Top Five Keepers?

Which books are on your list of top-five romances?

This is so hard! And there are a few gold standards that I have not read, yet. Cough, Outlander, cough. But I will be brave and post.

As of this moment Top Five, in no particular order:

Texas Destiny
Devil in Winter
Lord of Scoundrels
Flowers From the Storm
Heaven, Texas

Don't yell at me for not putting GWTW on there. I'm not a southern girl!

MplsGirl, I am also curious what yours are.

The Quiet Gentleman
Jackson Rule
The Rake and the Reformer
Amaryllis
Nine Coaches Waiting

I had to limit mine to one per author or they would have been all Heyer and Putney.

I love seeing people's fav lists! Here's five possibilities for me:

The Windflower by Laura London
FLowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale
Match Me If You Can by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Now You See Her by Linda Howard
Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughn

I'd probably do a different list each time I was asked but I love all these books. I should definitely have a Heyer on there, though, and it feels weird not to have an Anne Stuart, since she's also one of my favorites.

hailelib, I love Nine Coaches Waiting! I think that's my favorite of Mary Stewart's but I really like all of them. Airs Above the Ground is my other favorite of hers.

Lord of Scoundrels - Loretta Chase
Dreaming of You - Lisa Kleypas
After the Night - Linda Howard
Ride the Fire - Pamela Clare
Whispers of Heaven - Candice Proctor

These are my top 5

I apologize for there being more than 5, but I cannot narrow it down to less than this, and that's culling from 200+ of my absolute favorites! When you read an average of 50 books a month, 5 just won't cut it! LOL

CC

Devil In Winter - Lisa Kleypas
Flowers From The Storm- Laura Kinsale
Magnolia Creek- Jill Marie Landis
The Shattered Rose- Jo Beverley
The Bride Fair- Cheryl Reavis
The Improper Wife - Diane Perkins
The Marriage Bargain - Diane Perkins
Move Heaven and Earth - Christina Dodd
Lost In Your Arms - Christina Dodd
Beau Crusoe - Carla Kelly
Slightly Married - Mary Balogh
Simply Love - Mary Balogh
One Night For Love - Mary Balogh
By Arrangement - Madeline Hunter
The Stone Maiden - Susan King
Natural Born Charmer - Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Dream a Little Dream - Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Baby Love - Catherine Anderson
Gabriel's Woman - Robin Schone
Ask For It - Sylvia Day
Jackson Rule - Sharon Sala/Dinah McCall
Mariner's Bride - Bronwyn Williams
Heaven's Fire - Patricia Ryan
Lightkeeper - Susan Wiggs
Desperately Seeking A Duke - Celeste Bradley
Mr. Impossible - Loretta Chase
Passion - Lisa Valdez
The Secret Passion of Simon Blackwell - Samantha James
A Texan's Luck - Jodi Thomas
To Wed A Stranger - Edith Layton
The Healing - Kathryn Fox
Winter Woman - Jenna Kernan
Yours Until Dawn - Teresa Medeiros
The Serpent Prince - Elizabeth Hoyt
A Reason To Live - Maureen McKade
Claiming The Courtesan - Anna Campbell
Entwined - Emma Jensen
Bet Me - Jennifer Crusie
The Entire Texas Triology by Lorraine Heath

*Semi-Whines* Oh, come on! This is waaaay to hard of a question to ask a devoted reader of romance (or any books, really!)

Like CC said, it's espeically hard if you read a vast number of books a month.
Wow, CC, do you really read an aver age of 50 a month? I am impressed! And here I was thinking *okay, concitedly,I'll admit* that I was THE TBQ, but I have been lucky very few times to hit even 30 a month, usually only hitting around 15-25 (unfortunately, even less if I've been very busy, which I have been lately... ) But I must ask, what kind of books are this usually, nonfiction or fiction, and approx. how long. Because, of course, length can make a huge difference in book totals a month when comparing it to others. If one person was reading 100 pagers, completely 50 a month, and I was reading 350+ pagers, around 25 a month, it seems like much more unless you think about the 'math' invovled, sort of speak, with the pages.

