HAPPILY EVER AFTER discussion

Welcome everyone :-) Please introduce yourself. Thanks...! 

Hello everyone,
Hope you're doing well :-)

My name is Ramla Zareen Ahmad but you can call me just Ramla or Zareen, whatever you prefer :-)

This group was created by me on 15th April, 2015, and I am also the current group moderator. So if you have any queries, suggestions, issues etc then you are welcome to message me.

Reading and writing are my most favourite pastimes, and I am happiest when immersed in the wonderful world of fiction :-)

Another thing that gives me much joy is to become friends with those who share my love for reading and to discuss books with them, so please feel free to connect with me :-)

I read many genres but the ones I enjoy most are:

--Golden-Age Mystery
--Cozy Mystery
--Historical Romance
--Contemporary Romance
--Romantic Comedy
--Romantic Suspense
--Mystery Thriller with Romantic Subplot

Here are some of my favourite authors:

GOLDEN-AGE MYSTERY

1) Agatha Christie
2) Erle Stanley Gardner
3) Georgette Heyer
4) Nagio Marsh
5) Dorothy L. Sayers
6) Dorothy Simpson

COZY MYSTERY

1) Jill Churchill
2) Kate Collins
3) Leslie Caine
4) Sheila Connolly
5) Carola Dunn
6) Jeanne M. Dams
7) Krista Davis
8) Carolyn G. Hart
9) Julie Hyzy
10) Diana Killian
11) Cricket McRae
12) Donna Huston Murray
13) Jenn McKinlay
14) Joanne Pence
15) Denise Swanson

HISTORICAL ROMANCE

1) Jane Austen
2) Adrienne Basso
3) Anne Gracie
4) Georgette Heyer
5) Sabrina Jeffries
6) Lisa Kleypas
7) Johanna Lindsey
8) Sara Lindsey
9) Barbara Metzger
10) Judith McNaught
11) Sara MacLean
12) Mary Jo Putney
13) Julia Quinn
14) Patricia Veryan

CONTEMPORARAY ROMANCE

1) Rachael Anderson
2) Robin Bielman
3) Lisa Childs
4) Amy DeLuca
5) Diana Duncan
6) Diane Darcy
7) Maggie Dallen
8) Tami Franklin
9) Jessie Gussman
10) Kristan Higgins
11) Taylor Hart
12) Julie James
13) Coleen Kwan
14) Lisa Kleypas
15) Sophie Kinsella
16) Lauren Layne
17) Ashlee Mallory
18) Judith McNaught
19) R. L. Mathewson
20) Carly Phillips
21) Nora Roberts
22) Anna J. Stewart
23) Jennifer Shirk
24) Jill Shalvis
25) Karly Stratford
26) Norah Wilson

CONTEMPORARY ROMANTIC COMEDY

1) Sophie Kinsella

CONTEMPORARY ROMANTIC SUSPENSE

1) Jami Alden
2) Toni Anderson
3) Allison Brennan
4) Kylie Brant
5) Sandra Brown
6) Catherine Coulter
7) Janie Crouch
8) Lisa Childs
9) Diana Duncan
10) Lena Diaz
11) Cynthia Eden
12) Kendra Elliot
13) Tee O'Fallon
14) Adrienne Giordano
15) Heather Graham
16) Kay Hooper
17) Linda Howard
18) Rita Herron
19) Alexandra Ivy
20) Julie James
21) Julie Anne Lindsey
22) Melinda Di Lorenzo
23) Melinda Leigh
24) Judith McNaught
25) Karen Rose
26) Nora Roberts
27) Amanda Stevens
28) Anna J. Stewart
29) Norah Wilson
30) Rebecca Zanetti

CONTEMPORARY MYSTERY THRILLER WITH ROMANTIC SUBPLOT

1) Allison Brennan
2) Kendra Elliot
3) Stacy Green
4) D.K. Hood
5) Kennedy Layne
6) Melinda Leigh
7) Isabella Maldonado
8) Lisa Regan
9) Mary Stone
10) Leslie Wolfe

