M

I am Lover of romance, who indulges in the romantic adventures of literature

My name is Renee, and I am the host of this site. I am a 34 year old woman, on the prowl for her mate, searching out the best of books, exploring the wilds of the imagination and delving into the heart of a beautiful love story.

 

Tea and Biscuits Book Discussions: Contemporary Romance Top Picks

by | Mar 20, 2016 | Tea and Biscuits Discussions | 9 comments

This group of books I selected are older and newer….my personal favorites that have accumulated over the years. I haven’t read this genre as much as some of the others, since I normally need to be in the mood for it—but these are my faves. What are yours? Have you read any of these?

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Highlander 

In The Highlander series by Chapman (which is the best writing she has done BTW) we see a mix of genres but it is set in a contemporary setting, where highlanders from another time learn to acclimate themselves into a new century. The humor is superb….I always laugh my butt off whenever I read these books. The romances are pretty wonderful and I love the mix of characters we are introduced to.

Redemption 

I have read most of what this author has written and boy do I love her books. Her writing is so engaging but this series was my first introduction into MMA romance and I have been hooked ever since. I do love what she did with this series. The friendships that develop in this series is pretty fantastic. The heroes are sexy as sin and I couldn’t get enough. If you haven’t tried this author or this series—its a must.

Stage Dive 

Kylie Scott is such a talented author and I couldn’t get enough of this series. Honestly, these are impossible to put down books and if you like sexy rock stars I would highly recommend these books. I don’t know exactly what it is about them I loved the most, I think what really got to me was how intertwined the books are, but also seeing the characters come to life. Very riveting.

Reckless Beat 

This series was my first introduction to rock star themes in romance. I was very nervous about trying this series out. But when I had read multiple raving reviews I picked up book three and was hooked. So yeah I did read this series out of order, but boy each book was amazing. We see the emotion that is displayed and that loving a rock star is pretty challenging but it also has its rewards!! 🙂

Rock Star Romance

This series I recently discovered last year. I do still need to pick up book three. Erika Kelly is one of those authors that can create a story you won’t expect to like and win you over from beginning to end. I will admit, book one I was nervous about reading. It didn’t necessarily sound like something I would really love to read, but once I started reading….I was spellbound. I definitely needed my box of tissues for each book. The way she portrays a vividly pictured romance can be quite emotional at times, and I was a wreck while reading these but oh so satisfying. I ended each one with a smile on my face.

Reapers MC 

Joanna Wyle is a author I was SUPER nervous about these books PEEPS~~~ I really have to be in the mood for books like these. Gritty and touch and high in sexual content. And they were my first in reading MC romances and I was addicted. I have read other MC romances and they just don’t compare to this author. First off, these books hook you right into the story…very engaging. Second, they deal with some tough scenarios, that just about break your heart. But this is where we see how each couple are just right for each other. The humor is pretty wonderful. Its rough and spicy. So if you love a good gritty romance- pick these up NOW!!

Bride Quartet 

This series dang…was so good. Sweet and fun!! It has a more lighthearted tone to it which I really liked. Four girlfriends who decided to go into wedding business together. This would totally be a dream come true right? Each book is each friend who finds their own love story. These books are some of the best I have ever read from this author.

Rock Kiss 

Nalini Singh rocks any genre she writes!!! I remember when Rock Addiction became released, I was so antsy about it. Mostly because I was like well she is just a PNR author, can she do Contemporary??? But man she does it and so fabulously. Now I will say that the first two books are a lot more heat than I was expecting from her. But with each book it gets toned down a bit. My favorite book is Rock Hard although Rock Redemption is right behind it in favorites. The first two are fabulous and we get more background on these rockers and the women they fall hard for. There is quite a bit of emotional build up which is wonderful to see especially when the sex scenes tend to be plentiful. But I would highly recommend these.

Caulde Ane 

Caulde Ane is simply fantastic to read and with each installment that I have read…I have fallen more mad in love with this worlde that Tracey Jane Jackson has built. It is very contemporary but with a hint of paranormal elements—but they are very light which is why I placed this series in this category. Boy this author has me continually laughing hard in this one.

Chesapeake Bay 

My first contemporary romance series and Roberts rocks these books!! I LOVE this family, the setting of the shore and the sea and the romances that develop in each book. You can never go wrong with Nora Roberts…but if you want to try her out, this series is one I would highly recommend.

The Travises 

Oh The Travis FAMILY!! These books are by far some of my favorites to read or even listen to!! The audiobooks rock. So if you love narration, highly recommend using that format. Blue Eyed Devil is my favorite book of the series. Even though I am not a huge fan of the father of the Travises—he tends to not treat his daughter very good so I have some issues. But he has some great qualities in the other books I liked. Lisa Kleypas did such a good job with these. Even though she mostly has written romance….she did so fabulous with this group of books. I was highly impressed. The brothers are awesome together, and I really liked the sister. She has gumption. Although my favorite hero is HARDY. He is so brilliant in this series. Although I would recommend reading this series in order, since Sugar Daddy is where we get a good background info on his character which makes the reading of Blue Eyed Devil even more enjoyable. The setting is Texas, but its not very country. It does have its grit moments…great emotional moments and spicy to suit anyone. I love the chemistry that Kleypas displays in these books. They also have a fun quality to them.