I honestly wouldn't even begin to know how to narrow down a list for here-- even a 200+ list! LOL! Lets just say that there are very few books of my over 680 that I own right now that I would willingly (or semi-willingly...) give away, et cetera. Does that help any?

This is a challenge! I know I can't just name five. But here are my top faves.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Slightly Dangerous by Mary Balogh

Simply Love by Mary Balogh

Romancing Mr. Bridgerton by Julia Quinn

Spymaster's Lady by Joanna Bourne

The Secret by Julie Garwood

Merely the Groom by Rebecca Hagan Lee

Ransom by Julie Garwood

Separate Beds by LaVyrle Spencer

Sweet Memories by LaVyrle Spencer

I could go on and on but these are the ones I reread over and over again!

Top Five (at the moment) are probably:

The Perfect Rake by Anne Gracie
Something About Emmaline by Elizabeth Boyle
Lady Rogue by Suzanne Enoch
It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas
An Improper Proposal by Patricia Cabot

With runners-up:
The Spymaster's Lady by Joanna Bourne
Miss Maitland's Letters by Martha Kirkland

I have to do this with listing multiple books by an individual author as one, otherwise there is no way I could name only five.

Fantasy Lover/Night Pleasures/Seize the Night/Unleash the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon
What Do You Say to a Naked Elf? by Cheryl Sterling
Dark Prince/Dark Desire by Christine Feehan
The Wallflower Quartet by Lisa Kleypas
Prince of Ice and Strange Attractions by Emma Holly
Ransom/Winds of Change/Sail Away by Lee Rowan (not your traditional romance, but still one of my favorite sets.)

I know that's six different authors, but that's the most I could narrow it down!

I can name my 5 recent favorites, but I find that at different stages of my life my favorites differ. When I was younger my favorites were Mary Stewart, Victoria Holt and Phyllis Whitney. Then later, Jayne Anne Krentz, Linda Howard and Nora Roberts. Now I like Deanna Raybourne, even though I've only read 2, Celeste Bradley, Christine Warren (again only 2) and Jennifer Cruisie. I read a lot of other authors, but I will always buy one of these if I see one.

This is hard, and like arrr, I have different favorites for different times in my life. Right now (and this is just limiting it to 5, even though there are many more) my list would be:

(in no particular order)

A Notorious Love by Sabrina Jeffries
It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas (although this one frequently alternates with Dreaming of You depending upon which one I've re-read most recently!)
A Summer to Remember by Mary Balogh
Sin and Sensibility by Suzanne Enoch
Gentle Rogue by Johanna Lindsey - say what you want about Lindsey, but this will always be one of my favorite books :)

I would say:
The Outlander series
The Merry Gentry series
The Circle Trilogy
The Troubleshooters series
The Stephanie Plum novels

Okay. I'll try.... this just hurt's my book loving heart to limit this down to five......Series :)

No particular order-- THAT would hurt waaaay to much! And be way to hard..

The Twilight Series (Yes, I know, this is more teen romance, if anything, but come on! I have to have it on this list!) by Stephenie Meyer

The Outlander Series

The Carpathian Series (all, what, almost 15 or so of them? I have to keep them!) by Christine Feehan

The Sons of Destiny Series by Jean Johnson

And this last one is so hard to chose! Well, all of them were! I'm going to go with one that I just finished and loved, more so than I ever thought I would before I started it. And I believe I am going to love the first and third, which I have not yet bought to read. So I'll just put down the whole series name:

The Daughters of the Glen Series by Melissa Mayhue *I just finished Highland Guardian

Okay. That was so hard on myself and my beloved books! Now I need to go and try to mend the rift that has no doubt came between me and the books I did not chose... *Goes over and strokes the spine of all 730+ books on her shelves* There there, it's okay.

