Clean Romances discussion

I know we have a bookshelf in this group overflowing with clean romance but I'm curious to know the all-time faves of our members and why. Mine are:

1. The Dedicated Villain by Patricia Veryan (I laughed, I cried, it was great.)
2. The Mandarin of Mayfair by Patricia Veryan (Last bk in a 6-book series. I was in love with this hero from the moment I met him as a secondary character in bk 1.)
3. The Painted Lady by Barbara Metzger (Bust a gut funny.)
4. The Ghostly Screams of Stormhaven by Clara Wimberly (One of the first Gothic romances I ever read and still a favorite.)
5. A Desperate Gamble by Janice Bennett (Anyone who has read Joyce's interview with me knows why this is one of my all-time faves.)

I've included a few more faves in the montage below.

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Put me down for These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer while I think about some of my other favorites. How'd you do the book montage, Jaimey?

I used the "add book/author" link and selected cover instead of link. :o)

I would have to include Joyce's book "Illuminations of the Heart" as one of my all time favorites. I just finished it and LOVED it. Way to go, Joyce!

Oh my, Sandy, thank you!

My favorite is Shackles Of Honor by Marcia Lynn McClure. I just love the anticipation of a budding romance and a little bit of mystery mixed in.

Dawn, I love that one too. I can't decide if that one is my favorite or Dusty Britches or Highwayman of Tanglewood or Heavenly Surrender. Marcia does a good job!

Marcia has too many good ones to choose from. but I think my favorites are The Fragrance of Her Name, The Visions of Ransome Lake, Born For Thorton's Sake, and her ebook Kissing Cousins. And those are just my top four:-)

I agree. Marcia has too many good ones! I can never decide between The Visions of Ransome Lake, Dusty Britches, The Highwayman of Tanglewood, Kissing Cousins, and everything else! But there are other authors I adore too. I love Joyce's books and Jaimey's too! And Angel and the Enemy by Marnie Perhson. I also really like Susan Carroll's books. But I can't forget Maria V. Snyder. What am I saying? If it's clean and romantic...I LOVE IT!

I loved The Fragrance of Her Name!

I Loved The Whispered Kiss by McClure and The Grand Sophy! But I am so glad to have been told about this group because I am going to read the books mentioned above! I hate starting a romance and getting into it and then mid way through it turning out raunchy.

Hi, Cortney! I'm so glad you joined. Welcome to the group. :o)

Welcome to our group, Cortney! The Grand Sophy is a favorite of mine, too. :-)

Thank you! I am reading Friday's Child now because I am really enjoying Heyer. I tried to read These Old Shades but I just could not get into it.

Really? These Old Shades is one of my favorites, but so is Friday's Child. I re-read The Convenient Marriage a few months ago and loved it all over again. Black Sheep is another one of my favorites. I know I have more favorites, but those are the ones I've re-read most recently and are the ones most fresh in my mind.

It was hard for me to follow all the different names for the main characters. I may not have given it enough of a chance and when I run out of things to read I may try re-reading it if you think it was that great.

Everyone has different tastes. I remember there were scenes in there that I giggled and giggled and giggled over in high school. So of course, when my mother wanted to know what I was giggling about, I answered, "Nothing." (Insert maternal eye rolling here.) Just because I liked it, though, doesn't mean you have to. :-)

Jaimey wrote: "I know we have a bookshelf in this group overflowing with clean romance but I'm curious to know the all-time faves of our members and why. Mine are:

1. The Dedicated Villain by [au..."

Jaimey,
I have looked into reading the Patricia Veryan series but am having troubles finding the first 5 in the series for a reasonable price. Does [book:The Dedicated Villain|271127] depend on the other 5 books to really enjoy it? Is that the same case with [Book:The Mandarin of Mayfair (The Tales of the Jewelled Men, Book 6)]?

Cortney wrote: "I have looked into reading the Patricia Veryan series but am having troubles finding the first 5 in the series for a reasonable price. Does The Dedicated Villain depend on the other 5 books to really enjoy it? Is that the same case with The Mandarin of Mayfair (The Tales of the Jewelled Men, Book 6)?"

I won't even reveal what I paid to get all the missing books in the two series that she wrote. My husband is still upset with me for that even 7 years later. LOL

No, the end books are not dependent on the previous ones for enjoyment. It helps but is not a "requirement" so to speak. There is a "big" mystery that ties the six books together but it's not as if you HAVE to read them all to enjoy the romance in each separate novel.

