Beyond Heaving Bosoms: a romance reclist
So.
Romance Novels.
I like them. I have a lot of them.
This is my romance novel bookshelf:
You can see by the color coordination that I read a lot of category romances, which are the ones that are released primarily by Harlequin, and follow a theme or a series and come out in batches every month. This is a recent shift in my reading preferences; I used to read ebook-first presses and occasionally single-title romances, but now I read a lot of categories. I will occasionally read historical, paranormal, or fantasy romances, but it's very rare. They just don't do it for me most of the time.
I'm very particular about the romances I read, so I stick to contemporary romances, published from the '90s forward. I'm not terribly loyal to authors, but I'm very attached to certain imprints and publishers, so my recommendations are based more on that and less on specific titles.
Give me romances that are funny, sexy, baby-free (usually), and without the character-degrading tropes and plotlines like subordinate secretaries and bitter tycoons. I don't really like alpha heroes, so that makes it difficult for me to navigate the romance terrain, because romance readers love them some big bulky assholes who need redeeming. I would much rather read about normal people making shitty relationship decisions than socialites being ridiculous.
Note: Erotic romances are a booming genre right now. For the sake of fandom interests (btw, why do so many people hate ladyparts? the stories are no different in slashfic compared to straight romance, I'm just saying), I'm splitting that section into traditional and m/m romances.
Single-Title Contemporary Romances
Single-title romances are sometimes part of a series -- many series center on siblings in a family, or on a town -- but often not. They're longer than category romances, usually around 3-500 pages.
Publishers:
Harlequin HQN and Harlequin MIRA, St. Martin's Press, Berkley Sensation, Avon Romance, Kensington Zebra, Kensington Brava
Authors:
Victoria Dahl, Jennifer Crusie, Kristan Higgins, Lori Foster, Sarah McCarty, Courtney Milan, Julie James, Susan Andersen, JR Ward, Carly Phillips, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Nora Roberts, Stephanie Laurens, Julia Quinn, Katie MacAllister, Lisa Kleypas, Stephanie Bond, Jaci Burton, Donna Kauffman, Mary Janice Davidson, Vicki Lewis Thompson, Susan Fox, Jill Shalvis, Erin McCarthy, Sandra Hill
Get Started:
Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie
the Rocky Creek series by Victoria Dahl
Just One Of The Guys by Kristan Higgins
Glitter Baby by Susan Andersen
Non-single-title recommendations:
the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward (if you like vampires and hilarious dialogue)
the Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn (if you like historicals)
the Nerd series by Vicki Lewis Thompson (if you like nerds, and laughing)
the Viking and Cajun series by Sandra Hill (if you like crack)
anything by Fabio (if you like historicals)
Contemporary Category/Series Romances
Category romances are what usually come to mind when people say romance novels. You think of Greek tycoons and virgin mistresses and books sold in the grocery checkout line. Those are the Harlequin Presents line, which are insanely popular, but not my fave. I have a lot of recs for Blaze/Temptation, but I've branched out to the Romance line lately so I will probably have more of those in the future.
Fun Fact! Harlequin Temptation was the first modern romance line that did not require heroines to be virgins before meeting the heroes, and Temptation's extra-spicy sub-series, Blaze, eventually turned into its own line and replaced Temptation within a few years.
