Help me select an angsty romance!

[rachelmanija]

I realize that my last inquiry had a flaw: I am stuck at home and limited to the books I already own. But luckily, I had a period of burning out on romance and so have plenty that I haven't read yet!

A brief guide to my tastes in romance:

I like angst, competent women, PTSD if it's done reasonably accurately, crack (angels, dragons, etc), banter, action, bondage and light S&M, and bad-ass men if they're not jerks.

I do not like leading men who are jerks, wilting heroines, pregnancies, men bossing around women, and babies.

Clearly, my ideal would be a cracktastic story with lots of action, a tough heroine, a bad-ass hero, and her tying him up. Sadly, I only know of one such novel, and I've already read it. (Laura Kinsale's Shadowheart.) But if anyone knows of any other examples, please rec and I'll get to them when I can leave the house! (Gay, lesbian, and poly examples welcome.)

Based on that, which of these would I enjoy?

[Poll #1384736]

Comments

[oracne.livejournal.com]

Most angsty on your list are A CANDLE IN THE DARK and FORBIDDEN. I liked both; I liked FORBIDDEN better for reasons unrelated to relative angst.

You might really like UNTIE MY HEART as well, even though HE ties HER up. Their relationship is very complicated. Also, his fabulous fur coat is of the hotness and I love the way Ivory writes about it, even though I think fur coats are kind of gross. If you read it, you will see what I mean.

BLACK SILK is, imo, a very odd book that is excellent but I wouldn't call it fun. For one thing, the heroine's name is "Submit," and she actually loved her late husband--her relationship with the hero of the book is very complex. I should reread that one--I think I gobbled it up too fast back when I first read it, and there's a lot there.

I haven't yet read WILD AT HEART, but it's in my TBR. A TASTE OF CRIMSON I remember was good, but I read it when it came out so my memory of what I liked is very poor--the action was good? I think? A SUMMER TO REMEMBER is really sweet, if I remember correctly--the hero was NICE in many ways, which is rare.

I found THE GENTLEMAN CALLER to be really, really depressing.

[vonnie-k.livejournal.com]

I really liked Black Silk for the complexity of the relationship between the hero and the heroine, although at the end, I felt like the relationship shouldn't have worked. I found the heroine tremendously interesting though -- I recall saying something like... well, I wished the romance had ended with them parting instead of together, with the heroine asserting her independence at the end. It struck me as a well-done character study but an unsuccessful romance. The writing is beautiful -- vivid and sensual, not just in the love scenes but outside of it, too. Worth a read, but probably not what you are looking for right now. I might reread it at some point.

The angst in To Have and To Hold is unparalleled -- there is a dinner party scene near the middle of the book, after which I had to take a break because it was giving me chest pains -- but the hero is absolutely despicable. Which is kind of the point, but Gaffney didn't make him suffer nearly enough afterward to atone for his sins.

I recently reread Connie Brockway's All Through the Night and liked it very well (it's been a while since I read it first and I'd forgotten most of the plot point.) The heroine is a respectable war widow by day and a jewel thief by night, and the hero is a spy with an angsty past, who's sent to catch the thief and falls in love with the widow. The power dynamic is interesting, angst is top quality, and the heroine saves herself at the end -- I think it might hit the spot for you.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

I loved ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT