Ever wondered where can you find more books for your very specific catnip? That’s what The Rec League is for! And we’re calling on you, Bitchery, to submit your very niche trope and archetype Rec League suggestions!
First off, you can see a list of previous Rec Leagues here to familiarize yourself with the feature and/or see what we’ve covered previously.
I’d also suggest looking at our Book Finder to see which broad themes we already have resources for. Finding an enemies to lovers historical romance with a spy is child’s play; we want to emphasize Rec Leagues for romances or books which aren’t easily Google-able, like “Supernatural Heroine/Human pairing.”
If you have an idea for a future Rec League, just comment with it down below! Please, no actual answering of Rec Leagues with book suggestions here.
You can upvote great ideas by pressing the little heart button next to each comment.
Not sure if there is another name for this but I think of it as “the Little Princess” trope – romances where the heroine struggles against negative opinions, challenging situations and spiteful adversaries and yet through obstinance & pluck triumphs in the end. Two Susan Elizabeth Phillips books fir the bill – Dream a Little Dream and Call Me Irresistible.
@Rebecca:
Would your be looking for the romance novel version of screwball comedies?
I’m interested in books with a queen/captain of the guard dynamic. NOT dom/sub. Regular romance where they’re in love but she’s an authority figure. I’m thinking of a relationship like the Queen Ravenna/Thomas Boniface one in Martha Wells’ Element of Fire. They’re a team; he keeps her safe and is her right hand man bringing her information so she can make decisions and they’re sleeping together. The relationship in that book doesn’t end in an HEA. I want ones like it that do.
This post comes perfectly timed!
I just finished FAKED by Karla Sorensen (liked it very much!). It’s about to twin sisters swapping place, and I thought I would send in a recommendation for a RL about it (it’s perfectly possible you have already done this, of course).
Would love to see more of that. Either twins or siblings. In any form.
Romances and romantic suspense (including but not limited to fantasy and SF) where the heroine, hero, or both have psychic abilities, and preferably a psychic connection of some sort. Examples would be Touch Not the Cat by Mary Stewart, and the Celta’s Heartmates series by Robin D. Owens.
I’m also interested in romances and romantic suspense (including but not limited to fantasy and SF) where the heroine, hero, or both have magic — which is not the same thing as psychic abilities, though there are similarities and crossovers. Some of Mercedes Lackey’s books fall in this category (the Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series, and some of the Valdemar and Elemental Masters series, for instance), but in her books, the romance tends to be secondary to the main plot — often very much so. And I’m specifically looking for magic users here, not broadly paranormal (not shapeshifters and vampires, basically. There are tons of lists of those.)
Married couples who fall back in love. And not we barely knew each other before we separated on our wedding night over some dumb miscommunication, but people who are really in love but drift apart emotionally due to the reality of life (work, kids, health issues, financial strain, being trapped in the same house for months and months due to a pandemic, whatever).
Paranormal or urban fantasy or fantasy/SF where the main characters favor ways of solving problems beyond violence. One of my favorite things about Michelle Sagara’s Chronicles of Elantra is that the main character not only has healing powers, but tends to try to find solutions that make others whole, and emphasizes the value of stories. If there are more books like this, I’d love to find them. Getting tired not only of all the cops and military heroes, but all the violence in general.
Would love a rec league for NOT YA variations on assassins/spies heroes/heroines, particularly of the “I came to kill you & now I’m rescuing you instead” catnip.
@Viktoria: “would be very happy with a rec league of Central and Eastern-European historicals (Austro-Hungarian Empire,…”
Try Masks and Shadows by Stephanie Burgis. Romance is secondary to the overall plot, and the book is historical fantasy (heavy on the historical, not so heavy on the fantasy), but the history is well-researched, especially as it pertains to music (a central element in the plot.)
