Climax (An Erotic Romance / Time Travel Tale)

Now then, I loved!!!!! But, was thrilled to see Ferny, which is wonderful!!! I just came upon it browsing through used books on a sale table while on vacation in Maine several years ago.

Name That Book | Romance - from historical to contemporary | LibraryThing

I have never heard anyone else mention it. I loan it out with a chain attached to it and add and delete people by their response to reading it. I was very disappointed with the couple of others he has written, just not up to Ferny. I am thrilled to have found you all and hope I will be able to get back in the future to 'hear' more of your comments.

Totally agree with Robin and Outlander series. Even got my husband yeah, really!! Diana is keeping him alive- he says he has to live long enough to finish the story. We've had our own romance for 46 years and believe me, even though he is a voracious reader of history novels-Cornwell, etc. Again, love finding you!! Jul 22, Kathy - ADMN5 aol. Oct 01, AND it was melting my brain so I stopped. Time Traveler's wife is a good book.

A good time travel book is Kindred. It just celebrated 25th anniversary reprint. Aug 21, Time Travel Romance is one of my all-time favorite genres to read. They're so much fun and fantastical, you can't help but wish you were there. That being said, Outlander is hands down the best book I've ever read- time travel or no.

It pulls you in and sweeps you up in the story. It's not hokey but believeable and you empathize with every single character that appears on the page. It's a very long book but when the pages are over, you can't believe it was so quick of a read. I've read Outlander twice and I'm currently reading the rest of the series. Visit my blog, www. Sep 28, I really wish there was a way to add a few more to this list!

Especially the one's with the big hunk of Scott that is in some of them! To be placed in Scotland's history would be terrifying but to have a big sexy highlander just might make it worth the trip Mar 01, You will cry, laugh hysterically, throw somet Not to mention the historical details.. I read them all! Since I have read all seven of the Outlander books, I am desperately searching for something else I can really get into. Mar 17, It is very well written, fast paced, lots of humor, and best of all, characters well drawn that you want to see again and again in years to come in many more books!

May 22, May 27, Its not time travel at all. Aug 02, Diana Gabaldon has mastered the art of writing this genre. When will the story continue? I discovered Susanna Kearsley and her time travel romances are incredible- I highly recommend Winter Seas. I also adore the Outlander series. Aug 03, Outlander series is by far the best I've ever read. I just hope I live long enough to read the end of the series Aug 04, I have not heard of a lot of these books but intend to read some of them. Lucille, you can check your local library.

Many actually have ebooks and audiobooks for download for their patrons. Aug 05, Time enough for Love and To Sail beyond the Sunset? And can't wait for the next book in the Voyager series. Oct 14, I have been looking for a time travel book can't remember title or Author a present day female gets sent to past is surrounded or captured by a group of I believe highlanders, or normans , she was on vacation when it happened, it was around some rocks not sure if it was stonehenge or not, it's not the outlander.

Oct 23, Maybe one of Karen Moning's books? Jan 13, Can any of you help me find a series The books cross characters. If I remember correctly in one books there is a present say and an alternate universe with doppelgangers. A witch can bring people forward or send them back. In one book the female character is brought to the alternate world and the lesser of the tribe wants her so he fights members of his tribe trying to claim her as their own.

She and the leader fall in love and she gets pregnant with twins, a boy and girl. Anyone know the series I'm taking about? Apr 21, Warrior of the Highlands or Sword of the Highlands. Jul 31, Aug 22, Sep 18, What is it with time travel and Scotland?

Navigation menu

Is Outlander the original and the others inspired by it? Nov 22, They're sexy to romance readers. I like them too. Although I'm not an Outlander fan. Each time I couldn't get past pages. I don't think Outlander inspired time-travel. Outlander is more a historical fiction book than romance, but the romance elements has captured readers hearts.

Jan 30, While back home they must act like an actual couple - so they have to sleep in the same room and of course things begin to change. While home he is asked to take over his father's company, and he also finds out about her writing accomplishments - and of course they start to have a relationship. Does this sound familiar to anyone??? Hope someone can help!

I'm hoping someone will be able to help me find a book that I read in the late 80's or early 90's The male was wrongly sent to serve out a sentence in the penal colony. There is a ship with a mate named Toby. The story progresses with bits and pieces of past lives of the man and woman and how they are trying to find their way to each other. Part of the story is about white roses and red roses and what they stand for.

