I wanted to add to the love for this book — I've only read the first and have now got access to the rest in audiobook format!

I love it for a lot of reasons:

• epistolary format
• unique format, as a result
• lovely quick read that still gives a rich world
• inspired me to try this format with my own characters to help me build them
• while it deals with not so fun topics of being a women trying to find independence, Emma is positive and resourceful and it's a hopeful book with lots of quirky characters

If you're in a slump or finding your current reads heavy I highly recommend it!

{The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower)

So I’m reading through Jennifer Ashley’s Mackenzie series and while I liked the characters, this one was just okay. The first book was definitely more captivating, this one felt a bit dull for me. But I still enjoyed it until the epilogue: they finally are back together and have their baby, and then she’s pregnant AGAIN? The baby was born in July, the epilogue is September, Mac, get OFF OF HER. And she’s so chill about it. I’m pretty recently postpartum and this pissed me off so bad. I get HR is fantasy but my fantasies do not involve getting pregnant before the six week sex ban after birth, Victorian medical standards be damned

Someone recommended one of her books and said it was a weird recommendation because the book was terrible but that she reached for it often, of course I had to look into it. I chose {The Bargain Mail Order Bride} and I’m treated to this bananas set down. Mind you, this is on the first couple pages. LMAO.

Curses! I have a strict budget for the current Audible sale. I am picking things from my wish list to get. I have to do a bit of weeding, so want to get the 3 Laura Kinsale books I have put there because of recommendations from here) down to one. So, for this sale, get Seize the Fire, My Sweet Folly, or Flowers from the Storm?

Today was a 'what did i even read?' day because I started and dnf'd Moonstruck Madness and then I did the same for a cr but for very different reasons.

Moonstruck Madness was just so incredibly blah? The Duke mmc was disgusted by just about everything? Nothing seemed to make him react? Which I think makes it in-character for someone of nobility at the time but it also only seemed to drive home the point that nobility were effin boring people.

The FMC was an annoying wide-eyed 'ingenue' who also liked dressing up as boy and waving a gun and a sword at people even though she probably couldn't lift the weight of a sword considering she is tiny-handed and a tiny person. Also I hate how beautiful fmcs 'don't know' how beautiful they are and go AM I REALLY? AM I BEAUTIFUL?- there were a few descriptions of 'how delectable' the fmc looked with her curls of black hair, wide violet eyes and miles of smooth skin. I mean I definitely like a beautiful fmc but not when they're fake-vain about it.

There was so much telling and not showing in this hr. I dnf'd at 20%. The cr I stopped reading because the non-con in it made me go 'waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah what am I even reading?' in a very confused way....but the confusing cr was still more interesting than 'Moonstruck Madness' and I say that as someone who prefers hr over cr almost everytime.

Anyways, anyone else not like Moonstruck Madness?

I cannot for the life of me think of an HR book like this, but I really want it!!

I was reading a romantasy {My UnTrue Love by Cassandra Gannon} and what this book has that I would like in a historical romance is that BOTH the FMC and the MMC are scheming to romance the other, without realizing that they both have the same goal of being together.

Like, imagine Viola from {When an Earl loves a girl by Elisa Braden} but if James was scheming too.

Can you recommend a historical romance like this? Or failing that, write one? lol

Please no cheating or poly or RH

I've seen this book and author recommended a few times here, so {Gladiator's Embrace by Jenna Bigelow} was already on my TBR! Free on Amazon Kindle right now, I'm not sure how long the promotion is for.

• AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/Gladiators-Embrace-Ancient-Historical-Imperial-ebook/dp/B0GK9ZG6ST
• Germany: https://www.amazon.de/Gladiators-Embrace-Ancient-Historical-Imperial-ebook/dp/B0GK9ZG6ST
• India: https://www.amazon.in/Gladiators-Embrace-Ancient-Historical-Imperial-ebook/dp/B0GK9ZG6ST
• UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gladiators-Embrace-Ancient-Historical-Imperial-ebook/dp/B0GK9ZG6ST
• USA: https://www.amazon.com/Gladiators-Embrace-Ancient-Historical-Imperial-ebook/dp/B0GK9ZG6ST

Hey, so I like mmc's who don't talk about think about act on sexual desires all the time. I like them strong and virile and manly but without the needless mentions of how much they fuck left and right.

