May-December/December-May Romancesgoldierussell

While maybe not fitting a traditional May-December or December-May definition, these are romances about older women and younger men, and, for some of our more quirky readers, much older men and younger women. Even though the age difference may not be great, it is an important factor in the book.

(List begun 05/02, updated 11/13)

Older Heroes

  • The Divided Heart (1990) by Susan Bowden
  • Roselynde (1979) by Roberta Gellis – 30 years’ difference
  • Lord of the Keep (1999) by Ann Lawrence – 20 years’ difference
  • The Falcon and the Dove (2002) by Paula Marshall
  • Lord of the Night (1993) by Susan Wiggs (Renaissance) – about 24 years’ difference (A at AAR)

  • Emma (1815) by Jane Austen – 16 years’ difference
  • Sense and Sensibility (1811) by Jane Austen (Secondary romance has a wide age gap)
  • April Lady (1957) by Georgette Heyer
  • Arabella (1949) by Georgette Heyer – 11 years’ difference
  • Friday’s Child (1944) by Georgette Heyer – 6 years’ difference (A at AAR)
  • The Corinthian (1940) by Georgette Heyer – 12 years’ difference
  • The Chadwick Ring (1982) by Julia Jeffries
  • Marian’s Christmas Wish (1989) by Carla Kelly – 12 years’ difference (B at AAR)
  • Marrying the Royal Marine (2010) by Carla Kelly – 19 years’ difference (A- at AAR)
  • Miss Whittier Makes A List (1994) by Carla Kelly – 13 years’ difference (B+ at AAR)
  • Love Lessons (1983) by Elizabeth Mansfield – 18 years’ difference
  • Rosamund (1980) by Julia Murray
  • Double Deception (1997) by Patricia Oliver – 14 years’ difference

  • Forbidden Affections in A Spring Bouquet (1996) by Jo Beverley – 14 years’ difference
  • One Little Sin (2005) by Liz Carlyle – 14 years’ difference (B- at AAR)
  • The Accidental Bride (1999) by Jane Feather (A- at AAR)
  • Love’s Charade (1986) by Jane Feather – 17 years’ difference
  • Vice (1996) by Jane Feather – (A at AAR)
  • My Lord Protector (1999) by Deborah Hale – HH-452 (B at AAR)
  • The Convenient Marriage (1934) by Georgette Heyer
  • These Old Shades (1926) by Georgette Heyer – about 21 years’ difference (A at AAR)
  • Beast (1997) by Judith Ivory (A at AAR)
  • Pleasure for Pleasure (2006) by Eloisa James – 16 years’ difference (B at AAR)
  • What I Did For a Duke (2011) by Julie Anne Long – 19 years’ difference (A- at AAR)
  • Once and Always (1987) by Judith McNaught (A at AAR)

  • Simply Love (1997) by Catherine Anderson
  • The Tiger’s Woman (1981) by Celeste DeBlasis – 15 years’ difference
  • Mrs. Mike (1947) by Benedict & Nancy Freedman – 11 years’ difference (A at AAR)
  • When Strangers Marry (2002) by Lisa Kleypas (B at AAR)
  • A Heart Full of Miracles (2000) by Stephanie Mittman – 14 years’ difference (B- at AAR)
  • Years (1986) by LaVyrle Spencer – 20 years’ difference
  • Daddy-Long-Legs (1912) by Jean Webster

  • Dark Waters (2013) by Toni Anderson – about 14 years’ difference
  • Rush (2013) by Maya Banks – 14 years’ difference (erotic) (B- at AAR)
  • The Admiral’s Bride (11/1999) by Suzanne Brockmann – SIM-962 – 24 years’ difference (B+ at AAR)
  • Breaking Point (2005) by Suzanne Brockmann (B- at AAR)
  • Hot Dish (2006) by Connie Brockway – 9 years’ difference (A- at AAR)
  • Temptation Ridge (2009) by Robyn Carr – 13 years’ difference (C+ at AAR)
  • Rivals (1988) by Jilly Cooper – about 20 years’ difference (A- at AAR)
  • The Edge of Heaven (2002) by Teresa Hill – 15 years’ difference (A- at AAR)
  • The Standish Place (1976) by Isabelle Holland
  • The Blackmail Baby (5/2002) by Penny Jordan – HP-2247 – 10 years’ difference
  • The Surprise of His Life (8/1991) by Karen Keast (Sandra Canfield) – SSE-866 – 20 years’ difference
  • Master of Her Virtue (4/2013) by Miranda Lee – HP-3129 – 16 years’ difference
  • Lost Warriors (12/1993) by Rachel Lee – SIM-535 – 20 years’ difference (A at AAR)
  • Too Hot to Handle (1986) by Elizabeth Lowell – 13 years’ difference (A at AAR)
  • First and Forever (8/1991) by Katherine Kendall – HT-360
  • After Hours (2013) by Cara McKenna – 10 years’ difference
  • Beauty and the Badge (12/2009) by Julie Miller – HI-1176 – 12 years’ difference
  • Takedown (4/2010) by Julie Miller – HI-1201 – 16 years’ difference
  • Honey Moon (1993) by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (women’s fiction) (A at AAR)
  • After Ben (2012) by Con Riley – about 15 years’ difference (male/male)
  • Set the Dark on Fire (2009) by Jill Sorenson – 10 years’ difference (B+ at AAR)
  • The Ivy Tree (1961) by Mary Stewart (B- at AAR)
  • Wildfire at Midnight (1956) by Mary Stewart – 10 years’ difference (B+/B at AAR)
  • More Than Love Letters (2006) by Rosy Thornton – 18 years’ difference
  • The Front Runner (1974) by Patricia Nell Warren – 20 years’ difference (M/M Fiction)
  • A Man for Mom (1/1993) by Linda Randall Wisdom – HAR-470

