AAR Loves… Seasoned Romances Featuring Characters Over Forty
Love can find you at any age! In this list, AAR Loves romance novels starring characters who are older than the norm for the genre. Here are some Seasoned Romances we hope you like as much as we did!
Late Fall by Noelle Adams
With two main characters in their seventies, this romance is a departure from Adams’s usual contemporary romances. Two co-workers find themselves together again in a nursing home. They didn’t get along when they worked together, but fate has other plans for them now. It’s a bittersweet depiction of the realities of getting old, tempered with the warm feelings of new love.
Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo
In Service series by Sandra Antonelli – At Your Service, Forever in Your Service
James Bond meets Upstairs Downstairs in this terrific series of romantic suspense novels (a third is on the way) about a forty-something spy and his fifty-something (female) butler – who also happens to be his landlady. These are fast-paced, witty, smart stories (with a fairly high body count, so not for the squeamish!) that play with gender stereotypes (Kitt is the romantic, Mae the pragmatist, for example), and the relationship that develops between the two leads is one based on mutual admiration, respect and liking as well as sexual attraction. Author Sandra Antonelli is in the vanguard of authors waving the flag for bringing more mature characters into mainstream romance and showing that love, sex and romance are not just the province of all those wrinkle-free twenty-somethings!
Buy the series at Amazon
Someone to Care by Mary Balogh
Forty-two-year-old Viola Kinglsey met Marcel Lamar years earlier when Viola was a young mother and Marcel was newly widowed. They didn’t give into temptation then but now, Viola is a widow and they meet unexpectedly at an inn. Deciding to leave their responsibilities and have a temporary romantic adventure together, they take off without a word to their families. As they fall in love, they have to work through the challenges of bringing their families together to create something new.
(Note: The forthcoming Someone to Remember (due to be published in November 2019) will feature a couple in their fifties.)
Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo
Anyone but You by Jennifer Crusie
Nina Askew is taking charge of her forties by leaving her stifling marriage, dating her thirty-something physician neighbor Alex, and adopting a depressed basset hound named Fred. This book is a funny, upbeat celebration of Nina’s new beginning. Crusie has another book featuring a forty-something heroine, Fast Women, but it has a more caustic tone.
Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo
Teach Me by Olivia Dade
Teach Me features two teachers who are in the prime of both their lives and their careers, but who get off on the wrong foot when an administrator gives Rose’s favorite class to Martin. The story understands that with time comes self-knowledge, and Rose and Martin know what they can and can’t compromise on in a relationship. Bonus points for a well-written plus-size heroine!
Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo
The Duke of Olympia Meets his Match by Juliana Gray
As our review says: “This is a terrific novella in many ways, not least of which is the fact that Ms Gray has taken a seventy-four year-old man and made him convincingly into both a dashing hero and a romantic lead.” The powerful and influential Duke of Olympia is good-looking and well-built, perhaps more of a silver lion than a silver fox, and there’s no problem picturing him as an attractive, vital man. He does indeed meet his match, in the form of fifty-year-old widow Penelope Schuyler (a nice shout-out to some of the characters in the books of Ms. Gray’s alter-ego, Beatriz Williams), as they hunt down a dangerous French agent while on an ocean crossing. Their love story is quite sweetly romantic but nonetheless conveys that age is no bar to romance or passion.
Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo
Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory
This novel isn’t available until October, but we are super excited for it. Vivian Forest, the mother of a make-up artist and stylist, accompanies her daughter to London, where the daughter is styling a member of the British Royal Family. While there, she encounters the Queen’s private secretary, Malcolm Hudson, and silver sparks fly.
Pre-order from: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo
Confessions of the World’s Oldest Shotgun Bride by Gail Hart
Kathryn St. John, a driven businesswoman, has a one-night stand with a younger man at a Caribbean resort. Steve Tyler, an Air Force officer, grew up next door to Kathryn and has had a crush on her for years, and he’s not about to give up after just one night – especially when Kathryn finds herself accidentally pregnant. This is a well-written story that reverses some of the expected roles – the older, successful businessperson here is the heroine – and features characters with the maturity to know what they want.
Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo
This Time Forever series by Kelly Jensen – Building Forever, 
Renewing Forever, Chasing Forever
With one exception, the protagonists in these books are all well into their forties or fifties (the exception is Charlie in Building Forever, who is thirty-seven). The theme common throughout the series is one of second chances; in Building Forever, both men have been in long-term relationships that didn’t end well – Charlie because his wife died, Simon because he and his partner just weren’t working any more (and Simon had had enough of Brian’s cheating). Renewing Forever sees childhood friends Frank and Tom finding each other again after their lives went in completely different directions and in Chasing Forever, Simon’s former partner Brian is forced to deal with the past that turned him into an emotionally closed-off guy whose good-looks and outward confidence hides deep insecurities. His nephew arrives on his doorstep (well, on his sofa, actually) having been thrown out of his home after he told his family he was gay, and Brian has no idea how to parent a traumatised teen… but fortunately, the new man in his life, history teacher Mal may be able to help. This one is a lovely “found family” story as well as a tender, sensual romance.
