dear isobel

I read like some people breathe. When I get my hands on the family digital camera, I’ll take photos of the two full book cases and the three shelves of books in my room alone so you might get an idea of how much I read. My favorite two genres are romance and history. The following are the authors I read in alphabetical order:

Liz Carlyle: Her novels are incredibly moody and tend to be very dark. They’ve dealt with themes I’ve rarely found in romance novels such as incest and adultery (the latter is found more than the former but Carlyle has a special way of making it very fresh). My favorite thing about her books is that they are all connected, mostly through her character of George Kemble whom I believe appeared in every single novel from My False Heart to Never Deceive a Duke.

Jennifer Crusie: I don’t think I can describe quite how much I love Jennifer Crusie. Her novels are fast-paced, with quick wit and the most fabulous dialogue I’ve ever read. I’ll buy anything she writes, no matter how old and she writes one of the best author blogs I’ve ever read. She’s incredible. Welcome to Temptation and Faking It are my two favorite novels. Her secondary characters are almost as awesome as her main characters and she pays such awesome attention to detail. Her partnership with Bob Mayer gave me Agnes and the Hitman, which was just…there are no words.

Suzanne Enoch: I adore her. She writes one the best contemporary series I’ve ever read — the Samantha Jellicoe books. They’re so much fun and I usually have them on preorder. They’re sincerely my favorite contemporary set of books. Her historical books are also incredible. I definitely recommend.

Lisa Kleypas: Her books are always unique, which is so refreshing to read in the regency genre.  I enjoy each and every one of them, but hands down I think the Wallflower quartet she published recently is my favorite out of her books. Devil in Winter has one of my favorite pairings of Evie and Sebastian. I’m in love with them. Her new contemporary Sugar Daddy was spectacular. As soon as it’s sequel ends up in paperback, I’ll picking it up.

Stephanie Laurens: I have weird relationship with my Stephanie Laurens books. She was one of the first historical romance authors I discovered and I get all of her books when they come out (if my budget calls for it) but I don’t reread them as often as I do my other books. When I get in a mood, I could go through all of my Crusies and my Quinns and my Roberts books, but Stephanie Laurens’s heroes tend to be similiar so I never really get back into the books as much as I do through the first reading. She makes the list though because I do enjoy her plots. They’re always very cool to read.

Cathy Maxwell: One my recent finds. She was an author featured in a few anthologies I picked up and I enjoyed her small features enough to pick up one of her novels. After reading Temptation of a Proper Governess, I simply had to continue reading and I devoured her collection thanks to BooksFree, which allowed me to read very fast and get another book the next week.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips: A very recent addition to my list of favorites. I had heard quite a bit about her Chicago Stars series and Dream A Little Dream was on sale at my local CVS pharmacy so I picked it up. About five seconds after I had finished the book, I went to Ereader and I think I have her entire collection in ebooks now. I could reread her novels over and over (and I honestly do) and never get bored. I never thought I’d like football stars as my romantic heroes, but well, I was proved wrong.
Julia Quinn: She’s been called the modern day Jane Austen and I can’t really disagree. When I got my first job and had my own money to finally spend on my book collection, I bought a copy of To Sir Phillip, With Love. As I was reading it, I realized I had to find Anthony’s book. And Colin’s. I immediately went out and stocked up on more. When I checked out the Julia Quinn books on Amazon recently for the fanlisting I have, all my purchases of JQ books are in March 2005. I literally bought her entire catalog in about a month, heh. She’s got an incredible sense of dialogue, which is my favorite part. I always felt dialogue was my strongest part in my own writing, so I love when I find an author who has great snappy dialogue. Crusie has an awesome sense of dialogue as well.

Nora Roberts: I think she’s at the top of everyone’s lists or at least in the top ten. She’s incredibly prolific, her books never feel the same to me and I buy everything she writes as soon as I can get my hands on them. That goes for her JD Robb series “In Death” as well.

Honorable Mentions: Karen Ranney, Karen Hawkins, Eloisa James, Amanda Quick/Jayne Ann Krentz, Catherine Anderson and Victoria Alexander.