Either stained glass or paintings in the manor house sparks a memory for Elyse. It was a great book I read as a teenager. My mom cleaned out my hoards of romance novels years ago.

Romance novel

I have tried searching on-line. It's tough not remembering the title,author or even the characters names. Does this sound familiar to anyone???? Later as an adult he meets up with his childhood friend, who is the heroine of the book. Feb 19, , Hello, another new member: I am so glad I found this! It is a regency romance and the heroine for some reason disguises herself as a footman? He goes to extremes to keep her safe, even almost killing her because a fire breaks out while she is locked in her room.

He becomes very close to the heroine and has a strange attraction to her strange because he doesn't know she is female and he is a known skirt chaser. I also really remember that her gender is revealed during a fencing match between the two of them. One other thing was that during a dinner, she was sitting next to him after being revealed as a woman and he took advantage of the fact she was wearing pants if you get my drift?

Maybe she was pretending to be another nobleman? I really wish I could remember more! I'd appreciate it if anyone can think of any books this could possibly be: She's disguised as a nobleman, not a footman, but I really think this is it! I think you are right. I know it's something that I have read. Absolutely Duchess By Night. New to this group and plagued with title of book i read in the late 80's early 90's. Set in California I believe Heroine called Mel finds she has improbably only a few months of fertility left to her. Sets out to seduce someone, fails and then asks her brother's best friend also her best friend who lives nearby.

He finally accepts the challenge and things get going to make her pregnant. This was quite a witty story. Finally she has twins and marries the guy. Sorry forget the guys name but the jerk of a brother was Donny. Maybe The Stud by Barbara Delinsky. It was something like that but I'm not sure about the brother and twins.

No that does not sound right. Sorry but the title is just ticking away under my consciousness and I am sure I will recognise it I'm looking for a book I read back in the late 80's. I think it was on a plantation in the carribean or Bermuda. The heroine and hero were in love, but the heroin was kidnapped or got lost and lost her memory and the villan made her believe she was his wife.

Hello I am looking for An American historical not really a western. The heroine is a "plain" school teacher for a small town. The he is a investigator with a gorgeous partner that everyone thinks solves all the cases but its really him he is seen as the slacker. He is caught in the her house overnight and they are forced into marriage.

While looking into cattle murders for her bestfriends fathers ranch. Is sent to the hospital. He starts feeling sorry for himself and never wants to se her again. She moves close to the hospital and becomes an architect building him a house with rails that he can get around in. In the end they are seen to have a small son. I'm looking for a book that I believe is Historical, but I'm not completely sure. If I'm not mistaken, at one point the heroine buries something she was reading because her uncle would take it away from her if he saw it. I am hoping you can help me track down a historical romance book.

The female character starts out at a convent which her brother placed her in for punishment in not following his orders. I think he wanted her to marry someone. She was then kidnapped by the main male character, enemy of her brother, where in the process she was cut by a knife in her leg by her guards. She remained loyal to her brother throughout the book even though everyone tries to convince her otherwise. I think the brother had six fingers on one hand I really hope someone can help me with this, since I can't seem to get it out of my head and I'm driving myself crazy.

I read a book in probably early to mid 90's, contemporary romance. The heroine is a secretary for a law firm, barely making ends meet, raising 2 younger brothers and taking care of a sick grandfather. The hero is a lawyer, maybe state attorney, he's wealthy. Typical story line they go out, she gets pregnant, he finds out and tries to "do the right thing" she, of course, is too proud to take the help.

Anyway, it all ends happily ever after but to save my life I can't remember the name of the book. Any of this sound familiar?? I was absolutely thrilled to come across this, and appreciate any help that I can get. A couple of year's ago, I read a book thatwas, for the most part, set at the turn of the 20th century I think Somehow, a modern day girl ended up switching bodies with a girl from the era the modern girl being nicely adventurous and the historical girl a complete witch.

Regardless, the once-modern-now-stuck-in-the-past-heroine falls in love with two brothers, who were the results of a similar attachment between their mutual mother and different fathers. If any of you remember such a novel, I would greatly appreciate some direction! Z Mar 30, , There are these 2 historical romance novels that i cant remember the name of and its driving me crazy!!

The 1st one is about the hero marrying a pickpocket off the streets of london just to get back at his father and then dumps her there. I think he was drunk or something and she tries to rob him and his friend and he catches her and forces her to marry her. Shes actually suppose to be an aristrocat who got kidnapped when she was young.

