Romance Novel Wish List
I recently began re-listening to Jayne Ann Krentz’s Eclipse Bay, the first in her Eclipse Bay trilogy, originally published over 10 years ago. After being very frustrated by her recent Arcane series books, this re-listen has been refreshing. I’ve found myself wishing that Ms. Krentz would write another series like her Eclipse Bay series, with no paranormal elements (well, except in the mind of one of the secondary characters). Or if not a series, I would love to read a straight contemporary by her such as Trust Me or Family Man.
This re-listen has also reminded me of some of my other romance novel wishes. Now these aren’t about my desires for specific settings (Egypt, Malta, and Santorini head that list) or time periods (post-World War I is a particular favorite). These are wishes I have for books I want specific authors to write.
First up is a wish for Colby Hodge. One of the first books I reviewed here at AAR was her paranormal time travel Twist. Abbey, the heroine, is smart and tough, but has her girly moments. I would love to see this turn into a series, or at least have a sequel where Abbey and the real Shane get to spend some time together.
When I first started reading romances, I actually read a lot more historical romances than I do now. One of the first I read, and still a favorite, is Scoundrel by Elizabeth Elliott. I completely fell in love with Lady Lily and Miles, the heroine and hero. They definitely had a satisfying HEA. But I remain intrigued by the hints at a potential relationship between Lady Lily’s brother Robert and her best friend Sophie. They’re only together for a few moments in the book, but it’s clear that Sophie is Robert’s “Venus.” I know lots of readers are waiting for another long-promised medieval romance by Ms. Elliott. Me, I want the story of Robert and Sophie.
Many readers begged Susan Elizabeth Phillips to write Teddy Beaudine’s story for years. I too wanted to read Teddy’s story, but had my own heroine picked out for him. While it’s not my favorite of her books, I have reread parts of her Kiss an Angel numerous times, and am now thinking of downloading the audio version. I had Heather – the troubled young girl from that book – picked out as Teddy’s perfect match. Since the author clearly had other things in mind, I would love to see Heather appear as the heroine in a future SEP book. This would give me a chance to not only see Heather get a HEA, but also to catch up with Daisy and Alex and Sheba and Brady. I do wonder how things turned out for all of them. Did Daisy ever become a kindergarten teacher?
And despite the fact that I review and do other assignments here at AAR, I’m not the most connected person into the romance world. So if you know that one of my “wishes” has already come true, please let me know….I’m begging you.
Do you have any particular books you’d like to see an author write? Any secondary characters you’d like to see get their own romance?
– LinnieGayl
Useful info. Fortunate me I discovered your website accidentally, and I am stunned why this coincidence did not came about earlier! I bookmarked it.
Before the BDB hit it big, JR Ward/ Jessica Byrd wrote the first in a series about the troubled O’Banyon Brothers. I wish she’d go back to that for a while.
I would like to read a sequel of Connie Brockway’s My dearest enemy. I really love that book.
Sky, good suggestion about the Northwestern Waste series. I really enjoyed those books.
Jamie, I would love to catch up with Luc and Jane! Great idea.
I would love to see Rachel Gibson write a sequel to See Jane Score about Luc Martineau’s sister Marie. That was such a fantastic book it would be nice to see how Marie’s life turned out and catch up with Luc and Jane!
This is such an interesting topic. I agree that I would like to see another book out of Eve Silver as Eve Kenin on the Northern Waste series. I like its style. I also recently discovered Leslie Parrish and would love to see more books from her on the “”cold”” series.
I know that whether an author can write more books on a specific series is not up to us as they have to have the publishers’ support too. But I think for some authors, they simply have evolved in their writing or have moved to write different styles/types of books such as Linda Howard or Lorraine Heath.
Never too late, Ell. Thanks for sharing your wish.
I guess I’m really late with this (too late?) but this is a subject that drives me crazy. I wish, wish, wish Susan Sizemore would write the end to her Laws of the Blood series. It is fun, hot, and not like anything else, and the very last book she wrote for the series is a freaking cliff hanger. After that, she got bored with it – I guess – and went on to writing something else. In her blogs she keeps saying that she’ll be working on/publishing that last book soon, but it never happens. Years pass, and we never get to find out how things turn out. At this point, I think I would be happy if she would just sell the rights to somebody else who would be willing to take it forward.
Thanks for all the comments, everyone. Glad I’m not alone with JAK. I haven’t read a lot of the other books you’ve mentioned, but some of you reminded me of more romance wishes I have.
Tinabelle, I love Christina Skye’s old Draycott Abbey series. Great wish!
Kim T, I’d love another Nora Roberts series set in Ireland as well. Library Addict, thanks for that information. I didn’t know the next would be set in Ireland. Hooray! Kindle Lover, Born in Fire is one of my very favorite romances, and appeared as #1 in my Top 100 ballots for many years.
Xina, I like your wish for Natasha and Thomas.
Linh Nguyen, Chip and Rosie; definitely a natural :)
Melody Burns: Thanks for the suggestion, I hate to admit it but I’ve never read Elizabeth Lowell.
