Today, we’re sharing the answers from the second question on this week’s reading quiz:
Who is, currently, your favorite romance author?
You had lots of choices but a few authors showed up a bunch! Ilona Andrews (twelve), Sherry Thomas (seven), Gregory Ashe (six times), Loretta Chase (six), and several other authors got multiple shout outs. We’d love to see, in the comments your–just one please!–favorite book by the author you chose!
| (There are so many!) J Keyes, K Clayborne, R Knox, SE Phillips, L Chase, S Bowen, C Lauren |
| Ainslie Paton |
| Alexis Hall (Contemporary)
KJ Charles (Historical) Gregory Ashe (Suspense) |
| Barbara O’Neal (Samuel) |
| Carla Kelly |
| Carla Kelly & Sarina Bowen |
| Caroline Linden |
| Cat Sebastian |
| Courtney Milan |
| Dorothy Mack |
| Georgette Heyer |
| Grace Burrowes |
| Grace Burrowes |
| Gregory Ashe |
| Gregory Ashe |
| Gregory Ashe |
| Gregory Ashe |
| Gregory Ashe |
| I really don’t have one, I really like a few but no all out fave. |
| Ilona Andrews |
| Ilona Andrews |
| Ilona Andrews |
| Ilona Andrews |
| Ilona Andrews |
| Ilona Andrews |
| Ilona Andrews
Patti Briggs Anne Bishop |
| Ilona Andrews
Nalini Singh |
| Ilona Andrews, Patricia Briggs, Kristen Ashley |
| Ilona Andrews, Bec McMaster |
| Ilona Andrews/Kristen Ashley… can’t pick!!! |
| J D Robb |
| Jane Ann Krentz |
| Jasmine Guillory |
| Jayne Krentz |
| Jennifer Crusie |
| Julie Anne Long |
| Julie Anne Long |
| Julie Anne Long |
| K.A. Tucker or Julianna Keyes |
| Kati Wilde |
| Kelly Hunter |
| KJ Charles |
| KJ Charles |
| Kristan Higgins |
| Kristen Ashley |
| Laura Lee Guhrke |
| Lily Morton |
| Linda Howard |
| Lisa Kleypas |
| Lisa Kleypas |
| Lisa Kleypas |
| Lisa Kleypas |
| Lisa Marie Rice |
| Loretta Chase |
| Loretta Chase |
| Loretta Chase |
| Loretta Chase, Tessa Dare, Julie Anne Long |
| Lucy Parker |
| Lucy Parker |
| Madeline Hunter |
| Mariana Zapata |
| Marsha Canham |
| Mary Balogh |
| Mary Balogh |
| Mary Balogh |
| Mary Balogh |
| Mary Balogh |
| Meredith Duran |
| Meredith Duran |
| Meredith Duran |
| Meredith Duran… I wish she’d write again! |
| Nalini Singh |
| Nalini Singh |
| Noelle Adams |
| Nora Roberts |
| Penny Reid, Lucy Parker and Jude Deveraux |
| Pippa Grant or Laurenston/Aiken or Krentz/Quick/Castle |
| Probably Kristan Higgins. Despite her recent switch to women’s fiction, she still delivers quality stories. |
| Renee Ryan |
| Sabrina Jeffries |
| Sally Malcolm |
| Sandra Antonelli |
| Sara Donati |
| Sarah Mayberry |
| Sarina Bowen |
| Sarina Bowen |
| Sherry Thomas |
| Sherry Thomas |
| Sherry Thomas |
| Sherry Thomas |
| Sherry Thomas |
| Sherry Thomas, Meredith Duran, Sonali Dev |
| Sherry Thomas |
| Sierra Simone |
| Simona Ahrnstedt |
| Simone St. James |
| Stella Riley |
| Susannah Kearsley |
| Suzanne Enoch or Rebekah Weatherspoon |
| Tessa Bailey |
| Tessa Dare |
| Tessa Dare, Nalini Singh |
| Too many to list |
| Ugh, can’t decide who so i’ll have to say Ilona Andrews/Nalini Singh |
| Working currently: Loretta Chase. |
As I mentioned in the last post I had the hardest time choosing my favorite anything. This is not new to me. Way too often indecision paralyzed me so badly that it keeps me from doing things, makes me late etc. But I didn’t want to let this be one of those occasions so I forced myself to choose. And I’m glad I did, but it did result in, how should I put it, kind of weird-ish answers perhaps.
Out of a bunch hard choices this was possibly the hardest. I honestly don’t think I’ve tried to figure out who my favorite author is in any genre since I was in my teens and my favorite authors (even then there were three) were Ursula K. LeGuin, Iain M. Banks and William Gibson. (Science fiction was pretty much all I read at that point in my life, and I do still have a fondness for the genre.) It felt easy giving that answer back then, I was so sure about it, those three were special in ways no one else was. Since then, I’ve had favorite books, not really favorite authors. Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say that I have a whole bunch of favorite authors and even more authors who have written one or two books that are very important to me even if the rest of their works are not my thing. It just feels impossible to rate one above the others. I do not know how. How do you tell who your favorite author is?
I did answer the poll, though, and my answer was Ainslie Paton. Not because I think she’s my all time favorite romance writer, but I’ve been reading through her back catalogue (I’m not done yet) lately and been impressed with almost everything so far. It’s once again hard to choose a favorite, so I’ll pick two to make it a bit easier. Hooked On A Feeling (set in the 1970s Sydney) and lets say The Love Experiment (contemporary) since it’s been reviewed here although it might just as well have been Unsuitable. And that wasn’t actually two, it was three. Go me.