I remember then the heros father teaching her how to be a lady and then launching her into society and shes all beautiful and witty and successful. The hero falls for her without realising shes his wife and i remember how she kept visiting the streets to feed some orphans or something and the hero meets her there again asking for a divorce or something along the lines: S The 2nd book is about this girl who runs her own estate and shes yound an spirited and loves her home more than anything.

I remember in the book she travels to his house disguised as a boy and tried to kill him with a knife so that she can have her estate back. I think her name was "kit" in the book. When the hero realises shes his ward he sends her off to school for young ladies. When she gets back shes all beutiful n stuff and i think they fall in love but the hero has his doubts that she loves the estate more than him: S Anyway if someone can please tell me the names of these books i would be eternally grateful!!

Z Mar 31, , Sorry it's kind of fuzzy. I have been trying to remember the name of this book for a little while. I read it a few years ago. It is a historical romance set in England and this girl is forced to marry a man from close to or in Scotland I think. I know that on their way to his home after they are married they have to stop at this fort where she is almost raped. She hates it where he lives but somehow learns to love him. I can't remember why but she ends up leaving and going back to her parents house towards the end of the book.

She finds out after she gets there that shes pregnant. The man shows back up to get her right as she goes into labor in the garden. That is all I remember and I hope someone can help me figure out what this book is. I know I have the book somewhere but in moving three times in two years it is missing and I can't have my husband help me look if we don't know what to look for. I think this is one of Julie Garwood's books, but I can't remember which one.

There's a storm or something, and both end up having to stay in the house for the duration of the project. Of course, they fall back in love during their time in the house. I think there was also something about their unborn babies casting a spell to make them fall in love - it might have been part of a matchmaking babies series. Sounds weird, but it was a really good book! If anyone knows the title or the name of the series, please let me know: I'm looking for a book I read years ago. It's a western historical romance. All I remember about the plot was that she's a red head that is indentured to a horrible individual.

Afterward a group of men from their tribe show up and she falls for one of them. I forget exactly what he is in the tribe, but I think he may have been some sort of medicine man or other well respected man in the tribe. Anyway, if it sounds familiar please let me know. It wasn't new, but I forget when it was published. I am looking for a book I read at least 10 years ago. I believe it was set in Victorian times and involved a young woman that stows away on a ship, but she is dressed as a boy so she is the servant to the male character.

I think when they arrive at the mainland, she does something with the theater or is a singer. Anyway, as the story progresses, she ends up pregnant wich is unknown to her love interest, and she saves a small child from a burning pile of leaves which then causes her to have a miscarriage. Does this sound familiar to anyone? I read the first few chapters of this book a few months ago and cannot remember the title or author and it's driving me nuts!

Anyway i believe it's a historical romance set in old England sometime. And it's about a young lady who is poor and lives with her father on a rich man's property. She used to play with the masters son whe they were children but they grew apart and she sees him again now that they are older and they don't get along. She gets in some trouble money wise I think and he offers to help. She makes a deal with him that once a week or something he gets to do whatever he wants with her for an increasing amount of time.

So it starts with like 60 seconds and goes to 2 minutes and so on. That's all I remember.. I'm dying to read the rest! I'm just going to jump right in It's a contemporary romance She then is questioned at the police station and the hero, who she had strong feelings for, basically abandons her and leaves town. I remember the funeral scene where the heroine, no longer a suspect, tries to hold the hero's hand but he wouldn't let her.

Fast forward, the girl is grown up now, she stayed at the mansion where she was raised, taking care of the family business when the hero returns. The matriarch is now old and needs to decide who she wants to leave the bulk of her inheritance to - the hero grandson or heroine adopted or family friend's daughter who has been with her all this time or something like that. I remember something about the heroine still being haunted by the night she discovered the murder scene, she has nightmares and screams in her sleep.

I think she also sleepwalks. In the end the matriarch gives everything to the grandson. Can anyone help me figure this out? I know my description isn't very good but hopefully it will trigger someone's memory. Its a historical romance set during WW2. Consummation was a rape scene!

They got a son,Luis. Both had lovers outside marriage and apparently the hero was spying on the Germans This book had many themes. At the end the hero's family was killed off one by one by his best friend,Armand who was also a German spy and also the heroine's lover?! The heroine gets shot at the end and recovers while they run away from France.

