The ask@AAR: One Romance to Rule Them All?
Later this month, a friend of mine’s book club which typically only reads very serious books for adults is going to read a romance. They read about the RWA fiasco and have seen the increased coverage of romance in the big name press and so they decide to give one a try. For most, it will be the first romance they’ve read as an adult. My friend asked me to recommend a book–So. Much. Pressure.–and to come and talk about the book and romance to the group.
I gave her a list to choose from:
Cecilia Grant’s A Lady Awakened
https://allaboutromance.com/book-review/a-lady-awakened-by-cecilia-grant/
Courtney Milan’s The Heiress Effect
https://allaboutromance.com/book-review/the-heiress-effect-courtney-milan/
Laura Kinsale’s Flowers from the Storm
https://allaboutromance.com/book-review/flowers-from-the-storm-by-laura-kinsale/
Sherry Thomas’ His at Night
https://allaboutromance.com/book-review/his-at-night/
K. J. Charles’ A Seditious Affair
https://allaboutromance.com/book-review/a-seditious-affair-by-kj-charles/
Elizabeth Kingston’s Desire Lines
https://allaboutromance.com/book-review/desire-lines-by-elizabeth-kingston/
Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner’s Earth Bound
https://allaboutromance.com/book-review/earth-bound-by-emma-barry-and-genevieve-turner/
Alyssa Cole’s A Prince on Paper
https://allaboutromance.com/book-review/a-prince-on-paper-by-alyssa-cole/
Helen Hoang’s The Kiss Quotient
https://allaboutromance.com/book-review/the-kiss-quotient-by-helen-hoang/
Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver
https://allaboutromance.com/book-review/spinning-silver-by-naomi-novik/
After discussing it with her book club, they picked Flowers from the Storm. I think it’s a good choice. It’s a complicated story with leads who both have fascinating backstories and is roundly agreed to be a classic.
And it got me thinking, if you could recommend just ONE–and, yes, I know you guys are terrible at that :) –romance to a non-romance reader, a book that you thought would appeal to many, what would you suggest? And, if you can, include the book title, the author, and why you’d pick it!
They picked Flowers from the Storm and out of ten members, three liked it, several didn’t finish it, and the rest DID NOT. Tough gig.
Still valuable – you got them to try, to talk, and to see that we exist.
You cannot convince everyone, still, you did good!!
My shoulders did sag when I was asked about the connection between pornography and romance.
My go-to rec is Meredith Duran’s Duke of Shadows. I also think Kinsale’s The Prince of Midnight is a good one, as it has some terrific Quixote-esque literary romance elements to it, and it’s a bit subversive in that Leigh is taking on a traditionally male attitude throughout and ST is the one with the heaving bosom and smelling salts, so you speak.
So TO speak, that is
So TO speak, that is. Curse you autocorrect!
My love for The Duke of Shadows is boundless.
I’m expanding a bit on why I didn’t pick a Heyer title even though I got started on reading romance with Heyer almost 30 years ago. (I thought about Venetia, Black Sheep, These Old Shades, The Grand Sophy, and Sylvester.) Heyer’s books were written about 50 to 100 years ago now, so they don’t represent modern genre romances. Heyer’s books have no sex scenes, comparable to only a subset of more recent books. Several of her books called romances are barely romances at all (my suggested labels for some are in my Genre Labels essay archived at http://www.ccrsdodona.org/markmuse/reading/genrelabels.html.) Her prose style can definitely be too wordy at times, including in Venetia. The hero of Black Sheep (the Heyer book I’ve reread the most times) is definitely unusual, and a sister of the heroine grates on me. The age & power difference in These Old Shades bothers some readers. The antisemitism in The Grand Sophy bothers some readers, and the first-cousin relationship bothers some readers. Cotillion turns some romance expectations upside-down, so it is a lot of fun to reread when you know who to root for, but isn’t something to give as an introduction to the romance genre.
