You know those sets of soaps that people give as hostess gifts? I need a host gift – specifically, a web host gift. Seems the fine folks at Esosoft who work in the tech support department and answer all my crazy email have never read a romance. They helped us out big time like damn and mon dieu back in January, and for some of the folks who were working with me, this site was their first exposure to the romance genre. So I figure, it’s time for them to experience the best of the genre.
Robert, who works tech support with other awesome folks, says that he, and many of his coworkers, are fans of mystery/detective and some sci-fi. So, what romance novel would you recommend? What’s new and rocking your socks? (Note: house rule – you are welcome to pimp your own books, but please also suggest at least one other book that is not written by yourself or any of your known aliases. Thanks!)
Back when I sent Paul Tolme a romance novel, the most frequently mentioned book was Northern Lights by whats-her-name. Nora Roberts. That’s right. Anyway. What would you recommend for tech support at our hosting service? I aim to send them an awesome romance.
If they like misterys, perhaps Mariah Stewart, Allison Brennan, Suzanne Brockmann… something like that.
Driven by Eve Kenin—-a little bit romance, a little bit Road Warrior.
I always like me some Jenny Crusie. Maybe Agnes and the Hitman is mysterious enough for them.
The first two that came to mind were Allison Brennan and Driven by Eve Kenin, both of which I see have already been mentioned.
Naked in Death would be another choice, since it combines romance and mystery with some touches of the future.
Lisa Gardner would be a good choice. My book, Coiled Revenge, is very James Patterson’ish with a twist of romance.
Can’t go wrong with Diana Gabaldon.
Well if they like sci-fi they might like Rowena Cherry. I’d suggest they start with FORCED MATE and INSUFFICIENT MATING MATERIAL. There is also THE JAGUAR LEGACY by Maureen Fisher for the suspenseful/mystery readers. I really enjoyed that paranormal romantic suspense.
However my favorites are HIGHLAND WARRIOR by Hannah Howell (who can resist a heroine who carries 11 knives on her for protection) and IF ONLY IN MY DREAMS by Wendy Markham.
I would recommend Cruisie’s Welcome to Temptation. A really good intro book to the field. It is funny, sexy, has a great mystery. Two other good choices would be Robb’s Naked in Death and Brigg’s Moon Called. In fact, these three together would be a good newbie kit.
Techies might also like the Victorian era white boy ninja component of The Shadow And The Star. Put a post-it on it describing it like that.
I second Naked in Death.
Also, Bujold – Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls.
I think techies will like SF/Fantasy elements, just to stereotype a bit (I’m a techie, so there you go).
For people who are looking into a series for the first time it would be Robb/Robert’s LOYALTY IN DEATH, lots of action.. and romance of course.
Linda Howard’s MR. PERFECT, which is funny, sexy and makes fun of—- and has fun with—- looking for the perfect man… and has a murder mystery.
For Sci-fi fans it would be any of the Guardian series by Meljean Brook, because they have lots of everything—- history, wars, evil villains—- romance, of couse——and you can start any where in the series.
submit word: short56…. that is such a puzzle.
Gotta agree on Naked In Death. Excellent romance, sci-fi and crime.
You could always send the traditional hostess soaps along with. Creepy baby hand soap. (wg)
http://vitamindesignshop.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=30_31&products_id=242
My image word is deep69. heh
I’d recommend Linnea Sinclair’s Down Home Zombie Blues to a Sci/Fi fan. Also the Patricia Briggs books.
If they do the ebook thing (and are a little adventuresome—wink, wink) I think Morgan Hawke’s books on LooseId are great.
I agree with everyone, can’t go wrong with Crusie. When friends say, “come on, what about historicals?” I recommend Julia Quinn, Loretta Chase, or Lisa Kleypas, depending on the person.
I’d go with Revenge Gifts by Cindy Cruciger. Why? It’s a great read, it’s a romance, and the JavaScript at the beginning of each chapter is correct.