Susan/DC, glad someone else wants Robert and Sophie’s story. I think it could be fantastic.
I also wish for a sequel to Linnea Sinclair’s Games of Command and another of her SF books, Down Home Zombie Blues. I would aso like a continuation of Suzanne Enoch’s contemporary series about a female thief and her billionaire boyfriend.
I wish Lois Swann would complete her “”Mists of Manittoo”” trilogy.
I second Kim T. in wishing that Candice Proctor would write more historical romances – in addition to, rather than as a substitute for, the C.S. Harris mysteries that are among my favorites.
I wish that Linda Howard would write another book in the Mackenzie family series or another Rescue such as Midnight Rainbow or Diamond Bay.
I wish that Judith McNaught would complete her long awaited contemporary novel and follow it up with a historical romance.
I totally agree with LinnieGayl about wanting a sequel to Elizabeth Elliott’s “”Scoundrel””. Robert and Sophie’s appearance was brief but they lit up the page and I very much want to read their story.
@Leigh: I think Connie Brockway said that her next book will be Giles’ story. You are definitely not the only one waiting for it. I actually wrote her several years ago to ask if she planned to write a HEA for Giles. He lost the girl in not one but two books, and I very much thought he deserved a happy ending. At that time she said she could not make any promises, although I don’t remember if it was because she had changed publishers and didn’t have the rights to the character or if it was because her publisher didn’t think it would sell. Whatever else I think about Amazon, they are evidently letting her write this, and I’m doing the happy dance just thinking about it.
I’m still waiting for a finish to the “”Fire Dancer”” series from the 1980s :) The three books that Ann Maxwell (pseudonym for Elizabeth Lowell) finished have been re-issued twice now, but still without a conclusion.
Roland Green’s The Book of Kantela (1985) written with Frieda A. Murray was announced as the first of a trilogy, but the two others never appeared.
Unless the copyrights are tied up in contracts, I’m hoping that authors will give us some of these wishes as e-Books.
I yearn for another Judith Ivory/Judy Cuevas book. At this point it will probably never happen, but she remains in the top three of my all-time favorite authors. It saddens me that she’s no longer writing.
I second the wish for another Nora Roberts series set in Ireland. The very first romance novel I ever read was Born in Fire, which remains a favorite, and I’d love another trilogy in the same spirit as the Born trilogy, i.e. set in Ireland with no paranormal elements.
I will refrain from a third wish, lest I be too greedy. :-)
I am in agreement with you about JAK. If you liked Eclispe Bay series you might like Elizabeth Lowell’s series about the Donovans.
This goes way back, but I wish that Justine Davis would complete the SF trilogy she started with Lord of the Storm and The Skypirate. The publisher didn’t pick up the third book citing lack of interest. Davis was ahead of her time.
While we’re at it, I wish Diana Gabaldon would write more quickly.
Gah…I hate when my mind goes blank but I too wish Linnea Sinclair would be able to go back and visit her SFR books – in particular her Dock 5 series and finish it out! So aggravating when a publisher stops a series before it gets to end….another one is Leslie Parish who didn’t get to finish her “”Black Cat’s”” series…and I would love for Linda Howard to go back to her previous style too!
Wow! My wishes are coming true. Thanks for the info on Duran and Roberts upcoming titles!
A great topic, but I am like Maggie in that I can’t remember which characters I wanted to have their own story, and I know there are plenty.
Only one stand out as a possibility, Giles Strand from Promise Me Heaven. I am dying to see his reformation.
I waited years, and years for the sequel to the medieval series by Elizabeth Lowell, but she stated she couldn’t get a contract for it, and she did a reincarnation theme in a contemporary book. What a disappointment.
Susan Andersen had a secondary couple in Obsessed (that happened to be cousins) so she could never give them a HEA.
YEAH! Meredith Duran just announced via FB (https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMeredithDuran) that her next book after “”At Your Pleasure”” which comes out in March will be the story of Lockwood and his missing wife. This couple was so intriguing in “”The Duke of Shadows””–I can’t wait to find out their story!
Off the top of my head the only one I can think of at the moment is a book with Thomas and Natasha from Brockmann’s, Tall Dark and Dangerous series. Natasha was Frisco’s young niece in his book who always had a crush on young Thomas. Well, Thomas grows up, and becomes a SEAL, and Natasha is still too young to be a heroine, but come on…she can reach her mid-20’s or so and they would be perfect together. :( Hasn’t happened, but I hold on to hope.
I agree with Kim T. – more historical romances from Candice Proctor. If you haven’t read them (and they might be hard to find) they are all VERY good!
I’d love to see Linnea Sinclair write a sequel to Games of Command staring Kel-Paten’s brother. Plus she left them all in the middle of a huge war! ;-) Since she probably isn’t writing SFR anymore, I doubt I’ll ever get that wish.
I didn’t care much for the Eclipse Bay books, stopped after #2, but I’m also tired if JAK’s rather shallow Arcane books. I’d love to see her go back to her stand-alones, or even better, write something like her Lost Colony Trilogy (Sweet Starfire, Crystal Flame, Shield’s Lady).