SOUTH ASIAN CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

1) Adite Banerjie
2) Sapna Bhog
3) Iris Darshi
4) Mahi Jay
5) Zeenat Mahal
6) Shilpa Suraj
7) Ruchi Vasudeva

CLASSIC ROMANTIC COMEDY

1) P.G. Wodehouse

CHILDREN/JUVENILE

1) Louisa May Alcott
2) Enid Blyton
3) Susan Coolidge
4) L. M. Montgomery
5) J.K. Rowling

Well, looking forward to discussing books with you all and becoming good friends :-)

Thanks and Happy Reading,
Ramla Zareen
(Author of The One for Me)

Post edited on: 30th October 2025

Hi Ramla, and thanks for inviting me to join this group. I'm a huge romance lover so this group is right up my alley! :-)

Sabrina wrote: "Hi Ramla, and thanks for inviting me to join this group. I'm a huge romance lover so this group is right up my alley! :-)"

Welcome Sabrina :-) Thanks for joining the group...! :-)

Hi! I'm Peggy Dabney. It's great to be here!

Peggy wrote: "Hi! I'm Peggy Dabney. It's great to be here!"

Welcome Peggy :-) Thanks for joining the group...! :-)

I'm new to romance. Chick lit/romcom has become a guilty pleasure, but I haven't yet tried the historical stuff, or romantic suspense stuff, although I think I'd like to. I find the covers of those tend to turn me off. You know, the fabio-type man covers. I have a hard time taking them seriously. Doesn't mean I won't read one if I get a good recommendation, though. I'm looking forward to broadening my horizons. Thanks for the invite.

Jennifer wrote: "I'm new to romance. Chick lit/romcom has become a guilty pleasure, but I haven't yet tried the historical stuff, or romantic suspense stuff, although I think I'd like to. I find the covers of those tend to turn me off. You know, the fabio-type man covers. I have a hard time taking them seriously..."

Welcome Jennifer :-) I hope you get such great recommendations here that you be tempted to try out some of the other sub-genres of Romance as well :-)

Especially, Historical Romance is my favourite sub-genre ...and if cover is an issue then please check out Almost Heaven By Judith McNaught. This is one of my favourite books ...and hopefully you will find the cover acceptable too...! :-)

If you like then you can also request for suggestions for romance novels with appealing and decent covers in the "Please Recommend..." section.

Anyway, I am looking forward to learning about some new authors of RomCom/Chick-Lit from you ...please feel free to share your favourites by commenting on the relevant discussion thread...and if you like then you are also welcome to initiate separate discussions on some of your favourite authors in the relevant topic folder :-)

Thanks for joining the group...! :-)

Ramla, I just want to add I love the name of the group: "Happily ever after" really sums up what romance books are all about!

Sabrina wrote: "Ramla, I just want to add I love the name of the group: "Happily ever after" really sums up what romance books are all about!"

Thanks Sabrina, it's good to know that you feel the same as me about this :-)

Ramla Zareen wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "I'm new to romance. Chick lit/romcom has become a guilty pleasure, but I haven't yet tried the historical stuff, or romantic suspense stuff, although I think I'd like to. I find th..."

That's a 3rd book in the sequel. Are the first two worth reading?

Jennifer wrote: "That's a 3rd book in the sequel. Are the first two worth reading? "

Well Jennifer, as far as I am concerned, there is no book by Judith McNaught that is not worth reading...! :-)

In this particular series, the first book is Once and Always

...the second is Something Wonderful

...and the third one is Almost Heaven

In my opinion all the three books are wonderful :-)

The reason I suggested Almost Heaven was that it is my favourite of all ...both with respect to the story as well the main characters

...and also because even though the books are officially in a series but they are written in such a way that they could easily be read out of order as a standalone

...so you can start with any one of them that you wish to :-)

For more details on Judith McNaught and her "Historical Romance" books you are welcome to visit the following discussion thread of this group:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

For details about Judith McNaught and her "Contemporary Romance" books you are welcome to visit the following discussion thread of this group:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Thanks ...happy reading...! :-)

Hi Everyone I'm Adelia. Thank you Ramla for the invite, and I agree The name is perfect :)

Ive been reaing ROM / HISROM novels for years. My first was Mountain Laurel byJude Deveraux, then quickly discovered Judith McNaught and Johanna Lindsey!

