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9/1/2018

It's been a rough month for a variety of reasons, most pretty minor but piling on each other, but I'm happy to say that it's been a banner month for me with regard to reading romance.
I know I'm late to the party--I've been hearing about this series for over a year now--but I finally started reading Elle Kennedy's Off Campus series. It features students at a small college not far from Boston, and all the male main characters play hockey. Confession: I'm a sucker for sports romances. Doesn't matter what sport. It may not even be one that I'm willing to watch. There's something about characters who excel at physical feats that I couldn't hope to do that really works for me. Anyway, I like how the drama and conflict feels real and appropriate to that stage of life, and the way the relationships unfold gradually, and with fits and starts. It feels real, and I like that in a contemporary romance. So I just finished the second in the series, The Mistake, this morning, and I'll be starting book 3 (already downloaded) later today.

Also, I think I'll be making this a regular post here. I read a lot, not even kidding. I passed the 100 books mark last week for 2018, and hit a total of 176 for 2017. And one of the things I love as much as writing romance is making book recommendations in the genre. It makes me so very happy! So if you want a rec, let me know. But I don't generally make them blind, so give me an idea of what you've enjoyed in the past, whether by trope, author, setting, subgenre, or other appeal factor so I have something to go on.

Happy reading!

Lynn Lovegreen link

9/1/2018 03:02:44 pm

Nice post, Karen. I'd like to read more historical romance with unusual settings--getting tired of castles and Regency balls, looking for something more diverse or unique.

Karen Kiely

9/3/2018 02:28:26 pm

Lynn, have you tried Alyssa Cole's Loyal League series? The first two titles are An Extraordinary Union and A Hope Divided, and they're set during the US Civil War. She has some historical novellas as well. Check her website for details.
Also, try Beverly Jenkins if you want non-Regency historicals. She writes contemporaries and suspense too, but is best known for her historicals. With a backlist longer than my arm, there's a lot to choose from. Tempest is set in the Old West, and is one of a 3-book series.
If these suggestions don't quite hit the spot for you, let me know and I'll come up with some others. Enjoy!

9/4/2018 04:07:45 pm

Lynn, I couldn't stop looking for more non-Regency ballroom historicals, so here's another post.
Everyone has raved about Hamilton's Battalion, so maybe you've already read it. It's a collection of three stories by Rose Lerner, Courtney Milan, and Alyssa Cole (again). FYI, the Courtney Milan story is m/m, if that matters to you. All three stories take place in Revolutionary War America.
The Lotus Palace by Jeannie Lin takes place in China during the Tang Dynasty, not your usual place for a historical romance. This one has a mystery thread as well.
Star Dust by Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner takes place in Houston in 1962, so it's near-history (don't look at me that way--I know we don't like to think of ourselves as being that old), but the Space Race has got to be a fun setting for a romance, right?
How's that for variety? Happy reading!

Lynn Lovegreen

9/6/2018 02:21:19 pm

Thanks, Karen!

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