Harlequin lines: Blaze, Temptation, Love and Laughter, Romance, Super Romance, American Romance, Special Edition, Desire
Authors: Jennifer Crusie, Stephanie Bond, Jill Shalvis, Kathleen O'Reilly, Karina Bliss, Sarah Mayberry, Nancy Warren, Leanne Banks, Lori Wilde, Tawny Weber, Toni Carrington, Isabel Sharpe, Jo Leigh, Kimberley Raye, Carrie Alexander, Cherry Adair, Kate Hoffmann, Samantha Hunter, Donna Kauffman
Get Started:
Charlie All Night, Anyone But You, and The Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Crusie
What The Librarian Did by Karina Bliss
Anything For You and She's Got It Bad by Sarah Mayberry
Sex Straight Up and Shaken, Not Stirred by Kathleen O'Reilly
Under The Influence and My Fake Fiancee by Nancy Warren
Blaze and Temptation are modern, sexy contemporaries; they make up most of my bookcase
Romance and Super Romance are modern, mostly-sweet contemporaries that tend to feature reunions and babies
anything from the Love and Laughter imprint is hilarious
Erotic Romances
Publishers: Berkley Heat, Avon Red, Kensington Aphrodisia, Harlequin Spice, Black Lace Books, Samhain Publishing, Carina Press, Ellora's Cave, Loose ID, Ravenous Romance
Authors: Megan Hart, Lauren Dane, Opal Carew, Cherry Adair, Saskia Walker, Portia Da Costa, Mathilde Madden, Shiloh Walker, Emma Holly, Maya Banks, Shiloh Walker, Nancy Madore, Shayla Black, Anya Bast, Jaci Burton, Lora Leigh, Michele Bardsley, Maryjanice Davidson, Jaid Black
Get Started:
Menage by Emma Holly
Peep Show by Mathilde Madden
Broken by Shiloh Walker
Dirty by Megan Hart
erotic fairy tale collections by Nancy Madore
the Sweet series by Maya Banks
Decadent by Shayla Black (this is awful but awfully hilarious)
m/m Romances
Most of the gay fiction I read is YA, so if you want gay fiction, I recommend Kensington Press or Cleis Press as publishers and the Lammies list for the year (which will never include m/m).
I have a lot of negative feelings about the m/m genre, so this list is not indicative of my preferences. These recommendations are not read-or-you're-missing-out, they're either really popular for the genre or they're authors I've read beyond the first page. 90% of m/m books are horrendous, which is why they're so heavily pirated -- no one wants to pay for poorly-made ebooks when they can just read fan fiction for free, and fan fiction is almost always better. I'm not being hyperbolic when I say I'd rather read My Immortal than most m/m romances.
Publishers: Samhain, Carina, Ellora's Cave, Loose ID, Dreamspinner, Torquere, Total E Bound, Rainbow Ebooks, Ravenous Romance
(of these, I'll recommend things from Samhain, Carina, LooseID, or Dreamspinner; ymmv with other pubs)
Authors: Damon Suede, Evangeline Anderson, Josh Lanyon, KA Mitchell, Kim Dare, Sean Michael, Jodi Payne, Chris Owen, Emily Veinglory, Julia Talbot, BA Tortuga, JM Snyder, James Buchanan, Laura Baumbach, Alex Beecroft, Ethan Day, JL Langley, Rick Reed
Get Started:
Hot Head by Damon Suede - I actually really like Damon's stuff
the Adrien English mystery series by Josh Lanyon
the Deviations series by Chris Owen and Jodi Payne
Starseed by JM Snyder
read something from Ravenous Romance, like Ryan Field, if you need a laugh
I defer to SarahF's reviews on Dear Author for m/m recommendations
Favorite Tropes
There are a lot of romance-specific tropes, and I really love some of them. I love them so much I made separate collections for them in my Reader, so that I know exactly what will fulfill my reading desires. This isn't a reclist so much as a list of things you will find in the romances I have recommended, and why I love them so much.
Friends-to-lovers: This is one of my favorites, when it's done right. It works best when tied to another trope, like marriage of convenience. But far too often, it's I Spent Years Pining For Your Slutty Ass, Until FINALLY You Notice Me... and that doesn't work for me. I like when they're BFF and everyone thinks they're dating, but then something happens and then they realize they're Meant To Be. (This happens a lot in Pinto fanfic, which is why Pinto is my favorite.)
Marriage of Convenience: This is really common in category romances, which is why I've started reading so many categories lately, because this? This is an insta-buy for me. Someone needs a fiancee for a party, to ward off cray-cray suitors, for a job, to qualify for inheritance, because their grandpa had some weird clause about firstborn sons in his will, so his mom will finally love him for who he truly is, for immigration purposes... and only after they spend x-amount of time pretending to be married do they realize they want to be married. Seriously. Insta-buy. I eat this shit up.
