Never thought to find mention of Georgette Heyer here. I think I've read all her books (even her mysteries, which I didn't like). She doesn't have an award named after her for nothing.

A Civil Campaign by Lois McMasters Bujold. If you are an avid SF reader, you've probably come across her. This is not the place to start in the long Vorkosigan saga, but the most romantic. Bujold in fact dedicates this book to (if I remember) Georgette, Jane, Charlotte, and, oh, I've forgotten. Also of course the book about Miles' parents that started it all, Shards of Honor, one of my favorite books of all time.

Piratica by Tanith Lee. A cracking good book, an alternate timeline fantasy (our 1802), and flat-out romantic, but not only romance. This is a young adult novel.

Blood and Chocolate, another young adult novel, about being a teenage werewolf. It works on so many levels, as a coming-of-age, romance, action. There was a movie made of it which changes the ending; it's probably best to ignore it.

For fantasy with romance try Barbara Hambly. Her stand-alone Stranger at the Wedding is pretty much a tribute to the Gothic romance novel. I also recommend her Sun Wolf and Starhawk series and her Windrose Chronicles; not so much a fan of what she did to her characters in the follow-ups to Dragonsbane. Bride of the Rat God is a fun read, set in '20s Hollywood with of course a fantasy twist. She also has a vampire series.

I used to be a fan of Mary Stewart's romance novels, before she started writing her Merlin books. My Brother Michael and This Rough Magic were two of my favorites. Not sure how they hold up now.

Georgette Heyer? That takes me back. 🙂
It's been a long time, but here are a couple that have a similar 'flavor'...

Dorothy L Sayers is known for her mysteries. Her longest running series starred Lord Peter Wimsey, and his romance with Harriet Vane spans 4 non-consecutive stories, starting mid-career with "Strong Poison" (wiki it for more info). You don't have to read all of them, but if you like mysteries, you could.

I also like Lois McMaster Bujold, but it's tough to jump into the middle of her series with "A Civil Campaign". Miles Vorkosigan is such a great character that you shouldn't miss the beginning of his career (and misfiring romances). At least read the previous book, "Komarr" where he meets his future wife.

This one's a bit of a longshot, but Simon R Green wrote a series of fantasy books starring a husband and wife team known as the "Hawk & Fisher" series. The books aren't as original as you might like, but the world building is interesting, as is the dynamic between the couple. The prequel to this series is called "Blue Moon Rising", and is a little more 'high fantasy'.

I went through the whole 'regency period' in my younger days, and I'll try to recall more authors similar to Heyer.

Quote from scarletrhodelia

Never thought to find mention of Georgette Heyer here. I think I've read all her books (even her mysteries, which I didn't like). She doesn't have an award named after her for nothing.

A Civil Campaign by Lois McMasters Bujold. If you are an avid SF reader, you've probably come across her. This is not the place to start in the long Vorkosigan saga, but the most romantic. Bujold in fact dedicates this book to (if I remember) Georgette, Jane, Charlotte, and, oh, I've forgotten. Also of course the book about Miles' parents that started it all, Shards of Honor, one of my favorite books of all time.

Funny you should mention this, because it was after listening to Komarr and A Civil Campaign a month or two ago that I decided I felt like some comedy of manners style romance novels... which led me to discover Georgette Heyer. lol. 😛

Your other suggestions look interesting. Thanks a lot.

edit
@kayue: Thanks for your suggestions as well! I'll check them out.

I loved Sunshine and too wish she would write a sequel. My brother unfortunately hated it when I had him read it.

A young adult book that I am assuming you have read but if you have not by chance "The Forgotten Beasts of Eld" is a must read.

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson has a nice arranged marriage plot with twists. His later Mistborn trilogy is also quite well done and doesn't follow the tall dark handsome model at all.