Well, I’m on the lookout for novels with matter-of-fact/accepting/compassionate depictions of certain, er, penis-y things:
1. small penis
2. erectile dysfunction
3. premature ejaculation
I know that you did a Rec League for novellas back in 2016. I’d love to see another one for novellas and story collections that are sci-fi, fantasy, alien, historical, contemporary, paranormal, whatever. Sometimes it’s nice to read something shorter due to time constraints or for a change of pace or because it’s already 11:00pm and I really should get some sleep (but not yet) or ….
Your pardon if this is a duplicate; my comment seems to have disappeared.
1) Books where the heroine and/or hero have psychic abilities (not magic.) Romance or romantic suspense, or other genres but with a strong romance element and an HEA. Examples: Touch Not the Cat by Mary Stewart; Robin D. Owens’ Celta Heartmates series; Jayne Ann Krentz’s Arcane Society series.
2) Books where the heroine and/or hero have magic, but aren’t shapeshifters or vampires. Romance or romantic suspense, or other genres but with a strong romance element and an HEA. Examples: the Harwood Spellbook series by Stephanie Burgis; some of Mercedes Lackey’s Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series and Elemental Masters series.
I’m curious if a special rec league could ever move over to the podcast? I think it would be so fun to hear everyone go through one of these topics slash throw it out to the commenters and have them call in to the Google line. Or something!
OK, so mine was partially solved by the “More Knowledgeable Heroines” Rec League post (https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2019/04/the-rec-league-more-knowledgeable-heroines/) but YOU ASKED AMANDA 🙂 so here it is:
Billionaire or millionaire boss heroines
@kathleen: Ha! How funny! We just did one with Psychic Pining! It was very fun, and we’re doing regular recommendation podcast episodes, too. While the Rec Leagues are usually community gatherings, the podcasts aren’t live so having call-ins would be tricky, but maybe in the future.
Romanced where it’s a lot of fun to spend time in the main character’s brain is the best way I can describe it. My favorite examples are In the Middle of Somewhere by Roan Parrish and How to be a Normal Person by TJ Klune. Both are favorite comfort reads for me just because I get to spend time with Daniel Mulligan and Gustavo Tiberius. Also love stories with found family elements
@Amanda:
If you meant to include Ready Set Go posts in your list of Rec league links, it seems you missed a few probably three or four.
I have recently found out that I like paranormal historical romances. I would like a rec league post for this since the most famous Paranormal Series seem to be contemporary or futuristic.
@Lark Thank you so much! I added it immediately on Goodreads
@DevDev: I know this is really not the place to list specific book recommendations (so sorry @Amanda), but Rachel Reid’s m/m hockey romance, TOUGH GUY, features a hero who—due to anxiety and the medication he takes to ease his anxiety—has performance issues. One of the things I liked about the book was that love didn’t magically alleviate his situation.
I’d love to see some books where the vicar/religious figure isn’t an asshole or the villain. Preferably where they actually have faith. Not necessarily the lead.
Books set in unusual time periods or places. So, England during the Oliver Cromwell period or the Restoration, America but not on the trail or in small town America.
Suburban romances.
Australia but not on a farm.
Thought of some more
The Sex Doesn’t Start Off Great.
And its cousin, What Do I Do With a Virgin? where the guy doesn’t know how to deal with a virgin and has to do some research.
United Against The World, especially when the setup should have one hiding a Big Bad secret, which they confess early on and the couple teams up to resolve the secret.
No means No. I hate it when the heroine says don’t pursue me/kiss me/sex me/marry me, but the heroine Knows Her Better and does anyway. AND SHE LETS HIM. AND IT’S OK.
Historical Romances involving (1) a married couple (2) who have been separated for a significant amount of time [usually with the husband leaving] (3) after a falling out (4) and now one party must win back the affection of the other party.
Bonus points for: the wife becomes competent while the husband is away, appropriate levels of groveling by the husband if he was the offending party, wife wants a baby so is trying to have sex without emotions but husband is using seduction as part of the way to win her back, either both parties stay faithful or neither does, and the falling out is a result of the parties not knowing each other and/or marrying young and the time apart allows them to mature before coming back together.
