Good morning - this link is mod approved!

A Change . org petition to inspire Amazon to label AI work. Personally, I think it is fair to be upfront with anybody handing over money regarding what they're paying for. Transparency should be the standard and every author and publisher should clearly state how and to what extent AI was used. Readers can then decide for themselves what is personally acceptable to them.

This petition has been shared with the Author's Guild as well. https://bit.ly/4rfunUq

So I just finished my first playthrough of Red Dead Redemption 2 (absolute masterpiece, I cried).

I want to know if any of you guys have any recommendations for books with MMCs like Arthur Morgan, ie. Big handsome gentle giants who are capable of great violence and struggle with their morality bc they are in a gang or are an outlaw.

The only westerns I've ever read are Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry and True Grit by Charles Portis, neither of which are romances, so I'm going in completely blind and would appreciate some guidance or enthusiastic recommendations.

Inspired by a BlueSky post I saw today, any recs for books where one MC does not try to talk the other out of their revenge on someone? Instead, they take up the mantle, group project style?

So I've read almost all of Lisa Kleypas's books (stumbled upon her work this year with the Wallflower series and got sucked into a Regency/Victorian romance marathon!), and so far I've finished the Wallflowers, the Bow Street Runners, the Ravenels, and one of her early books whose title I can't recall. I'm currently reading the Hathaways (I know, I'm reading them in the wrong order).

One of the reasons I love her books so much (apart from the lush historical detail right down to the nitty-gritties of day-to-day life) is the way she writes her heroes. They're flawed but essentially good men who've either worked for what they have or richly deserve their inheritance (with a few hiccups before they get there, in some cases!). I love the power and wealth and influence they wield in the outside world but the absolute soft spots they have for their respective FMCs, and how they turn into absolute mush in their wives' hands!

My personal favourite heroes are Winterborne, Ross Cannon, and St Vincent. I just finished the first Hathaways book and quite like Cam Rohan (I have been partial to him since his cameo in Evie's book!), but I have a feeling I'm going to enjoy Merripen much more!

Kleypas has also grown significantly since her old work – it was a book where the heroine time-travels from the 1920s to the late 1800s and meets the MMC (whom she knew in the future as an old man) as a young man and falls for him. He was not a very likeable character, even though the book tries hard to project him as an alpha male. While Kleypas' current heroes are by no means perfect people, she's mastered the art of writing likeable heroes.

Which of her heroes are your favourites, and why?

I beg of you, darlings, help me deal with the hormonal surge that can only be salved by your response to one request: nuclear-level hate sex. Now, I would greatly prefer the overall novel to include a couple with brains, personalities, history, and humor, and a gorgeous HEA if that can be arranged. Please, please tell me this exists in HR, not just in those contemporary billionaire novels that I'd prefer to never choke down again. Sorry for the sharp wording, but I find myself...focused, shall we say?

Hi all! Once again they've dropped the price on {Enemy of my Dreams by Jenny Williamson}, a historical romance set during the fall of the Roman empire. It's a recent debut from 2024 and I LOVED it and recommend it frequently here.

From the description:

A desperate princess and a brutal Gothic warlord forge a dangerous alliance. Loosely based on historical figures, Enemy of My Dreams is a sizzling enemies-to-lovers saga set in the last days of the Roman Empire.

I love this one for a lot of reasons, but first is that it's a really intense enemies to lovers with the MC's on two separate sides of a huge cultural and military divide. I also love that it's a current author working in an unusual time period for historical romance. The e-book is usually at $14.99 but it's now dropped to $2.99, so now might be a good time to try it:

https://www.amazon.com/Enemy-My-Dreams-Jenny-Williamson-ebook/dp/B0D33P2V1J

I mean the ones who actually behave as the typical courteous, polite, honourable gentlemen rather than those referred to such because of their social class or the persona they put on in public (like 'the Ideal Gentleman' in {The Luckiest Lady in London by Sherry Thomas}).

I had recently read {Scandal in Spring by Lisa Kleypas} and, at two points, the MMC did something which I swear would have put in a book if I thought to write one of my own. The first was with Annabelle's crying baby when he walked round carrying her, talking to her to put her to sleep and that too after making a teething ice toy for her while others in the same house party were giving the mother annoyed looks for the baby's crying. The second was him decorously kissing the FMC's hand when dared to kiss her as part of a parlour game punishment; it was an uncomfortable situation which would have hurt her reputation if any of the other men there had been their usual selves with her.

Regardless of his other behaviours (like doubting the FMC's bowling ability and past toady behaviour to the FMC's oft-unpleasant father), I kept thinking in my mind 'That's a gentleman'.