What a difficult question! I enjoy humor and banter, so I might recommend a romance by Julie James.
I was going to comment on Dabney’s overall list of options that (of the titles I was familiar with) humor seemed to be missing. And while I think a group of “literary” readers might appreciate Flowers From the Storm, I really enjoy humor too. I’d recommend Julie James, Jennifer Crusie, and Loretta Chase as authors authors who consistently write “funny”. Like anything, though, humor is in the eye of the beholder.
Oh, I love humor! Thanks for bringing this up. But I have found that many readers of “very serious books” can have as much prejudice toward comedy as HEAs and HFNs. I realize humor is subjective, but I have encountered people who sneer at funny books just as much as those that end happily. I certainly hope that’s not the case with this particular book group.
As far as I’m concerned, the world could do with a lot more laughter and happiness. But I think there are still strong Puritan strains in the world of literature where many are quick to put morose, moralizing tales above pulpy fun as a matter of principle.
My suggestion for one best romance, *Ravished* by Amanda Quick, has 5 stars (the maximum) in my record of humor scores for romances (http://www.ccrsdodona.org/markmuse/reading/romwhumorlist.html). I wrote something about romances with humor (http://www.ccrsdodona.org/markmuse/reading/humorrom.html) that was used as part of a column here at AAR many years ago (https://allaboutromance.com/lauries-news-views-62/).
I actually think the Grant, the Milan and the Hoang are all pretty funny. In the Milan, Jane and her dresses are an endless source of the giggles.
For first time Romance Readers I would want to dazzle them and show just how well written romances can be -so I would choose a Joanna Bourne novel. Probably “The Spymaster’s Lady” because it’s a very impressive book and many Bourne fans like it the best or “The Forbidden Rose”. “The Black Hawk” is amazing but I think it is most satisfying when you read the other books first. I really think a group of women who regularly read “very serious books” would appreciate Bourne’s wit and style as well as her storytelling.
I love Bourne and thought about her. But I am the rare reader who doesn’t love The Spymaster’s Lady–my favorite is My Lord and Spymaster. But were I to pick a Bourne for a newbie romance reader, I’d pick The Forbidden Rose. So many books. Too little time!
As we have discussed before “My Lord And Spymaster” is my favorite Bourne book as well, with “Forbidden Rose” right up there in a close second. I also love “The Black Hawk” but I don’t tend to reread it like I do the others. Its also a book that works as a “culmination” rather than a first read. I would pick “The Spymaster’s Lady” for your group because it seems to be *most* people’s favorite Bourne book and I am playing the odds here, lol. I really don’t think you could pick a poor choice from Bourne’s work and I stand by her as probably the most talented writer in a group that has several incredibly talented writers.
#separatedatbirth
Recommending The Spymaster’s Lady would be a cruel practical joke upon them, as it is all downhill from there (it is my favourite book) ;-)
If you love Annique, I recommend you meet Elise de Vries in Kelly Bowen’s A Duke to Remember. If you love the respect and trust between Hero and heroine while in peril that Bourne enjoys, the graphic novel series Modesty Blaise is worth a try. (not a romance)
I will definitely put Kelly Bowen on my TBR list. I do love “The Spymaster’s Lady” but as said above it’s not my absolute favorite Bourne. novel. That being said, I still prefer it over 99.9% of romance books I have read and have read it countless times. Bourne is in her own class with a couple of other authors where she really is competing against herself in my mind when she releases a new book. The question isn’t whether it’s better than everything else released around it (it is), the question is has she managed to surpass her incredible backlist.
I couldn’t do The Spymaster’s Lady because I had to recommend a book I could talk about with great love. I just don’t adore Annique. She’s too superhero for me. But Bourne is AMAZING.
As Bourne is the only romance author with a decent back catalog who is all 4 stars or better for me, I would say Bourne’s writing is miraculous.
I do love Annique, but I totally see your point about her being too “superhero” and IMHO it makes the part where she doesn’t realize it’s Grey later on harder to accept.
