Harlequin Presents Readers discussion

Who are your favorite HP authors? Mine telling us why you love them? I'm always looking for new authors.

Here are mine:

Susan Napier
Sarah Morgan
Sarah Craven
Sara Wood
Lynne Graham
Kim Lawrence
Violet Winspear
Penny Jordan
Annie West
Jennie Lucas (newer favorite)
Anne MacCallister

Love/hate relationship Miranda Lee (she sure can write but she has some outrageous stuff going on in her books at times)


I'm probably forgetting some...

My favorite are:

Penny Jordan
Lynne Graham
Emma Darcey
Sandra Morton (sometimes)

I need to drag out my stack and post, cant remember

I forgot Sandra Marton too. She can be iffy for me as well. I do like a fair amount of Emma Darcy books.

Emma used to be the "thing". I read somewhere that they are a wife/husband team and call themselves Emma Darcy

Sally Wentworth
Charlotte Lamb
Roberta Leigh
Robyn Donald
Anne Mather
Sarah Holland
Carole Mortimer
Michelle Reid
Diana Palmer (depends)
Penny Jordan (sometimes)
Margaret Way (sometimes)

I forgot Rachel Lindsay aka Rozella Lake aka Roumelia Lane. I know they are all Roberta Leigh pseudonyms but...

other favorites are:
Lilian Peake
Flora Kidd
Violet Winspear

There may be more - not sure anymore :)

I'm an old school and present Diana Palmer fan. I didn't list her because I thinking strictly HP, but she's definitely a fave of mine. I'd like to read more Lilian Peake. I read No friend of mine this year and I quite enjoyed it.

Michelle Reid is a good author too. I forgot Emma Goldrick. She always made me laugh and had very down to earth characters. I was sad when she stopped writing after her husband died. Charlotte Lamb, Carole Mortimer, Anne Mather, and Robyn Donald are all authors that I have loved books and kept in my collection.

My favorite Carole Mortimer is probably Velvet Promise. There was some serious drama in this book.

OMG,

I just read the synopsis for Velvet Promise on fictiondb.com - I have to find it and read it now!

Thanks!

I love Carole Mortimer - especially her revenge themes and she does the disinterested heroine so well!

I hope you enjoy Velvet Promise.

I really love Just One Night by Carole Mortimer too. It was surprisingly steamy. Pretty angsty too.

another one I have to get now!

I'm going to have to make a list of all of hers that I haven't read and get them!

Thanx again!

You're welcome. Those are my two faves by her. Please send some suggestions my way that you can think of. :)

Daphne Clair (aka Laurey Bright / Clarissa Garland)
Sara Craven
Anne Mather
Margaret Mayo
Madeleine Ker
Susan Napier
Michelle Reid
Lynne Graham
Roberta Leigh (aka Rachel Lindsay)
Annie West
Abby Green
Kate Walker
Anne Hampson

Some, not all : Sandra Marton, Miranda Lee, Emma Darcy, Carole Mortimer

I haven't read Abby Green yet. I'll have to read one of hers if she's included with some great authors like the ones on your list, V.

Anybody know any authors with styles similar to Carole Mortimer or Charlotte Lamb?

I want to qualify one of my favorite authors.

Sometimes I like reading wallbangers because they spark my imagination.

Robyn Donald's writing is great, but some of her story lines are heartbreaking and make me say if that's romance...

One book of hers I love to hate and definitely can't reread but sticks in my mind is Smoke in the Wind.

Has anyone read it?

I like the dramatic books that really get my emotions going. I usually don't consider them wallbangers. More like desk-bangers. My fist bangs the desk while reading.

Hmm. I'm not sure if I can think of an author that writes like Carole Mortimer or Charlotte Lamb.

I can't remember if I read Smoke in the Wind. I'll give it a look see and get back to you on that.

Okay Bargainbooks. I looked up Smoke in the Wind on Amazon. Tatiana posted a great review. I'm not sure I have read this one. I'd remember hating the hero if I did, I'm sure.

