Historical Romance Book Club discussion

For the month of JULY 2021, we will be reading HRs that feature a theme of KIDNAPPING.

VOTING IS NOW OPEN!

Please vote using this VOTING FORM. This requires that you put your Goodreads name.

You can vote for up to three full-length books. Here's how the points work:

> First (or only) choice = 3 points
> Second choice = 2 points
> Third choice = 1 point

To see which books are nominated or if you prefer to vote in-thread, check out the Nomination Thread.

You can view the current vote tally HERE.

Please vote by MAY 30. At the end of the voting period. the top two or three vote-getters will be the BOTMs. If we need to break a tie, we will use number of first place votes, or if that doesn't work, number of second place votes as a tie-breaker. If we need another tie-breaker, we will discuss in thread and add to rules in future.

Rules of Nominations :(view spoiler)[
Not more than 2 nominations per member.
We will track novella nominations separately
No book we have read as a group read in the last 2 yrs. (Please check the group's Bookshelf)
No author we have read in the last one year.
We will use a tiered voting system

Nominations end on May 15th. (hide spoiler)]

Nominated Books

Uncommon Vows by Mary Jo Putney

If You Dare by Kresley Cole

The Abduction of Julia by Karen Hawkins

These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer

A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught

Captive Bride by Johanna Lindsey

The Conqueror by Brenda Joyce

Wicked Designs by Lauren Smith

The Road To Ruin by Bronwyn Stuart

Honor's Splendour by Julie Garwood

The Outlaw and the Lady by Lorraine Heath

My One True Highlander by Suzanne Enoch

The Sinister Heart by Mary Lancaster

Sweet Revenge by Lynsay Sands

So Worthy My Love by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss

Master of Seduction by Kinley MacGregor

Born in Sin by Kinley MacGregor

Fires of Winter by Johanna Lindsey

Devil's Embrace by Catherine Coulter

A Perfect Hero by Samantha James

A Hint of Scandal by Kelly Boyce

Fair is the Rose by Meagan McKinney

The Fires of Paradise by Brenda Joyce

Authors Not Eligible for July 2021 Group Reads:

Caroline Linden - June 2021
Madeline Hunter - June 2021
Julia Quinn - June 2021
Kerrigan Byrne - May 2021
Christi Caldwell - May 2021
Judith Ivory - May 2021
Samantha Holt - May 2021
Courtney Milan - April 2021
Rose Lerner - April 2021
Charlotte Bronte - April 2021
Shana Galen - April 2021
Loretta Chase - March 2021
Teresa Medeiros - March 2021
Tessa Dare - February 2021
Julie Anne Long - February 2021
Stacy Reid - January 2021
Eloisa James - January 2021
Vivienne Lorette - December, 2020
Candace Camp - December, 2020
Jennifer Ashley - November 2020
Jayne Fresina - November 2020
Ivory Lei - October, 2020
Lisa Kleypas - October, 2020
Anna Campbell - September 2020
Beverly Jenkins - September 2020
Sherry Thomas - August 2020
Elizabeth Hoyt - August 2020
Mary Balogh - July 2020
Meredith Duran - July 2020

I love this trope! I can't wait to see the nominations and add more to my shelf.

I nominate:

1. Uncommon Vows by Mary Jo Putney

and

2. If You Dare by Kresley Cole

Here is a list, though it’s more than just kidnapping:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...

I nominate

The Abduction of Julia by Karen Hawkins

and

A Talent for Temptation, a novella by Sabrina Jeffries. Not sure if this one counts since it's an ATTEMPTED kidnapping. Let me know and I can make a different nomination.

This isn't really my fav trope. I can only think of one book with a kidnapping that I really liked, but it's by Loretta Chase so I can't nominate it this time. (It's Don't Tempt Me).

Edit: OK, I looked at Joanna's list, and have to eat my words LOL. I saw Georgette Heyer on there. I will nominate the wonderful These Old Shades. A classic of the HR genre, and a beautiful romance.


I will also nominate A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught. A bit old school, but still a very good read. A medieval.

I Nominate Captive Bride and The Conqueror

I don't like this trope at all.


Its book 1 of League of Rogues and frankly i wasnt very taken by the book. Nevertheless, it fits perfectly.

Here is another list:

https://www.romance.io/topics/best/hi...


It has a lot of books on it. One thing to keep in mind is accessibility— if it’s out of print, it’s not a good candidate for BOTM. That may work as a buddy read though.

Leena wrote: "I don't like this trope at all.


