Top 100 Poll – The Best of the Rest
Now that you’ve all had time to look over the results of the 2013 Top 100 Poll, it’s time to take a look at something many of you asked for, the romances that missed the top 100, but are in places 101 to 200. And since ballots from readers contained 4,961 titles which received at least one vote, being in 200th place is still a remarkable achievement.
A number of titles in the 101-200th places are by authors who also had titles in the top 100. For example, Mary Balogh had five titles place in the top 100 and has an additional five in the second 100. Elizabeth Hoyt had two titles in the top 100 and an additional seven in the second 100. And Lisa Kleypas had 12 in the top 100 and another six in the second hundred.
But other popular authors who failed to have any titles place in the top 100 had several books place in the second hundred. Contemporary authors Kristan Higgins and Julie James each have three titles in the second hundred. Other contemporary authors in the Best of the Rest are Kristen Ashley, Sylvia Day, Robyn Carr and Sara Mayberry. Romantic suspense was represented by Suzanne Brockmann and Anne Stuart. Paranormal/time travel/futuristic titles by Susanna Kearsley, Karen Marie Moning, and Thea Harrison also made the list. And historical was well represented too with titles from Carla Kelly, Jo Goodman, Lorraine Heath, Madeline Hunter, Judith Ivory, Kathleen Woodiwiss, Teresa Medeiros, Pamela Morsi and Lisa Valdez.
And similar to the Top 100 titles, historical had the most titles: 59 (with 5 considered “classic”), while 23 titles are contemporary and 13 are paranormal/time travel/futuristic.
The Best of the Rest:
101. A Duke of Her Own by Eloisa James
102. Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
103. Mrs. Drew Plays Her Hand by Carla Kelly
104. Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn
105. My Lord and Spymaster by Joanna Bourne
106. Tempt Me at Twilight by Lisa Kleypas
107. The Best Man by Kristan Higgins
108. Something About You by Julie James
109. Shattered Rainbows by Mary Jo Putney
110. Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James
111. Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss
112. Ain’t She Sweet by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
113. Sea Swept by Nora Roberts
114. Thief of Shadows by Elizabeth Hoyt
115. The Leopard Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt
116. How to Marry a Marquis by Julia Quinn
117. Worth Any Price by Lisa Kleypas
118. A Notorious Countess Confesses by Julie Anne Long
119. Once and Always by Judith McNaught
120. Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas
121. Dark Lover by J.R. Ward
122. Heart of Obsidian by Nalini Singh
123. Unraveled by Courtney Milan
124. One Perfect Rose by Mary Jo Putney
125. Over the Edge by Suzanne Brockmann
126. Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold by Ellen O’Connell
127. Lothaire by Kresley Cole
128. To Die For by Linda Howard
129. Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt
130. I Kissed an Earl by Julie Anne Long
131. Seduce Me at Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas
132. Thunder and Roses by Mary Jo Putney
133. The Proposition by Judith Ivory
134. A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal by Meredith Duran
135. Yours Until Dawn by Teresa Medeiros
136. Lord Carew’s Bride by Mary Balogh
137. Like No Other Lover by Julie Anne Long
138. Slightly Scandalous by Mary Balogh
139. Last Night’s Scandal by Loretta Chase
140. Catch of the Day by Kristan Higgins
141. Out of Control by Suzanne Brockmann
142. Saving Grace by Julie Garwood
143. Angels’ Blood by Nalini Singh
144. Reforming Lord Ragsdale by Carla Kelly
145. Texas Destiny by Lorraine Heath
146. These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer
147. Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward
148. The Witness by Nora Roberts
149. Scandal in Spring by Lisa Kleypas
150. The Serpent Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt
151. A Night to Surrender by Tessa Dare
152. Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison
153. The Duchess War by Courtney Milan
154. Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh
155. Emma by Jane Austen
156. Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare
157. Caressed by Ice by Nalini Singh
158. One Good Earl Deserves a Lover by Sarah MacLean
159. Slightly Married by Mary Balogh
160. Kiss of the Highlander by Karen Marie Moning
161. Tempting the Bride by Sherry Thomas
162. All Through the Night by Connie Brockway
163. Born in Fire by Nora Roberts
164. Just the Sexiest Man Alive by Julie James
165. To Sir Phillip with Love by Julia Quinn
166. By Arrangement by Madeline Hunter
167. Virgin River by Robyn Carr
168. Motorcycle Man by Kristen Ashley
169. Unclaimed by Courtney Milan
170. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
171. To Seduce a Sinner by Elizabeth Hoyt
172. Voyager by Diana Gabaldon
173. A Matter of Class by Mary Balogh
174. Just One of the Guys by Kristan Higgins
175. Where Dreams Begin by Lisa Kleypas
176. It’s in His Kiss by Julia Quinn
177. Her Best Worst Mistake by Sarah Mayberry
178. England’s Perfect Hero by Suzanne Enoch
179. Pleasure for Pleasure by Eloisa James
180. Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie
181. Passion by Lisa Valdez
182. Untie My Heart by Judith Ivory
183. Son of the Morning by Linda Howard
184. The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever by Julia Quinn
185. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
186. Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer
186. Black Ice by Anne Stuart
188. Lady Be Good by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
189. Kill and Tell by Linda Howard
190. Scandalous Desires by Elizabeth Hoyt
191. The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons
192. Simple Jess by Pamela Morsi
193. Lord of Darkness by Elizabeth Hoyt
194. Heartless by Mary Balogh
195. Bared to You by Sylvia Day
196. Gone Too Far by Suzanne Brockmann
197. The Winter Sea (Sophia’s Secret) by Susanna Kearsley
198. The Unknown Ajax by Georgette Heyer
199. The Wolf and the Dove by Kathleen Woodiwiss
200. If His Kiss is Wicked by Jo Goodman
– Cindy, LeeB, and LinnieGayl
Have I already told you how much I love these lists?