Apr 13, , Dainty C on 47 I realize that it has been a long time since you posted this, but I think the book you are looking for is Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss. I sure hope that someone can help me with this one - it's been tickling the back of my mind for years!! This is a really old one, probably from or so. Two young brothers are on a ship, sailing from France to America, with their parents and sister. In a storm, the younger brother is swept overboard and rescued by a couple who own a Southern plantation but could have no children of their own.

The rest of the family is rescued together and end up settling in the North. Flash forward several years to the advent of the Civil War. The older brother Alex?

Somehow the two women Southern belle and Northern secret agent meet and figure out that they are in love with the brothers separated so long ago. There was something hinky about the woman who rescued the younger boy and was scared that he would abandon her now that he found his real family, but I can't remember the details. In any event, everyone lives happily ever after.

I remember the book so fondly, but I have not a clue as to the title or the author. Dainty C from 47 Did you ever find your third book? Finally found it on another site. I'm hoping someone can help me find this book! It's been awhile since I read it but I remember it was about a lost princess or aristocrat who was in danger and her maid ran away with her, the maid ended up dying and the girl was raised and worked at an inn, she had some kind of scar on her wrist that resembled a birthmark or something that only her family had or it was branded on her, I can't remember!

I can't remember names, I think the male character may be scarred and the castle or palace or whatever has "raven" in it, maybe. I know it sounds similar to "Once a Princess" but this is a different book. Please and thank you! Apr 23, , 8: I am looking for a romance book that has the heroine as a blond model who was adopted and has a spoilt sister the natural child of the parents that talks her into using a condom filled with sperm to get pregnant from her sisters boyfriend as a surragate.

The sister and the weak but funloving brother of the hero go off for a dirty weekend and have a car accident which kills the brother but not the spoilt sister. She goes into hiding but is believed dead. The heroine calls and announces that he should come and get his daughter to the complete surprise to the father. She thinks he knows all about the child. The heroines sister told her she was infertile when she wasn't so she could get her hooks into the father by pretending she was the mother.

The heroine and the hero marry and the sister shows up again but I can't remember the rest. Anyone know this book? It's driving me crazy! I have another one set in medieval times and the hero is hated by his father because when he was born it killed his mother during childbirth. The father names his son Cane. The son is forced into a marriage with a blond girl who was destined for the church.

When her brother is killed she has to give up the church and marry for her father to have heirs. I may be mixing two books together but hopefully not. Hello, I just joined and am thrilled to have found this site. I know I read it sometime in the past years, but I don't know when it was published.

I have the story stuck in my head, but for the life of me I cannot remember the title or the main characters names. This novel was set in the American West, most likely during the 19th century but I am not sure when exactly. The book starts off with an Eastern lady traveling out to her uncle's ranch in the west I think it was Texas? She was an eastern lady who came out to the ranch by train I think she was looking for a husband?

She has a conflicted relationship with the ranch foreman or maybe he was just a ranch hand. She eventually becomes pregnant by him. They visit her family in the East, but her relative maybe a mother or an aunt? She doesn't know how to cook, or clean the house, or iron his clothes without ruining them and he mocks her for it.

He refuses to allow her to have servants or any household help as she struggles with her new responsibilities. Eventually she works herself into the ground trying to please him and she miscarries the baby that forced them to be married in the first place. There is some sort of slimy bad character who wants to cheat them out of the profits and success of all their hard work, but they defend themselves against him..

Eventually they realize they are in love and the well is a success. I would appreciate any help or advice anyone can give me! It was a really powerful story. New to the group, I'm happy I found this site! I'm looking for the name and author of a book I read in the 's. I don't have a lot of details but I recall it was about a woman named Rose who fell in love with a highwayman.

The Rose sticks in my mind as a moniker she was given after being with the highwayman for awhile but not sure about that. Does this ring a bell with anyone? Apr 24, , The Toll-Gate by Georgette Heyer has a woman named Rose who is in love with a highwayman, but they are not the main characters. Apr 26, , The Toll-Gate is about a very tall woman living with her dying grandfather who's heir, a creepy cousin who with another creep are staying at her grandfathers. They have robbed a convoy of newly minted money with a new stamp, that they can't spend until the currency officially comes out.