  • Catch the Lightning (1996) by Catherine Asaro – 30 years’ difference
  • The Quantum Rose (2000) by Catherine Asaro – 50 years’ difference (A+ at AAR)
  • Hope’s Folly (2009) by Linnea Sinclair – 16 years’ difference (B+ at AAR)
  • Beat of Temptation in An Enchanted Season (2007) by Nalini Singh – 10 years’ difference (A+ at AAR)

Older Heroines

  • A Promise of Spring (1990) by Mary Balogh – 10 years’ difference
  • Christmas Angel (1992) by Jo Beverley – 5 years’ difference
  • The Ramshackle Suitor (2000) by Nancy Butler – 5 years’ difference (B- at AAR)
  • The Dower House in A Mother’s Joy (1994) by Carola Dunn
  • Airs and Graces (1990) by Elizabeth Hewitt – 1 year’s difference
  • An Immodest Proposal (1995) by Patricia Oliver
  • Four in Hand (1993) by Margaret Westhaven – 5 years’ difference
  • The Bumblebroth (1995) by Patricia Wynn – 5 years’ difference

  • In Praise of Younger Men Anthology (2001) (B- at AAR)
  • The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie (2009) by Jennifer Ashley – 2 years’ difference (A- at AAR)
  • The Wicked Deeds of Daniel Mackenzie (2013) by Jennifer Ashley – 4 years’ difference (B- at AAR)
  • Pleasure Me (2011) by Monica Burns – 12 years’ difference (A- at AAR)
  • The Stranger I Married (2007) by Sylvia Day – 4 years’ difference (C+ at AAR)
  • Thief of Shadows (2012) by Elizabeth Hoyt – about 6 years’ difference (B- at AAR)
  • Sleeping Beauty (1998) by Judith Ivory – 8 years’ difference (A/B- at AAR)
  • Pleasure for Pleasure (2006) by Eloisa James (secondary romance) (B at AAR)
  • Brazen (1995) by Susan Johnson
  • To Please a Lady (1999) by Susan Johnson (A- at AAR)
  • A Talent for Sin (2009) by Lavinia Kent – 7 years’ difference (B at AAR)
  • Suddenly You (2001) by Lisa Kleypas – 5 years’ difference (B at AAR)
  • Just in Time (2003) by Judith Lansdowne
  • Not Quite a Husband (2009) by Sherry Thomas – 4 years’ difference (A at AAR)

  • Summer Fancy (1997) by Anne Avery
  • The Randolph Legacy (1997) by Eileen Charbonneau – about 9 years’ difference (B+ at AAR)
  • The Invitation (1994) by Jude Deveraux
  • The Rainbow Season (1979) by Lisa Gregory
  • The Outlaw and the Lady (2001) by Lorraine Heath (B+ at AAR)
  • Last Chance (1995) by Jill Marie Landis
  • Courting Miss Hattie (1991) by Pamela Morsi
  • Simple Jess (1996) by Pamela Morsi (A at AAR)
  • Wild Oats (1993) by Pamela Morsi
  • From Fields of Gold (1994) by Alexandra Ripley – 7 years’ difference
  • The Tender Texan (1991) by Jodi Thomas

