I have one. I love and adore it. Once I finish my TBR stack, I won’t buy 
paper books unless I can’t get the title for the Kindle. And then…I’ll probably think twice. I thought this feeling might wear off, but it’s been a couple of months now. I’m still rabidly pro-Kindle.
Harsh, huh? I’m part of an ownership group for a small publisher. We publish paper books and we’ll keep publishing in that format as long as readers want them. We also publish in Kindle, other ebook formats and audio. Not to mention most of our books are in large print from Thorndike or Centerpoint.
But my reading experience is now electronic. I need to build my romance library for the Kindle. Why? Because I looked today and my Kindle is all fantasy. Partly because I’ve been acquiring fantasy lately and partly because a beloved author is going to have a new book in a series coming out and I have to “reread” the old books so I can jump right in.
Still, I love romance. So…my Kindle is sad.
I need you. What is the “essential Kindle library” for a romance reader? I’m heading to a desert island and I need a list. (Not really, but play along.) I’m going to up
date this list from the comments. Tell your friends to come give me their recommendations. Let these books be the MOST beloved. Let’s try and limit to four. (Yeah. Aaannd right.)
Remember! The list will grow through0ut the day. Published authors have to add ONE book from their backlist. Which book is special? It’s hard to choose, but choose you must.
ESSENTIAL ROMANCE BOOKS THAT SHOULD BE ON EVERY KINDLE: (multiple votes are in bold)
A Place to call Home – Deborah Smith
A Rose For Maggie – Kathleen Korbel
Agnes and the Hitman – Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer
Ain't She Sweet – Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Bad To The Bone – Debra Dixon
Blue-Eyed Devil – Lisa Kleypas
Charming the Prince - Teresa Medeiros
Codename: Princess – Christina Skye
"Crazy" series – Tara Janzen
Crazy For You – Jennifer Crusie
Dead Until Dark – Charlaine Harris
Devil’s Cub – Georgette Heyer
Duncan's Bride – Linda Howard
Flowers From the Storm – Laura Kinsale
French Twist – Roxanne St. Claire
From This Day Forward and Tryst – Elswyth Thane
Good Time Girl – Candace Schuler
Heaven Texas – Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Highland Warrior - Monica McCarty
Hot Target – Suzanne Brockmann
How To Knit A Wild Bikini - Christie Ridgway
Hummingbird – LaVyrle Spencer
Into Danger – Gennita Low
Kill Me Twice-Roxanne St. Clair
Kiss Me Deadly – Michele Hauf (it's free at Amazon!)
Lord of Scoundrels – Loretta Chase
Lord of Ice – Gaelen Foley
Lord Perfect - Loretta Chase
Mackenzie's Mountain – Linda Howard
Masquerade – Susan Carroll
Miracle on I-40 – Curtiss Matlock
Mr. Irresistible – Loretta Chase
Mr. Perfect – Linda Howard
My Lady Notorious – Jo Beverley
No Place Like Home – Barbara Samuels
Nobody's Baby But Mine – Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Now You Die – Roxanne St. Claire
Once & Always – Judith McNaught
One Perfect Rose – Mary Jo Putney
"Only" series - Elizabeth Lowell
Outlander – Diana Gabaldon
Over the Edge- Suzanne Brockmann
Pleasure for Pleasure – Eloisa James
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austin
Romancing Mr. Bridgerton – Julia Quinn
Romeo & Juliet - Shakespeare
Saving Grace - Julie Garwood
Shelter Mountain – Robyn Carr
Show No Mercy – Cindy Gerard
Sugar Daddy – Lisa Kleypas
The Bad Baron's Daughter – Laura London
The Crossroads Cafe – Deborah Smith
The Duke - Gaelen Foley
The Grand Sophy – Georgette Heyer
The Last Bachelor – Betina Krahn
The Last True Cowboy – Kathleen Eagle
The Rake and the Reformer - Mary Jo Putney
The Tiger Prince – Sandra Brown
The Wicked Lover - Julia RossThese Old Shades – Georgette Heyer
Till the Stars Fall – Kathleen Gilles Seidel
To Sir Phillip With Love – Julia Quinn
To The Edge- Cindy Gerard
Too Much Temptation- Lori Foster
Venetia – Georgette Heyer
Walking After Midnight – Karen Robards
Welcome To Temptation – Jennifer Crusie
White Lies – Linda Howard
So…what are you waiting for?? I need your help. Which books should I buy for my Kindle Romance Collection?
