47 replies to this topic

[Roallas21]

So, I am looking for another series to get into. I want an actual series like the in death, but it doesnt have to be 40 books, cause i'd be happy with a 4 book series.

I'm looking for something with a strong female lead. Something with drama, and romance and true love. I dont want kid stuff and the adult books arent really my thing, so something in between

Anyone have any suggestions?

I love nora roberts
deen koonts
nicholas sparks

Much thanks!

[Donna]

You could try Catherine Coulter's FBI series, with Savage and Sherlock.
Or Lisa Scottoline's Benny Rosato and Associates series (female attorneys).
Anything by Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick's Arcane books.
James Patterson's Womens' Murder Club (Cop series, more mystery than romance, IMO)

[Ms Joy]

You've read the Stephanie Plum books, right? (by Janet Evanovitch)

[Roallas21]

I have not read the stephanie Plum books, should I?

[Joe]

Yeah. The Plum books aren't my bag, but they might appeal to you (and you'll have to make your own decision about "true love" there. Stephanie has been wavering between two guys for close to 20 books. .

What do you like? I have a hard time not snickering when you say you like Nicholas Sparks. There's a reason his books aren't discussed here. Sorry, I just can't stand his books.

Have you tried Nora's other titles other than ID? Her trilogies, stand alones, categories, etc? If not, give those a shot first. Linda Howard is another favorite, but she's not really a "series" writer. Scottoline is awesome, as is Jayne Ann Krentz. Coulter's okay, again, not my bag.

Suzanne Brockmann's REALLY good. I resisted her stuff for a long time, but ended up loving it (could be my JAG obsession since I started watching the DVD's watched it on TV with my mom back in the day, but didn't love it. Do now!).

Do you like paranormal or fantasy (vampires, witches, werewolves, demons, gods, that sort of thing)? If you're looking for series + romance therein lies your best bet. You're not going to find very many long running series in the "crime/mystery" genre that fit that bill. I'm not sure what you mean by "adult" stuff and "kid" stuff. If you could clarify that, that would be good. If you mean "erotica" (crazy nasty nothing but sex kind of thing) as far as "adult" stuff, I get it (totally, since, I'm an adult, but hate that stuff. ), but since you're into Nora and ID, which I consider "adult stuff", I'm a bit confused. And since I read and enjoy a LOT of "kid stuff" (JK Rowling, Rick Riordan, etc...NOT Stephanie Meyer. YUCK! ), I'm...still a bit confused. Clarify please? Before I give you some really rocking series' and freak you out!

[Roallas21]

Sorry joe. When I mean, "adult" I mean complete erotica, not my thing and I want something more in depth than something like twilight. Ah, Nicholas sparks..what can I say, I have a weakness when it comes to sappy love stories haha. I dont think anything will ever come close to how much I love the ID series lol. Im willing to try anything though, if someone reccommends something specific

Okay I rephrase the kid stuff, because I do enjoy it from time to time, I just need substance (again something more challenging than twilight haha) so please give me some suggestions. what are your favorites?

And keep in mind, I love the romance! haha. Im a 21 year old female, I need romance

[IDFAN]

I have not read the stephanie Plum books, should I?

The Plum books are good if you like a light humorous story with lots of laugh out loud moments and crazy characters. No, there isn't any evolution of the characters, but they're still fun read. The first book was made into a movie "One for the Money" with Kathrine Heigl, Jason O'Mara and Daniel Sunjata. Plenty to drool over in the movie. A friend of mine watched the movie and then borrowed the series from me. She just finished the tenth book.

[Ms Joy]

Actually, I'm not that much of a Stephanie Plum fan, either -- the first few were good, but then she just got boring (for me). Suzanne Brockmann is really good, and I loved her Navy Seal stories, but eventually got tired of those too, the way each book always has two stories going -- she basically writes two separate books, then cuts them apart with scissors and weaves them back together. That got old after awhile. Her older, stand-alone books were great, especially "Bodyguard" and "Heart Throb".
.. Rachel Gibson writes are stand-alones... Loved them all, especially "True Confessions" which had some pretty funny scenes.