Its book 1 of League of Rogues and frankly i wasnt very taken by the book. Nevertheless, it fits perfectly."

Are you nominating this book? I can’t quite tell if you are or just noting it fits.

Missy wrote: "I nominate

The Abduction of Julia by Karen Hawkins

and

[book:A Talent for Temptation|3501155..."

I think that’s ok. The attempt is central to the plot. I would note that it is very short, more of a short story length than a novella length, about 40 pages I think.

Joanna Loves Reading wrote: "Missy wrote: "I nominate

The Abduction of Julia by Karen Hawkins

and

[book:A Talent for Temp..."

Ok, hmm. It claims 68 pages, but that might be including a teaser chapter. I will check. It’s good but I just remember how brief it is.....

I did check and no teaser chapter, and it is 4 chapters in total.

Oh, wow! That is short! I'll nominate another book then.

And you make a good point about accessibility. I was thinking the same thing, too, when I was narrowing down my nominations.

2nd nomination: The Road To Ruin by Bronwyn Stuart. This one's not a novella.

I nominate Honor's Splendour by Julie Garwood and The Outlaw and the Lady by Lorraine Heath.

Missy wrote: "I love this trope! I can't wait to see the nominations and add more to my shelf."



OMG! Me too! My favorite one so far, The Highwayman, is not available as we are doing Kerrigan Byrne this month.

@Joanna I'm nominating it.

I nominate:

My One True Highlander by Suzanne Enoch
and

The Sinister Heart by Mary Lancaster

sansid wrote: "I nominate Kingdom of dreams Judith Mcnaught

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1..."

Kingdom of Dreams has already been nominated. You are welcome to nominate a different book.

I nominate Master of Seduction by Kinley MacGregor, which I read for the Pirate category for the RAA challenge. It fits this theme and I really enjoyed the read/listen.

Born in Sin
I nominate Born in Sin by Kinley MacGregor, I read it last year. It's an Angsty highlander romance with an extremely damaged hero and a heroine who was scot and was kidnapped by the English crown.

I nominate Fires of Winter by Johannah Lindsey & Devil's Embrace by Catherine Coulter

I'm interested in and

Don't think I've read books by these authors yet.

A Perfect Hero by Samantha James

and A Hint of Scandal by Kelly Boyce

Some good nominations 👍

Shaz wrote: "Some good nominations 👍"

Yeah. Like Really Really Good Noms! 👏👏👏

Agreed. This is not my favorite trope, but there are a lot of great nominations. It's going to be a tough vote.

Jan wrote: "This isn't really my fav trope. I can only think of one book with a kidnapping that I really liked, but it's by Loretta Chase so I can't nominate it this time. (It's Don't Tempt Me)...."

Same Mariana (it not being my fav), but I do like your suggestions Jan! I've been wanting to read more Georgette Heyer. I've only listened to Friday's Child by her.

Shaz wrote: "I Nominate Captive Bride and The Conqueror "

My first pick from the listopia were these :) Then realised it has already been nominated

The best trope!
Since my absolutely favorites - If You Dare by Kresley Cole and A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught have already been nominated, I nominate these:

Fair is the Rose - Meagan McKinney
The Fires of Paradise - Brenda Joyce

When those results come in, it's gonna be like a Maury show up in here...

I'm surprised there are not more highlander romance book nominations since 90% of those books have the kidnapping trope. lol.

Here are the nominated books in order of nomination. I haven't double-checked to make sure none are novellas, and I do want to check that they are accessible (i.e. not out-of-print / available in ebook format), though I believe all are.

Nominated Books

Uncommon Vows by Mary Jo Putney

If You Dare by Kresley Cole

The Abduction of Julia by Karen Hawkins

These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer

A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught

Captive Bride by Johanna Lindsey

The Conqueror by Brenda Joyce

Wicked Designs by Lauren Smith

The Road To Ruin by Bronwyn Stuart

Honor's Splendour by Julie Garwood

The Outlaw and the Lady by Lorraine Heath

My One True Highlander by Suzanne Enoch

The Sinister Heart by Mary Lancaster

Sweet Revenge by Lynsay Sands

So Worthy My Love by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss

Master of Seduction by Kinley MacGregor

Born in Sin by Kinley MacGregor

Fires of Winter by Johanna Lindsey

Devil's Embrace by Catherine Coulter

A Perfect Hero by Samantha James

A Hint of Scandal by Kelly Boyce

Fair is the Rose by Meagan McKinney

The Fires of Paradise by Brenda Joyce

I will re-order by author last name when the voting link is ready.