46 comments:
This was difficult and very fun. I left off my paranormal must haves because the list is long and mighty- not one can be left off and the limit here was 4. See, I have been making this list for awhile now especially since I am sooo close to convincing Flyboy that a Kindle should be in my future(Mother's Day: hint hint) My romance list is also very long but these titles are special- each one was my first for that author and each one is part of a series that I can read over and over.
Over the Edge- Suzanne Brockmann
Too Much Temptation- Lori Foster
To The Edge- Cindy Gerard
Kill Me Twice-Roxanne St. Clair
Walking After Midnight- Karen Robards
Once & Always- Judith McNaught
White Lies- Linda Howard
Miracle on I-40- Curtiss Matlock
Nobody's Baby But Mine-Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Mr. Perfect by Linda Howard
French Twist by Roxanne St. Claire
Ain't She Sweet by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Hot Target by Suzanne Brockmann
Marilyn
WOW! Hard assignment
Blue-Eyed Devil (Lisa Kleypas)
Heaven Texas (Susan E Phillips) Actually, anything by SEP should be on a romance list.
Tiger Prince - Linda Howard (Very old category)
Loving this list that is forming. Some of these are books I haven't read. Miracle on I-40? Never heard of it. About the only one I haven't read on this list!
Susan Carroll's Serena Richardson works, including Masquerade
Diana Gabaldon's Outlander
Another vote for Kinsale's Flowers From the Storm
and Michele Hauf's Kiss Me Deadly, because it's free all year long at Amazon! ;-)
(You did say we had to list one of our books.)
I should note I've become a Kindle addict, too. Trying to get my paper TBR pile down so yes, I will only order electronic books then too. (Although I'll still by paper books with pretty covers.) I am a little dissappointed though that Amazon has increased the cover price beyond 9.99 on some of their books. And their prices for books that are usually only sold as paperbacks needs to go lower because the electronic version is almost the same as paper.
The Last True Cowboy - Kathleen Eagle
The Crossroads Cafe - Deborah Smith
Now You Die - Roxanne St. Claire
Shelter Mountain - Robyn Carr (her entire Virgin River series is great)
Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer
Venetia by Georgette Heyer
The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer
(Okay, pretty much anything by the incomparable Ms. Heyer)
From This Day Forward and Tryst by Elswyth Thane. Also all seven books in her Williamsburg series.
And the one book from my backlist would be Good Time Girl.
And, yes, I know that's more than four but you weren't really serious about that, were you?
Hey, I'm checking in and updating the list...individual comments in a moment...
Lunatic-
Flyboy must get you a Kindle. It's life changing. Keep working on him!
Great additions to the list. Proving once again that readers love books in series.
Laurie-- Ah...those are some names that have done more than one book worthy of the list!
Marilyn-- I wonder if we should look at everyone's list and see if it says something about them. (g)
Cyndi-- Curtis (Miracle on I-40) is a fabulous author.
Limiting to 4 was pretty hard and I couldn't manage 2 so that's why I made it 4.
Michele! I'm off to download KISS ME DEADLY! I'm so glad you added it.
Re: Kindle pricing
I'm actually okay with paying the $9.99 for books for small presses because in most of those the content creator is actually getting a fair share of the electronic proceeds! And I recently bought a hardcover that was more expensive than a paperback but I didn't have to WAIT for the paperback to come out.
My concern looking at the future is whether the average author can make a living. I want wonderful voices, well-edited. I want them to be able to earn a living without rushing books. And I want them to ONLY write books so we get the books faster rather than having to work a second job.
Yes, I dream.
Loralee-- Deborah Smith. Yep. I could put several of hers on the list but since BelleBooks published CROSSROADS CAFE, that would have been a little self-serving! LOL!