The two books I read that made me realize this was my catnip were A Duchess in Name by Amanda Weaver and The Ugly Duchess by Eloisa James (and to a lesser degree A Wicked Kind of Husband by Mia Vancy, though it doesn’t quite fit as the parties never really had a falling out). I would have preferred MUCH more groveling by the male lead in The Ugly Duchess, and while I didn’t mind the “cheating” per se [in all cases although the parties were married, the relationship was nonexistent], it bugged me that the men got to do so while the women were not.
I guess it might be described as enemies-to-lovers second-chance historical romance between a married couple?
The setting does not necessarily have to be historical, but does have to be one where the parties could not realistically divorce. E.g. fantasy romance could work, but your typical contemporary wouldn’t.
These are some great suggestions. Thanks for the thread!
I Nth the vote for Romance in Translation, especially for historicals.
My favorite all-time trope is when a pairing or team up is way more amazing than the sum of the parts. This usually involves competence porn, but it really only requires legitimately flawed characters who (eventually) cooperate and support each other and win the day. Just Be You (or just be Freddy from Cotillion), Found (or just Fabulous) Families, and maybe Soap Bubble Cheery all appear here, so this may be redundant or too specific.
@Lake – I.absolutely agree with paranormal but living a (mostly) prosaic life. I hate it when suddenly characters are gods.
@star, @trix, @Lake – sign me up for the romance with the mother/chaperone.
@SamB, the spy/assassin, particularly as the heroine, is another trope I would love to find more of.
Looking forward to all these new recommendations!
Although some of these may have been mentioned, I’d appreciate:
1. Vengeance romance where the person seeking vengeance actually gets revenge instead of setting it aside due to love or other reasons. I don’t mind how petty it is, I just would love some more recs about people getting revenge and being happy doing so.
2. Detail-oriented romance? I don’t know how to boil the idea down into one word and it crosses over with competence (although doesn’t have to) but the idea is a book that focuses on the details of everyday life or the character’s career as well as romance (i.e. Inn Boonsboro series by Nora Roberts, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books). Ideally includes a lot of everyday processes and interesting glimpses into the character’s job or activities. Am I totally missing an obvious name for this?
3. It would be cool to have updates on some of the older Rec Leagues, like Competence, Kindle Unlimited, Underestimated Heroes, Oblivious Wooing, etc.
4. Professional Matchmakers.
5. Fixers — romance with characters who solve or smooth over problems and scandals (like in Duke of My Heart by Kelly Bowen).
6. Romances with people who help others escape difficult or painful situations (running a domestic abuse shelter, working on a confidential hotline, marshals with the witness protection program, etc).
7. Characters who compete in local competitions like the neighborhood garden award or a county fair baking competition. Bonus points for a rivalry with a dastardly neighbor that both main characters love to annoy.
Polyamorous triads where all the participants are equal and love each other fiercely? I’ve read some fanfiction that does this really well, but find that a lot of published books have 2 dudes who kind of tolerate each other and “share” the woman, rather than all of them loving each other.
@Bagel: We did a “throuples” Rec League last year!
Anything that’s well-researched, whether it’s historical, fantasy, contemporary, etc. I find that good research really helps separate the one Regency romance from 500 others with the same trope.
@Star “M/f romances with bisexual, non-straight-passing heroes.” yes please! I would love some m/f that takes place in a much queerer world than we usually see (more like the community I actually have). I want guys who are hot in drag but still kiss girls (sometimes). One of the reasons I always stan for The Unlikable Demon Hunter series is that it takes place in a queer world.
I also second @Michelle for SFF where the usual “he shoots fireballs/she heals burns” tropes are inverted (ideally where that is also reflected in the world-building and not just this one couple)
I vote second for romps and heist romances!! A romance romp that has a bit of Wodehouse-style ridiculousness is a rare find— the dukes holiday by Maggie Fenton is a favorite and is good example!
My rec league request is something that may not exist. I’m looking for romances that are basically a cozy mystery, but heavier on the romance and minus the off-stage/fade to black intimacy. Bonus points if it’s autumnal or witchy/paranormal but I’m having trouble finding something that checks all these boxes. Contemporary or historical doesn’t matter.
