Embarrassing request: Books with good romances

Enthusiastically seconded. Audrey Niffenegger is the author.

I would further recommend:

The House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus has a very compelling tragic romance, if that’s your thing. Likewise Aztec by Gary Jennings, which is also one of my all-time favorite historical-epic novels, and Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, which is a much more intimate book set during the Civil War.

A Widow For One Year by John Irving explores several quirky romances over the span of decades.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, translated by Lucia Graves, is a zesty Spanish-gothic romance, and is particularly well-suited for those who love books and literature.

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden is all about unrequited love and quiet patience, set against a fascinating Japanese backdrop.

Do not read these books while you have pneumonia. I quite literally thought I was gonna die laughing at one point, because I needed some air but I could not stop laughing. I have terrified my daughter by telling her that I was going to become Grandma Mazur (sp? been a while since I read any of the books).

I’ll also agree with Jennifer Crusie. Lighthearted, funny, with just enough of a plot.

Most of Barbara Hambly’s fantasies have romance in them, if you want to try fantasy again. Avoid Anne Rice at all costs.

Thanks, everyone! Those look really interesting. I’ve read a few, but most are new to me, or they’re books I’ve been planning to read for ages.

I can handle a bit of time travel, and Connie Willis looks really interesting.

I read Pillars of the Earth and its sequel just this past year, and I loved them. Of course, if I wanted to get all purist the attitudes of the characters were so completely wrong I should have been annoyed, but they were too good reads for that. I took World Without End on vacation, and it just the perfect book for that.

I’m going to hop in with Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, and anything by Jennifer Crusie. I like to laugh with my romance :slight_smile:

The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.

That’s the one I came in to mention – it’s a very powerful love story. Have tissues handy.

I devoured the Angelique series by Sergeanne Golon when I was in my 20’s, but I think those books are out of print.

I remember Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor as pretty good. Amber has a more than a bit of Scarlett O’Hara in her.

A.S. Byatt’s Possession: A Romance is FANTASTIC - though not necessarily a light read. If you choose to skip over the poetry, you can make it a hell of a lot less dense and still get the plot, though you miss a lot of the literariness of the book. (Yeah, made that word up).

On the light side, Carl Hiaasen writes…well “lets make fun of Florida” crime novels that are funny, usually contain light romance and probably shouldn’t be read while you have pneumonia.

Oh, and I have to add Joe Haldeman’s The Forever War. A classic, gripping, hard-edged SF combat story but with a real emotional core to it in the (very!) longterm romance of the soldiers Mandella and Marygay. Twenty years later, Haldeman wrote about Marygay’s experiences from her perspective in the short story “A Separate War.” Both are excellent.

Haha, that’s exactly what I did with that book!

Thanks again, everyone!

Okay. don’t laugh when I suggest this. I promise you I’ve read it and it is a good story. Better yet this is a trilogy so it gives you lots of brain candy reading. Ready?

Morrigan’s Cross, Dance of the Gods, and Valley of Silence by Nora Roberts. It is general romance stuff, yeah, but it has vampires and time travel and a war between good and evil and sorcerers and shape shifting and…well, you get the idea. Even without the romance bit it is still a fun read that doesn’t take up too much mental energy.

I also have to agree with the recommendations of Water for Elephants. It is an excellent story and I quite enjoyed it.

There have been a lot of good suggestions, so I’ll go off the beaten path a bit:

You don’t like fantasies, so this one is a stretch, but The Sharing Knife by Lois McMaster Bujold. There are currently 3 books in the series. They read to me like a cross between romance and fantasy, but without a few of the icky cliches that can mar romance novels (looking at you, Twilight).

I don’t tend to read straight historical fiction, but I love historical mysteries so I’ll suggest the Catherine LeVendeur books by Sharan Newman, starting with Death Comes as Epiphany. At the beginning of the series, Catherine is planning to become a nun in 12th century France.

Beginning in the France of Louis XIV, our heroine traveled the world, had many adventures & several lovers. But she did know True Love. Eroticism & deep historical research–what a combination.

“Sergeanne” Golon was/were, in fact, Serge & Anne Golon; she apparently did most of the writing & he did research. He passed on years ago. She was involved in serious legal battles over the rights to the books & has apparently won.

The books were wildly popular but the series has been long out of print in English. Let us hope for new editions.

Angelique has a new generation to conquer. And old fans who kick themselves for not hanging on to those paperbacks.

Hey, those Renaissance Italian nuns were hardcore. :wink: Welcome to the boards! Why did you pick 17th-century French nuns as your thesis? curious

As for romance novels: Annette Vallon by James Tipton is good, or possibly Stardust by Neil Gaiman (if you’re into fantasy)…

::raises hand:: I traded mine in. I’ve been tempted to find and re-read them, to see how they hold up. I just don’t know if the 60±year-old me would be able to recapture the emotion.

Have you read any of them recently?

Hey, I never laugh at book recommendations. Especially not when I come asking for romances. My friend laughed at me when I told her that I LOVED The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova, but I will have the last laugh when my research takes me to find Dracula. :smiley:

That’s my dream job, doing research for writers of historical fiction. I don’t care that such a job doesn’t exist. I would love to write fiction myself, but I’m just not that creative.

There was a big movement at that time towards religious renewal that women in particular embraced. That led to the foundation of a lot of new, “active” orders of nuns who taught girls and nursed the sick and travelled to the new world and all those fun things. I think they’re pretty interesting, but I also think there’s a bit of exaggeration among scholars who want to find 17th-century feminists, so there’s an interesting paradox.

Or alternately, if you don’t want to read my weird ramblings, because I’m a gender historian and I think nuns are cool. That’s my concise answer.

The Scarlet Pimpernel is a wonderful, action-filled romance! It has a lot of the elements of modern romance (people in love who have become alienated, suspense and action, happy ending!) and an engaging story set in French Revolution times.

And when he kneels to kiss where her slipper has trod–squee!

Awesome suggestion. I love this book.