Forbidden Men 

The Forbidden Men series I fell in love with last year. I still need to read the last two books since they were recently released. However I actually ended up reading this series out of order. So they can be read as stand alones. The first book…Price of a Kiss is my favorite. I don’t know why exactly I liked that one the most, since the blurb for that one made me the MOST nervous. But it shows the pure talent of Linda Kage. This was also my first introduction into NA and probably some of the best in the genre. Although I haven’t read much into it yet. But if you have yet to read this author….you definitely should pick her up.

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9 Comments

  1. Sophia Rose

    I am the same way with Contemporary Romance. I used to never read it and now I’ve figured out that I can like many of them. My big favorites are Small Town, Cowboy, Military, and Sports romances. I’m familiar with all those on your list, but have only read a few. I like Tracey Jane Jackson’s, Joanna Wylde’s and Erika Kelly’s series, too (psst, I have the third one for review- so excited).

    Some others I like are: Jeanette Murray’s Marines both series, Hope Ramsay’s Last Chance, Sharon Sala’s Blessings, GA, Victoria Vane’s cowboys, Virginia Kantra’s Dare Island, Joanne Rock’s Heartache, TN, Kate Willoughby’s In the Zone, Anne Elizabeth’s West Coast SEALs, Lisa Bingham’s Taggart Brothers, Jeannie Moon’s series and standalones, Carolyn Brown’s any series, Cecy Robson’s O’Brien Family, Kim Jones’ Sinners Creed MC, Shirley Jump’s Sweetheart Sisters, Jessica Topper’s Love and Steel, Jen McLaughlin’s Steel Row, Marilyn Pappano’s, Kristen Ashley’s Chaos MC, Jessica Scott’s Soldiers both series, Jaci Burton’s Hope series. I’m sure there are more. 😉

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      oh I really want to read Last chance so badly. I do like Carolyn Brown but sometimes I have a hard time getting into them or it takes me a little while. But she writes sweet romances that I like. I recently read one of Jaci Burton’s and it was good but dang her books are expensive. I do like Kristen Ashley as well. I have to get to Jessica Scott soon, especially since I love military romance. So Jealous you have the third one of Erika Kelly. I didn’t get it from NG so I will just buy it 🙂 You have listed some authors I haven’t heard of that I will be checking out. I used to never read this genre until the past year or so. I was just more into the other sub genres. Probably because it was too close to my own life hehe but last year I really got hooked on it again.

      Reply
  2. Carole's Random Life

    I don’t read as much romance as I used to. My tastes in books seem to go in cycles. I was about to believe that I wasn’t going to have read any of your books but then I scrolled down to the Kleypas series. Oh, how I love that series! It is a toss up for me between Sugar Daddy and Blue Eyed Devil which one is my favorite. They both have Hardy as key characters and I just love him. I have listed to the audio for those two books as well and thought they were wonderfully done. Great post!

    Reply
  3. Ann Lorz

    I love the Chapman series! I’ve been a fan of hers for a long time. I also enjoyed both the the Roberts series. I must admit those are the only two of the authors I really read. I’ve read some Kleypas but not that series. I’m not a 1st person fan.

    Reply
  4. Heidi

    I finally tried some books by Nora Roberts and I am loving her stuff so I would read the books by her on your list. I also need to try Kleypas and Singh. I hope to do it soon.

    Reply
  5. Quinn's Book Nook

    I love Rock Kiss and Rock Star Romances! I need to finish both those series. Oh and The Bride Quartet is great. Although my favorite NR romances are her MacGregor series and Stanislaski series!

    Reply
  6. LilyElement

    I recently got Lick on audio, can’t wait to start it!

    Reply
  7. Lola

    I really like contemporary romance as a genre. When I was younger I read some YA contemporary romances in dutch and then for years I didn’t read the genre and then years later tried a book and came back to the genre. Nowadays I still enjoy them, but I do have to be in the mood for them and usually don’t read too many of them in a row as they can get a bit predictable then. I haven’t read any of the books on your list, although I have heard of some of them. The Highlander series sounds fun! Some of my favourite contemporary romance authors are SJ Pajonas, Joanne Rock and Karen Rock. I’ve also read some good ones by Jill Shalvis, Catherine Mann, Amy Vastine and a few others.

    Reply
  8. Jennifer_FairyTales

    Contemporary romance is not a genre I usually choose to read so I have only read two of these series. The Travis Family series and the Rock Kiss books are all amazing. I am really interested in the Janet Chapman series now. My favorite contemporary series are Susan Elizabeth Phillips’s Chicago Stars and Penny Reid’s Knitting in the City books.

    Reply

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