Kathy wrote: "I love Carla Cassidays Romantic Suspense books,she writes a really good mystery and good romance and love her endings,they are great.
Also love Jessica Halls two Heat books"
I will need to check them out. I had been reading a lot of Linda Howard and seem to run out of books to read. Couldn't find other authors that captures my attention yet. Thank you...

Thank you so much Sobia. Yes, I love romance part as much as suspense. I definitely will look somewhere else.
Thanks again.

Parinya wrote: "Has anyone read Dying For Mercy by Mary Jane Clark? Is she a Romantic suspense author?
Any suggestion on this author?"

I haven't read MJC, so I can't say anything about her writing, but I think she's a closed door writer so if you like love scenes as part of your RS, you may have to look elsewhere.

Just wondering about Jill Sorenson? I came across her name in RT magazine, and would love to know if anyone's read her, and what they thought?

So, Kathy, I have quite a few of Lisa Jackson titles on my TBR pile...would you class these as suspense or romantic/suspense??

Has anyone read Dying For Mercy by Mary Jane Clark? Is she a Romantic suspense author?
Any suggestion on this author?

I've just read 2 of Fiona Brand's romantic suspense books (Double Vision and Killer Focus) and I have a question. I liked the books as suspense stories. They had well-crafted danger, mystery, intrigue... all the things you want in a suspense story. But then when she tried to put the romance in, it felt like it was an entirely different author writing. The second book was better than the first but only because it seems like she cut back on the romance.. to the "smidgeon" point.

I wonder why it is so hard for an author to switch genres? She was skilled in "weaving her tapestry" of suspense. Why didn't that carry over into the romance? I've taken a couple creative writing courses. They all teach pretty much the same rules... characterization, plotting, conflict, etc., etc., etc. I wonder why a good romance is so much harder to write than the suspense?

I love ALL J. D. Robb's books even though they are more mystery than romance. The relationship between Eve and Rourke is just yummy all the way through the series.

Another author not mentioned here but I also like is Jayne Ann Krentz. Her rom/susp books are "light" but I think are a good. Her Amanda Quick persona is my all time favourite 'comfort' read of any genre.

Love Anne Stuart Ice series too... Interesting heroes though the heroines tend to make me crazy...

Nora Roberts and Jill Shalvis are great too...

Anne Stuart has some of the most unusual plots and heroes in her Ice series. Love them.

Tara Janzen with her Loose and Easy series with the Steel ST gang does a good, if uneven, job.

Marliss Melton, Cherry Adair, Roxanne St Claire, Geralyn Dawson, Beverly Barton, Andrea Kane, Janelle Davidson, Lucy Monroe, Jill Shavlis, and Lisa Marie Rice are all in both my finished and TRB piles. Getting into my 'keeper' pile has become a very Darwinian affair. :-)

Glitter Baby wrote: "Maureen,
All the Queens Men-Linda Howard

Glitter Baby - Thank you, thank you, thank you for recommending that book. I absolutely loved it! John Medina is too cool for words. ;-)

I actually read Kill and Tell first because I like to read series in order though it turns out Medina was almost periphery in the first book. I actually didn't like Kill and Tell that much because I thought the Marc Chastain character was smarmy and manipulative but I persevered to the second book and I'm glad I did! John Medina is just... well... you know! My kind of guy! LOL I've added this book to my all-time favorites list and will enjoy reading it again.

One thing... for the life of me, I can't figure out where the title comes from. All the Queen's Men? I guess it refers to Dallas and John, but that seems a bit strained for this book.

Glitter Baby wrote: "Maureen,
All the Queens Men-Linda Howard
The book is one with a good suspense story and an equal amount of romance,and pure sexual tension from start to finish.

I just finished my first Linda Howard book - Open Season and found her writing to be wonderful. Very skilled. I will definately get All the Queens Men next. Thanks!

Some of my faves are
Linda Howard
Sharon Sala/Dinah McCall
Allison Brennan
Shannon McKenna (hot/habenero)
Beverly Barton
Geralyn Dawson (she adds a lot of humor)
Lisa Marie Rice (hot/habenero)
Marliss Melton

I just finished reading Elizabeth Lowell's "Tell Me No Lies" and absolutely loved it - primarily because the suspense plot is just as important as the romance. I want more than a "smidge" of romance, as someone put it, but I want more than a "smidge" of suspense too. I've read most of Cherry Adair's stuff and enjoyed them, but they are heavily romance. The bad guys are there just to facilitate the romance. No background on them at all. I've read a couple Nora Roberts suspense (Blue Smoke, Northern Lights) and liked them, but I think I'd like more international intrigue and spies.

Can anyone recommend books that pretty much divide the suspense and romance equally and have international intrigue? Thanks.

I forgot Cherry Adair and I'm reading her series now.

Great books!

eep! I forgot Suz on my list! *smacks forehead* I LOVE her books.

I would add Cherry Adair, Carla Neggers, and Suzanne Brockmann to your list.

I love dark, twisted suspense stories that have a viable romance with it. Rose's books are more on the suspense side but she doesn't neglect the romance, which is why I love them. Plus she tells really fantastic mysteries overall. I'm always hooked when I start a book of hers (and can't wait till the new one next month!).

As an extension of this, any "romantic suspense" authors that you tend to avoid?

Lisa Jackson is on my "no" list when it comes to wanting a romantic suspense. I read a book of hers that, to be fair, was a good book, but was the most unromantic romance I'd ever read. And some romance readers on another site told me her other books were much of the same. So I don't go to her for romantic suspense.

Isis, you named a lot of really good ones. I'd have to say that Karen Rose writes some of the most twisted, down right scary villains, and lately Beverly Barton is following that path. I think there's definitely more 'suspense' in their books, but that's okay with me. Both are excellent storytellers!

Isis, you named them, but I'd like to add:

Roxanne St. Claire

She writes the Bullet Catcher Series. Wonderful books. Good romance with good suspense. Page turners!

I just finished "First you Run" book #6 in her bullet catcher series and it was wonderful!

I just recently read Garwoods Buchanan books. They were pretty good (Heartbreaker was my fav), but a little on the low-intensity side of the suspense angle - which isn't a bad thing, they just weren't the keep-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat type of suspense.

Julie Garwood is great, too. Her Buchanan brothers books all have great romances and good suspense. Her historical novels are equally as good, but I prefer the contemporary.

For me it's:

Nora Roberts - a lot of my favs are from her
Karen Robards - love her books
Beverly Barton - mostly her post Silhouette stuff
Karen Rose - one of the best romantic suspense authors I've read
Christina Skye - though she's a bit more romance
Holly Lisle - she's only done a couple RS books, but I've enjoyed them
Sharon Sala/Dinah McCall - her's are kinda low-intensity RS, but they're great reads
Tara Janzen - the Mission:Crazy series, so good
Linda Howard - her stuff from a few years ago is fantastic, not so much the new stuff

Those are the first that come to mind.

What authors do you think write the best "true-blue" romantic suspense books in the sense that the books have a well-developed suspense plot along with an equally well developed romantic angle?

Why the distinction? Because I've read more than a few "romantic suspense" books that had the barest smidge of romance. Which makes me wary of trying new authors when I want a romantic suspense.

So what authors come to mind when you think of true romantic suspense?