Didn’t Linnea Sinclair have the series dropped by her publisher? Let’s really wish she finds a new one!!!!!!! I too would like to see this series continue.
There were a couple of secondary characters from Meredith Duran’s Duke of Shadows that were calling out for their own story. Not sure if she has or plans to write their story, but I’d love to read it!
I’d like another Nora Roberts trilogy set in Ireland.
I’d also like some more Jeanette Baker stories set in Ireland with stories about the Troubles.
I’d like Colleen Gleason to write another series about a vampire-hunter in the Gardella legacy series…she alluded to the ancestors of Victoria in that series.
I’d like Candice Proctor to write more historical romances (though I’m happy with the C.S. Harris books, too).
I’d like Kim Lennox to continue writing her Shadow Guards series that is totally a hidden treasure.
Though I don’t dislike the Arcane Society books, I too miss the days of JAK’s stand-alone titles like Absolutely, Positively and Trust Me.
I miss the old Linda Howard style, too.
I wish Nora could write more of the young Stanislaski stories. I would love to read Brandon Kimball’s story in particular.
I also wish Eve Silver had had the chance to write the third book in her Northern Waste series as Eve Kenin before Dorchester’s Shomi line closed. And that she would go back to writing Gothic-like historicals.
Her next trilogy after Inn Boonsboro will be set at Ashford Castle in Ireland.
I’d like to see the story of Emily Sinclair, the younger sister in Carolyn Jewel’s “”Lord Ruin.””
Interesting topic. I guess I am in good company in wishing that JAK would finally finish with the Arcane Society. She was a long-time comfort read for me both in her contemporary and historical personas. I would love for her to go back to writing “”regular”” stand-alones in both genres. I read in a recent interview that she felt she had finally found her niche so I am not holding out hopes.
The other author I would like to see return to an earlier style is Christina Skye. I loved her older Draycott Abbey books. I read a few of her SEAL books but got bored with them. She has written a couple of very loosely related DA books recently but they just didn’t have the same feel and had only a marginal connection to the abbey, Adrian, and Nicholas.
Ditto for me Wendy’s request for the secondary characters from The Windflower.
As much as I enjoy Marsha Canham’s swashbucklers, I wish she’d try her hand at another western.
Add me to those who wish JAK would go back to writing straight romance. I wish Kathleen Gilles Seidel would write a new novel.
She has said she’ll never do it but I would like Linda Howard to write the story of the villain in “”All the Queen’s Men””.
There are probably a million others but these are my early morning ones for today :-)
I really, really would love to see Lorraine Heath write some more westerns, ala her earlier books like “”Parting Gifts””, “”Sweet Lullaby””, “”Always to Remember”” and the Texas trilogy. Those books were soooo good. I’ve burned out from all these Regency setting books that are over-saturating the market. Heath writes the most touching westerns. I just wish she had more out there.
I second your desires for more of Heath’s western romance; they are the best of the best! I’m desperate to know how the children of the heroes in the “”Texas Trilogy”” ended up; particularly that of my favorite couple, Amelia and Dallas.
Immediately popping up into my head when I read the title of this blog is “”Nobody Baby’s But Mine”” — I cannot wait for Rosie and Chip’s story. Their ending up together is, as fans of SEP will know, INEVITABLE. Phillips has already given us enough hints about the likelihoods of their story, but I just cannot wait for it’s publication. It’ll be a knockout for sure.
At the top of my wish list are the secondary characters from The Windflower. I know it’s never going to happen, but I would love to find out what happens to Cat, and to see Morgan get his comeuppance.
I also liked the character of the hero’s younger brother from JAK’s All Night Long. I can’t remember his name just now, but I thought when I read the book that he needed a story of his own.
I would love Lisa Kleypas to write a book about Joe Travis, youngest son of the Travis family from her contemporary series (Sugar Daddy, Blue-Eyed Devil and Smooth Talking Stranger). Besides a HEA for Joe after the boating accident, I want to hear about how the other characters are doing – especially Jack and Ella from Smooth Talking Stranger (one of my favorite romance books!!!!!).
Great topic, LinnieGayl. Actually, many of my wishes have already come true (including the fabulous Connie Brockway!), and I think authors are leaving fewer and fewer secondary characters untouched. Now whether that’s good or bad is another topic, but I still have several wishes pending:
– Ditto the JAK. I’d love to read a straight romance from her.
– Jennifer Crusie – I don’t think she ever plans to deviate from her current track, but it’s not really my thing. If she ever returned to straight romance, I’d be one of the first on board.
– Lilith Saintcrow had a wonderful short story in an anthology, featuring gargoyles. I loved it, and I’d love to see that become a full-length.
– J.R. Ward – Since her angel series hasn’t finished yet I don’t suppose it’s fair to make requests, but I sincerely hope that a) Adrian and Eddie get their own romance, and b) Jim is /not/ going to be paired up with the one I’m thinking of.
There are probably more, but I can’t think of them right now.