I've always kept track of my books and what I have read. I have several hundered books, most are not listed here as of yet, and on average I have at least 30-40 books I have not read yet on my book shelves waiting their turn. I will say there are times when I feel dejavu coming on when I read certain books, it's just a similar story most of the time but occasionally I reread by accident.

I prefer to read all of an authors books before moving on to the next author. Right now I am on Sophie Jordan, and she is actually a really great author. :)
What I really hate is that I READ a lot of romance novels, but I only found Goodreads about half a year ago. So I have been trying to add all of the books I have read to my "read" shelf. However, romance novels are often similar and I keep running across books that I THINK I read, but I am not sure if I actually read them, or if I simply wanted to.
Ugh! I picked up a few books over the past few months and a quarter of the way through the book, I realized I actually read the book 10-15 years ago. LOL Does that happen to any of you? It really irritates me when that happens. :(

joy and kelly::i tend to run a couple of authors/series side by side::i intersperse the books::then i don't get an overload of one particular author::plus it makes the series even better::plus you can actually tell if you're reading something b/c you love it::or::b/c you feel obliged to::

I'm the same way once I find an author that covers all my points of interest I buy everything I can get my hands on, Katherine Deauxville for instance I ended up buying all her books after reading Blood Red Ross, same thing with Woodiwiss though a few of hers I did not care for and all of Laurie McBain. They all have excellant stories with original plots and characters but have the same building passion that leads to the life long love everyone secretly desires.

Kelly wrote: "See, I WANT to be like the readers who are smart enough to put it down and switch things up... because then I would be more entertained when I went back to the author I liked! But I just have trou..."
LOL Once I find an author I like I read ALL of her books asap. It works though because over the years I have compiled a list of great authors, so each month 1-4 of them come out with a new book, which means I never run out of material to read! :)

Kelly I read like you - I want to read all the books in a set pref in the right order. Sometimes I am surprised by a book or two but on the whole - it works for me.

Amanda Quick and Jayne Castle are other names for jayne Ann Krentz... When she writes as Amanda Quick it is almost always a historical romance and the main characters have some interesting quirks - and I often laugh at the situations they get in. Jayne Castle writes paranormal stuff with the same quirky characters....

Laveryl (spelling?) Spencer no longer writes but she wrote wonderful romances like Camden Summer and others - Your library may have them.....

I have some new authors to look up - thanks Ladies.

Thanks for the topic, I love Kathleen Woodiwiss's style and will look at the authors recommended.
www.jessicajamesbooks.com

I've read Roselynde and it's a fantastic book. I highly recommend it. It's a medieval, and the setting is very detailed and well-researched. It has that "old-style epic" feel :) I think it would meet your requirements Kelly, as the characters are well-developed before they get together and the intimacy part is tame.

One thing to know - the Roselynde Chronicles are a series and the must be read in order. Roselynde is the first book.

I've never heard of Arnette Lamb. Will have to look her up.

I love Kathleen Woodiwiss books. I read her a lot when I was quite young, but what I remember her the most is her lyrical prose.

One writer that pops into my mind that has almost the same kind of writing (meaning very detailed prose) is Jacquelyn Frank. However, she writers Paranormal romance, so I don't know if that is your cup of tea, Kelly.

Thanks Teresa! I've never read anything by Roberta Gellis, I'll certainly look into her. Those sound great! I'll have to check out Arnette Lamb and Teresa Medeiros also. Thanks for the help - I have trouble finding authors I really enjoy because I prefer more plot and detail, even if it makes for a longer book with less actual "romance". :)

Hi Kelly! Have you tried reading Roselynde by Roberta Gellis? I read it several years ago and found Roberta's style of writing to be very in-depth and detailed. At the time I read it I had a very active toddler so I couldn't enjoy it as much as it deserved. I must try reading it again now that my toddler is a teenager! I believe there are several books in the Roselynde Chronicles.

I mentioned in another post, and I see Pamela also mentioned, Arnette Lamb. She had the most wonderful characters and stories. I had a clean out a few years ago and I believe all her books went to charity but I would love to read them again.

I've enjoyed work by Teresa Medeiros as well. A Whisper of Roses has always been one of my favorites!

Good luck!

Teresa

See, I WANT to be like the readers who are smart enough to put it down and switch things up... because then I would be more entertained when I went back to the author I liked! But I just have trouble not reading everything they've written since I know I like their style.

All right, I'm going to try to be smarter about this in the future and switch around. You've all inspired me :)

I too find myself looking up backlists when I find an author I like. I try not to go overboard and empty out the bank account though. I have often looked at reviews to see which ones I should "check out".

I am like you Kelly, in that if I find an author I like (especially if their first two or three books are 4-5 stars for me), I'll glom their backlist, but if an author fails to spark my interest they usually end up on the back burner. I might give them another try or two at some point though, because I figure they deserve at least a second chance. Even some of my favorite authors have occasionally written books that didn't wow me, and if I'd read those first and didn't ever read another book by them, I would have missed out on some great reads.

Once I find a new author I enjoy though, I'm like new_user and Yz. I usually can't read more than two books by the same author or in the same genre or time period without getting bored, so I switch around a lot.

I'm more like new_user when it comes to reading. I like switching authors around, so I don't OD on a certain writing style and it keeps authors' works fresh to me.

I tend not to do that because if an author's style is too similar in each book, it can get old really fast, LOL. So I switch it up. :)

Thank you!! I've actually read some Julie Garwood and really liked hers, Julie, so that makes me very excited to check out the rest of your list of recommended authors!

And thanks to you too, Pamela, because I'm not familiar with any of the authors you've mentioned :)

I think one of my challenges is that when I find an author I like, I read every single book that they've written - but if I don't like the style of an author in the first book, I won't read any more by that person. Which means the authors I know, I've read everything by already, so I'm always looking for someone new that I'll enjoy!

Does anyone else have that problem?! I guess it's an easy one to have when so many historical romance novelists like to write serial romances where you get to know a particular family and see each of them meet their spouses.

Because how can you put those down?!

I can't think of anyone who really writes quite like Woodiwiss IMO but I can make some recommendations if u want em :)
Lisa Kleypas
Laurie McBain
Johanna Lindsey (Some of her earlier work)(the first 3 or so of her Malory series is pretty good too)
I remember Arnette Lamb was pretty good and I plan on reacquainting myself with her work.
Hannah Howell
Tamara Leigh (her first 4 historicals)

Here are some authors whose works I've enjoyed and whose stories generally meet the criteria you mentioned:

Lorraine Heath
Loretta Chase
Catherine Anderson
Barbara Samuel
Julie Garwood
Laura Kinsale

Hope you find something you enjoy.:-)

I really enjoy Kathleen Woodiwiss style historical romances, and am wondering if other people who like her work could recommend some of their other favorite authors who might be similar. Let's swap suggestions!

My favorite things about her work:

- She builds tension and excitement between characters for most of the book before letting them become intimate

- when they do become intimate it errs on the side of subtle rather than graphic

- Her books have complex characters and situations that go beyond angry, tempestuous heroine stereotypes (or strong, bull-headed male whose passion allows him to woo said tempestuous female)

I've had luck with authors like Jude Deveraux, Catherine Coulter, and Karen Marie-Moning. Any other ideas?

Happy reading,

kelly