So, I've had a serious *ahem* desire to start reading again and what do I want to read? Romance, of course! I would love to hear what books other fans of this genre like and would recommend. What's a good series? Who's your favorite author? Gimme the good ones, people!
When I get the chance I'll look at my own collection and contribute to the conversation but for the moment it is late and I had to walk home from work through the rain so I'm cold and wet and just want to snuggle in my blanket. I'm sure you understand.
When I get the chance I'll look at my own collection and contribute to the conversation but for the moment it is late and I had to walk home from work through the rain so I'm cold and wet and just want to snuggle in my blanket. I'm sure you understand.
Have you read the Kushiel series by Jacqueline Carey? It’s definitely not trashy(writing is superb) but it’s one of those stories you just binge on because it’s so sexy and beautiful.
Selkieborn wrote:
Have you read the Kushiel series by Jacqueline Carey? It’s definitely not trashy(writing is superb) but it’s one of those stories you just binge on because it’s so sexy and beautiful.
I actually found one those at a used book store and bought it on a whim. I was then hooked and had to track them all down. They are amazing. World building and characterization and over arcing plots and just so sexy. They're amazing.
Lorelei James has a few series where the cover art is nothing but men without shirts on. Her Rough Riders series is very good, if you prefer wild west stories. To quote the author: "I set out to create books that were a bit more realistic in the day to day life of Wyoming ranchers and a whole lot sexier than what I’d found on the shelves of the local bookstores or online".
I don't read much romance, but for better or worse, there is one I need to mention. In high school, a friend of mine discovered that Fabio (yes, the model guy with long hair and no shirt and who did the not-butter commercials) "wrote" a romance novel. We have since learned that he has more than one, but the one we first came across was Pirate, in which a privateer who is totally-not-just-Fabio-with-another-name rescues a young girl (she's like, 11?), takes her home to his island colony, and proceeds to mostly ignore her until she's 18 and all hell figuratively breaks lose.
It may not be what you are looking for. I'd say it's more trashy than romance. We read it for the lols and the awful seafaring innuendos.
It may not be what you are looking for. I'd say it's more trashy than romance. We read it for the lols and the awful seafaring innuendos.
Novalyyn wrote:
It may not be what you are looking for. I'd say it's more trashy than romance. We read it for the lols and the awful seafaring innuendos.
My friends and I occasionally play a game when we go to the bookstore together. It's the Romance Novel Game. Basically you wander the romance aisle and the person who finds the title with the absolute worst sex pun in it wins. Bonus points for ridiculous cover art. My friend Sean always wins. Always.
Dndmama wrote:
Selkieborn wrote:
Have you read the Kushiel series by Jacqueline Carey? It’s definitely not trashy(writing is superb) but it’s one of those stories you just binge on because it’s so sexy and beautiful.
I actually found one those at a used book store and bought it on a whim. I was then hooked and had to track them all down. They are amazing. World building and characterization and over arcing plots and just so sexy. They're amazing.
They really are! Imriel was the first male protagonist I ever got hooked on. And The precepts discussed in that series are beautiful too! ‘Love as though wilt’ , ‘that which yields is not always weak’
There are way too many.
Ah! I remember a good romance I read in my childhood. If you also like trashy period romances, you'll love "Whitney, My Love" by Judith McNaught. It's a really good, sensual read from what I could recall.
Just so I can drop this here for others;
My first introduction into romance novels was through Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series. It's fantastical. I like how easy she is to read without coming off super cringy or edgey. I like that it simultaneously focuses around both male and female characters.
For a brief and non-spoiling description;
The Lord's of the Underworld are a group of men and some women who are possessed by the demons that were once kept captive inside Pandora's box. When that box was opened, those demon's needed a host and found them. Now, these men who are basically a mercenary group are bound with these crippling and debilitating changes to themselves.
Bound to always lie, be in pain, wrath, famine and diseases, promiscuity, death, violence, disaster, secrets, nightmares, and so on. It's an incredible series and it's chock full of action, romance, drama, intimate adulting relations, and of course it does always have some edge lord and brooding bad boys in the mix.
The woman are usually depicted as demure but strong willed and pretty cool. Some are portrayed as real butt kickers, but this is a predominantly heterosexual series. I don't think there's any LGBT relationships? which is entirely unfortunate, but it is still a good read for the trashy romance novel type.
My first introduction into romance novels was through Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series. It's fantastical. I like how easy she is to read without coming off super cringy or edgey. I like that it simultaneously focuses around both male and female characters.
For a brief and non-spoiling description;
The Lord's of the Underworld are a group of men and some women who are possessed by the demons that were once kept captive inside Pandora's box. When that box was opened, those demon's needed a host and found them. Now, these men who are basically a mercenary group are bound with these crippling and debilitating changes to themselves.
Bound to always lie, be in pain, wrath, famine and diseases, promiscuity, death, violence, disaster, secrets, nightmares, and so on. It's an incredible series and it's chock full of action, romance, drama, intimate adulting relations, and of course it does always have some edge lord and brooding bad boys in the mix.
The woman are usually depicted as demure but strong willed and pretty cool. Some are portrayed as real butt kickers, but this is a predominantly heterosexual series. I don't think there's any LGBT relationships? which is entirely unfortunate, but it is still a good read for the trashy romance novel type.
Hmm my suggestions would be...
