Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

Use this space to discuss books you're reading or that might fit the 14th Read Harder task.

If you are looking for a lesbian romance option, Starting from Scratch by Georgia Beers should work!

I read broadly but I especially LOVE romance when life gets stressy. In another thread I recommended The Bride Test which was my favorite romance this year, and which features a single parent. Since I have already read that, I think I may go with Smooth Talking Stranger or Fumbled

Charming the Prince by Teresa Medeiros Single knight with kids needs a wife.

Or The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë

About a Boy
The Bride Test

I'm going with The Tenant of Wildfell Hall as an outside-the-box option.

I already read it this year, but With the Fire on High would also be great for this prompt.

The category I skip every year. This year is no different. Not a romance reader. Never will be.

I already read it this year, but With the Fire on High would also be great for this prompt."

I was planning on reading that for another challenge in 2020. Great to know it will work here too.

A Nordic King

I see in the Read Harder Plans section that several people are going with The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Still trying to read more of the Canon, so I may switch to this. Great Idea!

But then, I'll start thinking about rereading Wuthering Heightsand I've been meaning to look into The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë by Daphne du Maurier for another challenge.

Both Sustained and With the Fire on High are on by TBR and will fit.

I also recommend The Governess Game if you're interested in historical romance.

Jennifer Crusie's Welcome to Temptation features a single dad (and one of the funniest dedications I've ever read)

Sarena wrote: "Both Sustained and With the Fire on High are on by TBR and will fit.

I also recommend The Governess Game if you're interested in historical romance."

Oh Governess Game was great! Super thought.

Some recommendations:
Rafe: A Buff Male Nanny by Rebekah Witherspoon
The Bride Test by Helen Hoang
Tempest by Beverly Jenkins (also fits the historical novel non-WWII prompt)-Single father
Another vote for The Governess Game which is also historical. -single male guardian

I just remembered one that I read earlier this year, The Sweetness of Forgetting.

Sue wrote: "Some recommendations:
Rafe: A Buff Male Nanny by Rebekah Witherspoon
The Bride Test by Helen Hoang
Tempest by Beverly Jenkins (also fits the histor..."

Ooh - thanks for the reminder! I really liked Topaz by Beverly Jenkins when I read it for the 2018 challenge. I might pick up Tempest or another one of her books.

Tempest - Beverly Jenkins, it is very good, a romance with African American characters and has some history in it. Also qualifies as double dipper since its the last novel of a series but can be read alone easily.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

Just got this in my Kindle and will save it for this task: A Taste of Her Own Medicine.

I'll probably read Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory.

Lindsey wrote: "I'll probably read Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory."

Ooh, didn't know there was a single parent in this one. It was already on my TBR so that also goes on the pile! Also its last in a series, so maybe I will read it for that.

Not trying to be a grumpface, but I don't think With the Fire on High would particularly be considered a romance. Having said that, you are free to interpret the prompt any way you'd like. :)

The website Smart Bitches Trashy Books has a great romance novel finder: https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/b...

Just enter your criteria (themes and archetypes) and you'll get a list of books that fit. Single parent is one of the options!

Megan wrote: "The category I skip every year. This year is no different. Not a romance reader. Never will be."

If you're determined to finish the challenge, you could try About a Boy - Nick Hornby isn't known as a romance writer. My husband has read it and the closest he's got to reading a romance novel was studying Jane Eyre!

In Tempest by Beverly Jenkins the male lead is a widower with a young daughter

Judith wrote: "Megan wrote: "The category I skip every year. This year is no different. Not a romance reader. Never will be."

If you're determined to finish the challenge, you could try About a Boy -..."

Totally agreed here. I love About a Boy and it's much more about familial/community-type love than romance.

The Mother's Promise

Jessie wrote: "The website Smart Bitches Trashy Books has a great romance novel finder: https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/b...

Just enter your criteria (th..."
This is amazing. I'm not normally a romance novel fan, but this site gave me three options that all sound at least somewhat interesting. Thanks for the tip!

If anyone else wants F/F romances to fit this task, these are the options I'm choosing from:
Beauty and the Boss
Create a Life to Love
Courting the Countess

Karen wrote: "Charming the Prince by Teresa Medeiros Single knight with kids needs a wife.

Or The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë"

"The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" is a great suggestion!

Dream a Little Dream by Susan Elizabeth Phillips has both touching and funny moments. It also could double dip for rural location. (It’s part of a series but stands on its own just fine.)

If you're looking for gay male romance, Family Unit fits the task.

Judith wrote: "Megan wrote: "The category I skip every year. This year is no different. Not a romance reader. Never will be."

If you're determined to finish the challenge, you could try About a Boy -..."

Nope. I will not read a single book for this category. I don't like/read romance novels and I HATE that book riot forces this category on us every year.

I'm not into romance either -- but I am quite satisfied with the idea I got from some of the other participants' plans -- read one of the literary progenitors of all romance novels -- to fulfill the single parent criterion -- The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë --- thanks to those who suggested it first.