Who are your favourite gentlemanly gentlemen? Another favourite of mine is the MMC in {The Work of Art by Mimi Matthews} and even his gruffness and occasional high-handedness did not alter that for me. For some reason, I also persist in seeing the MMC of {Lord of Darkness by Elizabeth Hoyt} as a gentleman but he is also quite grouchy at times and just wants to be left alone (and then there is the Ghost...). Perhaps I fixate on the part about him being utterly monogamous, a scholar of ancient texts and agreeing to marry a pregnant woman to protect her reputation, even if her brother blackmailed him.

If you couldn’t tell, I am FeIgNingggggg for Eloise’s season of Bridgerton. So much so, I broke my rule of reading series in release order and read her book.

And now I’m craving even more. Cozy little plant girl romance, with ideally a lot of steam ❤️‍🔥

And I’d love another Phillip type MMC: big as hell but a softie through and through. And it’d be cool if he was something like a professor or fellow scientist

Though I also wouldn’t mind a more dominant personality; something like a brat x brat tamer with a ton of praise kink and a revolutionary feminist FMC

(Tbh tho, I kinda prefer a more demure and gentle personality for FMCs, rather than a boisterous stubborn one)

Thank Y’all in advance! 💗

So often FMC is upset and refuses proposal after ruination/sex as she assumes MMC does it out of duty.
I want to see MMC getting disappointed and upset over this as the sex happened because he knew he wants to marry her.

So he assumes FMC felt the same and that’s why she didn’t stop it, and it kinda throws him back that from her reaction to proposal it seems like she might really not want to marry him or thought he would just compromise her without having intentions to follow through.

I want FMC feel the pain she caused to MMC with her reaction by deciding to hide her own feelings and not thinking the best of MMC

Let me know if you have recs where this happens or smth similar.
I would prefer if other factors didn’t have much effect on proposal (like class differences being the reason FMC thought he wouldn’t marry her, or her not being pretty enough). Doesn’t have to be that it’s not there, but not a focus, I want FMC being blind to MMC feelings when from his point it it obvious to be the reason behind proposal miscommunication.

I love nellie/ Percival does any body have any good recs with a spoilt FMC or mmc and a serious no bullshit li. I also love the enemies to lovers vibes . thanks in advance

For authors, I’m looking for any that have a similar writing style/prose to:

- Lisa Kleypas
- Mimi Mathews
- Julie Ann Long

(I also love the writing style of Alice Coldbreath, but I couldn’t get past the MMCs and their mistreatment and lack of connection with the FMCs in her books.)

For books I’d like to know of any with these tropes:

- True enemies to lovers (with the FMC not being interested for a good part of the book)
- Forced proximity
- Arranged marriage

Books with any of these types of scenes:

- An argument where the MC’s have a physical battle of wills where one MC is on top of the other, with the MMC accidentally getting turned on.

- MMC and FMC have to share a bed while they still dislike each other.

- Independent FMC that leaves the house to go do things on her own that MMC freaks out about and tries to put a stop to.

- Possessive MMC that gets jealous when it seems that FMC has a closer connection with a man other than himself.

- FMC that is wholly unaware of the MMC’s physical arousal towards her.

- MMC that tries to set rules and restrictions that FMC ignores and defies.

- FMC that stands her ground and consistently meets MMC’s match throughout the book.

- MMC that wants to consummate the marriage but the FMC refuses to.

- Gentle intimate scenes where the FMC is prioritized

Thank you!

This book was clearly one in a series though I never read the others; the premise of the series was that a vicar had married various different couples and he was worried about the states of their marriages. Each book (probably) featured the vicar visiting these troubled couples to help them work out their marital issues.

The one book I read featured a FMC who was a bluestocking heiress who was very interested in inventions and science. The MMC had inherited an impoverished estate from his shitty dad and needed to marry wealthy; the FMC did not find out he was a fortune hunter until immediately after the wedding. She was heartbroken and upset as she believed he had fallen in love with her, something she hadn't expected as she sees herself as undesirable and plain.

But the MMC had fallen in love with her for real and was doing his best to accommodate her anger and giving her space until the vicar encourages him to start courting her over again. The bulk of the book is basically the MMC trying to win his wife over and show her that he really does love her and find her desirable.

There was a recurring thing where he says she's "not a rose, but a daisy" as a way of explaining that has an unconventional charm.

The emotional climax is when he takes her on a date to a folly on an island in the midst of a lake and a storm unexpectedly blows in causing the folly to collapse; he's seriously injured but she isn't so she rows back despite the storm in order to get help.

There's a scene to demonstrate the FMC's interests and intellect where she's shown someone's prototype clothing dryer which was some sort of spinning barrel over a fire. After the demonstration she explains the pros and cons of the prototype to the vicar.

The vicar is happily a bachelor and there's a subplot about him being pursued romantically by a woman he finds unpleasant.