Julie Anne Long…What I Did for a Duke.
I have several favourites from the past who will always be admired by me, a number of whom were mentioned in the quiz results, such as Mary Balogh (auto-buy), Loretta Chase, Carla Kelly and, of course, Georgette Heyer. But this year and last I discovered three new authors who have joined my personal favourites list and I have enjoyed all three so very much. Annabelle Costa whose books make me laugh out loud; Emily Larkin whose fun embellishments using the slightly wacky supernatural; and Mimi Matthews whose The Work of Art was a stunning story and so I have been gloming her back list. So that’s my old and my new.
Hi Elaine, I discovered Mimi Matthews pretty recently too and agree with you that she is wonderful! My favorite of hers is The Lost Letter but The Work of Art was indeed amazing!
I also interpreted this as the author I love most of those books I have recently read (say, in the past year). This year I discovered my pick Sally Malcolm and my favorite of hers is Perfect Day. I also love many of the other authors listed above. Another discovery this year is Lily Morton and my favorite of hers is Rule Breaker. Of note, I found both of these authors due to AAR reviews so thank you! I have long read Mary Balogh and Lisa Kleypas so I’ll give my favorite picks for each of their more recent books. For Balogh it is Someone to Honor and for Kleypas it is Chasing Cassandra.
Manjari – her short story collection, Short Stack, came out on Monday. It’s a must for Morton fans – I smiled through the entire collection & particularly loved one featuring Jude and Asa (a new short).
Each story is a quick glimpse of Morton’s talent for crafting romantic, sexy, funny, and tender stories. The collection is on KU. I LOVED IT. Hard. Definitely on my Top 10 reads this year.
Em, I get Lily’s newsletter so I knew it was coming out. I’m not sure where you live but it was available on Amazon US on Fri, 10/2. But because I live on the West Coast, I was able to get it on Kindle at 9 PM on Thursday! I read about 75% Thursday night then the rest Friday afternoon. I LOVED IT HARD! Now I need her to do the same for the Close Proximity books….
Yes!!! Thank goodness she always seems to have a new – excellent – release right around the corner. This was a delightful & has prompted me to reread her back catalog.
Again.
My favorite (or at least most-reread) book by a favorite author is Ravished by Amanda Quick.
I interpreted the question as favorite author I’ve been reading lately – like this year. And while my favorite book so far this year is Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall, my favorite author has to be Gregory Ashe because . . . . there is just so many great titles to choose from. My favorite this year is whichever one I’m currently reading. Which happens to be The Same Breath.
Ok, so I kind of sort of cheated there, working in two favorite authors. And even then I feel badly because there have been a number of excellent titles so far this year. But Ashe’s sheer volume of publication in the last two years puts him clearly at the top of my list as favorite current author.
WIth you on Gregory Ashe – the sheer quality of his work at the volume he produces it is incredible.(And he’s not even a full-time writer!) He’s also one of only two male authors on this list (I’m including the male half of Ilona Andrews in that!)
The Same Breath is brilliant and is – amazingly – familiar and yet not quite like anything else he’s written. It’s a strong contender for my Book of the Year.
Different strokes, I guess. I have yet to attempt a book by Ashe that I was able to finish. Its great so many readers love his work though!
I also voted for Ashe!
The Same Breath is one of my favorite books this year. And maybe a few more of his are making the list too! Prolific, talented, & clever – he’s terrific.
I voted Loretta Chase, and Mr Impossible is probably my favorite romance of hers. How can you not love Rupert Carsington?
I voted for Loretta Chase because of Mr. Impossible too!
Rupert Carsington is a fascinating romance hero. He’s neither an alpha nor a cinnamon roll, he is attracted to Daphne because she’s intelligent and passionate about her work, and the way he had to have his feelings spelled out to him from an outside party was adorable and life-like.
I’m also fascinated by how Daphne’s character is clearly inspired by Dorothea’s journey in Middlemarch and delighted that there’s a romance novel that reads just like The Mummy!
Me too. I’ve never been able to decide if I love Mr. Impossible because it’s the first romance novel I ever read or if it’s because it really is that wonderful. Rupert, sigh.
Rupert’s not very introspective, but he’s so enamoured with Daphne that he’s just a charmer. He loves her ‘goddess smell’ and teaches her to believe in herself, he throws people out of windows for her…what more could a girl want? Lol!!
I would love more books about them, but Chase isn’t a terribly prolific writer, so I doubt there will ever be any. I enjoy all of her books, they generally make me laugh out loud quite often, but this one is my favorite!
When men ask me for an HR rec, I always suggest this one and they always love it. There is so much action and humor, and Rupert isn’t the Mr. Darcy type that so many heroes are modeled after. I think most modern guys can relate to Rupert’s lack of personal insight, his instinctive rather than intellectual intelligence, and his heroic and devoted nature. Long live Rupert Carsington!!
I love Loretta Chase, she’s one of my favorite HR authors. Rupert Carsington is perfect and I adore Daphne – the whole book is wonderful. My favorites are Lord of Scoundrels, The Last Hellion and Miss Wonderful, but I haven’t read a book a hers that I didn’t like.