  • A Younger Man (12/2002) by Rochelle Alers – SD-1479
  • East of the Sun, West of the Moon (2001) by Carole Bellacera – 13 years’ difference (B at AAR)
  • The Defiant Hero (2001) by Suzanne Brockmann – 6 years’ difference (A- at AAR)
  • Ladies’ Man (2006) by Suzanne Brockmann – 10 years’ difference
  • Out of Control (2002) and Breaking Point (2006) by Suzanne Brockmann (secondary romance each) – 20 years’ difference (A/B- at AAR)
  • Liberating Lacey (2009) by Anne Calhoun – 8 years’ difference (erotic)
  • First Time, Forever (8/2000) by Cara Colter – SR-1464
  • Anyone But You (8/1996) by Jennifer Crusie – HLL-4 – 10 years’ difference (B+ at AAR)
  • Bad Boys Do (2011) by Victoria Dahl – 6 years’ difference (B+ at AAR)
  • Driven to Distraction (4/1996) by Judith Duncan – SIM-701
  • The Last True Cowboy (1998) by Kathleen Eagle (C+/C- at AAR)
  • What the Heart Knows (1999) by Kathleen Eagle (A at AAR)
  • Mr. Family (10/1996) by Margot Early – HSR-711 – 6 years’ difference (B+ at AAR)
  • In Praise of a Younger Man (4/1995) by Lyn Ellis – HT-532
  • A Different Kind of Forever (2012) by Dee Ernst – 16 years’ difference
  • Bound to Please (2009) by Lilli Feisty – 8 years’ difference (erotic) (B at AAR)
  • Undercover Angel (6/1985) by Suzanne Forster – SD-215 – 9 years’ difference (D at AAR)
  • On the Island (2012) by Tracey Garvis-Graves – 14 years’ difference (B- at AAR)
  • Exposed (2013) by Laura Griffin – 6 years’ difference (B- at AAR)
  • Show and Tell (2008) by Jasmine Haynes (erotic) – 15 years’ difference (B at AAR)
  • Robbing the Cradle (4/1989) by Anne Henry – HAR-292
  • Somebody to Love (2012) by Kristan Higgins – 5 years’ difference (B at AAR)
  • Courting Greta (2013) by Ramsey Hootman – 12 years’ difference
  • Scoring Lacey (2011) by Jenna Howard – 10 years’ difference (erotic)
  • Challenge of a Lifetime (12/1990) by Barbara Kaye – HSR-433
  • Romeo and Julia (1999) by Annie Kimberlin – 10 years’ difference (B at AAR)
  • Fallen from Grace (2004) by Laura Leone (A at AAR)
  • The Game is Played (3/1981) by Amii Loren (Joan Hohl) – CER-77
  • Guilty (1/1993) by Anne Mather – HP-1542
  • All Night Long (4/2001) by Anne Mather – HP-2170
  • Sinful Pleasures (6/1998) by Anne Mather – HP-1959
  • Snowfire (1/1994) by Anne Mather – HP-1617
  • Summertime (1/1994) by Curtiss Ann Matlock – SSE-860
  • Flat-Out Sexy (2008) by Erin McCarthy – 7 years’ difference (B+ at AAR)
  • Tim (1974) by Colleen McCullough – 18 years’ difference
  • Dancing at the Harvest Moon (1999) by K.C. McKinnon
  • Baby Jane Doe (10/2006) by Julie Miller – HI-947 – 10 years’ difference
  • Red’s Hot Honky-Tonk Bar (2009) by Pamela Morsi – 14 years’ difference (A- at AAR)
  • Can’t Hurry Love (2012) by Molly O’Keefe (secondary romance) – 13 years’ difference (C+ at AAR)
  • The Older Woman (1/2002) by Cheryl Reavis – SSE-1445 (B at AAR)
  • Return to Night (1947) by Mary Renault – 11 years’ difference
  • One Summer (1993) by Karen Robards (B- at AAR)
  • No Place Like Home (2002) by Barbara Samuel (A- at AAR)
  • Sweet Burning (8/1985) by Sandi Shane (Sandra Canfield) – SSE-257
  • The Man Who Loved Christmas (12/1999) by Kathryn Shay – HSR-877
  • Reach for the Sky (8/1988) by Beverly Sommers – HAR-258
  • Family Blessings (1994) by LaVyrle Spencer – 15 years’ difference
  • Elegance (2003) by Kathleen Tessaro – 9 years’ difference (B- at AAR)
  • The Fix-It Man (7/1986) by Vicki Lewis Thompson – HT-113
  • Snowfall at Willow Lake (2008) by Susan Wiggs – about 10 years’ difference
  • Fall Into Me (2009) by Linda Winfree – 10 years’ difference

  • The Moon’s Shadow (2003) by Catherine Asaro (B at AAR)
  • Primary Inversion (1995) by Catherine Asaro
  • Outlander Series (1991-) by Diana Gabaldon (A to A- at AAR)
  • Ritual of Proof (2001) by Dara Joy (B+ at AAR)
  • A Gift of Wings in The Queen in Winter (2006) by Sarah Monette – 7 years’ difference (B at AAR)

This list is currently closed for submissions.