I think I've overdosed on urban fantasy lately. I really, really loved Devon Monk's series, and I've been reading Kelley Armstrong and I like it but... dang, the violence and mayhem is just really getting to me. I think I'm going to take a break with some lighter weight historical and contemporary for a few weeks. I mean, at the end of Stolen, there was just a flat massacre, and Dime Store Magic had plenty of murder.
None of it is so bad on a book-by-book basis, but I've been reading so much of it lately it's really starting to just... I don't know, it's getting to me. It's to the point where even though I've got Industrial Magic sitting in my pile just waiting, I need a break.
Last time this happened, Kristan Higgins was just what the doctor ordered, but I didn't love the last one of hers that I read (it was OK, just not as good as I'd been hoping).
Any recs for sweet and light stories or authors? Of course there has to be conflict, but a minimum of blood, torture, and murder would be preferred....
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13 comments:
Have you tried Julie James's contemporaries? Light and fun.
I try to mix it up because pretty much any genre gets stale for me if I focus too long on it.
I forget...do you read category romance? Check out the Harlequin Super Romance or Blaze line. I'd recommend pretty much anything by Sarah Mayberry.
It's been ages since I got to read anything that wasn't for work, but the last time I needed something sweet, the Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Crusie hit the spot. Nora Roberts' wedding series is cute too.
(So, sooo sorry if I've just recommended things you've talked about before. I'm so behind on my blog hopping.)
Contemporary Romance? I'm kind of picky, but... I would go with Something About You by Julie James... not a wowzer for me but light and fun. Everyone else seemed to love it. I agree with JenB, I'm a huge Sarah Mayberry fan -- I would recommend Anything for You, Take On Me and Her Secret Fling.
Historical Romance: I just read the latest Lisa Kleypas book and really enjoyed it. Lovely romance. Love in the Afternoon, the last book in the Huxtable series and I think my favorite.
Not one massacre in sight. :D
Ooo, Kleypas, that's just about perfect.
I do need to read something from my stash though, as I'm on a strict book budget until next payday. :-(
I've got Christy Ridgeway, a Julie James that I started but put down; Delilah Marvelle, Gerri Russell, the newest Jennifer Crusie (but it's UF, and a collaboration with Bob Mayer), Nora Roberts Tribute.... Oh, you know what? I've got like half a shelf of Julia Quinn's pre-Bridgerton backlist. That might be just the thing....
Light and fun, I'd go for Jill Shalvis, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, or 2nd Jen's rec of Sarah Mayberry.
Of course, sometimes when I need a break, I go for something tried and true and do a re-read.
just read 'driving sideways' by jess riley and loved it. kidney transplant survivor goes on a road trip to answer four life questions. realistic, honest, yet fulfilling escapist desire by virtue of being a road trip.
I read The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane and immediately thought of you. It's a mystery wrapped around a contemporary romance and a ghost story.
Kristan Higgins' newest one All I Ever Needed is really good. I'm not sure if it's out yet - I downloaded it from NetGalley. It was refreshingly not about her sister's ex - there was a bit more of the hero (never enough of course!) and I enjoyed it a lot.
I'm reading Hot Finish by Erin McCarthy now - it's the third in her Hard and Fast Nascar series - you don't have to like cars to enjoy the books.
I read Julie James' Something About You on the weekend and I liked that quite a bit too. I did a brief reviewy thing on my blog of some of my recent reads. I must review the Kristan Higgins one of these days... time - never enough of it!
Anything Julia Quinn or Nora Roberts should be light enough.
You are totally not the only one who overdoses on UF. When that happens, I usually go for the PNR (more often than not the comedic variety) since the violence is at a minimum, but there's still something there. I would have to rec Anya Bast - either her Elemental Witches or Dark Magick series - or Dakota Cassidy has a quirky series. Plus Linda Wisdom's Hex series is full of fun.
Erin McCarthy's Fast Track Series is light contemporary, you might like that for a change. Victoria Dahl's contemporaries are also fun reads..
I try to mix genres to avoid this... but I have the same thing with historicals, I like that genre, read too many of them and now I really need to change genres.
Yeah I'm late, sue me :)
Christie Craig is my new go-to lighthearted, well-written contemp author.
She has a Divorced & Desperate series that I've been savouring, and another series as well that seem to work as stand alone books. She's on my keeper shelf.
I'm re-reading Pleasure for Pleasure by Eloisa James this weekend. It's one of those books that I think is even better on re-reading. It's a masterpiece of light romance, with two romances interwoven together. The structure is flawless, the characterizations are fun (Sylvie is one of my favorite minor characters, ever). - Jen
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