My distance with the book comes from Grey. Of all of Bourne’s heroes he’s the one I just couldn’t get totally onboard with. He’s just too cool all the time and I couldn’t bond with him. He didn’t have those lovely flaws and insecurities (while being amazing) that Sebastian, Adrian and Doyle had and I couldn’t warm up to him. I am one of those people who need to love both the hero and the heroine. That’s why it’s not my favorite or top three favorites of Bourne’s works but I do still love it.
I suggest *Ravished* by Amanda Quick. It is a beauty-and-the-beast story. It has humor. It has drama. It has sex, but not an overwhelming amount. The h & h are perfect for each other, not necessarily for other people. It is Regency-set, but only partly in London. The heroine is (loosely) based on a real historical fossil hunter.
I considered Heyer’s Venetia, but much as I like it, it has too many of her multi-page paragraphs.
As a reader seriously underwhelmed by The Hating Game, I wouldn’t recommend it. (I never saw the humor many readers mentioned.)
My problem with The Kiss Quotient is that there was no mention in the entire book that prostitution is illegal in California, and absolutely no page space went to the moral/ethical/risk issues related to that choice of a way to make money.
I haven’t read any Quick and feel I’ve missed out. That’s another one for the endless TBR pile!
Ravished is one of my all time favorite books and encapsulates (IMHO) the best of the Krentz/Castle/Quick essence. It’s really charming and just a fun book to read. I highly recommend it.
If I am being 100% honest it wouldn’t be my first pick to try to dazzle a group of readers with more classic tastes and show the best writing available in romances. It’s joyful and fun but it doesn’t have the original writing or “gravitas” of some of the other books mentioned.
The idea of “romance conversion kits” or some similar phrase for romance books to give to people who don’t currently knowingly read genre romance books has come up more than once over the years. Gravitas would not be one of my selection criteria—enjoyability is, since I read for pleasure and would pick books I think others could also read with pleasure.
I agree that “Ravished” is among my most re-read favorites and I often think about books I love vs. books I think are “great”. For me Joanna Bourne is the culmination of the two as I reread her works constantly for enjoyment yet still think her works are literary accomplishments as well.
I appreciate Quick/Krentz in her own right as a novelist. I think I have likely read more books by her than maybe any other author in my entire life (if you count all her pseudonyms) but I also think in terms of technical skill and originality Bourne has her beat. But again that’s just my humble opinion and hearing everyone else’s ideas is what makes this so much fun for me to read.
@Mark: So glad I’m not the only one who is baffled by the overwhelming love given to THE HATING GAME. I know I’ve said it before (probably right here at AAR, so apologies for the repetition) but to me THE HATING GAME reads like an office romance written by someone who has never actually worked in an office. The hero & heroine came across as junior high school kids playing some sort of adults-in-the-corporate-world cosplay. A much better book along the same theme is Sarah Mayberry’s HER FAVORITE RIVAL.
Turn them off forever, I meant!
I’d go with Sherry Thomas’ Not Quite a Husband. It has beautiful prose and an interesting structure with the flashbacks (which many romance readers hate but which would probably appeal to people who are more familiar with literary fiction). It has a non-stereotypical hero and heroine with a non-stereotypical domestic dynamic (I love the fact that Leo decorates their home whilst Bryony couldn’t care less). It has the angsty separation and Leo’s unending devotion after he thinks hope is lost. It has real historical events that form a significant part of the plot (again, appealing to readers who would probably be bored by a typical Regency-set historical in which not much happens).
Many romance readers don’t seem to notice or care much about writing quality. Online reviews and comments are mostly about the story and the issues it raises, with rarely a mention of prose or dialogue. But book club readers will notice, and a classic romance full of romance genre writing conventions may them off forever. I love romance but I have to kiss a lot of frogs for every prince and there are plenty of celebrated romance authors you could not now pay me to read.
I think Sherry Thomas is almost always a win–her writing reflects her intellect and her love of words.