Into this comes an a very large officer or former officer who likes adventure who stops at the toll-gate and finds a boy alone because his father has not returned to the toll-gate. His father is later found dead and a highwayman stops there occasionally to court the heroines governess or chaperone. The hero Jack I believe, falls for the granddaughter on sight. The get married at the grandfathers deathbed and the highwayman gets the reward for finding the gold. The cousin and other guy don't survive. They have to save the reputation of the family by killing both the creepy cousin and his creepy friend!

After reading through many of your posts I was reminded of authors I had forgotten about. I found my book. Wild Rose was the name given to the main female character. This was one of the first romance novels I'd ever read and I remember loving the story. Came across another I had forgotten but enjoyed immensely: Amanda Rose by Karen Robards. The first part sounds like Lady of the West by Linda Howard but the last part where she loses the baby doesn't. Beck maybe you should check out Diana Palmer.

She writes about Texans all the time but she didn't start until the s. Ooh I am so glad I found this group! This is one of my favorite romance books but I can't remember the name. I think it takes place in Texas the title may include Texas. The heroine has beautiful long, red hair and she has amnesia. The hero claims her as his wife I think he's lying for some reason but she doesn't remember anything about herself..

The hero has a Native American best friend who is in love with a beautiful Native American girl who the hero saves from death. I think the mom's name might be Bertha. This is killing me! Hello, I am looking for the title of a book. It is the story an historic romance in the American West I think, she needs to marry and have a son to inherit her father's ranch well he died and that is stipulated in his will , so she marry a man that she freed from jail not sure about that , she was pregnant but miscarried because of a rival who poisoned her In the end she managed to keep the ranch as the will said she had to be expecting a boy, not to have a living child.

I am so excited to find this happy place! For the longest time I have wanted to find the first romance novel I ever read - sometime in the mid 90s - but I don't remember many details. I remember that the heroine came from an island and had been abused.

• Please Dont Eat the Animals: All the Reasons You Need to Be a Vegetarian.
• Bound: Forget Me Knot.
• Residue Reviews / Rückstands-Berichte: Residues of Pesticides and other Foreign Chemicals in Foods and Feeds / Rückstände von Pesticiden und anderen Fremdstoffen ... Environmental Contamination and Toxicology)!
• How to Vote.
• 365 Passages from Joseph Addison: Observations on Human Nature & Life.
• See a Problem?.
• MAN FIND SECRETS: How to Find, Get & KEEP a GOOD MAN!!

She was rescued at sea by the hero's brother. She can't remember much of her past. Somehow she is related to a wealthy family I think her grandfather is still alive and her dark past keeps resurfacing especially some very creepy guy. At one point, the hero thinks she has betrayed him to her family and becomes ruthlessly cruel. The hero becomes a successful owner of a ship construction company maybe even with her wealthy family. I still remember the last scene - where she goes to visit him at the docks and their son runs to him. If anyone has any idea, I would be so happy and so grateful!!

Looking for author of several romance books with a background theme of several women living together outside of the city in possible regency era England. They all must provide some form of income and they aren't allowed to pry into each others background. Each woman has their own book where the reader finds out about how she came to live with the other women, her background and of course finds love.

• Encuentro con el Otro (Crónicas) (Spanish Edition);
• The Soulmate Solution: Attracting the Perfect Life Partner (Book One).
• The Letters of Peter, John & Jude: Living in Jesus (Meditative Commentary Book 11)!
• The Circle of Love.
• Romance novel - Wikipedia!

I remember one of the women is discovered by her husband who she ran away from right after her marriage when he comes to the home visiting with his friend who is married to one of the other women. They are both shocked to see the other one and he makes a strong demand for her to pack her things and be ready to go. Of course her friend is afraid he might punish her and wants her husband to stop the forced departure. The Rarest Blooms series by Madeline Hunter. Hey, I am so excited to have found this group - I have been obsessing about finding this book and i hope someone can help me.

I am looking for a book I read in mid 's. It was a regency or historical. He was going to humiliate him by selling her, but falls in love and marries her secretively. He didn't soak English and she didn't speak his language so they used French to communicate. He refused to beat her so he used sex as a threat to train her to be a slave.

He called her Le fleur. The cousins were both female and one was given to a friend. Oh and I think she had an aversion to cuffs because she was tied down as a kid because of a fever I haven't been able to find it anywhere. I'm looking for a historical romance, this book is in a series of books I read maybe 7 or 8 years ago. What I remember is The lead male character is named Clayton he ends up marring this girl because they were caught doing something at night alone, I think what there were doing was completely innocent, I think the may have gotten married to save her from having to marry someone else, it took awhile for them to warm up to each other.