I have a few suggestions for Jennifer as well.

A Knight in Shining Armor and Remembrance by Jude Deveraux~2 of my all time favorites.

Happy reading everyone.

Adelia wrote: "Hi Everyone I'm Adelia. Thank you Ramla for the invite, and I agree The name is perfect :) "

Welcome Adelia :-) Glad you like the name too ...and thanks for joining the group...! :-)

Ramla Zareen wrote: "Welcome everyone :-) Please introduce yourself. Thanks...! "

Hello
New to this site(well signed up awhile ago but with a granddaughter to raise I don't have time for much if I want to read) In the 70's I read the books by Sergeanne Golon's historical Angelique books. Can't believe they have not been reissued. Went to look them up in paperback on Amazon and ebay and they want about 20.00 each! Can't say how much I loved them but WOW for used paper backs 15 to 20 bucks for each is a hit on the old wallet.

Hi my name is Dianne, I used to read a lot of romance but have gotten away from it and would like to see if I could get back into it. I love women's fiction, Mysteries some cozy Mysteries, and Historical. I am also very big on series I get sucked in pretty easy

robbie wrote: "Ramla Zareen wrote: "Welcome everyone :-) Please introduce yourself. Thanks...! "

Hello
New to this site(well signed up awhile ago but with a granddaughter to raise I don't have time for much if I want to read)..."

Welcome Robbie :-) Being a mother of a 3 years old daughter myself, I can imagine how busy you must be with raising a granddaughter...! How old is she? Anyway, I hope you can take out some time now and then to participate in the group discussions. Thanks for joining the group...! :-)

Dianne wrote: "Hi my name is Dianne, I used to read a lot of romance but have gotten away from it and would like to see if I could get back into it."

Welcome Dianne :-) Hope you enjoy getting reacquainted with this genre...! Thanks for joining the group...! :-)

robbie wrote: "Ramla Zareen wrote: "Welcome everyone :-) Please introduce yourself. Thanks...! "

Hello
New to this site(well signed up awhile ago but with a granddaughter to raise I don't have time for much if I..."

My mom used to read those Angelique books when I was a kid. I totally forgot about that. My dad used to call them her smut books, lol.

Hi friends
I'm Monica and I live in Florida.
I love to to read romance. I have been slacking on my reading so now I'm determined to get back into it :) happy reading all

Monica wrote: "Hi friends
I'm Monica and I live in Florida.
I love to to read romance. I have been slacking on my reading so now I'm determined to get back into it :) happy reading all"

Welcome Monica :-) Hope you get some wonderful recommendations here that further motivate you to get back to reading ...thanks for joining the group...! :-)

Hi, I'm Mara. I live in the Northwest part of California. I am big Romance lover. I like both contemporary, Historical, and Paranormal (the one's where the girl or the guy wake up in another era.) romances.

Mara wrote: "Hi, I'm Mara. I live in the Northwest part of California. I am big Romance lover. I like both contemporary, Historical, and Paranormal (the one's where the girl or the guy wake up in another era..."

Welcome Mara :-) Thanks for joining the group...! :-)

First, thank you Ramla for inviting me to this group! I live in the Washington, DC area, and read in English, Spanish and French. I've enjoyed Paulo Coelho's books in Spanish. There are definitely some romantic elements in his books.

I enjoy reading intellectual-type romance novels, if that makes any sense; fiction with strong female leads; and also fiction where the romance isn't the only part of the plot. I enjoy historical novels, and read all the Jean Plaidy historical novels in high school/college. I like a bunch of different genres including sci-fi, paranormal, thriller, chick lit, etc. I'm hoping to find some great recommendations here!

Maria

Maria wrote: "First, thank you Ramla for inviting me to this group! I live in the Washington, DC area, and read in English, Spanish and French. I've enjoyed Paulo Coelho's books in Spanish. There are definitely ..."

