Smart Bitches Trashy Books | All of the romance, none of the bullshit.

LovelySalome wrote:

“I have never read a book by Nora Roberts.  Since she makes such lovely, snarky comments and represents our genre so well, I am dead curious to see what she writes.  But her back catalog is just HUGE!! Where to start?  I need recommendations! Maybe even La Nora’s favorite....”

Oh, the perils of being prolific. With some authors, you can start at the beginning of a long line of sequels - Feehan, Hamilton, Gabaldon come to mind. With others, the backlist is not so big as to be overwhelming.

Then, there’s Nora Roberts. Holy backlist, Batman. Where to start? The older Oxymoron Title collection? Hot Ice? Brazen Virtue? Genuine Lies? Government Organization? The trilogies? The paranormals, or para-Noras, as I call them?

LovelySalome needs a place to start - so, what’s your favorite Nora? And Ms. Roberts, do you have a favorite of your books? Or do you refrain from naming a favorite (in case it hurts the other books’ feelings)?

If I get to vote, I’d nominate the Quinn Brothers/Chesapeake Bay quartet (Sea Swept, Rising Tides, Inner Harbor & Chesapeake Blue) for some very memorable and well-written manly heroes, the Donovan Legacy series which has been re-released by Silhouette, and the Born In trilogy, particularly the first, Born in Fire.

Also, Candy has an ARC, damn her eyes, of Morrigan’s Cross, which I haven’t had time to go find in the store yet, and she says it’s very, very good. Admittedly, I’m much more of a Nora fan than Candy, so if she’s into it and I wanna read it that I’m going to engage in face-to-face commerce to get it, then Heckles McHappy it’s gotta be good. 

It’s November 1:  Samhain, All Saints Day, the beginning of NaNoWriMo.

So I have three questions:

1. Anyone participating in NaNoWriMo? Or are most of the writers reading here novel-writing in any and all months of their choosing?

2. Anyone ever read a romance that they enjoyed in which an angel served as a character, perhaps a protagonist?

I remember vaguely seeing a few of “angel romances” around the time Jude Deveraux’s An Angel For Emily was published. I read that one - and here’s Sarah’s lightning review: F for insipid, shallow, annoying heroine with the personality of a sheet of paper, and an angel hero who was way, way too good to be surrounded by the characters and plot in this novel. F for the number of times I thought, “You’re pretty hot in all the right ways; so why are you so fixated on this dimwit?” Another F for the trite and cliched makeover scene, and yet another F for a complete absence of believable circumstances establishing romantic tension. Plus, one more F for a really annoying “villain” and a gullible heroine with a tenuous grip on reality. Wait, did I already give her an F? Well, she gets another one.

Since I didn’t like that book at all, I never picked up another. Anyone read any books where there’s some excellent angel action?

3. What about pagan or Wiccan romance characters - as in, characters who would celebrate Samhain, Beltane, and the rest? 

Bitchery reader Gaelen asks, “I’m looking for what you think is the perfect Romance Novel.” Well, now, that’s a tall order.

But I’m curious - if you could only keep one romance off your keeper shelf, which one would it be?

I have a hard time answering this question myself, as there are a few books I love to go back and reread, and there are others that I’m comforted by having on the shelf, just in case I want to read them at any moment. From the tawdry Midsummer Magic and its creative use of cream, which I keep because it was the first romance I ever read, to A Knight in Shining Armor, which is my guilty pleasure read, I have a lot of books that I consider keepers because I just love to reread a scene or a chapter.

I’m going to have to give this a good hard think. What about you? Your absolute keeper?

In our last request for international romance, a few folks wrote in with romances that take place aboard a ship, and though the characters might be English, the locales were certainly not.

As a spin off, I thought I’d ask the Bitchery for pirate romance, or any high seas romance they’d recommend. I’m personally a sucker for pirate romance, because it’s a lot of fun to say, “YAAAAR!”

Pirate and high seas romances can easily be campy and fun, particularly because some of the problems that faced the crews at that time can mercifully be avoided, particularly the more awful illnesses. Seasickness? Ok. Often occurs, in fact. The trots? Oh, heck no.

Personally, I had a heck of a good time reading Pirate Prince by Gaelen Foley, particularly for the glee with which she amped up the more fantastical elements of the plot.

Also, there was a book I once read, and of course I can’t remember the title or even the heroine’s name, but she was a pirate with a long, wicked scar on her forearm. She also had an arch-enemy who was mad as a March hare who desperately wanted to impersonate her. Ultimately, the arch-enemy was attacked by a parrot who gave her a smiliar scar on her forearm, enabling her to launch her own evil-pirate career as a doppelganger to the heroine. But that’s about all I remember. However, it was an equally fun read.

So - what nautical tales of romantic mahem do ye recommend, mateys?

I don’t read comics very often, and when I do, I’m lucky enough that my comic book geek friends often recommend me the best of the best.

Last weekend, I read the first issue of Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse, and I have to say, I’m in love. The artwork is gorgeously Gorey-esque (and, well, gory), the characters are oddball and charming (what’s not to love about a sentient maggot who possesses the body of a corpse?) and the glimpses of backtory fascinating. If you’re into humorous horror, this comic will be just your ticket.

Yeah, it’s not a romance novel, but comics are pretty damn trashy, right?