Ani's Personal Essential Bookshelf | The Romance List

So in an attempt to help get our Crowdsourced list at BookLikes up to 1001 books, as well as with a call for some romance novels, I'm throwing a few more books onto the list.  But much like Jennifer's Books, these probably wouldn't be considered classics of the genre, just some personal favorites.

Surprisingly, I only really listed three romance genre novels in my initial 25 Essential Reads list.  So I'm here to make up for it!  Romantic suspense is my usual go-to genre, so most of these book lean more towards contemporary romantic suspense works.

Of course, after I finished making this new list, I realized that I might have gotten a little out of control, so hopefully there's still space for others to add books they'd like to add.  I've already tried whittling this list down... and I was also still going to make a list for the young adult books I read before I became more obsessed with romance novels.

Auto-Buy Authors

First up are some favorites from my auto-buy authors.  I never had any auto-buy authors until I realized that I was reading these authors and buying their books as they were being published.  Unfortunately, a few of these authors have not published in a few years, which makes me kind of sad.  I have loved and read all of their books available, but if I were to list all of them, we might break 1001 books and keep going forever, so I'm just listing my particular favorites from these authors.

Unlawful Contact || Seduction Game || Dead By Midnight || Chasing Fire
by Pamela Clare

I had already listed Pamela Clare in my first post (see link above), but I listed the book that was the first racy romance novel I'd ever read.  I enjoy all of her books in both her I-Team series, as well as her Colorado High Country series.  I've also listed Dead By Midnight, which was supposed to be a novella, but in truth, is long enough to be a novel of its own.  The above are my favorite of her books.

Something About You || Love Irresistibly
by Julie James

Julie James was my second established auto-buy author.  I've loved all of her books for the witty banter between the characters, as well as the fairly angst-free, mature way in which most of her characters handle their relationships.  The above two are my favorites, both of the FBI/U.S. Attorney series.

Over the Line || Whisper No Lies || Killing Time
by Cindy Gerard

I started reading Cindy Gerard via the library, but ultimately ended up buying all of her books--at least all of her contemporary romantic suspense books.  Some of her older category romance novels I haven't gotten to yet.  I decided to list my favorite book from the three series I've read: Bodyguards, Black Ops, Inc., and One-Eyed Jacks.

Snapped || Shadow Fall || Deep Dark
by Laura Griffin

To tell the truth, I didn't really care for the first books I read by Laura Griffin, and thought they were pretty mediocre.  But somewhere around the fourth Tracers book, Snapped, I realized that I was really looking forward to the next book, and the next, and then the next.  Now I buy each new installment as they are released.

Steele Street series

by Tara Janzen

We don't have to list every book in this series (there are 11 total), but I had to list all of them because I loved all of them and couldn't choose a favorite.  Tara Janzen hasn't written other books, but if she were to do so, I'd totally head straight out to purchase them.  This series isn't the best written, and neither do any of the story lines really make much sense.  But the books were all absurdly fun to read and I ended up loving them in spite of all the chaos.

Other Favorite Authors / Series

Simply Irresistible || The Sweetest Thing || Head Over Heels

by Jill Shalvis

Jill Shalvis isn't an auto-buy author, but she is an author I keep on my radar.  Her Lucky Harbor series is, thus far my favorite of all of her books, though the formulas are always the same.  The above three books are the first three books in the series, and to date, my most favorite of her books.

Waking Nightmare || Waking the Dead || Deadly Dreams

by Kylie Brant

The Mindhunters series by Kylie Brant is one of my favorites, and the above are the three books I liked the most in the whole series.  The rest of the books are enjoyable, even if rather mediocre.

The Brothers Sinister series

by Courtney Milan

I loved every book in this series and even the novellas.  I couldn't pick just one, so we need not list all of them if we're running out of spots.  My favorites, however, were The Duchess War and The Suffragette Scandal, if we're trying to narrow things down.  The Heiress Effect came a close second, and The Countess Conspiracy brings up the rear.

The Pingkang Li Mysteries series

by Jeannie Lin

These are my favorite of Jeannie Lin's books thus far (I've not read all of them yet), but I loved the non-standard characters in this series--both heroines having been sold into servitude in a brothel or as courtesan.  And then there were the mysteries embedded, and the sweet romances included, and the lovely writing.

Other Favorite Novels

And One Last Thing by Molly Harper -- Fun, humorous, breezy, with a layer of self-revelations that made me absolutely happy to read it.

P.S. I Like You by Kasie West -- This book reminded me of You've Got Mail, the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movie about two strangers meeting online and falling in love.  Except in this book, two students share a desk in two different hours/classes and leave each other notes.  Along with Kasie West's patent dry sarcasm and wit, this book was lots of fun.

The Search by Nora Roberts -- This was the first Nora Roberts book that I ended up liking.  I'd read others, but this was the first romantic suspense I read of hers, the first of Nora Roberts that got me liking Nora Roberts.  There were also puppers involved in this book, which made things all the more fun.  And I loved the Search and Rescue aspect of the book, even if I felt like the hero was kind of pushy.

The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart -- This was my first Mary Stewart romantic suspense, and between the descriptions of the locale, the atmosphere, and the characters, I ended up loving it!

Mr. Ridley by Delilah Marvelle -- As Whiskey had put it in her descriptions, this book is a bit off the beaten path.  The hero and heroine are rather different than what I'd been used to seeing in historical romance.  There could have been more emphasis on Jemdanee's botanical skills, and the murder mystery, but that didn't deter my enjoyment.

Seduction by Amanda Quick -- I found that Seduction is, thus far, the Amanda Quick book I've read with the most insight and depth.  There's a lot of talk about the inequalities between men and women, and our heroine is so lovely and wonderful that I love her a lot... even if I didn't absolutely love the hero.