
I have to second Tamara Morgan’s Penelope Blue Series. They are so fun! The hero and heroine are two of my favorite characters in any book ever. I tend to read strictly historical, and rarely read series that feature the same couple, especially when they begin the series already married, so I was surprised by how much I loved these books. And how often I reread them.
Another author I adore: Ellen O’Connell. I believe she is self-published and mainly writes Westerns. I reread her book Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold all the time. Every time I pick it up thinking I’m just going to skim through it, and every time I end up staying up until 3am reading every word.