Oops, we're stuck together! I love when the pair are thrown together and can't escape without teamwork and/or fucking a lot. Oops, we're trapped in this freak storm together! Oops, our friends died and their will says we have to raise their children together! Oops, my uncle died and said you have to help me restore his cottage! Oops, our plane crashed and we're stuck on a desert island! Oops, I run a matchmaking service and I got matched up with you on accident! Oops, my house caught on fire and I have to live with you for a week! I. Love. These.
Oops, you're in my bed! This is another one that goes wrong a lot, but when it's good, it's fantastic. This is my hotel room, what are you doing in my bed? This is my turn for the remote cabin timeshare, what are you doing in my bed? Sometimes it involves twins, or roommates, and since it's dark, one of the main pairing "accidentally" sleeps with the wrong person, but then they fall in love so it's okay (it kinda weirds me out sometimes).
Reunions: Something scandalous happened and one of the characters had to leave their small town for ten years (always ten years), but they come back to find that Things Have Changed and That One Person They Kinda Liked Is All Grown Up And Super Hot. I'm a sucker for stories about coming back to your hometown and surprising everyone by being a bamf.
Sexual awakenings: Who doesn't love the I-didn't-know-how-beautiful-sex-could-be-before-I-met-your-magical-genitals? There's an element of this in pretty much every romance novel -- they never had good sex until they found The One -- but erotic romances and Blaze novels really play up the "Let's have tons of sex together and then we'll discover the true meaning of life!" trope, which is fun.
Christmas: This isn't a trope so much as I will read anything if it centers around Christmas. FACT. I've read a lot of shitty m/m recently because someone uploaded a big folder of m/m Christmas books on Demonoid. Seriously. If it features Christmas, I am all over it.
Bonus! There are really smart people on the internet who read romance novels and take them seriously because they actually deserve to be taken seriously as works of literature, no matter what pretentious hipsters and Huffington Post say. Follow Dear Author and Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Books and keep up to speed with all the awesome things in Romancelandia. You'd be surprised how many parallels there are between the romance community and fandom. (Namely: all fanfiction are romance novels.)
Romance Novels.
I like them. I have a lot of them.
This is my romance novel bookshelf:
You can see by the color coordination that I read a lot of category romances, which are the ones that are released primarily by Harlequin, and follow a theme or a series and come out in batches every month. This is a recent shift in my reading preferences; I used to read ebook-first presses and occasionally single-title romances, but now I read a lot of categories. I will occasionally read historical, paranormal, or fantasy romances, but it's very rare. They just don't do it for me most of the time.
I'm very particular about the romances I read, so I stick to contemporary romances, published from the '90s forward. I'm not terribly loyal to authors, but I'm very attached to certain imprints and publishers, so my recommendations are based more on that and less on specific titles.
Give me romances that are funny, sexy, baby-free (usually), and without the character-degrading tropes and plotlines like subordinate secretaries and bitter tycoons. I don't really like alpha heroes, so that makes it difficult for me to navigate the romance terrain, because romance readers love them some big bulky assholes who need redeeming. I would much rather read about normal people making shitty relationship decisions than socialites being ridiculous.
Note: Erotic romances are a booming genre right now. For the sake of fandom interests (btw, why do so many people hate ladyparts? the stories are no different in slashfic compared to straight romance, I'm just saying), I'm splitting that section into traditional and m/m romances.
Single-Title Contemporary Romances
Single-title romances are sometimes part of a series -- many series center on siblings in a family, or on a town -- but often not. They're longer than category romances, usually around 3-500 pages.