Welcome Maria :-) Thanks for joining the group...! :-)

Welcome Mara and Maria :)

Thanks for the invite Ramla!

I love to read, contemporary-romance & romantic-suspense are two of my fave genre, and I will occasionally read a bodice-ripper if I'm familiar w/ the author.

Looking forward to chatting with you all!

Julia wrote: "Thanks for the invite Ramla!

I love to read, ..."

Welcome Julia :-) Thanks for joining the group...! :-)

Hi everyone I'm Cody!
I mainly read YA/NA, Fantasy, Romance, Dystopian and Science Fiction.
I love the group name!

Cody @ http://literary-lyobsessed.blogspot.c...

Cody-Leigh wrote: "Hi everyone I'm Cody!
I mainly read YA/NA, Fantasy, Romance, Dystopian and Science Fiction.
I love the group name!

Cody @ http://literary-lyobsessed.blogspot.c..."

Welcome Cody :-) It's good to know that you find the group name appealing ...and I love the name of your blog: "Literary-ly Obsessed" ...as well :-) I think that it's very creative...! Well, looking forward to your participation in the various discussions ...thanks for joining the group...! :-)

Thank you for the invite. My name is Tammy. I love to read. Historical Fiction being my favorite genre though I enjoy mixing in a little bit of everything as long as it is fiction. Happily ever after makes the heart feel good.

Tammy wrote: "Thank you for the invite. My name is Tammy. I love to read. Historical Fiction being my favorite genre though I enjoy mixing in a little bit of everything as long as it is fiction."

Welcome Tammy :-) Thanks for joining the group...! :-)

Tammy also wrote: "Happily ever after makes the heart feel good."

Sure does...! :-)

Hi everyone, my name is Brianna, and obviously, I love reading. My favorite genre is urban fantasy. I just love strong heroines. At the moment, I'm trying out historical romance, and really liking it. I haven't continually read one genre like this since I discovered urban fantasy! Thank you for the invite, Ramla.

Brianna wrote: "Hi everyone, my name is Brianna, and obviously, I love reading. My favorite genre is urban fantasy. I just love strong heroines. At the moment, I'm trying out historical romance, and really liking ..."

Welcome Brianna :-) Thanks for joining the group...! :-)

hi im susan xx

Susan wrote: "hi im susan xx"

Welcome Susan :-) Thanks for joining the group...! :-)

Hi, I am Gayla. I have slacked off my reading addiction a bit recently. I mostly read mystery, specifically women sleuth/cozy type mysteries, but I mix in some contemporary romance and urban fantasy. Since I started reading from my kindle, I can't make myself pick up an old fashioned book. I try to read from the free list as much as possible, and have joined kindle unlimited to try to not buy so many books. The authors on the unlimited list are, well limited

Gayla wrote: "Hi, I am Gayla. I have slacked off my reading addiction a bit recently. I mostly read mystery, specifically women sleuth/cozy type mysteries, but I mix in some contemporary romance and urban fantas..."

Welcome Gayla :-) Thanks for joining the group...! :-)

Hi, My name is Steph, and like most people here, I love to read. I read for fun and entertainment so I tend to stay away from heavy drama (because I have a tendency to be too affected by the story and might wail when the story becomes too sad for the character) and horror (because I might get paranoid and lose sleep. Yeah, I'm a chicken).

I love books with well-developed characters, wonderful storylines, witty conversations, and good romance :)

Steph wrote: "Hi, My name is Steph, and like most people here, I love to read. I read for fun and entertainment so I tend to stay away from heavy drama (because I have a tendency to be too affected by the story ..."

Welcome Steph :-) Thanks for joining the group...! :-)

Hi Ramla - thanks for the invite! I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone here.

I love to read and finally am taking the blogging plunge. It's up and going but only for my own perusal at the moment since I'm a total newbie blogger and am just figuring out what I'm doing. Who knew there was such a learning curve!??!? lol I promise I won't pimp the blog more than once when I finally "advertise" it. :)

Anyhow, I love reading book blogs and websites too, and have recently discovered Book Riot. Fun website.

