Just a note

[Courtney]

Hey! I'm new here and so I guess I'll just ask for some recommendations for books since this seems to be the most open thread at the moment! I wanted recommendations on romance books that have really good character development before the main characters share the bed, if you get my drift. I find that it's not as enjoyable and you can't connect much with the character when you don't know them to begin with. So any suggestions? And thanks ahead of time!

[Stacia (the 2010 club)]

Do you have a specific genre in mind, such as historical, contemporary, paranormal, etc?

I know that often a lot of Urban Fantasy series will feature a couple who fall in love over several books, and don't often get to the deed in the first or second (sometimes not even the third) book.

It might help to know what you're interested in checking out, so we don't give book recs for genres you're not interested in.

[Courtney]

Well I'm not too picky about the genre. I love historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, urban, and contemporary. I would prefer it not to be a long series (such as no more than 3 books unless you can recommend a really good one). It also has to be from a female POV for me, however I don't mind switching back and forth between the main characters. Another preference (but not a stickler on) is 3rd person POV.

[Leea]

Welcome Courtney! Here are some books i've enjoyed, sorry but some series are longer than 3 books...

Wallflowers is a great series to read, 5 books total and each book is about one of the girls finding a husband. I enjoyed them all! The Spin off series is The Hathaways.

These are stand alone books.

The Black Dagger Brotherhood Series, It's got a lot of graphic sex so just keep that in mind. Ward is still writing books for this series.

I just found this series and I love it!!

This is an epic love story that spans Tatiana and Alexanders life. It's gut retching and tore my heart out but it's my second favorite series. It's only 3 books :)

[Courtney]

Hey Leea! Thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to look into Virgin River since I plan to be in that field soon (nursing)! And I'll also check out The Bronze Horseman. I did read a Lisa Kleypas book called It Happened One Autumn and it was ok. I didn't really get into it.

I guess I like books that are not exactly "fluffy" reads. I like books with romance instead of romance books, if you get what I mean. I prefer the novel to not center around the romance but instead be engaging.

Are there any other recommendations you guys can give me?

[Leea]

I get what you mean, So Lisa Kleypas is has more "fluff" than most. Do you like Young Adult books? You like the build up to the romance? if so you should read the Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning Darkfever

[Courtney]

Hmm, I've been mulling over whether to get that series. I see it all the time and I just might get it! And I do like YA books but I really do prefer adult books because I personally don't want to read from teen perspectives.

I do like the building up to romance and thanks for the recommendations! I'm still open to more, of course!

[Stacia (the 2010 club)]

The Fever series does have a longer wait before any coupling happens. It takes several books to get to that point, but once it does happen, it's pretty explicit.

[Leea]

Have you read the Hunger Games? I agree about YA, hate it when they are based in High School or so whiny... Just have this same conversation with my girlfriend :)

Not sure why I feel it's my responsibility to find you the right book... must be my type A personality. Sorry to bombard you with books. LOL!!

[Courtney]

Stacia, that seems to fit into my preferences though I don't like having to buy so many books xD. Do you have other recommendations?

Leea, it's totally fine! Keep bombarding me! I'm always looking for book recommendations and I find that reviews on Amazon or Barnes and Noble don't really help me. Some books that I bought based on reviews, such as Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake and Ice Blue, I found I didn't enjoy.

I'm glad someone agrees with me about the YA books. It's weird, but I don't like reading about characters that are younger than me and I'm sure when I'm older and still reading, I'll have to get over that. But for now, that's how I feel! I haven't read the Hunger Games yet, but I will since there's so much hype about it and it's going to be a movie. I definitely try getting it.

[Mishelle, 'The Book Bag']

Stacia "the" truck stop waitress wrote: "The Fever series does have a longer wait before any coupling happens. It takes several books to get to that point, but once it does happen, it's pretty explicit."

Yup!!! But OH SO WORTH THE WAIT.

[Leea]

Welcome Denise, glad you found us! We do have an introduction thread if you wanted to start there...

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5...

[Glam_Gramma]

http://www.flickr.com//photos/rtbookr...

Found this link and thought it was an interesting slide show on how a romantic book cover shoot goes. Hope the link works.

[Leea]

That's funny!! Thanks for sharing.

[Sumi]

Ummm...this is a question for the mods, or the highly active thread experts. I'm a writer (don't stop reading! please! not an author, a *writer*) who's just finished a manuscript. I'm not here to push a book, because I have no book--I'm in the process of editing for submission, which means a book is at least a year or more away.

What I do have is questions about other members' opinions on certain very atypical romance-novel components (like consistent martial-arts action that's integral to the plot; ditto elements of SF and fantasy), and I want to ask those questions in a way that's respectful of people's time and sensibilities (i.e., I don't want to spam up a thread where people have come to discuss something else). Could someone please point me to a place/places on the discussion forum here where people might be interested in discussing those issues?

Thanks in advance for your time, and help.

[Gwennie]

Thank you so much for asking, Sumi. We really appreciate honesty and respect of the groups rules.

If there are no promotions and no book, and the topic is purely conversational and doesn't feel argumentative or promotional, a thread in the 'Coffee Corner' folder would probably be fine.

Just be aware that we would reserve the right to move the thread into the author/promotions folder if it feels like anyone is steering the coversation toward something more geared to a type of promotion.

[Sumi]

Wendy F wrote: "Thank you so much for asking, Sumi. We really appreciate honesty and respect of the groups rules.
If there are no promotions and no book, and the topic is purely conversational and doesn't feel argumentative or promotional..."

Neither argumentative nor promotional are what I'm after--neither will tell me what members think and feel about my questions, which is what I really, really need to know. Thanks so much for answering this promptly, Wendy; I appreciate the guidance. I'll try to make sure nothing gets steered towards promotions; if it starts cropping up I'll post a gentle reminder.

And I saw on the intro thread that you recently had a birthday--happy belated :-) . I hope that your birthday was happy, and your coming year is too.

[Gwennie]

Thank you so much! :)