Publishers:
Harlequin HQN and Harlequin MIRA, St. Martin's Press, Berkley Sensation, Avon Romance, Kensington Zebra, Kensington Brava
Authors:
Victoria Dahl, Jennifer Crusie, Kristan Higgins, Lori Foster, Sarah McCarty, Courtney Milan, Julie James, Susan Andersen, JR Ward, Carly Phillips, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Nora Roberts, Stephanie Laurens, Julia Quinn, Katie MacAllister, Lisa Kleypas, Stephanie Bond, Jaci Burton, Donna Kauffman, Mary Janice Davidson, Vicki Lewis Thompson, Susan Fox, Jill Shalvis, Erin McCarthy, Sandra Hill
Get Started:
Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie
the Rocky Creek series by Victoria Dahl
Just One Of The Guys by Kristan Higgins
Glitter Baby by Susan Andersen
Non-single-title recommendations:
the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward (if you like vampires and hilarious dialogue)
the Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn (if you like historicals)
the Nerd series by Vicki Lewis Thompson (if you like nerds, and laughing)
the Viking and Cajun series by Sandra Hill (if you like crack)
anything by Fabio (if you like historicals)
Contemporary Category/Series Romances
Category romances are what usually come to mind when people say romance novels. You think of Greek tycoons and virgin mistresses and books sold in the grocery checkout line. Those are the Harlequin Presents line, which are insanely popular, but not my fave. I have a lot of recs for Blaze/Temptation, but I've branched out to the Romance line lately so I will probably have more of those in the future.
Fun Fact! Harlequin Temptation was the first modern romance line that did not require heroines to be virgins before meeting the heroes, and Temptation's extra-spicy sub-series, Blaze, eventually turned into its own line and replaced Temptation within a few years.
Harlequin lines: Blaze, Temptation, Love and Laughter, Romance, Super Romance, American Romance, Special Edition, Desire
Authors: Jennifer Crusie, Stephanie Bond, Jill Shalvis, Kathleen O'Reilly, Karina Bliss, Sarah Mayberry, Nancy Warren, Leanne Banks, Lori Wilde, Tawny Weber, Toni Carrington, Isabel Sharpe, Jo Leigh, Kimberley Raye, Carrie Alexander, Cherry Adair, Kate Hoffmann, Samantha Hunter, Donna Kauffman
Get Started:
Charlie All Night, Anyone But You, and The Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Crusie
What The Librarian Did by Karina Bliss
Anything For You and She's Got It Bad by Sarah Mayberry
Sex Straight Up and Shaken, Not Stirred by Kathleen O'Reilly
Under The Influence and My Fake Fiancee by Nancy Warren
Blaze and Temptation are modern, sexy contemporaries; they make up most of my bookcase
Romance and Super Romance are modern, mostly-sweet contemporaries that tend to feature reunions and babies
anything from the Love and Laughter imprint is hilarious
Erotic Romances
Publishers: Berkley Heat, Avon Red, Kensington Aphrodisia, Harlequin Spice, Black Lace Books, Samhain Publishing, Carina Press, Ellora's Cave, Loose ID, Ravenous Romance
Authors: Megan Hart, Lauren Dane, Opal Carew, Cherry Adair, Saskia Walker, Portia Da Costa, Mathilde Madden, Shiloh Walker, Emma Holly, Maya Banks, Shiloh Walker, Nancy Madore, Shayla Black, Anya Bast, Jaci Burton, Lora Leigh, Michele Bardsley, Maryjanice Davidson, Jaid Black
Get Started:
Menage by Emma Holly
Peep Show by Mathilde Madden
Broken by Shiloh Walker
Dirty by Megan Hart
erotic fairy tale collections by Nancy Madore
the Sweet series by Maya Banks
Decadent by Shayla Black (this is awful but awfully hilarious)
m/m Romances
Most of the gay fiction I read is YA, so if you want gay fiction, I recommend Kensington Press or Cleis Press as publishers and the Lammies list for the year (which will never include m/m).
I have a lot of negative feelings about the m/m genre, so this list is not indicative of my preferences. These recommendations are not read-or-you're-missing-out, they're either really popular for the genre or they're authors I've read beyond the first page. 90% of m/m books are horrendous, which is why they're so heavily pirated -- no one wants to pay for poorly-made ebooks when they can just read fan fiction for free, and fan fiction is almost always better. I'm not being hyperbolic when I say I'd rather read My Immortal than most m/m romances.