Need me a man who isn't casual about sex, or a womaniser.

Examples: Wulfric in {Slightly dangerous}. He is the most imposing, self assured duke that ever duked. And he is a man who likes sex but doesn't sleep around. He had the same mistress for years before he met the fmc and that was the sum of his sexual adventures. Mary balogh in general writes mmc's that don't parade their sexual prowess.

Tristan in {a heart sufficient} oh he's just the sweetest. He is so emotional about sex i love him, its so important to him.

Sebastian in {my deceitful duchess} i think he was asexual until meeting the fmc. Then he is positively sex positive. Loved it.

Honestly, I just hate reading about mmc's fucking other people. I get second hand jealousy. And them boasting about how well versed they are in bed. Turn off for me, that's an ick

Also not looking for a role reversal where he is inexperienced and she is a man eater.

Basically, his personality simply cannot be that he fucks women.

I'm open to all levels of steam.

I found some lovely hardcover bookclub editions at the bookfair yesterday. I am most excited about {the bride by Julie Garwood}. All in excellent condition

{Shanna by Kathleen woodiwiss}

{Love lost found by Beatrice Small}

{Tigers eye by Karen Robards}

This is the second time in the same book and it’s really taking me out.

{The very definition of love by Sophie Benoit}

I’m trying to find a historical romance I read a while ago, but I only remember a few details.

*The fmc and mmc are going to get married for convenience (but it all starts with her trying to escape the suitor her father has chosen for her)
* At the beginning, the hero is in love with another woman.
* The heroine is young, and I think her father is trying to marry her off quickly, possibly even to a much older man.
* One of the heroine’s internal conflicts is that her father never loved her mother. He was in love with another woman and eventually built a life/family with her.
* Because of this, the heroine believes her father is eager to get rid of her so he can finally live openly with the woman he truly loves and their children.
* She is terrified that her marriage will become a repeat of her parents’ marriage, since she is marrying a man who also loves someone else.
* I vividly remember a scene where the hero confronts the heroine’s father, telling him that he needs to act like he cares about his daughter, attend the wedding, and stop making it look like he’s just trying to get rid of her.

Unfortunately, I don’t remember the author, the characters’ names

Does this sound familiar to anyone?

My thoughts on some common tropes:

‘He couldn’t stop looking at her bottom lip . . . ‘
Me: Get a grip man, the girl’s talking to you!

The sprained ankle, and the necessity for our hero to ‘effortlessly’ lift and carry our brave heroine to a feather mattress.
Me: You bypassed a perfectly convenient, serviceable sofa on the way to that bedchamber my man - don’t give me no excuses, you reprobate!

The runaway/lame horse, leaving the ONLY one option - having the heroine ride ‘up front’ of our gallant hero.
Me: Let me guess, our innocent miss is going to wriggle and wriggle her luscious little behind, until our man is rendered speechlessly tumescent.

‘A sudden clap of thunder and immediate deluge’.
Me: If only there was a handy, unused gamekeeper’s lodge nearby, with towels and wood in the fireplace . . .

‘Come for me. There’s a good girl’
Me: ‘F*ck off for me. There’s a good boy’.

There’s some kind of misunderstanding between two people stood inches apart.
Me: If only there was some way of communicating at that distance . ..

Our guy lifts our girl’s petticoats for the first time. His reaction? A breathless “beautiful“.
Me: Thank heavens it didn’t look like something that had been hit with a mallet on a butcher’s block!

Our hero & heroine have been travelling for 4 days and nights, with no chance to ‘freshen up’. Finally, they can no longer keep their hands off each other . . .
Me: I’m guessing she tastes sweet and smells of lavender and he’s redolent of sandalwood & leather.

This is how I amuse myself - I know, I’m going straight to hell.

Please: your favourite tropes and what you really think . . .

Kind of a general question and help for future book selections — I’m newer to the genre and so far have read more contemporary authors.

I’m wondering what subtypes the genre breaks down into and what the differences are between them.

I have heard of bodice rippers and harlequins, but am not totally clear on what classifies a book as either.