I basically want a fall romance with some heat, with cozy, everyday descriptions of a heroine who runs a shop in small community solving mysteries and drinking tea all day. With socks. I know you’re out there!
@cara Yes, here for that!!
My rec league request – outdoorsy people done right. Most books that I have read in which a character owns/runs an outdoor oriented business get details wrong. I’m sorry, but if you own a mountaineering guide business, you are not going hiking in mid-winter wearing a denim jacket, no matter how rugged it makes you look. No, you are wearing your $400 Mountain Hardware gore-tex, ultralight, packable jacket. It is as annoyingly disconcerting as – as Sarah says – the duke driving up to Almack’s in his Porsche. Bonus points if it is the woman who is the outdoor expert and the man who is the neophyte.
Also, I would love to see more recent historicals. Edwardian, WWI, 1920s… basically all of the 20th century. But ideally written more recently rather than a contemporaneous writing that has evolved into a historical.
This was sort of covered by the “More Knowledgeable Heroines” rec league but I’d really, really love one for specifically m/f romances where the heroine is just straight-up better/more successful/more knowledgeable than the hero at some trait/specialty/career/hobby they both share, and he accepts her expertise (whether immediately or eventually). Bonus points if it ISN’T a mentorship role, she’s just doing her own thing with no expectation that she will “teach” him anything.
Basically, I want every book where a man can accept that a woman he wants to bone is better than him at something he also cares about.
Romances where animals have a strong role, beyond simply someone who happens to have a pet. There’s a fair number with dogs, but what about cats, ferrets, rabbits etc? (I’m talking about pets here, not shifters or animals as heroes.)
There so many tropes I don’t see that I would love to have. I feel like I’ll forget some. Here are a few.
1. Social butterfly heroines, especially a historical where the heroine loves to dance. Almost all books are written that heroine is shy, scared, lonely, etc. and hates to dance. I’m kind of a wallflower in real life, give me fantasy.
2. Some of the classic toxic tropes of romance being treated as the toxic stuff they are. Like micromanaging side characters or crazy alpha males, etc.
3. Stories where the main characters know each other a long time.
4.Older heroines particularly those that seem at peace with their lives/decisions.
Seconding 5. Books that are fun, where people have fun, and are light-hearted romps.
6. Books set in cities.
7. Activist heros/heroines
8. Crafty, artistic characters maybe with cottagecore elements.
Unhappily Ever After – epilogues where the villain/snobby family have to grit their teeth and endure the happiness of the happy couple and/or the proof that they were wrong about the ability of the newcomer to cope with their new rank, social circle or income. Bonus points if things improve under the new regime. The bad guy goes to jail instead of dying, the CEO grandfather has to admit that doing things the new way has increased profits, MIL has to listen to everyone talk about how nice it is that the shopkeepers daughter has brought the Earl out of his ptsd.
@Lyns: I meant to reply to your post earlier and totally forgot, oops! Anyway, what you describe sounds a lot like the Tiffany Problem! I’m scared to add a link and get counted as spam, but if you search up the phrase, you’ll see a bunch of articles on it. Coined by Jo Walton 😉
I don’t know about Bradley, but since Skylar is derived from the Dutch surname Schuyler, which itself is the German Schuler [with the umlaut], I could actually see a medieval romance with a Schuyler… maybe paired with a Tiffany 😀
So many great suggestions already, I can’t wait for all of these posts. I’m seconding Austro-Hungarian Empire romances since I am from this area and would love to be able to recognize places/customs/history for once. Diana Biller has one coming out in 2021/2022 and I’m so excited I could scream.
I would also like to see a rec league about romantic fantasy novels set in a non-European setting like Tasha Suri’s “Empire Of Sand”.
M/F romances where the heroine is the one who actively pursues the hero. Contemporary or historical.
I’m one of the few that really enjoyed 99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne for this trope alone. The Magic of You by Johanna Lindsey that has Amy Mallory chasing her man all over England is another example.