I thought “Not Quite A Husband” was a great read and I strongly prefer it to “His At Night” but it’s another book I wouldn’t necessarily pick as someone’s introduction to romance. To me it isn’t very typical of most romances, which is probably why so many hard core romance readers like us love it. The whole “quasi infidelity” angle isn’t typical of most romance books where a heroine may think the hero strayed or was tempted to but it always turns out to be a misunderstanding because most romance readers want absolute fidelity,
Since I’m a reader who loves reading “very serious books for adults,” I would probably bring George Eliot’s Middlemarch to a book club like the one mentioned above because it contains compelling romances within the framework of a complex story with important historical themes. It’s simply wonderful and has been my favorite comfort read for decades.
However, the question here suggests that the reading club is intrigued by the RWA scandal and possibly wants to understand why racial diversity, among other factors, is creating conflict for romance industry insiders. If that’s the case and if that is the primarily criteria, I might bring Helen Hoang’s The Kiss Quotient because it’s a good romance that also delves into interracial relationships, features class conflict between the lead couple, and offers a strong defense of respecting neurodiversity. Hoang has had a significant impact on the #ownvoice movement in the romance genre and her emergence and first book provides important insight into why marginalized writers create protagonists with marginalized identities.
Regarding the intrigue with the RWA scandal, I think it’s just one more example of the adage “There’s no such thing as bad advertising. Just be sure to spell my name right.”
As for myself, I never heard of Kathryn Lynn Davis until the kerfuffle. Now, I am reading her book “Too Deep for Tears.” So, in a sense, Ms. Milan shot herself in the foot if she intended to dissuade people from patronizing Ms. Davis’s work. While I don’t think it’s a perfect story by any means, I am enjoying Ms. Davis’s lyrical storytelling abilities. And this is something that I probably never would have read if the RWA scandal didn’t occur.
I’m not bringing this up to start another row, but I do think it’s interesting how scandal and controversy can draw attention to something that once existed as a subculture and thereby drag it into the mainstream. And this can have unintended positive benefits, as evidenced by this book club’s curiosity to give romance a try. As for their motives, I couldn’t say. It could be, as you suggest, for the purpose of analyzing social movements. But it could also or otherwise be pure voyeurism. Either way, I think it’s good romance has been put on the radar for this particular book club.
Blackjack, Middlemarch for me is one of those rare novels that becomes more enriching every time I re-read it.
I agree, Usha, and think It’s amazing! In fact, most of Eliot’s books are incredible, but Middlemarch definitely holds a special place for me.
@Blackjack: I was reading MIDDLEMARCH during the last few weeks of my first pregnancy (my oldest will be 28 this year, so we’re talking awhile back). In all of the photographs of me in the Labor & Delivery room and of the first couple of weeks of my daughter’s life, you can see the green spine of that book somewhere in the frame. I carried it around with me, snatching a few pages whenever I had a minute to spare—which isn’t very often when you have a new baby, hence the fact that it took me over a month to finish it. I believe it was Virginia Woolf who called MIDDLEMARCH “the wisest book in the English language,” and who am I to argue with the writer of MRS. DALLOWAY?
I tried to read it when I had small children and couldn’t get through it. So. Long. I need to try again.
Eliot is just a writer with a way of making me luxuriate in her prose and sink into these giant, leisurely stories. In today’s romance genre, Susanna Kearsley gives me similar feelings.
I have only read Kearsly’s Bellewether and The Rose Garden. I really enjoyed both.
Sorry, Kearsley…..fast fingers.
Flowers From the Storm is a risky choice IMHO. The archaic prose had me DNFing with prejudice in the sample.
The Hating Game and The Kiss Quotient are the most legendary romance books of our time, and for newbies, recommending the significantly hotter Kiss Quotient could be offensive… The Hating Game would be my recommendation, even though it is only 4 stars to me.
