the ask@AAR: What’s your favorite romance novella?
Today, it’s all about the novella.
According to Wikipedia,
A novella is a work of narrative prose fiction, longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. Publishers and literary award societies typically describe a novella’s word count as falling between 15,000 and 40,000 words, although definitions vary.
The English word “novella” derives from the Italian novella, feminine of novello, which means “new”.
On average, a 100 page book is around 25,000 and, in my experience, few books marketed as novellas ever reach 200 pages. Many famous books are actually novellas: Animal Farm (111 pages), The Little Prince (88 pages), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (144 pages), and The Ballad of the Sad Cafe (152 pages).
I love novellas. A great novella has room for a plot that snags your attention, characters that are quickly established but feel fully real, and a focus that stays true from the first word to the last. It’s often an introduction to an author or a series and, when the last page is finally read, I can’t wait to delve into more.
My favorite novella is Courtney Milan’s A Kiss for Midwinter–although even as I write this, I think of others I adore: Frozen by Meljean Brook, Tress by Larissa Brown, Take What You Want by Jeanette Grey, Harlot by Victoria Dahl, and at least three more stories by Ms. Milan. And, I know I’m missing many more.
So, tell me, what novellas do you love and why? Do you like it as an art form or do you find it lacking? Inquiring minds are desperate to know!
Oh happy days!! Usually a novella comes to my rescue when I’m in a book-funk, struggling with mood.
Faves have been from Nichola Davidson, and Annabeth Albert’s Portland Heat series.
I’m reminded I need to read Noelle Adams, as I love her Clare Kent books (her pen name for erotica books). And my list is growing long…
I tend to avoid novellas because I get to the end and usually feel cheated :-). Courtney Milan’s are exceptions. One of my favorites, years ago, before I knew there was such a thing as a “novella” was Stephen King’s “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption”.
I like Ilona Andrew’s novellas. The recently published Sweep with Me is very good and the ones in KD world are all excellent short reads.
I agree The Governess Affair is probably the best novella in that genre.
I don’t track novellas separately in my reading log, and the boundaries are a bit fuzzy, but these are a few authors of multiple titles in the right range of lengths that I have read:
arend, vivian
bell, dana marie
christenberry, judith/judy
d’arc, bianca
dryden, delphine
fenske, tawna
frame, mary
harrison, thea
hunter, kelly
knight, angela
langlais, eve
lau, jackie
leclaire, day
monroe, max
pape, cindy spencer
roberts, val
warren, nancy
watson, penny
Two specific stories I’ve reread many times that probably fit the length criteria are:
Autumn Glory by Barbara Metzger
The Present by Cindy Holbrook
My top two are Loretta Chase’s The Mad Earl’s Bride and Milan’s The Governess Affair.
Recently, I’ve become a big fan of novellas, especially as they pertain to completing reading challenges LOL! 20 years ago, I thought the longer the book the better, and I’d immerse myself for a number of weeks in the same book (think Outlander or Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth, or a Robert Jordan Wheel of Time fantasy novel). Now, with all the other things taking away my attention a novella is a great length for me as I just don’t have the reading time I did when I was single – I’m lucky to squeeze in 30-60 min a day so novellas and category length stories are more my style. (In fact, if a romance book on offer for review is as long as a Kristen Ashley book I’ll almost always turn it down).
I have a novella folder on goodreads ( https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/29334580-maria-rose?shelf=novella ); recent good entries have been Ruby Lang and Jackie’s Lau’s series which I’ve really enjoyed. But looking back through the folder these are some of my faves:
The Story Guy and Snowfall by Mary Ann Rivers
Protecting What’s Theirs by Tessa Bailey
A Rose in Winter by Laura Florand
A Christmas Gone Perfectly Wrong by Cecilia Grant
Waiting for the Flood by Alexis Hall
Hold by Claire Kent
Knit Tight by Annabeth Albert
When Was the Last Time by Kelly Jensen
The Nekkid Truth by Nicole Camden (first story I ever read with a woman who has prosopagnosia – she doesn’t recognize faces)
Afternoon Delight by Anne Calhoun
Zoe York’s SEAL’s Undone series, and Mia West’s Grizzly Rim (Alaskan shifters) and Into the Fire (post Roman British m/m romance with a blacksmith and soldier) all get top 4 and 5 star ratings in my folder too.
I will check out your Goodreads novella folder, Maria. These recommendations look great and like you, I love novellas.
Oh!!! How could I have forgotten Waiting for the Flood by Alexis Hall? It is so lovely! (And the audio version is really well done, too, for those who prefer to listen.) Thank you for including in your list!
The Governess Affair is, as others have noted, really really good. Not only is it (by far) my favorite of Courtney Milan’s novellas, I think it’s my favorite thing she’s written.