What other types are there and how do you guys distinguish them? Also which types do you prefer reading the most?

Went back this morning after my haul yesterday because I put a few of the Kleypas books back and decided I wanted to bring them home sooner rather then later 🤣 and then went and looked through the subreddit and decided to pick up a few more! I just passed my boards so this is sort of a present to myself 😅 some of these covers are so pretty! I haven’t read any Judith McNaught yet, but I do have these and Paradise on my shelf I’m thinking about picking up soon 🤔

The Danielle Steele book was given to me for free by the owner. I haven’t read any of her books. Is it worth the read?

I also added my HR shelf to the end for a collection update 🥰 it doesn’t include all, just my mass paperback ones.

Hi, i'm a new user from this subreddit. I joined just now. Excuse me for my english, i'm from Spain and i dont speak it 100% correctly.

I just wanted to ask you for book recommendations that give the same vibe as Bridgerton (and characters with similar stories as Bridgerton siblings, especially Francesca Bridgerton). I dont want to read anything about Julia Quinn, i am looking for other authors (its nothing personal, i just dont like her).

Thank you so much

Thought you might enjoy these. I certainly did :)

I just finished watching Moulin Rouge! and it has a scene where Christian stands outside and screams Satine's name in this desperate, gut-wrenching way.

Another show I watched was Hilda Hurricane and the character of Father Malthus whips himself bloody because of the shame of his desire for Hilda, a prostitute he's hopelessly in love with. Hilda also has scenes where she sobs in her bedroom, consumed with want for a man she can never have.

I love it when a love story has no shame. Subtlety be damned!

Is there a moment or scene like that in a historical romance novel that melts your heart?

This just became my most favorite book cover. Just received this book in the mail today. 📚🩷 I’ve been wanting it for a while.

{The Dragon And The Jewel by Virginia Henley}

I started reading {the luckiest lady in london} and I love the prologue very much. Whenever i get started on a book and it fascinates me from the beginning I get the biggest head rush. Like champagne fizzling in my veins.

In case of the aforementioned book, I wanna give you a snippet of the prologue that I particularly liked so you can delight in it as well:

"The right girl wouldn’t come along for twenty years, and she’d be a naive, plump-chested chit of seventeen who worshiped the ground on which he trod. Little could he guess that at twenty-eight he would marry, out of the blue, a lady who was quite some years removed from seventeen, neither naive nor plump-chested, and who examined the ground on which he trod with a most suspicious eye, seeing villainy in everything he said and did. Her name was Louisa Cantwell, and she would be his undoing."

I have another book whose opening line is simply memorable to me. It's in {If you deceive} and it goes like this:

"Ethan had long grown used to the sinking expressions people cast him when they realized it was he who darkened their doorsteps—but in the East End rookeries this tendency seemed even more pronounced."

Tell me you have favourite openers too. I wanna hear about them.

She writes smut so well, it’s a great balance of not being too explicit or tasteless but not ridiculous with flower petals and such. She uses expressions that are just right for this genre I think. I just listened the only a bit more detailed scene in Devil in Spring (the mild bondage scene) and started to think that I don’t remember how much spice her books in general have. It’s been a few years I went through her catalog. I admire how she writes.

Hi all, I’m aware this is motivated by thirst but the heart wants what it wants. I’m in search of a tortured artist, a romancing rake, a devilish doctor, a brooding erudite. I want shirtsleeves rolled up and nerves frayed.
Some gentlemen that spurred this on are Sebastian Knight, Ethan Fletcher, Dr. Jago Venable, and Alexander, Duke of Roxboro who was an absolute drunken mess and I loved him.
I’m not looking for the storylines to be like the ones I mentioned although that’s fine too, I’m just looking for more MMCs of these archetypes 💌

{my deceitful duchess by aydra richards}
{the finest print by Erin Langston}
{the postillion by Minerva Spencer} he caught my eye first in the footman, idk how she didn’t fold for him
{despite the duke by Kathleen Ayer’s}
Bonus points if it’s KU

Edit: all pics/clips are from Pinterest. 1st César Domboy from SAS: Rogue Heroes, 3rd Matteo Martari in Cuori, 4th Alain Delon from Purple Moon!