Looking for Recommendations: Light on the Romance

[Cee]

Hi guys!

Lately I'm kind of hating every relationship in the PNR books I've read, so I'm looking for some action-packed urban-fantasy to dig into.

I've already read Kim Harrison's and Kelley Armstrong's series. Anything like that would be awesome (:

(I've also read the Fever series up until book four, but I had to stop because I'm not liking how Barrons is treating Mac)

[Susan]

Patricia Briggs "Mercy" series. Funny and very entertaining; easy on the romance like Harrison and Armstrong. Six books in the 'Mercy" series so far.

Susan Stec, author of The Grateful Undead series

[Brandt]

Ilona Andrews Kate Daniels series seems like the obvious suggestion..
They have lots of action, and is relatively light on the romance (considering it's written from a female pov)..
I can see you already have it on your tbr-list..

Not bad books, but i personally prefer male protagonists, so i only read the first 3..

[Contrarius]

I love the Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman. And you didn't mention Dresden, which is pretty much a must-read.:)

[Michelle]

Patricia Briggs "Mercy" series.

Yes! I am reading that one right now and am really enjoying it. The romance doesn't overpower the action. I'd also recommend Under Witch Moon for the same reasons.

[Susan]

Michelle, just finished the Mercy series - hate that I have to wait for the next book. Just stared Moon Dance by JR Rain. First thing I have ever read of Rain but loved it right off.

[Dawn]

Ditto on Dresden!

I would also add
Downside by Stacia Kane
Assassins' by Jennifer Estep
Felix Castor by Mike Carey
October Daye Novel by Sean McGuire
Kara Gillian by Diana Rowland
Jane Yellowrock by Faith Hunter
Dreg City (I think) by Kelly Meding

[Cee]

Thank you for the recommendations! I will check them all out tomorrow (:

I'm not that sure about Jennifer Estep though, I just did a big rant on one of her books.

[Kel (Faerie-bookworm)]

If you don't mind YA Morganville Vampires is good. And The Deathly Hollows series is good too.

[Dawn]

Celine wrote: "Thank you for the recommendations! I will check them all out tomorrow (:

I'm not that sure about Jennifer Estep though, I just did a big rant on one of her books."

HAHAHA I love your rant and I dislike YA so for me it would feel like double pain. I will say the assassin series does have grey and violet eyes, which does make my eyes roll because seriously why do people have eyes like Elizabeth Taylor. Moving on to other things which annoy me she is quite repetitive at times you wonder how many times can you repeat the same scene and she likes to say things like Gin's enemies are always "sloppy, sloppy, sloppy" or Fin is drinking his drinking chicory coffee...why not just coffee??

Personally I was willing to overlook those details because the story is quite good and I think she did a great job building her world of elementals (people who control fire, ice, air and stone...yes I know water would seem like the element of choice ice not so much BUT it works). Anyway I like that she is an assassin for cold hard cash and she takes pride in her work and does it well. I also like the variety of characters dwarves, giants, and vampires (who are typically hookers). I think the plot moves along fairly fast and I really like all the characters. In this case I would say the good outweighs the bad. It is a nice change in the UF genre IMO

Let me know if you give it a try.

[Valerie ~ Val Hall ~]

Might I add

Greywalker by Kat Richardson
Cassandra Palmer and Dorina Basarab by Karen Chance
Alex Craft by Kalayna Price
Dark Days by Jocelynn Drake
Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne (YA)
Blood Singer by Cat Adams
The Bloodhound Files by D.D. Barant

[Coral]

I'm, going to echo the Diana Rowland suggestion. She's got a series with a demon summoner/cop. There are some romantic elements, but not a lot. Mark of the Demon is the first one. Briggs and McGuire also mentioned above are two of my other favorites, both have romance, but it's limited.

In general, I'm a fan of less romance, so I can't wait to browse through this list. Lots of new books for me mentioned here.

[Kel (Faerie-bookworm)]

Another YA series is the House of Night, if you don't mind YA.

[Cee]

I don't mind YA at all. Thanks guys (:

[Chrysoula]

If I may ask, what's turning you off about the PNR relationships you're reading?