Interesting perspective. I guess, as an old woman, I am comfortable with the more formal language. I actually love the way Maddie talks. And I’m thinking that the heat in The Kiss Quotient will be something this group sees as fun rather than offensive. But we’ll see what they think!
I’m an old woman too, and I have no problem with the formal language in any of Kinsale’s work. I think she’s brilliant! I have listened to Flowers from the Storm more than once, and enjoy it every time.
…I DNF the Hating Game… different strokes…
Really enjoyed the Kiss Quotient
If a significant percentage of readers aren’t DNFing, it isn’t a romance book ;-)
The need for readers to like Hero, heroine, writing and story gives us higher hurdles than other genres.
I certainly found TKQ to be better than THG, which made the even better The Bride Test a wonderful surprise.
Great list of recommendations; and I’d love to know too what the group thinks about Flowers From the Storm. It is one of my favorites to recommend, and I’m hard pressed to come up with only one of my own that is any better. So please report back!
Gosh, I read so much I don’t know if I have one romance to rule them all. “Crown of Dreams” by Kimberly Cates was very formative for me.
Alyssa Cole’s Let It Shine.
Yes, that’s a good one. I went with one of Cole’s lighter wonders.
Anything by Georgette Heyer but probably Venetia for the brilliant hero. Or possibly The Black Sheep for the wonderfully witty dialogue between the H/h. Heyer was always dismayed that she was not taken seriously so maybe your reading group will see what a brilliant writer she was with standards very, very few in HR have ever matched let alone surpassed. Look forward to feedback in due course.
I’m always surprised when Venetia gets recommended, because I hated it. Especially the hero! Different strokes, I guess. I did love The Grand Sophy, but it doesn’t seem to get as many recs.
Not quite hated Venetia, but yes, definitely found it difficult. Loved Grand Sophy, and the Convenient Marriage, and of course, as a teenager, fell hard for these Old Shades….
Venetia is my favourite Heyer – I wasn’t so keen on The Grand Sophy the first time I read it, but I listened to a relatively new audio version a couple of years back and definitely enjoyed it more. Not as much as Venetia though ;)
“looks around nervously” I find Heyer too old fashioned for me. I want to show them what romance, the romance of my world, is like!
Yes, I get it completely, Dabney!
Tthough I love Heyer, I started reading her in the 80-its as a teenager… so I was just thinking, …. so many of my romance loves are dated. Going with recent and “modern” romance makes sense, I can see that. Particularly if that is what you love, you cannot go any other route, IMO.
Just thinking out loud, because your question is interesting:
On the other hand, these “old” titles appeal to me because I am a 50+ woman, with my cultural history, so maybe that could be a criterion, age of the intended readers.
I am Curious how it will go for the ladies with FFS – I really struggled with the asylum, I have such a strong reaction to it, I do not know if it would have worked as a “ starter romance” for me…
I have recommended Tanya Huff’s Summon the Keeper a few times, it is urban fantasy with a strong romantic comedy part, a couple of women loved it. I knew that these were people who had my sense of humor, so I knew it would probably work. And it was not too much a romance, so maybe a bit of “playing it safe” by not overwhelming them with “all the big feels”?
I wish you lots of interesting moments, what an exciting experiment- I would feel honored too, with the trust they give you.
There are several MDs in this group so I think they’ll think the asylum part is interesting. We’ll see!
I would ask for their favorite non=-romance books first, then match them with the author that I think reads most like what they like to read. I have two sisters who hate romances and yet enjoy the romances I have recommended based on what they like in the past. I don’t think there is any one book for everyone – I’ve disliked a lot of the favorites listed here and would stop reading romance if those were my only options. So when I recommend my first question is, “Name a few books you’ve loved recently.”
Yeah–this was “Please suggest a romance for us.” It’s a book club of about ten women!
