Time for the most evil recommendation feature we have: READY, SET, GO!
Here are the rules:
We pick a specific sub-genre, trope, or type of romance, and we have to make ONE recommendation for that type.
ONE.
ONLY ONE.
And no more than two sentences as to why.
Yes, just one. Which one book do you pick to fill that rec?
What is the most hilarious romance you’d recommend?
Any genre, but just one rec.
Ready, set, GO!
Catherine: You are so mean limiting me to just one for this book type! I’m going to say Headliners by Lucy Parker, because I was still giggling and reading bits aloud to my husband on my third read through. I don’t know how she does physical comedy that well (and I don’t even go for physical comedy that much), but she is magnificent. And the snark is fantastic.
Sarah: You know I’m holding off on naming one so I don’t steal someone else’s! And yes, only one is mean and the whole point of this terrible, awful, mean exercise, mwahahaha.
Tara: Oh, goddammit.
I have two that make me laugh equally hard and now I will feel guilty for only choosing one and not the other. But I’m going to have to go with Mrs Martin’s Incomparable Adventure by Courtney Milan. I laughed so hard I was weeping a few times. And it was all due to the ways the two characters were torturing Mrs. Martin’s nephew. Some of them were so absurd, yet diabolical. I kept saying “no…” to myself, only to learn that, oh yes, that weird, hilarious thing was really happening.
Elyse: When a Scott Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare.
Aarya: Mia Sosa’s The Worst Best Man is a recent release. The heroine’s inner monologue is very sarcastic and punny; since MY inner monologue (and outer monologue to be honest) is very sarcastic and punny, the meld of cynicism, hijinks, and biting humor really worked for me.
Claudia: The book that made me laugh out loud in more than one occasion is A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare. The most hilarious part is the hero making up a country, and people going oohs and aaahs when hero and heroine are nobles from that country.
Amanda: I’m seconding both Dare recs because they’re amazing! My own personal pick and since I didn’t want to double up is The Blacksmith Queen by GA Aiken.
It’s so goofy and over the top and every time I think of Keeley giving belly rubs to an ancient wolf god, I cackle.
Carrie: Not a romance but: Maskerade by Terry Pratchett. ( A | BN | K | AB ) Everyone has a favorite Discworld book, and this riff on musicals, opera, finding yourself, witchcraft, and The Phantom of the Opera is mine. I laugh out loud with every single page!
If we are sticking to romance: What Happens in London by Julia Quinn. Her best work. The origin of Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron. A gem.
Catherine: Oh yes, I was tossing up on some of the Julia Quinns!
Ellen: My pick is Heroine Complex by Sarah Kuhn. The heroine is a superheroine’s assistant in the fight against inter-dimensional demons but the demons possess things like cupcakes so you have rabid angry bitey cupcakes. There’s a high ridiculous factor and a lot of just absurd situational humor (plus a strong romantic subplot!)
Catherine: I loved the rabid cupcakes. It was just, oh yes, I’m definitely going to like this book.
Maya: Jumping on the Tessa Dare train and saying Lord Dashwood Missed Out (with a special shoutout to the audiobook)!! It’s about a woman who got trashed on champagne and wrote a pamphlet that tells her childhood sweetheart, who rejected her because his love for her was TOO DEEP, exactly how trifling he is.
AJ: The opening scene of Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Philips never fails to make me giggle. The beaver suit!
Sneezy: A Big Surprise for Valentines’s Day by Jackie Lau.
Amber and her brother’s childhood friend decide to be fwb. Drunk grandma trying to make Amber a ‘hot piece of ass’ included among other funny bones.
Aarya: The meddling grandparents are so funny in this series.
Sneezy: Hahahahaa and Ah Mah trying to mimic grinding
Amanda: I love a good grandma. The grandma in Chloe Brown was the highly of our local book club discussion, I think, right, Kiki?
Aarya: Same with Rebel Hard by Nalini Singh. I really like immigrant grandmas but all grandmas are superior.
OK, your turn! What about you? What romance Cracks You Up? What book made you laugh to ridiculous levels? Give us your one (ONE) recommendation for the Best, Funniest, Most Hilarious Romance.
Ready, Set, Go!
Anything by Jenny Crusoe I think, but especially “Bet me”.
It is wry and funny. There are fated snow globes, adorably vomitous nephews, entertainingly blunt friends, terrible parents, a morose but relatable heroine and a brilliant but entertainingly flawed hero.
Look, the whole book is just warm and humane and unbelievably good. Read it. Then read Man Hunting where the heroine accidentally maims her dates and skinny dips.
Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer
I thought I’d have to think long and hard about this one and then I realised that no, I didn’t: Cotillion by Georgette Heyer.