This series also appeared in our list of favourite romances that included well-drawn parental/familial relationships.
Buy the series at: Amazon
John and Jackie by TJ Klune
Have tissues at the ready. John and Jackie are two men in their eighties who have known each other since they were twelve. The prologue reads “This little story is for those who have ever loved with their whole hearts.” There are few stories that celebrate love in old age, and this one is unashamedly sentimental and beautiful; an A+ for our reviewer.
Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo
The Bellator Saga by Cecilia London
One of the best dynamics in this top-notch dystopia-style series is that Caroline and Jack are well into adulthood when they meet. They are comfortable in their own skins – there’s no Sandy/Danny Zucko changing for each other here – but come to learn that they’re stronger versions of themselves with each other.
Our reviewer says, “The Bellator Saga is laminated on my top series of all time. If you’re in the mood for super hot silver fox sex, plus a plot that will knock your socks off, get this series and thank me later.”
Buy the series at Amazon
Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold
This book is best read in order with the rest of the Vorkosigan books, because even to tell you the heroine’s identity is a spoiler for characters early in the series. Because this is a science fiction setting, characters are older without being identical to their ages in our Earth timeline: the seventy-something heroine is physically more like a forty-something, and fertility assistive technology means that reproduction is a major theme in the book. Universal honest engagement with older joints and silvering hair, plus the heroine’s quest for a meaningful “second act,” resonate just as they would on Earth. There is also positive representation of bisexuality in a main character.
Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo
Mrs Martin’s Incomparable Adventure by Courtney Milan
Bertrice Martin, (seventy-three), is a lonely, rich widow and most of her friends are gone. Violetta is an impoverished, unmarried sixty-nine year old who poses as a landlord and asks Bertrice to pay the money Bertrice’s nephew owes. The two agree to oust the nephew by whatever means necessary. What follows is a crazy adventure and lots of man-bashing. If a little lacking in romance, this novella is refreshing as an older protagonists/lesbian love story.
Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo
Midlife Crisis by Audra North
Audra North captures a myriad of emotions in a captivating and unforgettable romance. This story of two older men, one widowed and one recently separated from a long relationship, is a thoughtful, sweet romance that examines what it’s like to fall in love after fifty. It’s also a story about courage, especially for one man who is ready to come out of the closet.
Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo
Beyond Duty by SJD Peterson
After twenty-two years spent hiding their real relationship, two career marines are beset with uncertainty as retirement nears. Both in their early forties, Gunny and Mac must rely on their years of friendship and love to get them over the bridge and into a life they will be as happy living as they have the previous decades. They have concerns about the impact their coming out will have on themselves and everyone near and dear to them. SJD Peterson writes a compelling and sexy romance exploring a long term committed relationship with the ups and downs any couple might face in the wake of big changes, but with the added tensions of having kept some consequential secrets.
Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo
Drive by Teresa Noelle Roberts
Neil Callahan, a police officer, wants to test-drive the Mustang left by Suzanne Mayhew’s deceased husband, but he finds Suzanne herself even more interesting – and in danger, because of her husband’s top-secret IT work. The suspense plot here is just about adequate, but the sex scenes are terrific. If you’re looking for a fortysomething woman enjoying explicitly depicted submission with a younger man, this is the novel for you.
Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
This is romance between, on the surface, two completely different people. She’s Muslim, from the North of England, lower middle class, and runs a shop. He’s the offspring of a British Empire officer, a retired army major, is comfortably middle class and occupies a genteel place in village society. And yet they share a love of Kipling, poetry, long walks, have had spouses who’ve passed away, and speak English and Urdu. She’s Pakistani-British born in England; he’s Caucasian-British born in Lahore, Pakistan. They may be in their late fifties or even early sixties, but there’s definitely a strong attraction there — this is not a relationship of companionship!
Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo
Love Game by Maggie Wells
Two athletes-turned-coaches (Kate, a women’s basketball coach, and Danny, a football coach) are drawn to each other despite their teams’ budget rivalries. This was one of our reviewers’s Top 10 reads for 2018.
Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo
More Heat Than the Sun series by John Wiltshire
Nikolas is nearing fifty and Ben is in his thirties when they first meet, but the series covers a decade, so the characters age. It encompasses murders, mysteries, morals, power, friendship, family and an incredible, intense love story. Our reviewer calls it “One of my fave series ever! Crossing fingers book nine will be out this year!”
Buy the series at: Amazon
Silver Belles anthology by Sarah M. Anderson, Yasmin Galenorn, Ros Clarke, Laura K. Curtis, Suleikha Snyder
This is a holiday anthology of short stories where not only are all the protagonists over forty, but the holidays are diverse as well. Many of the characters have children but are now empty nesters, and so are at the perfect moment in their lives for a happy-for-now joyful romance.
Please note that this title is only available as a used paperback. Yasmine Galenorn’s story, The Longest Night is available separately in eFormats.
Buy it at: Amazon
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Soul Deep by Pamela Clare – a 45-year old female FBI agent recovering from a severe gunshot injury and a 63-year old hero.
Big age gaps are just not my jam.
