Time again for one of the most challenging recommendation features 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.
And no more than two sentences as to why.
Just One.
And our theme this month?
The doomy-est scrolly-est days of hellscape in the US are next week, and I’m sending all of you virtual comfort and strength and compassion. This time, we’re building an essential list: your one (1) In Case Of Emergency Break Glass and Read This Romance recommendation.
We’ve talked about books like these before, but it seems extremely necessary right now.
We’re looking for your MOST POWERFUL Emergency Comfort Reads, the romances that never fail to help you out, books that are So Good they are your First Aid kit romances.
What “In Case Of Emergency, Read This” Romance would you recommend?
Any genre, but just one rec!
Ready, set, GO!
Sarah: I carry a few books on my Kindle at all times for this category alone. I have had a few book emergencies this year.
For this one, I’m going for The Unleashing, Shelly Laurenston, Crows 1. I know, I know: I talk about this trilogy a LOT.
But anger, rage, revenge, women being reborn into powerful, vicious second lives with freedom and access to power…Yes, please. I can escape into that world any time.
Lara: Tessa Dare’s A Week to be Wicked. It has never failed me in an emergency, ever.
Sarah: SUCH a good choice. Dare’s books are very much in the “In Case of Emergency Break Glass And Read This” category.
Elyse: I have to go with Alyssa Cole’s A Prince on Paper, which has the sweetest hero ever
But I also reread a lot of Edith Layton when I’m feeling down. To Wed a Stranger is one of my favs.
Claudia: It’s re-read time around here as well. I went back to some of my favorite Meredith Duran books. I second Lara’s choice (it never fails to make me laugh out loud) and on the same vein I’m going to go with a Mary Balogh book from way back: The Famous Heroine.
It’s probably her funniest book and a friends-to-lovers and fish-out-of-water mix. It’s a child of the 90s, though.
And speaking of her old books: I recently found out that she has a Halloween-themed novella compilation, No Ordinary Love, available through Hoopla for me.
Tara: Depending on what’s going on for me, I need something that’s either incredibly fluffy or highly immersive. So when I want something fluffy, I reach for Chelsea M. Cameron. I’m actually rereading her book Didn’t Stay in Vegas right now for that reason.
And if I’m looking for something immersive, I go back to the greatest Devil Wears Prada fanfic of all time, Truth and Measure by Telanu. It’s 270k+ words, the character work is spot on, the chemistry is amazing, and I just love it so much.
Shana: I have to agree with the above fanfic recommendation. I read it based on Tara’s suggestion during a previous Tough Time and it worked.
Shana: I’m struggling with narrowing this down to one book.
I know I often suggest Better Off Red by Rebekah Weatherspoon for pretty much everything, but I strongly believe there’s nothing that lesbian vampire sorority girls won’t solve.
Shana: However, Talia Hibbert is my first stop for cozy comfort, because her heroes are really into caretaking. Get a Life, Chloe Brown is basically a Snuggie in book form.
Catherine: Hmm. Not a romance, but the Penric and Desdemona novellas really work for me – they have so much kindness and humour in them, and they are short enough for a stressed out attention span.
For romances, I am very predictable! Lucy Parker is an author who can hold my attention nineteen hours into an international flight, so she is a solid winner here. And Laura Florand writes the holiday in France that you can still have when France is…20-something hours away on that same international flight.
Sarah: Gotta narrow it down to one!
In a pinch I will accept two, because this is hard, but no more than that.
Catherine: Penric it is!
Sarah: And there’s a new one??!! Yay! That was almost my choice!
Catherine: There is, and I am just about to willfully join the Bad Decisions Book Club in order to read it tonight. Which is after midnight already.
Catherine, two hours later: Reporting in from the Bad Decisions Book Club to strongly recommend Masquerade in Lodi. A total delight.
Ellen: I am not much of a re-reader anymore (it gives me too much anxiety about all the books I haven’t read yet!) but I’ll answer this from the perspective of books that really brought me incredible comfort and joy during difficult times.
So for that I will pick The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip ( A | BN | K | AB ).
It’s a fantasy primarily but it has a strong romantic subplot and it’s just really beautiful and moving. I remember finishing it in a coffee shop in college ugly-crying.
Actually, this is making me want to re-read it.
Amanda: For comfort reading, I imagine just putting on an audiobook and lying in bed with everything in reach. This idea is brought to you by my period and heating pad.
My overall choice is the Maiden Lane series (so many hours to nest in bed!) because the narrator is just SO GOOD. I do have a soft spot for Scandalous Desires because of Charming Mickey.
Sneezy: My pick would be A Touch of Stone and Snow by Milla Vane.
A giant fluffy cat will love you, ask and give cuddles, chomp your enemies to bits, go on world saving adventures with you – need I go on? Even though there’s suicidal ideation in this book, I feel like it’s handled well and the overall book is imbued with so much hope.