Besides that, all of Ms Veryan's novels are technically connected. For example, the hero in Never Doubt I Love (Tales of the Jewelled Men, bk 5) is the twin brother of the hero in The Riddle Of The Shipwrecked Spinster and their sister is the heroine of Love Alters Not (Golden Chronicles, bk 4).

I highly recommend finding all 6 of The Tales of the Jewelled Men, however. This series is typically less expensive than The Golden Chronicles series.

Do you think the Jewelled Men is better than the Golden Chronicles?

Cortney wrote: "Do you think the Jewelled Men is better than the Golden Chronicles?"

Personally, yes. I wasn't too impressed with the first two books in the Golden Chronicles--which is sad considering they are two of the most expensive books I've ever bought--but the rest were quite good. I think I loved The Tales of the Jewelled Men more because I loved the hero from The Mandarin of Mayfair from his very first appearance in Time's Fool (bk 1). He makes appearances throughout most of the rest of the books in the series, too.

I don't mind buying expensive books because I usually re-sell them as soon as I've finished. It's easy to sell on Amazon, Half.com or Ebay.
I know some people are "keepers" and hang onto books they've read, but I have so many books in my "TBR" pile that it's easy for me to sell the ones I've read - even if I liked them. I LOVE Patricia Veryan, but I've bought and then re-sold most of her books.

Jaimey wrote: "Cortney wrote: "Do you think the Jewelled Men is better than the Golden Chronicles?"

Personally, yes. I wasn't too impressed with the first two books in the Golden Chronicles--which is sad conside..."

Maybe I will just start the Golden Chronicles at book 3 since they are cheaper anyways... and I will definitely get The Tales of the Jewelled Men series.


Cindy, That is a good idea. I may look into reselling it after I finish it.

I have so many favourites, it's hard to pick just a few, but here they are:

1.Crown Duel - Adventure & Romance...What's not to love?

2. The Hollow Kingdom - Very unconventional hero, but he grows on you.

3. In the Coils of the Snake- Third of the Hollow Kingdom Series. Great Story.

4. A Countess Below Stairs - This is one of those books that make you laugh and cry every time you read it.

5. Howl's Moving Castle- Fantasy, and a cute Romance.

6. Sylvester - This is my all time favourite Heyer.

7. The Unknown Ajax- My second favourite Heyer.

8. The Perilous Gard- Almost a fairy tale, but not quite.

9.Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot Being the Correspondence of Two Young Ladies of Quality Regarding Various Magical Scandals in London and the Country - Regency Romance, with a little magic thrown in.

10. North and South - I love this book, and the BBC Movie with Richard Armitage is a favourite too!

- Okay, okay, I'll stop at ten.

I loved A Countess Below Stairs, too:-)

Same here. I also love Howls's Moving Castle, Sorcery and Cecelia... and North and South. Have you seen Wives and Daughters? It is the BBC adaption of another book by the same author as North and South.

AGH!!! I need to vent! I have been so excited about all the great suggestions you ladies have been giving that I wrote them down and logged on to my public library system to "sample" some of the authors. Not ONE of them could I find! C'mon! the library is stock full of "steamy" romance authors and the Santa Barbara (CA) library system is anything but poor. What's the problem! Does anyone know how to go about changing, or even adding to the selection of books in a library?

Yes I have seen Wives and Daughters, in fact I own it! I also love the new adaptation of Jane Eyre with Toby Stevens. I haven't been overly impressed with the newest Jane Austen adaptations which I have seen. Maybe the Emma one will be better. I think I am addicted to BBC movies. ;)

I would suggest asking at the library for the books that you want to read, because the library can borrow books from other libraries if you want them.

I am addicted to BBC movies too. :) I am always looking out for new movies.

Actually, I have searched the entire system. We can go online and put books on hold to be sent from anywhere within the county (and a few libraries outside of the county.) That's part of my frustration. Surely there must be some way of getting clean romances in the system!?

May I give an enthusiastic cheer for BBC movies, too? North and South is one of my all-time favorites! Have you guys read the book? The ending is completely different than the movie.Hey there is a vote for an all time favorite clean read - "North and South" By Elizabeth Gaskell!

