Monday, October 29, 2007

My top 100

Just in case you haven't heard, though I'm sure you have, AAR is holding a poll on your top 100 favourite romances of all time. It took me a while to do mine, I wanted to be sure that I included all I wanted too - and I still feel like I didn't get them all in. And ranking was very hard too! Although my top 25 - 30 were pretty set, the rest was very difficult and could just as easily be a different order. I sent it in last night so here they are:

1

Dreaming of You

Lisa Kleypas

2

Lord of Scoundrels

Loretta Chase

3

Ride the Fire

Pamela Clare

4

After the Night

Linda Howard

5

Whispers of Heaven

Candice Proctor

6

One Summer

Karen Robards

7

Outlaw Hearts

Roseanne Bittner

8

Morning Glory

Lavryle Spencer

9

Take A Chance On Me

Susan Donavan

10

Exposure

Susan Anderson

11

Lips That Touch Mine

Wendy Lindstrom

12

Windflower

Tom and Sharon Curtis

13

Conor's Way

Laura Lee Guhrke

14

Once a Pirate

Susan Grant

15

Beyond a Wicked Kiss

Jo Goodman

16

The Serpent Prince

Elizabeth Hoyt

17

Sweet Lullabye

Lorraine Heath

18

Joe's Wife

Cheryl St. John

19

Kinsman's Oath

Susan Krinard

20

Sky Pirate

Justine Dare

21

Wild At Heart

Patricia Gaffney

22

See Jane Score

Rachel Gibson

23

Mr. Perfect

Linda Howard

24

Born in Death

JD Robb

25

Lord of the Storm

Justine Dare

26

Love Alters Not

Patricia Veryan

27

If His Kiss is Wicked

Jo Goodman

28

Silk and Shadows

Mary Jo Putney

29

Thunder and Roses

Mary Jo Putney

30

Dream Fever

Katherine Sutcliffe

31

The Outsider

Penelope Williamson

32

A Reason to Believe

Maureen McKade

33

To Die For

Linda Howard

34

Drop Dead Gorgeous

Linda Howard

35

Once and Always

Judith McNaught

36

Fallen From Grace

Laura Leone

37

Bone Deep

Bonnie Dee

38

Absolute Trouble

Michelle Jerrott

39

Hard Lovin' Man

Lorraine Heath

40

Lawless

Patricia Potter

41

Portait in Death

JD Robb

42

The Bronze Horseman

Paulinna Simons

43

Heart Throb

Suzanne Brockman

44

Sunshine and Shadow

Tom and Sharon Curtis

45

The Rainbow Season

Lisa Gregory

46

Suddenly You

Lisa Kleypas

47

The Panther and the Pyramid

Bonnie Vanak

48

The Shadow and the Star

Laura Kinsale

49

Games of Command

Linnea Sinclair

50

Dangerous Lover

Lisa Marie Rice

51

Darkling I Listen

Katherine Sutcliffe

52

Lady Gallant

Suzanne Robinson

53

Jackson Rule

Dinah McCall

54

Be My Baby

Susan Anderson

55

Beyond Sunrise

Candice Proctor

56

Get Lucky

Suzanne Brockman

57

All Through the Night

Connie Brockway

58

Letters From A Stranger

Connie Rinehold

59

My Forever Love

Marsha Canham

60

Captives of the Night

Loretta Chase

61

The Raven Prince

Elizabeth Hoyt

62

Crazy Cool

Tara Janzen

63

River of Dreams

Glenna McReynolds

64

Bet Me

Jennifer Crusie

65

My False Heart

Liz Carlyle

66

A Dangerous Man

Connie Brockway

67

Tiger Eye

Karen Robards

68

Gabriel's Ghost

Linnea Sinclair

69

Bliss

Judy Cuevas

70

Cool Shade

Teresa Weir

71

Flowers From the Storm

Laura Kinsale

72

Dedicated Villain

Patricia Veryan

73

Off Limits

Michelle Albert

74

Breathless

Laura Lee Guhrke

75

Winter Garden

Adele Ashworth

76

The Devil in Winter

Lisa Kleypas

77

Keeper of the Dream

Penelope Williamson

78

The Warlord

Elizabeth Elliot

79

Homeplace

Dorothy Garlock

80

Lover Eternal

JR Ward

81

Truly Madly Yours

Rachel Gibson

82

The Iron Rose

Marsha Canham

83

Light My Fire

Jane Graves

84

Evensong

Candice Camp

85

The Cobra and The Concubine

Bonnie Vanak

86

The Nightingale's Song

Kathleen Eschenberg

87

Night Of The Phantom

Anne Stuart

88

Years

Lavryle Spencer

89

My Dark Prince