I am not crazy! Usually...
I am simply very very...devoted! Yes, that is the word I am going to use! *wink*

Edited to fix the number of books on my shelf--- I just noticed when I looked at my tags that I put for 'own' I now have 732. WOW. I didn't even know that-- I swear it was just at 680 a month ago... :D

After a while they seem to just mulitply on their own :-)

TBQ, I read other books in addition to romance, but I only critique the romances here. I read very fast, always have, and I always have more than one open at a time. I rarely read a Harlequin Presents type, thin book because the stories are too rushed.

I just finished Russka by Edward Rutherfurd, a fascinating fictionalized history of Russia, as only Rutherfurd can write (Sarum and The Princes of Ireland are must-reads, IMHO). I am also reading The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards now, and my "real" book club selection for this month, Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri, which I also highly recommend.

TBQ, you can be the Book Queen, I prefer Empress anyway. :)

CC

Jensen_AKA_DL,
I think they do! And I swear some of them must somehow grow old and die too, because I could have sworn I had this one book *can't even remember what the title is now!* and I went to look for it, pulled out everything, and yet never did find it!

CC,
I figured you read others besides simply romance. I know I do. I am also a fast reader, but if I find a slow-paced book, I can feel my speed going clear down to snail-paced! I also try to read 2 or more books at a time, so that I can, hopefully, finish one of them every day. Harlequins are not my thing either, and not just because of the thinness. I don't usually like their plots. The thicker the better, I always say!

Lol. Well, thank you. I wasn't really complaining, simply showing me awe. Even I, the Queen, would bow down to one such as you, finishing 50 a month, no matter the thickness or genre. Empress is a great name.. Hmm.. I'm thinking you should add it to the front of your user name! :)

Since I asked others to name 5, that's what I'll limit myself to listing here. In no particular order they are:

The Secret by Julie Garwood
Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas
Jemima J by Jane Green (yeah, some people would call this chick lit, but it's a romance at heart)
Warlord by Elizabeth Vaughan
Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh (ok, the entire series is on my keeper shelf, but I said 5, so I only listed 5. . . )

I'm still pretty new in the romance reading department, I haven't read many of the good ones you've all listed, (but I soon will be!) This is what I've come up with so far:

The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
The Bride by Julie Garwood
The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons
Reflections in the Nile by J. Suzanne Frank
A Man in a Kilt by Sandy Blair

Edited to add: Again the Magic which I just finished and loved!

My current favorites (as I'm hard pressed to go back and think of every book I've read over the years and choose 5...!)

Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie
Saving Grace by Julie Garwood
The Corset Diaries by Katie MacAlister
The Proposition by Judith Ivory
Welcome to Temptation and Faking It by Jennifer Crusie (I count these as one book, as they star two members of one family...a very fun and interesting family)

Yikes, this is such a hard question!! I only really started reading romances about two years ago, so there are a lot of older books that I haven't read, which means that my top ten (I can't just pick five!!) consists mainly of newer books...If I have to choose I guess they would be (in no particular order):

Slightly Dangerous by Mary Balogh
As You Desire by Connie Brockway
Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chase
A Passion for Him by Sylvia Day
The Duke & The Pirate Prince by Gaelen Foley (I know, I know! they are two completely separate books, but they are Gaelen Foley's best IMHO and so I can't just pick one!)
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Promise Me Forever by Lorraine Heath
The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt
Where Dreams Begin by Lisa Kleypas
Yours Until Dawn by Teresa Medeiros

Mpls, I am so sorry, but I just couldn't whittle it down any more. I apologize again for messing up your question, just pretend you don't see the other 30, or pick any 5. I just can't. Sorry!