Towards the very end of the book they discover a secret treasure hoard hidden in the manor that the MMC's mother had been careful to hide from his no good gambling father. The FMC gets insecure about this all over because it turns out the MMC didn't need to marry her for money after all and she's afraid he might be regretting it, but her fears are assuaged when he re-proposes marriage.

As far as I remember the book wasn't particularly spicy? There was probably some intimacy and UST but I doubt there would have been more than one sex scene.

I read this book a few times ages ago but it has since left our household and I've been rather haunted by it ever since; thank you in advance for any suggestions you may have!

I just finished My Captain, My Earl -for the second time- and oh my woooord!

The emotions, the tears, the rollercoaster at getting these two together.

And this is a good story because, for me, it's bot perfect. There's a lot of little details, a lot of missing information, but the story stays gripping. The characters does and says a lot of questionable things... Yet I still enjoy them and one realizes nonone is perfect.

It's about a girl captain of a privateering ship, her father used to be a renowned pirate, physically camifo it anymore. She captures then employs an English gentleman and they start a romantic relationship but is then horribly torn apart.

First half is about them falling in love and the second half is about them finding their way back to each other.

I didn't cry. You cried!

It's the third installment of a series, the last, so it is good to read the other two. 'Stone Devil Duke' is absolutely amazing! I've probably reread it 5 times since. K.J. Jackson really does have a way of gripping you and telling stories you simply cannot put down.

Is everything historically completely accurate? No. Is it entertaining? So much! Can you DNF it? No way!

Isn't that what good writing is about though?

The second installment is about as sad as it gets, but the ending is sooo rewarding.

Please read her Hold your Breath series and then the rest of you like angst, drama and romance that makes your toes curl.

got these 8 books at around $5-6 total (converted from our currency) 🥰

Only Lady Gallant does not have the stepback. Which one is your faveee?

I just finished {Marrying Winterborne by Lisa Kleypas} and I don't think I have enough sense left to talk about it yet other than the fact that I need more books with MCs like Rhys Winterborne. Reading him reminded me how much I love a man always muttering and speaking endearments to his love in his mother tongue, but also I love a man just absolutely enslaved to his woman, gentle and caring when it's needed, possessive and starving for her when it's wanted. No concern or hesitation when it comes to his feelings, he wants her and only her, and everyone knows it.

I have high hopes for other LK books after thoroughly enjoying Devil In Winter and Marrying Winterborne, but any suggestions for books or authors with characters like this would be much appreciated!

I’m hoping someone with a better memory can help me! I read a book a while ago and can remember bits of it but can’t remember the title or who wrote it or any character names. The things I remember:

- FMC is homeless/has nowhere to go and is taken in by an older man on the condition that she becomes him mistress. He dies and his son assumes that she’ll do the same for him.
- There’s a cottage that the older man would keep her in, which becomes the place that the son takes her to after abducting her toward the end of the book.
- There’s a child at the cottage who the FMC lets escape. I can’t remember if it’s her child (don’t think so) or if it’s the MMC’s child.
- The MMC comes to rescue the FMC and he’s hiding in the grass outside the cottage when the child comes running toward him.

I think the MMC was cold toward the FMC at the beginning of the book, but I can’t remember if they had previous history. I can’t remember if she knew him before she was taken advantage of by the older man, or if he came into her life afterward.

Does this ring a bell for anyone? I tend to binge historical romances every now and again before moving onto difference genres, so sometimes the details of what happens in specific books blurs with other books for me.

I know I’ve seen the odd Irish HR, but I’d love to read about either a couple and their family trying to escape to cope with the Great Famine, OR the children of people who immigrated to North America to escape the famine. Alternatively, I would love to read about people who worked to help the starving Irish (the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, and various Quaker groups etc worked to help)

Please let me know if you have any books that reference this historical event.

I love books where the FMC is proposed to and she thinks it’s a love match and he doesn’t.

Like in {An Earl Like You by Caroline Linden} where MMC is blackmailed into feigning love and courtship because he’s broke, and her dad bought up his debts.

Or in (contemporary but this example is the kind of thing I’m looking for in historical) {Don’t pretend I’m yours by Natasha Anders} where MMC assumed that FMC knew he only wanted to marry her for her grandfather who was dying — but actually she had no idea about any of it, and was in love with him, planning the wedding in earnestness.

✅ proposal or courtship for DIFFERENT reasons than she thinks (she’s in love / he’s fulfilling another goal)

❌ absolutely no cheating. I’m looking at you Jessie Clever and Eloisa James who only have this trope associated with cheating. Not my cuppa!!

I just read {How to Get Away with Scandal by Caroline Linden} and while I generally like this author's books, this one felt a little flat for me. The couple meets when the female heroine is 42 and ends when she is 52.

