The first romance book I ever read was NO GENTLE POSSESSION – Anne Mather. My older sister, who had to be about 16 at the time, was reading Harlequin Presents. Yes, Harlequin got her with the get 4 free book subscription deal. She, of course, couldn’t afford to keep the subscription, but after 4 free books, she–well we–were hooked. And so began my love affair with category romances, which now, has spanned decades. I admit I don’t read nearly as much as I used to, but I will faithfully buy Sarah Mayberry.
I started with Harlequin Presents and quickly branched off to its other lines, and as they added more, so did I. Then along came Silhouette Books. Boy, did I think I was in heaven then. Then along came Loveswept. Can anyone say Paradise. Then Harlequin bought Silhouette. Was I bothered by that? Heck no, by then my mother was working for Harlequin in Don Mills, Ontario, and she now received all the Harlequin and Silhouette lines for FREE. Heaven. It was pure blissful HEAVEN. I was not ready for what happened next though, Loveswept disappeared, and I mean like almost overnight. One month I went into the store to make my monthly purchase, only to walk out empty-handed. To this day, I have no idea what happened to that line. I LOVED LOVESWEPT! If anyone has the answer, I wish they’d post it in the comment section because that line holds a dear place in my heart.
Anyway, today I just wanted to highlight my favourites (and there are many). Of course, this isn’t the full complete list but I think it’s about a good 75% of it. But even out of all the books featured below, here is how I would rank them:
Most Reread ~ Sarah’s Child – Linda Howard – Silhouette Special Edition
Sexiest ~ Mackenzie’s Pleasure – Linda Howard – Silhouette Intimate Moments
Most Made my Heart Ache ~ Terms of Surrender – Janet Dailey – Silhouette Special Edition
Most Memorable Bite Scene ~ No Gentle Possession – Anne Mather – Harlequin Presents
Best Best Friends to Lovers ~ A Whole New Light – Sandra Brown – Loveswept
Best Dated Both Brothers ~ Southern Nights – Janet Dailey – Harlequin Presents
Best Marriage by Deception ~ Alien Wife – Anne Mather – Harlequin Presents
What about you? What are your favourite category romances, authors, plotlines? Do you have favourite authors that you could recommend now? What are/were your favourite lines, series, publishers?
Hi, Beverly! What a terrific post! How I love these books~I buy them buy the boxfuls at yard sales and second-hand shops. They are still great reads! There are really too many great authors to mention, but here are a few more: Jean Brashear, Rebecca Winters, Violet Winspear, Peggy Nicholson, Judith Duncan, Emma Goldrick, Sandra Marton and Margaret Way.
I also loved Kismet Books by Meteor Publishing. I still find those here and there. They have black covers and are easy to spot.
I miss the Loveswept line. Such great books! My favorite category read is Lightning That Lingers by the Sharon and Tom Curtis. Also I have a few Linda Howard and Sandra Brown categories.
Oh, my gosh, Beverly! Your post and the pictures of the covers bring back memories! I cut my romance reading teeth on Harlequin and Harlequin Presents. I remember my first Harlequin; it was LOVE’S GENTLE FLAME by Katrina Britt and it was set in France. That was so romantic for a 12-year-old girl!
I did read a lot of Janet Dailey and Diana Palmer, then Debbie Macomber, but I absolutely loved–and still do–Essie Summers and Betty Neels. I have every single BN book and am only missing 1 of ES.
I love cateories, particularly SIM’s of the 1990’s !
I read categories constantly when I was a teenager! They were the only romances (outside Victoria Holt and YA) my mom would “let” me read until I went to college. She loaned me The Flame and the Flower when I was 19 and then I discovered my love of all things romance. 🙂 I can’t remember all the names because I was a voracious reader even then, but your list, Bev, is ringing some bells. 🙂 I do remember reading a lot by Margaret Mayo and I still buy Nora Roberts’s collection even today.
I love them all, and have read all lines.
I’ve always loved the Harlequin Presents. I’ve read them since the 80’s.
Some of my favorite authors are:
Penny Jordan
Anne Mather
Kate Walker
Diana Hamilton
Sandra Marton
Carole Mortimer
Charlotte Lamb
and many more!
Oh, my goodness! I just looked up online for Essie Summers’ books and there are 3 of her last I don’t have. Yikes, the asking price for one is $400- something. Gulp.
Oh Deb,
Um, (gulp) $400???? Are you serious. What is that plated in gold??? Don’t get me wrong, I love my old categories, but I would NEVER spend that kind of money on a single book.
Brynna, I left a bunch of authors off that list. I totally forgot Robyn Donald, Margaret Way (as Ginger mentioned).
Katie,
What name did Sharon and Tom Curtis write under? Don’t think I’m familiar with them.
My first category romance was Iris Johansen’s “Tender Savage.” I like Harlequin’s Blaze and Intrigue lines. I also like Silhouette’s Desire line.
I do love reading catergory romance and so did my Mum and she even kept a little book with the titles and authors of all the ones she read and had stars next to them so she knew which were her favourites and always passed them onto me
Thanks for the memories
Have Fun
Helen
oh I’ve always been a sucker for a catagory romance…my favorites are Harlequin Presents, Blaze and Silhouette Desires! I call them my “popcorn” reads, cuz their fun and I can usually finish one in an evening, just like a movie!
I read a lot of Barbara Cartland! Her books were great.
I like Harlequin Intrigues. That series and its authors have held my interest for years.
First romance ever read (and still reread) – The Prize by Julie Garwood. I loved all her historicals and reread them frequently.
An early favorite The Wolf and The Dove by Woodiwiss.
I didn’t discover Loveswept until after it was shut down. I was looking for early books by some of our popular authors at the library. I was surprised how many of them had started with Loveswept.
In the past few years, I’ve found so many more new favorites I can’t keep up with them all.
Love the Post Bev 🙂 as for me, a youngin’ in the world of romance I do love Woodiwiss’s and Johanna Lindsey’s early work. And Putney is fantastic.
Great topic. I don’t read catagory romances much anymore but I did start out reading them in 1993. Two of my favorite books of all-time are ‘Michael’s Father’ by Dallas Schulze, a Harlequin Superromance. The other is ‘Mail Order Man’ by Roseanne Williams, a Harlequin Temptation.