Clean Romances discussion

Friday's Child, G,D
The Talisman Ring, G,D
The Convenient Marriage, G,D
These Old Shades, G, D

You can basically count on these two with all Georgette Heyer books.

I'll do my own books. Now, these are words that I tend to skim over; the two that make me pause (but not stop) are two that I never use in my own writing.

Betrayal: G,D
Deception: G,D
Spellbound: G,D
Heartless: G,D,B
Redemption: G,D

My books are free of cussin'. One is Regency (not yet published) and the other is Victorian. Is that what you mean by Regency here?

Victorian would be a separate sub-genre. Feel free to start a Victorian thread under our "Language, Language" heading if you'd like, Debra. However, if you don't have any cussin', then you don't really need to to list it anywhere. This thread if for readers to share information about books where the romance is clean, but they have objections to some of the language.

A Proper Companion by Candice Hern was clean, although it was so-so as far as really good goes. Actually...it was kind of odd, because it was very, very proper in the beginning, and then suddenly at the end the word "breast" popped in there and it didn't seem to jive. But the author kept it PG-13. That's just off the top of my head right now, since I just read it this week.

Oh, and A Dangerous Compromise was quite a lot of fun. I read that last week. It's by Shannon Donnelley, and even though one person gave it a bad review on Amazon, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Alyssa wrote: "A Proper Companion by Candice Hern was clean, although it was so-so as far as really good goes. Actually...it was kind of odd, because it was very, very proper in the beginning, and then suddenly a..."

A Garden Folly is my favorite Candice Hern novel. After many years of writing Regency-set Historicals she's going back to Tradition Regencies.

I'm so excited!!!

Just finished Heyer's Venetia. It had been a very long time since I had read this one and I had forgotten about it. Silly me. This is a great one. Great characters, fun dialogue, interesting outcomes. Loved it!
I also just finished Donna Hatch's second offering about the Amesbury brothers, The Guise of a Gentleman. This tells the story about Jared, the Pirate. It was a great read full of romance and adventure. Worth your time.

A lot of people read Candice Hern's A Proper Companion because she's had it as a free give-away, but she'll tell you it's NOT her best novel. Give her other books -- and Shannon Donnelley's too. They write good, clean Regencies.

I might add my own four CLEAN books here. Alas, these are only available in ebook form.
They are
The Earl's Bargain, 99 cents
novella Lady Sophia's Rescue, 99 cents
novella Christmas at Farley Manor, 99 cents
and my Regency romance, light-hearted mystery, WITH HIS LADY'S ASSISTANCE.

I am so glad to find Regencies without sex. I once asked the writers of "Regency Reads" why there weren't more clean Regencies, and was told 'because women want to read about sex, so that's what's published'. Maybe publishers will figure out that not every woman is interested in reading about heavy sex scenes and go back (though I doubt it) to the like of the old Warner and Signet Regencies......

Print runs in the '90s for the clean Regencies just kept getting smaller and smaller, and the publishers claim it wasn't profitable to keep publishing them.

I think they were wrong, judging by which of my ebooks have been most popular. Definitely the clean ones. I'm afraid, though, that's because the hot Regencies are widely available in print and E format, whereas those who like clean books can only buy them as ebooks or very old, used out-of-print books.

There really is a need for publishers to recognize clean romances CAN sell.

I just wonder what is considered "clean" in this group. I liked With His Lady's Assistance, which I bought from the suggestion here, but while the main characters aren't intimate, there are mild descriptions of adulterous intimate acts (which is deemed okay because they're rich people) as well as what happens to the male anatomy during physical intimacy, and a discussion of what "really" happens while "making love." Not to be a prude, but if something is billed as "clean," for me, I'm expecting it is free of those sorts of things and was surprised when I came across it in the story. It's a cute story, an enjoyable afternoon read, but I don't know that I'd bill it as clean exactly. If I'm totally off base about this, I apologize. Maybe I need to find a "squeaky clean reads" group. But I just enjoy reading all your posts and have loved the suggestions I've found here.

Julie wrote: "I just wonder what is considered "clean" in this group. I liked With His Lady's Assistance, which I bought from the suggestion here, but while the main characters aren't intimate, there are mild d..."

I totally agree, Julie.

Julie wrote: "I just wonder what is considered "clean" in this group. I liked With His Lady's Assistance, which I bought from the suggestion here, but while the main characters aren't intimate, there are mild d..."

I agree too, Julie.

I must apologize for saying that WITH HIS LADY'S ASSISTANCE was clean. I completely forgot about the male anatomy scene(s), which I meant to omit when I ebpublished.

I agree that a scene like that would not be found in Georgette Heyer books.

