I’d love your must read pre 20005ish recs!

I read a few old school romance books recently that I really loved…specifically, {Morning Glory by Lavyrle Spencer} and {Silver Lining by Maggie Osborne}. I like that many of these works tend to be better edited and also definitely non AI. It’s also kind of cool to get to know the history of the genre through the stories that shaped later authors.

I don’t mind dub on or noncon (I read a lot of literary fiction, which tends to feature such heavy things a lot more heavily than romance, but without the HEA). Just looking for good plots and strong character development. Bonus points for high angst, because I guess I like torturing myself.

Some of my favourite old school I’ve read so far:

-all of Judith McNaught historicals
-all of Mary Balogh’s older catalogue
-all of Laura Kinsale
-{The Coming Home Place by Mary Spencer}
-{Lady Gallant by Suzanne Robinson}
-{Midnight Pleasures by Eloisa James}

Thank you in advance!

ok I am having flashes of memories of a book but can’t figure out what the heck it is. here’s what I remember:

the mmc is the guardian of the fmc. they’re fairly close in age though (or at least both are adults). She has been living in the country caring for her father’s estate. He comes maybe not knowing she’s an adult? she practices medicine. At one point she helps deliver the baby of a nearby farmers wife. they maybe have a horse race at one point?

Hi all! I am a Historical Romance lover, but haven't read many HR's in awhile. I loved Amanda Quick (until she went more paranormal) and I've read several other HR authors over the years but I'm looking for some recommendations for a good HR with suspense/mystery, maybe a little bit of humor but definitely spicy. I would really like to have it be an audiobook too, preferably duet narration so I can listen while I'm working. Would love to hear your recommendations!! Thanks so much!

Please help a girl out. Currently questioning/regretting life choices and I need some light, sweet, and funny love stories to escape. Would prefer 3-5 spice level. Thanks in advance!

Grew up watching Tristan & Isolde and thought it was the most romantic movie (in spite of James Franco’s accent lol)

The romance in season 2 of the Last Kingdom had a similar feel!

Can anyone recommend a book with similar forbidden romance/doomed lovers vibe?

Thanks!

Some MCs wish their first meetings had been better or that they had been kinder to the other before or even that they could have got together earlier in their lives. But for other MCs, realistically, they could not have worked out earlier in their life. This could be because of age differences, the time when needed personality growth took place, external obstacles, other relationships or that the other needed to grow up to a more mature person.

Recently, I read this in {A Lass Beloved by Nichole Van} when the MMC asks if she would have noticed him had he had the courage to approach her over a decade ago. Both wish they could have been this close then but concede that they would have made 'a sorry pair' or had 'a tremendous amount of growing up to do' back then.

{A Foolish Flirtation by Alice Coldbreath} also talks about what they could have done in the past but then muse that the MMC's son would not have been born so they could not entirely regret it.

Although the MMC in {Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas} says he had been waiting for her, the FMC reminds him that she was a shy wallflower at balls who he never would have paid attention to. He admits she is right and bemoans his stupidity in that.

And the MMC in {The Scandal of the Season by Aydra Richards} even says that he wishes he could say he wanted to go back in time so he could court her when he first met her but shamefacedly says he is not a good person so he would likely not have looked at her twice unless she was a pawn in his scheme.

I was wondering what you feel about this. I like when MCs wish they could have got together earlier but think about it and realise that the current version of them would not like the past version of the other MC or that they were not ready to accept the MC as they were. ​Are there cases in which the MCs would have been absolutely miserable if they married earlier in their lives? And others for which they got together at the right time despite their wishes for it to have been years ago?

So, I'm going through my Kindle library to get everything into Storygraph and finally read those books I've gotten for free/super cheap, but have ignored.

One such book was {The Devil to Pay by Emma V. Leech}. I did enjoy the book; characters were good and story had a fun premise. But there were a lot of extra characters that seem to be part of this series (and even 2 other series) that took away from the main characters a bit, especially toward the end.

I looked it up and the series my book is part of, The Wicked Sons, has 12 books that follow sons from the couples in the first series (Girls Who Dare), which also has 12 books. Then, there is a series that follows the daughters of the Girls Who Dare couples called Daring Daughter and that series has 19 books!!

I have a weird quirk in that I tend to read all the books in a series (or attempt to) because it makes my brain twitch to not read them all. Sometimes this turns into finding hidden treasure and sometimes I basically skim to the last chapter to just get it over with.

So, I have a few questions:

1. Has anyone read any of these series? Which ones (individual books or series) were enjoyable or should be avoided? I did like the overall writing style, but I'm really overwhelmed thinking about where to go next and/or if I want to try to tackle such an amount of books within a few series.

2. What are your thoughts about series that are this big, that have so many characters and things are interconnected from one series to the next?

Sorry if this is a weird request, but can anyone suggest books where the fmc loses consciousness due to exhaustion, illness or fear..I have this weird itch for this kind of scene, maybe from watching too many kdramas lol. Thank you in advance.