Also, some of the methods of revenge may appeal to your tech staff’s sense of absurd.
Now that I think about it…
You may also want to consider:
Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti
Agnes and the Hitman: Jennifer Cruise & Bob Mayer
Linnea Sinclair (Any of her stuff)
Lilith Saintclair’s Dante Valentine series.
I’d recommend
Naked in Death by JD Robb
or Allison Brennan – start with the No Evil trilogy.
Though it might be OOP by now (I doubt it), KATHERINE by Anya Seton’s my first choice. Good romance, great male lead (mwahh). And Bujold is a good choice. If there’s a single female techie, anything by Catherine Anderson.
Well ick. Rinda that takes creepy to a whole new level… but I have a few people in mind that may be getting just that exact gift… thanks.
submit word: arms95…. okay, I can roll with that.
Since I’m just finishing up Shallow Grave, (as in, I picked it up from B&N;Wednesday, read an hour Weds night, and finished it last night in a frenzy) how about Blood Ties? Not a traditional romance but strong romantic elements along with a great storyline. And Martinez? (pant, pant) Armstrong does a great job of making a hero sexy without having super-explicit sex scenes.
Another series that has good romantic elements but is more of a mystery is the Dana Stabenow Liam Campbell or Kate Sugak books.
For more traditional romance mixed with mystery I second the nomination of Linda Howard’s Mr. Perfect or the first In Death book by Robb/Roberts.
Finally, for more hard-core Sci-Fi with romantic elements, Karen Traviss’ City of Pearl.
My submit word? still67. Quit adding 20 years!
As a science fiction/fantasy reader and a friend to many tech geeks I’d recommend the Mercy series by Patricia Briggs. however, this is not a traditional romance in that the heroine and hero end up together in the first book. I like that it’s a slow romance.
Also possibly Catherine Asaro. She’s a sci/fi romance author who is also a physicist. The first book in the Skolian Empire series is Primary Inversion which is a very good book.
For mystery fans, I definitely 23rd the In Death series. It’s got romance, but enough of a mystery plot that the romance isn’t the only thing holding the book together.
If they are into mystery stuff and SF, I’d say the IN DEATH books. If they like urban fantasy, maybe the DARKYN books by Lynn Viehl.
Oh yeah, Primary Inversion by Catherine Asaro blew me away! Hard sci-fi and romance—gotta love it.
Joanne, I share the creepy soaps every chance I get. They crack me up.
Ooh, Deb! Katherine is SUCH a great book! And it’s not OOP! It and lots of other Seton books can still be found in B&N;, all with shiny new covers.
As for reccs, I have to go with a lot of other people and suggest Naked in Death. Or maybe The Reef, also by La Nora. That’s one of my faves, and I never think it gets enough love!
How about Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels series? My husband loved those and he is a Network Engineer and uber-geek.
really. trust me.
I am just a lowly programmer and I will never achieve his geek-ness!
Come to think of it, some of his D&D;buddies liked the series as well.
The Asaro recommendations are good—solid sf with strong romance. I’d also second the Linnea Sinclair recommendations. For a techie blast from the past, consider “Hot Shots” by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Sure it reads like a historical now, but this wonderful story of the birth of the PC movement has laughs, romance and tech heroes.
Another nerd hero/tech/mystery combo is Jayne Ann Krentz’s Trust Me. Sam Stark understands fractals, but not women. As another of his wedding days goes south, he meets Desdemona Wainwright and her theatrical family and suddenly chaos theory takes on a whole new meaning. There are laughs too, and I especially adored the babysitter, Macbeth.
Finally, if you’re talking SF romance, Lois McMaster Bujold should be on the short list. Shards of Honor is solid SF with a strong romance at the core. Bujold and Asaro are both Hugo and Nebula award winners, so that boosts their cred with the non-romance SF readers.