They make me think a lot about the genre and what the readers like. It’s amazing that 2013 novels are on the list. I mean, if you take other genre, for instance ‘Top 100 Sci-Fi novels’, I think you will easily find so many ‘recent titles’.
I think the romance reader accepts changes and new forms and tendencies very quickly. But I can be wrong, of course.
And, at the same time, I realised that there are very few classical, award-winning romance novels that are not in either list. At this moment, I can only think about three:
‘The Windflower’, by T. & Sh. Curtis, that was on the lists of the years 1998 to 2007 75 and it was a Jean’s Pick.
‘The Promise of Jenny Jones’, by Maggie Osborne, that won a RITA but was only in the 1998 list.
I haven’t seen, either, ‘This Is All I Ask’, by Lynn Kurland, a DIK A, that was on the 2000 and 2004 lists and it was a Lee’s Pick.
I may be wrong and perhaps they are. But if not, why certain all-time favourites are forgotten and why others survive, and why is it that very recent books coexists with very well-stablished classics. I’m going to think about it.
sorry for the hypo
I meant that if you take other genre, for instance ‘Top 100 Sci-Fi novels’, I think you will NOT easily find so many ‘recent titles’.
It could be because those books haven’t stood the test of time. People loved them when they first came out. The question will always be: Will readers still love them two hundred years later?
Jane Austen is a very well-loved author whose books are still being bought and borrowed. So her presence on this list makes the AAR list above other so-called Top Romance Novels lists on Amazon, Goodreads, Dear Author, etc. In fact, it’s the only major list I could find where one can both find classic fiction (Austen, Bronte, Heyer) and books by modern-day romance authors.
This list isn’t perfect though. (No list really is.) There is still no foreign fiction being represented here or on any other list we follow. And it could be because most of these foreign romance novels don’t have the HEA we crave for.
Love this list! There are any number of books here that I forgot when I voted that really should have been on my ballot.
Awesome! Several of my picks that did not make the top 100 made it to this list. Thank you so much for all of your hard work.
Great list! It would be great to have a printer friendly version to send to the computer illiterate mother.
If you know how to block copy text, just highlight the books from 101 to 200. Then copy. Paste it into any word program. There you have it. You’ll be able to print it from that program.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate you providing us with the second group of the Best of the Best. [Your annual poll of the Top 100 is one of my top delights.] I have read almost all of the Top 100 and this second listing will provide me with new opportunities. Big HUGS to all of the AAR staff for their great work. You’re TERRIFIC!
:) You’re very welcome.
I’m really glad to see Yours Until Dawn on here because when I voted I put My Dearest Enemy by Connie Brockway thinking that the plot of it was actually the plot of Yours Until Dawn. Luckily, I do actually love the real plot of My Dearest Enemy as well.
I think I love this list even more than the top 100. So much diversity- including an erotic romance! I can see some previous posters being happy that their favorite authors made it to this round.
Quite a few contemporaries here as well.
Ditto. I preferred this list too. And thank you all yet again for all the time and work that went into this huge project. I really enjoyed seeing both lists–even if the second one seems more satisfying for some reason.
I’m happy there are three Courtney Milan’s stories in this B-list, and of course ‘Anyone But You’ by Crusie, a little book that I really love.
It’s a pity that another of my favourites, Sandra Brown, does not appear.
Anyway, thank U very much for your effort. This is a very interesting list that I will also study carefully looking for interestin books that could be hidden jewels.