And I need hope, rather desperately.
Ok, what about you?
What one romance do you recommend for Emergency Reading Situations?
What’s your go-to Comfort Read/First Ad romance?
Ready, set, go!
Sometimes I feel like all I’ve been able to handle are comfort re-reads, and I agree Tessa Dare and Uprooted are awesome choices.
BUT— if I had to choose my single pick it’s hands down Lisa Kleypas. The combination of her romances and descriptions of idyllic English countryside and traditional interiors is my literary version of a safety blanket. Cant go wrong with a Wallflower or Hathaway. Choosing a single book feels impossible but Mine til Midnight has never let me down.
I have found that fluffy and cozy books just don’t work for me if I’m super stressed, I just can’t get out of my head to find low stakes compelling. So my go-to comfort read is the incredibly dark Deerskin by Robin McKinley. It is dark but so satisfying and it always makes me feel better.
So many of mine have already been mentioned (I actually just did a full Hidden Legacy AND Innkeeper series read-through this month, and The Duke Who Didn’t was exactly what I needed to read this past weekend) but I’ll add The Luckiest Lady in London by Sherry Thomas, which is angsty but I consider possibly a perfect book, and pretty much anything by Cat Sebastian. The Ruin of a Rake is my favorite, but another October-panic book I read recently was A Little Light Mischief which was the correct balance of cathartic revenge and adorable romance.
When I need to disappear for a short while to another world I re-read A Fine Passion by Stephanie Laurens in her Bastion Club Series. Agree with Tessa Dare recommendation – love her Romancing the Duke the first book in her Castles Ever After Series about a female author. Also adore Maiden Lane Series by Elizabeth Hoyt – my favourites are Duke of Midnight and Dearest Rogue where the heroine is blind. Sigh off to dig out one of these – it has been a very stressful week…
“Agnes and the Hitman” by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer. “The Talisman Ring” by Georgette Heyer.
Most Crusie and Heyer novels, actually, are comfort reads.
Thank you for all the amazing suggestions!! I fall back to Unraveled and Jagged by Lauren Dane. They are in a first place tie with Nuts and Cream by Alice Clayton. Be safe and don’t forget to love yourself!
@SusanK, I’m going to steal your format!
Series: The Others by Anne Bishop
Book: Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare
Novella: Mating the Huntress by Talia Hibbert
Anything by Tessa Dare, Courtney Milan, or Sarah MacLean. Other comfort reads on the historical shelf:
Theresa Romain’s Secrets of a Scandalous Heiress
Maya Rodale’s Keeping Up With the Cavendishes series
Eva Leigh’s new 80s-movie-inspired series, The Union of the Rakes
If I’m going contemporary:
Alyssa Cole’s Reluctant Royals series
Kate Clayborn’s Love Lettering
Olivia Dade’s Spoiler Alert
Jasmine Guillory’s Royal Holiday
Hold tight, fellow U.S. folks!
Thank you for all the wonderful tips. We need them in these tough times. Here are my suggestions: The Luckiest Lady in London by Sherry Thomas and Joanna Bourne’s Spy Master-series – soo good!
@ DiscoDollyDeb (happy to hear you made it through another hurricane!) Mary Balough’s Someone series was my re read earlier this year. Now I’m re reading The Bridgertons
I love rereading Carla Kelly and Georgette Heyer (especially on audio), but one author not mentioned here that I reread a lot is Linnea Sinclair. I would either pick Finder’s Keepers or Games of Command if I had to narrow the field. These are scifi-rom. I reread her entire backlist every year or so.
For a romantic suspense reread I’d pick Sandra Brown’s Envy on audio narrated by Victor Slezak. Fantastic! I’ve listened to that book multiple times.
I have two:
“Pride and Prejudice”, because nobody else has said it but it’s super obvs,
and
“Red, White & Royal Blue”. I know the latter has politics and that’s no small part of stress-causing right now, but it’s also so funny and real and Alex and Henry are my favorite pair of cinnamon rolls. I have to have a Big Red to drink with it, it’s so Texas. RWRB makes me feel like there’s hope at the end of this seriously dark and unhinged tunnel we’ve been chugging down for the last 5 years. Like we can find our way to decency and caring about other people more than money eventually.
This is so hard
American historical tenderfoot bride by Cheryl St. john
British historical the admiral’s penniless bride by Carla Kelly
Contemporary the bleesings, ga series by Sharon sala
@DDD glad you and family are safe!