@LN: Cotillion was a close second for me.
Seconding the complete works of Crusie, especially Agnes and the Hitman!
Since those were already named, I’ll say Devil’s Cub by Heyer. The romance isn’t a big sell for me, as the hero in real life would be a sociopath, but it’s a farce, and a completely hilarious one.
‘Welcome to Temptation’ by Jennifer Crusie gets me every time. I have no idea why I find this particular book so hilarious, but I do.
Wicked, My Love by Susanna Ives which is a historical romance about childhood enemies that are now business partners who bicker all the time.
Not historically accurate at all but I enjoyed it immensely. Take it with a pinch of salt, most of the characters are OTT and it goes to some bizarre places but it’s hilarious. If you’re in the mood for something completely bananas and funny as hell, I would definitely recommend it.
The Thin Woman by Dorothy Cannell . I almost wet myself when Ellie is traveling with her paid companion in a VW with the top down through a snow storm. The book was a romance mystery.
That’s easy–The Queen and the Homo Jock King by TJ Klune.
Yes to all of the Tessa Dare’s mentioned, but I have to add The Governess Game and The Duchess Deal.
Julia Quinn’s The Viscount Who Loved Me deserves a mention just for the Pall Mall game.
Quinn’s How to Marry a Marquis also is very funny.
Tessa Dare and Courtney Milan are often hilarious. The Suffragette Scandal has some real gems. And while I agree with When A Scot Ties the Knot, Romancing the Duke is pretty funny too.
I giggled happily through most of Alyssa Cole’s “A Duke By Default”.
I haven’t read any Jennifer Crusie in years, but I remember really enjoying “Anyone But You” and Fred the basset hound.
Jasmine Guillory’s “The Proposal” is smart and funny, and what stress there is is reasonably low-key and mended by adult people using their words.
KJ Charles’ “Band Sinister” is a queer regency romp with polyamory and snark, and I loved every page.
“Red White and Royal Blue” by Casey McQuiston is like a queer episode of the West Wing, full of banter and wit.
Further mention must be made of the queen of romantic fantasy humor, Shelly Laurenston, already cited under her other pen name G.A. Aiken. The third in her series on badger shifter sisters, Badger to the Bone, comes out next week. Her books are basically wacky comedies with romantic subplots.
Since Aiken/Laurenston has already been mentioned, here’s a shoutout to Dana Marie Bell’s STEEL BEAUTY. She’s a cat (puma); he’s a dog (wolf). There are “cultural differences.”
Swordheart by T. Kingfisher made me snort with laughter frequently. Something about the main character’s practical nature makes the situations she finds herself in even funnier.
Definitely Man Hands by Tanya Eby and Sarina Bowen – special shout-out to the audiobook! I laughed more reading and then listening to this book more consistently than ANY other book. It reminds me of an updated and sexy “Bringing Up Baby” in book form (Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant).
BRYNN
At thirty-four, I’m reeling from a divorce. I don’t want to party or try to move on. I just want to stay home and post a new recipe on my blog: Brynn’s Dips and Balls.
But my friends aren’t having it. Get out there again, they say. It will be fun, they say. I’m still taking a hard pass.
Free designer cocktails, they say. And that’s a game-changer.
Too bad my ex shows up with his new arm candy. That’s when I lose my mind. But when my besties dare me to leap on the first single man I see, they don’t expect me to actually go through with it.
TOM
All I need right now is some peace and quiet while my home renovation TV show is on hiatus. But when a curvy woman in a red wrap dress charges me like she’s a gymnast about to mount my high bar, all I can do is brace myself and catch her. What follows is the hottest experience of my adult life.
I want a repeat, but my flying Cinderella disappears immediately afterward. She doesn’t leave a glass slipper, either—just a pair of panties with chocolate bunnies printed on them.
But I will find her.
The Unknown Ajax by Georgette Heyer!
I laughed so hard reading Alyssa Cole’s A Duke by Default. There’s an especially funny library exchange that made my heart happy. The couple also have some excellent snarky banter.
Since Jennifer Crusie, Courtney Milan and Shelly Laurenston are already well represented, I’ll nominate Alice Clayton’s Wallbanger. Caroline, Simon & their coterie of friends are a stictch. And the cat. He is so a cat.
Definitely “Wallbanger” by Alice Clayton. Some of her books are too goofy for me, but this one just cracked me up. It’s the perfect mix of silly, sweet, and sexy.
My favorite Romance sub-genre! I’m going to second Ceruleon’s recommendation for ‘Man Hands’ by Sarina Bowen & Tanya Eby. Not just sweet funny, but laugh out loud funny.
