Isn't It Romantic?
February 2015
Ah, love! Who can resist a good romance? There’s something to be said for escaping into someone else’s happily ever after whether you’re feeling happy yourself or need a bit of a pick me up. Romance novels are a lot like ice cream, even when you have a favorite flavor it’s hard to resist trying something new. The titles below include a little bit of everything: historical and contemporary, sweet and steamy, humorous and inspirational. There’s a little something for everyone.
Harvest Moon by Robyn Carr
Needing to get away from all of the stress at the restaurant where she works, sous chef Kelly Matlock heads to her sister’s organic farm in Virgin River. A relationship with widower Leif Holbrook blossoms, but is threatened by his teenage stepdaughter.
Cancel the Wedding by Carolyn Dingman
If Olivia Hughes has it all, why isn’t she happy? She should be busy planning her wedding to her fiance Leo, but instead she jumps at the chance to take a road trip to find out why her late mother, Janie, wanted her ashes sprinkled in the hometown she never talked about. Olivia and her teenage niece, Logan set out for Huntley, Georgia only to discover that the town is now under a man-made lake. Digging into her mother’s past with help from Elliott Tate, the charming owner of the local newspaper, helps Olivia to re-evaluate her own life and discover true love.
Believe it or Not by Tawna Fenske
When her psychic mother ends up in the hospital, Violet McGinn leaves her safe, boring accounting job in Portland, Maine and returns to Portland, Oregon to help out. Violet’s not a psychic, but a little pop psychology and just the right 80s music from the bar/male revue next door seems to help her mother’s clients resolve their psychic dilemmas. Drew Watson the bar owner doesn’t believe in psychics, but there’s something about Violet that he finds irresistible. Drew and Violet’s chemistry is intense and the witty banter will keep readers laughing.
The Choice by Suzanne Woods Fisher
When her father dies in a farm accident, Carrie Weaver gives up her plans to leave the Amish life and marry baseball player Sol Riehl. Instead, she agrees to a marriage of convenience so that she can care for her hemophiliac younger brother. Carrie and Daniel are both keeping secrets, but as time passes their feelings grow. Then tragedy strikes.
All You Need is Love by Marie Force
Force excels at writing stories about families and the first book in her new Green Mountain series introduces the Abbott family of Butler, Vermont. City girl Cameron Murphy is in Vermont to discuss building a website for the family business, the Green Mountain Country Store. After wrecking her new car when she collides with the town moose, Fred, Cameron is rescued by Will Abbott, who wants nothing to do with her or her website. He can’t seem to get her out of his head though and their relationship takes off, but Will has no plans for leaving Vermont, and Cameron’s friends, family and business are in New York.
Vanished by Irene Hannon
It was a dark and stormy night. Pulitzer-nominated reporter Moira Harrison can’t forget the terrified look on the face of the woman she hit while driving unfamiliar country roads in the thunderstorm. The police officer that comes to her aid finds no trace of anyone and suspects that her head injury is causing her mind to play tricks on her. Moira can’t let it go, but the only one who believes her is Cal Burke, a retired homicide detective and one of the partners at Phoenix Inc. Blending romance, suspense, and complex moral issues, Vanished is a sure bet for readers who enjoy a good clean read.
Destiny’s Embrace by Beverly Jenkins
Reinventing herself as a respectable widow, Mariah Cooper flees Philadelphia and her mother’s abuse to become a housekeeper for black rancher Logan Yates in 1880’s California. Logan is handsome, wealthy and stubborn and he and Mariah seem to be constantly locking horns. Family, friendship and the power of love are the focus of this multicultural romance.
Unleashed by Rachel Lacey
Dog lovers, this one is for you! Cara Medlen spent her teen years battling cancer and doesn’t want to commit to anything or anyone until she’s been in remission for 10 years. This has had a major impact on her life choices. She rarely goes on a second date with anyone, works as a nanny and rescues and fosters boxers until they can find permanent homes. After discovering that some local dogs are being abused, she meets Matt Dumont, the one man who might make her reconsider her vow not to get involved. But Matt, a private investigator, has just one more case to wrap up before he leaves North Carolina and returns to his family in Boston.
Goodnight Tweetheart by Teresa Medeiros
It’s easy to picture actress Meg Ryan in her prime in the role of bestselling debut author Abigail Donovan. Abby has been trying without success to write her second book for the last four years. When her publisher sets her up with a twitter account, she “meets” Mark Baynard, a professor who has taken a sabbatical to travel the world. He offers to be her guide to all things twitter. Told primarily through tweets, the two begin to “date”, but Abby discovers that Mark isn’t exactly who she thought he was. Medeiros is better known for her historical romances, but her first contemporary romance is a delight.
How to Seduce a Vampire (without really trying) by Kerrelyn Sparks
After searching for centuries for clues about his father’s death, vampire Zoltan Czakvar may finally have discovered the truth. Then he’s captured by Neona, part of a group of warrior women who believes that men are only good for one thing, producing a female child. Sparks has a way with snark, and the fifteenth book in her Love at Stake series provides plenty of it.
Delicious by Sherry Thomas
When Bertie Somerset unexpectedly drops dead in 1892 at the age of 38, his entire Yorkshire estate, including chef Verity Durant, is inherited by his estranged brother Stuart. Stuart spent one amazing night ten years ago with Verity, but never even learned her name. Verity was born well, but a few impetuous choices brought about her downfall. Alternating between the present (1892) and the past, this well-written regency romance is sinfully “Delicious”.
Caged in Winter by Brighton Walsh
After spending much of her childhood in the foster system, Winter Jacobson has learned not to get too close to anyone because they’ll only let her down. With only a few weeks to go before her college graduation, she meets aspiring chef Cade Maxwell when he stops a customer from hitting on her. Unfortunately his interference means the table leaves a 17cent tip and Winter is left struggling to pay her rent. Cade is seriously SEXY, but Winter has no time for a relationship. Cade is also struggling. Having lost both of his parents at a young age, he’s put his dreams on hold while he helps his younger sister raise her daughter. Winter and Cade’s relationship develops slowly, but realistically and readers will be eager for the next installment.
The Pelican Bride by Beth White
Blending historical fact with romantic inspirational fiction, White’s first book in the Gulf Coast Chronicles series introduces readers to “Pelican Girls”, young women brought to the Gulf Coast in the early 1700s to help with the colonization process. Genevieve Gallain and her sister Aimee leave France and the persecution of the Huguenots behind and travel to the New World where they have agreed to marry soldiers. The only man Genevieve is remotely interested in is widower Tristan Lanier, who tells her when they meet, that’s he’s not looking to find a bride. A carefully researched story with plenty of intrigue, betrayal and mystery.
First Love Cookie Club by Lori Wilde
In Twilight, Texas, they say that you will dream of your true love if you sleep with kismet cookies under your pillow on Christmas Eve and Sarah Collier dreamed of Travis Walker each year as a young teen. When she was fifteen, Sarah tried to stop Travis’s Christmas Day wedding to someone else and thoroughly embarrassed herself in front of the whole town. Now older and hopefully wiser, Sarah has become a children’s book author. She returns to Twilight after getting a letter from a sick little girl who turns out to be Travis’s daughter. Travis is single and even hotter than she remembered, but Sarah no longer believes in Christmas magic. Don’t let the title fool you -- the story is sweet, but the romance is red hot!
List created by:
C.L. Quillen
Director, Spotswood Public Library
