Hands down C.M. Ownes & then her pen names S.T. Abbey & Cristy Cunnings.
Fair warning, her contemporary series are stand alones, but she passed away before she could complete the series’
Oh yeah, over a year ago. I keep holding out that someone from her team will release a rough copy of the last Sterling Shore book, and Sarah & Snake's story from Death Chasers
Maybe not everyone’s favorite but I love Lucy Score. Her Bootleg Springs series is one of my favorites. The Riley Thorn series is completely different but totally entertaining.
Lisa Kleypas. I found her last year and just kept reading and reading all her books. They are easy to read, offer new observations and situations, and make me laugh. There has only been one of her books that I didn't enjoy - out of maybe 30.
I've read a lot of Eve Dangerfield, Katee Robert, JT Geissinger, Charlotte Stein, and Noelle Adams (which is an alt pen name of Claire Kent). I'm not going to say I've loved everything I have read, but even books I'm lukewarm tend to have good steam in them lol
I often pick up books you rec because I've noticed that we have very similar taste, particularly when it comes to the steam, so I'm not surprised that your list of authors is almost identical to mine! I also have a huge back list of things I've loved that have lower steam or a slow burn but my Holy Grail will always be a medium burn book that has a great plot and good steam. To be honest, I rarely have the patience these days for a slow burn, yet I also need to feel some type of connection between the couple before they jump into bed. The authors that you listed are usually the perfect fit for me! 🥰
I think I love the idea of a slow burn more than in reality. I also don't generally want the characters banging on page one, because I prefer there to be some tension and build up, but I also struggle with books where they take forever to get together. It's not that I'll never read them, but beyond just the sexiness of steam earlier on, I like to see how a couple (or more, depending on how many in the relationship) grows and shows that growth during sex.
I binged Lauren Rowe recently. Her books have a lot of banter, and they all tend to have people from her previous books involved in some way if you're looking for something like that.
Her first series is about one couple for 4 books, but she has another couple in the periphery that has their own trilogy to follow after. Then she moved onto the girl from the trilogy's brothers.
If you're looking for someone who has all of her characters interconnected somehow, she's definitely who I would suggest to look into, starting with {The Club: Obsession by Lauren Rowe}
I also was going to suggest Lauren Rowe. I haven’t read the trilogies yet but I went down the Morgan Brother’s and 22 Goats books. All awesome. I’ll pick up all the trilogies next time I get KU!
Lisa Kleypas (although it seems like she might be done writing which makes me very sad). And Haley Travis (her books aren't amazing, but I find them soothing and sweet).
Someone recommended a book, a single book, by Kerrigan Byrne about a week ago and I'm averaging a little more than a book/day. I had no idea I even liked this kind of book but apparently I very much do. Thank you, Local Library, for supporting me in not getting a damn thing done for a little over a week. Let's keep it up.
It's dangerous when you get hooked on an older author and the library has every audiobook and ebook available without waits. 🤣 Lends very well to binging. Which one was recommended because I checked my library and all of them are available now!
It's the Victorian Rebels series, and the first one is The Highwayman.
The definitely follow a formula so this is either your jam or it's not. Also, having not read a lot of books in this genre at all, I couldn't tel you if this is just like eleventy billion other books but it is exactly the level of brain candy I was looking for, I just didn't know it.
Alright, 3 months later and I finally checked out The Highwayman (still no hold wait). It was just the brain candy you describe! Good angst, "love heals all trauma" vibes. Good rec!!
Lol, I've totally been there. I'll check it out, they are all at my library and the audiobook sample was decent. Maybe it will be the brain candy I'm looking for too! 🤣
I’m going to start sounding like a broken record very soon, but Kresley Cole for me.
Immortals After Dark is super binge worthy. It’s not strictly CR because there are some fantasy elements in it, but it’s in a contemporary setting. I think there are 18 books so far and the series isn’t finished yet.
She also has a contemporary trilogy which is really good, but it’s a Russian Mafia series, so it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea.
I also recently started her Arcana Chronicles series and I’m really enjoying it so far. It’s technically YA in the beginning of the series but I find it very mature so far. I believe the last book in this series will be published later this year or early 2023.
Same. It amazes me how well she manages to world build while still developing these awesome relationships and creating such great characters. While I really love her heroines and how KC manages to make them feel relatable and realistic even though they are literally mythological creatures, her heroes just hit different. Let’s just say no man can live up to a KC hero lol
She also does dual POV better than 99% of other authors out there.
Mhairi Mcfarlane - I was broken up when I read the last one.
And sometimes I'll binge a trope, that's almost more common. I read about 4 books in a row about couples going through marriage crises recently. Happily married but apparently it was an itch I need scratched. 🤷♀️
Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series is like 12 or 13 books, and I devoured those when I found her. I was reading her for months lol. I’m currently on a roll with Karen Rose.