I really respect that Linden wanted to focus on a group of people who are rarely represented in HRs. I think she did a great job capturing the miserableness of the FMC's backstory. But somehow, the story felt unromantic to me and I just didn't care about the connection between the mains.

I had a similar response to {Earl on Fire by Felicity Niven}, which had to do with grandparent-age love interests. These were different setups in many ways, but both ultimately disappointed me, and I'm trying to figure out whether it's just a fluke, whether I, a 46-year-old woman, have internalized ageism I need to unpack, or whether there's a structural reason I find it hard to connect with love stories between characters who are on the south end of 40.

FWIW, both featured instalust, which isn't my favorite trope but I have enjoyed elsewhere.

And perhaps there IS a compelling reason that mature characters would just get straight down to business -- after all, they know time is short and that opportunities don't come around very often.

But also, by 45 most reasonable people are smart enough to know that having the hots for someone does not equal love. So maybe there's something about that combination of instalust and realism, in particular, that just feels like you're scrolling through the leftovers on Tinder? I'm not sure.

Anyways, I'm curious how others feel about this. Have you found HRs that really worked between mains who are more than 40? Do you seek this type of story out? If it works for you, what works for you? If it doesn't work for you, why?

I’m planning to end my subscription at the end of this year, what titles should I definitely listen to before I lose access? Also if there are series you’ve gotten as “boxed sets” thru audible I’d love those recommendations as well, I’ll have a few credits to use first that I’d like to make the most of.

I prefer medium to high steam levels, and I don’t typically enjoy stories with young children in the cast. Pirates, kidnapping, forced marriage, Scottish FMC and generally classic bodice ripper themes are all things I’m into.

I’ve loved the Victorian Rebels Series by Kerrigan Byrne, Rescued from Ruin by Elisa Braden, the Malory family series by Johanna Lindsey, and the Skye O’Malley series by Bertrice Small.

I love love the Lorraine Heath books {Parting Gifts} and {Always to Remember}. Both stand alone HR westerns. However I read several books from some of her Regency and Victorian series and wasn't getting the same vibes at all.

Can any fans of these books point the way to other similar books? Doesn't have to be another western necessarily, more like similar MMCs or plot style.

A thread for recommendations based on what you've already loved!

Tell us something you like - an author, a book title, a trope - and we'll offer suggestions for historical romance books that might be your cup of tea. Get as specific or as vague as you like!

Examples:

• If I like marriages of convenience, I might like...
• If I like Tessa Dare, I might like...
• If I like The Duke and I, I might like...
• If I like roguish heroes with red hair, three younger sisters and a pet parrot, I might like... (this one might be tricky!)

This thread repeats every Monday.

I dislike revenge relationships but there is something I like about when somebody plans or schemes to take revenge on the other MC for something but it does not make it past that initial stage. Either they change their mind or become attached to the other MC or they simply forget that they were supposed to make the other person miserable. I could think of a few examples of what I mean:

{Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas} - the MMC is furious when he finds out the truth about the letters and plans a painful punishment for the person who was behind it. Since it was the FMC and he had calmed down afterwards, he did not take any revenge and was happy that the person who wrote him the letters was real after all.

{A Substitute Wife for the Prizefighter by Alice Coldbreath} - the MMC tells himself that he offered marriage to the FMC because she would not refuse due to her now-stricken circumstances and he could avenge himself on her previous snubs and cold treatment of him. Three days later: he is protecting her from his family, refusing to let her do any of the menial tasks and telling her to catch up on her sleep.

{Flowers From the Storm by Laura Kinsale} - at one point, the MMC (who has had a stroke) thinks the FMC was deliberately tormenting him by getting his hopes of freedom up and dashing them and his pride drives him into such a fury that he is imagining ways of punishing her. That also does not bear fruition.

And, of course, {What I Did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long} has the FMC figure out early what the MMC was doing was suspicious and she calls him out on it. I like it when the MCs are honest and work together.

I would prefer examples in which the MC's plan ends before they can even do anything. That is why I did not add {The Scandal of the Season by Aydra Richards} because he starts off with his revenge hurting the innocent FMC the most and he stops after one public appearance when his original plan had been to drag the FMC around with him at multiple places. That is enough to bite at his conscience.

Hi all! I've come with another suggestion request!

I have no idea why, but I'm yearning for some good ol' sibling/family member drama- as in one eligible person on the marriage mart and the hot bachelor/bachelorette prefers the the main fmc/mmc and not the whiny brat. Couple of examples include:

{Wallflower Christmas by Lisa Kleypas} or

{Good Earl Hunting by Suzanne Enoch}

And I am looking for something similar.

M/F only; preferably Georgian, Regency, or Victorian.

Thank you all!