Hidden Depths by Emma Holly has a married couple in their forties who end up in a menage relationship when the wife turns out to be the fated mate of a wereseal. The characters do end up ‘un-aging’ due to magic, but it’s nice to see a really hot story with older character, and one that celebrates what being together so long has done for them in terms of their relationship with each other.
I don’t think anyone mentioned this one, but the second book in Elizabeth Kingston’s Welsh Blades series, _Fair, Bright, & Terrible, has an older middle-aged couple, Eluned & Robert, as the primary romance for the book. It’s a pretty wonderful read too!
What a great list with a bunch I haven’t read before. Just finished Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure- it is terrific. Anyone But You is one of my favorite Jennifer Crusie’s. Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, Someone to Care and Apple’s Should Be Red are all due for a re-read. And I know we all love the Outlander series but I have particularly appreciated how Claire has aged right along with us! Thanks for the recommendations.
I really loved Balogh’s Only Beloved the last book in the Survivors. April and Jack are my favorite and NBC is my favourite SEP book. The audio book is read by the late great Anna Fields.
Leigh Michaels One Season in London has three romances, mother, son and daughter. The mother gets a second chance at love with an old flame. It’s good.
Yes that’s it thank you everybody. At least I got the Penny correct and i definitely need a reread of Gentleman Jole.
Apples Should Be Red by Penny Watson is a favorite of mine.
Connie, is it possible the book you are thinking of was Apples Should Be Red by Penny Watson.? It popped into my mind as I was reading this topic.
Some would say Gentleman Jole… is best enjoyed by those who haven’t read the Vorkosigan series. I still give it 5 stars, but it is shocking.
Before I read it, all I saw were reviews that it was, basically, shocking, yes. But I read it and enjoyed it and still don’t entirely understand what other people were shocked about. Everything in there was foreshadowed in previous books.
agree, beautiful book about “waking up after grieving” and the shock was not shocking to me.
I would say the predilection was shadowed, what actually happened over the decades was not.
True, Sean!
For me, Aral always had so many grey areas in his life, being conflicted and torn apart on so many fronts, starting with his problem with Sergey in Shards – both being loyal and then having to accept the resolution in that book (I do not remember off the top of my head whether he was complicit or just accepting what happened with Sergey) to all his problems with his father, and with the Vor values. Somehow, he made it all work, was a hugely admirable human being with his warts, and Cordelia facilitated and anchored much of that for him. But there were sacrifices, and people who got sacrificed in all his various accommodations and desperate compromises over the years.
So, the specific revelations were not expected, but not shocking to me. Neither the predilection, nor the prices others paid for who Aral was.
If you are an Anglophile, then “Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand ” by Helen Simonson is for you. I loved it. It’s mostly thru the eyes of the Major who sees value in tradition and the past, unlike his son and daughter-in-law who are trendy and modern. His concealed (mostly) exasperation with them is paralleled with the relationship with an Pakistani widow who is pressured by her family to sacrifice her desires and interests for her nephew, IIRC. It’s a lovely, charming, slow romance. If you like the first couple of chapters, you will like the whole book.
I was already thinking that this book sounds marvelous. Your comment clinches it. Now, to find time to read all the books I want to read.
Like discodollydeb i have also passed ‘a woman of a certain age’ category. I remember reading a book about an older couple that I think was by Penny Reid. It was about the parents of a couple, both now single who showed up early for Thanksgiving. Children were not home, romance ensued. Any one remember? I loved the romance between April and Jack.
Connie, I believe you mean Penny Watson, who frequently features older couples in her books.
We decided this column would only include primary love stories but I have to put in a shout for my all time favorite older couple: Victoria (the heroine’s mother) and Langford Fitzwilliam, His Grace the Duke of Perrin in Sherry Thomas’ Private Arrangements. Their romance is sublime and they are both nearly 50!
I also love the romance between April and Jack, the hero’s parents in SEP’s Natural Born Charmer.
As someone who has long passed the “woman of a certain age” category, it’s always nice to find a romance with more “seasoned” characters. I just read Julie Hammerle’s KNOCKED-UP CINDERELLA—I wasn’t bowled over by it, but I liked the fact that the hero & heroine are both 40, single, and career-driven. The heroine gets pregnant after a one-night stand and she and the commitment-phobe hero have to figure out how this parenthood thing is going to work.
Another book that popped into my head is BEHIND THE MASK by Carolyn Crane (aka Annika Martin). It’s part of a romantic suspense/thriller series and there is a lot of violence in the story (so be forewarned). The hero is about 40, the heroine 38/39. I do find that both heroes & heroines tend to be on the older side in romantic suspense (perhaps to account for characters who have had time to work their way up the military/espionage/counter-terrorism career ladder).
Oh, I had no idea Carolyn Crane and Annika Martin were the same writer!
I cannot begin to thank you enough for placing a spotlight on Seasoned Romance.
AAR played a part in making a contribution to my masters and doctoral work, with a fantastic book list of ‘Older Couples’ that Dabney posted At The Back Fence back in 2004. I was able to use that list as a foundation to support my research on the viability of what we now call Seasoned Romance. I feel so… VALIDATED! And a little giddy.
That makes me so happy to hear!