Robyn Donald can write some jerky heroes, but I like reading most of her books. They usually don't think the heroine is a virgin, and sometimes they can't even tell. I noticed she likes to use this in her books. It's so sad. I read so many of these HPs, I can tell you the way that the different authors tend to write them. I love these books!

LOL, love the desk banger comment!

I'm going to go check out the Review on Ami...

Okay, just read review. She basically covered it all but here is one of the real kickers to me.

During the feelings moment - He asks heroine, "How many lovers had you had before me - She answers one - He says, "My God what did you do to us?" Something like that.

Like it was her fault that he slept with her and then went after her cousin and married her becasue she looked somewhat like the heroine but wasn't as free with her favors as he thought the heroine was.

I wanted to cut him. LOL

Then another jerkish thing he says rearding comparing them in bed. Something like - liked everything I did to her there but she never knew that there were heights to be reached beyond that - You're the best I ever had, but in a way since she's dead - I'm glad I married her to give her a taste of happiness before she died.

GAAAG Me!

I really hate the book but couldn't put it down, all the while my mind is screaming ditch him! I at least wish she had married someone else in beween time.

Gosh, he is a complete horse's rear end!!! I think this book would have been bad for my blood pressure.

Bargainbooks wrote: "LOL, love the desk banger comment!

I'm going to go check out the Review on Ami...
"

--It's very true. I also have a shovel rating for how obnoxious the hero is. If he's really bad, it's three or four, which means I really want to bang him over the head with a shovel. :)

Shovel rating system = pure genius LOL

I forgot about Helen Bianchin - she has a somewhat similar style to CM and CL in that the heroines are somewhat disinterested or at the very least diligently fighting their attraction to the uber brooding, slightly possessive heroes.

I also like that her stories seem really fast paced - don't want to put them down sometimes.

You know, I thought about her, but I wasn't sure if she was a good comparison or not.

I have heard some readers use a baseball bat. I like the shovel. It gets more of the head in one hit and is less fatal. You just want to knock a little sense into them, but the guy from the Robyn Donald and Miranda Lee books probably warrant a five shovel rating.

Helen Bianchin does write some good stories. She has a lot of MOC stories, it seems.

I really like the "doormat-jerk" ratio they use over at ... I think Dear Author. I like the dramatic stories, but when you get a heroine who's a complete doormat paired with a hero who's a total jerk (yes, I'm looking at you, Penny Jordan!), it goes over the top for me.

Wow. I like that. "Doormat-jerk" ratio. LOL.
PJ can have some doormats, although I like a lot of her older books.

Yeah, for some reason it bothers me less in her older books. The drama factor is certainly high in them! The last couple of recent ones by her I read really irked me. I hope I'm not just over her, because I have dozens still in my tbr!

I know what you mean about PJ, used to be one of my favs - now I am really circumspect before picking up one of hers and I don't even bother with the ones after 2000.

One particular one that I absolutely detest is Rules of the Game.

The book actually made me wonder if PJ hated women or something!

Ever find any books where you wondered if the author was a misogynist?

Jayne Bauling seemed to have some very cruel, hateful heroes. I can think of some newer authors that I wonder about, but I'm taking the fifth because they are popular authors. HP are enjoyable books for me, although I don't think they really have anything to do with how relationships should be in the real world, so I can suspend my disbelief on how the people act in those books and not think real life. But there some heroes that just so bad, It really gets to me.

Yeah, there's one Jayne Bauling that I posted about on AMI that had me gagging "Matching Pair."

I'll still pick up her books if I see them though - because that's why I read the older HPs - I like the angst caused by a jerkish hero even though I may be grinding my teeth!

Some of my fav authors write the nastiest heroes - a certain "Fearless" author who shall remain nameless - but since I'm looking to see the heroines response and since I can dissociate myself from the characters it only bothers me in that - I hope other women know they don't have to accept stuff like this.

I remember one by her where the heroine fell down the stairs and had a miscarriage, and the so-called hero accused her of doing it on purpose. Who would throw herself down the stairs to have a miscarriage when she could go get an abortion if she really wanted to end a pregnancy? I hated that guy. I think I did throw that book across the room.

Like you I do like the angst from a jerky hero in the older HP's so long as it's not too out of control.

