Let's Talk Books

Coming up with a spew of historical favourites took less than a minute. Whittling that list down to my top ten took a whole lot longer. Shuffling the order could have taken me days if I hadn't finally called it a night and gone with what I had. I tried to be really strict about the order, as in, if the apocalypse was going to strike tomorrow and I'd be stuck in some bunker (or, let's say, a tropical island) for the next year, and I was only allowed to take one, yes one, book with me...

My all time, top of the list, favourite would have to be

I actually came to this book late in my reading life, long after I'd fallen in love with historical romance, but it stuck hard and fast. I love alpha heroes, especially ones who have so far to fall when they're finally ready to admit they're head over heels in love and cannot live with their lady.
But most of all, what stuck with me most in this story is the development of Whitney, how we're right there with her as she grows from a spoilt brat to a hoyden and all the way through to a lovely, mature woman.
I could read this book once a week and cry each time.

Now, let's say I'm allowed to take one more book because, you know, a year's quite a long time...

Sensing a theme here? A 'don't give a damn' hero and a young girl with a lot of growing up to do.
The romanticist in me always wants to give these two their happy ending and, I don't know, maybe there's a black spot on my brain that really thinks if I just read it one more time, the ending will change and everything will be sunshine and roses.
On the other hand, this book just would be the same without that famous... all together now... "Frankly, dear, I don't give a damn."

And then the powers that be make me an offer I can't refuse. Toss out the medical kit, they say, and you can take one more book...

Now I do realise this is cheating a bit as that's not the real book cover, but pass up a Colin Firth opportunity? Really? No, I didn't think so.

You know how in school you're expected to pull every line apart, imagine snakes hissing and hear the horse trotting just from the word pattern? Understand the character's entire personality from a few well placed barbs? Well, I never used to get that. I'd nod along with the rest of class and stare blankly at plain english words that told me nothing more than the Oxford Dictionary said they should. Until Pride and Prejudice. Suddenly the underwoven play on sentences and words came alive and finally, finally, I knew what the hell my teacher was talking about. I discovered a whole new art with this novel, not to mention Mr Darcy may have been the first man I fell in love with.

Right, so time's a ticking, you know, with the apocalypse looming first thing in the morning and everything, guess I'd better just get on with the rest of the list nice and quick.

4) The Bride by Julie Garwood... possibly the first Scottish medieval romance I fell in love with. All those years ago, these highland laddies just knocked me off my feet. And because the official blurb just says it so well...
     By edict of the king, the mighty Scottish laird Alec Kincaid must take an English bride. His choice was Jamie, youngest daughter of Baron Jamison...a feisty, violet-eyed beauty. Alec ached to touch her, to tame her, to possess her...forever. But Jamie vowed never to surrender to this highland barbarian....

(5) The Steel Bonnets by George MacDonald Fraser... This is not really a romance. Okay, so it's not even a novel. But it is my number one research book for medieval Scotland and for extending the leash on my muse. Just when I think I've put my hero into a situation that is so bizarre I'm afraid it will snap the suspension of my reader's belief, I'll find a real documented case of some wayward Sottish laird who did just that. When it comes to medieval Scottish history, the facts are just as, if not more, entertaining that fiction.

6) Desperate Duchesses by Eloise James...I had to show this gorgeous cover, the reason I picked up the book in the first place Isn't it pretty? Arranged marriages are one of my favourite tropes, but for every one that worked out fine, in reality there must have been dozens where the husband and wife merely endured each other.

What I love is that this is the story of the arranged marriage that did not work out. At least not at first :)

(7) Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas... Also an estranged husband and wife story, but with a difference. This started out as a love marriage, then turned sour. Now, ten years, hubby wants an heir and these two finally get to sort things out. A beautiful story.

(8) Tempted by Virginia Henley... Ram Douglas is an alpha hero to die for and the heroine is such an outrageous hoyden, you just have to curl up and lose yourseld in this world. One of the things I love most about Henley is her vivid writing that makes you feel as if you're really experiencing that world.

(9) Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught... This one has it all. The rugged hero, The Duke of Claymore. The virgin kidnapped straight from the convent. Family feud. The king's decree that the hero and heroine marry. The hero's refusal to do anything of the kind. And a fabulous ending!!

(10) Beyond the Highland Mist by Karen Marie Moning... Last, but not least by a long mile. In fact, the only reason this one sits at number 10 is that there's time travel and also, I'd have to cheat here and just include her entire Highland series in this spot. Just because.

There are so, so many more favourite historicals that I'd happily be stuck with for a year. What are your favourites?

A Top Ten List

Over the next few months, we at Romancing the Past plan to blog about our favorite historical romances. Here's my Top Ten, in no particular order:

Wild At Heart (Patricia Gaffney, 1997) - A man raised by wolves and the daughter of the scientist who’s studying him, in 1890’s Chicago. The hero is delicious, and I love Gaffney’s writing style.

In for a Penny (Rose Lerner, 2010) - In the interest of full disclosure, Rose Lerner is one of my critique partners, but even if the author were a complete stranger I would’ve fallen for her deft writing and utterly human characters in this fresh take on the Regency marriage of convenience tale.

The Grand Sophy (Georgette Heyer, 1950) - My favorite of Heyer’s prolific output for Sophy’s exuberance and the delightful wit that pervades the whole book.

One Perfect Rose (Mary Jo Putney, 1997) - Though I read trad Regencies and YA romances in high school, I took a break from the genre in college and the next few years thereafter. This was one of the first books I read upon returning, and its story of a duke who thinks he has only months to live and decides to take a break from duty while he comes to term with the news has stayed with me.

Mr Impossible (Loretta Chase, 2005) - Egypt, archeology, scholarly heroine, beta-but-badass hero, Loretta Chase. What’s not to love?

To Love and to Cherish (Patricia Gaffney, 1995) - The hero is a vicar; the heroine starts the book married to his childhood friend. A heartbreaking, moving, and ultimately hopeful story.

The Shattered Rose (Jo Beverley, 1996) - I’m always a fan of Jo Beverley’s rich, well-researched historicals, but this medieval is my favorite. The hero returns from the crusades to find his wife, believing him dead, has moved on with her life. Not an easy story, but sometimes easy is just what I don’t want.

Heaven and Earth (Kathleen Eagle, 1990) - Kathleen Eagle is one of the few authors who can make me read contemporary or Western settings. Very early in her career she wrote a few Harlequin Historicals, and I wish she’d done more because they’re so good. If you can track down a copy of this story of a missionary widowed on the Oregon Trail and the Metis trapper who rescues her, give it a read.

The Rules of Gentility (Janet Mullany, 2007) - A playful romp of a Regency told in first person, alternating between the hero and heroine’s point of view. I’ve used it as a conversion tool on readers who don’t otherwise read romance.

Shattered Rainbows (Mary Jo Putney, 1996) - Military history geek that I am, my favorite part of this book is the Waterloo sequence in the first half, but it’s a great read from start to finish with an especially appealing hero and heroine.

Looking back at my list, it occurs to me that the mid to late 90’s was something of a golden age for historical romance. But I’m enjoying plenty of what I’m reading now, too--I’m just hesitant to put a book on my Top Ten list until I’m sure it’s not just enjoyable at that moment, but memorable years later. (Even In For a Penny qualifies on that count, since I read it in our critique group over a year before it was published.)

What about you? Have you read any of my choices? What are your all-time favorite historical romances?

Susanna Fraser is the author of The Sergeant's Lady (available now) and A Marriage of Inconvenience (April 11, 2011). You can visit Susanna's website here.