WITH HIS LADY'S ASSISTANCE does not have any consummation scenese, as some of my books that were previously published in paperback.

I do still have the three perfectly clean, Georgette-Heyer-style historical romances and plan to write many more. They are: THE EARL'S BARGAIN, LADY SOPHIA' RESCUE, AND CHRISTMAS AT FARLEY MANOR.

Deepest apologies. I will not recommend my Regent Mysteries to this wonderful group.

Cheryl, I reviewed your book on my blog today and I want you to know I enjoyed the plot. I thought it was quite an original heroine. Thanks for letting me know about your others. :)

P.S. I just didn't want to offend anyone, that was why I mentioned it to the group. I hope I haven't hurt your feelings.

Julie, please post link to your blog. I'd love to see the review. Thanks for doing one. And I assure you there are no hurt feelings. I'm the one apologizing.

Cheryl, I just want to warn you that I reviewed the book in the context of asking my readers if my definition of "clean" was too squeaky clean. So please keep that in mind. Again, it is not my intent to hurt your feelings. (I know I'm worrying about that too much. I'm sorry!) But here's the link to yesterday's blog: http://ldswritermom.blogspot.com/2012...

Cheryl wrote: "I must apologize for saying that WITH HIS LADY'S ASSISTANCE was clean. I completely forgot about the male anatomy scene(s), which I meant to omit when I ebpublished.

I agree that a scene like tha..."

Cheryl wrote: "I must apologize for saying that WITH HIS LADY'S ASSISTANCE was clean. I completely forgot about the male anatomy scene(s), which I meant to omit when I ebpublished.

I agree that a scene like tha..."

Thanks for the heads up on which ones are clean. It is always nice to find new books. Thank you for writing clean romance as well.

My Regency is clean, though it does have the D word. And there are a few mild descriptions of the characters' feelings of attraction, but that's it. I count on G. Heyer for clean/traditional Regencies, though I have other authors in my tbr list.

Julie wrote: "Cheryl, I just want to warn you that I reviewed the book in the context of asking my readers if my definition of "clean" was too squeaky clean. So please keep that in mind. Again, it is not my in..."

I thought your review of WITH HIS LADY'S ASSISTANCE was very well written!

Thanks, Cheryl. I appreciate your kind words. :)

There's a booming genre of Christian regency romance, of which I'm happy to say I was one of the pioneers. I have three clean regencies with the addition of a faith element. There are other authors besides me writing Christian regencies or just plain clean, and we write PRINT, TRADE paperbacks. My books are also in hardcover, large print, and even Russian! For those with e-readers, most of our books (including mine) are available on Kindle, Nook, etc.
If you look up one of my books, you should also see other authors of Christian regencies on the suggested reading below them.
BEFORE THE SEASON ENDS
The House in Grosvenor Square
The Country House Courtship.
Some other authors to check out would be Catherine Palmer, Ruth Axtell Morren, Laurie Alice Eakes, and Julie Klassen.
Enjoy!

Jane Austen's Emma and Pride and Prejudice!!!!!!!

I have found a new favorite regency novel that had brilliant characters and no sex scenes. It is called EDENBROOKE: A PROPER ROMANCE by Julianne Donaldson. Ok, maybe it is only second to PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, but it is a close second for sure!

I completely agree! It has come and taken second after pride and prejudice for me as well! I really must read it again....

My Regency short story is published in the Blush Cotillion line at Ellora's Cave. No sex, only kisses. You might want to take a look at it!

Treasuring Theresa

I'm brand new here, but I'm delighted to find you all! I look forward to exploring further, and contributing, but for now you can find my clean Regencies at www.lesleyannemcleod.com or http://www.uncialpress.com/Lesley-Ann...

Clean regencies!! That is me! :D

I'm just taking time to browse some of the threads in this group. It's good to see there are those who care about providing sufficient information for readers to be able to make an informed choice. Thank you.

It's difficult for an author to portray villains without showing the speech that makes them so objectionable. But I try!

I always appreciate the books that use phrases like "He swore under his breath" or something like that, so you know the swearing happened but the actual words are left to your imagination.

My personal opinion: D--- doesn't faze me in the slightest; S--- doesn't really bug me in the right context if not overused. F--- is a show stopper unless the book has serious literary merit (romances don't qualify). Any other swear words I prefer not to read but they probably won't make me drop the book.

Yes, that's the ploy (changing to the narrative) I have adopted, mostly, so I am pleased to see that it is not seen as an easy way out of confrontational situations.

There's nothing worse than having a good story interrupted by Fs and Bs all over the place!

