I would like to say that I LOVE the discussion here. I love the deals and freebies too obviously, but I learn so much from ya'll! And I'm sorry that I usually don’t have anything or don't have the time to contribute back! And while I may not always have time to read the discussions going on, I like knowing that it’s going on and when I have a moment, I can come here and skim through and find all kinds of new ideas and new recommendations being swapped back and forth. So PLEASE leave this board as-is!
That being said, I will add my recommendations to the pot while I have a moment to actually type something up!
If I can only recommend one book, it would be Linda Howard’s
To Die For.
But since I refuse to be limited, how about a blast from the past? Ya'll were talking about historical romance, so I recommend
Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss. Because I like my HR DRAMATIC! (I'm not really sure how historically accurate that novel is, but it sure is fun to read! Oh the DRAMA!)
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Different topic now, because I have a rambling brain.
It irks me too when they automatically categorize female UF writers as PR. I acknowledge there is a lot of crossing of genre lines, but too often I have a great desire to rearrange the shelves at the bookstore!
And I don’t know where to draw the line for the genres either. I would say a HEA by the end of the book is necessary for it to be PR, but I wouldn’t say that automatically categorizes it as a PR either. I want to say that it’s when the romance is the main theme of the book, but that can be awfully subjective. For example, I have a hard time categorizing Ilona Andrew’s Edge series as PR, even though there is a HEA in each book, I think. To me, they are more UF with strong PR elements. And then there is Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series; is it UF or PR? I can’t decide! Maybe PR with strong UF elements? I don’t know anymore!
Ok, I'm going to stop thinking about that before my brain breaks.
Anyway, here are some other authors I'd recommend and how I would (mostly) categorize the genres they write in. Most of these are PR and/or UF, and some have already been mentioned. But it never hurts to reinforce other people’s recommendations, right?
Nalini Singh -- UF or PR? I can't decide; the lines are blurred!
Illona Andrews – UF with eventual romantic elements
Patricia Briggs -- UF with eventual romantic elements
Jennifer Estep’s Elemental Assassin series -- UF with eventual romantic elements
Jennifer Estep’s Bigtime Series – PR (with superheroes!)
Jacquelyn Frank -- PR
Marjorie M. Liu’s Dirk and Steele series– PR
Robin D. Owens – Futuristic/Paranormal Romance (similar premise to Jayne Castle books)
Kresley Cole – PR
Kerrelyn Sparks – PR Light (aka Funny PR)
Melanie Jackson – PR (with Fey)
Meljean Brook’s Iron Seas series – Steampunk with Romance
Mary Balogh – Historical Romance
Jude Deveraux – Her older HRs are pretty good (how accurate they are, I can’t say); and she was doing PR before it was a genre
Linda Howard – Still one of my favorites, although her older stuff was better; she was also doing PR before it was PR