the ask@AAR: What’s your go to comfort read?
Between the coronavirus, the election, the stock market, and putting our house on the market (last kids moved out and we are downsizing big time), I am frazzled. I take more baths, listen to music that brings me joy, and refuse to watch anything depressing. And, of course, I read books that soothe my soul. My bandwidth, at the end of the day–which is when I read–is limited right now and I’ve been struggling to read anything new. Instead, I’ve been pulling out the old, the familiar, and the much loved. I’ve recently reread Eloisa James’ Three Weeks with Lady X, Jenny Holiday’s Famous, and Kathleen O’Reilly’s Sex Straight Up, three of my favorite comfort reads. Tonight, I’m thinking I’ll page through Caroline Linden’s Love and Other Scandals.
What do you pull out when you need that perfect comfort read? And why?
So many good suggestions here! Comfort read to me means something light or funny. So I head for Jennifer Crusie, Loretta Chase, Georgette Heyer, and Julie James. It used to mean SEP’s Stars series – although I haven’t read her for a while – and I wonder if these hold up over time. A few specific titles would include
Beard Science by Penny Reid
What I Did For A Duke by Julie Anne Long
Just One of the Guys by Kristin Higgins
The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley
And one of my favorite audio books of all time is Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer’s Agnes and the Hitman. I listened to it first, and it is one of the few books I’ve never been able to read off the page. Every time I tried, I ended up with my headphones back on. The narrator just made that book work like a boss for me.
Caveat: I’ve yet to read Lucy Parker (so she isn’t here in this list) and am holding my breath that I will find her as funny as everyone else has.
Like you, I have resisted rereading SEP recently- I worry that she may be another lost love. I will definitely read her new book out in June / July, and then see what I feel.
I need a bit more slow developments and abundant wit, potentially more secondary characters, in rereads, I am not sure that re-reading Lucy Parker will work for me. She is wonderful but very straight for me. Will see in a while.
Somehow, older books which were written in a more leisurely mode hit the spot better, for me. I know the story, I remember the best scenes, so I want to linger on the little comment here, the sneaky detail tugged in there – this is why Heyer, Kelly, and Layton work so well. They have so much “garnish” around the main plot line that just rewards re-reading, because I forget the small stuff, and rediscover it with joy.
I don’t usually have me time until after dark, daytime being for work and horse chores. I have a time consuming evening hobby (genealogy) thus little time for novel reading or rereading. I have turned to audiobooks that I can listen to while at my computer or when cleaning house. Most of my audio purchases have been favorite novels that I once reread: early Laurens books incl. Devil’s Bride, Scandal’s Bride, Capture of the Earl of Glencrae, and On a Wild Night, Laurie King’s Beekeeper’s Apprentice, favorite Mary Balogh, Loretta Chase, and Lisa Kleypas novels Due to a recent sale, I picked up a few Royal Spyness audios and have found them to be useful in focusing my mind away from virus news. When I want to sit back with a hot chocolate and just listen, I usually select Devil’s Bride, Dreaming of You, Devil in Winter, Chasing Cassandra, or Slightly Dangerous. Old favorites and one new.
Jennifer Crusie’s short books, Jayne Ann Krentz oldies, Amanda Quick the oldest 5 or 9, Carla Kelly, Georgette Heyer, Loretta Chase, Layton, Balogh, Roberta Gellis, Justine Davis Trinity Street – yes – I second all of them.
Not mentioned yet:
I find Katherine Kingsley’s A Natural Attachment – a very old Signet Regency – wonderful.
I love and return to Kelly Hunters’s series books, and to Dani Collins’.
Also, I have discovered Mary Burchell (thanks, Keirasoleore!) and find her old fashioned series romance restfully lovely. Such fine women in them, in many cases.
What I cannot read anymore: Judith McNaught, Catherine Coulter, Iris Johansen, … somehow, they did not age well for me. For many years, those were comfort reads, and now they are somehow kaputt – heroines too doormatty, heroes abusive … I am sad but they are lost to me.
