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

[estara.livejournal.com]

A Taste of Crimson belongs to the Crimson City series, but can be well read alone, and it finishes niftily. You get werewolves vs. vampires ^^ in a nifty way.

Wild at Heart is a very cool version of the feral child plot and the side characters work really well, too, as does the romance

[sleary.livejournal.com]

I've read the two Gaffneys. The guy in To Have and to Hold is not especially bad-ass AND is an enormous jerk. On the bright side, the heroine is awesome -- very competent and way PTSD. However, she works for him, so he spends most of the book bossing her around (including ordering her to sleep with him, IIRC) and she pretty much goes with it. I think the payoff works, but I almost threw the book across the room a few times along the way.

Wild at Heart is very sweet, probably the least angsty of Gaffney's romances. I would say it has none of the things from either of your lists... it's just middle of the road.

[kate_nepveu]

_A Summer to Remember_ is not cracktastic or even particularly angsty by the standards of the genre, but it is nice.

V brief booklog comments: http://www.steelypips.org/weblog/2005/05/balogh_mary_sum.php

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

I think Jo Beverly's Forbidden is probably your best bet. The heroine is nicely angsty. Gaffney's To Have and To Hold has an extremely angsty heroine, but the hero is a jerk. Deliberately, on the author's part, but still a jerk. Wild at Heart is adorable, maybe my favorite Gaffney. I haven't read A Candle in the Dark; the other two aren't my favorite Chances, but I think The Way Home works better than The Gentleman Caller. Untie My Heart was not one of my favorites.

http://coffeeandink.dreamwidth.org/tag/a:+ivory+judith

[riemannia.livejournal.com]

To Have and to Hold is a good book but the romance didn't work for me, because the hero is such an asshole. But others regard the book differently and it's considered a classic by some.

I haven't read any of the others except Forbidden but unfortunately I've forgotten it. Angels' Bloodis getting interesting buzz…

Some day I'll have to read Wild at Heart.

[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.

[oyceter]

I tried reading Forbidden and was very annoyed for reasons I no longer remember.

I love Gaffney's Wild at Heart, which is lightly angsty and about two people I actually like. To Have and to Hold has an awesome ex-convict heroine, but the hero is a jerk. Like everyone says, deliberately so, but she's still his servant and he orders her around and I HATE HIM.

I like Chance's The Gentleman Caller, but since I think I am the only person who does, I didn't check it off. The Way Home is ok. I LOVE Candle in the Dark, which has a murderess prostitute who tries to feel no emotion, a ton of angst, and a hero with believable alcoholism. Warning for the somewhat annoying portrayal of a Panamanian family.

I like Abe's The Smoke Thief, which has a great heroine, but the hero is a little too alpha for me. And I wanted the heroine to run away in the end instead of going back.

I don't think A Taste of Crimson is very angsty, but it features a great werewolf heroine with anger management issues and a quiet and angsty hero. It's one of my favorite Liu books.

Angel's Blood is incredibly cracktastic, but I'm not sure if it's actually good... The heroine definitely kicks ass though! Mostly I read it for the world and not the relationship.

Veil of the Night is an interesting revamp of Gothics, which you might like. The heroine is older, and it does interesting things with Gothic conventions. On the other hand, the ending of the plot makes no sense. Still, I like Joyce and will probably mail you Wicked Intentions with the Joey Hill books.

I think I've written up most of the ones I talk about if you want to look!

[canandagirl.livejournal.com]

"She's a sheep farmer with a secret"? You really should proofread these things,especially after being doped up on flu medication.

I think I've read 'Forbidden'...if it's the Jo Beverly book I think it is, it might be angsty enough for you. I have read Mary Balough, and I don't think she'll suit what you're looking for at the moment.

I might have some angsty romance at home you may borrow if you like, shall I drop by some time in the next day or two?

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Avoid TO HAVE AND TO HOLD. The hero is a truly horrific jerk.

[octopedingenue]

The titular Courtesan's Daughter despairs of finding a proper husband. So her mother buys her one. They both object to this loudly (and live happily ever after).


Would yaoi work? Kano Miyamoto is never a bad idea: Level-headed May/December romance VS shy lovestruck artist and his prostitute model! Mysterious black ops agents and their forbidden romances! And Crimson Spell has pretty art, men with pretty hair, light bondage, sexy amnesia, crack a la sexy demon stripes and "The only way to save you from your demonic sword is SEX YOU UP," and sometimes even an actual sword-and-sorcery plot.

I swear I have read more applicable penis/vagina and vagina/vagina romance, just...not today.

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

I, of course, voted the ones I want to read. I'm about a third of the way through the last book of the Lymond chronicles, and desperately don't want it to end (especially if it doesn't end the way I want it to). I hope the Niccolo books are good.

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

I liked Forbidden, which has a hero who's a virgin for fairly psychologically plausible reasons, and is an actual nice person. Also, even though hte usual romance novel convention is to assume that one's SO is a cheater/thief/murderer/whatever based on the thinnest possible evidence, he actually makes a conscious effort to believe in the heroine.

I know other people have already criticised "To Have and to Hold", but allow m, e to add my voice to the chorus. The hero is an ASSHOLE who basically rapes the heroine (no, she doesn't put up a physical fight, but she's perfectly well aware that she'll go back to prison if she turns him down). And the heroine doesn't make him suffer nearly enough before she takes him back. I had to put the book down several times because i was pissing me off so much.