For a mix of fun, mystery, and romance, you should send What the Lady Wants by Jennifer Crusie or Hidden Star by Nora Roberts. Both are great detective stories with a sizzling couple and the best characteristics of each writer’s abilities.
Anything by Jennifer Cruise. She’s a wonderful example.
I can’t believe that no one has mentioned our DA BWAHA winner- The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason. Techies- at least the ones I know- love Buffy, and TRFA has been described as Buffy does Regency.
I’d recommend Shanna Swendson’s “Enchanted Inc.” series. It doesn’t have much of a romance, but it does have a lot of magic and a good storyline, which should appeal to D&D;fans. I also still like the idea of a character whose superpower is that she doesn’t have any magic at all.
Coincidentally, her fourth book in the series called “Don’t Hex with Texas” comes out on Tuesday. If they guys like the first books they won’t have to wait a year for the next one. 🙂
They’re into mystery and/or SF? Then I would recommend Lois McMaster Bujold’s Shards of Honor. It starts one of the best series in SF (6 of the 13 novels have either won or been nominated for a Hugo Award), it’s a top notch romance and it’s also great SF. The story centers around the heroine (who is super smart and capable) figuring out a major political plot piece by piece, so there’s some mystery going on there too, for those who like that genre.
It’s fantastic, and the rest of the series is excellent, too. Bujold has been on my automatic buy list for years now.
Eve Kenin, yep. J.D. Robb, yep. Patricia Briggs, yep. Lois McMaster Bujold, HELL YEAH! “Cordelia’s Honor” is the omnibus edition of Shards of Honor and Barrayar, its sequel.
Another SFF writer with strong romantic elements is Wen Spencer. I LOVE the Ukiah Oregon series (Alien Taste, Tainted Trail, Bitter Waters, Dog Warrior), and Deep Blue was highly enjoyable.
Okay, for sci-fi romance, ya just gotta send Grimspace by Ann Aguirre. In addition to the sci-fi elements catching their attention, it’s a good intro into female heroine centered urban fantasy.
Though it’s not quite a romance (yet), I bet they’d get into Karen Marie Moning’s Darkfever. A brilliant intro to the female first person POV and urban fantasy.
Definitely Naked in Death by J.D. Robb. A little more romance, but will still appeal to their sc-fi interests.
Linda Howard’s All the Queen’s Men should appeal to most guys- plenty of action but they’ll get some romance too.
Now it gets harder. Do you think they are ready for erotic elements? What about historicals?
Maybe ease them into historicals with Colleen Gleason’s The Rest Falls Away.
Paranormal? You think they are ready for J.R. Ward yet? How about the humor in Shelly Laurenston’s The Mane Event, or would that be too racy for them?
Bev(QB)
My suggestion is Cry No More by Linda Howard
What about the Kushiel series? They’re generally shelved in sci-fi/fantasy, but they’re some of the most intense s&m;erotica around. In parts. 🙂
For sci-fi lovers, I’d go cross-genre with a sci-fi romance. My favorites are Susan Grant and Linnea Sinclair. Someone already mentioned Down Home Zombie Blues by Linnea, so how about How to Lose and Extraterrestrial in 10 Days or the Legend of Bazai Maguire—the whole 2176 series was pretty good.
I’d also recommend the previously mentioned “Naked in Death”, Patricia Brigg’s “Moon Called” and Ann Aguirre’s “Grimspace”.
Any of Genitta Low’s or Marliss Melton’s books would also probably be a hit.
I remembered another one, The Givenchy Code by Julie Kenner, an on-line game translated to real life and with mistery. And you are right, Roberts or Howards are winners too.
Another vote for Jennifer Crusie—Agnes and the Hitman especially.
I also vote for Lois McMaster Bujold. I love the In Death books, too, and I know that both LMB and the In Deaths are read and enjoyed by both males and females. That’s one of both LMB and La Nora’s strengths: that they can write books that appeal to both men and women.