Also the lead male has a duel with sole lord or duke or something and i think he ends up getting shot, but the other guys dies? I'm not sure I cant remember much else but if someone could help that would be awesome! It is the middle of a 3 book series. But, Clayton Harcourt is the name of the hero. I'd love help remembering the name of a book I read when I was maybe in late teens, so around mid to late 70s.

It was set in Australia, and was about a rancher who starts a ranch, brings an English bride to Australia, they make a life and have a family, but she never really loves it. They hire a housekeeper and she and the rancher fall in love and have a long time love affair and I think even a child together. He dies in her arms at the end I think there's a fire involved, but that might be me confusing it with the Thorn Birds. I think the book might be the name of the ranch, but not sure.

Is that obscure enough for you? Trying to locate a historical time travel romance book from at least ten years ago and possibly longer. Modern day at the beginning - two couples travel from New England but I think Maine to England and the men buy an unusual box in an antique store. The store owner woman tells them if they are able to reveal the secret in the box they will discover something which has been long sought. There is a powder hidden the box which when inhaled enables them to travel back in time. I do not remember how it is resolved in the present after they return but I think they switch who they are married since they have affairs with the other spouse in the past.

I think the first was written about four-five years ago with the last one in The four young men who live there have to determine if he is the father of the girl and what happened to the woman he may have impregnated. The books are all tied together but each individual book involves each man's search as he rediscovers his lost love and what has happened to them.

They try to keep the baby girl hidden from the other residents but are not able to. Since there are four books, the reader learns in the final book who the father is. Jul 4, , 8: I am not familiar with your time travel book but the second series you mentioned is The Runaway Brides series by Celeste Bradley. I believe the series starts with Devil in My Bed. Thank you very much mamalaz. Looks like there are only three titles in this series.

Shows you what happens to your memory. I am a librarian so I know what it is like to solve book puzzles when the customer does not have all the details straight like a three year old child and not a baby Hope someone is able to come up with the first book at some point. When I retired, my reading list document containing all the titles, authors and synopsis for each book I had read for the past two years did not save correctly onto my flash drive. Of course, I did not find that out until after my work computer had been reconfigured. Since I read a book about every three days, that was a lot of carefully saved information and details lost.

It sounds like one of Kate Moning's Highlander books which I read years ago obviously. I am trying to remember the title of a book that I read 15 or 20 years ago. It is about a young English woman who runs away or wanders off on the day of her arranged marriage. He has assumed that she is a woman of the streets and doesn't believe her when she tells him her story. The plot has several twists and turns. The heroine befriends a young servant or slave who has been in love with the hero's friend for many years. There is also the woman scorned who plays a role in the plot.

I remember that the heroine gets pregnant and eventually kills the villain with a sword when the hero is lured away. She is also reunited with her family when the hero arranges for them to come to Louisiana. Any help in identifying this book is greatly appreciated. I remembered another part of the story. If I am not mistaken, the heroine meets her friend who has been in love with the hero's friend since she was basically a child by the way when the heroine tries to run away and is almost sold into slavery or prostitution with her new friend.

I have a Name this Book question. Zebra Historical, I believe, The book started with a sad note. A son, I think, died very young. The heroine is very distraught, she lost a lot of weight and marriage failed. Time passed, she snapped out of her depression and tries to win back her stray husband. I am hoping I could get help with this I remembered reading this many years ago and the story stuck It has a shiny silver cover.

Heroine has red hair in the cover. I would greatly appreciate any help. Is there a website that I can search?? Here's another name this book. Published in the 90's. It's about two families united in marriage. The main character is accused of murdering his brother and sister-in-law very sure the sister-in-law's name is Debra.

He also develops a relationship with the daughter of a former maid or butler I think. Know this is vague but will appreciate any help. Jul 26, , Book I read as described below: Think she is librarian? His brother comes to town and is wealthy. Doctor is always busy and worries about her not having thing she needs. Asks brother to move in with her to keep her company. Doctor convinces her his brother is gay, so no need to worry about her reputation. This works for a while until the attraction comes too strong. And feelings as well.

