What's your favourite Romance novel?

icelolly12 · 2023-02-06T21:59:40+00:00

With Valentines Day approaching I fancy reading a lovely gentle romance. Looking for inspiration, so over to you. What's your favourite romance?

IceandIndigo · 07/02/2023 15:40

Katharine, Anya Seton
Venetia, Georgette Heyer
The Secret Countess, Eva Ibbotson

I mostly prefer historical romance.

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 07/02/2023 15:48

Anything Georgette Heyer. Off the top of my head Frederica, Arabella and Devil's Cub.

Original poster

icelolly12 · 07/02/2023 17:22

Looks like I need to read some Georgette Heyer then! 😊

OP posts:

tribpot · 07/02/2023 17:27

A Bachelor Establishment is one of my faves. There is some description of domestic violence, not happening during the course of the novel but mentioned a couple of times briefly.

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 07/02/2023 17:42

icelolly12 · 07/02/2023 17:22

Looks like I need to read some Georgette Heyer then! 😊

Heyer is both well-written and researched - she wrote a book based around the battle of Waterloo that was so detailed and historically accurate that it's regarded as one of the best depictions of the battle in fiction; and reputedly was on a suggested reading list for cadets at Sandhurst. Pretty much all her books are good - she also wrote a couple of historical ones about Charles II and William the Conqueror.

Sadik · 07/02/2023 17:54

My favourite romance novel is probably A Seditious Affair by KJ Charles.

But if you want lovely and gentle I'd definitely recommend Georgette Heyer :) I'd recommend Cotillion or Frederica as perfect places to start with GH - if you don't like them, you probably won't like her books.

If you do decide you love Heyer, you might also like KJ Charles' gentle parody of her books, Band Sinister which is both hilarious and a lovely romance (description - not by me 'Heyer, but gayer')

Bankofrave · 07/02/2023 17:59

I prefer modern romance as I just don’t enjoy historical foction

jojo moyles

the will they won’t they between strike and Robin is brilliant not obviously not the main plot nor concluded yet.

will check my library for others but would also like some suggestions

IceandIndigo · 07/02/2023 20:44

Heyer is great, but you should be aware she uses a lot of Regency slang in her books, which can be fairly impenetrable until you get used to it. Cotillion was the first one I read and I almost didn’t persevere because of the way the hero spoke.

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 07/02/2023 20:48

IceandIndigo · 07/02/2023 20:44

Heyer is great, but you should be aware she uses a lot of Regency slang in her books, which can be fairly impenetrable until you get used to it. Cotillion was the first one I read and I almost didn’t persevere because of the way the hero spoke.

Someone has helpfully compiled a list of terms

www.georgette-heyer.com/slang.html

I like that book so much because it turns on its head the idea of the hero of a romance novel as dashing and handsome and clever. You just know that the heroine will be the practical intelligent one in that marriage but she'll let him think he's the one in charge.

croissantleiatravel · 15/06/2023 17:37

I can't pick just one favorite, but some of the romance books I always go back to are:
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Emma by Jane Austen
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

croissantleiatravel · 15/06/2023 17:42

I also love the Little Women novel by Louisa May Alcott. I love the story and how it follows the lives of four sisters, exploring their joy, love, sorrow, and adventure. It's so timeless and full of heart. Plus, the romance between Laurie and Jo just gives me all the feels.

autieawesome · 15/06/2023 18:40

Colleen Hoover it ends with us

Raquelos · 15/06/2023 19:02

The Course of Honour, by Lindsay Davies. The love story between a young Vespasian and a slave girl called Caenis. Such a genuinely lovely story and the end gets me every time. With the advantage of being based on historical fact which also makes me happy.

Raquelos · 15/06/2023 19:03

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 07/02/2023 20:48

Someone has helpfully compiled a list of terms

www.georgette-heyer.com/slang.html

I like that book so much because it turns on its head the idea of the hero of a romance novel as dashing and handsome and clever. You just know that the heroine will be the practical intelligent one in that marriage but she'll let him think he's the one in charge.

Show quote history

Cotillion is absolutely my favourite Heyer for the same reason, such a great set of characters

JaneyGee · 21/06/2023 18:18

croissantleiatravel · 15/06/2023 17:37

I can't pick just one favorite, but some of the romance books I always go back to are:
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Emma by Jane Austen
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Massive thumbs up for Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre. It's amazing how these novels last. I re-read Pride and Prejudice in the spring, and loved it every bit as much. Lizzie is so unbelievably vivid and alive, and the romance is just SO believable that it never tires or ages. It really is a miracle of a book. And I don't think it's ever been bettered.

I remember Stig Abell, the guy who used to edit the TLS, saying that he'd re-read P&P over 100 times, and that he always reached for it when he was ill or sad. I love that. I love the way a book can comfort and console – like an old friend. Books got me through lockdown. When it began, I knew the books I was going to re-read:

Sherlock Holmes (everything)
P. G. Wodehouse: Right Ho Jeeves
Patrick Fermor: A time of Gifts
Douglas Adams: Hitchhiker's Guide
Dickens: David Copperfield
Oscar Wilde: Dorian Gray
Virginia Woolf: Orlando
Evelyn Waugh: Sword of Honour
Tolkien: Lord of the Rings
Austen: Pride and Prejudice

I didn't read them all, of course, but I sort of gathered them around me, like a comfort blanket, and kept dipping in and out.