Lieselotte – I have just ordered a 1p copy of the Kingsley after your pointer. Sounds like my kind of catnip. I do miss the Signet Regencies so many of which I enjoyed and many them reside on my keeper shelves.
:-)
Thanks!
Yes, some of those oldies were really very very good
Quite a few excellent Layton regencies too.
Advice – check the blurbs, some stories are dated but Ok, some may not be ok anymore, too much of “heroine is a slut, so she gets mistreated for 60% of the book”. This was, and probably still is, true historical description, of treatment of women in conservative communities / societies. But I am not finding it romantic anymore that she gets vindicated because of proven virtue and that is a HEA. Mary Jo Putney’s Dearly Beloved, a very beloved book, just does not work anymore, for that reason, for me.
I’m not sure if I’d call them comfort reads or not, but I find re-reading any favorite is very satisfying. Laura Florand tops that list.
I really need to make time to read a Laura Florand book this year. Do you have a favorite you’d recommend to start?
I love this post! I was thinking just today of what books I would like to re-read!
My list includes The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer, the JD Robb books with the first five taking the lead since I love the building of the lead characters relationship, sci-fy romances by Linnea Sinclair like the Down Home Zombie Blues, Paradise by Judith McNaught and anything by Lisa Kleypas.
Comfort reads:
Manhunting or Cinderella Deal, by Jenny Crusie (used to be Getting Rid of Bradley, but I think I outgrew that one)
The Grand Sophy or Devil’s Cub, by Heyer
Miss Chartley’s Guided Tour, Carla Kelly
Fallen Angel, Charlotte Louise Dolan
To me a comfort read is not only something I have read before and enjoyed but one that may be cozier in nature, have more humor and in general be a less “stressful” read than some others.
Like Mark, I will often turn to Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick when I want a fun and usually gentle read. I not only know what I am getting but there is also a humorous element to many of her books due to quirky heroines going up against more stolid heroes. No one is very mean, there are no “alphaholes” and the underlying message is usually “love can save you because we are all a big family and must help each other out.” It’s the essence of comfort. Ravished, Rendezvous, Perfect Partners are some of my favorites but a lot of hers will do in a pinch.
For a long time Nora Roberts “Three Sisters Island” trilogy was my go to after a hard day. The “Practical Magic-esque” books about the three witches/friends on a tiny Nantucket-like Island where everyone knows each other and is nice is like a soothing balm. There is some supernatural wickedness and a really bad guy but nothing that would interfere with your sleep. Roberts excels at describing the charming homes, delicious food and warm friendships with some nice romance thrown in. It’s like snuggling up in a comfy blanket and having a hot cup of tea every time I break open a book in this series.
My other standard comfort read is often Carla Kelly. While her characters often endure very tough times and privations they have a strong moral sense and sense of self. The love stories are truly sweet and lovely and she has a way of making you read one and think people are generally good and that things in life may all work out well in the end. Everyone has their particular favorites but I keep going back to “With This Ring, The Lady’s Companion, Marrying The Captain, Marrying The Surgeon and Miss Whittier Makes a List”.
Last but not least is Lisa Kleypas. I know she doesn’t work for everyone but I cannot think of one books of hers from “Dreaming of You” on that I don’t at least really like, and most of them I love. I’ve yet to find a funk that The Hathaways and/or The Wallflowers won’t help if liberally supported with ice cream or some other treat. Reapply as necessary.
I re-ead a lot. From classics to romance favourites, especially in times when I am weary and need certainty of a good read. I love revisiting books, just to see if they would have the same impact, withstand the test of time and my maturity or lack of. Lately, I have been on a re-read binge of children’s literature that I read with my kids in Elementry school.
I just bought some Julia Donaldson books which include The Gruffalo and Room on a Broom. I re-read too, I think I have read Frederica and Venetia about twenty times over the last few decades.
It’s so catchy Mel, and you never tire of the re-read, no matter how old you get. It’s re-visiting the joy!
I don’t read for comfort, but there are books that are like good friends. Kate Daniels, Guild Hunter and The Elder Races are UF that I love. Georgette Heyer is my BFF and La Nora and I have hung out for decades.