I am mainly a mystery reader but I love, love, love historical romances. I do read some contemporary romances. I'm currently reading "Huckleberry Harvest" by Jennifer Beckstrand. I'm the features editor for a newspaper so I get to write a book column and do monthly reviews - I chose that book from NetGalley for this month because I've been wanting to read the series. I am now looking forward to going back and started at book one.

I've been on Goodreads on and off since 2012. I find the way the forums are set up confusing so I make an error posting in the wrong place, that's probably why! ;-/ Like the blog thing though, the more I use, the more proficient I feel!

I think my two favorite historical series' are the Smythe-Smith Quartet and Jennifer Ashley's Mackenzies series. I've discovered a favorite new contemporary romance writer in Patience Griffin.

Susan W wrote: "Hi Ramla - thanks for the invite! I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone here.

I love to read and finally am taking the blogging plunge. It's up and going but only for my own perusal at t..."

Welcome Susan :-) Thanks for joining the group...! :-) Please feel free to promote your blog as much as you like ...on the BLOGGERS CORNER...! :-)

Hello my name is Tracy and I love reading and collecting books, I read all sorts, romance, mystery, thriller, gothic, young adult not into horror. I'm from Scotland and very much looking forward to being part of this group. I love a lot of Scottish authors too and hope you will too. I've never read any Judith mcnaught but have heard of her recently through the same page on Facebook where I met ramala and dawn so very much looking to sampling her work.

Hello, I am Katriina from Finland, and I like HEA's in my books. I like to read historicals, contemporarys, romantica-erotica and harlequins. My new addiction is MC books, I specially love Joanna Wyldes' Reapers series.

My favorite authors are LaVyrle Spencer, Gaelen Foley, Stephanie Laurens, Madeline Hunter, Elizabeth Hoyt, Judith Ivory, Laura Kinsale, Lisa Valdez and Joanna Wylde (this list could go on and on...).

Welcome Tracy and Katariina :-) Thanks for joining the group...! :-)

Hey, Ramla, thank you for inviting me to this group. This looks like an absurdly romantic place.
Love that :-)

Heena wrote: "Hey, Ramla, thank you for inviting me to this group. This looks like an absurdly romantic place.
Love that :-)"

Welcome Heena :-) Hope you enjoy the group, thanks for joining...! :-)

Hi everybody!
My name is Rachel, and I enjoy reading romance (fantasy, time travel, historical, contemporary) and YA and some NA books. My favorite books are ones that make me laugh while I'm reading and smile at the happily-ever-afters! :) Lynn Kurland is my favorite author; I think everything she writes is awesome!

Thanks! Looking forward to getting to know you guys! :)

Welcome Rachel :-) Hope you enjoy the group, thanks for joining! :-)

Ramla Zareen wrote: "Welcome everyone :-) Please introduce yourself. Thanks...! "

Hi Ramla! :) Thank you so much for the invite! :) Hi everyone! Ok, introduce myself. I love reading great books like in the Hardy Boys series, and in the Nancy Drew series (and playing the PC games), and my favorite fiction genres are young adult: mystery, decent romantic romance, spy, intrigue, action, and superheroes. I also love to write stories. And I love making friends. Actual friends, not just to add to a number. :) I think it is wonderful awesome that we can be from so many different places and hang out and enjoy talking books. :)

Ramla Zareen wrote: "Hello everyone, I LOVE to read, as it's a source of immense happiness for me :-) "

Me, too! :) And I think that is what a book should be, one that brings happiness to the reader. :)

Steph wrote: "Hi, My name is Steph, and like most people here, I love to read. I read for fun and entertainment so I tend to stay away from heavy drama (because I have a tendency to be too affected by the story and might wail when the story becomes too sad for the character) and horror (because I might get paranoid and lose sleep. Yeah, I'm a chicken).

I love books with well-developed characters, wonderful storylines, witty conversations, and good romance :)"

Hi Steph! :) I agree with the too sad and horror - but it's not being a chicken. I don't think horror stuff is good to be in anyone's head. And I really care about the characters, too. Those qualities you named for books about well-developed, etc., are important to me, too. :)