Comfort reads are a HUGE thing for me and I have a full reread of the Beautiful series by Christina Lauren queued up for next Tuesday night should things go poorly. Those books are like a warm blanket in book form for me, and given that in 2016 I was up most of the night alternately stressing and crying, this time I am making an effort to be more prepared. But I heartily second the recs for Uprooted by Naomi Novik and the Hidden Legacy series by Ilona Andrews, as well as historicals by Tessa Dare or Sarah MacLean. My personal favorite historical that I go back to when I need to feel good is Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas. SO MUCH angst, but then such a sweet resolution to it all. VOTE VOTE VOTE everybody.
The Secret by Julie Garwood. It’s my go to comfort read.
I’ve just added a new book to my comfort re-read list: Courtney Milan’s The Duke Who Didn’t. Others in my designated ebook collection for comfort re-reads? Act Like It by Lucy Parker, The All Souls trilogy by Deborah Harkness, Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale, The Unknown Ajax by Georgette Heyer, and Diary of an Accidental Wallflower by Jennifer McQuiston.
“The doomy-est scrolly-est days of hellscape in the US are next week” = the most articulate way to describe 2020’s election week, honestly.
It depends what type of comfort I need at the time. Sometimes, I go back to childhood favorites: Chronicles of Prydain, Narnia, Little Women, my favorite books of Greek myths and Celtic legends. From my teens and twenties: Georgette Heyer, Patricia Veryan, Sylvia Thorpe, and some of the old Fawcett Coventry Romances, Mary Stewart. More current comfort reads include pretty much anything by Grace Burrowes and Carla Kelly, the Richard & Rose series, and any cozy mysteries that include cats (and sometimes, puppies). My current favorite comfort read is The Goblin Emperor.
I’ve reread A Taste of Her Own Medicine by Tasha L Harrison at least once a month since I first read it in May. It is just so beautiful, cozy, and the relationship was just so sweet (while also hot). I love heroes who adore their heroines and I honestly had to pause after Atlas describes Sonja in the barbershop because it was just so sappy/beautiful/amazing.
Jumping on The Luckiest Lady in London bandwagon. What a book. The angst, the chemistry, the wit, the dialogue, the absolute focus on characters and characterization. *Chef’s kiss*. Clean, spare plotting – No kidnappings, pirates, or TSTL heroine. The best grovelling scenes (they go on for a while) ever. Honestly I’ve read it like seven times and two of those times have been during the pandemic. I want Sherry Thomas to write historical romances again!
What a great opportunity to add new favourites to my list and have already included many of the recs. So difficult to choose what to recommend but I’m going to add along with Tessa Dare’s A Week To Be Wicked, her whole Girl Meets Duke series but especially The Governess Game (those 2 orphans!), the Magpie Lord series by KJ Charles (love Crane and Stephen) and Lisa Kleypas’ Devil in Winter (Evie and Sebastian).
In a year that seems both all too real while being simultaneously hard to believe (I know I wouldn’t be surprised to see dinosaurs roaming Main St. compared to some of the things I have seen this year!), it’s been a pleasure and relief to be able to lose myself in books, both old and new, and leave the world behind at times.
This post is making me want to reread ALL the things.
For me, top comfort reads would include:
Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn (I’m still mad I didn’t discover this book until 2017!)
The Immortals quartet by Tamora Pierce (Daine and Numair are my OG ship, and I was so into them that I honestly can’t believe it took me so long to jump into full on romance reading.)
The Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta (They are so good!!!!!)
The Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews (I blew through the last five and various short stories early last year after a miscarriage and they are like a balm to me.)
Speakeasy by Sarina Bowen
Dance with Me by Alexis Daria
Kulti by Mariana Zapata
I just found a new comfort-read book. I’ve read it 2.5 times this month. A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik. It’s incredibly dark, but also hopeful. Boarding school for mages, where 75% of the kids don’t live to see graduation.
I’m reading Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston for the 4th time right now because I need a hopeful political scenario in my life.
Other comfort faves: Act Like It by Lucy Parker, Ride With Me by Ruthie Knox, Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade, and Spotless by Camilla Monk.
I may just put these books in constant rotation through the end of the year.
Best Rec League and I know I’ll be coming back to it. Tessa Dare, Mary Balough. My favorite Elizabeth Hoyt is To Beguile a Beast – I am a sucker for a Beauty and the Beast retelling. So It Started With a Scandal by Julie Ann Long is another favorite.
The other author who is a comfort read is Betty Neels. You know exactly what you’re going to get in 193 pages. Doctors, nurses, and put-upon poor relations. Curl up with a cup of tea and biscuits.
I have been doing a LOT of audiobook reading and find that my comfort reads are the best match of narrator + book.
PALADIN OF SOULS – By Lois McMaster Bujold – older heroine, cool story, fantastic narration by Kate Reading.
THE TALISMAN RING – By Georgette Heyer – my favorite of hers and excellent narration by Phyllida Law
TREACHERY IN DEATH – By JD Robb – Susan Erickson is basically another personality in her narration of this series. I like this one because it is aspirational on how corrupt police are supposed to be dealt with! And it is exciting and fun and I love a good sting.