These books are in my “house fire box” The Return of the King, Tam Lin, Sense and Sensibility, The Rake and Leaves of Grass.
I used to reread a lot more than I do now, partly due to my schedule & partly due to the increasing feeling of pressure from all the unread books tbr (my first-priority tbr spreadsheet has over 1300 entries). I’ve kept a reading log since 1975 (age 20), which lets me count how many times I’ve read books in those years. This is a list from most reread down to read 10 times:
28 A Rake’s Reform (r) Holbrook, Cindy
25 Ravished (r) Quick, Amanda
24 Agent of Change (s) Lee, Sharon & Miller, Steve
24 Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen (s) Piper, H. Beam
23 Black Sheep (r) Heyer, Georgette
23 Carpe Diem (s) Lee, Sharon & Miller, Steve
22 The Secret (r) Garwood, Julie
22 The Mad Miss Mathley (r) Martin, Michelle
22 Conflict of Honors (s) Lee, Sharon & Miller, Steve
20 The Lion’s Lady (r) Garwood, Julie
20 Masters of Space (s) Smith, Edward E. & Evans, E. E.
19 Lord Sayer’s Ghost (r) Holbrook, Cindy
19 Path of the Fury (s) Weber, David
18 Christmas Wishes (r) Metzger, Barbara
18 Dangerous (r) Quick, Amanda
18 Restoree (s) McCaffrey, Anne
18 Subspace Explorers (s) Smith, Edward E.
17 These Old Shades (r) Heyer, Georgette
17 The I Inside (s) Foster, Alan Dean
17 A Planet for Texans (s) Piper, H. Beam & McGuire, John J.
16 The Bride (r) Garwood, Julie
16 Devil’s Cub (r) Heyer, Georgette
16 Subspace Encounter (s) Smith, Edward E.
16 “Autumn Glory” (sr) Metzger, Barbara
15 Elyza (r) Darcy, Clare
15 The Actress & the Marquis (r) Holbrook, Cindy
15 Mistress (r) Quick, Amanda
15 Scandal (r) Quick, Amanda
15 The Stone That Never Came Down (s) Brunner, John
15 The Apocalypse Troll (s) Weber, David
15 Healer (s) Wilson, F. Paul
14 The Corinthian (r) Heyer, Georgette
14 Deception (r) Quick, Amanda
14 The Shockwave Rider (s) Brunner, John
13 Laugh With Me, Love With Me (r) Damon, Lee
13 Honor’s Splendour (r) Garwood, Julie
13 Frederica (r) Heyer, Georgette
13 Venetia (r) Heyer, Georgette
13 The Duke’s Downfall (r) Lynson, Jane
13 The Cruachan and the Killane (s) Cristabel
12 The Unknown Ajax (r) Heyer, Georgette
12 A Suspicious Affair (r) Metzger, Barbara
12 Cupboard Kisses (r) Metzger, Barbara
12 The Tenacious Miss Tamerlane (r) Michaels, Kasey
12 Rendezvous (r) Quick, Amanda
12 Reality Forbidden (s) High, Philip E.
12 The Prodigal Sun (s) High, Philip E.
12 The Cosmic Computer (s) Piper, H. Beam
12 Skylark Duquesne (s) Smith, Edward E.
12 Skylark of Valeron (s) Smith, Edward E.
12 Heirs of Empire (s) Weber, David
12 Mutineers’ Moon (s) Weber, David
12 “The Present” (sr) Holbrook, Cindy
11 Prince Charming (r) Garwood, Julie
11 Saving Grace (r) Garwood, Julie
11 Lady of Quality (r) Heyer, Georgette
11 The Black Moth (r) Heyer, Georgette
11 Pepper’s Way (r) Hooper, Kay
11 A Woman’s Touch (r) Krentz, Jayne Ann
11 Day of the Giants (s) del Rey, Lester
11 The Cross-Time Engineer (s) Frankowski, Leo
11 Invader On My Back (s) High, Philip E.
11 The Time Mercenaries (s) High, Philip E.
11 These Savage Futurians (s) High, Philip E.
11 Dragonsinger (s) McCaffrey, Anne
11 Dragonsong (s) McCaffrey, Anne
11 Shock Wave (s) Richmond, Walt & Leigh
11 Skylark Three (s) Smith, Edward E.
11 The Skylark of Space (s) Smith, Edward E.
11 The Armageddon Inheritance (s) Weber, David
10 Amaryllis (r) Castle, Jayne
10 Zinnia (r) Castle, Jayne
10 For the Roses (r) Garwood, Julie
10 Sylvester, or The Wicked Uncle (r) Heyer, Georgette
10 The Masqueraders (r) Heyer, Georgette
10 Minor Indiscretions (r) Metzger, Barbara