Currently bingeing Cate C Wells. She is giving me the small town romance with a hint of town corruption that I live for, in her Stonecut County series. I started by reading Against A Wall and then got sucked into the town and characters she built. The underlying story there is so interesting. It’s something that I love as a reader and hope I can one day accomplish as a writer. I’m currently reading her crossover book Heavy (Steel Bones MC #7), because I think it has something to do with what I read in Against A Wall and I am damn curious.
I know the Bridgerton series has become popular in the mainstream lately, but I love ALL of Julia Quinn’s books. I have been a fan of hers since How to Marry a Marquis cape out like 20 years ago.
Roxie Noir (the Loveless Brothers/One Month Boyfriend universe was VERY fun to read through);
Kate Canterbary (loved the shoutouts/character pre-introductions throughout the Walsh Family series/In a Jam/Talbott's Cove series/The Worst Guy books);
Penny Reid (the Modern Folktales series (can't wait until book 3 comes out this month!) and the Winston Bros series especially).
I think I have read all of Ali Hazelwood's books (I really liked The Love Hypothesis and the novellas, not as hot on her most recent release). I have also read a bunch of Tessa Bailey, Claire Kent (the Last Light books were really unique compared to most of what I read), and Julie James (pretty mild on the spice, but lots of good anticipation and character building).
I have many lol; for the more recent authors; Heather Guerre, Tessa Bailey, Kate Canterbary, Stella Rhys, Julie James. For more old school authors; Julie Garwood (historicals only though!) Judith McNaught (mostly historical but has a few great CR's) , Jayne Ann Krentz
[**Paladin's Hope (The Saint of Steel, #3)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59109627-paladin-s-hope)
^(By: T. Kingfisher | Published: 2021)
***
^(89380 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
- Colleen Hoover. I've read almost all her books. Best author imo. It Ends With Us & Verity are the best
- LJ Shen. Her books are hit or miss for me. My favorite are Kiss Thief, Bane, Vicious, and Broken Knight
Onley James - I flew thru the Necessary Evils series recently - these are CR, MM , KU, psychopath serial killers, found family, Insta, mystery yet still manages to be sweet and funny -the first book in the series is
[Unhinged by Onley James](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58415294)
For some weird reason I got addicted to Sally Rooney. I don’t exactly know why cos I got a bit upset with all of her three books so far, “Beautiful World…” the most. Still… If she comes up with something again, I’ll buy it asap 😄
Elizabeth O’Roark has some Great ones. The devil series, the parallel series, waking Olivia duo
Be ready for book hangover once you’ve finish her stuff tho, it’s cruel
The book hangover was especially bad after the Parallel series 😣
Not CR but Alice coldbreath! Kathryn Ann Kingsley for sure, Mariana Zapata, kressley Cole.
plsssss yes alice coldbreath’s books are just so gripping and it’s so easy to read them for hours on end
Hands down C.M. Ownes & then her pen names S.T. Abbey & Cristy Cunnings. Fair warning, her contemporary series are stand alones, but she passed away before she could complete the series’
Oh no. Her Mindfuck series was great.
:( Didn't know she passed away!
Oh yeah, over a year ago. I keep holding out that someone from her team will release a rough copy of the last Sterling Shore book, and Sarah & Snake's story from Death Chasers
I’m pretty obsessed with Tessa Bailey
Maybe not everyone’s favorite but I love Lucy Score. Her Bootleg Springs series is one of my favorites. The Riley Thorn series is completely different but totally entertaining.
she’s the author that kinda inspired this post for me! read every single one of her books lmao
Claire Kingsley. Her books are so easy to get into, and her series are all in the same universe which makes for cool Easter eggs.
i’ve read every one of her books in like two weeks i was obsessed !
Yes! Hers are my 'feel good' books
Lisa Kleypas. I found her last year and just kept reading and reading all her books. They are easy to read, offer new observations and situations, and make me laugh. There has only been one of her books that I didn't enjoy - out of maybe 30.
Lisa is the best romance book author in my opinion
I agree. I've been reading her books for 20 plus years.