CC

Good thing I took part in the AAR Top 100 Romances poll a few months ago. *g* My top five romance novels are:

1. Susan Fox, The Prodigal Wife
2. Penelope Williamson, Keeper of the Dream
3. Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
4. Jane Austen, Persuasion
5. Gaelen Foley, Lord of Fire

And since Jane Austen isn't exactly a contemporary writer, here are two more:

6. Anita Mills, The Duke's Double
7. Margaret Moore, The Wastrel

Cheers,
Sandy
(still alive and kicking)

CC, S'ok. I know it's hard. My intent from this is to see what I haven't read that are in people's top 5 and seek those titles out. Turns out there's several listed that I haven't read. Yay!!

Sandy, Lord of Fire is a great read; I liked both of the Knight twins books, but preferred LoF. Speaking of Twins, I also adored the Cynster Twins books, On a Wicked Dawn and On a Wild Night by Stephanie Laurens. I think those are my two faves of hers.

The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
The Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer
The Rogue trilogy by Claire Delacroix
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

Didn't really think to hard on them, but they all were good books.

Outlander Series
The Bronze Horseman
Ride the Wind
Jane Eyre
The Thorn Birds

I am going to go with:

1. Garden Spells
2. Dark Prince
3. Devil In Winter
4. Darkest Night
5. High Noon

I love series so these are my fav's so far:

1. BDB series by J R Ward
2. Carpathian series by Christine Feehan
3. The Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead
4. Interview with Vampire series Anne Rice
5. All of Kresley Cole

** I keep seeing the Outlander Series on everyones list so now I have to go check that at too :) **

With romance, I'm a mass market historical reader so my list doesn't have as much variety as others.

A Fire in the Blood
The Heart Breaker
Flowers from the Storm
Dreaming of You
Hearts Aflame
Untamed

I realize I haven't read a lot of popular romance. No Georgette Heyer, No Nora Roberts, No Outlander Series, and No Windflower ('cause I can't find it anywhere for less than $40).

My top five probably are (although hard to choose)

Dreaming of You - Lisa Kleypas
Blue Eyed Devil - Kleypas
The Bad Man's Bride - Susan Kay Law
Slightly Dangerous -Mary Balogh
The Secret Lover - Julia London

There are more but I managed to get it to 5 only!

Only picking five was difficult but I decided to go with my gut and the first five that came to mind when I thought of my keepers.

1. Outlander - Diana Gabaldon
2. Heart of the West - Penelope Williamson
3. Knight in Shining Armour - Jude Devereaux
4. Midnight Honor - Marsha Canham
5. For My Lady's Heart - Laura Kinsale

I am with everyone else picking 5 is going to hard but here it goes...

1.Knight in Shining Armor-Jude Deveraux
2.The Game-Brenda Joyce
3.Any Karen Marie Moning
4.On a Highland Shore-Kathleen Givens
5.Any Sherrilyn Kenyon

I'm pretty new to this website, but absolutely love it!
I haven't read romance novels for a long time up til recently, but I've always been a huge fan for the past 25+ years of Kathleen E. Woodiwiss (RIP).

Sometimes I think her books ruined me for other authors as I have yet to meet her match, however in saying this, her later books were not as good as her first novels. Some of her last works were horrible compared to her earlier works. I appreciate everyone putting out their favorite books.. I can try some new ones I've never heard of before and maybe find some new favorites! Thank you!!! :)

1. The Wolf and the Dove by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
2. A Rose in Winter by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
3. The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
4. Shanna by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
5. Does the Twilight series count here??

Braiella- Welcome to the group! Woodiwiss was one of the first romance authors I read also and I have a fondness for her work. You will get TONS of ideas for new authors/books to try from this group.

ps: I consider the Twilight books as romance also :)

Thanks, Katybear.
I've been reading Outlander by Diana Gabaldon after seeing all the wonderful reviews this past week..

All I can say is O-M-G. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this book. Haven't had a book make me laugh and bawl so hard in a very long time. This is going to the top three of my fave list!
Thanks everyone! Great input! :)