Recommend me a romance

[Spidergran]

I haven't read fiction for...possibly decades my job involves reading all day every day and usually my eyes are exhausted and the thought of reading for pleasure is not on my radar.

However I have recently felt I have a bit more headspace and I'm finding TV very boring. I think I need a good book.

I went through a phase of listening to audiobooks a few years ago and listened to a lot of accessible psych thriller type books, like girl on a train and gone girl etc.

However I feel quite anxious and don't think those type of books will relax me! I think I need a good romance, not a cheesy mills and boon, or a shopaholic type affair. Something that has substance and is uplifting. Any suggestions?

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society

My favourite romances are Georgette Heyer.
They are usually set around the Regency period.
They are laugh out loud funny and very witty.
My favourites are The Convenient Marriage and The Grand Sophy.

The Poldark books are also really good and imo pretty romantic. There's lots more detail in the books than in the TV series. I like that Ross and Demelza have their ups and downs like real people do. Also it's a fairly long series of books and they are consistently good. The later ones are more about the children, normally I hate that but they were wonderful.

I also really loved Forever Amber.

The Dr Ruth Galloway mysteries by Elly Griffiths are mysteries with a romantic sub-plot. They're not high literature by any means but they're well written and I found them really enjoyable. It starts with The Crossing Places

Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie.
Funny, sexy and a nice, easy read. Just the thing to lift you out of yourself and forget the real world for a while.
A clever heroine, a seriously hot hero, and a real plot.

North and South by Mrs. Gaskell

August Folly by Angela Thirkell. I don't know whether she's so out of fashion nowadays that she wouldn't be in print. It's interesting how the decades pass and some authors are very non-u and then they come back in!

You could try Lucy Parker, smart, clever romances set around the theatre. Lots of smouldering. Lots of fun.

Kylie Scott is an Australian writer - her Stage Dive series are steamy with lots of witty dialogue.

Mariana Zapata’s slow burn romances are terrific - Kulti, From Lucov with Love, Wall of Winnipeg and Handsdown are good. Hands Down has just had the audio version released read by the divine Chris Brinkley (aka the Tennessee sex voice 😉).

Mhairi McFarlane’s books are sweet and funny. In a similar vein, you could try Milly Johnson.

One of my favourite books of last year, not strictly a romance, but full of good things is Barbara O’Neal’s The Art of Inheriting Secrets.

Thank you! I have a lot to go on here

Katie Fforde is lovely - there will be an interesting plot like trying to run a hotel or whatever, then the romance runs alongside that. Often funny and always uplifting

Cathy Bramley. I read The Lemon Tree Cafe then I went on to read Patchwork Family and My Kind of Happy by her. They are linked which is nice revisiting characters. They are funny, lighthearted easy reads and gives that cosy hug you sometimes need (or is that just me ).

Starting a fourth book soon...