If You Like: A Call for Queries
After the success of last week’s “Which Victoria Holt?” query, I’m curious to know whether anyone else has any book requests. Is there a specific author you’ve been meaning to try, but don’t know where to start? Or a plot type of which you’d like to read more?
Let me know and I’ll run an “If You Like” on the topic!
Do you know any good friends to lovers romances? Next to arranged marriages/marriages of convenience, that’s one of my favorite plot types.
I’ve also been told I should read more in the romantic suspense sub-genre, but I’m not sure where to start with that one.
Time travel is one of my favs, but I think you may have done it already.
Or secondly, books turned into movies.
I second Julie’s idea on friends-to-lovers reads (and I think you’ve already done an “If You Like” on this but I’m always a sucker for an arranged marriage plot!)
Also, I’m intrigued by the “steampunk” trend but it seems like it might a little too sci-fi for me. Don’t know if you or any fellow readers have any suggestions for books that are a good introduction to that genre?
Do you know of any good books where the hero is scarred physically?
I’ve always had a soft spot for those stories. đ
You might check out Rona Sharon’s Once a Rake.
Debra I read a good book about a man that is scarred physically, it’s called the Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
Liz, you should really read Gail Carriger’s Parasole Protectorate series! It’s a great deal steam-punk with a very very funny bit-lit aspect and a heroin that is a real Amelia Peabody! I really recommand them! The first book is called Soulless!
I do have a soft spot for time travel too (and I’m still trying to find a book in which the hero/heroin comes from the past (say 18th century) into our present, but fail to find any! Can anybody help me?)!
Celine, I know there are more , but what comes to mind is Kasey Michaels’ Maggie Kelly series, starting with Maggie Nedds an Alibi. This are very funny , as well as romantic, when Maggie’s favorite character comes to life and into her life.
Thank you very much Sheila, I’ve looked what the book was and it seems very very funny! I’ll keep an eye open for it, given that it’s doesn’t seem to be available in my usual bookstores!
Thanks Celine! I am definitely going to check those out!
I’m really new to this whole “romance” thing. Most of the books I have read (and enjoyed) that can be characterized as romance, have a whole lot of other sub genres thrown in: historical romance (with more history than romance,) urban fantasy, paranormal romance, romantic suspence, etc.
For someone who is new to romance, and frankly a little afraid of the genre and the stereotypical archetypes implied therein, what do you recommend? Up until the last two years, the only fiction I read was historical fiction (ie Penman), classics (Bronte, Austen, Poe, etc.), and contemporary classics (Vonnegut, Miller, Nin, etc.). Ms. Willig, the Pink Carnation series have been the first books which made me think maybe there is some merit to this whole romance thing.
When I go to the bookstore, I still approach the romance section with trepidation and tiptoe around it before darting in, only to be scared off by the buxom heroine bursting out of her bodice on the cover.
For someone like me, through which books and authors do I approach the genre in such a way as to embrace it?
Have you read Georgette Heyer? If not, read The Grand Sophy or Frederica, two excellent stories. Mary Balog’s A Summer to Remember is a wonderful intro to the romance genre, so is Julia Quinn’s How to Marry a Marquis.
Thank you! I will look into these.
Hi Lauren- if you liked Lauren Willig’s books, you should give Teresa Grant (Vienna Waltz, Imperial Scandal), Deanna Raybourn (the Lady Julia mysteries), or Tasha Alexander (the Lady Emily mysteries) a try. All 3 of those authors are ladies I found becaus eI like Lauren’s books so much, and I’ve really enjoyed them all.
Thank you! I have read Tasha Alexander and Deanna Raybourn (Amazon had the first three Lady Julia mysteries bundled and I thought I would give it a try) and enjoyed them immensely so you are right on the money! I will definitely look into Teresa Grant.
My friends and I have coined an umbrella genre called Lady Academic Fiction (or Academic Lady Fiction), which includes books with an academic setting or framework (it can be loosely defined), a researching main character (of either gender, though more often female, and at any stage in their career), and the obligatory romantic and or mysterious undertones. Examples would be your books, Deborah Harkness’s books, Foreign Affairs (Alison Lurie), Possession, The Historian, I think you get the idea. I would love to add to the list!
Laura Chase as an author, always time travel as a theme, but I gather you have done that and Austen revisits, I forget the correct name, either historical or modern. Such as the series by Beth Patillo. LynnKurland is good for time travel.
I meant Loretta Chase
How about an “if you like” featuring Jane Austen rewrites or spin-offs? The possibilities are endless, but sometimes it’s hard to separate the good ones from the ones that are hard to get through…
Thank you Ashley, exactly what I meant. There are so many out there, some I have read have been really good, some I could not finish.
Yes, yes, friends to lovers! One of my favorites.