The Crossfire Series by Sylvia Day:
Book 1: Bared to You
Book 2: Reflected in You
Book 3:Entwined with You
Book 4: Captivated by You
Book 5: One with You
Then single books I'd suggest..
Lord of Darkness by Elizabeth Hoyt
Seven Years to Sin by Sylvia Day
Unclaimed by Courtney Milan
The Crossfire Series by Sylvia Day:
Book 1: Bared to You
Book 2: Reflected in You
Book 3:Entwined with You
Book 4: Captivated by You
Book 5: One with You
Then single books I'd suggest..
Lord of Darkness by Elizabeth Hoyt
Seven Years to Sin by Sylvia Day
Unclaimed by Courtney Milan
I',m not sure if they qualify as 'trashy romance novels' or not, but a guilty pleasure of mine a while back was reading many of the Holts, & Wagons West series by Dana Fuller Ross and Dark Nights by his wife Livia Reasoner.
This topic made me realize that I don't actually remember the titles of the trashy romance novels that I read. I have a Scribd subscription so I just plow through the suggested reads. 
The last romance that really stuck with me was Master of Crows by Grace Draven. The conflict and build up of the romance was delicious!
The last romance that really stuck with me was Master of Crows by Grace Draven. The conflict and build up of the romance was delicious!
Book summary copy-pasted here
What would you do to win your freedom? This is the question that sets bondwoman, Martise of Asher, on a dangerous path. In exchange for her freedom, she bargains with her masters, the mage-priests of Conclave, to spy on the renegade sorcerer, Silhara of Neith. The priests want Martise to expose the sorcerer's treachery and turn him over to Conclave justice. A risky endeavor, but one she accepts without hesitation--until she falls in love with her intended target.
Silhara of Neith, Master of Crows, is a desperate man. The god called Corruption invades his mind, seducing him with promises of limitless power if he will help it gain dominion over the world. Silhara struggles against Corruption's influence and searches for ways to destroy the god. When Conclave sends Martise as an apprentice to help him, he knows she's a spy. Now he fights a war on two fronts--against the god who would possess him and the apprentice who would betray him.
Mage and spy search together for a ritual that will annihilate Corruption, but in doing so, they discover secrets about each other that may damn them both. Silhara must decide if his fate, and the fate of nations, is worth the soul of the woman he has come to love, and Martise must choose continued enslavement or freedom at the cost of a man's life. And love.
Silhara of Neith, Master of Crows, is a desperate man. The god called Corruption invades his mind, seducing him with promises of limitless power if he will help it gain dominion over the world. Silhara struggles against Corruption's influence and searches for ways to destroy the god. When Conclave sends Martise as an apprentice to help him, he knows she's a spy. Now he fights a war on two fronts--against the god who would possess him and the apprentice who would betray him.
Mage and spy search together for a ritual that will annihilate Corruption, but in doing so, they discover secrets about each other that may damn them both. Silhara must decide if his fate, and the fate of nations, is worth the soul of the woman he has come to love, and Martise must choose continued enslavement or freedom at the cost of a man's life. And love.
Dunedain-Ranger wrote:
I',m not sure if they qualify as 'trashy romance novels' or not, but a guilty pleasure of mine a while back was reading many of the Holts, & Wagons West series by Dana Fuller Ross and Dark Nights by his wife Livia Reasoner.
To be fair, I say trashy in a loving way. Sort of in the same way you call your best friend a jerk when he says he won't lend you twenty bucks while he's in the process of handing you a fifty.
damnationfromafar wrote:
Hmm my suggestions would be...
The Crossfire Series by Sylvia Day:
Book 1: Bared to You
Book 2: Reflected in You
Book 3:Entwined with You
Book 4: Captivated by You
Book 5: One with You
Then single books I'd suggest..
Lord of Darkness by Elizabeth Hoyt
Seven Years to Sin by Sylvia Day
Unclaimed by Courtney Milan
The Crossfire Series by Sylvia Day:
Book 1: Bared to You
Book 2: Reflected in You
Book 3:Entwined with You
Book 4: Captivated by You
Book 5: One with You
Then single books I'd suggest..
Lord of Darkness by Elizabeth Hoyt
Seven Years to Sin by Sylvia Day
Unclaimed by Courtney Milan
The Crossfire series is TOP NOTCH as trashy romances go. I was recommended it by a veteran author when I complained that I'd never get the time I spent reading fifty shades back. xD She said it was better than fifty shades because it was done by a master storyteller rather than a beginning author and that Sylvia Day paid true respect to the BDSM culture, rather than using it as an excuse to write unrealistic dynamics. Sylvia Day is a great author, one of my favorites!
Romance novels are the best For Historical romances I absolutely love Tessa Dare's books! They are so hilarious and swoony. And if you want some fantasy thrown in, I'd strongly encourage anyone to read C.L. Wilson's books. That woman does fantasy+romance like nobody's business.
For Historical romances I absolutely love Tessa Dare's books! They are so hilarious and swoony. And if you want some fantasy thrown in, I'd strongly encourage anyone to read C.L. Wilson's books. That woman does fantasy+romance like nobody's business.
Thank you so much to everyone who responded! I'm definitely going to start looking into these suggestions just as soon as I can. If anyone has any more, feel free to throw them down. I'm sure I can't be the only person interested in which books squeeze your heart and other less mentionable parts of your body!
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