Swearing doesn't bother me too much if it's used sparingly. I don't mind thieves' cant or boxing cant used for comic purposes. Georgette Heyer did it best and all imitators beware. The only book that I didn't like the language of so far was Sweet Revenge A Lady Arianna Regency Mystery 1. It overused cajones and other slang terms for male body parts.

I like the way Amazon allows us to read a sample of books we might be thinking of buying. For me, it comes into that same category of trying to give enough information to make an informed choice.

As you and I know Qnpoohbear, (others too, no doubt) foul language, or what my husband calls 'too much information', can spoil a story. It can take you out of the world of the story like a sudden giant hiccup.

Love your user name, Qnpoohbear. I'm pronouncing it Queen Pooh Bear!

Anna you are correct! Queen is too long to type out and my older user name in college was AUPoohBear so I graduated to QNPoohBear.
I'm sure people in the past used as much slang including foul language as we do now, the authors just had enough sense not to include it or use it in a manner to shape the character (as in Georgette Heyer's young bucks). It's funny when Georgette Heyer's young bucks copy coachmen and boxers but she knew how to make them secondary characters. My rule is if Jane Austen couldn't write it and Georgette Heyer wouldn't write it or read it, I don't want to either.

Ah well, Qnpoohbear, I call my son "Bouncing Tigger".

You are undoubtedly right about people in the past and, as you say, words should be used to shape the character, not necessarily to tell us his or her every bad habit.

I like what you have said about shaping the character and I shall keep that in mind. Thank you.

Anna wrote: "I like the way Amazon allows us to read a sample of books we might be thinking of buying. For me, it comes into that same category of trying to give enough information to make an informed choice.
..."
I learned the hard way to always read the samples. I purchased a book by an author I had already read. The previous book was totally clean and this second book was about a secondary character who was very proper in the first book. I started reading the second book and it was total smut. If I had just read the first sample chapter I would have realized that. It's crazy how careful we have to be to avoid bad content.

That's why I'm so grateful for groups like this!

That's a real shame, Annette. I hope it wasn't a costly lesson. That's the beauty of ebooks, most are under $3, but it was no doubt a disappointment anyway. I'm making sure I look at the samples carefully now.

Keep in mind that at least with Kindle ebooks, you have up to a week to return them to Amazon for a refund for "offensive content" (it's one of the options that pops up on the Manage Your Kindle pages, under Actions). I've used that a couple of times!

In addition to the sample pages I also browse the reader reviews for key words. If I see a comment using words like "sexy" or "hot" I read them as code for content I would rather not read about.

You can consult Good Ton to see which older Regencies are clean. Not all of them are kisses only but most of them are good. I recommend sticking to books written before the late 90s when romance novel became synonymous with smutty. For more recent publications, look for keyword traditional Regency or sweet Regency.

Ah, Qnpoohbear, my book Hide in Time was published in 2012, some years after your recommended late 90s. I have avoided language which might offend, and I have avoided what you call, quite understandably, the 'synonymous with smutty' tag. I am trying to return the term 'romance' to a more innocent era where the chase is the charm.

I am aware that Hide in Time does not fall within the usual 'traditional' or 'sweet' Regency genres. It is story and character driven rather than following the plot plan of a usual romance. It's an uphill struggle!

Qnpoohbear wrote: "You can consult Good Ton to see which older Regencies are clean. Not all of them are kisses only but most of them are good. I recommend sticking to books written before the late 90s when romance no..."

I'm thrilled you posted this! I loved thenonesuch.com and used it often and I'm so happy to see it's been reanimated as "Good Ton".

I also recommend Walker Regencies. They were almost always kisses only or at least contained subtle sensuality at most. Some of them are now available through openlibrary.org

I made a Kisses Only shelf for books with romantic plots or subplots that feature a little or no kissing with nothing else described. I can't say whether the language is clean enough for everyone though. I'm not really bothered if a hero chooses to utter an epithet every now and again.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

I adore Jaima Fixsen's Fairchild series, which are clean. And also The Fall of Lord Drayson by Rachael Anderson. I find Carla Kelley's books to be clean (I love them) although I remember their being non-descriptive sex scenes of married couples in one or two books. As in - she mentions it happens, but it's not detailed. I consider that clean, but I wanted to mention it in case someone else does not.

Obviously the master - Georgette Heyer. My favourites are Arabella, The Unknown Ajax, Frederica ... although I've read every one more than once and adore them all.

I just read The Country Gentleman (published in 1986) by Dinah Dean. It's a delightful read, sort of a cross between Georgette Heyer and Jane Austen. The writing is good and there are no annoying anachronisms like modern catch phrases. I'd give it six stars if I could.