10 Four in Hand (r) Westhaven, Margaret
10 The Varkaus Conspiracy (s) Dalmas, John
10 Tactics of Mistake (s) Dickson, Gordon R.
10 Orphan Star (s) Foster, Alan Dean
10 The Flying Warlord (s) Frankowski, Leo
10 The High-Tech Knight (s) Frankowski, Leo
10 The Radiant Warrior (s) Frankowski, Leo
10 Twin Planets (s) High, Philip E.
10 The Genesis Machine (s) Hogan, James P.
10 The Wailing Asteroid (s) Leinster, Murray
10 Emergence (s) Palmer, David R.
10 Little Fuzzy (s) Piper, H. Beam
10 The Anything Tree (s) Rackham, John
10 The Beasts of Kohl (s) Rackham, John
10 The Probability Corner (s) Richmond, Walt & Leigh
(r) is romance, (sr) is short romance.
(s) is science fiction or fantasy.
Wonderful, Mark! Love your list and your dedication to such careful analytical record keeping. And delighted to see you also love The Black Sheep!! I’ve read quite a few on your list but I am going to print it off to study those I haven’t to see what I might have missed. My best record of reading, though not nearly complete (those wonderful UBS visits I used to make on trips back to the USA account for many book purchases), is my 22 year old Amazon account of orders.
Black Sheep has some of the best conversational humor I’ve ever read—especially the first two conversations between Abby & Miles.
Unusual choices for you favourite David Weber books. Mine could also be considered unusual, “March”.
Regarding Weber books, this is a list of my most-reread books, so two are stand-alone novels and the other three are his first (and shortest) series. I do reread some longer series, but the longer the series get the biggest the time commitment a reread is, so the number of rereads tends to go down. Also, most Weber books are so long that rereading him is a bigger time commitment than for many authors. Path of the Fury is also a special case because mythological reminders (which occasionally come up in my work with asteroids) have inspired more than one reread through association.
For comfort I like almost any book by Julie Anne Long. There is a kindness to her characters.
And a sense of decency that is inherent rather than pressed on.
I am a re-reader and have my favorites for sure, but I don’t actually think of book in terms of “comfort.” as that to me implies self-help. When I feel in the need of comfort, I go to family or friends, or my pets. I’ll go hiking with my corgis. I go to the barn and groom my horses. Horses are the best therapy.
My re-reads tend to be my five-star books that I pick up depending on whether I’m in the mood for funny, angsty/emotional, scary, etc. I think maybe Sally Thorne’s The Hating Game or one of Mariana Zapata’s emotional books like Luna and Lie or Kulti may be my favorites at the moment.
My MIL has corgis, Andrew her oldest dog is about 93 and grumpy, her other dogs (she’s like QEII) are young Pembroke corgis and they are a hoot. I love taking them for walks along the Oregon coast. They are so joyful!
Ha, I’m here in Portland and take my corgis out on the coast walking all the time on weekends! And about once a year I ride my older horse on the beach in Manzanita with friends. It’s a small world. Do you live on the coast?
My Dad lives near Lincoln City and my in-laws are in Cannon Beach. I am in SoCal. Love Oregon Coast living, my Dad has a sweet spot with an amazing view. We will make the move back to the NW when my husband retires and I am counting the days.
I’m glad I’m not the only one here who isn’t much of a re-reader. There is, however, one exception for me: Dolly Freed’s “Possum Living.”