I feel this same way about Horror and Crime and those topics are quite difficult for me --- I can't even stand to read the suggestion threads.

Hey technically Scarlett O'Hara is a single parent after Charles dies--she has a son, Wade. So Gone with the Wind could count. Ooh. Interesting.

Aw, if I had known this prompt was coming, I would've waited with Rai's novel. XD
Anyhow, I recommend Alisha Rai's Wrong to Need You. It's the second book of a three-book-series. Reading the first one is recommended but not necessary.

Book Riot forces nothing. read whatever you want. The point is to help you expand beyond you usual book choices if you want to do that, but not another living soul cares what you read. I don't care for graphic novels/memoirs, but I am glad to be prodded once or twice a year to see what is happening in that universe. YMMV.

The insistence on announcing a refusal to read romance—a broad genre with only one unifying trait (it’s about love or lust with a happy ending)—smacks of internalized misogyny to me. Why the need to assert revulsion for a genre almost entirely by and for women?

M wrote: "The insistence on announcing a refusal to read romance—a broad genre with only one unifying trait (it’s about love or lust with a happy ending)—smacks of internalized misogyny to me. Why the need t..."

Are you serious? I don't like romances because they're--in my apparently poorly misguided, misogynistic opinion--stupid as hell. I'd rather read a great historical book or a biography or something of that nature. I had *no idea* I was required to like a genre simply because I'm a woman. Guess I should just turn in my womanhood-card then. I'm pretty sure other women don't like romance novels either; do they also have problems with "internalized misogyny"? probably not. How dare they assert their own opinion! Don't they know they aren't allowed to dislike things "entirely by and for women"? *shock horror*
Get out of here with the "internalized misogynistic" nonsense. I don't go see romance films either--again, because they don't interest me. What absolute nonsense you spout, accusing me of being a misogynist. SMDH. It must be awful lonely, up there on your high horse.

I'm wondering if anyone knows of a book that would fit this in the romance/thriller genre, something along the lines of Sandra Brown and Nora Roberts? I really don't like romance but I've read both of them at times and liked some of their books.

Hi everyone! Our rec post for this task is up. https://bookriot.com/2019/12/23/roman...

Dawn,

Suzanne Brockmann has a couple titles that would work. She mostly writes romantic military suspense/thrillers involving navy seals. Her books are very pro military and fairly white. (She has token characters of color. At least two are well developed but poorly described; Brockmann uses words like “exotic”.) However she is known for fighting the romance industry to allow queer characters in her books. She has an out, proud gay fbi agent who shows up throughout her “Troubleshooters” series AND gets his own happy ever after! Some specific titles:

Frisco's Kid and Night Watch are two of her earlier books, from the Tall, Dark, and Dangerous series. These books are shorter and will stand on their own.

Some Kind of Hero is one of her more recent books. It’s part of the Troubleshooters series but it doesn’t have much character overlap with earlier books, so should hold up without having read the previous titles. (You might notice more characters showing up than necessary in some scenes. They are from previous books, but aren’t essential to the plot so can be handwaved as “friends and colleagues.”) IIrc, I wasn’t thrilled by the plot of this one but I did appreciate how Brockmann navigated one of the protagonists having a (possibly irrational) fear of a thing.

There are a few titles earlier in that series that include single parenting, but I’m not as clear if they will do well on their own.

Hope that helps. :)

I tend to go for the YA novels when it comes to the romance challenges because I find them much more enjoyable than adult romances.

I’m think that I’ll go for the 3rd book of the To All the Boys I've Loved Before series by Jenny Han.
Although it’s bending the challenge as the romance is among the kids not the single parent.

Sarena wrote: "Both Sustained and With the Fire on High are on by TBR and will fit.

I also recommend The Governess Game if you're interested in historical romance."
Thanks I'm going to read the "The Governess Game".

Mya wrote: "Dawn,

Suzanne Brockmann has a couple titles that would work. She mostly writes romantic military suspense/thrillers involving navy seals. Her books are very pro military and fairly..."

Thanks Mya! I'll have to check her out.

I really enjoyed The Bookshop on the Shore.

I haven't been sure what to read for this one, and a lot of the suggestions have either been not really what I'm looking for or stuff I've already read. I kind of forgot that It Takes Two to Tumble has a single parent though, and it's been on my TBR for awhile, so I'm glad for the bookriot recommendations.

Whiskey & Ribbons: A Novel sounds like it might fit the bill for this one. But I can't tell if it's about a single parent or not

How about The lucky one by Nicholas Sparks? I think it qualifies for this task.

For anyone who needs a few shorter reads in their challenge, I found Bewitchberry Cottage and Grinder.

Romances aren't typically my thing, but that's the point of the challenge, right?

I liked the idea of a 'romantic comedy' book as described in the BR post, but The Bride Test has got a two month long waiting list at my library. Any similar suggestions? All genders/sexualities welcome...