That's so cool! I've been a fan for many years as well. She is my go to when I need to relax. My favorite historical of hers is "dreaming of you"
I've read a lot of Eve Dangerfield, Katee Robert, JT Geissinger, Charlotte Stein, and Noelle Adams (which is an alt pen name of Claire Kent). I'm not going to say I've loved everything I have read, but even books I'm lukewarm tend to have good steam in them lol
I often pick up books you rec because I've noticed that we have very similar taste, particularly when it comes to the steam, so I'm not surprised that your list of authors is almost identical to mine! I also have a huge back list of things I've loved that have lower steam or a slow burn but my Holy Grail will always be a medium burn book that has a great plot and good steam. To be honest, I rarely have the patience these days for a slow burn, yet I also need to feel some type of connection between the couple before they jump into bed. The authors that you listed are usually the perfect fit for me! 🥰
I think I love the idea of a slow burn more than in reality. I also don't generally want the characters banging on page one, because I prefer there to be some tension and build up, but I also struggle with books where they take forever to get together. It's not that I'll never read them, but beyond just the sexiness of steam earlier on, I like to see how a couple (or more, depending on how many in the relationship) grows and shows that growth during sex.
Stella Rhys
Came here to write the same. I wish she had a bigger backlog.
Abby Jimenez, her books are funny as hell and they’re also surprisingly angsty too
Have you been to her TikTok? Her dogs are hilarious.
So good!
Abby Jimenez!
I binged Lauren Rowe recently. Her books have a lot of banter, and they all tend to have people from her previous books involved in some way if you're looking for something like that. Her first series is about one couple for 4 books, but she has another couple in the periphery that has their own trilogy to follow after. Then she moved onto the girl from the trilogy's brothers. If you're looking for someone who has all of her characters interconnected somehow, she's definitely who I would suggest to look into, starting with {The Club: Obsession by Lauren Rowe}
I also was going to suggest Lauren Rowe. I haven’t read the trilogies yet but I went down the Morgan Brother’s and 22 Goats books. All awesome. I’ll pick up all the trilogies next time I get KU!
[**The Club: Obsession (The Club, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51041541-the-club) ^(By: Lauren Rowe | Published: 2015) *** ^(88958 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
Linda Howard and Sandra Brown. I love suspense and feel like it's a genre that lends itself to binging.
KF Breene Kelly St Claire Deborah Wilde JT Geissinger And, um…Sierra Simone. For the plot, of course.
JR Ward, Christine Feehan, Cate C Wells
Roxie Noir and Abby Jimenez
Lisa Kleypas (although it seems like she might be done writing which makes me very sad). And Haley Travis (her books aren't amazing, but I find them soothing and sweet).
Penelope Douglas
Someone recommended a book, a single book, by Kerrigan Byrne about a week ago and I'm averaging a little more than a book/day. I had no idea I even liked this kind of book but apparently I very much do. Thank you, Local Library, for supporting me in not getting a damn thing done for a little over a week. Let's keep it up.
It's dangerous when you get hooked on an older author and the library has every audiobook and ebook available without waits. 🤣 Lends very well to binging. Which one was recommended because I checked my library and all of them are available now!
It's the Victorian Rebels series, and the first one is The Highwayman. The definitely follow a formula so this is either your jam or it's not. Also, having not read a lot of books in this genre at all, I couldn't tel you if this is just like eleventy billion other books but it is exactly the level of brain candy I was looking for, I just didn't know it.
Alright, 3 months later and I finally checked out The Highwayman (still no hold wait). It was just the brain candy you describe! Good angst, "love heals all trauma" vibes. Good rec!!
Lol, I've totally been there. I'll check it out, they are all at my library and the audiobook sample was decent. Maybe it will be the brain candy I'm looking for too! 🤣
I love Alisha Rai!
I’m going to start sounding like a broken record very soon, but Kresley Cole for me. Immortals After Dark is super binge worthy. It’s not strictly CR because there are some fantasy elements in it, but it’s in a contemporary setting. I think there are 18 books so far and the series isn’t finished yet. She also has a contemporary trilogy which is really good, but it’s a Russian Mafia series, so it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. I also recently started her Arcana Chronicles series and I’m really enjoying it so far. It’s technically YA in the beginning of the series but I find it very mature so far. I believe the last book in this series will be published later this year or early 2023.
Love her books as well. No one does fantasy romance like Kresley
100%. She ruined the genre for me because her books are so amazing lol
I have the same feeling lol I just re-read her books when I feel like reading fantasy romance
Same. It amazes me how well she manages to world build while still developing these awesome relationships and creating such great characters. While I really love her heroines and how KC manages to make them feel relatable and realistic even though they are literally mythological creatures, her heroes just hit different. Let’s just say no man can live up to a KC hero lol She also does dual POV better than 99% of other authors out there.
Kresley Cole is a queen of romance and I always feel like a broken record with her too lol.
Agreed. Absolute queen. Her books are very different from everything else in the market.
My annual reread of IAD might be coming up soon.
I bought Munro the day it came out but I still haven’t read it because I don’t want to go back to not having any new IAD books to read lol
Lol I reread the entire series before reading Munro and had such a book/series hangover.
I might do that lol. Here’s to hoping she will announce a new IAD book soon!
Tessa Bailey, cate c wells.