She Finds the truth. She is appalled at the lies. She feels a pity case. No one can find her. The popular, mass market version of the historical romance , which Walter Scott developed in the early 19th century, is seen as beginning in , when Georgette Heyer published The Black Moth. This is set in , but many of Heyer's novels were inspired by Jane Austen's novels and are set around the time Austen lived, in the later Regency period.

Because Heyer's romances are set more than years earlier, she includes carefully researched historical detail to help her readers understand the period. Her characters often exhibit twentieth century sensibilities, and more conventional characters in the novels point out the heroine's eccentricities, such as wanting to marry for love.

In the s, the British publishers Mills and Boon began releasing hardback romance novels. The books were sold through weekly two-penny libraries and were known as "the books in brown" for their brown binding. In the s, the company began offering the books for sale through newsagents across the United Kingdom. A Canadian company, Harlequin Enterprises , began distributing in North America in the category romances published by Mills and Boon. They had a "decency code," and rejected more sexually explicit material that Mills and Boon submitted for reprinting.

Realizing that the genre was popular, Richard Bonneycastle finally decided to read a romance novel. He chose one of the more explicit novels and enjoyed it. On his orders, the company conducted a market test with the novel he had read and discovered that it outsold a similar, tamer novel. The few heroines who worked did so in traditional female jobs, including as nurses , governesses and secretaries.

Intimacy in the novels never extended beyond a chaste kiss between the protagonists. On October 1, , Harlequin purchased Mills and Boon. By this point, the romance novel genre "had been popularized and distributed widely to an enthusiastic audience" in Great Britain. In an attempt to duplicate Mills and Boon's success in North America, Harlequin improved their distribution and marketing system.

Harlequin then began a reader service, selling directly to readers who agreed to purchase a certain number of books each month. In the US, modern romance genre fiction was born in , with Avon's publication of Kathleen Woodiwiss 's The Flame and the Flower , which was the first of the modern "bodice ripper" romance novels to follow "the principals into the bedroom. The latter sold two million copies in its first three months of release. By , Publishers Weekly had reported that the "Avon originals" had sold a combined 8 million copies.

The success of these novels prompted a new style of writing romance, concentrating primarily on historical fiction tracking the monogamous relationship between a helpless heroine and the hero who rescued her, even if he had been the one to place her in danger. Journal article in referred to these bodice rippers as "publishing's answer to the Big Mac: They are juicy, cheap, predictable, and devoured in stupefying quantities by legions of loyal fans. In this new style of historical romance, heroines were independent and strong-willed and were often paired with heroes who evolved into caring and compassionate men who truly admired the women they loved.

The women were virgins , while the men were not, and both members of the couple were described as beautiful. Category romance lines were slower to react to some of the changes that had swept the historical romance subgenre. In the late s, a Harlequin editor rejected a manuscript by Nora Roberts , who has since become the top-selling romance author, because "they already had their American writer.

Authors were also expected to address contemporary issues where appropriate. Despite the acquisition, Silhouette continued to retain editorial control and to publish various lines under their own imprint. Harlequin had also failed to adapt quickly to the signs that readers appreciated novels with more explicit sex scenes, and in , several publishers entered the category romance market to fill that gap.

The Best Time-Travel Romance Novels

That year, Dell launched their Candlelight Ecstasy line with Amii Lorin 's The Tawny Gold Man , becoming the first line to waive the requirement that heroines be virgins. A survey of romance readers confirmed that the new styles of writing were attracting new readers to the genre.

This means that two-thirds of those surveyed joined the genre after it had begun to change. The number of category romance lines increased at a rapid pace, and by there were 16 separate lines producing a total of 80 novels per month. This tight market caused a proportionate decrease in the quality of the novels that were being released. By , the market was saturated with category lines and readers had begun to complain of redundancy in plots.

The genre continued to expand in the mid-to-late s, as publishers realized that the more popular authors were often those who stretched the boundaries of the genre. A novel by LaVyrle Spencer featured an overweight, middle-aged hero who had to make drastic changes to his lifestyle to win the heroine, while a Dailey novel involved an ugly hero and a heroine who was searching for her birth mother.

The age range of heroines also began to expand, so that books began to feature women who had already reached 30 and even Heroes also changed, with some authors veering towards a more sensitive man. Despite the broadening of some aspects of the plot, other taboos remained, and publishers discouraged authors from writing about controversial subjects such as terrorism, warfare, and masculine sports. The romance novel began to expand in other ways as well. Her novel, A Knight in Shining Armor , "became a natural bestseller. Because the novels were set in modern times, they could include more of the elements that modern women could relate to, and soon began to touch on themes such as single parenthood, adoption, and abuse.