Written in the late 1970s, 18 year old Dolly Freed lived with her father (affectionately dubbed “Old Fool”) in the Pennsylvania backwoods as a live-off-the-land prepper and somewhat of an outlaw. By this I mean, she dropped out of school at age 13 (she fondly recounts dodging a truant officer by tricking her into thinking she and her dad were out of towners who were just fixing up a rental property rather than homeowners), went fishing without a license (that’s why Daddy and I always wear our running shoes when we go fishing!), and made moonshine while raising rabbits in the basement for food. As an oddball teenager who hated school and the status quo, I loved Dolly’s happy-go-lucky often lawless attitude toward life. As an adult, I still love reading portions of the book when I need a good laugh or encouragement that it’s definitely possible to find entertainment that’s free or dirt cheap.
Just for the record, I *never* endorsed her flippant attitude toward the hypothetical scenario of putting a brick through an annoying neighbor’s window. And, in later life, Dolly recanted a lot of the stuff she wrote at 18. Interestingly, despite dropping out of school in the 7th grade, she taught herself enough at the public library to go to college and became a NASA aerospace engineer.
As for other comfort things, I am far more likely to re-watch the movies I love than read books I’ve read before. Also, I have a bit of an egotistical habit of rereading my own written work.
I rarely re-read; and especially not with romance. In the last few years I have been re-reading some of the mystery and suspense authors I devoured as a teenager (Agatha Christie, Wilbur Smith, Ngaio Marsh, etc.) and noticing a lot more about the authors’ craft and the historical context of their books than my younger self could appreciate. It helped that in the 25-30 years that have elapsed I had forgotten most of the plot details…..
On the few occasions I have tried to revisit romances I loved in the 1990s and 2000s it has mostly not gone well. My romance reading tastes keep evolving as epublishing has allowed the genre to go in so many new directions. So I’d much rather keep trying new things.
A lot of my go-to authors for comfort re-reads have been mentioned. I’ll just add LM Montgomery’s The Blue Castle.
2 years into my romance book reading and I don’t reread books within 5 years, so I am yet to do a comfort read. If I did so, I suspect it would have laughs to go with the romance, so Lucy Parker’s romcoms would seem likely.
I did love Three Weeks with Lady X, the second best sparring romance after Lord of Scoundrels that I have found.
The letters in that book are sublime!
I agree with Andrea2 about Judith Duncan – I loved her books very much. Otherwise my comfort reads tend to be HR: Mary Balogh, Carla Kelly, Jo Beverly, Judith A Lansdowne, Marjorie Farrell, Edith Layton and Barbara Metzger. Top of the comfort reads, though, tend to come from Georgette Heyer where a half dozen of her works are my go-to books. How can anyone fail to be cheered up by, for example, The Black Sheep? And, I have had a life-long love affair with Persuasion by Jane Austen – definitely right up there at the top.
I don’t have comfort reads. I do regularly reread things, but all my reading is tightly scheduled, including my re-reading. The act of reading fiction is itself my comfort read.
I love so many of the books mentioned, but recently it’s Lord Carew’s Bride by Mary Balogh. It’s just so gentle – he falls for her, she falls for him, they get married, are happy – there is a misunderstanding because otherwise there isn’t a story, but it’s a very short misunderstanding and then they’re happy again. It’s great when you just want the happiness and very. very little angst.
Requirements for my comfort reads: light, relaxing (this leaves out books full of angst), often funny. I’ve needed a lot of comfort reads lately. My favorite read is the abysmally entitled “Dukes Prefer Blondes” by Loretta Chase. I read her “Lord Perfect” and “Mr Impossible” almost as often, as well as her novels about the dress makers. Other all-time favorites, frequently repeated, are Crusie’s “Bet Me,” and Ibbotson’s “The Secret Countess” and “The Company of Swans.” Ibbotson writes adult fairy tales which supply that trance-like relaxation. Carla Kelly’s “With This Ring” is lovely, although I’m not wild about a decision the hero makes, without the knowledge of the heroine, in the last third, and her “Beau Cruse” (I skip the hero’s PTSD flashbacks which might prevent it from being a comfort read for others). Also by Kelly: “Marrying the Royal Marine.” I adore Kelly’s heroes because they are such thoroughly decent men. Kleypas’s “Blue Eyed Devil” which might not be everybody’s cuppa with an abusive first husband. Lately, I’ve been rereading Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ books about the Chicago Stars which are a little (or a lot, depending on your feminist views) dated, but very funny.