Is Fearless a HP?

I think "Fearless" would be a DP. ;-)

There's this one old HP, I think by Robyn Donald, where the hero is such an unmitigated ass and he never does apologize or redeem himself or *anything* except admit he loves her at the end, and yet I still like it. People are weird. :-)

I am a DP fan. I don't like that her heroes can be cruel, but I feel that most of the time, they are sorry and do make amends. I didn't feel this way about the hero from Sweet Enemy, so it's my least favorite by her.

I haven't read Fearless yet, but I've heard Rodrigo is a real jerk and a half.

I admit I do like some books with cruel heroes. It's all in the execution.

Yep, Rodrigo is the worst DP hero I've ever come across and at times there have been a few 5 shovel worthy ones.

Rodrigo breaks the scale - just wanted him to cease to exist!

Yup, that Rodrigo was a rat. I thought that over and over again as I read every last word! (hate to admit I even listened to the audiobook....yes, shameful, I know!)

Okay, now I'm really scared to read Fearless. I didn't think they could get any worse than the guy in Sweet Enemy.

Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "Here are mine:

Lynne Graham

***I love Lynne Graham and Michelle Reid. I've been reading LG since I was a teen. I'm so looking forward to her new book in January! :-0

Oh, I'll have to look out for that, OnyxCat.


I know Diana Palmer has a new Silhouette Desire out:

The Maverick

Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "Here are mine:

Susan Napier
Sarah Morgan
Sarah Craven
Sara Wood
Lynne Graham
Kim Lawrence
Violet Winspear
Penny Jordan
Annie West
Jennie Lucas (newer favorite)
Anne MacCallister

Lov..."

Danielle, I'm with you on Jennie Lucas. Absolutely love her!
My other favorites are: Helen Bianchin, Sharon Kendrick, Lucy Monroe, Trish Morey, Lynne Graham, Chantelle Shaw, and Sandra Marton.

Two new authors I really like are Janette Kenney and Lynn Raye Harris.

Hi Lindsey. I haven't read Janette Kenny or Lynn Raye Harris. I'm glad you're giving them the thumbs up.

Some of my favorites are:

Penny Jordan
Anne Mather
Carole Mortimer
Diana Hamilton
Kate Walker
Sandra Marton
Trish Morey
Maggie Cox
Margaret Mayo

Great list, Sandra. I read all of them.

Helen Brooks (auto-buy author for me)
Robyn Donald (auto-buy author)
Annie West (auto-buy author)
Ally Blake
Kelley Hunter (most but not all)
Penny Jordan (her newer stuff not so much)
Carole Mortimer (some)
Emma Darcy (some)

Below are authors whose books have made me cringe at times, throw them against the wall in anger sometimes and sometimes really enjoyed. Mainly the throwing tantrums have been at the heros for being complete neanderthal macho jerks with no redeeming qualities and for the heroines who are complete doormats. Yet you still see me reading them anyway :P. It's a love-hate relationship with these authors:

Sara Craven
Sharon Kendrick
Michelle Reid
Susan Stephens
Lynne Graham
Lucy Monroe
Kate Walker
Sarah Morgan
Kim Lawrence
Cathy Williams

Others that I have not read so much but have enjoyed some, but not all books:

Kate Hewitt
Abby Green
Diana Hamilton (enjoyed her last book, "The Billionaire Affair")
Melanie Milburn

Jane Porter has a compelling writing style but I find I don't really like most of her plots. She does fill her stories with a lot of angst if you enjoy those kinds of stories.

I've fallen in love with Lucy Monroe just recently, and am trying to find authors that I would also enjoy. I love the books about the greek/italian/sicillian men. Any recommendations?

I've fallen in love with Lucy Monroe just recently, and am trying to find authors that I would also enjoy. I love the books about the greek/italian/sicillian men. Any recommendations?

ooh, and Russian!
And, maybe french, but that one's less common for me.

Try Lynne Graham. She writes a lot of mediterranean heroes. She also has one with a Russian.

The Ruthless Magnate's Virgin Mistress (Virgin Brides, Arrogant Husbands, #2) This is the book with the Russian hero.