medieval romances

[meganbmoore]

I may come to regret this, but I think I'm in the mood for medieval-set historical romances(and by that, I mean pretty much anything between the dark ages and when people started abandoning swords for guns.)  Anyone have any good ones to rec?  

(I could post to a community, but I'm afraid of what I'd end up with.)

ETA:  Mention Bertrice Small and I'll be forced to cause physical injury.  I have my limits for historical Mary Sue smut fanfic, and she surpasses them by the first perfect lover, much less the third or fourth.

Comments

[irysangel.livejournal.com]

Wow, this is tricky because all of my favorites are from a long time ago, so they seem a bit dated. I loved FIRE SONG by Catherine Coulter (but in a re-read, the hero is brutal to the heroine) and EARTH SONG (which stood up surprisingly well) by the same gal.

Still love A KINGDOM OF DREAMS by Judith McNaught. Love any of Julie Garwood's Scottish/Medievals, but they are lite on the accuracy.

One of my all-time favorite pleasure re-reads is Jude Deveraux's THE TAMING (about a heiress that marries a very filthy knight) but it's just light all around.

Are you looking for fluffity-but-fun or actual nitty-gritty medieval? I've heard good things about Roberta Gellis's Roselynde series but I confess I've never read them.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I think I'm looking for both.

I like the McNaught a lot...like Jo Beverley, she manages to actually suck you into the social customs and realities of that time period.

For whatever reason, I've never really gotten along with Coulter or Devereaux.

Haven't read the Gellises, though.

[hrimcealde.livejournal.com]

I haven't been able to read Coulter since the "hero" raped the heroine in one of her books. I was disgusted.

[chomiji]

tsk! Dunnett, of course!

You can also see whether you can locate some Cecilia Holland. Not all of hers is romantic, but try Great Maria. (Also check out her description of her latest, on her web site.)

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm thinking largely of things I can just zip down to the UBS and grab. People here don't seem to want to part with their Dunnett. But it is edging closer and closer to the top of my "acquire online" pile. (Right now Sayers, McKillip, Trudi Canavan, Carol Berg and Michelle West-and a few odds and ends-are at the top.)

[chomiji]

Ahh, 'tis true. Most people's Dunnetts are old friends.

I sincerely hope that McKillip's Riddlemaster comes top the top of your pile soon!

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I am acquiring the McKillip's by virtue of what I find cheapest online/nicely discounted locally first. I got Od Magic in today, and Harrowing the Dragon is on its way to me. And I also finally got Death of the Necromancer in.

[morwen_peredhil]

Any medieval (romance or mystery) by Roberta Gellis is a good bet. I think she's the best of the lot by a long shot.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/g/roberta-gellis/

The Roselynde Chronicles are my favorites, so I'd start with Roselynde. (For some reason, Fantastic Fiction doesn't include Gilliane in the Roselynde Chronicles, but it's actually Book Four in the series.)

Madeline Hunter's medievals are good. Too bad she no longer writes them.

A Bed of Spices by Barbara Samuel

For My Lady's Heart and Shadowheart by Laura Kinsale

The Shattered Rose by Jo Beverly

The Thief's Mistress by Gayle Feyrer

The Knight and the Rose by Isolde Martyn

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Hunter's medievals were much better than her Regencies. I stopped following those a few books in. I've read (I hope) all of Jo Beverley's medievals and wish she wrote more. She does an excellent job of drawing you into the period and making you accept things about it (the actions of both parties in Shattered Rose, the one where the heroine's father was killed by the hero in a duel, etc.) that most authors couldn't. Actually, I think I've read all the ones you listed except for Gellis. The only Feyrer that's really worked for me, though, was the first Elizabethan she wrote as Taylor Chase.

[morwen_peredhil]

I've pretty much given up on romance because I only like a particular sort of medieval, and there are hardly any medievals at all being published now. When everything went Regency and vampire, I was SOL.

I've thought of another author. Have you read Anita Mills? She wrote a few good medievals in the late eighties and early nineties.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Yup. I refuse to touch most of the vampire romances, and the ones I do touch, I definately don't read for the romances. About all you can expect from most regencies these days, unfortunately, is hopefully decant dialogue. Most of the authors consider reading Julia Quinn to be in depth research. And even Quinn's last few books I read did nothing for me.

I've read a few Anita Mills books, but can't remember which.

[miss-dian.livejournal.com]

Not related. But that is a pretty icon! ^^

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Thankies. It's Liu Yi Fei/Crystal Liu in Forbidden Kingdom. She makes pretty graphics easy.

[miss-dian.livejournal.com]

**looks up Crystal Liu in Wikipedia**

[themachinehead.livejournal.com]

Might be too highbrow, but I really enjoyed Sarah Dunant's The Birth of Venus, and heard In the Company of the Courtesan was good, too. It's more "Renaissance" than Medieval, but it's good stuff.

Pipes up

[bzoppa.livejournal.com]

I really liked In the Company of the Courtesan. No sex scenes (if that's what you're looking for) but I thought the writing was good.