Bewitched by Jill Barnett.
When I need a comfort read, I go back to Mary Balogh, Carla Kelly, and Jennifer Blake. In particular, Blake’s Royal Seduction and Royal Passion, even though I usually hate books involving aristocrats from made up European countries, and her books set in Louisiana. I also have a collection of the old Signet Regencies that make for good comfort reads. I have two huge bookcases full of books I have read and loved. I am slowly going through them to see which books are available in an ebook format. Unfortunately, many books that were published over 20 or 30 years ago have not been converted, and may never be converted, to ebook. It depends on the popularity of the author and if there is some demand for the book in ebook format. So some of my really old paperbacks will be on my bookshelves until someone else clears out my house.
When things get stressfrul I usually go to long epic novels. I want to get lost and immersed in the story and become neighbors to the characters. They are almost all rereads
Right now, I am reading “Savannah” by Eugenia Price, which is the first of a quartet of long epic novels. Just what I need.
Also on the horizon are M. M. Kaye’s India epics — The Far Pavilions, Shadow of the Moon … and Trade Wind, which I scarcely remember, so definitely needs a reread.
Then I have Sharon Kay Penman’s medieval Plantagenet epics. Always long trusty “lose myself” reads.
For lighter shorter fare, I always turn to Georgette Heyer, Patricia Veryan, and Mary Balogh.
For reasons I can’t pinpoint, during stressful times I never turn to contemporary novels.
#Wanda Sue: You will see from my post below that virtually all of my comfort reads are HR. And, like you, I have wondered about this myself. Is it that turning to a world long ago relieves us of having to solve contemporary problems that seem just too difficult or is it because it allows us to live for a while in a world that seems less stressful – though if we could go back in time we’d probably realise, like Claire Fraser, that the past was just as, if not more, stressful.
@WandaSue: your mention of Eugenia Price brought back memories. In my teens, I lived on St. Simons Island on the Georgia coast and Eugenia Price has a home there. We would see her out and about in the community and it seemed like every local shop sold copies of Price’s TO THE LIGHTHOUSE. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
I very rarely re-read books, mostly because my reading schedule is pretty tightly packed with review books, but I re-listen to favourite audiobooks regularly; for some reason, even though they take twice as long to get through on average as a print book, I can find the time for re-listens more easily. I don’t have one particular comfort listen per se; but I tend to be all about the narrator, so I have a handful of favourite performers and I’ll pick something of theirs. Like KesterGayle, Josh Lanyon’s Adrien English series is one I return to often (fantastic stories AND narration); other re- listens recently have included Annabeth Albert’s Out of Uniform series, Jordan Castillo Price’s PsyCop books (although they’re not exactly warm and fuzzy!) and just about anything narrated by Greg Tremblay or Iggy Toma.
Anything by Judith Duncan; top of the list would be Beyond All Reason, Better than Before and A Risk Worth Taking. She is a wonderful author and all of her books are on my keeper shelf. Angsty, gut-wrenching and so very memorable.
I reread Justine Davis’ Trinity Street West series and Suzanne Brockman’s Tall, Dark and Dangerous series to help lighten a bad day,
I love the In Death series by JD Robb and will listen to many of them again and again, the development of the relationship between Eve and Rourke, and between Eve and other characters is wonderful. Plus Susan Erickson is a terrific narrator.
Stella Riley’s Rockcliffe series, read by Alex Wyndham is absolutely wonderful and very absorbing, just the thing to help me unwind from a stressful day.
My comfort reads requirements vary with the day. Sometimes I want light and fun books, sometimes I want gut-wrenching angsty and absorbing books, and other times I’m looking for that perfect scene in a book that makes me melt.