Publishers: Samhain, Carina, Ellora's Cave, Loose ID, Dreamspinner, Torquere, Total E Bound, Rainbow Ebooks, Ravenous Romance
(of these, I'll recommend things from Samhain, Carina, LooseID, or Dreamspinner; ymmv with other pubs)
Authors: Damon Suede, Evangeline Anderson, Josh Lanyon, KA Mitchell, Kim Dare, Sean Michael, Jodi Payne, Chris Owen, Emily Veinglory, Julia Talbot, BA Tortuga, JM Snyder, James Buchanan, Laura Baumbach, Alex Beecroft, Ethan Day, JL Langley, Rick Reed
Get Started:
Hot Head by Damon Suede - I actually really like Damon's stuff
the Adrien English mystery series by Josh Lanyon
the Deviations series by Chris Owen and Jodi Payne
Starseed by JM Snyder
read something from Ravenous Romance, like Ryan Field, if you need a laugh
I defer to SarahF's reviews on Dear Author for m/m recommendations
Favorite Tropes
There are a lot of romance-specific tropes, and I really love some of them. I love them so much I made separate collections for them in my Reader, so that I know exactly what will fulfill my reading desires. This isn't a reclist so much as a list of things you will find in the romances I have recommended, and why I love them so much.
Friends-to-lovers: This is one of my favorites, when it's done right. It works best when tied to another trope, like marriage of convenience. But far too often, it's I Spent Years Pining For Your Slutty Ass, Until FINALLY You Notice Me... and that doesn't work for me. I like when they're BFF and everyone thinks they're dating, but then something happens and then they realize they're Meant To Be. (This happens a lot in Pinto fanfic, which is why Pinto is my favorite.)
Marriage of Convenience: This is really common in category romances, which is why I've started reading so many categories lately, because this? This is an insta-buy for me. Someone needs a fiancee for a party, to ward off cray-cray suitors, for a job, to qualify for inheritance, because their grandpa had some weird clause about firstborn sons in his will, so his mom will finally love him for who he truly is, for immigration purposes... and only after they spend x-amount of time pretending to be married do they realize they want to be married. Seriously. Insta-buy. I eat this shit up.
Oops, we're stuck together! I love when the pair are thrown together and can't escape without teamwork and/or fucking a lot. Oops, we're trapped in this freak storm together! Oops, our friends died and their will says we have to raise their children together! Oops, my uncle died and said you have to help me restore his cottage! Oops, our plane crashed and we're stuck on a desert island! Oops, I run a matchmaking service and I got matched up with you on accident! Oops, my house caught on fire and I have to live with you for a week! I. Love. These.
Oops, you're in my bed! This is another one that goes wrong a lot, but when it's good, it's fantastic. This is my hotel room, what are you doing in my bed? This is my turn for the remote cabin timeshare, what are you doing in my bed? Sometimes it involves twins, or roommates, and since it's dark, one of the main pairing "accidentally" sleeps with the wrong person, but then they fall in love so it's okay (it kinda weirds me out sometimes).
Reunions: Something scandalous happened and one of the characters had to leave their small town for ten years (always ten years), but they come back to find that Things Have Changed and That One Person They Kinda Liked Is All Grown Up And Super Hot. I'm a sucker for stories about coming back to your hometown and surprising everyone by being a bamf.
Sexual awakenings: Who doesn't love the I-didn't-know-how-beautiful-sex-could-be-before-I-met-your-magical-genitals? There's an element of this in pretty much every romance novel -- they never had good sex until they found The One -- but erotic romances and Blaze novels really play up the "Let's have tons of sex together and then we'll discover the true meaning of life!" trope, which is fun.
Christmas: This isn't a trope so much as I will read anything if it centers around Christmas. FACT. I've read a lot of shitty m/m recently because someone uploaded a big folder of m/m Christmas books on Demonoid. Seriously. If it features Christmas, I am all over it.
Bonus! There are really smart people on the internet who read romance novels and take them seriously because they actually deserve to be taken seriously as works of literature, no matter what pretentious hipsters and Huffington Post say. Follow Dear Author and Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Books and keep up to speed with all the awesome things in Romancelandia. You'd be surprised how many parallels there are between the romance community and fandom. (Namely: all fanfiction are romance novels.)