The Great Modern Romance Novels… according to me. These are stories that have stayed with me through the years. Are they all great literature? It is too soon to tell. Time decides these things, not the critics of the day. I am going to skip the unquestioned great romances like Gone With the Wind and Pride and Prejudice and begin with the stories that came along after Katherine Woodiwiss and Rosemary Rogers cut the corset strings and allowed for heroines to feel and participate in acts of passion rather than being a passive partner.
The Great Modern Romances…
Tell Me No Lies— The first romance that made me want to write romance was actually a romantic thriller by Elizabeth Lowell. Jacob MacArthur Catlin was known under many names in the past, especially Dragon. Intelligent, ruthless, deadly, he became a legend in the shadow world of spies… and he can still make my pulse speed up. The book was also a surprise in that the heroine was capable and intelligent. Previously, many of the romance I had read were about governesses, ballerinas and nurses who took a lot of bubble baths and did nothing but cry or scream in a crisis. I was enchanted to find a competent heroine. Lindsay Danner– without being an unbelievable superwoman– held up her end of the adventure. Lowell evolved into an author of thrillers with heavy romance elements and also mystery thrillers under the pen name of A. E. Maxwell. Her roots are in fantasy and straight romance, but I think her heart has always been with the thriller.
Dream Man by Linda Howard. It was difficult to choose which of Howard’s books is my favorite. But I am giving the place of honor to Dream Man because it was my first romance with touches of the paranormal. It follows what is now a pretty standard romance/cozy mystery trope, but at the time was an eye-opener. Marlie Keen was trying to lead a quiet, ordinary life. She thought the knowing— the clairvoyance that allowed her to witness crimes as they happened– had been destroyed when she was taken by a serial killer and barely escaped with her life. Detective Dane Hollister of the Orlando police department had never met anyone like Marlie. He had doubts about her clairvoyance, but there was no doubt how much he desired her. Almost twenty years on, this novel still works. If you want a great romance without paranormal touches then go for Mr. Perfect.
The Great Modern Romances continued…
Tender Triumph by Judith McNaught– I know many people consider her historical romance Whitney, My Love (The Westmoreland Dynasty Saga Book 1) to be her masterpiece, but Tender Triumph was my first and most memorable McNaught story. On Friday, a sensuous stranger enters Katie’s life. By Sunday, her life is irrevocably changed forever. Ramon Galverra is perhaps a tad too macho for today’s standards of male behavior, but I was enthralled with this cross-cultural romance.
Wildest Hearts by Jayne Anne Krentz. Again, a hard choice since there were so many to love– under her many pen names. When the head of Lyncroft Unlimited vanishes in a plane crash, Annie Lyncroft is left holding the reins to a high-tech startup she knows nothing about. After the search-and-rescue operation turns up empty and the company’s creditors are at the door, Annie, determined to save her brother’s legacy, turns to Lyncroft’s major investor with a proposal he can’t possibly refuse–marry her and take over the day to day operations of the company. Like Lowell, Krentz also wrote fantasy at the beginning of her career and many of her thrillers have fantasy elements and settings.
Bounty (Colorado Mountain Series Book 7) by Kristen Ashley. Ashley hasn’t written a book I didn’t like– fantasy, erotica, thriller– it doesn’t matter. But this series and this book in particular are especially moving. Song-writer, Justice Lonesome, has enjoyed a life of bounty. Even so, she’s inherited the curse of the Lonesome. A poet’s soul. Which means she’s still searching for something. Deke Hightower lost everything at the age of two. He lost it again at fifteen. His life has not been about bounty. It’s been about learning to live with less, because there’s no way to get more. Then Justice enters his life and shows him the way to bounty. A very, very close second is Mystery Man (The Dream Man Series Book 1)
The Great Modern Romances of the slightly naughty variety…
What If I Never (Necklace Series Book 1 of 3) by Lisa Renee Jones. A necklace delivered to the wrong Allison: me. I’m the wrong Allison. That misplaced gift places a man in my path. A man who instantly consumes me and leads me down a path of dark secrets and intense passion.
The Great Modern Romance of the very naughty variety…
Maybe slightly less great. But still pretty good…
A Curious Affair: (The Curious Series Book 1) by Melanie Jackson. Recent widow Jillian Marsh wasn’t planning on killing herself that March night, but she hadn’t ruled it out, either. It had rained for the last seventeen days — days in which her jaw was locked and she was unable to speak, supposing there’d been anyone worth addressing. And then there was her cat problem. Ever since she’d been hit by lightning last October, the cats in town had been talking to her. Which meant she was insane, right? But that night something changed. The cat Atherton appeared with something very interesting to say about an odd accident that had occurred up the hill. And since Jillian could hardly go to the town’s lawman with a feline eyewitness, it was up to her to find out if there was indeed trouble afoot– or if this murder and her newfound and unwanted attraction to Sheriff Murphy were all part of an endless hallucination.