Since we've got These Old Shades we could also nominate his son's book. - The Devils Cub. he too kidnaps his lady love.

VOTING IS NOW OPEN!

Please vote using this VOTING FORM. This requires that you put your Goodreads name. OR you can choose to vote in-thread.


Vote by May 30!

There are too many I want to read!

Oh wow!!! lots of these books are in my `Sure not to read list`. This shows how much I hate the `Kidnapping trope`.

Mariana wrote: "There are too many I want to read!"

Me too

I voted and for the first time I may have to edit my votes. There are 3 more I wished I could vote for also.

done.

Current tally:

The Outlaw and the Lady by Lorraine Heath 15
My One True Highlander by Suzanne Enoch 14
The Abduction of Julia by Karen Hawkins 13
These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer 13
If You Dare by Kresley Cole 11
A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught 9
Honor's Splendour by Julie Garwood 8
Born in Sin by Kinley MacGregor 7
The Fires of Paradise by Brenda Joyce 7
Uncommon Vows by Mary Jo Putney 7
Captive Bride by Johanna Lindsey 6
Fires of Winter by Johanna Lindsey 5
Devil's Embrace by Catherine Coulter 4
The Conqueror by Brenda Joyce 4
A Hint of Scandal by Kelly Boyce 3
A Perfect Hero by Samantha James 3
Fair is the Rose by Meagan McKinney 3
So Worthy My Love by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss 3
Sweet Revenge by Lynsay Sands 3
The Road To Ruin by Bronwyn Stuart 3
Wicked Designs by Lauren Smith 2
The Sinister Heart by Mary Lancaster 1
Master of Seduction by Kinley MacGregor 0

There are a couple more days to vote. Here are the latest vote totals:

These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer 20
A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught 16
The Outlaw and the Lady by Lorraine Heath 15
My One True Highlander by Suzanne Enoch 14
The Abduction of Julia by Karen Hawkins 13
Honor's Splendour by Julie Garwood 11
If You Dare by Kresley Cole 11
Fires of Winter by Johanna Lindsey 8
Uncommon Vows by Mary Jo Putney 8
Born in Sin by Kinley MacGregor 7
The Fires of Paradise by Brenda Joyce 7
Captive Bride by Johanna Lindsey 6
Devil's Embrace by Catherine Coulter 6
A Hint of Scandal by Kelly Boyce 4
The Conqueror by Brenda Joyce 4
A Perfect Hero by Samantha James 3
Fair is the Rose by Meagan McKinney 3
So Worthy My Love by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss 3
Sweet Revenge by Lynsay Sands 3
The Sinister Heart by Mary Lancaster 3
Wicked Designs by Lauren Smith 3
Master of Seduction by Kinley MacGregor 2
The Road To Ruin by Bronwyn Stuart 0

Final results didn’t change the top three. Here’s the final tally:

These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer 20
A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught 16
The Outlaw and the Lady by Lorraine Heath 15
If You Dare by Kresley Cole 13
My One True Highlander by Suzanne Enoch 13
Honor's Splendour by Julie Garwood 11
The Abduction of Julia by Karen Hawkins 11
Fires of Winter by Johanna Lindsey 8
Uncommon Vows by Mary Jo Putney 8
Born in Sin by Kinley MacGregor 7
The Fires of Paradise by Brenda Joyce 7
Captive Bride by Johanna Lindsey 6
Devil's Embrace by Catherine Coulter 6
A Hint of Scandal by Kelly Boyce 4
A Perfect Hero by Samantha James 4
The Conqueror by Brenda Joyce 4
Fair is the Rose by Meagan McKinney 3
So Worthy My Love by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss 3
Sweet Revenge by Lynsay Sands 3
The Sinister Heart by Mary Lancaster 3
Wicked Designs by Lauren Smith 3
Master of Seduction by Kinley MacGregor 2
The Road To Ruin by Bronwyn Stuart 0

This may be the year I get to reread Kingdom of Dreams. It was so good the first time that I'm concerned it won't be as good the second time around.

I have never read Georgette Heyer. So I may go with 'These Old shades'. But I am a fan of Western HR by Lorraine Heath, so maybe 'The outlaw and the lady.

So are we only have 3 BOTM or what are we gonna do about 4th place being a tie?

Mamacita aka wrote: "So are we only have 3 BOTM or what are we gonna do about 4th place being a tie?"

We’ve only done 4 when we had novellas in the mix. So top 3 for now but also monitoring participation to see if it’s too many.

I am looking forward to The Outlaw and the Lady.