Sharon Shinn's Twelve houses books are probably the most "romantic" of the books I'll list. Each book in the series focuses on a specific couple and they are pretty good. They are light fantasy about the weight of The Blue Sword. I'd start with the "Mystic and Rider"

"The Jaguar Princess" by Clare Bell (It isn't as terrible as the title sounds, swear) is a nice light fantasy with some interesting ideas. The setting is rather unusual, in the ancient Aztec civilization instead of a more medieval European setting.

"Cat's Paw" By Joan D Vinge is one of my favourite books but the romance aspect doesn't get going much until the second book "Dreamfall". That said you can't really enjoy Dreamfall without the background of Cat's Paw. There is some abuse in the main character's (guy) past but is in the past and not detailed in any lengthy descriptions or anything.

If you don't mind unicorn/human pairing "The Last Unicorn" by Peter S Beagle is well written and poignant. It's a fast read being short and simply written. I love the movie which followed the book closely but the book is worth a read and a classic.

None of the above are really regency era, although the mistborn and mystic and rider might come closest.

Edit: Just remembered. Sharon Shinn wrote a book that is essentially Jane Eyre in the future with space travel. "Jenna Starborn"

"Tu es responsable pour toujours de ce que tu as approvoise." Le Renard en "The Little Prince" Antoine de St. Exupery.

^Thanks falmari, those recommendations looks great. I've read The Last Unicorn, and recognize a couple of the other titles but don't think I remember having read them.

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natsu X erza
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naruto X gaara

Period setting, huh?

Hmm, I remember reading a book called Flames of Glory (don't remember the author, sorry!) that was set I think in the 1800's or early 1900's. I remember reading it over and over again, maybe your kind of book,, maybe not 🙂

A Countess Under the Stairs by Eva Abbotson is also a period setting romance. Not too cheesy in my opinion or melodramatic.

I've also been told that Atonement is a really good novel, about romance and...well, atonement 🙂

I'm currently reading The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan, and the romance that is spruced around that book is pretty realistic, all the while engaging as it takes you into the old world views of the Chinese culture.

I bought a book called The Bachelor by Carly Phillips the other day at Barnes n Noble, because the book I really wanted was only available to order online (and i feel that a trip to the bookstore is a waste when you don't buy anything, especially if you don't go there that often). I have absolutely no idea if this is a good book or not, but its told in the guy's POV, so hopefully it won't be cheesy and such 🙂

Which reminds me, you should read The Phantom by Susan Kay (the book I was originally looking for).

Its a retelling of The Phantom of the Opera (POTO), but I've been told much, much better. More depth for all the characters, its in the phantom's POV - his life from when he was a boy - until the actual events of POTO, where it skews between the perspective of Christine and the Phantom. It also has a better ending that the original by Leroux.

Hmm.... I'm sure there's a ton I've read but forgotten the titles of, but oh well.

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Quote from Crenshinibon

Reading literature instead of genre fiction will produce better results. Quite frankly I'm not a huge fan of Jane Austen or the Bronte sisters, but there are plenty of literary romance novels that are far superior anyway.

I'm probably going to get some flak for suggesting this, but Nabokov's Lolita is one of the greatest romance novels of the twentieth century. It's painfully convincing, and although certainly morally ambiguous, it is far less disturbing than people seem to believe.

The aforementioned Love and the Time of Cholera is probably the best suggestion in this thread. Read it.

Of course, given that this is a manga forum, it's never bad taste to drop Murakami Haruki into the fray- Norwegian Wood remains one of the better novels published in the last fifty or so years, and even if it isn't his best work, it is his most convincing romance. South of the Border, West of the Sun is written in a similar vein, though it's far less artfully composed.

As long as we're on the page of Japanese novels, Snow Country (Kawabata) and Sanshiro (Natsume) are both worth looking at. Neither are happy-ending stories, but both are believable.

I can easily come up with piles more, but clearly I'm starting to veer off the path which would explicitly follow your request, so I'll cut off here for now.

I've never heard of any of those books except for Lolita but they sound pretty wicked. I've only heard about Lolita and from what I've heard I wouldn't think of it as a romance...