[ruth]

I'll second Donna's recommendations of Catherine Coulter's FBI series (except for the first book which you can easily skip because it is absolutely one of the worst books ever written The Cove). Dillon and Sherlock are a delight. I'll also second her suggestion of Jayne Anne Krentz/Amanda Quick/Jayne Castle (who are all one person by the way. Donna - how the heck can you leave Jayne Castle out of the Mix). Actually Jayne Ann Krentz's individual novels are really good too. Stephanie Plum doesn't do it for me either. I don't get the appeal of Nicholas Sparks either. The characters in Dear John are so pathetic its unreal. There is nothing redeeming about either one of them despite the fact that John sells his father's coin collection to help pay for the cancer treatments her husband (who she threw John to the curb for) needs - and she doesn't even want to be married to him. I think this is headed into rant territory - sorry.

[Joe]

Sorry joe. When I mean, "adult" I mean complete erotica, not my thing and I want something more in depth than something like twilight. Ah, Nicholas sparks..what can I say, I have a weakness when it comes to sappy love stories haha. I dont think anything will ever come close to how much I love the ID series lol. Im willing to try anything though, if someone reccommends something specific

Okay I rephrase the kid stuff, because I do enjoy it from time to time, I just need substance (again something more challenging than twilight haha) so please give me some suggestions. what are your favorites?

And keep in mind, I love the romance! haha. Im a 21 year old female, I need romance

No need to rephrase, just clarification.

If you like Sparks, more power to you, but I worry about that guy. His books are always so tragic, and yes, romantic, but...ick. There comes a point where you just want to say "Really dude? Grow some balls!"

If you go for funny, try Mary Janice Davidson's "Betsy The Vampire Queen" series (first one is Undead and Unwed). They get a little muddled in the middle (and they aren't done yet), but the first four books? Funniest things you've ever read. And the last one was REALLY good, so I'm hoping they'll get back to what they were originally supposed to be (small issue with the author's ego since she was moved into hard cover That screwed her writing). It's a long story what the plotline is, but I'll tell you that the hero has been called "The Undead Roarke" (I don't agree, lots of HUGE differences between Sinclair and Roarke, but there are a few similarities too ).

If you like some angst along with your funny try the "Black Dagger Brotherhood" by JR Ward. I will warn you, these are a bit "harder" than straight romance, but nowhere NEAR erotica. They're romantic, well written, funny, and there's an ongoing "fight" with an evil force. There are good books and bad books in the series, but most of them are really great.

And of course, you could read the QUEEN of the "paranormal" genre (like Nora is queen of romance), Anne Rice. Interview With The Vampire is probably my all time favorite book (next to Pride and Prejudice, and they're pretty much neck and neck ). Danger, romance, intrigue, and high drama. IWTV is part of the "Vampire Chronicles". Look them up, you won't regret it (and if you want substance in a book like you couldn't find from Twilight??? This is where to find it. Twilight is a cheap crossover ripoff of VC and HP. These books are AMAZING. And though they're about Vampires, they're NOTHING like what Twilight tried to pass off, even though she tried. ). Have fun!

[AJ]

You might also try Suzanne Enoch's Samantha Jellicoe/Richard Addison series. Books in this series are: "Flirting With Danger," "Don't Look Down," "A Touch of Minx," "Billionaire's Prefer Blondes" and "Twice the Temptation."

Very much like "In Death" except instead of being a cop, Samantha Jellicoe is/was a thief who later becomes a security consultant. Richard Addison is very much a carbon copy of Roarke, except he has an ex wife.

It's good writing...a good series...fun...not too heavy, but not too silly/funny/quirky.

AJ

[Ms Joy]

You might also try Suzanne Enoch's Samantha Jellicoe/Richard Addison series. Books in this series are: "Flirting With Danger," "Don't Look Down," "A Touch of Minx," "Billionaire's Prefer Blondes" and "Twice the Temptation."
Very much like "In Death" except instead of being a cop, Samantha Jellicoe is/was a thief who later becomes a security consultant. Richard Addison is very much a carbon copy of Roarke, except he has an ex wife.
AJ

Sounds interesting, I'll have to hunt for them!
My personal favorite Anne Rice book wasn't "Interview with a vampire" -- it was "The Witching Hour" - a lovely feast of a book, the first one in a trilogy. Fat, spooky -- classic Anne Rice.
I have a shelf in my house with old favorite books, some of them published back in the 60's, 70's, etc. One of my alltime favorites was published in 1986: "Through a glass darkly" by Karleen Koen. A big fat glorious story (with a sequel), takes place in "the rich world of the eighteenth century, upper-class families of England and France." Fabulous, meticulous attention to detail and customs of the time -- and one helluva great story. This book got fabulous reviews -- it was the author's first book, and languished for months on some publisher's "slush pile" before some editor finally picked it up and read it. It's a delicious feast of a story, over 700 pages. (There are other books with the same title -- be sure you get the one by Karleen Koen. I just now checked Amazon, it's still in print.)

