Romance ebooks for a guy?

[Lin2412]

Originally Posted by Logseman

My mother has always devoured romantic novels. It was only a matter of time until I grabbed one, made by Lisa Kleypas, and I got hooked into them.

As of now, I'm quite sure of what I want when reading them:

• I'm not fond of supernatural/fantastic settings or plot devices.
• Victorian times are my preferred setting for historical novels, unless I know the writer can fend herself well with historical research.
• I have a sense of humor, and I want it properly catered to.
• I like sagas, but I prefer them to be not too long (the same happens with manga, now that I think about it... ).
• Lesbian content, either in the protagonist couple or in any Beta one, is nice to have, though by no means a requisite.

Examples of novels I loved: Boy Meets Girl, by Meg Cabot (Cabot's wit never fails to make me laugh); Then Came You, by Lisa Kleypas (actually I'm quite a sucker for her works...); The Duncan Trilogy by Jane Feather.

Does anyone have any recommendations along some of these guidelines, or maybe something which is simply interesting to read in the genre?

Thanks in advance.

You have a fine taste in books. Sorry for being late to the party though. Hahaha. I think you would also appreciate books by Courtney Milan or Julia Quinn. But I most definitely recommend Tessa Dare above all. Her books are very interesting and hilarious.

[owly]

Sarah Waters "Tipping the velvet" and "Fingersmith" Great Victorian Lesbian tales.

[ametzler]

Originally Posted by rhadin

I'm not sure that I would characterize these as romance rather than just straight historical fiction, but I (as a male myself) highly recommend Shayne Parkinson's Promises to Keep Quartet. The first one, Sentence of Marriage is free at Smashwords. I wrote a review of the series here: On Books: The Promises to Keep Quartet. Both I and my wife found these books to be outstanding.

I have just read the first one, imho it most definitely is not a "romance". There is a tiny bit of man-meets-girl in there, but it is a deeply flawed relationship and definitly not upbeat. Most of the time in the book is taken up by descriptions of a) housework and b) the family life in shadow of a badly matched marriage.

I would not unrecommend it, though and will give part two a chance.

[NickyWithNook]

There's a series by Aaron Fletcher that starts with a book called Outback you might like. They're written by a man but are mainly romance novels I think. They're also kind of westerns, but set in Australia. I read the first one. Someone here at Mobileread recommended them. There's a thread out there somewhere.

[hildea]

I'll third Courtney Milan. Her "Duchess War" is free right now. Well written, well researched (see her articles on law), funny, good supporting characters. Some lesbian and gay romances for supporting characters in some of her books.

If you try Heyer, it might be useful to know that "The Grand Sophy" has some really blatant, nasty antisemitism. (Her views on social class are also rather horrible, but I find it easier to hold my nose and enjoy her books despite those -- probably because antisemitism is still a problem today. Nobles being genetically superior to common folks, not so much.)

If you like science fiction, you should try Local Custom by Miller and Lee. There's some romance in most of their books, but "Local Custom" is the only one I've read so far where the romance is the main plot, not a supporting plot. (There's some element of the supernatural there, though -- some people are empaths or have other (usually minor) psionic abilities.)

If you want to try gothics, you might want to try Wilkie Collins' "Woman in White" (in the free library here). I read it after having read Sarah Rees Brennan's parody, I think it made me enjoy it more:

Originally Posted by Sarah's parody

LAURA: I’m finally back from honeymoon Marian! Turns out marrying a dude who was pure evil, and who I did not love or wish to marry, was kind of a bad decision!
MARIAN: Oh Laura. I love you, but you are not the brightest jewel in the Royal Treasury.

And of course, there's Jane Austen, if you haven't read her yet.


...and I almost forgot: Mary Robinette Kowal's Glamorist histories. There's magic, so it might not fit your "no supernatural" requirements, but the magic feels like an new kind of technology. Glamour is a useful skill which ladies use to decorate their homes, and it's nice to have a coldmonger to keep the pantry cold.

[Lin2412]

Originally Posted by hildea

I'll third Courtney Milan. Her "Duchess War" is free right now. Well written, well researched (see her articles on law), funny, good supporting characters. Some lesbian and gay romances for supporting characters in some of her books.

If you try Heyer, it might be useful to know that "The Grand Sophy" has some really blatant, nasty antisemitism. (Her views on social class are also rather horrible, but I find it easier to hold my nose and enjoy her books despite those -- probably because antisemitism is still a problem today. Nobles being genetically superior to common folks, not so much.)

If you like science fiction, you should try Local Custom by Miller and Lee. There's some romance in most of their books, but "Local Custom" is the only one I've read so far where the romance is the main plot, not a supporting plot. (There's some element of the supernatural there, though -- some people are empaths or have other (usually minor) psionic abilities.)

If you want to try gothics, you might want to try Wilkie Collins' "Woman in White" (in the free library here). I read it after having read Sarah Rees Brennan's parody, I think it made me enjoy it more:


And of course, there's Jane Austen, if you haven't read her yet.


...and I almost forgot: Mary Robinette Kowal's Glamorist histories. There's magic, so it might not fit your "no supernatural" requirements, but the magic feels like an new kind of technology. Glamour is a useful skill which ladies use to decorate their homes, and it's nice to have a coldmonger to keep the pantry cold.

Thanks for the links hildea! I love Courtney Milan. The Original Post was intended for recommendations for guys, but I'm going to be in this wagon and research for book gems in this thread. I haven't heard of Wilkie Collins yet, so I'm going to read through book reviews of that as well.

[JaneD]

Originally Posted by Xanthe

For Regency/Georgian romances, Georgette Heyer is the best.

There is no sex in her books, but frankly, her grasp of language, historical time period, culture and character would make it unnecessary padding. She builds up romantic/sexual tension with words so that by the end of the book a single kiss is more satisfying than 16 pages of explicit sex.

Try "These Old Shades", "Frederica", or "The Grand Sophy".

Heyer's one of my favorites, too. I enjoyed "The Corinthian," "The Convenient Marriage," and "Sylvester" the most so far.

Of course there's always the original, Jane Austen. If you haven't read her yet, you should crack one open. Her novels are the format upon which pretty much all subsequent romance novels were modeled.

[crossi]

You might try some Georgette Heyer. The Grand Sophy and Frederica are good.
One Perfect Rose by Mary Jo Putney is one I often reread.

[hildea]

Originally Posted by Lin2412

Thanks for the links hildea! I love Courtney Milan. The Original Post was intended for recommendations for guys, but I'm going to be in this wagon and research for book gems in this thread. I haven't heard of Wilkie Collins yet, so I'm going to read through book reviews of that as well.

One of the things I like best about Milan is how she writes her secondary characters. In some romances, it seems as if the whole world revolves around the main couple -- others exist only to to help or hinder them, and the main couple care only about each other. But in Milan's books, there are lots of other important relationships, friends and relatives with their own lives and agendas. If you like that aspect, you might like Sarah Rees Brennan's books -- especially the Lynburn legacy (Unspoken, Untold, Unmade). It's not a romance -- love is an important part of the story, but it's not the main focus. And it has definitively got paranormal aspects -- that's why I didn't mention it in my last post. There are a couple of free prequel short stories: The Spring Before I Met You and The Summer Before I Met You (PDF).

I've also recently stumbled over Rose Lerner, haven't read any of her books yet, but it looks as if she, like Milan, writes far outside the "rakish nobleman and plucky debutante" cliches that I seem to see too much of in the historical romance genre.

If you have any recommendations in return, I'd appreciate it :-)