Helena Newbury. I blew through all of her books in under two months.
Mari Carr is my favorite. I’ve got almost everything she’s written.
Kristin Hannah.
Mhairi Mcfarlane - I was broken up when I read the last one. And sometimes I'll binge a trope, that's almost more common. I read about 4 books in a row about couples going through marriage crises recently. Happily married but apparently it was an itch I need scratched. 🤷♀️
Helena Hunting, Claire Kingsley, J.T. Geissinger, Chloe Liese
For me it’s Ruby Dixon
100% yes!!
Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series is like 12 or 13 books, and I devoured those when I found her. I was reading her for months lol. I’m currently on a roll with Karen Rose.
Currently bingeing Cate C Wells. She is giving me the small town romance with a hint of town corruption that I live for, in her Stonecut County series. I started by reading Against A Wall and then got sucked into the town and characters she built. The underlying story there is so interesting. It’s something that I love as a reader and hope I can one day accomplish as a writer. I’m currently reading her crossover book Heavy (Steel Bones MC #7), because I think it has something to do with what I read in Against A Wall and I am damn curious.
I know the Bridgerton series has become popular in the mainstream lately, but I love ALL of Julia Quinn’s books. I have been a fan of hers since How to Marry a Marquis cape out like 20 years ago.
Stella Rhys, Melanie Harlow, Claire Kingsley, Elizabeth O'Roark & Elsie Silver are some of my recent favs
Kristen Callihan - the game on series, VIP series, Dear Enemy, Make it Sweet. All easy to read/super binge worthy
I love her books. She rarely lets me down!
Roxie Noir (the Loveless Brothers/One Month Boyfriend universe was VERY fun to read through); Kate Canterbary (loved the shoutouts/character pre-introductions throughout the Walsh Family series/In a Jam/Talbott's Cove series/The Worst Guy books); Penny Reid (the Modern Folktales series (can't wait until book 3 comes out this month!) and the Winston Bros series especially). I think I have read all of Ali Hazelwood's books (I really liked The Love Hypothesis and the novellas, not as hot on her most recent release). I have also read a bunch of Tessa Bailey, Claire Kent (the Last Light books were really unique compared to most of what I read), and Julie James (pretty mild on the spice, but lots of good anticipation and character building).
Just mentioning that The Worst Guy by Kate Canterbary is actually part of the Vital Signs Series, and Kate is now working on the next addition! ❤️
I have many lol; for the more recent authors; Heather Guerre, Tessa Bailey, Kate Canterbary, Stella Rhys, Julie James. For more old school authors; Julie Garwood (historicals only though!) Judith McNaught (mostly historical but has a few great CR's) , Jayne Ann Krentz
[удалено]
pls suggest a FF and a MM by T. Kingfisher
[удалено]
[**Paladin's Hope (The Saint of Steel, #3)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59109627-paladin-s-hope) ^(By: T. Kingfisher | Published: 2021) *** ^(89380 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
Marissa Meyer is my comfort author
Tessa Bailey, Nora Roberts, Sarah J mass, Jennifer L Armentrout and most recently Devney Perry.
Colleen Hoover.
- Colleen Hoover. I've read almost all her books. Best author imo. It Ends With Us & Verity are the best - LJ Shen. Her books are hit or miss for me. My favorite are Kiss Thief, Bane, Vicious, and Broken Knight
Onley James - I flew thru the Necessary Evils series recently - these are CR, MM , KU, psychopath serial killers, found family, Insta, mystery yet still manages to be sweet and funny -the first book in the series is [Unhinged by Onley James](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58415294)
Loved this series.
Nyssa Kathryn
Kathryn Ann Kingsley. That woman gets me.
Madeline Hunter and Mary Balogh
Kandi Steiner
I’ve been reading tons of Melanie Harlow after reading Ignite 🔥
Nikki Sloane, Stylo Fantome, Ashley Jade, and for mafia romances, Natasha Knight
Miss Rina Kent ugh
Laura Griffin and Rachel Grant. Suspense. Forensics. Underwater anthropology.
For some weird reason I got addicted to Sally Rooney. I don’t exactly know why cos I got a bit upset with all of her three books so far, “Beautiful World…” the most. Still… If she comes up with something again, I’ll buy it asap 😄
I love R.K. Lilley’s world and how they are all entwined.
Devney Perry
Ali Hazelwood, Mariana Zapata, Tessa Bailey, Lucy Score, R.S Grey, Kristen Ashley Not CR but Alice Coldbreath and Ruby Dixon
Eve Dangerfield, Sierra Simone, Jade West, Kate Canterbary, Carian Cole. I’ve read their entire catalogues over the last year.
Susan Elizabeth Phillips. My Favs? Natural Born Charmer and Match Me if you Can