Candace-- Yep, those are good ones. I need all of Heyer. I've re-read those books many times.
Limiting the list to four is impossible. Six is the best I can do, and I can do six only because some all-time fave are already on the list.
My Lady Notorious, Jo Beverley
Pleasure for Pleasure, Eloisa James
One Perfect Rose, Mary Jo Putney
Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, Julia Quinn
Till the Stars Fall, Kathleen Gilles Seidel
A Place to call Home, Deborah Smith
If you decide you need another hundred or so, let me know. :)
Janga--
LOL! I realized that the late comers would have a much easier time because they wouldn't have to limit quite so much. Excellent editions. I think I'm going to sneak in one more Mary Jo, myself!
THE RAKE AND THE REFORMER.
Seriously, Debra? Only four? Eek...
Here's what I have at the moment:
- SEP's Ain't She Sweet
- JQ's To Sir Phillip With Love
- Jennifer Crusie's Welcome to Temptation
- Loretta Chase's Mr. Irresistible
Aack!
How 'bout -
Barbara Samuel's No Place Like Home
Jennie Cruisie's Crazy for You
LaVyrle Spencer's Hummingbird
Fun idea, Deb. I'm looking forward to seeing the final list.
You guys are killing me, adding so many of my faves before I got here.
Mackenzie's Mountain, Linda Howard
Duncan's Bride, Linda Howard
"Only" series, Elzabeth Lowell
Sugar Daddy, Lisa Kleypas
"Crazy" series, Tara Janzen
I'll stop now because I can't get to my keeper shelf at the moment and I'm blanking.
From me, How to Knit a Wild Bikini
I just noticed that you are missing a C book, and just in case you want to use the complete alphabet, Teresa Medeiros's Charming the Prince would fit there nicely. It would also give you a Medieval title, and they are in short supply on the list.
I'm just trying to be helpful. :)
I waited until later in the day. This way everyone else helped me lower down my must haves since I don't want to double. :O)
Lord Of Ice - Gaelen Foley (all the knight books was great. hard picking one)
Highland Warrior - Monica McCarty (she has 6 highlander books out and all are well worth their money)
Into Danger - Gennita Low (again, all of hers are great, so I just choose the first in the series)
Code Name: Princess - Christina Skye (first romance book I read. Picked up after reading about it in Cosmo)
I tried to vary my genre's, picking just one from the ones I like to read.
Flchen1- Aack! Was my reaction when I realized I needed to recreate years of paper reading in electronic form. There are just some books I want to have and now that I can have them without them taking over my house I want to go back and get them!
Helen-- YES! Barbara Samuels had to be on here.
Christie-- I can't believe no one else said Mackenzie's Mountain yet. Good one.
Janga-- LOL! I added it. I'm thinking we're still light on historicals but I haven't made a scientific count (g)
Keri-- Those are excellent. I remember reading the early Galen Foley's! Wasn't that long ago. Well it probably was. It just seems like it wasn't that long ago.
Ok, you have NO classics on there. I figured, when traveling, you might want to look up some quotes from some really early ones to use in presentations.
And no, I'm not limiting myself, because some of these are probably in the public domain and you might be able to get them free:
Jane Eyre - or other Bronte classics
Gone with the Wind - Mitchell
Little Women - Alcott
Pride and Prejudice - Austen
Romeo and Juliette - Shakespeare
And let's see, one of my very favorite enduring love type of romances, The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks.
Aren't you astonished, you've de-lurked the librarian for three days in a row now. :)
Ooops, sorry, I just realized Nicholas Sparks is the only male author to be suggested. Is this a Ladies' Only List?
Are most guys afraid to write romance?
Okay, I'm home again. I'm sorry I didn't get my 2 cents in earlier, but I had trouble with the whole ONLY FOUR thing!
The Bad Baron's Daughter, Laura London
The Last Bachelor, Betina Krahn
Agnes and the Hitman, Jenney Cruise and Bob Mayer
Dead Until Dark, Charlaine Harris
There are a million others I've loved, but these have special resonance for me. AND, because I'm just stubborn, I'm adding #5.
Lightning That Lingers, by Tom and Sharon Curtis oooo, lala.