My other picks are both by KJ Charles, and I think they’re both novella length: Wanted, A Gentleman and Unfit to Print.
None of these books need to be a full-length novel; they’re wonderful just as they are.
Big Boy by Ruthie Knox, and I second the recommendation for Here There Be Monsters by Meljean Brook.
Big Boy is such an interesting story. Both characters are so singular.
Funny you should ask . . . as I just picked up The Governess Affair by Milan.
I prefer longer form writing – usually the longer the better – but two novellas I reread occasionally are Hot Toy by Jennifer Crusie (Anthology name is Santa, Baby) and Alpha and Omega (anthology On The Prowl ) by Patricia Briggs.
Hot Toy is a contemporary romance about finding the year’s latest hot action toy for a nephew, only to find herself and the toy embroiled in an international espionage episode. If you like Crusie, this is an excellent short read, especially during the holidays.
Alpha and Omega sets up Brigg’s shifter series of the same name. And to be honest, I almost never just read the novella without continuing on to the first novel in the series, Cry Wolf. It was really hard (for me) when the novella was first published to think Brigg’s might not continue writing about Charles and Anna. I really like them as a couple.
As you acknowledge, Alpha and Omega is cheating ;-) No-one is going to reread Brigg’s best series without reading it again.
Finished The Governess Affair by Milan this weekend . . . and y’all are correct! It is quite perfect. On to the rest of the books in the Sinister series. How have I managed to not read any of these yet? LOL
“How have I managed to not read any of these yet?”
Utterly shameful ;-) (They were literally the first romance books I read.)
I second the recs for The Wedding of the Century and A Christmas Gone Perfectly Wrong. Unlocked was the very first ebook I read (I downloaded the kindle app on my laptop because that was all I had to read it on).
For something completely different, I recommend Sara Trevor’s The Troll Whisperer. The main character begins the book as an utterly repulsive online troll who lives in squalor but the author does a remarkable job of redeeming him in a realistic way within the short page count when he falls for his sweet-natured neighbour and turns his life around. The novella length is perfect for this story.
By the way, I completely agree that traditional publishing’s arbitrary page counts make many a romance a hard slog because the plot just doesn’t need 350-plus pages.
I found Tessa Dare’s free novella, How to Catch a Wild Viscount aka The Legend of the Werestag, to be full of delicious yearning..
For me, Courtney Milan is a master of the novella, and they stand up well against most full-length novels by any other author. The Governess Affair, which is mentioned here frequently, is one of my favorite romances. I love too though Unlocked, A Kiss for Midwinter, This Wicked Gift, Her Every Wish, and last year’s Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure.
I really enjoyed Sherry Thomas’s A Dance in Moonlight, a novella from the Fitzhugh series.
Aside from Milan’s The Governess Affair, Cecilia Grant’s brilliant A Christmas Gone Perfectly Wrong is wonderful. I love Grant and her novella might be my favorite of all her books.
Finally, for those who enjoyed Diana Biller’s The Widow of Rose House last year, I highly recommend her novella, The Christmas Explosion. It’s depicts Sam Moore’s parents’ romance and proves that Biller is not a one-hit wonder. Right now, I think the novella is only available via a link in her newsletter but she has said that she might put it out for sale later this year.
Gasp! I had no idea that novella existed. Off to join her mailing list!
It’s so good. I hope Billerr does make it available for sale and on Goodreads. I want to promote it with a review as she is a new historical writer of such high quality. I hope you find it and enjoy it!
I have a very soft spot for In Another Dream by Mary Balogh (published in Once Upon a Dream, that also has a novella by Grace Borrowes).
Tessa Dare’s “The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr. Wright” and Michelle Willingham’s “The Warrior’s Forbidden Virgin.” Recently Victoria Vane’s “The Wolves of Brittany” trilogy has been fun,
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That Dare is lovely. The way your sense of who the hero really is shifts and shifts so wonderfully.
Mary Jo Putney has written a few terrific novellas. My favorites are The Black Beast of Belleterre and The Wedding of the Century.
But I’ve reread My Darling Echo too. And I love an older novella by Anne Gracie, The Virtous Widow.
Offhand, the only I can list is “Two Sisters” by Julia Quinn.
So it must have something to recommend it.
I can’t think of any favorite novellas offhand, but I do think there should be more of them if only because a lot of books- particularly nonfiction- are too darn long for what the author is trying to say. Old industry standards of 50,000+ words because of binding, pricing, etc. have played a huge role in determining about what we think is the proper length for a story. Physical books under 50,000 words are thin, which can psychologically make the reader think she is being cheated as in “I’m not paying $X for something that small!” Short stories do better than novellas if only because they can be compiled into a novel-length collection. But novellas are that sort of in-between dead zone for sales and interest.