“Please suggest a romance for us”- Oh, yeah. Because that’s not vague at all…
A lot of people probably think romance is a monolith of the Fabio on the cover variety. But now more than ever, there are so many subgenres, heat levels, and tropes. I’d say that makes romance like a lot of other genre fiction. If someone were to say, “Please suggest a science fiction for us,” I’d have to ask, “Well, what kind do you mean? Hard SF? Soft SF? SF comedy? Are you looking for something with aliens, robots, or just humans in the near future?” And so forth.
I felt honored. I do think I can–we all can–suggest books. We might get it wrong but that’s fine!
Oh, of course! I didn’t mean to suggest otherwise. I just think it is difficult- at least for me- to give recommendations based on such broad criteria. I only meant by my comment that I would ask the person for more information.
His at Night would be a great option, but I absolutely fell in love with Sherry Thomas’ “Delicious”. Such an unusual book, and an homage to Cinderella, but the older H&h in this story just make it sing. Sort of a second chance/last chance romance, the inexorable pull between them, without them even realizing what’s happening, is, in a word, “Delicious”! This was one of my first Regency/Victorian historicals, and it has led me down a very charming garden path indeed. I was in my mid 50s when I read it for the first time, so I think it might seduce a few of your book club members, too.
Other books I often rec are: Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase, It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas, Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas, Dukes Prefer Blondes by Loretta Chase, What Happens in London by Julia Quinn, and The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary.
All of these books are wonderful in audio, too.
Please report back with the book clubs reactions, if you can. I’d love to know if anyone gets converted!
Delicious is a wonderful book; it’s my favorite by the author.
Oh, Dabney, these are FABULOUS choices. Please, please keep us posted about your friends’ reactions. If they don’t understand the power and worth of romances after reading “Flowers from the Storm,” it would amaze me.
I gave my best friend a romance by Elizabeth Lowell a million year ago because she was always sneering at romances. Me: “What did you think?” She: “It was all right.” Nearly 30 years afterwards, she confessed to me that she had really liked it. Out of my love for my best friend, I didn’t pursue why she felt it was necessary to maintain her condescension about romances.
Women condemning romances when they’ve never read one is such an egregious betrayal of our gender that I am amazed at women still siding with the patriarchy. I can easily accept that romances are not the cuppa for all women, but not the scorn that constantly rains down on them from people who pride themselves (usually) on their tolerance.
I was thrilled this book club was interested in this. They’re super excited!
Any book from the AAR’s top 100 romance book list.
Ha! I wanted to pick a book that I could speak enthusiastically about and there are any number of books on our list that don’t really do it for me!
I think I might suggest Patricia Gaffney’s To Have and To Hold. It certainly provides plenty of stuff for a book club to talk about as well as being a pretty powerful book.
But when I’m asked for a recommendation from someone who needs cheering up, I suggest Loretta Chase’s Mr. Impossible or Eloisa James’ Much Ado About You.
I gave serious thought to To Have and To Hold but ultimately decided that the content discussion might overwhelm the romance discussion and I think these ladies would like to learn more about the genre writ large.
I’ll try not to sound like a romance snob here, but because non-romance readers are unfamiliar with the standard tropes & conventions of the genre and probably have very preconceived notions of what a romance novel is, I would choose something somewhat “gritty” and atypical. First choice: Cara McKenna’s AFTER HOURS—a working-class contemporary romance told in first-person narration from the heroine’s POV with more of an HFN than an HEA.
Trying to abide by the “one choice to rule them all” requirement, but, ooh boy, I could really riff on this topic!
I would recommend Tripping Prince Charming. A totally unique format of sweet romance. . https://www.amazon.com/Tripping-Prince-Charming-Romance-orts/dp/1530709172/
Written in acts and scenes, the 3 interconnected stories introduce the three princes who hope to win the hand of their one and only true love. With music specifically selected for each phase of the courtship.