Quote from DorkFishOK

Quote from Crenshinibon

Reading literature instead of genre fiction will produce better results. Quite frankly I'm not a huge fan of Jane Austen or the Bronte sisters, but there are plenty of literary romance novels that are far superior anyway.

I'm probably going to get some flak for suggesting this, but Nabokov's Lolita is one of the greatest romance novels of the twentieth century. It's painfully convincing, and although certainly morally ambiguous, it is far less disturbing than people seem to believe.

The aforementioned Love and the Time of Cholera is probably the best suggestion in this thread. Read it.

Of course, given that this is a manga forum, it's never bad taste to drop Murakami Haruki into the fray- Norwegian Wood remains one of the better novels published in the last fifty or so years, and even if it isn't his best work, it is his most convincing romance. South of the Border, West of the Sun is written in a similar vein, though it's far less artfully composed.

As long as we're on the page of Japanese novels, Snow Country (Kawabata) and Sanshiro (Natsume) are both worth looking at. Neither are happy-ending stories, but both are believable.

I can easily come up with piles more, but clearly I'm starting to veer off the path which would explicitly follow your request, so I'll cut off here for now.

I've never heard of any of those books except for Lolita but they sound pretty wicked. I've only heard about Lolita and from what I've heard I wouldn't think of it as a romance...

That's usually how you can tell when someone actually hasn't read Lolita. It's totally a love story- it's just not an innocent, tame sort of affair. I mean, sure, it's about a guy falling for a 12-year-old, but it's also about having a passion, or at least a lust, that's so strong it can destroy everything else in your life. Not all love stories need to end with a couple holding hands tamely like Austen loves to. I mean, at least throw in some Stendhal (The Red and the Black) if you want to be more traditional.

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Quote from Crenshinibon

Quote from DorkFishOK

Quote from Crenshinibon

Reading literature instead of genre fiction will produce better results. Quite frankly I'm not a huge fan of Jane Austen or the Bronte sisters, but there are plenty of literary romance novels that are far superior anyway.

I'm probably going to get some flak for suggesting this, but Nabokov's [i]Lolita[/i] is one of the greatest romance novels of the twentieth century. It's painfully convincing, and although certainly morally ambiguous, it is far less disturbing than people seem to believe.

The aforementioned [i]Love and the Time of Cholera[/i] is probably the best suggestion in this thread. Read it.

Of course, given that this is a manga forum, it's never bad taste to drop Murakami Haruki into the fray- [i]Norwegian Wood[/i] remains one of the better novels published in the last fifty or so years, and even if it isn't his best work, it is his most convincing romance. [i]South of the Border, West of the Sun[/i] is written in a similar vein, though it's far less artfully composed.

As long as we're on the page of Japanese novels, [i]Snow Country[/i] (Kawabata) and [i]Sanshiro[/i] (Natsume) are both worth looking at. Neither are happy-ending stories, but both are believable.

I can easily come up with piles more, but clearly I'm starting to veer off the path which would explicitly follow your request, so I'll cut off here for now.

I've never heard of any of those books except for Lolita but they sound pretty wicked. I've only heard about Lolita and from what I've heard I wouldn't think of it as a romance...

That's usually how you can tell when someone actually hasn't read Lolita. It's totally a love story- it's just not an innocent, tame sort of affair. I mean, sure, it's about a guy falling for a 12-year-old, but it's also about having a passion, or at least a lust, that's so strong it can destroy everything else in your life. Not all love stories need to end with a couple holding hands tamely like Austen loves to. I mean, at least throw in some Stendhal (The Red and the Black) if you want to be more traditional.

No no no, I believe you and I don't want to be more traditional (where did you get that tradition thing anyways? your putting words in my mouth. Though I guess your just anticipating my arguing against you). It sounds like you've argued a lot about this book with people and I can see how its hard for people to se it as a love story. In our society love is associated with pure, kind of clean feelings and I think its cool to look at it that way. I heard its a brilliantly written book and once I have enough time to give it the attention it deserves I will read it.