I started my romance-reading career reading historical romances. Just when I was ready to try something different, contemporaries took an upturn. They were followed by paranormals. These days, I like to read a mix of subgenres. I’ve been pleased with the variety of historical and paranormals available, but I’ve discovered something.
Contemporaries are hard to find. I know. I’ve tried.
Here’s a random summary of 14 books I recently shelved: 7 paranormal, 5 historical, 2 contemporary. This isn’t a new development—I’ve noted it for more than a year. More than one of my favorite authors have shifted to write paranormals. I don’t blame them for changing with the market. I just wish there were more readers like me who want contemporaries.
I’ve been forced to get creative. Sometimes I read romantic suspense or contemporary erotica. I enjoy these subgenres, but they don’t quite fill the need.
I’m hoarding a few contemporaries because I know they will be good. And I know I’m going to be desperate for a good contemporary. If I read them (like I want to), then I won’t have anything to fall back on.
So help me out, please. What are your favorite contemporary romances?
No related posts.
I’ve been enjoying Lisa Kleypas. I started reaing her historicals, but she’s switched to contemporaries and I’ve really liked them.
Some of my favorite authors of contemporary romances are: Jennifer Crusie, Stef Ann Holm, Susan Wiggs, SEP, Kristan Higgins, Susan Andersen, Jennifer Greene, Susan Mallery and Rachel Gibson. They all still write contemporaries. I wouldn’t mind discovering new authors though. (Zanitta, will have to give Lisa Kleypas a try)
For a quick fix I love the Harlequin and Silhouette lines.
Karen Templeton and Gwyneth Bolton are my favorite contemporary romance authors.
Have you tried African American authors? They can be difficult to find because their novels are still segregated in some bookstores. Also, there’s something I call ’subconscious segregation.’ White readers will overlook a novel with brown-skinned characters on the front, automatically assuming it’s not for them. They don’t mean to!
I’ve read a LOT of Romance novels by African American authors and I’m white as a bleached sheet with pink undertones and a few zits. 
The themes are universal. Click on my username to go to my book review blog to find them. Click on ‘Contemporary Romance’ in the directory, because I group them together with everyone else just like in Real Life.
It may be just me, but it also seems like African American contemporary romance novels have greater variety of secondary characters and those characters have greater dimension. I’ve read that contemporary Romance novels are supposed to focus on the Hero and Heroine, but I wonder if African American authors are allowed greater freedom (for lack of a better word) in this respect.
You might also try ePublishers for more variety. I’ve found greater variety in my favorite subgenres that way. Samhain and Cerridwen are good.
I’m shamelessly biased because I’m published by them but Little Black dress are the bomb when it comes to some really great contemporary novels. You can get them from Book Depositary if you’re in the states or Amazon. They have fab authors like Jenny Crusie, Rachel Gibson, Phillipa Ashley, Julie Cohen and ahem me! lol Check out their website.
You know why contemporaries are challenging to find? Because they don’t sell.
Especially in eBook (looking at my royalty statement and grinning). Combine that with a short shelf life (contemporaries are only contemporary for so long) and you get less excited publishers.
I recently finished Dark And Dangerous, Jeanne Adams’ debut novel, and it ROCKED!!
Oh, Kimber An, the heroine has a son and the alpha ex-hubby is a baddie!!
I really like Robyn Carr’s Virgin River series. There is a little bit of suspense, but it’s more a sub plot. Carr’s secondary characters are just as well rounded as her main characters.
I don’t know if this counts because they were a while back, but I enjoyed Vicki Lewis Thompson’s Nerd series. They were hot.
Jess
Christie Ridgway’s How to Knit a Wild Bikini was my favorite this summer.
Jennifer Crusie is my favorite contemporary author, but you’ve probably already read her. Connie Brockway’s recent contemporaries are more like humorous women’s fiction than strictly romance. I read all of Susan Elizabeth Phillips, and enjoyed them, but also find them sometimes problematic in their gender relations.
Lately, I’ve been reading some Superromances from Harlequin, mostly Janice Kay Johnson and Judith Arnold. I would recommend Johnson’s LOST CAUSE as a starting point (despite its being second in a trilogy), and Arnold’s BIRTHRIGHT. I was also engaged by Jude Devereaux’s WILD ORCHIDS, my first by her.