,,, non-romance readers are unfamiliar with the standard tropes & conventions of the genre and probably have very preconceived notions of what a romance novel is,
You know, that’s a very good point, and one that I haven’t articulated as such, but which has run through my mind on occasions I’ve been asked for recommendations. Most people are, I’d think, familiar with tropes in mysteries, for example, because we see them so often on TV, and the same is probably true of other genres. But real, proper romance? Not so much, and often what there is only serves to reinforce the unfavourable perceptions held by many.
As for one recommendation – nope, not going there. I just can’t do it!
Oh, I am definitely not going to travel down the road of the romance to end all romances either.
I will say though, as much as I loved “A Lady Awakened” by Cecilia Grant, I don’t know if it’s the best introduction to a book club that has never read a romance before. It’s a great story that flips tropes, but it’s so different from so many other romance plotlines that I don’t think it’s the best representative for the genre as a whole. I realize romance is highly open-ended, especially nowadays, but “A Lady Awakened” is so out there (in a good way!) that I would suggest others get hooked on the genre first. Then maybe take a look at something this radically different.
I love “After Hours” I might even put it in my top ten books, but I think it may be too much too fast for a group looking for an introduction to romance novels. I guess I am thinking it has to be a book that says “this work is exceptional but also typical of what romance novels are”. “After Hours” is great but probably wouldn’t necessarily work for a number of existing romance readers whose tastes fall into more restrictive guidelines.
@chrisreader: one of the reasons I think AFTER HOURS would be a good choice for a reader unfamiliar with the romance tropes and the romance genre in general is because it is not a “standard” romance. It’s about working-class people who work hard at difficult, marginalized, but important jobs. The heroine is not the traditional “beautiful but doesn’t know it” heroine (I love how she frets about her baby-fine hair that never stays in any style); the hero is older and a loner who has been alone long enough to fail to see that he can be overbearing at times (I love how toward the end of the book, he admits the sort of power dynamic they explored early in their sexual relationship is “not a sustainable way” for two people to relate long-term). I think AFTER HOURS would be a good way to shatter some pre-conceived notions about what a romance is.
I totally get your reasoning and I think you encapsulated beautifully why I love “After Hours” so much. I would also add in dialogue, which is pretty much perfect IMHO. I don’t think there is one line in that book that doesn’t sound true to life. So many books have conversations or parts that sounds like nothing those characters (or sometimes anyone) would actually say.
My reason for not selecting it is because I would wonder if it would suffer from people getting something different than they thought they would be getting. I do think such a well read group could appreciate the style and nuances of the book. It just wouldn’t be my first choice for them. But that’s why these exercises are so interesting, there’s not one “right” answer so this very well could be the book that converts these readers to romance.
I would 100% tell someone to start with Sherry Thomas or Judith Ivory & since they won’t be able to stop reading romance afterwards, they can read all of the above next. Did they specifically want historical or contemporary? My book club also veered mostly anti-romance…until we all read The Hating Game. Game Changer.
I thought about The Hating Game but decided instead to pick The Kiss Quotient. #ownvoices
Yes; I can see why that would be a ‘better of the 2,’ selection. Talia Hibbert might also have been an interesting starting place.
I’m not sure any of her books have quite reached classic status for me. I really like A Girl Like Her but I don’t think it’s as amazing or as iconic as The Kiss Quotient for example.
Same, but good for a book club discussion.
Either Knight in shining armour or Honors splendour.
They didn’t give me a genre but they are all around my age and that did factor into my decision making.
Flowers from the Storm is a great choice. I would recommend a Sherry Thomas novel – probably Not Quite a Husband.
I was torn between His at Night and Not Quite a Husband. I picked the former because I think it’s actually the stronger romance. But both are superb choices IMHO.
I am one of the few that really didn’t care much for “His At Night” and really hated the hero. He reminded me of one of the jerk heroes of yore despite his “reasons” for being awful. I don’t find it enjoyable when the heroine is pretty miserable for most of the book. I know a lot of people loved it and him but it just didn’t work for me. Sir Percival Blakey pulled it off much better without the meaner edge IMHO. But I do appreciate Sherry Thomas’s writing and writing style.