Jean Ross Ewing

90

Getting What You Want

Kathy Love

91

Prince Joe

Suzanne Brockman

92

Once In Every Lifetime

Kristin Hannah

93

Hard Evidence

Pamela Clare

94

The Rake

Mary Jo Putney

95

Leader of the Pack

Justine Dare

96

To Have and To Hold

Patricia Gaffney

97

The Devil's Waltz

Anne Stuart

98

Deception

Amada Quick

99

As You Desire

Connie Brockway

100

Midnight Jewells

Jayne Anne Krentz



A few interesting things of note
Highest number - Linda Howard - 4
Lisa Kleypas - 3
Connie Brockway - 3
Suzanne Brockman - 3
Katherine Sutcliffe had 2 but they were very different books. One was a historical and one was a Romantic Suspense.
Pamela Clare was the same. One was a Colonial (or for easier grouping I called it American History) and the other a RS
As did Anne Stuart
I tried to get a wide sampling of genres and I think I did that. By far the most were historicals but there were quite a few other genres too.

16 comments:

sula said...

I am shocked, just SHOCKED, I tell you, to see which book turned up as numero uno. *g*

You definitely read more widely than I do. My list is going to be very heavily weighted towards historical romance since that's traditionally what I've read. Still, I expect that a few contemps and paranormals will be high up there as well, thanks to all of the great recs I get around the net. :)

Kat said...

Darn, I forgot The Iron Rose. I think I'll have to try See Jane Score and If His Kiss Is Wicked. I've seen them mentioned quite a few times.

Anonymous said...

I think I've read and enjoyed just about every book on your list. I'm going to pick up those you mention that I haven't tried because I'm sure I'll enjoy them, too!
Jane A.

Kristie (J) said...

Sula: I imagine there will be a lot of shocked readers when they see my number one book! Who'd a thunk it? *g*

Kate: They were both excellent books. And no matter how many times we go over the list - it's like we left out some faves isn't it :-(

Jane: There are some great reads aren't there! I had a ball going over them and remembering them. A few I've reread recently and they were still just as good the second (or third or fourth) time around! Now I'm curious *g* as to which ones you haven't tried - so I can say "oh, you've got to read THAT one!"

Dev said...

I think you made a mistake on number one. You got the author right, but there seems to be several typos in the title. It should be spelled D-E-V-I-L I-N W-I-N-T-E-R. I think you still have time to go back and correct your errors.

ReneeW said...

Dev, you are a hoot! :)

Kristie, I know you so well I think I could have predicted your top 3 books. hehehe. We have a bunch in common but I see some I have been meaning to try. Outlaw Hearts has been on my wishlist for a long time but I'm thinking I should make an effort to track it down. Also Wild at Heart. I just got Hard Lovin' Man and it sitting on my nightstand now. Great list!

Jace said...

I'm happy to see Lord Of Scoundrels on your #2 spot...it's certainly in my top 5. I haven't submitted my list yet! Dang...better do it today.

Kristie (J) said...

Dev: *g* Don't even try. There's no way Sebastian is going to replace Derek in my heart. I got it right!!

Renee: Yep - those three are all very (very) good! I saw a couple on your list I'll have to track down too :)

Jace: And best of all! Lord of Scoundrels is being rereleased very shortly - and with a different cover thank goodness. I don't often do this, but I fully intend to get the new one when it comes out. It really is an incredible book and now that it will be readily available again, I'll be looking forward to seeing what new romance readers think of it!

