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Discussions => General Discussions => Topic started by: Sakuragawa on June 04, 2014, 08:43:42 PM

Title: Romance Novels
Post by: Sakuragawa on June 04, 2014, 08:43:42 PM
What are some romance novels that you recommend? It doesn't have to focus on romance, just as long as the protagonist has a beau or develops a romantic interest in someone through the course of the story, or the story is interesting.

I like action/adventure/mystery with romance so I feel bored sometimes if there's nothing going on except that for the leads lusting--falling in love with each other with stupid misunderstandings like in Harlequin novels/manga.

Some authors I like are Richelle Mead(Georgina Kincaid series) , Laurell K Hamilton(Anita Blake, Merry Gentry Series), and Christine Feehan(Ghostwalkers, Drake Sisters, Dark series).
Title: Re: Romance Novels
Post by: Aiwethryne on June 04, 2014, 09:44:34 PM
I love fantasy and historical romance stories~ Sadly, as my list of free phone and tablet otoge grows, my time for real books sharply dwindles. Due to the drab writing often provided in these rather typical shoujo manga-ish plots, it makes the Harlequin writing sound significantly more eloquent.

But, hmmmm... It's hard to remember titles of things I enjoyed. *strokes invisible beard at my failed memory* So I'm just turning left towards the first book I see – Hawkspar, by Holly Lisle. It had interesting points.
Title: Re: Romance Novels
Post by: Jay345Sal28 on June 08, 2014, 10:53:03 PM
Has anyone ever read "The Black Swan" by Mercedes Lackey? It's the story of swan lake told by Odile.  It's very cute though it can get corny at a couple of times. The romance is cute though you don't warm up to seigfried until 1/3 into the story. The female characters are pretty good.   :book:
Title: Re: Romance Novels
Post by: Aiwethryne on June 09, 2014, 12:16:58 AM
I looked it up to see if I recognized the cover art, and nope~ Never heard of it or seen it. I'll see if I can find it next time I go to a bookstore. I think that so many stories have such painfully cheesy and trite romances, but people like those types of feel-good repetitions.

But this reminds me of a series of books based on fairy tales but written by different authors that were actually pretty good. Here's the list: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upo ... vel_series (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upon_a_Time_(novel_series)) The ones I remember liking most were based on Snow White and The Little Mermaid. Many of them delve quite into history.
Title: Re: Romance Novels
Post by: Sakuragawa on June 11, 2014, 12:49:06 AM
Quote from: "Jay345Sal28"
Has anyone ever read "The Black Swan" by Mercedes Lackey? It's the story of swan lake told by Odile.  It's very cute though it can get corny at a couple of times. The romance is cute though you don't warm up to seigfried until 1/3 into the story. The female characters are pretty good.   :book:

I haven't read it and doesn't seem all that interesting to me. The names are kinda... My local library doesn't have many copies of the book either, but they do have more of the author's other works so I'm considering on giving them a try.
-

I don't really like reading digital books/stories through a computer screen. That includes the games. I get bored or tired much quicker than reading a book in print.

It would be awesome if there were computers that are like books with pages that one can flip through. *fantasizes*
Title: Re: Romance Novels
Post by: SunStarlight on June 28, 2014, 06:01:26 PM
Eh... Let's see... *browses through goodreads*
Here are my favourites:
White Cat by Holly Black (YA, magic, mafia, male MC, first person POV),
The Archieved by Victoria Schwab (YA, magic libraries, keys, first person POV),
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (YA, magic, private schools, MC has a male harem, third person, multiple POVs),
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown (YA, vampires, best vampire book ever, third person, multiple POVs),
Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan (YA, magic, imaginary friends, third person, multiple POV)

:D
Title: Re: Romance Novels
Post by: Aiwethryne on June 28, 2014, 06:04:03 PM
Oooh, I love Holly Black's husband's paintings. And Holly Black's faery-related stories, even though they are short.
Title: Re: Romance Novels
Post by: SunStarlight on June 28, 2014, 06:07:35 PM
Quote from: "Aiwethryne"
Oooh, I love Holly Black's husband's paintings. And Holly Black's faery-related stories, even though they are short.

Haha, I like the way she writes her characters, but I'm so not into fairies :/ And her next book is a fairy book, I think?

I absolutely loved Coldest Girl in Coldtown! Gavriel ;u;
Title: Re: Romance Novels
Post by: Aiwethryne on June 28, 2014, 06:20:11 PM
I'm very into faeries, the sidhe — malicious creatures — but I hate how they are romanticized as spritely pixie things. I haven't looked at her website in a few years, so I have no clue~

I am not that interested in vampires, and I remember when she blogged about how she was apprehensive publishing her story while the vampire hype was so rampant.
Title: Re: Romance Novels
Post by: SunStarlight on June 28, 2014, 07:28:44 PM
I'm not into vampire fiction either, but this one is worth reading unlike all the other post-twilight books out there. It's pretty intense, and starts with the heroine waking up in a bathtub after a party in a friend's house and everyone else being dead.