I tend to cycle through a group of favorites, but ones I turn to again and again include: GOING NOWHERE FAST by Kati Wilde (in fact, almost everything by Kati Wilde is a comfort read for me); TIME SERVED by Julianna Keyes; AFTER WE FALL by Melanie Harlow; FAR CRY by Kate Canterbary (a new comfort-read favorite, I must have reread it five times since reading it for the first time last year); HEATED RIVALRY by Rachel Reid (ditto the Canterbary comment); ONE LAST CHANCE by Molly O’Keefe; and my current reread champion, THROWN OFF THE ICE by Taylor Fitzpatrick. I tend to gravitate to angsty books where there are lots of emotional ups-and-downs and lovely reconciliation scenes. When the reality gets overwhelming, I head immediately to one of my angsty favorites and all’s right with the world again.
Comfort listens…so many! Mr. Impossible, Marrying Winterbourne, It Happened One Autumn, Dukes Prefer Blondes, the Adrien English series, A Reason to Believe, Most Valuable Playboy, Delicious, Wanderlust, the ‘Happy Cat’ series that starts with Hosed, Priest, Hot Cop, Brooklynaire, Mine ‘Till Midnight, and on and on.
Most Loretta Chase books, most Lisa Kleypas historicals, most Lili Valente books, several Sierra Simone books, many earlier Lauren Blakely books (though she recently seems have lost her magic), a lot of Suzanne Brockmann books, many of Sherry Thomas’s historicals though not her current Holmes series, the Lady Julia Grey series, much of Diana Gabaldon’s work, these are all books/authors I turn to over and over when life is dark and I am depleted. They feed me in different ways. And while not romance writers I re-read Lawrence Block and John Sandford books on a regular basis, too.
My *very* favorite listens have to have great narration, a story with an H/h who at least subliminally like each other right away (with the exception on the Adrien English books…highly rec that series of you haven’t already discovered it!), and generally not a lot of angst. I especially appreciate humor in books, and I’m currently reading a series by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg (the Fox and O’Hare novels) that are quite funny and imaginative with a VERY slow burn romance that I have a feeling will make the comfort read list in the future.
Anything by Kathleen Gilles Seidel, especially After All These Years and Keep Your Mouth Shut and Wear Beige (which is technically not a romance but still a great book). There’s a Second Chance at Love romance by Carole Buck called Cody’s Honor, which features a toddler that makes me smile. Lisa Gregory’s The Rainbow Season. White Lies, by Jayne Ann Krentz, along with the other Arcane books, plus Ravished, the fossil hunter and the “beast” historical under the Amanda Quick name, and also Price of Surrender, a Silhouette Desire under the Stephanie James name, which has a wonderful schnauzer named Max. Anything by Mary Balogh, Beverly Jenkins, Roberta Gellis, Stella Riley, Eloisa James, or Lisa Kleypas, but the Hathaways are my particular favorites. The Bastion Club series by Stephanie Laurens. I also just reread Kelly Bowen’s books, and I have reread a bunch of KC Charles and Jennifer Ashley/Ashley Gardner et al. Anne McCaffrey’s Pern novels. Anne McAllister’s series romances, particularly Body and Soul and the related Cavenaugh books. The early Conrad County books by Rachel Lee. The old Robert Neill and Gene Stratton-Porter novels I inherited from my grandfather. There are a lot of other writers I reread, too, partly because I’m a fast reader and partly because after more than 50 years of reading, I own a lot of books.
I like it when an author has a lot of books — more than 20 or 30 or 60 or whatever, and I can reread them all. Reading dozens of books by one person taught me more than reading one or two novels in college lit classes. Reading a lot of books in a row by a mediocre writer is educational, too, although what you may learn is that you can’t read that many crappy books in a row. More recently, rereading has led me to cull my collection, but also has been an interesting overview of romance genre history.
I virtually never re-read a book so I don’t have any. Have not even re-read Pride and Prejudice yet even though it’s on my list.
Just comes across too many new book to try out so there’s no time to go back.