Have you tried Suzanne Enoch’s contemporaries? It’s a millionaire/former thief pairing.
I’ve read one Julie Cohen and have another couple waiting–she’s quite good.
What about Kristan Higgins? Hope Tarr? Rachel Gibson?
I don’t read a lot of contemps, but I’m a big fan of Jennifer Skully, Jami Alden, and Bella Andre (yes, Jami and Bella write “erotic romance”, but I think of their books as hot contemps).
I’d offer a host of inspirational romance authors but by your post, I’m thinking you want “strict” contemporaries, not a contemporary in a sub-genre.
I think a lot of contemporaries are now classified as women’s fiction because they sell better that way.
Mameve Medwed (maybe Medved) is really good. Some of her heroines are older, too. They’re generally shelved as women’s fiction, but they tend to be kind of funny, and not at all ponderous or depressing. I also love Adele Parks, Liz Ireland, and Emily Giffin. Actually , just thinking about it, wouldn’t all of those chick-lit and mom-lit books qualify as contemporaries?
Beth Ciotta’s Evie books, Kathy Love’s Millbrook books, HelenKay Dimon’s Hawaii based Bravas, Jill Shalvis’ Bravas, and Lisa Kleypas’ Texas books. Those should get you started. I feel like I’m forgetting someone…
I read Jayne Ann Krentz over and over again. I love her contemporaries. I too have found myself reading more and more suspense novels for my contemporary fixes. Fantasy is still my favorite to read however.
Oh, I’m glad to see so many recommendations! Some of the authors mentioned I’ve tried, but others I haven’t. I think I will start with Bella Andre’s latest.
Keep the recs coming!
[...] latest Romancing the Blog column is up. I posted about my wish for more [...]
I agree with Zanitta…I really like Lisa Kleypas’s new contemporaries.
You’re the second major blogger I’ve heard lamenting the difficulty in finding contemporary romances, which makes me wonder why the market for them is so poor (according to someone’s comment about sales, I guess they are). Albeit, I haven’t read much contemporary romance, but that’s only because it’s hard to find good stuff. Happily, there are lots of recommendations here.
Wait about 2 years. A couple of agents have mentioned publishers specifically asking for contemporaries lately.
They do listen, it’s just a very slow process from your lips to their ear to the shelves.
They’re talking about this topic on Dear Author today as well.
I’m happy to hear that editors are looking for more contemporaries because that is what I like to read – and write. And I’ll second (or third?) the suggestion to check out more e-book publishers – not only because I have three contemporaries out with Cerridwen
Some lesser known authors whose contemporaries I’ve enjoyed:
Jane Graves – she’s an autobuy author and I loved her latest one Tall Tales and Wedding Veils
Susan Donovan: she has a new coming out in January
Julia Harper aka Elizabeth Hoyt. Although she’s only had one so far, I really enjoyed it and her second one is coming out soon
Lisa Plumley – also writes Westerns for Harlequin Historicals
Julie Ortolon
Toni Blake’s Letters to a Secret Lover was Very Good
I read 20 books this summer; here are my two favorites: My recommendations are Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas. Rich girl, Haven Travis, prefers love over money and elopes with Nick Tanner who her father hates. Her dad cuts her off, only to find out that Papa was right. Nick is abusive and Haven returns to her family with physical and emotional scars. You can admire this woman who makes mistakes and works to make herself a better person. More family sparks fly when she falls for Hardy Cates again, not a family favorite which causes more conflict.
I love books about strong, smart, determined woman, like Haven, which brings me to my next recommendation and actually by far my favorite book that I read all summer. The Strength of a Sparrow, by Tim ‘Dr. Hope’ Anders. This one, however, is based on a true love story, the story of the author’s parents and more particularly about the strength of an extremely remarkable woman, Bouvette Sherwood, his mother. She was a Broadway actress and producer when she met and fell in love with a charming alcoholic, Hughie Hewitt, who, she later found out, was a Catholic priest. In spite of this seeming deal killer their passion forced them to hide their unsanctioned affair from the church. They spawned two children and life became interesting to say the least. Obsession, suspense, betrayal, hot romance, humor, this book has it all.
Those are my recommendations, I hope I was helpful.
Lucy