Oh-- and, hey-- Cindy Gerard's Show No Mercy! Yeow! How I LOVE that book!!!
6 Aren't I naughty.
:) Betina
Hey, Jane!
We'll have to have a contest to see how many days we can unlurk you! LOL!
Classics are good. Jane Austen must be on the list!
I don't have any problem with adding men but I don't think Nicolas Sparks writes romance. He writes a love story but I don't think he writes romance. I need an unambiguous, on-the-page happily ever after. (g)
There are some men who write romance, but not a lot. Several who write with their wives.
Betina-- Excellent additions.
The "4 only" option screwed a lot of us up. (g) I think we could easily add twice as many to this list, but it's certainly a good start for me! I'm going to copy it over to a file and cross them off as I improve my library on Kindle!
"The Wicked Lover" by Julia Ross
"Lord Perfect" by Loretta Chase
"Saving Grace" by Julie Garwood
"The Duke" by Gaelen Foley
I don't think Tiger Prince is by Linda Howard. I think it's by Erin St. Claire (Sandra Brown). And Iris Johansen wrote The Tiger Prince. But I don't think Linda Howard ever wrote one called Tiger Prince. If she did, I want it right now so I can read it because her older category novels are
absolutely the best.
Jane--
More good ones! I love my list.
You guys are great.
Nikki--
I've looked and I can't find a Linda Howard Tiger Prince, so I switched it to Sandra Brown.
Hey guys! If you see this...is there a Linda Howard TIGER PRINCE?
The Perfect Mistress--Betina Krahn
Lightning That Lingers--Tom and Sharon Curtis
Sleeping Beauty--Judith Ivory
Sunrise Song--Kathleen Eagle
A couple of my picks would be:
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James
Undead and Unwed (Any of the Queen Betsy Series) by Mary Janice Davidson
Anthology:
Midnight Cravings by Michele Hauf, Karen Whiddon, Bonnie Vanak, Lori Devoti, and Vivi Anna
(sometimes I like a short sweet read)
Debra:
I hope it's not too late to ad my "four cents" worth. :)!
Jennifer Wilde - "Loves Tender Fury" It's the book that started my love of reading romance.
Kathleen Woodiwiss - "A Rose in Winter" I reread it at least once a year!
Susan Wiggs - "The Raven and the Rose" - I'm not sure...I couldn't find my Very OLD Copy...
Cindy Gerard - "Marriage Outlaw Style" I love the James boys series, but this brother especially is my favorite - I'm kind of a mouthy Maddy myself.
Its really hard to limit it, but, if you could indulge me one more suggestion...any "Mallory" novel by Johanna Lindsey would also be on my list
Thanks for a fun challenge
Cindy
I would also add Donna Kauffman to the list. she has a great series aobut Glass Slipper Inc.
Big Bad Wolf Tells All
Cinderella rules
Dear Prince Charming
Sleeping with Beauty
Not So Snow White
I love them all. They are about 3 older "godmothers" that own Glass Slipper Inc.
Heather
Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie
Death Angel by Linda Howard
Virgin River by Robyn Carr
When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn
I would start every list with Georgette Heyer and Elswyth Thane but am delighted others have taken care of that for me:
Madam Will You Talk by Mary Stewart
Sabrina by Madeleine Polland
Betsy and Joe by Maud Hart Lovelace
Savannah Purchase by Jane Aiken Hodge
I assume someone already put Outlander on this list? And I know there are some contemporaries in my top ten list but my mind is temporarily blank.
I also only buy new books on Kindle unless they are not available. And then I'll wait & see.
I'll try to stick with four but...
Mr. Perfect - Linda Howard (newly available on Kindle)
Secrets Of A Summer Night - Lisa Kleypas (really the whole Wallflower series!)
Love Is Blind - Lynsay Sands
The Perfect Rake - Anne Gracie
Mr. Impossible - Loretta Chase (really the whole Carsington series)
Julia Quinn, Candace Camp, Victoria Alexander, Karen Rose, & Katie MacAlister, & Jacquie D'Alessandro would be some of my other top choices. :)
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