If you're into fairies, then you've probably read Melissa Marr's series? I liked the first book, sort of.
Title: Re: Romance Novels
Post by: Aiwethryne on June 28, 2014, 09:10:54 PM
Yeah, I've read all of them, but much of the series gave me headaches. Writers love stretching folklore. I remember reading half of one of the books in the art room after my Saturday studio time and drinking coffee with one of the painting teachers, who'd let me stay there alone until the evening classes began. Ah, Saturday. The only time I'd ever drink coffee — because it was free.
Title: Re: Romance Novels
Post by: Aquitaine on April 03, 2015, 07:05:35 PM
Thanks Aiwei for telling me about this thread. There are a couple of recs that sound really interesting.

What I've been reading this easter:

The Circle of Magic by Tamora Pierce: it's more for preteens. The first four books are ok but not groundbreaking. From the second series I only liked Tris and Briar books. There are more sequels but I'm not interested. There is also no romance here more about friendship and all that.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance, #1) by N.K. Jemisin. This one is really good. Female MC who should be from the royal family but family circumstances made her live outside their influence but now could be a hair to the throne. Then mix gods being used as weapons and the female MC in the middle of political intrigues. There is romance but it's not the main part of the book.

The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley. It's like a king arthur story with the mc being female. I liked the first part but the second part was so so and I didn't enjoy the romance side. There is a sequel that was written before this one and it's in my to read list.

This summer I read the Stormlight archive which was good. As there are lot of POV (like in GoT) some I like some I hate. But the world building is very well done. It's more complex than the other books I've mentioned. It's supposed to have 7 books and there are only 2 right now. There is romance but it's not the main point of the book.

I also read  The Winter King (Weathermages of Mystral #1) by C.L. Wilson which is mainly a romance book with fantasy elements. The book is super long for the plot it has. It's an ok read but nothing special. Kind of cliche. The twists could be seen like four years before they happened.

Title: Re: Romance Novels
Post by: milachanbao on April 03, 2015, 07:20:07 PM
If you like Richelle Mead, I thought her Succubus series was very good too.

I also love anything by Ilona Andrews.  There's romance, but the central plot is more urban fantasy.

Other favorites:

Grace Draven - Master of Crows
Tarryn Fisher - I started with The Opportunist (part of trilogy) and this book was a real mindf**k but she has this talent for totally reeling u in
Colleen Hoover - loved her first book Slammed, started out as an indie author
Lynn Flewelling - mostly fantasy, her Nightrunner series has a M/M relationship, Tamir Trilogy was also very good
Title: Re: Romance Novels
Post by: Fairth on April 04, 2015, 07:41:21 PM
Oh Yeah ! I'm a huge reader, but instead of giving you my full list, I'll only give you the last titles I've read and loved:

Obsidiane (Jennifer Armentrout)
It's a romance between a human girl and a super-hot non-human guy (Forget about vampire and werewolves, they are old-fashioned)
The selection (Kiera Cass)
A girl has to participate with 35 other girls to a competition to win the Prince's heart, and become queen. It's a dystopia, and the protagonist is strong-wild and very funny. In May 5th, the sequel will be released, about the reversed situation:
One girl, 35 guys trying to win her over~
(The new kind of survival games xDD)
When Beauty Tamed the Beast (Eloisa James)
This woman wrote 3 books, inspired by Fairy Tales (Cinderella, Beauty and the beast and the peas princess story), but When beauty tamed the beast is my favourite !
Easy (Tamara Webber)
A non-fantastic and contemporary story, about a college girl who just got dumped by her 3years-boyfriend and meets a hot-smart-bamf guy when he saves her from being raped. Nothing is extraordinary, but the romance is really touching and realistic.

And those are the best among the romance novels I've read since last Chrsitmas, highly selected xDD
(If you want to try them, I can share the ones I have. Except for When beauty Tamed the books which I only own in French)
Title: Re: Romance Novels
Post by: AutumnSapphire on April 28, 2015, 11:47:38 AM
I read primarily Nora Roberts for fluff romance novels. She has a LOT of novels, trilogies, etc...

Some of them deal with the supernatural or the fantastic. She's got a few that deal with vampires, a lot that deal with magic of some kind...

I enjoy them because they might be formulaic (it's always easy to figure out who falls for who and they always have a happy ending), but the stories are always interesting. :)
Title: Re: Romance Novels
Post by: Nigihayami on January 11, 2016, 06:20:41 PM
Keira Cass series The Selection 4 books so far 5th and last coming out in may
Also Siren comes out in a few days she re-wrote this book it's a stand alone

Marissa Meyer Lunar Chronicles 4 books this series is finished

Both are Dystonia ya books
Selection is about a girl who gets selected with 24 other girls to win the prince's heart even tho she wants nothing to do with it.
Lunar Chronicles is a future retelling about Cinder(Cinderella) Scarlet(Red ridinghood) Cress(Rapunzel) and Winter(Snow White)

I got plenty more books like:
Hush Hush series
The Iron Fey
Caster Chronicles

And many more but i have to pull up my goodreads list for that. So if anyone is interested let me know