My go-to comfort reads are from La Nora. I’d pick the first In bride quartet, Vision in White. Easy, happy sighs guaranteed.
lots of favorites already mentioned, so I will add Loretta Chase’s Lord of Scoundrels and Lee & Miller’s I Dare
Any comfort read for me must include Georgette Heyer – These Old Shades or Sylvester. A series like Mary Balogh’s Bedwyn saga works when you totally need to immerse yourself in days of comfort reading. II also love anything E. J. Noyes writes. On the non-romance side, probably Mark Lawrence’s Book of the Ancestor series.
I am rereading quite a bit in this stressful period pre-election, post-SupremeCourt pick. I tend to go with series, and am currently focussed on Patricia Briggs (just reread the Mercy Thompson novels and rereading the Alpha and Omega novels now).
I also enjoy rereads of Ilona Andrews’ series (Innkeeper, especially), and any of the series by TJ Klune (especially love these series: Wolfsong, Tell Me Its Real, and Bear, Otter and the Kid).
So apparently I have a lot of ways to avoid watching tv or hanging out online. Picking up a book right now…
It Happened One Wedding by Julie James. It is a perfect book. In every way.
Triple D, my sister from another mister, you were in my thoughts the last couple days & I’m happy to hear you and yours are safe & dry. Best news since Colorado got 12″ of snow so my friend in Loveland could breathe again.
I’m going to say literally anything by Shelly Laurenston. I can’t pick a specific but I do prefer audiobook versions. The narration by Charlotte Kane (I think) is superb. Would love to see/hear her on the podcast. *wink*. There are times I’ve had a legitimately rough day and I’ll listen to one of her books crying and cracking up at the same time. As I’ve typed this I did pick a favorite. In a Badger Way. For three reasons: honey badgers, the relationship between the sisters and Shen. He and his bamboo, hanging upside down from trees are adorable.
Comfort re-reads … both older, may be problematic in some ways, but I still think of them fondly (and they make me laugh)::: -:::
The Bridal Test (Bettina Krahn) – big alpha unfeeling knight home from the Crusades with a new estate looks for a bride with the help of a very new, pedantic and somewhat clumsy nun-acolyte.
Lady Whistledown Strikes Back! (Julia Quinn et al) – a spinoff of the Bridgerton series with 4 different writers doing short stories of couples brought together by a gossip columnist’s mechanications. It was my gateway to Julia Quinn, but all of the stories are pretty sweet and fairly light.
The Early In Death by JDRobb/Nora Roberts….. Eve and Roarke in the beginning….
The current hours of the by appointment only library do not mesh with my work schedule and the god awful amount of road construction I would have to make it through (honestly does it truly make sense to tear up all of the roads at the same time?) so I’ve been doing a LOT of rereading — Nora –MacGregors — Quinn -The Bridgertons — Pride and Prejudice — Dick Francis — Stephen King — Tolkien….Lewis…. Mary Stewart … Heinlein… McCaffrey — I’m about ready to resort to Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew….
My in case of emergency break glass comfort read November 3, 2020 edition is Sunshine by Robin McKinley. Gah, I love everything about this book and its mix of the mundane and the sad and the horrible is just right for me right now – so jealous of anyone who gets to read this for the first time. Please do yourself a favor and check it out.
Bonus comfort series: Girl Meets Duke, Tessa Dare (though of course anything by her is comforting). Also seconding the Ruthie Knox recommendation. Thanks for this great post!
An oldie but goodie: Touch not the Cat by Mary Stewart.
As a Canadian living in Ontario, I am hoping that the next few months go smoothly for the United States. We are watching anxiously!
This time of year I break out my collection of old Signet Regency Christmas anthologies and wallow in tales of country house parties, sleighing, wassail, and Christmas pudding. And so many great authors— Mary Balogh, Carla Kelly, Edith Layton, Mary Jo Putney… Definitely my comfort reads!
An oldie but goodie: Touch Not the Cat by Mary Stewart. It is a lovely relaxing read and I feel like I am bundled up in fleece when I read it.
I am a Canadian from Ontario and I am hoping for a good outcome next week and a calm transition. We are very anxious for you though!
Mine is Maeve Binchy’s Circle of Friends,but that’s not a romance (though I think Benny is very HFN at the end). My romance choice would be Lucy Parker’s Pretty Face.
An oldie but goodie: Touch Not the Cat by Mary Stewart. I feel like I am wrapped in cashmere when I read it; so cozy and relaxing.
Best wishes to all the Americans for the next few months. I am a Canadian from Ontario and our conversations revolve around your politics often. We are quite anxious on your behalf. An old prime minister once described our relationship as that of a mouse sleeping next to an elephant. Hence we pay lots of attention to the elephant!