None of this means, by the way, that I am coming down hard on full length, 50,000+ word novels. On the contrary, as many here have said, they are often a better length than novellas for character development, fleshing out plot points, and allowing for subplots. But novellas have the advantage of keeping an author from rambling/fluffing up the narrative in order to make a higher word count. Thankfully, self-publishing has allowed for a greater variety of story length than in the past. E-books, in particular, don’t have to worry about signatures that determine page count.
I’d give a DIK to every single Hazard & Somerset novella by the talented Gregory Ashe. They’re wonderful.
I’m also a big fan of novellas by Katharine Ashe and Courtney Milan. Natural Enemies by Roan Parrish is also quite good!
Maybe Ashe’s are too short to be true novellas? I love them anyway!
As I mentioned before under the Milla Vane discussion- my all time favorite novella is Meljean Brook’s “Here There Be Monsters” from the Burning Up compilation book. Ivy is one of my favorite heroines, the world building is amazing and it was neither too short or too dragged out. I was always hoping the main characters would be revisited in a subsequent work as it was part of the Iron Seas universe (some of the “main characters” show up or are mentioned as well) I highly recommend it.
I LOVED IT. It got me rereading the whole series. I love Ivy and I loved the romance. Just marvelous!
I think I loved Ivy even more than the heroines from the full length Iron Seas novels (which I also loved). She’s such an amazing self made heroine and was such fun as well. I’m so thrilled you loved it too!
It takes real skill to put sufficient plot and character development into the small package of a novella. I think the writer who handles the novella length the best is Kati Wilde. She has three Christmas-themed novellas (but they can be read at any time): ALL HE WANTS FOR CHRISTMAS, THE WEDDING NIGHT, and (my favorite) SECRET SANTA. I also like her Deadlands Fantasy novellas (starting with THE MIDWINTER MAIL ORDER BRIDE). I’m not sure if her shifter books are novella length, but if they are, TEACHER’S PET WOLF is excellent.
I also second the Anne Calhoun recommendation—especially her two companion novellas, TRANSFIXED and TRANSFORMED, about a domme heroine and a sub hero who move their relationship into unchartered territory. Very erotic and emotional.
My all-time favorite novella is “Breath on Embers” by Anne Calhoun. It’s emotional and super sexy. For me, it packed some much into a small package. I loved it and re-read it every year (it is a holiday story).
Thanks for that recommendation. I have Calhoun’s novella down on my list of books but had forgotten about it.
I too love that novella. So moving.
If you like novellas…. try our Novella tag!
https://allaboutromance.com/review-tag/novella
There are so many novellas I have loved, many of them in Signet Regency Christmas and other holiday anthologies. The one that I love above all, however, is My Darling Echo by Gayle Wilson in Regency Brides (M&B, 2002). It’s a charming and beautifully told story of an impoverished woman with a small child who comes to work for a blind Earl as his reader. He’s a wonderful man, a war hero who lives a full and interesting life despite his disability; she is a terrific heroine who agrees to enter a marriage of convenience with him but, of course, they fall in love and have a perfect HEA. I re-read it every now and then to enjoy the story, characters and the love between them and also to remind myself how Regency romance ought to be written. BTW, Nicola Cornick and Anne Gracie are the other contributors to the anthology.)
This book sounds right up my alley but it looks as though it’s only available as a paperback on Amazon which makes me sad. I just don’t buy many book books.
@ Holly Bush – Make an exception! It will be worth it.
You have sold me on My Darling Echo, and Regency Brides should be available to me on inter library load :-)
I’m not the biggest fan of novellas – it takes a particular level of skill to be able to tell a satisfying story in a shorter page count, and a lot of the time, they feel rushed and insubstantial. BUT there are a few that have worked really well for me.
Courtney Milan’s The Governess Affair and A Kiss for Midwinter have long been the yardsticks by which I judge all other novellas – and I’d add Unlocked to that list, too.
The late Miranda Neville’s books didn’t always work for me, but her novellas often did; P.S. I Love You – which first appeared in an anthology, but is now available separarately, I think, is a lovely Cyrano-type story that really impressed me.
The novellas in L.J Hayward’s Death and the Devil series are terrific, too – and are properly part of the series, by which I mean that you need to read them for the rest of the series to work because the character and relationship development the author packs into them are amazing and you really will miss out on important stuff if you don’t read them.
I’ll probably think of some more later…
Unlocked didn’t immediately land on my reread list, but affection for it built, leading me to eventually ask about which HR novella by a name author has a mountaineer Hero who once caused relatively blameless romantic pain.