[Joe]

Oh..."The Witching Hour" was AWESOME! I still love "Interview With The Vampire" more. And the whole "Vampire Chronicles" series! See? Nora is the Queen of Romance, Anne is the queen of paranormal. I'm really enjoying her "Christ" Series The first is "Jesus out of Egypt" (and no, most people don't consider that "paranormal", because Christ isn't considered "paranormal" by most, and they really aren't. But still good books!).

[Roallas21]

Everyone's excitement is getting me pumped up, now where the hell do I start hahaha. Sounds like alot of good books out there, so my problem is SOLVED!! Thanks guys

[Nandi]

Everyone's excitement is getting me pumped up, now where the hell do I start hahaha. Sounds like alot of good books out there, so my problem is SOLVED!! Thanks guys

You can also try Patricia Cornwell's " Scarpetta Series". some of the titles in that series are: Body of Evidence, Port Mortuary, there are several, Her earlier books are better IMO. Blow fly is just one of my favpritee. There is also Author Sue Grafton and her Kinsey Milhone series. All her titles start with the alphabet. so it's much easier to read them in order her first book is A is for Alibi and her most recent is V is for vengence. Then of course all the letters in between. They are very good if you like the eighties, they are set in that decade, don't let that scare you away though.

[WickedWitchOfTheWest]

I adore Deanna Raybourn's Julia Grey series. There's suspense, a wonderful cast of characters, a solid romance, and the first book has an awesome opening paragraph. There are five books so far: books one to three are delightful, the fourth was a little bit of a disappointment, and I haven't read the fifth yet. But you can't go wrong with the first three. Be warned, though, that while there's a strong romance, there is no explicit sex. I think they don't even kiss until the second book.

I looked up Coulter's FBI series since so many people recommended it ... but there are nearly 20 books?! Yes, I realise this thread asks for a new series, I was paying attention ( ), but it takes forever to get hold of 20 books, in the right order, from the library. I find all that requesting and waiting, waiting, waiting for my turn exhausting. No, I don't do patience very well. I guess, if I read them out of order and liberally skip books in the middle, I won't enjoy the characters as much, will I?

[mom_laura]

I really like James Patterson series Women's Murder Club. I have all 11 books and really enjoy them and find I like re-reading them. For me no one can really compete with JD Robb's In Death Series but the Women's Murder Club comes close. Also I used to like Nickolas Sparks until I read "At First Sight" since that book I just can't pick them up. Way too tragic for me.


Also wanted to thank everyone for their suggestions, I am always looking for a new series.

Edited by mom_laura, 11 May 2012 - 10:39 AM.

[Teresa50]

Robin Owens Heart series. About a group of people with telepathic abilities who settled on the planet Celta and their descendants Each person finds a heartmate and it tells the history of the planet as well as a mystery and each families gift and how they fit in with society. And each person has a fam, a cat, dog, fox that adds some comic relief to the story.

Laura Lippman Tess Monahagn series, a reporter turned PI in Baltimore. Most of the titles are about places in Baltimore, Federal Hill, Butcher Hill, Charm City.

Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series, Dream Hunter series, based on Greek Mythology

[Joe]

I'm not all that nuts about "Women's Murder Club". I tried them because a good friend of mine is obsessed, but couldn't get into them. But to each their own!

"Where to start"? Good question. I keep hearing about new series I need to read, and I'm like "No, no, NO! I've got too much to read already! Leave me alone!"

[Ms Joy]

So after reading (and participating in) this thread last night, I now have a big shipment of books ordered from Amazon, LOL! I buy a lot of used books from them, as well as new. The "Prime" membership has paid for itself many times over with the free 2-day shipping. I wonder how much sick time I have left at work, so I can stay home and read...