[Cee]

Chrysoula wrote: "If I may ask, what's turning you off about the PNR relationships you're reading?"

I don't know, they just seem wrong or even abusive to me at times. I read where the h/h continually have sex even though they don't trust each other, and the heroine goes as far as saying she hates the hero. In a book I'm currently reading (not PNR, but steampunk romance), the hero actually tied the heroine to a bed while she is struggling, cursing at him and definitely not LIKING it a bit. He then has sex with her even though she's still screaming at him. This was supposed to build "trust" between them and the heroine "respects" him for doing it, because "it had to be done". In my book, that is called rape.

So I'm looking for some non-romance books (: If they have a little romantic interest, that should be fine. As long as it's a sweet one. I'm done with the abusive ones.

[Chrysoula]

Celine wrote:
I don't know, they just seem wrong or even abusive to me at times. I read [bookcover:Stone Kisse..."

That absolutely makes sense. I'm a sucker for good romances but I've found a lot of what shows up in much urban fantasy is less about the romance and more about what I tend to (unkindly, I know) think of as 'loin-tingling'.

[Cee]

Haha, I like loin-tingling! It's so true for a lot of UF books.

[Michelle]

I don't know, they just seem wrong or even abusive to me at times. I read Stone Kissed where the h/h continually have sex even though they don't trust each other, and the heroine goes as far as saying she hates the hero.

I'm so glad that someone else feels this way! I thought I was just being old fashioned, lol. And, Chrysoula, I love the term, 'loin tingling'!

I'd recommend

Under Witch Moon which is uf with some very, very light romance. Also Soulless which is very playful.

[Cee]

Ohh yes, I loved Soulless! I might pick up the next book in the series soon. Never heard of Under Witch Moon, but it sounds very interesting (:

[Betelgeuze]

I'm also turned off by the romance in a lot of PNR, especially the virgin/inexperienced women alpha male theme. I like more confident women and I hate it when the female protagonist lets herself be dominated by the hero when she doesn't really like it.

Some series that have no or little romance:

OSI by Jes Battis

Connor Grey by Mark Del Franco

October Day by Seanan McGuire

Series with a bit more romance, but where the relationships are not abusive:

Sisters of the Moon by Yasmine Galenorn

Persephone Alcmedi by Linda Robertson

Stormwalker by Allyson James

Night Tracker by Cheyenne McCray

[Michelle]

Celine | 52 comments Ohh yes, I loved Soulless! I might pick up the next book in the series soon.

I loved it because it was so much fun! I like steampunk quite a bit, too, so that was nice.

[Marsha]

Dawn wrote: "Ditto on Dresden!

I would also add
Downside by Stacia Kane
Assassins' by Jennifer Estep
Felix Castor by Mike Carey
October Daye Novel by [author:Sea..."

I would like to second the Downside series by Stacia Kane - it's definitely not all lovey-dovey. I also want to second Jennifer Estep's Assassin series. It was pretty good too.

[Aaron]

There is a love interest in this series but its not overwhelming or anything, the first book is

[Marsha]

Aaron wrote: "There is a love interest in this series but its not overwhelming or anything, the first book is"

Oh, these books would fit the bill too! Great suggestion. I've read all the way through to Magic on the Line, where the series seems to have hit a brick wall for me. I'm not sure why - it was so great up until this one. Hoping if I read a few other things and then come back to it, it will jump start my interest again.

[Christine]

Well, gosh, I think everyone already mentioned my favorites: Patricia Briggs, Ilona Andrews, Jim Butcher, Rob Thurman, Diana Rowland.

Did anyone mention Vicki Pettersson or Eileen Wilks? Wilks' series has a bit more romance than Pettersson's.

My new favorite author for the year is Kevin Hearne. If you enjoy a book with a great sense of humor you should check out his Iron Druid Chronicles. The first book is pretty good, but books two and three are downright awesome.

I also really like K.A. Stewart's Jesse James Dawson series, but few people seem to have read it. The hero is a married man with a daughter and he has a great relationship with his wife.