Category: Book Lists

It’s February, it’s Valentine’s Day, it’s the perfect time to look at book romances!

I normally read sci-fi or fantasy novels but I do have a soft spot for romances, and if a book I’m reading has a bit of a romance in it even better 🙂

Getting Rid of Bradley by Jennifer Crusie

Jennifer Crusie has been my favourite romance writer since I was a teenager, and this is my favourite of her books.

Lucy Savage is divorcing her husband Bradley, Officer Zack Warren is trying to find him to arrest him for embezzlement. When someone shoots at Lucy and then blows up her car Zack decides he has to move into Lucy’s house to protect her.

It’s funny, fast-paced and entertaining with obvious attraction between the two characters that starts with conflict and a lot of banter, and builds slowly into the romance.

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata

Mariana Zapata does slow burning romances so, so well. If you don’t like insta-love then this one is for you. It builds very slowly as the characters start out disliking each other but gradually become friends.

Downside Ghosts series by Stacia Kane

Downside Ghosts has one of my favourite book boyfriends in Terrible, a gruff  ‘enforcer’ working for the local drug lord who is more intelligent than he looks. He is also incredibly sweet and makes my heart melt.

It’s another slow-burner, in that it takes at least four books for them to sort themselves out, but there is enough magic, mysteries and ghost hunting going on for this series to be worth reading even if it didn’t have the romance.

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

The book that inspired the brilliant Studio Ghibli film. In my opinion, the book is even better than the film because it goes much more in depth into Sophie’s family, and we also get a lot of Howl’s backstory and family history.

Sophie has magic of her own in the book and is a much stronger and more complex character in general. Howl is also a more interesting character and we can see Sophie and Howl’s relationship builds into mutual respect.

The romance is there, and it is sweet and believable, but it’s not overly important to the story.

Finders Keepers by Linnea Sinclair

Linnea Sinclair writes romantic sci-fi, and she does it well. The sci-fi side is big and adventurous and the romances are full of sparks.

Here, Captain Trilby Elliot is a down on her luck trader trying to patch up her old spaceship on an uninhabited planet. When another spaceship crash lands nearby she thinks she can steal parts to fix her own ship. But the pilot is still alive, and he commanders Trilby’s ship for his own.

I loved the characters, and the sci-fi plot is well developed and could just about stand on it’s own without the romance.

Garden Spells (Waverley Family #1) by Sarah Addison Allen

Sarah Addison Allen’s books are set in the real world but there is always something magical about them.

In Garden Spells the Waverly family has an apple tree in their garden, eat an apple and you will see your future.

Light and sweet, this is one to lose an afternoon in.

The Mammoth Book of Futuristic Romance

This is full of short sci-fi / romance stories. Some are good, some are not that great, but there are a couple in here that have stayed with me long after I finished reading.

The Derby Girl (Getting Physical, #2)

I play roller derby (with Wakey Wheeled Cats) and I like reading books set in the roller derby world.

This one is well written, the main character Gretchen is unusual and complex and love interest Jared has a bit more to him than the normal alpha male.

The romance is believable, Gretchen and Jared spark off each other and definitely don’t fall in love at first sight.

It’s a stand alone so there’s no need to read the first book if you don’t want to. I didn’t and I had no problems following this.