Have you watched any of the Dickens ones? I think my favourite of those is Bleak House, but I like Our Mutual Friend and Little Dorrit as well.

Maybe they have a request line?

I haven't watched any of the Dickens ones, but I am intending to soon. I will go looking for those specifically. :)

Most libraries have an interlibrary loan program. I can't promise that you will find the books that way, buy it is worth a try. You could ask the librarians about it. :)

A woman in Wisconsin emailed me to tell me she asked her library to order three copies of my book, Loyalty's Web, so she could use it for a book club selection, and her library did. So I'm now in Wisconsin, as well as my own little small town library (because I donated copies to them ;-) ) and at least a couple of places in Utah. So it certainly can't hurt to ask your library if they'd consider ordering a book.

Thank you! I will give it a try.

Melanie,
I am on my way to the local bookstore and would like to read some of the books you have listed. Could you add the authors names so they will be easier to track down?

Victoria Holt is one of my FAVORITE authors, her books are hard to find but if you like regency/suspense she is a great read. I would recommend almost all of her books my Fav's are: On the Night of the Seventh Moon, Road to Island Paradus and Landower Legacy.

Euginia Price is also another good one most of her books are set in the South pre/post civil war period. Her books are cool cause she takes real people from Georgia and the Carolina's and weaves a story with their letters and journals.

Tammy wrote: "AGH!!! I need to vent! I have been so excited about all the great suggestions you ladies have been giving that I wrote them down and logged on to my public library system to "sample" some of the au..."

I suggest a used book store sometimes you can get great deals there and then resale them if you don't like them and get some credit.

A great place to check for some of the books listed above is Abebooks.com. A great used book store website where I have been able to find a lot of out of print books. Also, I know there are websites out there offering older books in an ebook format like: http://www.regencyreads.com/. Not all the books are clean but alot of them are great reads!

OK I have a new all time favorite Clean romance...A Crimson Frost by Marcia Lynn McClure!!! it was WONDERFUL!! I loved it!

Girls - have you checked the Library of Clean Reads here on Good Reads, by Laura Fabiani? (Ahem, she just reviewed The Pirate And The Puritan for me.)
My favourites - all of Georgette Heyer and all of Mary Stewart.
Monya

Monya wrote: "Girls - have you checked the Library of Clean Reads here on Good Reads, by Laura Fabiani? (Ahem, she just reviewed The Pirate And The Puritan for me.)
My favourites - all of Georgette Heyer and all..."

Yes, I love Laura's blog and website. I highly recommend them! (I have her link listed under clean romance reviewers, if any of you want to check it out.)

Tammy wrote: "AGH!!! I need to vent! I have been so excited about all the great suggestions you ladies have been giving that I wrote them down and logged on to my public library system to "sample" some of the au..."

Our library will purchase new books for you if they don't have one you want. You just have to request it. Maybe you could ask if they are willing to do that?

Some of my favorites are Born for Thorton's Sake, The Highwayman of Tanglewood and Visions of Ransom Lake from Marcia Lynn McClure. I also love A Countess below the stairs.

Those are some of my favorites, too. I don't think Marcia could write a boring romance if she tried:-)

Thank you, Kelli, for the suggestion. I will talk to my local librarian!

I must add my enthusiastic agreement to Jewel and Tifferz. Marcia McClure can do no wrong. I haven't read the ones you mentioned, Tifferz, but will now!

I'm hosting a contest to win a clean romance novel. Beauty - a retelling of Beauty and the Beast - by Robin McKinley. Check it out! http://rachelrager.blogspot.com/2009/...

Rachel Rager

Agree and Agree with Tifferz and Jewel...and Erika...on those used bookstore.. I've found a lot of out of print used books on betterworld.com. Especially the Victoria Holt books..Check it out! Shipping is free and profits go towards literacy.

I would definitely add Mara, Daughter of the Nile to this list!

I'm new to this whole group/chat thing but I have to say THANK YOU for the list. I am always looking for a good love story without all the SMUT! Why the crap they don't rate books like they do movies is beyoned be! Someday when I have all the time in the world I would love to petition congress and get a law passed. Oh well, in the mean time I will just keep checking this sight! One to add to the list would be... These Is My Words by Nancy Turner! Thanks again for the great list!