By , the covers had begun to evolve from featuring a scantily clad couple to instead showing a view of the landscape featured in the novel. As women's career options have expanded in real life, so have those of their fictional counterparts. In the earliest Harlequin romance novels, heroines were typically nurses and secretaries.

As time has passed and women have entered the workforce in larger numbers, romance heroines have spanned the career spectrum. Despite recent rehabilitation and merging of the genre with other genres, the stigma attached to the romance genre continues to be strong, with some dedicated readers embarrassed to admit to buying or even reading the books.

Some critics point to a lack of suspense, as it is obvious that the hero and heroine will eventually resolve their issues, and wonder whether it is beneficial "for women to be whiling away so many hours reading impossibly glamorized love stories. Romance novelists attribute the stigma to the fact that romance is the only genre "written almost exclusively by women for women.

Romance novels are divided into two sub-sets, category romances, also known as series romances, and single title romances. Category romances are short, usually no more than pages, or about 55, words. In many cases, the books are numbered sequentially within the line. To write a successful novel of this length, the "author must pare the story down to its essentials. Subplots and minor characters are eliminated or relegated to the backstory.

Publishers of category romances usually issue guidelines for each line, specifying the elements necessary for a novel to be included in each line. Most recently, erotic and Christian lines have been introduced while traditional Regency romance lines have ended. Single-titles novels are romance novels not published as part of a publisher's category. They are longer than category romances, typically between and pages, or ,, words.

Despite their name, single-title novels are not always stand alone novels. Some authors prefer to write several interconnected books, ranging in number from trilogies to long-running series, so that they can revisit characters or worlds. Such sets of books often have similar titles, and may be labelled as "Number 1 in the XXX Series", but they are not considered series romances because they are not part of a particular line. Because the definition of a romance novel does not limit the types of plot devices, time frames, or locations that can be included, the genre has grown to encompass a wide variety of material and spawned multiple subgenres.

Subgenres of romance are often closely related to other literature genres, and some books could be considered a romance subgenre novel and another genre novel at the same time. For example, romantic suspense novels are often similar to mysteries , crime fiction and thrillers , and paranormal romances use elements popular in science fiction and fantasy novels. Contemporary romance, which is set after World War II , [74] is often what people mean when they refer to a romance novel.

Contemporary romance novels—the largest subgenre—are set in the time when they are written, and usually reflect the mores of that time. Heroines in contemporary romances prior to usually quit working when they marry or have children—while heroines after usually have, and keep, a career. Most contemporary romance novels contain elements that date the books. The majority of them eventually become irrelevant to more modern readers and go out of print.

Over half of the romantic fiction published in the United States in out of 2, books were contemporary romance novels. Historical romance, also known as historical novel , is a broad category of fiction which the plot takes place in a setting located in the past, which Walter Scott helped popularize in the early 19th-century, with works such as Rob Roy and Ivanhoe. However, the focus here is on the mass-market genre.

This subgenre includes a wide variety of other subgenres, including Regency romance. Mass-market historical romance novels are rarely published in hardcover, with fewer than 15 receiving that status each year, less than one-fifth of the number of contemporary romance novels published in that format. Because historical romances are primarily published in mass-market format, their fortunes are tied to a certain extent to the mass-market trends.

Booksellers and large merchandisers now sell fewer mass market paperbacks, preferring trade paperbacks or hardcovers, which prevents historical romances from being sold in some price clubs and other mass merchandise outlets. In , mass-market historical romances were published, a year high. Kensington Books says they receive fewer submissions of historical novels, and their previously published authors have switched to contemporary.

Romantic suspense involves an intrigue or mystery for the protagonists to solve. Like all romances, romantic suspense novels must place the development of a relationship between the protagonists at the heart of the story. The relationship "must impact each decision they make and increase the tension of the suspense as it propel the story.

In turn, the events of suspense must also directly affect the relationship and move the story forward. This blend of the romance and mystery was perfected by Mary Stewart , who wrote ten romantic suspense novels between and Stewart was one of the first to seamlessly combine the two genres, maintaining a full mystery while focusing on the courtship between two people. Paranormal romance blends the real with the fantastic or science fictional.

Time travel , futuristic, and extraterrestrial romances also fall beneath the paranormal umbrella.