As you might be aware, when I really want to have a moment of escapism, I turn to a romance novel. I can read a romance novel relatively quickly while being entirely entertained with the HEA of the couples. You may also be aware that I get into slumps with these types of novels. Romances can follow a particular formula, which is not the real problem. The real problem is that a lot of subpar writers offer tripe with little or no character development or history with the others characters, which means BORING in book terms for me. Sometimes, it’s the romance and passion that takes me away—when a couple really makes sense and develops toward each other, rather than a couple who seems to be pushed together because of a contrivance that is unbelievable.
Don’t get me wrong—I don’t really mind contrivance; I just mind bad writing. And grammatical errors. And cheesy dialogue. And deus ex machina plots. And the obsessive-don’t-understand-why-she-would-want-him heroes because he’s really an ass. (Too many!) And there are a lot of all these issues in the world of romance novels, and it makes it hard to filter the garbage from the quality romances. END OF RANT NOW. 😛
Here are a few proven authors for me whose work I will read over the summer. These authors write endearing and passionate stories about characters who are thoroughly realized and have truly sigh-worthy romances.
- Laura Trentham—She might be my favorite romance novelist right now. Last year, I raved about her Cottonbloom series (here, here, and here), and
she has returned to Cottonbloom in two recent novellas, Candy Cane Christmas and Light Up the Night (free on Kindle right now), l plan on reading both in preparation for her continuation of the Cottonbloom world in Leave the Night On, out August 1st. I’m super exited about returning to the charming world of Cottonbloom with this full-length novel. Maybe we’ll even see the Fornettes? Fingers crossed! 🙂 Oh, and there is a fifth and sixth book planned! Whee! Can’t wait to be charmed by the Southerns again! - Tessa Bailey—I’ve read some of her books off and on through Entangled Brazen
publishers, and they are sooooo good. I don’t think she has anything new coming out this summer, but I’m determined to catch up on all of her books, which are much more extensive than I realized. My favorite of her books so far? Boiling Point—there’s something about this particular con artist and hacker that really worked for me. In fact, a review of this Crossing the Line series will be out soon, and (spoiler) the series is awesome! Here’s hoping the rest in her oeuvre will be as good! - Vivienne Lorret—Here’s another author I’ve just discovered
who writes historical romances along the lines of Lisa Kleypas (her good ones!). I’ve read the first three books in her The Season’s Original series; I liked the first one, The Debutante Is Mine and the second one, The Earl Is on Fire, but the third one? I LOVED it! When the Marquess Loves a Woman is one of those unrequited love tropes with twist. The first two books really build up the ostensible hate between Juliet, Lady Granworth and Maxwell Harwick. *Sigh.* I adore this couple and their backstory. Their antagonism is believable, as is their switch to passion and love. Her fourth book of the series is a novella. Just Another Viscount in Love comes out August 1 and focuses on the familiar characters of Viscount Ellery and Gemma Desmond, both of whom are entirely lovable in the other books. Yay!
That’s all for now, my dears. Let me know if there are any authors I should check out, in addition to reading these three favs this summer! Just tweet me @bknrdadventures, and I’ll check out your suggestions!
For now though, enjoy your book boyfriends and their true loves!
Until next time, my lovelies,
HMichaele
The Imaginary Adventures of a Book Nerd 