Happily Ever After Cafe discussion

Hello everyone! I'm new here and this will come across as rambling but desperate times call for desperate measures. I've been in a bit of a rut. I love my standard romances (Jill Shalvis, SEP, Lisa Kleypas, Julia Quinn just to name a few) but lately even my favorites haven't been just right. I wasn't even sure what I was looking for but by accident I read the Mortal Instruments series and discovered exactly what I needed...

1) A plot with a romance rather than a romance with a plot. I sincerely hope this makes sense. I know romance comes in a wide variety with lots of plots and twists but I loved that in this series, while the romance was crucial to the story, it was so much more elaborate. But obviously the romance still has to be featured, not just a side story. I don't know if that's understandable but I'm really not very eloquent with words, especially while trying to phrase what my heart wants to read.
2) A rough and tough hero to fall in love with that frequently rescues the heroine without portraying the heroine as a helpless moron. Sorry if I embarrass my gender by loving a girl who needs a man to save her.

Now I haven't touched a YA book outside of Harry Potter since my mom gave me my first Mary Higgins Clark at the age of 12 so I'm not sure if this is common of the genre or what. But I'm experiencing that loss of 'I finished the series and don't want it to be over' and I'm feeling a bit desperate that there's nothing else out there that meets my criteria and will satisfy my book craving. I thought about the Divergent books but I need a HEA. So does anybody out there have some ideas for me?

Pamela Clare
Julie James

Stephanie Laurens writes romance with mystery plot. If you want more mystery with romance try her Casebook of Barnaby Adair series.

Beth! You're in good company. Here are a few plot driven series that contain romance, and heroes, and the feisty, too:
The Throne of Glass (far and away my favorite series ever), The Shadow and Bone (Grisha) series, The His Fair Assassin series, Hush Hush series, anything from Katie McGarry ( her Pushing The Limits series is good), and then Nora Roberts has her Cousins O'Dwyer trilogy. These are just a few off the top of my head that are a good plot with romance....

You also might check out:

Nicky Charles writes a paranormal series that's suspense and relationship driven. The first few books are free. There are different reading orders, but I started with The Mating. Bonded has one of my all time favorite couples.

Tessa Dare's Castles Ever After series, is a lot of fun. It starts with: Romancing the Duke

Linda Howard - Mr. Perfect & Running Wild are personal favorites.

Nora Roberts - Try Vision in White - 1st of her Bridal Quartet Series.

Nicholas Sparks writes wonderful love stories, but they tend to be tear-jerkers...at least for me.

The In Death series by J.D. Robb is also a very good romance/mystery series with a great couple. It starts with Naked in Death

If you're interest in Western Romances, there are some very, very good ones out there. Check out Maggie Osborne, Ellen O'Connell, and Jodi Thomas. Jodi Thomas also writes Contemporary romance.

Good luck and happy reading!

It sounds like you want something with romantic elements instead of a romance itself, maybe?

Abigail wrote: "It sounds like you want something with romantic elements instead of a romance itself, maybe?"

Possibly? I think that might be right. I'm a romance reader at heart so that element is so important to me. I've read some of my favorite mystery authors and they may have it as a part of the story (detective falls in love with woman he's trying to help, etc...) but it isn't crucial to the story. I guess like how most books have multiple classifications (Harry Potter being fantasy, young adult, drama for example), I want to make sure there's enough romance in there that it gets that 'tag' too. Goodness, am I making any sense? Sorry, I'm weird. Maybe I should just stick with my normals.

Yay ideas! I'm so glad this community exists. I get attached to my books so when something really gets me going, I get a bit depressed when it's over and I don't know where to go (or rather, what to read) next. It's kind of embarrassing. I'm a nerd.

Not a nerd, not embarrassing. You're a reader. Wear it proudly.

I'd def go with JD Robb and the In Death books. It's Nora Roberts and that woman can WRITE.

If you like witches and vampires, try Deborah Harkness All Souls trilogy (the first is A Discovery of Witches).

I'll second both of Abigail's recommendations. And if you're into audiobooks, listen to the In Death series - Susan Ericksen is really great!

Beth,
I know exactly what you mean! I am an avid romance reader, reading every single day for the past 20 years. I have a lot of favorites, but lately the genre has become more erotica than romance.

It's hard to find new authors now that don't fill the books with sex scene after sex scene and after you take all of the scenes out, there's about a quarter of the book left.

Two of my all time favorites are Julie Garwood and Johanna Lindsey. They are authors who really inspired me years ago, and continue to do so. Their stories range in genres from historical, time travel and current mystery.

At Kellan Publishing (www.bookstore.kellanpublishing.com) or (www.kellanpublishing.com) we have a couple of romance books and our rules indicate no erotica. So there's less talk about the sex side of the relationship and more concentration on the couples and the plot.

This is a good one. Be warned...it is quite steamy!



My review:
https://romanticcynicblog.wordpress.c...

For more adult like books I would checkout R.L. Mathewson she's an amazing author and I guarantee she has a book you'll love. The Pyte/Sentinel series of hers in the best paranormal series in my opinion. Veronica Blade and Jennifer L. Armentrout are two other great authors you should check out. They're are more of ya/na but still very worth the read!

I find Jude Deveraux's book fun and plot-driven--really liked A Knight in Shining Armor. Some of them--including AKISA-- come off as a little dated (especially the female characters), but others have more compelling women. Her historicals definitely lean more toward weak women, while the contemporaries/time-travels are better.