Joanna Chambers said...

Oh man - doing this list is one of those things that I sooooo want to do but know I must not do - I'll be at it for hours! How long did it take you Kristie?

Love love love Lord of Scoundrels. I'm going to have to do a Keeper Shelf post about it soon. Love Dain. Love Jessica. It's one of those perfect books where the hero and heroine are equally vivid and just seem to perfectly match.

In fact, I think *swallow* I like Dain better than Derek Craven.

Kristie (J) said...

Tumperkin: bad news. It took me weeks to come up with mine. I started the minute I heard they were having another poll although I did take time off working on it for other things. It has to be in today so if you are interested, it has to be today. Mind you, it doesn't have to be 100. Even if you can only come up with 20 or so, that's better than nothing :)
And no problem liking Dain better than Derek since they are different authors. And Dain is such a wonderful great big grouchy teddy bear of a hero isn't he? And I adored Jessica too. She's one of my top heroines of all time. How can you not love someone who shoots the hero to make him do the right thing!

Anonymous said...

Well, since you ask... (this may get long!)
I went through and counted, and it looks like I haven't read 21 of the books on your list. I've not read any of Lorraine Heath's or Pamela Clare's contemporaries, anything by Wendy Lindstrom, Bonnie Vanak, Dorothy Garlock, Laura Leone, Bonnie Dee, Kathy Love or Kathleen Eschenberg. I know it's just oversight on my part, I haven't gotten around to them yet. I'm on the fence with Bonnie Vanak, she's gotten some pretty awful reviews in some places. So you think I should try her? I love the settings in her books, for sure.
I tried the first JD Robb and couldn't finish it, hated Eve. I really have no desire to read The Bronze Horseman or any of it's sequels, and I don't really click with Anne Stuart, either, so I haven't read The Devil's Waltz.
I need to find JAK's Midnight Jewells, Jane Grave's Light My Fire, and Connie Rinehold's Letters From a Stranger. And I have my eye out for all of Patricia Veryan's Golden Chronicles books already. Someday I'll get my hands on them.
Whew! So that's my new list of books I must find! So many books, so little time!!! :)
Jane A.

Anonymous said...

I have a feeling your number 2- Lord of Scoundrels will be in most reader's top 10 or at least top 5.
Great list! It is my number 11 pick.
Dreaming of You #1 though? LOL
We should do top heroes and heroines.

Jennie said...

I really have to read Morning Glory. I bought it ages ago (I think on Cindy's rec) and it's been sitting in the TBR. It must be good--everyone seems to love it. :)

Kristie (J) said...

Jennie: Morning Glory is a wonderful book. Will is a real Beta hero - but one of the best!

Katiebabs: *g* I put my money where my mouth is. When I say Derek is my fave - I really mean it. And Lord of Scoundrels seems to be making a lot of people's list doesn't it?

Jane: Good luck in finding The Golden Chronicles!! I think they are pretty hard to find these days. If you drop me a line I have a couple of duplicates of her books - don't know if I have any of The Golden Chronicles or not - but I can look. As far as Bonnie Vanak, I tried her first book and while not calling it a DNF yet, it didn't grab me like her third and fourth ones did. FWIW - I thought the reviewers thoughts at AAR for TCATC was Completely Opposite to mine and I enjoyed the next one even better. As for Naked in Death - I tried it years ago and didn't like Eve either, but on a third attempt, she just seemed to click and I've been loving her ever since - even though if she were a real life person, she'd scare the heck out of me! And I highly recommend Lorraine Heath's contemps. And while I've read quite a few Dorothy Garlock books, the one I really love is Homeplace.
One of the great things about all these lists appearing is getting all kinds of recs for books ;-)

Gigi said...

We have lots of books in common! But I have to agree with Dev I think you mispelled the #1 book :)You still have time to go back and correct it hehehe.

Rosie said...

Kristie, Sula was right. You have a very eclectic list here. Some goodies here too. When I saw DARKLING I LISTEN my heart actually skipped a beat. I remember how much I loved that book when I read it.