From the top of my head: HEIDI’S GUIDE TO FOUR LETTER WORDS by Andi Arndt and Tara Sivec.
This is only audio, though, but so worth the listen! I mean… A podcast called “Heidi’s Discount Erotica”… *giggles*
Laurenston/Aiken is my go to for laughs. Beasts Behaving Badly, The Mane Squeeze, anything with badgers, and the Crow series are my favs. Also, special mention for Beauty and the Beefcake by Pippa Grant. It’s completely ridiculous in the best way! Penny Reid also has numerous books that are really funny.
Hot by Julia Harper (Elizabeth Hoyt’s contemporary pseudonym). Harper’s books are hilarious, sexy capers, as if Carl Hiaasen wrote romance (ie very different from EH’s regular stuff)
I don’t believe there’s a Julia Quinn book that won’t make me giggle at some point; it’s one of the things I love about her books. But I think the book that made me laugh the hardest was THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE PINK CARNATION by Lauren Willig. I was reading the bit about the grandmother being carried around on a litter while waiting for my son at his therapist, and they must have thought I needed to be carted to the looney bin. Eccentric grandmas for the win!
Tangled Emma Chase
I laughed out loud so much while reading The Sum of All Kisses by Julia Quinn. It’s become my favorite book. He hero’s dry wit is just my style.
Tara Sivec Seduction and Snacks (Chocolate Lovers #1)
*The (sorry, my keyboard has been sticking)
Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie. I don’t care that it’s already been mentioned a bunch of times. I love that book to bits.
SILVER SILENCE by Nalini Singh, part of her Psy-Changling series. Because…BEARS! FTW! Poor Silver. (And okay, I like Silver’s name and character for…reasons! ) But Valentin’s antics and her reactions to them just made me laugh so much that I kept startling the dogs. And I laugh every time I re-read/listen to it!
The Duke’s Holiday by Maggie Fenton
At the Bride Hunt Ball by Olivia Parker (even with the editing errors it’s one of the funniest books I’ve read).
Lord Perfect by Loretta Chase. Actually almost anything by Loretta Chase but especially the Carsington and dressmaker series that include characters from the “dreadful deLucy” family.
Also, Ridiculous! by D. L. Carter
@Stefanie:
You mean to say there’s more than one of us? Lol. I’m sorry. I had to. I know no one who spells it that way, and that plus an uncommon last name can make things interesting.
@Stefanie M. LOL seriously though 🙂
My go-to book when I need a laugh is Anne Gracie’s “The Perfect Rake” – the initial conversation between the two heroes makes me laugh out loud every. single. time. And I say this as someone who’s reread this book multiple multiple times. Our heroine, Prudence, finagles a season in London for her sisters under false pretenses, hoping one of them will find a husband (to protect the others from their abusive grandfather). But, her guardian in London (a great uncle) insists that she be married before her sisters, which she cannot do, for plot spoilery reasons. So to buy time she claims to be engaged to a hermit Duke who lives conveniently far away in Scotland. But shenanigans ensue when she finds out he’s in London and she needs to get to him, fast and explain herself. But when she mistakes his rakish cousin for the Duke, hilarity ensues. The dialog in this book is such a master class, and I adore it beyond reason.
Let me see, Tessa Dare is always good for a laugh, as evidenced above. I think my favorites that made me laugh my ass off were When A Scot Ties The Knot, Romancing The Duke, and The Duchess Deal. I also adored The Blacksmith Queen. I think the humor in both The Kiss Quotient and The Bride Test by Helen Hoang was really well-done, and also managed to be kind, which is hard needle to thread given that both books feature autistic main characters. I found Nightchaser by Amanda Bouchet surprisingly funny, although it also had some heartbreaker moments, too. Quality snark, though. The Honey Badger books by Shelly Laurenston are also hilarious much of the time. She pushes the ridiculous, and I love her for it. Lucy Parker also has quality snark, and I can’t really narrow that one down, but it’s probably somewhere between Act Like It, Making Up, and Headliners (enemies to lovers is a great trope for her to mine humor from).
No romance has made me laugh out loud more than The Hating Game by Sally Thorne.
So many good ones have already been mentioned-Agnes and the Hitman and anything by Shelly Laurenston ( the scene with the chocolate dessert in The Mane Thing).
I’ve only been asked to leave a library once for laughing out loud, to a Julie Garwood book. And then there is the scene in Mercy where the guy stops for gas and directions and is the high school football coach by the end of the conversation.
Thank you for this list – it was just what I needed.
But my true favorite funny book is a older regency by Barbara Metzger, Miss Lockharte’s Letters. A delirious death-bed spinster writes a bunch of letters to all who have wronged her and they are accidentally mailed – and then she recovers.