This week, I was surrounded by conversation about older romances, the kind that, no matter how old they are, retain their magic, their appeal and their emotional power. The fact that I had this conversation repeatedly is my own fault, not that I’m complaining. I just spent five days with romance readers, authors and publishers at the RT Booklover’s Convention in L.A., and among my favorite questions to ask romance fans is which romance was their first, and if they can remember it.
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books talks dark romance.
The answer to the latter: DUH. Most romance fans, if not all of them, can remember the first romance they read. It's, like, a law or something. Mine: Midsummer Magic by Catherine Coulter (Signet, 2003).
Of course, most people have a different First Romance Novel, given how many books in the genre there are. But regardless of the book that led them into the romance world, most readers also are eager to share the names of the older romances they have read that they still adore and still reread.
One of the earliest romances I read as a teenager was originally published in 1958, and I reread it recently and found it as adorable, touching and addictive as I had when I was 14. The Luckiest Girl (HarperCollins, 1996 reprint) is very reflective of the time in which it's set, but the emotions, thoughts and social tensions experienced by the heroine, Shelley, who goes to live with a friend of the family for a school year in southern California, seem just as real and valid over 50 years later.
Signet Regency author Joan Wolf was and still is a reader favorite who is often recommended. I was given a copy of His Lordship's Mistress (Signet, 1982), which is available digitally and in print as a used book for about a penny online, and was stunned by what I thought were some rather racy themes explored in a Regency from the ’80s. The heroine, Jessica, is desperate to keep her family out of poverty, and so she takes to the stage in London—which is enough to ruin her reputation in itself—and catches the eye of the Earl of Linton, who wants her to be his mistress. An actress/mistress Regency heroine? Stunning—and stunningly good.
Many, many, and I do mean MANY romance readers first found the emotional and intellectual thrill of the genre in the novels of Georgette Heyer. When I was writing Everything I Know About Love, I Learned From Romance Novels (Sourcebooks, October 2011), I asked readers who their favorite heroes were, and of my top nine, two are Heyer heroes. Actually, three, because Vidal from Devil's Cub and his father, the Duke of Avon from These Old Shades are tied for their spot on the list. The third was Freddy from Cotillion (Sourcebooks reprint, 2007).
Devil's Cub, first published in 1932, was my first Heyer (doesn't that sound like it should be a trading card? The My First Heyer Collection!), and I remember thinking as I started it that readers were going to kill me for not liking it, because the opening chapters were so slow to build. Then the plot took off once the heroine, Mary Challoner, hides her face and allows the Marquis of Vidal to believe he's running off to France with Mary's shallow, dimwit sister, Sophie. When he discovers the switch it's too late, and Mary…well, Mary's not one to take any crap from anyone, including Vidal.
When I asked on Twitter which older romances were eternal favorites, the answers were varied but a few author's names repeated among the replies. Kathleen Woodiwiss, Judith McNaught, Jude Deveraux, Judith Krantz, LaVyrle Spencer, Laurie McBain, Elizabeth Lowell, Julie Garwood, Johanna Lindsay, Theresa Weir and Virginia Henley were all mentioned among the old and reread favorites.
Last week at the RT convention, I was part of a session on digital-reading devices with Jane Litte from Dear Author and Angela James from Carina Press, and one attendee asked why she should consider a digital reader and what made digital reading so great? Among our answers: the number of older, out-of-print romances that are finding a new digital audience. Many of the authors I've mentioned here are now available in digital form, so it's not too late to discover—or rediscover—a new old favorite.
Who are your favorites, and which older romances do you reread while seeking out new ones to enjoy?